New Day, New Life, New Addition!

God does seems to like "new" doesn't He? The Lord has blessed us again in our foster care adventures. The same weekend the Giorgio's said goodbye to sweet Mallory, we said "hello" to Nirvanna (we're trying out "Anna" with a long "A" or Marie, her middle name). She is a 5 year old that is full of life! She also happens to be the sister of Nate, our 6 year old foster son who has been with us since September now. Speaking of Nate, many of you know he has been undergoing chemotherapy for a disease known as LCH, which is similar to cancer. The tumors have stopped growing and he has started growing! He had his last chemo treatment on Thursday, Praise God!

Anna came to us under different circumstances than Nate. Please pray with us for their mother that God will get ahold of her and rescue her. We believe in restoring these families, if possible, and we know that with God, all things are possible!

If you're counting, you realize that our five, plus Armondo, plus Nate & Anna, that means that there are eight kids in the house! Add Joni and I and it's a FULL house. The next thing you may say is, "how do they do it?". Simply, "grace". Grace is the supernatural ability to do what truth demands (John Bevere). James says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." It's the one time that religion is mentioned in a positive light in the Bible that I can find! We know that this life is not for everyone, yet, since Joni was a young girl herself, she has known that she would be involved in the life of "orphans". Yes, our "orphans" have biological parents, just not ones that are capable of raising their children at this time in their lives. Be praying with us that God will continue to pour out His grace upon our family and pray especially for Anna right now that He will reveal His love to her through our love for her.

Thanks for stopping by. If you ever would like to contribute, just send me an email to: newdaychurch@mac.com. Also, if you have a prayer request, send it to: prayer@newdaydfw.com.

Time Change! Spring Forward this weekend!

This Sunday is Spring Forward day!! Set your clocks FORWARD an hour before you go to sleep!! So if you go to bed at 10pm, move it to 11pm. (I gotta get in bed earlier this Saturday).

Also, we are kicking off "March Madness"! Bring your friends and family for a chance to win Dallas Maverick Tickets for your family! It's going to be a time of fun while we grow together.

Blessings,

Ricky Franklin

Lead Pastor

New Day Church

817-253-1464

www.newdaydfw.com

Esther Study

The ladies of New Day hosted 15 women today at the first Esther Bible Study! Here's the cool thing, about half aren't from New Day!! Way to go Kim (10am) and Cheryl (7pm). It's not too late to join them! However, if you plan to jump in, call Joni, Kim, or Cheryl to order a your homework book!

Facebook friends & family.

Welcome friends and family from FaceBook! Feel free to join in the conversation, leave a comment, or just say "hi". Make sure you read the missionary story a couple of posts below, it's really a powerful testimony of God's grace.

Spring is about to....

Winter is fading, spring is coming, change is in the air! We are about to enter into a frenzy of activity with the coming sunny days. I wanted to sort of prime the pump now that we're two months into the year and find out how you are doing on your new years resolutions, good, bad, or haven't started, it doesn't matter. The great thing about Jesus is that everyday is a new day with Him! (no cliche intended).

Also, I would like to open up this blog for contributers. If you would like to occasionally add (or frequently) to this blog, please email me at newdaychurch@mac.com, and I'll set you up! I'm looking for thoughts and encouraging words that others could benefit from who stop by our blog.

Blessings!

Story of God's protection and grace from our missionary

I just got off the phone with our missionary to India, other sensitive nations, and now the border of Bangladesh.  He told me a story that shows God's love for His people and what He is willing to do for those who are called according to His purposes. He was in a service with new believers near the border of Bangladesh. Some children came running in saying "the elephants are coming, the elephants are coming!" Elephants are known to travel in herds of 50-70 and trample anything, including buildings and people, when they stampede. Bro. missionary came out to see, indeed, a large herd of elephants coming toward the village, their property, and headed straight for the church.  He said there is no way to outrun the elephants once they are stampeding. The church began to pray and Bro. (missionary) commanded the elephants to stop in the name of Jesus.  The herd stopped about 50-80 feet from where the congregation was gathered, at the border of their property! He said that they stayed for about 10 -15 minutes and it was very tense as they prayed. Soon the elephants, for no "apparent" reason turned and went around the property and headed down stream to another village.  They heard reports the next day that that herd traveled down the stream and pulverized a small hindu temple!  Here's the really interesting part.  That temple was a place that worshipped ELEPHANTS as their gods!!  Bro. (Missionary) said that while they don't rejoice in the loss of life or destruction of property, they realized the power of God over creation and how He protects His children. The believers have organized an outreach to that other village to show them the love of God!!

(Missionary) exemplifies who I want to be in our community.  A beacon of love and grace, demonstrating the power of God as well as the compassion of God to those around us.

Pray for (Missionary).  He has been ministering in India, other nations, and near the border of Bangladesh since October, and just arrived home last week. They planted six churches and have seen over 350 people come to know the Lord in that time.  Since he has been gone the last week, some of the believers planned a dinner, invited unbelievers over and saw another 45 come to the Lord!!  They have asked him to come back to disciple these new believers and he is headed back next week again!

Having (Missionary) in our lives has brought joy and humility. We continue to pray for him, his family, and support the work of the ministry, while asking God to do the same among us.

*(Missionary)'s name and some locations have been removed due to the sensitive nature of his mission.*

Final day (or is it?)

I want to start by apologizing for not finishing this blog about fasting well. No excuses are worth putting here so I'll leave it at an apology.

For many of our "followers" of the post and those who are "readers" of this post, this will be the last official day of the fast.  I challenged New Day on Sunday to make today, from sun-up to sun-down (traditional Jewish), an "only liquids" fasting day. If you missed that, don't worry about it. 

I'm almost a little sad about ending today.  This fast has had it's ups and downs, but I believe that all-in-all, God is pleased and that's all that matters!  We will be doing more fasts in the future and I have decided to keep this blog going with at least one post per week. If you would like to contribute (i.e. post rather than just comment) let me know!  That would help me tremendously and I believe that you have something to say, not just me.

Today, keep Daniel chapters 9 & 10 in mind.  In Chapter 10, Daniel waited 21 days for the answer to come while he fasted and sought the Lord. His obedience to seek the Lord paid off in the form of angelic visitations and a message directly from the throne room of heaven. What are we going to receive?  I can't wait to hear from you on that one!

Not only did Daniel receive from the Lord, but those around him felt the effects, even though they couldn't see Gabriel. Your fasting and seeking the Lord these last 21 days will be felt by those around you, even if they don't see the big picture like you do!  

Jesus said, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22. Let's stand together today and tomorrow and the next and watch God's Word be fulfilled in our lives!

Blessings!