Mosaic to Kick off at First Baptist Church, Mansfield

First Baptist Church, Mansfield, kicked off the Mosaic Adoption and Foster care ministry at a very special service on Sunday, January 11th. We had a great day of worship and collected over $500 for our Mosaic adoption fund with Lifesong for Orphans. We had representatives from Buckner International, Covenant Kids, and information from Lifesong for Orphans for the enlightenment of our congregation. We heard a strong message from our pastor, Dr. Johnny Dickerson, about the likeness of God's children being adopted, with full sonship, into God's family, just as His people would adopt an orphaned child. It is the heart of Mosaic to see more orphaned children in Christian homes, where they will know love and protection, as well as receive a clear path to choose Christ. Mosaic will seek to touch the lives of orphans, minister to adoptive families, mentor children, lead mission trips to orphanages around the world, and help to fund adoptions for families wanting to change the lives of orphaned children. Please pray for Mosaic as we seek to do our part in impacting orphaned children in our world.

Lifesong for Orphans tackles Barriers to Adoption

Lifesong and the Mosaic Ministry or First Baptist Church of Mansfield are working together to create an Adoption Fund that would remove the financial barriers that prevent so many children from being adopted – through Adoption Matching Grants.

Here are the Top 3 Barriers to churches creating Adoption Funds...and Lifesong's Solutions to overcome the hurdles.

1. Barrier: Church staff “plate is already full” to administer fund

Solution: Lifesong will manage/facilitate the Fund & carry the administrative load on behalf of church, using mutually agreed upon criteria (reviewing applications, accounting, donor receipts, disbursing funds on behalf of adoption, etc.)

2. Barrier: Church feels uncomfortable/awkward approving/denying their own families (viewing financials, etc.)

Solution: Lifesong will provide all the screening, reviewing, approving/denying as a ‘partner’ on behalf of the church, using mutually agreed upon criteria for those decisions

3. Barrier: Adoption Fund is unfamiliar territory

Solution: Lifesong has passion, and expertise in adoption funding processes, maximize stewardship, use existing grant/loan procedures, IRS approved, ECFA approved (establishes financial integrity & avoids recreating the wheel)

And one of the best aspects….Lifesong manages & administers the Adoption Fund - at no cost to churches!

The Worship Industry

This video is a great reminder of what is really important in worship. To be real with each other and with God; to open ourselves up to what He will do in worship is, indeed, more important than what we do or don't do in worship.

IBESR!

In our long and tiring adoption process, we have already moved from "First Legal" into "IBESR". I don't really know what those titles mean, but I do know that it is progress, and that's what we're looking for! Stephanie, our adoption agent with A Love Beyond Borders, called me to let me know that we'd moved on to this step on FATHER'S DAY! Can you beat that? What a blessing that was.
Wendy and I are anxiously awaiting our next trip to Haiti to see our kids in August and it cannot come fast enough! In fact, we are just wishing that it was this trip we were bringing Marie Ange and Jameson home, but it will still be a while for that. So, we wait and pray that God will expedite everything as only He can.

Our Haiti Trip

What an amazing trip Wendy and I had in Haiti! We experienced so many amazing things and saw God move in amazing ways! We had the opportunity to pass out Bibles to the workers at the orphanage and at the guest house to all of the adult workers. The cool thing was that these were bibles given to us by Brian Lundy, who has worked with the Olympic Bible Project at the Olympic games, and were in the Haitian language of Creole. There are very few books written in this language and these precious people were so excited to see any book; let alone a bible, in their native language, that on several occasions they sat down and began to read the bible immediately! It was a huge blessing. Our primary reason was, of course to meet two children in particular whom we'd been asked to pray about adopting. So- meet Marie Ange and Jameson.

Marie Ange is a happy, healthy 7 year old girl in Port Au Prince, Haiti. She is bright, loving and caring and, though she and her brother have been orphaned by their parents for over 18 months now, she is very well adjusted. Marie Ange has the biggest, best dimples in the world when she flashes her smile!

Jameson is Marie Ange’s 5 year old brother. During our visit to the orphanage, he showed himself as a natural born athlete. He loves balls; shooting them, tthrowing them, catching them, spinning them– you name it (he and Caleb will get along fine!). Jameson has a quick and beautiful smile and is amazingly happy and easy going.

The attitude and disposition of these kids is nothing short of miraculous. When you consider what these precious kids have already faced in life, it is very humbling to see their joy in the face of it all. I will never doubt the truth of Psalm 68:5-6: a father of the fatherless and a champion of the widows is God in His holy dwelling. God provides homes to those who are deserted. Our trip was amazing and we definitely fell in love with our new kids! We have about a 10-12 month process left before we will actually bring these kids home, but the Lord is good and will sustain us! Thanks for all of your prayers and please remember the dire circumstances in Haiti and the orphans of this place.

Reaching One Child...

As you may already know, Wendy and I have begun the process of adopting a child from the country of Haiti. Our family is very excited about this endeavor and wanted to let you know a little about our process and plans. First, I want you to know that we feel a clear call from the Lord to do our part in fulfilling God’s command to look after orphan children; as given in James 1: 27:

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.

This a call that Wendy and I have taken very seriously, and know beyond any doubt that He is calling us to open our home and family to an orphan child. In this way, the Lord will use us to change the life and future of one child. More importantly, there will be a pathway presented to this child to come to know Jesus as her Lord, which otherwise may not have happened. That possibility excites me to no end!

I want to introduce you to our future daughter. Florena is a happy, healthy 4 year old child of color in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Her mother made the difficult decision to release her to the orphanage there after realizing she was not equipped to care for Florena. Haiti is a terribly poor nation, with rampant disease and malnutrition among its people. Haiti is, in fact, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 75% of the population living below poverty level (as determined by World Bank). Unemployment is about 60%, and the literacy rate is about 55%. One in five children will die before their 5th birthday from malnutrition or disease. Out of this kind of difficulty, the Lord will use us to save Florena.

First and foremost, Wendy and I ask for your prayers. As the mountain of paperwork grows and the documents gather, pray that the Lord will help us keep our focus on the goal; to get Florena home. Please begin to pray specifically for Florena as significant changes are imminent. We are not diluted about the adjustment that our family will have to make nor about the effort it will take to make Florena feel comfortable as a part of our family. These are big changes for us and for her, so please join us in praying for her.

The process of adopting internationally is, of course, an expensive one. Wendy and I have sold one vehicle to free up some money for these expenses, but we realize that we cannot handle all of these ourselves. We have partnered with an organization called Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministries, whose mission it is to help adoptive families raise funds to adopt children out of difficult circumstances. Through this ministry, individuals can make tax deductible donations to specific adoptive families to help lessen the cost for the family. In this way, you can partner with us in changing Florena’s life for the better. You will have the blessing of knowing that your help contributed to providing Florena with a loving family (with great sisters and an awesome brother), a warm home, and the opportunity to meet Jesus in a saving way. I absolutely hate to ask my friends and family for this kind of help, so I would just ask that you pray about involving yourself with us in this ministry. If you feel it would be a blessing to you, please make a contribution; rest assured it will be a blessing to us.

We will keep all of our contributors up to date on our process by email and provide you with a photo of our completed family once we get Florena home. If you are interested in helping us out and have any questions please call us at home or email us. Also, the Kingdom Kids staff is available to you Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Pacific Time.) Please contact them at (509) 465-3520 or email them at Ministry@KingdomKidsAdoption.org. Their website is www.KingdomKidsAdoption.org. Donations should be sent directly to Kingdom Kids at 1417 N Lincoln St, Spokane, WA, 99201.

If you decide to assist us in our fundraising and wish to do so by check please DO NOT include our names anywhere on the check. Internal Revenue Service regulations do not allow for a tax-deductible donation to have any name other than the tax-exempt organization written on it. Please enclose a note with your check to indicate that you wish your donation to go toward our grant. Thank you so much.

In Christ Alone,

David and Wendy Peyton

817/453-9682

david.peyton@firstmansfield.com

wrpeyton@sbcglobal.net

Encounters with God: The friendship and the fear
Glenn Packiam and Ross Parsley - May 10, 2006

The old man walked slowly toward the tent. The people watched as he bent his well-worn frame to enter. They had seen him approach the tent many times, but each time they stood to watch. His wrinkled hands, still strong, parted the canvas as he stepped inside. And then it happened, as it always did. A large cloud, shaped liked a massive pillar, descended from the sky and positioned itself at the doorway of the tent. All the people stood in awe and began to worship. They knew what was taking place. They called it the "Tent of Meeting", for there a man could go to inquire of the Lord and meet with Him. But with Moses it was different. It was no mere "meeting"; with Moses God spoke face to face, as a man speaks with his friend (Ex. 33:11). And now as they watched the cloud-pillar at the entrance of the tent, they knew that God was with His friend.

Worship folks love that story! You probably get goose bumps just thinking about it. I mean think of it: a man speaking with God face to face as a man speaks with his friend. I love the fact that we can be friends of God. It is one thing to call Jesus our best friend; it is quite a different thing for Him to call us His friend. We like knowing that He is always there, that we can call on Him anytime; but certainly, it is more amazing for Him to call on us to do His work, to share His heart with us. Yet this is the very thing that awaits us-the joy of being His friend. I am so grateful for the wonderful way that different ones in the Body of Christ have helped us recapture the childlike innocence in our approach to God. We have learned how to call Him Father, and to crawl up on His knee, so to speak, and let Him whisper His affections to us. I am thankful for the freedom we have rediscovered in our approach to God. In a personal and meaningful way, prayer and worship have become our conversation with God. Aspiring to be like Moses, we have learned to call Him our friend and to allow Him to make friends of us.

But there is one crucial point to bear in mind: Moses' relationship with God did not begin face to face. Do you remember the story? In Exodus chapter three, the young Moses, strong and well-built, trembled in the middle of the wilderness. As the voice boomed from the fiery bush, the grown man tried to hide his face. Quickly, he unfastened his sandals, placing his bare feet on the hot desert sand. God had required him to remove his shoes by way of introduction. This was the prologue to a life-long journey of walking with God. There the former "prince of Egypt" stood, shaking and afraid. He hid his face. Why? Because he dared not glance upon the living God. Here we don't see friendship, or intimacy. This isn't "running through the field with Daddy God". This is fear, terror, awe. This is "O God, You are so holy....I'm nothing like You...Please don't strike me down!"

You see, I don't think we can really know the friendship until we know the fear. We only truly understand and appreciate God's mercy and grace in the light of His awesome and terrible holiness. That is why when God initially reveals Himself the response is usually terror. In Exodus 19 we find God "introducing" himself to the children of Israel at Mount Sinai. Billows of smoke, peels of thunder and lightning strikes are His expression of choice. The people are so frightened that they begin to back away. Moses pleads with them, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." Sadly, they didn't understand and rejected the invitation that God had extended. The book of Romans follows a similar progression in presenting the Gospel to us. (Remember the "Romans Road"?) Paul begins by stating that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. He goes on to add that the wages of sin is death. Then he marvelously outlines the plan of God and the miracle of the salvation that has come to us through "one Man's obedience", and how by faith in Christ we share in His life. Salvation is only meaningful when we realize what it is we have been saved from. Actually, almost every Biblical account of an encounter with God chronicles the mortal human falling to his knees and hiding his face to avoid locking eyes with the One Who is called Holy. And almost every account shows God or the heavenly messenger reaching out to the human, calming his fear and calling him to relationship.

There is a kind of fear and awe that turns to love and grateful devotion when friendship that would otherwise be preposterous and presumptuous is suddenly offered. Let me illustrate. You would never dream of a friendship with the President of the United States or the Queen of England. This is because we hold a certain amount of fear and respect toward them. Yet were they to offer their friendship to us, we would gladly accept, and would quickly become their most devoted and loving companion. This is also because of our fear and respect for them. We are devoted because we value the friendship; we value the friendship because we never thought it possible; we never thought it possible because we respected them so much that we thought them to be too great for us. When something we never dreamed possible becomes a reality, it is of infinite value to us. We were never worthy to be God's friends, but He offered it to us: at the expense of His own life, while we were His enemies. Think of it.

For our worship experiences to rival the Biblical encounters, we must make the fear of God the foundation of our friendship with Him. To drain the awe of God's holiness from our worship experience is to ultimately cheapen the intimacy of His love. To understand His transcendence is to appreciate His imminence. Psalm 25:14 says it best: "The Lord confides in those who fear Him." When God looks to share His heart with someone, He goes to the ones who fear Him. Just as it was in the life of Moses, so it is with us: the friendship begins with the fear.

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Now playing: Ross Parsley - My Savior Lives
via FoxyTunes via FoxyTunes

The Greatness of Mark Roach

I had the pleasure of meeting a new-comer in the Christian Worship Music scene back in February at the re:create conference in TN. Mark Roach is a worship leader at Morning Star Church in MO and an anointed song writer. His stuff is theologically sound, heartfelt, well written and meaningful. In a word, this guy is GOOD. I want you to go and check out his website and learn more about him. Mark's debut CD is titled Every Reason Why and there are nothing but winners on this recording. You can pick up the CD through Myrrh Records. This guy's even got a video on YouTube - go check it out here.
So - if you have a conference, camp, or special event for which you need a top-notch worship leader, contact Mark Roach and see what the Lord will do through him. Mark my words, the Lord's hand is on this guy and He will use Mark to accomplish great things for His kingdom.

Breakthrough Prayer: A Conversation with Jim Cymbala

By Matt Vilkas and Scott Ross
The 700 Club

CBN.com – SCOTT ROSS: Jim, this is a basic question. I don't want to be simplistic, but define prayer.

JIM CYMBALA: Prayer is the opening of the heart so we can receive all these good things that God has for us every day. It's like sitting down at a table that God has prepared for us. He says, 'I have everything you need today - all the grace, all the wisdom, all the provision that you need - but sit down at the table and eat. Don't be so rushed and so busy and try to live without My supply.'

SCOTT ROSS: Is there anything we should not pray about? What should we pray about?

JIM CYMBALA: Well, the Bible says if we ask anything according to His will, we know the Lord will hear us. So one of the things we have to check on is, are we praying in the spirit and the will of God as revealed in Scriptures? To go and pray, 'My boss insulted me yesterday. God, I pray that he comes down with a disease,' or something like that, this is not a thing to be praying about. We're to pray according to God's will. Then when we pray according to God's will, we don't have to be wondering, 'I wonder if God will hear this? I wonder if He's in sympathy with what I'm asking?' We are to pray according to God's will as revealed in Scripture.

SCOTT ROSS: What do you do when you've been praying, you've got all the formulas down, if I can use that term, done everything right, still don't get an answer - I think the phrase you use in your book is 'when the mountain won't move'? What do you do when the mountain's not moving, and you're fasting, praying, binding, loosening, casting in, casting out, doing everything you know to, but it ain't happening?

JIM CYMBALA: One of the things you have to do is pray for insight and discernment and spiritual understanding about what's happening while you're praying. Now, one of the things you have to remember is that when you pray, you don't automatically get that answer in the time frame you want. The hardest part of the prayer of faith is waiting. As my friend Dave Wilkerson and I were once saying - I think he's the one who told me - the hardest part of faith is the last half hour. In other words, you're praying and you're waiting and God says, 'Now, wait on.' That's why David says in the Psalms, 'Wait, my soul, upon the Lord.' Don't get discouraged. Don't give up because it hasn't come in your time, because many times in my life God has answered later than I wanted, but when He answered, I saw the wisdom in what He was accomplishing by waiting. God does all things well.

SCOTT ROSS: What should we not do in prayer?

JIM CYMBALA: One thing we can't do in prayer is have a spirit of anger or resentment or unforgiveness toward another person because the whole philosophy of prayer, the whole approach to the throne of grace, is that I'm only there, sinful as I am, I'm only there and can pray in Jesus' name because God has been so merciful to me and to you. The thing about prayer that reaches God's ear is that it comes from a sincere heart that wants to walk in the light and is looking to God in faith.

SCOTT ROSS: Let me contextualize this a bit and put it in historical perspective. Recent history, September 11, you guys are right there in Brooklyn. You look across the river where two towers once stood. A number of your people were in those buildings. I know thousands of you folks prayed for your folks. Some lived; some died. Why?

JIM CYMBALA: Because God is sovereign and there are mysteries that I won't understand until I get to see Jesus. We lost more, I think, than any church in New York City - four people we lost. Dozens of others just got out of the area in time. Why some perished and went to be with the Lord and why others escaped, until I see the Lord, I won't understand. But I'm still going to have faith in the fact that God does all things well, and His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts. There comes a point in life, as you know yourself, you just have to leave it with God and say, 'God, I don't understand this, but then again I'm living in a finite body and a finite mind. When I see You, You'll explain this whole thing to me.'

SCOTT ROSS: Are we doing what we're supposed to be doing as the Church?

JIM CYMBALA: In Acts 4, when Peter was released, the first persecution of the church, they prayed. Paul says in 1 Timothy, 'First of all, then, I want men and women in the church to pray.' I don't think it's our 'first of all' priority. I think we've pushed teaching and the music and worship to a place that it doesn't really hold in Scripture. Not that those things are not important. And we've lost the element of prayer. In other words, how many churches in the cities of the listeners and the viewers here today, how many churches in these cities have prayer meetings attended by the pastor, where corporately everyone comes together and says, 'Wait a minute. If these promises are true in the Bible - 'Call upon me and I'll answer you,' 'Ask and you shall receive' - well, let's do it.

SCOTT ROSS (reporting): In May 2003, Jim Cymbala and his congregation did just that. A member's niece was kidnapped in Trinidad. She had been held prisoner for a week. They knew they needed a miraculous breakthrough.

JIM CYMBALA: They were asking half a million dollars. This is a rampant thing now going on in Trinidad and Tobago. She brought it on a Tuesday night, with great faith and urgency, to the front of the church. I let her take the microphone and tell the story to the people who were gathered here to pray. When we found out that her niece was being held, and God knows what was going on there, and could die, could be sexually abused, we began to call on the Lord like Paul said, 'I travail like a mother giving birth till Christ be formed in you.' I mean, our church became like a labor room. It was incredible. People began to cry out to God in prayer and with faith. Out of nowhere, the next day the call comes from Trinidad. The kidnappers just looked at her, put her in a car, drove her down the road, tossed her out, unhurt, unharmed, no ransom paid. God still answers prayer, and nothing is too hard for Him. So viewers that are watching today, whatever the problem is you're facing and you say, 'God could never do that,' you're wrong. With God nothing is impossible.

Easy Four-Step Evangelism

In church, we often challenge our people to tell others about salvation through Jesus. We encourage them over and over to be open with their faith. The problem is that we do not always equip our people with the tools they need to do this. I found the following plan at www.pastors.com, a website filled with great tools developed by Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest, CA. This is a simple, non-threatening plan to share the good news with another. Check it out or, better yet, try it out today!

An easy method for sharing your faith
by Rick Warren

It’s just like when a baby is born into a family. That baby doesn’t understand everything. That’s the purpose of a church family – to help babies grow spiritually. Rick Warren

You’re going to Heaven because someone cared enough to tell you about Christ.

Who have you cared enough to tell? Who are you taking to Heaven with you?

If you just have a vague idea in your mind, it’s never going to happen. You need to get specific.

One way to do this is to write down the names of six people you want to take to Heaven with you. They may be friends, family, or co-workers. They’re people you care about, people you can invite to church, or people you can share the Good News with.

George Gallup did a survey that said in America there are 34 million people who said, "I would go to church if somebody invited me." Do you think you might know one of those people? Probably!

The world is far more ready for an invitation than we are ready to invite. So take the challenge. Write down the names of six people. Then pray and ask God to give you an opportunity to invite them.

Your first thought might be, "I don't know what to say!” Below is a simple four-step tool to help you.

Then at the proper time when you’re talking with someone who wants a purpose for living and the hope of Heaven – but hasn’t a clue how to get either one – you can ask, "Have you ever established a spiritual base for your life? These are the four things you need to do to get into Heaven.”

B – Believe
You must believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and showed he was God by coming back to life.

Do you believe that? If yes, then you’re one fourth of the way there already.

A George Gallup poll said that 87 percent of Americans believe this. That’s why Christians celebrate Easter. Do you believe? Then say, "I believe Jesus was who he said he was – God – and he proved it by coming back to life.”

A – Accept
You need to accept God’s free forgiveness for your sin.

Would you like to accept that? I don't know anyone who’d reject it.

Why would you? If you’ve got this one, you’re half way there. Do you agree, "I have sinned, and I need to accept God’s free forgiveness for my sin”?

C.L.A.S.S. 401

Help your church members learn to share their faith effectively through their personal testimony and open their eyes to spiritual lostness in your community and around the world. C.L.A.S.S. 401 is the fourth in a four-part C.L.A.S.S. series.

S – Switch
Switch to God’s plan for your life. That means you’re going to say, “I’m no longer going to do what I want to do. I'm going to live the plan God made me for. I want to know God’s purpose for life and from now on God’s going to call the shots, not me.”

When you become a Christian, you put a sign on your life that says, "Under New Management!" Now you’re doing God’s plan for your life. After all, your plan hasn’t worked out too well.

If you’re willing to do this, you’re three quarters of the way there.

E – Express
Express your desire for Christ to be the director of your life – the manager. The word in the Bible is Lord.

Are you ready to express that?

After explaining the four steps, ask the person if he or she is willing to take them. If he or she is, and if he or she has never invited Christ into his or her life, lead in this simple prayer:

“Dear God, I believe you sent your Son, Jesus, to die for my sins so I could be forgiven. I'm sorry for my sins, and I want to live the rest of my life the way you want me to. Please put your Spirit in my life to direct me. Amen.”

If you get the privilege of praying that prayer with someone, explain to the person that he or she has just crossed the line. The person has verbally put his or her trust in Christ. Let the person know that even if he or she doesn’t understand everything yet, that’s OK.

It’s just like when a baby is born into a family. That baby doesn’t understand everything. That’s the purpose of a church family – to help babies grow spiritually.

Then, congratulate the person. They’ve just joined the family of God.

Does that seem hard? Do you think you could do that with somebody?

I was talking to one of our church secretaries and she said, “I’ve been a Christian for many years, but I’ve never led anybody to Christ.” After I shared this simple technique, she said, “I can do this! My dad is not a believer and we’re not close, but I believe God wants me to call him.”

She picked up the phone and called him and explained the four steps, and he prayed that prayer and started crying. He gave his life to Christ. Now her dad is going to Heaven.

She told me, “If I hadn’t listened to the prompting of God and hadn’t obeyed what he said, my dad would be headed for Hell.”

Who is it that God has brought into your life to share the Good News with? God wants to use you.

Our theme at Saddleback for the 21st century is this: “Send us around the world with the news of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind.”

Have you written those six names yet?

Until next week,