Will Davis Jr.'s Blog, page 45

Stay Alert

Stay Alert

 Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Matthew 24:42

 The other day, while driving along a crowded road, I had a strange thought:

 What if I never get out of this car? What if the truck behind me hits me and I die in this car? Have I lived my life fully for Jesus? Am I ready, or am I distracted?

 It wasn’t really morbid, but rather convicting. And then a few days later, I read this verse. Jesus, just a few hours before his own death, implored his own disciples to stay alert, to be ready.

That’s a really great word for this busy and distracted culture. And by “busy and distracted culture,” I mean the Christian culture.

Maybe you’re the exception, but experience tells me that most of us live very distracted lives. We don’t live with that sense on alertness that Jesus commanded us to have. We don’t live every day as if it might be our last. We don’t give our lives away like Jesus did.

Simply put: we’re not ready.

Friends, the Lord is coming to get you, either at the moment of your death (and yes, it could be today), or at the moment of his return (and again yes, it could be today). Either way, we need to up our urgency.

Why not spend some time praying right now about your alertness? Ask God to reveal your distractions and give you the strength and courage to set them aside today. Ask him to quicken your spirit, that you may live every moment as if it might be your last.

 

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Dude, Your Bride is Seriously Ugly

I’m very hopeful that all of us have the social sense to never say something like this to anyone.

I mean, can you imagine walking up to a guy at his wedding, pulling him aside, leaning over toward his ear and saying, “Dude, that’s one ugly woman!” Or waiting in a receiving line at a wedding reception, and when you finally get in front of the bride and groom you look at her, cringe, and then say something rude to the groom about his bride’s appearance.

It’s so shocking it’s stupid. No one does that. Right?

Unfortunately, Christians do it every day.

No, we don’t insult brides at weddings. But we do make all types of disparaging comments about other Christians, other churches or the Church at large, and in doing so we’re attacking the very Bride of Jesus.

It happens every day-in blogs, on Facebook, in pulpits, in small groups, in Sunday school classes, in Bible studies, in emails, in text messages and in conversations. Christians somehow feel that it’s acceptable to criticize their brothers and sisters in Jesus. Or they feel that it’s permissible to attack another church or the Church at large.

Let me very clear here: Such criticism isn’t intended to help the Church. It’s not offered in a loving, relational and life-giving manner. It’s said about other Christians and churches, with no authority, no intent to build up or be helpful, and often with a misunderstanding or or complete misrepresentation of the facts.

We might as well walk up to Jesus and say, “Dude, your Church, your Bride, your Body, really sucks.”

The Bible goes to great lengths to describe the holiness, purity and glory of the Church. It’s very clear about how Jesus feels about the Church, his Bride. And, it’s equally clear about our responsibility to affirm, love, build-up and strengthen the Church. And by the Church I mean Jesus’ Body at large and that constantly-struggling Christian in your small group. Both matter. Both are beautiful to Jesus. And neither you nor I have the right to be critical of either.

Let’s remind ourselves of what God’s Word says about our words:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:2-6

Are you ready to stop being a Body-basher? Or better, are you ready to be a Body-builder? Here are some things you can do:

Pray for the Church. Every day talk to Jesus about his Church. Pray for her leaders, her relevance, her purity and her power.
Serve the Church. Get in the game. Be one of those holy saints that serves the Church in your city.
Speak only to improve or build up. If you really do have constructive criticism, make sure you offer it in love and to only those who are in a position to do something. And remember, if you don’t have authority, you don’t have an opinion. Don’t weigh in on things that you have no ability to impact. Just keep your mouth shut and pray.
Give. Nothing silences a critical spirit like check-writing. Before you criticize the Church, before you attack the Church, fund the Church. It’s amazing how giving your money to something changes how you see it.

Now, turn to the Lord Jesus and tell him how beautiful his Bride is.

 

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Gotta Run

Gotta Run

Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness.

2 Timothy 2:22

One of the things God is convicting me of these days is my casualness toward sin. I treat it way too lightly. This morning when I was praying, I had to confess that I’ve gotten sloppy and lazy. I’ve let sin have way too much room in my life.

In short, I’ve grown a bit carnal.

So I’m putting this verse to memory and applying it to my life. I’m going to be doing a lot of running in the future.

I’m going to run away from lusts. Nope, I didn’t say “youthful” lusts because I’ve found that my lusts haven’t waned any as I’ve gotten older.

The key word in the verse for me is flee. I see a guy in the woods fleeing a hungry grizzly, or a family fleeing a fire in their home.

Flee means run, and I need to flee from some things. How about you?

I’m also going to run towards righteousness. I’m going to pursue it. I’m going to have the same drive and determination as that hungry grizzly. I want to be fierce and unstoppable in my pursuit of the things that honor God.

What about you?

Why not spend some time today thinking about what you need to flee and what you need to pursue? You might be surprised at what God shows you.

Gotta run.

 

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I have No Man

I Have No Man 

The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man . . . . John 5:7

Sometimes it’s difficult to the see the hope and help of God, even though it’s standing right in front of us. Sometimes we’re looking for the help of man, when what we really need is the miraculous help of God.

The man mentioned in the text above had suffered terribly for many years. We don’t know how long he’d been staying next to the Pool of Bethesda, but we can assume it had been quite some time.

Rumor had it that when the spring bubbled up the waters had healing power. Whoever managed to be fist in the waters after they were stirred would be healed. The man, a paralytic, certainly couldn’t move himself into the waters. And sadly, he was completely alone. No one was there to help him when the waters stirred.

Hear the sadness in his confession: Sir, I have no man . . . .

He didn’t need one. What he failed to realize at the moment was that the Holy Creator of all men was standing right before him. Jesus had the power and the will to heal the man, and he didn’t need the mysterious bubbles to do it.

Sometimes we need to be in a position of “having no man” so we can see the real power of Jesus. As long as men are available to help us, we tend to settle for the best they can do. And there are times when God will use men—their love, their gifts, their wisdom—to help us. But there are times when we need something men cannot offer. We need the healing, life-giving, liberating touch of Jesus.

Look for him. Cry out to him. Ask for him. Wait for him. Are you desperate today? Are you alone? You may be just where God wants you to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Content with That

Content with That 

But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

1 Timothy 6:8

 I read this verse quite regularly—say, 5-10 times a year—and it bugs me every time I read it. It’s so simple, so small really, but loaded with Kingdom imperative.

It tells me that I’m too commercial, too worldly, too professional, too material, and too dependent on stuff, money, comfort and convenience.

Besides all that, the verse really doesn’t say much.

The bar of provision is set extremely low here by Paul. Food means daily bread. Nothing extravagant or delectable, and nothing we’d take home and save for tomorrow. The food we are to be content with is that food which meets our physical needs, not for the day, but rather the moment. If we are fed now, then we shall be content.

Clothing is literally covering, and it includes the idea of some type of shelter. In other words, if we have some kind of roof over our heads and clothes on our back, we are to be content.

Again, I get the idea that Paul hasn’t ever visited my neighborhood.

The base level at which he expects us to live is a little embarrassing, if not unrealistic. Surely “covering” is a relative term, relative to where I live, how much I make and my overall level of cultural sophistication.

In other words, it shouldn’t bother me that the square footage in my and my wife’s closets is greater than that of many “homes” on Nicaragua.

Right?

Trust me when I tell you that no such cultural/biblical relativity exists. The standards are the same, whether you live in the Hamptons, in Beverly Hills, in Riverplace, or in Haiti or Nicaragua.

And every day that you and I continue to live with such ease and excess, over and against the Bible’s call to live with less, and in the face of such severe needs all around us, only increases the accountability and judgment that we are heaping on ourselves for ignoring God’s Word and the plight of the poor.

Think about it.

 

 

No Miracle

No Miracle

 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. Mark 6:5

Question: When was the last time you saw Jesus do a real miracle? I mean the jaw-dropping, goose-bump raising, faith-strengthening and life-changing kind of miracle. How long has it been since you saw Jesus do something like that?

For many of us, it’s been way too long. It’s not that he doesn’t do them, for he does them every day. It’s rather that many of us—specifically, those of us with ample financial and material provision—aren’t ever in a position to really need a miracle. If we ever do find ourselves in need of the miraculous, we simply don’t know how to ask for it.

That’s why this verse has always bugged me. I mean, when was the last time you saw Jesus heal a sick person? And here, in this text, Mark talks about such healings almost as if they were some kind of Kingdom consolation prize.

It’s like he was saying: Yep, these people had such poor faith that Jesus only healed a few folks. It was like the healing of a few sick people was NO BIG DEAL to Mark.

And yet most of us have NEVER seen Jesus heal anyone. Never. Not once.

What does that say about our faith? If the healing of sickness in the lives of a few people represents little to no faith, then what does that say about where we are with Jesus? The Gospels and Acts paint a picture of life in Jesus’ ministry and in the Church were miracles were normal. And if that’s the case, then we’ve got some serious repenting and praying to do.

We need to repent of accepting a faith that has been reduced to the cerebral and the emotional, but not the tangible. We’ve sequestered the Holy Spirit and made faith about feeling good and getting to Heaven. We need to posture our lives in a way that require the supernatural.

And then, we need to pray and believe God for the supernatural. We need to stop settling for the best we can do. Jesus didn’t bleed and die for us to have our best; he died to give us his best.

It’s time to start living and praying like it.

*I write at length about praying and receiving miracles in my book Pray Big. Want to check it out? CLICK HERE.

Web Site Update

Friends, We’ll be doing a little maintenance on willdavisjr.com today. Hopefully we can complete it before tomorrow’s Wake Up Call is set to be delivered. There is also the possibility that those of you who subscribed to the web site before we started Wake Up Calls may need to resubscribe.

If you haven’t received a Wake Up Call by Monday, please go to Willdavisjr.com and resubscribe.

Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience. Will

Lessons from a Wild Ride

Twenty years ago today Austin Christian Fellowship held its first Sunday event. We rented the theater at the Austin Community College in downtown Austin, loaded in a bunch of equipment we really didn’t know how to use, and tried to have a church service.

And then, we had to do it again the next weekend!

Nine months before, we had gathered in a living room and prayed for God to make us a church. There were probably less than a dozen of us in that living room.

An early version of AFC’s youth group. Today the ministry reaches hundreds of kids.

Today, over twenty years later from that first little meeting, we’re still here! God has come through for us on countless occasions and in unimaginable ways.

And so in honor of what God has done for twenty years in and through ACF, I’d like to offer a few life lessons Susie and I have learned as we’ve been on this wild ride. I think they will encourage you.

Lesson 1–God honors obedience.

To say that the math didn’t add up for Susie and me starting a church would be an understatement. I had unlimited opportunities and a great career path laid out in the established church system of which I was a part. I pretty much had the opportunity for a great salary and benefits and a national TV preaching audience.

But God’s call on our lives was undeniable. We couldn’t be obedient to God and walk out that other safe and attractive path. To start ACF, God required us to walk away from all sorts of security and comfort zones and completely trust in him.

Today, twenty years later, I can honestly say that Susie and I have no regrets. What we have gotten to see and experience–miracle after miracle–and how we have grown, goes beyond anything we could have ever dreamed up. God has honored our small steps of obedience over and over again. And, he’s poured way more into us than anything we may have given up in our obedience. The win has been all ours.

God honors obedience.

An ACF baptism

Lesson 2–God honors giving. 

Susie and I have always been givers (by that I mean that we’ve always given ten percent of our income to our church), but I had never led a church to be a giving church. Somewhere along the ACF path God stepped in and asked our church to start giving. So way back in 2005 we set a goal to be a 50% giving church. By that we meant that we wanted to work toward giving 50% of our offerings away.

At the time, we were only giving away 1% of our offerings, so this was a seriously big, hairy, audacious goal.

We started by jumping to 10% giving the first year. The next year 11% (we had a bit of a faith crisis that year!). Then 20%, and we’ve up our church giving 5% a year since then.

Today, our church gives away 45% of our offerings and next January, God willing, we’ll go to 50% giving. Yea God.

People always ask me what we had to limit or say no to in order to give so much away. I can honestly say, Nothing. In fact, it’s been just the opposite.

Over the past several years as we’ve given away money:

Our staff has more than tripled
We’ve planted three churches
Our ministry impact has grown to a world-wide reach
We built a $1 million youth build and paid cash, without even having a fund-raiser
And we paid off our original $4.5 million debt ahead of schedule.

 

A beautiful Nicaraguan family we got to serve

Of course, none of this has been easy. We’ve had to pray like crazy and repeatedly wait for God’s provision. But in the process, we’ve a masters level education in faith. We’ve also learned that the old cliche “you can’t out-give God”isn’t a cliche, it’s true.

God honors giving.

Lesson 3–God loves skeptics, atheists, agnostics and ever other form of unbeliever.

Much of the conviction that led to the founding of ACF was for the lost and unbelieving who often find the church to be unwelcoming, unhelpful and irrelevant. God directed Susie and me to start a church in Austin with that one missing sheep in mind (see Luke 15:1-7).

As a result, we’ve had a front row seat to countless conversions and baptisms of some of those people who you would never expect to darken the door of a church.

One such man was Mark, a 28-year-old agnostic who’s wife died eight days after giving birth to twins. Her tragic death did little to help Mark look toward God. But Mark did allow our church to serve him my helping him care for his newborns and his toddler.

Over the years, through many friendships with Mark and countless prayers, Mark came to believe in Jesus. It was one of the greatest conversion experiences I’ve been privileged to see. Today, Mark and his family are still walking with Jesus and attend our ACF Brushy Creek Community, where he serves in the missions ministry.

That kind of story has been played out countless times in the last twenty years at ACF. God has repeatedly shown us the value of that missing one.

Opening day at our Four Points building, September 2003. It rained and rained!!!!!

I have so much more I could say, but I simply don’t have room here.

If you want to know more about the vision, values and adventures that have marked ACF the last twenty years, check out the message series TWENTY on the ACF web site. Each week in January we’re talking about a unique piece of ACF’s mission and history.

My bottom line: Thank you God for your faithfulness and for allowing Susie and me and our family to be part of this great work.

 

 

Instant Faith

Instant Faith

 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off. John 4:50

What’s your Faith Response Time (FRT)? Wouldn’t it be great to have the kind of FRT that this man showed? Wouldn’t it be great to instantly trust that what we ask from God for will be a reality? Do you want greater faith? Then let’s learn from this man.

He comes to Jesus because his son is very ill; he’s dying. This man is living every parent’s worst nightmare. The boy is beyond the help of physicians. Jesus is all that’s left between this man’s son and a tragic, premature death. When Jesus heard the man’s request, he responded with an instant answer: Go your way; your son lives. Imagine the relief the father must have felt. His prayer had been answered. The Scriptures record his faith-based response: He started off.

I’m both a father and a Christ-follower, and as such I feel the need to step in for this parent and say, “That’s it? He’s really healed? I don’t need to go dip in the Jordan or run around Jericho or give some money? Are you sure you can just say the world and he’ll be healed? Jesus, are you sure you’ll heal the right kid? What if you accidentally send you healing blessing to the house next door? How can I be sure?” That’s what I want to say.

So how do you get instant faith? How do you increase your Faith Response Time? This father hears Jesus’ answer, turns and goes his way, fully believing that his son would live. What’s the key to such faith?  It’s found in the first two words of the verse: Jesus said. When Jesus talks he never stutters or misspeaks. He only speaks truth. If he says it or has said it already, then it’s true.

Friends, we have a book filled with Jesus’ promises. He has spoken to just about every need we can conjure up for him. Learn his Word. Pray his promises. Don’t wonder if he’ll really come through. He’s already shown that he will. Raise your Faith Response Time. Believe.

 

Worship Matters

Worship Matters

Thus we will not neglect the house of our God. Nehemiah 10:39

This verse is actually part of an agreement made by God’s people as recorded by Nehemiah.

They had been safely restored to Jerusalem from captivity, against insurmountable odds, by the grace and protection of God. The wall surrounding the city had been successfully rebuilt. And now that their external concerns for safety and security had been alleviated, they turned their attention to internal, weightier matters.

Specifically, they turned their attention to worship.

It seems that the people had grown sloppy in the faithful stewardship of their gifts to the work and service of the Lord. Said more directly, they’d stopped giving.

When the leaders realized what was going on they called the newly restored citizens of Jerusalem to a public assembly and asked them to renew their commitment to worship through giving. They confessed the faithfulness of God to them, even in the face of their unfaithfulness to him. And then they agreed to never again neglect the work of God’s house by being greedy and irresponsible with what he’d given them.

My Christian brothers and sisters, can we do any less? No nation in history can boast of the material favor and financial provision from the Lord more than ours, and yet the work of God is in a constant state of underfunding. Many of us even resent the implication that we owe God anything, as if somehow our good financial fortune is the work of our hands, not the Lord’s. We need to repent indeed.

Friends, don’t neglect the work of God’s house. Give your first, your best and your highest gifts to God’s house—the church you call home. Beyond that, give generously to mission and non-profit ministries you believe in. If you believe in their work, then support them.

Oh Lord, make us generous. Forgive us for neglecting your house.

*I write at length about the discipline of giving in my book Enough: Finding More by Living with Less.