Will Davis Jr.'s Blog, page 74

They’re at It Again

Our friends in the atheist community are at it again. Now, I need to say upfront that I’m not talking about you’re typical, run-of-the-mill atheist. Most are humble men and women who are genuinely trying to figure out if God exists, and if he doesn’t, what does. But there is a very volatile, aggressive wing of the atheist world that is on the war path. They want a US culture that has no public reflection of any faith at all. They believe in a world without God, and they want the world they live in to reflect that.

One recent expression of this antagonism toward matters of faith is a billboard in Times Square. As you can see, it suggests that Santa is basically more credible than Jesus. Now, I don’t think that most atheists really believe that Jesus is a myth. The fact that he lived is documented well outside of the Bible, and few thinking people would argue that there actually wasn’t a man named Jesus who started the Christian faith. I would also argue that his death, burial and resurrection are historical facts.

So what are the atheists trying to accomplish? Do they really think that people who see the billboard are going to have some light bulb come on and say “Wow! I’ve been believing a myth all these years! I’ve seen the true light! Jesus is a myth!”? Do they really think that our faith is that shallow, that shaky? Any serious Christ-follower knows better. I’m not worried about such billboards causing a mass exodus from the Christian faith. Our Lord Jesus even acknowledged that it would be the high cost of following him, not outside attacks, that would drive people away from him.

So what’s going on here? Why the attack? Fear. People tend to attack what threatens them. They attack what threatens their security, their livelihood or their lifestyle. The last thing militant atheists wants is for their culture to lean toward God. Why? Because it threatens their own religion. That’s right, our atheist friends are not irreligious. They are as committed to their religion and faith as most of us are. Their faith allows them to ultimately be accountable to no higher power or higher authority. And if they live in a world that is God-centered, then their fierce independence and reliance on themselves is going to be threatened.

So they attack. They use words like reason and logic to attack the very reasonable notion of faith in God. They try to paint faith as something for stupid, foolish and uninformed people. They argue that the human mind and science can basically explain every phenomenon in the world, and that there is no spiritual order, no eternity, no angels, demons, devil or God.

So how do we respond? Should we be threatened by such attacks on our faith? Not at all. In fact, the attacks should encourage us. We need to love, serve and pray for our atheist brothers and sisters. They’re not bad people. In fact, they’re just like us. They’re sinners in need of the grace and mercy of a holy God.

And 2000 years ago, when Jesus died on the cross that their billboard mocks, he was dying for them too.

 

A Simple Three-Word Prayer

I’ve been thinking a lot about simple prayers, short prayers, pinpoint prayers, three-word prayers. I like three-word prayers. They’re easy to remember and easy to get out. No fluff, no long preamble, no King James jargon, just to-the-point praying.

So here’s one I’ve been praying for a while: No vile thing. When I say No vile thing to God, he knows exactly what I mean.

The prayer comes from Psalm 101. It’s one of David’s many prayers for integrity. Here’s part of what he says: I will be careful to lead a blameless life– when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me, Psalm 101:2-3.

I love those two lines–I will walk in my house with a blameless heart and I will set no vile thing before my eyes.

I can’t really speak to what David considered vile, but I know what I battle every day. Graphic sexual and violent images are everywhere. They’re actually part of our entertainment. It’s very easy to set vile things before our eyes today; it’s just part of how we live.

But men and women of integrity push back on such images. We determine not to gaze upon such damaging and degrading things. We choose to look away, to look elsewhere, to change the channel, to walk out of the movie, to click off the website, to look away from the billboard, to turn the other direction from the alluring person.

I bet I pray this pray a hundred times a day. I just say it to the Lord whenever I’m given the opportunity to look at something evil–no vile thing. Will you pray it too? No vile thing.

When the news starts to play the 911 tapes of a mass shooting simply because they’re sensational–no vile thing.

When a Victoria Secret ad pops up-no vile thing

When a movie promotes wanton violence–no vile thing.

When your co-workers are taking a Vegas trip or a Yellow Rose happy hour–no vile thing.

Lord Jesus, today I ask for you to give me the strength to look at or listen to NO VILE THING. Amen.

 

 

Ben Breedlove’s Amazing Story–One Year Later

On December 18, 2012, 18-year-old Austinite Ben Breedlove posted two videos on YouTube about what he had seen and experienced in a 3 minute cardiac arrest he had suffered on December 6th. He died seven days later, on Christmas day.

The videos went viral and millions around the world were swept up by Ben’s amazing story. This weekend at ACF, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ben’s parents–Deanne and Shawn–and his lovely sister, Ally. This is the first time the Breedloves have talked about Ben’s passing since his funeral. It’s a stirring, inspiring interview and very relevant given the tragic events in Newtown on Friday. I hope it inspires you.

Click the image below to watch the interview.

 

 

My Impromptu, Difficult Interview with Fox News on the Connecticut Tragedy

Yesterday I flew to Dallas to do a follow-up interview with Fox news about my book Enough. They wanted to talk about how to apply its principles during the Christmas holidays. When I walked into the studio I was informed that my interview had been moved up 20 minutes and would lead the 1:00 PM hour. I was also informed that we would not be talking about Enough, but rather the “breaking news.” I replied, “What breaking news?”

I had been sequestered in my car and an airport all morning and knew nothing of the terrible events in Newtown. Three minutes later I found myself in front of a camera talking to people all over the world about what I had only learned of moments before. I was actually asking the producer for information about the shootings while the segment was being introduced.

The interview was conducted by Lauren Green, the chief religion correspondent for Fox and a journalist for whom I have immense respect. She and her team were themselves scrambling to keep up with the day’s unfolding events. But I have to admit, I no longer wanted to be there. I was sick at my stomach and wanted to go back to my car and just grieve.

Anyway, to watch the interview just click the image below. It’s a bit long (13 minutes) and gets off to a slow start, but the topics we address are quite serious. I welcome your comments.

Throwaway Children

Yesterday I posted a blog about a street kid I meet in Nicaragua. What I didn’t know was that my friend Chelsea Landis had posted a similar blog yesterday as well. Chels and I compared notes and have concluded that God wants us to get this message out.

Here’s Chelsea’s moving entry: I’ve seen it since I moved to Haiti, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.  I started sensing something that wasn’t necessarily being said.  I started noticing some kids being treated differently than others.  Street children– I began to hear comments about them that didn’t sit well in my stomach.  There was a judgment on these children that wander the streets of Haiti or children who live in Cite Soleil–the third largest slum district in the world.  I didn’t understand why these children were being treated unfairly because I saw a powerfully redeeming story when I looked at them.

Chelsea Landis

 

I was doing some research and randomly googled ‘ Haiti street children’ and what I saw put me in tears.  I learned a new term that night, a word some Haitian’s use to describe street children— sanguine.  I learned that some call their own blood, their own children, “soul-less”.  Even more shocking I found, per HSKI, an organization helping street kids in Haiti, an announcement was made by the spokesperson for the police in 2005 about the “plague of street children”.  She said, “It would be much better for these vermin to be either imprisoned or killed rather than to remain on our streets.”

To read more, CLICK HERE

 

The Street Rat

His name is Juan, or Darwin. It may actually be neither. He told us both. He is a fifteen-year-old kid who lives on the streets in a very desperate and dangerous section of Managua. He wandered in to a men’s event we were having at Rey Solomon Church on Monday night. The men of the church know who he is, but none really have a relationship with him. He’s typically high and tends to cling to the shadows and remain rather elusive. Not unusual behavior for a kid who lies and steals to stay alive.

But this homeless kid had an undeniable charm to him. He had bright eyes, a quick wit and the cocky confidence of someone who is used to talking his way out of trouble. He reminded me of the lead character in Disney’s Aladdin–a self-described street rat. The point of the movie was that looks can often be deceiving and that even street rats have intrinsic value.

We had two interesting evenings with Juan. On the first night he was very curious about heaven and hell. When pressed on his fascination with eternal things, he said that he had recently seen a women attacked with a machete and he was wondering what happened to her when she finally bled out and died. On the second night Juan was one of the first ones to arrive. Perhaps he had come back to only collect the small snacks he knew we would pass out at the end of the meeting (a major score for a street rat), but we were glad to see him nonetheless.

Juan was much more engaging and seemed a bit more trusting of us on the second night. I talked on sexual purity and the dangers men face in lives of philandery. Juan was very attentive during my talk and didn’t act like a kid who was counting the minutes till snack time. At the end of the session he approached me and told me how much my message had impacted him. I took him as sincere as he had nothing to gain from blowing smoke my direction.

Juan actually walked out with a basketball (won in a raffle), a soccer ball and a pair of shoes that were gifts from the gringos. And while I’m quite confident that all have already been sold or traded for drugs, I was grateful that we could show some tangible love to this unfortunate Nicaraguan kid who knew so little of it.

We told Juan that we would return next year and hoped to see him again. He smiled and simply said that he’d probably be dead by then. For some reason I don’t think he was kidding.

How do we respond to kids like Juan? What do we do with the street rats of the world? One can only imagine what sort of horrors this kid has experienced and witnessed in his brief fifteen years on earth. And the sad reality is that he could die today and no one would notice or miss him. But there is no such thing as a throwaway human, even a rough and drug-addicted homeless kid from Managua. In fact, the Lord Jesus placed a high premium on the street rats of the world. In short, he equated them with himself. According to Jesus’ own words, when we served Juan, we were serving him (see Matthew 25:31-46).

My friends, we will not be judged by how much money we make, by how good looking we are, what kind of shape our bodies are in or by comfort or luxury we provide for our families. God has no interest in such trivial matters. But he will question us long and hard about how many street rats we passed by on our way to our important meetings.

Juan matters. He matters to God and he must matter to us.

Dreams Do Come True

 Meet Concepcion. I tell Concepcion’s story in my book Enough. Concepcion lived on a small tract of land on a high point in the coffee fields outside of Managua, Nicaragua. In this amazing photo, Concepcion is telling me about the dream she had that the valley below her house would be filled with the knowledge and glory of God. She wanted a church built on her land so that the people of her village, La Luz, and especially her children and grand-children, could know the love of Christ.

Concepcion died not long after this picture was taken. I gave it to her daughter, also named Concepcion. It was the only photo she had of her mother.

Two days ago, I baptized Concepcion in a small lake not far from her mother’s home. As we stood in the water together, we talked about how happy her mother, now pain-free and alive in heaven, must be. Then we all cried.

Concepcion is in white on the back row and on the left

It was an unbelievable moment, loaded with many life-lessons:

God answers prayer
God honors sacrifice
God sets captives free
God obviously cares for the poor
The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God

I look forward to continuing my relationship with the people of La Luz, with their pastor Juan (his own story is equally amazing), and with Concepcion.

Amen and Yea God.

The Everlasting Father

And he will be called  . . . . Everlasting Father . . . . Isaiah 9:6

There is no denying the connection between our relationship with our father and our view of God. Psychologists and theologians agree that young boys and girls tend to project onto God the image of their father. A child’s relationship with God will often mimic her relationship with her father, even well into adulthood.

Until we rethink God and view him in light of biblical truth and revelation, we will have a limited and somewhat warped view of God. Even the best dad is imperfect and sinful and offers an inadequate representation of God. Each of us, regardless of our relationship to our father, needs to reconsider God.

May I suggest this name of God as a starting point? Everlasting Father–the name itself implies promise. Many of us have had to face the disappointment of having a disappearing dad. Divorce, marital unfaithfulness, workaholism, and so on have made many a father fall by the wayside. Others of us have had to face the death of a father. We’ve known the pain of sitting quietly by a graveside while a preacher said some words about our dad. Still others have faced a father or step-father who was brutal and abusive. The word father conjures up fear and hatred, not safety and love.

Enter the Everlasting Father. Isaiah prophesied that the baby born to us and given for us would become the Eternal Father. This is the true image of father by which we should view God. God will not go away. As a father, he will not leave you for some other person or family. He will always be your Father. God will not die. He will not suddenly taken away from you by something beyond his control. He does not grow weak, get old, or become senile. He will always be your Father. God is not abusive; he is not bad. God will never hurt you, never mistreat you or harm you. He is your safe refuge, your shelter from the storm. He is the Father you can trust, the Father you run to.

I wonder if you need to reconsider God today. I wonder if you need to rethink him in light of who his Word says he is and what nature proclaims him to be. He’s bigger, better, stronger, safer and holier than we can ever imagine.

He is your Everlasting Father, and his name is Jesus.

Why God Won’t Ever Let Go of You

When you became a Christian, you did so in response to the wooing of God in your life. People who are spiritually dead (see Ephesians 2:1-3) don’t just go looking for God. They don’t even know they need him. When a sinner starts his search for God, he does so in direct response to the stimuli of God in his life—the witness of the Holy Spirit, the revelation of God in nature, or the testimony of a believing friend. God uses these stimuli and others to awaken the spiritual awareness of an unbelieving person. Whenever a sinner crosses the line of faith and believes in Jesus, it’s always because God has first drawn him and convicted him.

In John 6:44 Jesus taught that “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him . . . .” Later he reiterated the same point when he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him,” (John 6:65). His point is that salvation is impossible if it isn’t first offered to the sinner by God. If he doesn’t draw us, then we’ll never have the spiritual sense to look for him.

So why would God woo someone to him, accept his prayer of faith and name him as his follower, only to reject him later? He doesn’t do that. He doesn’t make mistakes or go back on his word. He woos needy sinners to him with full awareness of their spiritual condition. If you are a Christian, you are so because God led you to himself and you accepted his invitation to a relationship with him. God won’t accept you one day and reject you the next. He isn’t finicky and won’t change how he views you, even if you change how you view him.

From Ten Things Jesus Never Said.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking for a great Christmas gift? Give the gift of grace and encouragement. Give Ten Things Jesus Never Said.

 

If It’s Not Broken, Don’t Fix It

Here’s a simply holiday suggestion for moving towards enough:

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. We spend millions of dollars each year just updating our houses. We repaint the kitchen or recover the couch or buy a larger television, and we typically do so when there’s nothing really wrong with the kitchen, the couch or the TV. So, instead of spending the money on what isn’t really broken, why not put it in savings and live with a somewhat dated couch? Or better yet, buy a new couch for someone who needs one. We can take major steps toward enough just by not fixing things that aren’t broken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want to give a meaningful gift this Christmas? Help your friends and family move toward enough.