Will Davis Jr.'s Blog, page 75

Light Matters

I had the privilege of sharing a simple Gospel message at ACF this weekend. It’s about the power of light over darkness.

Click Here to watch or listen.

Are You Clutter Wise?

Let me recommended a web site to you. It’s called Clutterwise and it addresses in an extremely helpful way to problem of clutter that we all deal with. The site’s author, Kathryn Porter, share’s with deep emotion how clutter ruined her mother’s life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She’s also written the book Too Much Stuff: Winning the War Against Clutter. It’s a practical, hands-on look at how to de-clutter you home, and like it!

Check out Kathryn’s Blog and resources. You’ll be glad you did!

 

Are you Going to Play the $.5 Billion Powerball?

The Powerball Lottery jackpot is now at half a billion dollars (that’s right, billion with a B). The Powerball is played in 44 regions across the US and today tickets are selling at the rate of 100,000 a minute in anticipation of tonight’s drawing. If only one person wins and he chooses to take thew lump sum payout, he’ll walk away with about $230 million after taxes.

So, are you going to play the Powerball? I mean, why not? For almost no expense you get in the running to become an overnight multimillionaire. What would keep you from taking a shot?

Can I give you a one word answer? Contentment. Contentment is the condition of the heart that knows it has enough. It focuses on what God has given, not on what one perceives that he hasn’t. And by the way, since God has already given us his son, can we really accuse him of withholding good things from us? (See Romans 8:32)

Lottery winners traditionally don’t fare well in life. The lesson there is that suddenly having millions of dollars at our disposal may not be what we need. If fact, most of us don’t really need anything.

So instead of chasing the dream of enough money to live comfortably or to retire well or to have that place in the Caribbean, why not just chase to dream of having enough. Because the day you stay pursuing having just enough, you’ll realize you already have it.

Want to know more about enough? Click Here

If Congress Kills Deductions for Charitable Gifts, Will it Effect Your Giving?

As the so-called Fiscal Cliff draws nearer, members of Congress are looking at multiple ways to increase revenue to the government. One of the ideas being considered is reducing or eliminating tax deductions for charitable gifts. Proponents argue that the government loses hundred of millions of dollars of revenue in charitable deductions, many of which are frivolous. Opponents respond that these deductions keep the churches and non-profits that do the bulk of the good work in the country and around the world in business.

Another deduction proposed for the chopping block is the adoption credit, which can be up to 12k for an adopted child. Many fear that if the deduction is removed, adoption numbers will dramatically decrease.

As a leader of a non-profit, and a Christian who gives more than 10% of my income away, and as one who plans to increase my giving in 2013, I’m not the least bit concerned about the deductions for charitable gifts going away.

Here’s why:

Most of the people I know who are givers do so out of a sense of love and gratitude to God. They know God honors their worship through giving and most of them would never consider not giving. The tax break is a nice benefit to giving, but not at all why they give.
People who adopt kids do so because they feel called to and because they can’t not adopt. Who do you know can afford to adopt a child? It’s never about being able to afford or not afford it. So if the 12K tax break goes away, people with hearts for adoption are still going to adopt anyway.
Our hope has never been in tax breaks. My ability to pay my bills and feed my family has nothing to do with what my tax status is or my level of deductions. My hope for provision is in God alone. If I lose a few thousand dollars a year in tax breaks, God will still meet my needs.
People give because its right, not because its expedient. Giving never makes sense on a spread sheet. Few Kingdom things do. People give because it’s what Christians do, not because it’s a good tax strategy.

Please don’t read this as an endorsement of anything being proposed in Congress. I have no such agenda. I’m rather simply pointing out that God has always funded his work through the sacrificial giving of his people. And if we happen to drive off a fiscal cliff or lose some tax breaks, that’s not going to change.

 

Out of the Ashes . . . .

What if you were given a 125% chance of not living through the day. That’s what Dave Bowers was told after a 3000 degree flash fire left him with third and second degree burns over 94% of his body. And yet, he lived to tell (and joke) about it. Susie and I had the privilege of interviewing Dave and his wife Carly in our weekend services. Their story will inspire you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click Here to Watch or Listen

Stolen Trucks and Thanksgiving Memories

A few years ago, I walked out of my house the Sunday after Thanksgiving to drive to church for our services. The empty spot in my driveway told me immediately that my prized black Ford F-150 pickup had been stolen overnight. Below is the devotional I wrote that day. I hope it encourages you.

Stolen

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Matthew 6:19

We are a three car family; well at least we used to be. Let me explain.

This morning, the day that I wrote this Wake Up Call, is the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. I woke up early because I wanted to get to the church office early to catch up from the few days off I’d spent with my family. When I walked outside it was still dark. I was greeted by the cool morning air that had blown in with the cold front the previous day. I was also greeted by the reality that my prized 2001 Ford F150, was nowhere to be seen. That’s strange: when I went to bed I owned three cars. I was or had been paying for three cars. Now I only see two. What a difference eight hours makes.

I quickly put two and two together. About midnight, I heard some banging outside. I got up to look, thinking that once again we were being papered by one of my kids’ friends. I saw nothing, and the truck was still there. I obviously had heard the swine criminal trying to break into my truck. He must have been on the street side of the car, as I had not seen him. Too bad; so sad. We’re now a two car family. Gone with the truck were some valuables, including all of my son’s school books and homework.

I was upset until I talked to the police officer. I asked him what the most interesting thing was he’d seen as a 25 year Austin police officer. He responded by telling us about a crime where he had been first officer on a scene. It was a horrible crime and I remembered hearing about it in the news. The criminal had actually been executed for the crime. After hearing that story, some things just seem to gain perspective for me.

So Jesus’ words were a great reminder to me. Don’t put your security or hopes in things. They can be stolen. They’re not eternal. They don’t last. They NEVER last. Place your hopes, rather, in the grace of the Son of God who promises to escort each of His followers safely into His eternal Kingdom. That, dear friends, is the only sure investment we can make.

I go to church on this Thanksgiving Sunday still quite thankful. God protected us. Did the criminal know that a set of house keys was in the truck? When he found them, did he consider using them? Trucks can be replaced. People can’t. I’m grateful that nothing worse befell the Davis family this weekend. I’m also reminded of the adage my father-in-law always says: If it doesn’t bleed, don’t cry over it. Good words.

Jesus did all the bleeding necessary to give us eternal life. That’s enough to make me eternally grateful. Yea God.

 

Three Days Before Black Friday . . . . Perspective

On Sunday, September 4, 2011, a series of devastating wildfires broke out across central Texas. Strong winds and the already drought-stricken landscape made for a perfect storm of wildfires that had plenty of fuel to burn uncontrollably for the better part of a week. At one point in the week, over sixty fires were burning statewide. The losses of life, property and homes were more than most of us who live in the area could get our brains around. It was a tragic first for central Texas.

Forty homes were lost in the affluent Steiner Ranch area just west of our church. Two of the families that lost their homes attend our church. Several others in our church had their homes badly damaged by the fires. Residents in Steiner and the other areas only had a few minute of warning before they were forced to flee the approaching flames. Some had less than a minute. They had to grab what they could and then run for their lives.

The first night of the fires our church parking lot and a nearby high school gym were filled with hundreds of people—adults and children, many smelling like smoke, and their pets. They literally only had time to gather the family and their pets. Some didn’t have time to get their pets. They escaped with literally their loved ones and the clothes on their backs.

So ask yourself—if you only had thirty seconds to grab whatever you could in your home before it was burned to the ground by fire, what would you take? When you answer that question you’ll be right at the center of what having enough really means.

Want to read more? CLICK HERE

The Seedy Underside to Austin’s F1 Race Event

It may have been the largest event to hit Austin in my lifetime. Somewhere around 300,000 visitors descended on the Austin area for the first-ever Formula 1 Series race to be held here. Austin now boasts the only F1 track in North America, and thus people from all over the world landed here to be part of the event. And from all indications it was a huge success.

But with such large numbers of people comes the dark side of organized crime. And this weekend in Austin, we played host to some very bad people. Did you know that somewhere between 400-1000 teenage girls were brought to Austin just for the event? Their purpose? Provide a sexual service for those Johns who were willing to pay for it. But these girls aren’t prostitutes, they’re slaves. Sex slaves, and most of them are under 15 years of age.

So let me take all of the spin off of it: This weekend in my hometown thousands of rapes took place, and all in the name of commerce. I don’t fault anyone officially associated with the race series. But we have to start being more honest about these types of events–Super Bowls, the World Series, NCAA and NBA Championships, Bowl games, and here in my city, the Austin City Limits Music Festival and South by Southwest. Somewhere in the long shadows cast by these events young girls cry out as some stranger has his way with her.

I hope reading this makes you as sick as it made me when I first learned of it a few weeks ago. I’m a Christian and a pastor in Austin and I was completely powerless to stop it.

That’s going to change. Non-profits like Restore a Voice are helping to shed light on the problem of sex trafficking in Austin and the US and are offering real solutions, real hope and real healing for those victims of it. I’m grateful to a friend here in Austin for telling me about the trafficking problem and the work being do to shut it down.

What about you? If you live in a major US city there’s a good possibility that the sex trade is much closer than you think. Don’t look the other way. Find a non-profit that is fighting to free and protect these girls and support them vigorously. When large events come to your city, call your local police department and ask what you can do to help expose and fight the sex trade that will inevitably come with them. And pray for the salvation of the Johns who pay for the girls and the thugs who enslave them. Jesus had harsh words for such men, frighteningly harsh. Pray that these men will embrace Christ, repent of their evil, free the girls and not spend eternity under the fierce wrath of the holy God.

 CLiCK HERE to learn about about how you can help stop sex trafficking.

Have You Ever Been Greedy for Food?

I’ve been involved in dozens of food distributions. They’re always both gratifying and gut-wrenching. Have you ever seen someone be greedy for food? If so, have you ever wondered why? Why friend Chelsea Landis writes about some of her experiences with this and how they impacted her. This is well worth the read and apologies in advance for the reference to me at the end .

Food distributions are done here often.  It is not uncommon for me to hear about the greedy mentality of the Haitian’s when food is being handed out. Often times when you are doing a food distribution it gets chaotic and depending on where you are feeding, dangerous.  Some people will sneak around the back of the line to try to get another bag of food.  They will send their children in line to get another bag.  They will bring fake tickets to try to get more food.  They may even surround your truck and threaten to hurt you until you give them something to eat.

Read the rest here.

Are You Ready for What’s to Come?

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Countdown to the change in life that’s sure to come

–Scott Stapp of Creed

Change is coming. Real change. Good change.

I’m spending a couple of days with pastors and church leaders from around the country who are part of the Christ Together Network. These leaders are committed to the belief that there is only 1 church in a city, and that they are all co-pastors of that church. They’re committed to cooperative unity in their cities. Beyond that, they’re committed to tracking spiritual movement in cities around the country. There’s a lot to track these days.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Countdown to the change in life that’s sure to come

As I sat there and listened yesterday, I was thrilled and amazed at what I heard. Most of the ideas we are discussing here in Austin are also being discussed in other cities–often without interaction between the two cities. Things like:

Groups of pastors meeting regularly together for accountability, friendship and prayer
Churches sharing membership data, so leaders can see how many believers live in an area of town or even on the same street
Churches sharing resources–money, staff and volunteers–to plant new churches in strategic areas
Believers meeting together in small groups that aren’t limited to one church, but rather centered around their local geography and mission
City leaders approaching church leaders to seek their help in addressing pressing issues–illiteracy, foster and orphan needs, poverty–in their cities
A movement away from big churches to more churches of all sizes where people have more opportunity to be known and to serve
Prayer–comprehensive, sweeping, sacrificial prayer–for movement in our cities

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Countdown to the change in life that’s sure to come

Whenever God starts speaking and doing the same things in different people all over the country, you know he’s up to something. It reminds me of that scene from Independence Day, when the aliens parked their monstrous spacecraft over key cities all over the world. One scientist detected a radio code that he concluded was a countdown. In the movie’s fictional plot it was a countdown to destruction. It the very real plot of our lives and the future of our country, it’s a countdown to blessing.

Awakening is coming. Blessing is coming. Movement is at the door. Spiritual revival is about to sweep through our country. Are you ready?

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Countdown to the change in life that’s sure to come