Phil Robertson, Pharrell Williams, and George Muller

What do these three men have in common? They are all about “Happy”.

Phil and thousands of others are walking around every day saying “Happy, Happy, and Happy”. (I confess I have done this but have since repented J)

Thanks to the movie Despicable Me 2 that made Pharrell’s song “Happy” even more popular.

But most may not have ever heard of George Muller’s Happy (27 September 1805 – 10 March 1898)? I had heard he was a praying man, but I didn’t know about his pursuit of happy. Wikipedia describes him as,

“a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024^[1] orphans in his life.^[2] He was well known for providing an education to the children under his care, to the point where he was accused of raising the poor above their natural station in life. He also established 117 schools which offered Christian education to over 120,000 children, many of them being orphans.”

A few weeks I ran across a quote from Muller about the most important thing in his life. I’ve not be able to shake it out of my mind and in many ways it gives permissions to those of us who follow Christ to be happy J. It seems for some of us (me being one of them) that to ENJOY our relationship with God is wrong. We believe that we should serve God, but it’s more out of a sense of legalistic duty, than a pursuit of Happiness in God. I hope this quote inspires you like it did me.

“The first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.

The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished.

I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.”

George Muller

Enjoy God today! Be Happy in Him!

Serving in Sumrall

This past Saturday, my daughter Lizzy and I, spent some time with a group from Lamar Baptist association, hosting a FREE garage sale in an apartment complex in Sumrall. Danny Henderson serves at the Director of Missions for the Lamar Baptist Association. I meet Danny a few months ago and was encouraged to find someone who has similar views related to mission work being done in South Mississippi. The method is service/servant oriented, similar to the “Go Fish” outreach we did at Temple Baptist and more recently with the “Bridge Projects” at Turning Pointe Church. You can view the resource sheets Danny gave me below. It may help those of you engaged in similar work. Click ->Lamar Baptist Apartment Outreach

A New Season

Five years ago I sensed a call to leave our church of 12 years and relocated to Petal to be a part of the life and ministry of Turning Pointe Church. During this time our kids have grown physically and we all have grown spiritually and emotional. The people of Turning Pointe have taken us in, cared for us, and taught us how to love and serve more fully.

 

Now we sense God calling us to a new work. There is much that we don’t know. As of now the LORD has put into our hearts, to relocated back to West Hattiesburg (4^th Street Area). Once there we hope to start meeting with others in a Missional Community (A Missions Focused Small Group). We are submitted to His will and trust that he will lead us in his time.

 

First Thessalonians Chapter 2 expresses how Paul felt as he looked back on his time with the Thessalonians Church. In this passage I found verse 8 which summarizes our feelings toward you all; “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” We Love You All.

 

Never stop “Turning People to Christ”,

Trenidy & JJ Davis

Should The Bible Be Taken Literally?

Recently I’ve been a part of conversations and heard stories about Christians, who are potentially over-reacting to others who say that we shouldn’t take the Bible literally. I’m certainly not a scholar on the issues of Biblical interpretation, but I want to attempt to bring out one point that may make peace with some who are being branded as Heretics.

When we hear others say that we shouldn’t take the Bible literally, we need to ask them a few questions to determine exactly what parts of the scripture they are referring to. I’m not saying that some parts are the scripture are not inspired. I believe, as 2 Timothy 3:16 states that, “All

Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” I also hold to the verbal-plenary theory of inspiration for scripture.

However, we must remember that while the scriptures record exactly what God inspired, that some of what God inspired was intended to illustrate. And by nature some of these illustrations contain metaphors. The scripture is comprised of different genres that involves narratives and poems; songs and wisdom writing, personal letters and apocalyptic text. These varieties of text demand that we consider what is being said from God, in light of how it was communicated by the human writers. The Gospels are full of Jesus using parables (stories) and metaphors “the kingdom of heaven is like…” to get his point across. Often, after using some of these stories, Jesus would tell his disciples the literal meaning behind the stories.

I am aware that there are those out there who are saying that the entire scripture shouldn’t be taken literally and that is Heresy, but there are definitely passages where the writer/speaker themselves were not intending to be literal within the context of what was being communicated. So, In the future, when political candidates, family, friends, or co-workers say that we shouldn’t take the Bible literally, we should just ask them, “What Parts?” they are referring to. It’s their answer to that questions the will help us understand exactly where they are coming from.

Feel free to comment to continue this discussion or to clarify something I have written. To HIM be glory.

[This was reposted from July 2008)

God is Already Working

It’s been over 25 years since I was introduced to this concept through Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God.” And though it often slips from my memory, I return to it time and time again, to enjoy the freedom of this statement.

For much of my Christian life I’ve been trying to “figure out” what it is that I’m supposed to be doing for God. I lose sight of my smallness on the pages and history and forget the fact that long before I was born God was carrying out HIS plan. I also know that long after I’m gone off of the face of this Planet, His plan will continue.

It’s only when we see our short lives in the context of eternity, can we ask the question, “Where is God already at work?” This is a much better question than, “What do I need to do for God?” The foundation of the Christian faith is that while humanity was “lost” in spiritual darkness, God initiated a plan to rescue us (Romans 5). Now human responsibility follows, but God has been and continues to be the initiator of His work.

As Christians we are tempted to run off in a number of directions and then seek to give God credit for doing something. I think a much better approach is to submit our plans to His, by simply looking at what God might already be doing in the lives of other people. God’s work may show up in the physical needs or spiritual questions others may have. Our job is to remain sensitive these opportunities to join God in what he is already doing (John 6).

So let us ask the LORD to open our eyes to His work that is already around us and stop trying to do noble task in which we give the LORD credit for something that we did.

Easter Block Party

Here is a video I put together from the Turning Pointe egg hunt and block party.  I posted it over on the Turning Pointe Blog, but also decided to put it here since freind’s and family may not check the churh’s site. (You can see the Davis kids in a few pictures)  We had a great turn out from the church and actually meet people from the community that showed up for Church Easter Morning to hear the “Good News”! 

How Bad Do You Have to Hate Someone?

Penn Jillette’s video blog entitled, “The Gift of a Bible”.

Mike and Shelly Reid shared this clip with me yesterday. You guys are right, I can’t keep that quote out of my mind!

Rap a Gift for Operation Christmas Child

Here is a u-tube vid of some of my ole school homies kickin’ it for the LORD JC and raising the roof for Mr. FG and the OCC Ministry.  So watch the West Side Boyz drop da hook “get it filled” for some kid candy.   So let me give a shout out to da boyz:  Vanilla T (Tony Merida), Flava-Bashan (Philip Wood), Memphis Posse Head (Rick Morton), 99 cent (Chad Lynn), Busta-Booty (Scott Phaff), and Yo-Yo Double A (Andy Adkinson).

Special Guest appearces by Amy T, Philip “Saturday Night” Slusher, and PK Worship P. Produced and edited by Dangerous Dan D.

Peace Out, T-Dog

Re-formation

“On October 31, 1517, a German monk name Martin Luther posted his grievances with the Medieval Roman Catholic Church on the church door in Wittenberg (see photo). Those grievances, known as the Ninety-five Theses, sparked the movement which became known as the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation marked a return by Christians throughout Europe to the authority of the Bible and to the sufficiency of Christ. It emphasized salvation by faith alone and not by works. It was sparked by a love for learning and a quest of truth and it lead the “common people” out of an ignorant, superstitious faith, into the light of the Gospel. Here are the five solas of the reformation”

I believe that the Reformation is not just represented by this moment in history, but it is an ongoing work of God to re-form the church into all that HE has intended for her to be. My prayer is that you would not settle in to comfortable patterns built on the traditions of men, but challenge yourself and your church with the never changing truths of God’s Word.

Daraja Children’s Choir in Hattiesburg

Just a heads-up to let you know about the Daraja Children’s Choir of Africa that will be in Hattiesburg the night of October 29^th. These kids led worship at Catalyst and from that expierence I recommend you come and see the joy on their faces first hand. Most of us have watch commercials showing the poverty and inhumane conditions in third world counties. Well these kids are a testimony of what it looks like when others give and go to these places with the love of Chirst. They will be at Main Street United Methodist Church at 6:30 pm on October 29^th. See you there – a love offering will be taken.

You would be very surprised to know that the funny guy in this video has been profoundly affected by working with these kids.