How does God reach the people of the world?

A better question might be to ask, "How does God use us to reach the people of the world?" My first impression is that God reaches people through the preaching of His word. Romans 10: 14-15, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

We have seen this over and over in our study of Acts. Every time that Peter, John, Stephen, or any of the disciples preach the gospel, the church grows. We see the church go from 12 in chapter 1, to 3000 in chapter 2 (after Peter preaches), to 5000 in chapter 4 (after Peter preaches), and 5:14 says "multitudes were added." After being commanded not to preach the gospel at the end of chapter 5, we see that they v42. "did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Then……..what does the beginning of chapter 6 start out with???? verse 1 says "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying" Why were they multiplying? They were multiplying, because the disciples were preaching "Jesus as the Christ." After the death of Stephen when the church started to get persecuted heavily, what do we see the church doing as they are scattered? Acts 8:4 says, "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word."

I can hear you now, "Alright Brian. We understand that they preached. Let's get to it. What is your point?" My point is this. "How many times do you ever hear Christians preach the gospel? I know that I am around a lot of them. Almost all of my friends and the people I hang out with are Christians. How many times do I do it? The fact is that all of us try to use the "lifestyle evangelism approach," or the "waiting for the Holy Spirit" to open the door excuse. This is something that has been laid on my heart for a long time now. (30 minutes is a long time to me. Anyone who knows me can tell you this.) I need to be purposeful in my preaching of the gospel. I need to set aside time, I need to get in my car, I need to get some tracts, I need to get a PA system, I need to do something so that I can get in front of lost people and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ with my mouth.
People don't care how I live. They can just look at my life 5 years ago, if they knew me, and use that as an excuse to blow my "lifestyle evangelism" off. To live a good and moral life has become something that the world comes to expect from Christians. To see a Christian living a pure and righteous life does set them apart from the world and bring Glory to God, but the preaching of the gospel so that lost souls can be saved is the one act of obedience that I believe God loves the most. You are never more of a representative for Christ than when you are sharing the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus with a lost and dying world.

I have said this before, and I believe it with all of my heart. God gives each person a ministry in which they can share the gospel with lost people. Whether it is at the mall, on the streets open air preaching, teaching Awanas, raising your lost children, inviting your lost neighbors to dinner and sharing the gospel with them, taking the Christmas story out to neighborhoods with the church on the 20^th of this month, singing Christmas carols to the elderly and then sharing the gospel with them. I could go on and on and on.
What is your ministry? I would love to get a list of ministry ideas. These would be ministries in which the gospel is clearly presented to lost people. Maybe this would help people get some ideas in case they don't have a ministry yet.

Brian Davis
The wretch who was made free by the blood of Jesus

An Apparent Contradiction from Paul and James in Romans 3-4 and James 2

This topic has come up again, so I went back looking for a discussion board that I wrote on the topic from my Exegetical Studies class on the book of Romans. For the next few weeks, I will be taking a look back at this subject, and (hopefully) posting more here. This is a great opportunity to slow down, and really consider the implications of both sides of the topic. Open discussion or comments on the subject are more than welcome.

Paul's thesis for this section of Scripture is that we are seen as righteous, justified before God apart from the law. Paul builds his case for this thesis using Abraham and what takes place in Genesis 15. In the beginning of Chapter four, Paul introduces Abraham into the conversation. In this diatribe, Paul turns the table onto the Jews that he is addressing. After making the bold statement that "man is justified by faith apart from observing the law," (Romans 3:28) He then asks his audience what Abraham "discovered in this matter." (Romans 4:1) Paul then uses the passages from Genesis 15:6 and Psalm 32:1-2 to show how Abraham was seen as righteous without the law. Specifically, he was seen as righteous before he was circumcised. This righteousness came because of his belief, his faith, that God would keep His promise to give him a child and make him a great nation. Paul's conclusion is that Abraham is the spiritual father of Jews and Gentiles, and that salvation for all is available through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

The apparent contradiction between Paul and James in Romans chapters 3-4 and James chapter 2 was not something that I could easily reconcile at first glance. I know that there are many "contradictions" like this in the Bible, but when I can move out and interpret Scripture using Scripture, then I find that these passages can harmonize quite easily. When I find a hard verse, paragraph, or even chapter, I have to interpret that passage using what I know and understand from other clear passages of scripture that are on the same topic. It is clear what James says to use in chapter 2:17, "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." Paul very clearly states that there is nothing that we can do to be seen as justified. So using that, and then reading on into James 2:18, I think we can see clearly that James was saying that our good actions will be proof of the faith that we have placed in Jesus.

Now it gets tougher, for me at least, when James starts talking about Abraham. James claims that Abraham was justified by his obedience to sacrifice Isaac (2:21). The statement that was made in Genesis 15:6 that "Abraham believed in God and it was credited to him as righteousness," was fulfilled in "what he (Abraham) did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?" (James 2:21) Verse 24 seems to take the whole subject even further in the opposite direction from Paul. "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." Even through all of this, James still quoted Genesis 15:6, which clearly states that Abraham was justified before his works. In James 1:17-18, James makes it clear that salvation is a gift from God, not anything that we can earn.
When James talks about works, I think that he is talking about the proof of our faith. In John MacArthur's commentary on James 2:21, he makes the statement that "James is emphasizing the vindication before others of a man's claim to salvation." I think that it is important to see that James does not say that God considered Abraham and Rahab righteous for their deeds. These deeds were demonstrations of their faith in God that could be seen as righteousness by others. This was evidence to everyone of their saving faith in God.

Am I ready?

Tomorrow's the big day. The Peter Anderson festival is here. I am so excited, and so scared. This is a huge chance to get to witness to tons of people. The estimate about 250,000 people come to the festival every year. We will be set up on the property of FBC Ocean Springs. They were so kind and gracious to let us use it to set up a place to base our witnessing and open air preaching out of. This has really been blessed by God so far, and I pray that it will continue to be. I plan on taking tons of pics, even recording some witnessing encounters and open air. I will post them whenever I get a chance.
My plan for the morning is to pump myself up by spending time in the Word, in prayer, and then reading some Spurgeon. He preached it like no body's business.

How God has used my children

When I look at that smile, I can't help but wonder about what kind of man that my boy will turn out to be. Will he be like me? Is that even something that I want? Will he follow in the same mistakes that I made, or will he have different struggles?

All I know is that God has used my children in the past to convict me of my sin. This has driven me closer to God. I would even say that God used the conviction that I felt when Landen was born to save me. By looking at my son and then looking at myself, I realized what type of person I was. I realized that I needed true forgiveness of my sins and that I could not do it myself. I had been trying to be religious for 10 years on my own, but it wasn't working. God used my son to show me a reflection of my sin. I pictured Landen doing the things that I was doing, and I knew that I was in trouble. Only God could make me the father and husband that I needed to be so that Landen would not turn out like me.

the Harvest is ready

John 4:35-36 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.

Why Love??

The question came up between me and my six year old, "Why do we obey.....?" It could be Mommy, Daddy, God, or anybody, but what is the reason we obey. My sons immediate answer was, "So I don't get in trouble." Which is a good answer for a six year old. I guess this means that he understands the point of discipline, but I wanted to show him how the concept of obedience goes deeper than just trying to avoid a spanking.
If we look at it from a Biblical perspective, why do we (Christians) obey God. We love God becuase He first loved us, and becuase He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins. "This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10 We obey God becuase we love Him. "If you love Me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15 It is so easy to get caught up in different reasons for doing things for God.

Why do I spend time in God's word? because I love God.

Why do I spend time in prayer? because I love God

Why do I go to church and worship God with other believers? because I love God
Why do I witness and share my faith? because I love God
Why do I work hard and try to be a good employee? because I love God

You see that we could just go on and on and on. This is the point that I was trying to get accross to my son. We may think that there are other reasons for what we do, but if you are a born again Christian, there should ultimately be one main reason motivating you to ________________.(you fill in the blank)

Translations

Since I “apparently have an issue” with paraphrase (at least according to my wife), here are some of my thoughts about paraphrases. Paraphrases are a sign of the laziness that has overflown from society into our chruches. As stated in Grasping God’s Word, “In a paraphrase the ‘translator’ makes far too many of the interpretive decisions for your.” And “The result is that paraphrases add many things that are simply not in the Bible.” Instead of studying the text to find out what the author originally intended, the reader lets someone else do the thinking for them. Now I know what you are thinking, “What is the difference between that and any other translation?” I know this because it has been asked before. The difference is that instead of trying to take the Greek and Hebrew and translate it into the appropriate language, the paraphrase leaps to the conclusion that they can tell you the thoughts and meaning behind the author’s original words. Interpretation is tough enough. Look at how many different commentaries there have been throughout the centuries. Who is right? The text book goes into this in the next chapter by asking “Who controls the meaning?” Do we let someone do it for us, like the paraphrase "Bibles" do, or should we study to make sure that we try to interpret correctly the meaning that the author was trying to get across? I guess my big problem with the paraphrase Bibles is that they are presented as Bibles, and therefore confuse weaker or newer Christians. I agree completely with the textbook that you should “treat paraphrases like commentaries and use them as such.” I would even go farther and suggest that they be taken out of the Bible section in all of the Christian book stores and moved to the commentary/reference sections. This way you do not give the impression that a paraphrase is the same as the other real translations.

I like to study the Bible, and really dig into the language, so I prefer a more formal approach to choosing a translation. I prefer the ESV, NASB, and more recently the HCSB. The farthest that I have gone toward the more functional side is the NIV. That is only because that is the translation that all the classes at Liberty use. I am glad that I have though. I understand the need to have a more functional, easier to read version that might help you to understand a verse or section of Scripture that you are reading. I found that it is also really good for devotional reading.

One attribute of the KJV that has recently come to my attention is that it preserves the distinction between the singular and plural pronouns by using the “thee, thou’s,, thy and thine.” In our English language today, all of our singular and plural pronouns are “you and yours.” How do you tell the difference between the singular and plural? I’m definitely not a KJV only person, I just thought that was an interesting fact that I would share. Think link explains it a little better than I did.
http://www.baptistbecause.com/Tracts/theethou.htm

Illumination/Understanding of the Bible

This is an issue that I have tried to address before because it has come up in discussion with people in my church and other Christian friends. I have a huge desire to study God’s Word, and more specifically theology and doctrine. I have been asked probably 6 times, “What do you need to take all those classes for, you have the Holy Spirit to tell you what the Bible means, right?” This question frustrated me for some time. Of course you cannot say that the Holy Spirit cannot reveal the meaning of the Scriptures to you, but then again you want to press the point that the person has a role to study the Bible as well. I think that most times people interpret their feelings on the text as the "guidance" of the Holy Spirit. Just as in Chapter 11 of our text book, they showed how people looked for the “super spiritual” meaning of the text. They do not use the head knowledge and common sense that God has given them to try and see what the author originally intended.
What are the prerequisites to receiving illumination? I think in order for a person to receive illumination from the Holy Spirit, the first requirement would be to actually have the Holy Spirit. Salvation, repentance and faith in Christ, is the deciding factor on whether or not a person receives the Holy Spirit. I also believe that a person must be diligent to be in the Word of God on a constant basis. How much is that? I don’t know, but I believe that it must be some amount. Whether a person spends 20 minutes or two hours ad ay, how will you ever receive illumination if you do not hear from God (read His word)?
What does illumination really look (or feel) like? I don’t like the idea of a person relying on their feelings too much. I think that is how we get so much of our confusion and misinformation and bad doctrine that are out in our churches today. On the other hand, could the Holy Spirit speak to a Christian through feelings, yes, as long as it matches what Scripture tells us? I think that illumination is the understanding that you get when you learn something new. Just as my son finally understands that 2 + 2 = 4, I think that is the illumination (feeling) that I get when I understand what the author of the text was trying to say. This includes a lot of head knowledge, but all this head knowledge also needs the Holy Spirit to arrange that knowledge in such a way to show us what the author was originally intending to say.
What is the Scriptural basis for illumination? I think that Scripture itself is the standard that we use for illumination. If some goofball thinks that Moses was using a tent peg to represent Jesus, then we as a church need to address that. I think that developing a correct Hermeneutic is vital to correctly interpreting Scripture.
Can you provide testimony of having received illumination?
Illumination for me mostly comes through study. I listen to a lot of Biblical preaching throughout the day (podcast MacArthur, Piper, Begg), and I get a lot of illumination from listening to those preachers open up the Scripture. I will often take notes and go back over the passages or bring them up in discussion with other Christian’s. I recently finished a class on Romans through Liberty. Studying, memorizing, and going over the book verse by verse really opened my mind to the message that Paul was trying to get across to the church/churches in Rome.
How does illumination relate to academics, education, hard work and the study of the Bible?

You may already know how I feel about this question by now, but if not, I think that academics, education, hard work, and the study of the Bible have everything to do with illumination. I believe that the more a person puts into their study of the Bible, the more that they memorize, the more they learn about how to interpret it correctly, the more illumination they will have.

I believe that God speaks to His children through His word, and the more time the child spends listening to the Father the better that child will know Him. I do think that there needs to be some guidance in interpretation as well. My son needed to learn addition before he figure out that 2 + 2 = 4.

There are a lot of people who have some goofy interpretations. Brian McLaren and the Emergent Church are a good example of this. It almost seems like they have taken a post-modern approach to the Bible in which nobody can really know what the author was originally trying to say, and all interpretation's are correct…….as long as you don’t disagree with them on too many areas. The Jehovah’s witnesses and Unitarian Universalist read the same Bible (somewhat), but they have misinterpreted it in such a way that they have come up with some really crazy doctrines. I’ll give a good example from a Jehovah’s Witness that I was witnessing to at one of their conferences. He took 2 Peter 3:8 “but do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day,” and with this passage he tried to explain that the 6 days of creation, and the one day of rest, were actually 7000 years. He then explained that because of Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” He said that Adam died the same day that he sinned. Adam lived 930 years, which is aparently less than one Jehovah’s Witness day, 1000 years. My question to him was when did that time interval change, or am I really 29000 years old? My point is that if you do not study how to properly interpret Scripture, then you can really get off on some goofy interpretations that God never intended.
I believe 100% that it is a complete work of the Holy Spirit through Liberty University and this class that I am learning how to better understand and interpret the Bible. What the Holy Spirit has revealed to me about how to read and study the Bible through this class is another testimony to illumination.
Brian Davis
Me and my family thank you for your prayers during the birth of my son Cohen.

almost there......just.....one.....more......test

I am almost done with my class on Romans. What a good class. I completed all of the work except for the final exam. It is going to be a bugger, but then I get one whole week off before I start the next hard class. Bible 350 is an inductive look at the Bible, and it is a 10 on the 1-10 hardness scale. Oh Boy, just what I needed. :-)
God is very good though, and he will provide the knowledge and time that I need to accomplish everything.
Praise God, I got a 96 on my paper. I was really surprised how well it turned out. This is the first big research/exegetical paper that I have had to do. I guess that is really good since I have another one coming up in this class. From what I've heard, I better get used to them.

Interpretation……who’s right

Dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus

I have really enjoyed my class on Romans this semester, BIBL 425. It has been going very quick, just like most of these 8 week classes do, so it almost seems like I'm not getting much of what we are covering. I know that after it is all said and done, I will have learned a lot.
One of the things that I have learned is that there sure is a lot of controversy over how to interpret Paul. Everywhere you look there are 4 or 5 different views on how to read or understand him. So I guess my question is, "Who is right?" This is a question that my buddy Mike and I have been going back and forth over for a couple of days now. Specifically we have been focusing on chapter 7 verses 13-25.

There are 3 different ways of approaching these verses according to one of my textbooks, Encountering the Book of Romans by Douglas J. Moo.
The first is Paul talking about himself as an unconverted Jew under the law.
Second, Paul is talking about his experience shortly after his conversion as he sought sanctification through the law.
Third Paul is describing his experience as a mature Christian.
Douglas J. Moo Encountering the book of Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002 pg 125
Moo goes on to explain that he believes that this cannot be options two or three because……….
In a summarization, Moo basically states that the first option must be correct because the other two options of reading Chapter 7 in that way contradicts what Paul clearly says in Chapters 6 and 8.
If you are a Christian you are
"free from the law of sin and death." 8:2
6:6 "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin"
6:11 "count yourselves dead to sin"
6:18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.....v22 we "have become slaves to God."
Chapter 7 clearly says that the person he is talking about is
"I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin." v14
"but it is sin living in me" v17
"in my sinful nature" v18
"making me a prisoner of the law of sin" v23
This person cannot be a Christian according to the standards that Paul clearly laid out in the previous and following chapters (chapters 6 and 8).

That is how I came to my understanding and conclusion of how to read chapter 7. I agree with Moo and Schreiner (my other text book leans this way as well). But what about Michael, and a whole lot of others (Matthew Henry, Calvin, The Holmen Commentary, even John MacArthur……probably tons more) that say that Paul was talking about his present condition, as a mature Christian of 25 years, who was just struggling with sin?

Sorry that it's been so long

I know that all of you die hard Brian Davis blog fans have just been chomping at the bit to see what I'll post next. Sorry that is has been so long.

School has been pretty crazy. The summers usually are. I just finished up Theology 313, the life and work of Jesus Christ. That was an awesome class. We covered everything from Jesus before time, the incarnation, His life, His death, His resurrection, the Atonement, what He is currently doing in Heaven, and at the end we talked about the future work that He will accomplish.

While starting my new class on the book of Romans, and finishing up Theology 313, Breanna and I celebrated out 9th anniversary. We took a trip up to Images of Life in Montgomery, AL. For $150 they spent almost an hour showing us our little baby boy. We got a bunch of good pictures and a DVD of the whole session.

We went out to eat at Bonefish for a nice dinner. Overall it was a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary.

Only 2 more semesters, 4 classes, until I can get my Bachelors degree. YEEEAAAAHHHH!!

The latest and greatest from Brian ;-()

For all of you people (my wife) who follow this blog, I'm sorry that I haven't made a post in a while. I have been pretty busy with school, and regular family life. Last week we got some great news. We are having a boy. His name will be Cohen Matthew. Landen and Lily got to see the baby on the ultrasound. That was a fun experience for the kids.As far asschool goes, I just wrapped up my class on Christian education. My teaching assignment went well, and I ended up with an A in the class. Online classes are kind of tough for me becuase you don't get much feedback on your work. I like to be told in a lot of detail how I am doing and what I need to improve on.
I just started Theology, The Person and work of Jesus Christ. This class seems like it is going to be really good. A lot of reading and papers to write, but I think that I will like it a lot.

This past weekend we had a pretty good time at the beach. Except for those sting rays. That kind of made Breanna and I nervous about having the kids near the water, but they had a blast. You could really walk out ten feet and count three sting rays swimming around. I have never seen that before.

Camping out

Well we made it through 2 of the coldest nights that we have had in a while. I picked a perfect time to go camping out in a tent. J/K We had a great time though. We went on a few hikes, ate a bunch of smores, and made a few friends. Overall we had a great time. Landen wanted to go back the day after we made it home.

The USS ALABAMA

Landen and I spent Monday going over to Mobile and visiting the USS Alabama. There was so much more to do there than just the Destroyer. They have the submarine, which Landen thought was "just his size," tons of planes, and even tanks. My legs were kind of soar after going all the way up to the bridge. That was really cool. The best part about the trip was that when he started to get rowdy, I just threw him in the brig.

Blessing of the Bikes 2009

Landen and I spent the morning at the 2009 Blessing of the Bikes at First United Methodist of Gautier. When it was all said and done, there was probabl about 800 people and 600 bikes. Unfortunately, I only had about 200 gospel tracks. Everybody there ate up the million and billion dollar bills. I went dowm row after row handing them out. When I got the end of a row and I looked back, I saw a couple dozen people reading the back of the bills.

Landen even asked to pass out some. He went around handing them out saying, "Did you get your million dollars yet?"

We ran out pretty quick, but the Christian Motorcycle Association does a good job of preaching a good message to the bikers before they get their bikes blessed.

Almost there

The porch is almost done! I came back from Florida, and my pregnent wife had already got most of the painting done. What a women!

We laid all of the flooring yesterday, and we should finish it completely tommorrow.

A chance to act

I just got back from one week at Eglin AFB. This was some training for my job. Most of the people that I work with went, and the point of the trip was to get a little training done, but mostly to get to know each other better. Isn't it funny how most activities in the military revolve around alcohol? They stress so much about the abuse of it, but then they make sure that it is part of almost every off duty activity. ....................Anyway, sorry about that, but it does kind of tie in.
Aparently other people began to notice that I wasn't drinking, and that I wasn't staying out late. This must have given me the label, "this guy can drive me somewhere when I have had something to drink." I was not very excited about this, but being a good "Wingman" I decided that I should help them out. On one night, I got asked to take a co-worker to the store. He had had a few drinks, enough to let him open up, and the topic got onto religion and some things that had happened in his past. Through this oportuntiy, and the long drive to the store, I was able to share the law and the gospel with him. God is so good. An instance that I was not too crazy about turned into a chance for someone to hear the gospel. Afterwards, this persons told me that they had a lot more respect for me after getting to know me and talking with me. Now I'm no Ray Comfort, but the few people with whom I have clearly shared the gospel with have had this same response to me. They have become more open with me, more willing to listen, and more respectfull of me.
In another instance, I got to say the blessing for the food at our big picnic. Don't know exactly why I was asked, but I am pretty sure that it has everything to do with what God has done in my life and how it is reflected to these people at work.
Praise God for saving me, for changing me so that they people around me at work will see it, and for giving me oportunities to share the gospel.

The new 10x35 porch

This was tough. I have never moved concrete in a wheelbarrow before. Doing this will let you know just how out of shape you are. It will be worth it though.

We went out last night and got flooring, laminate wood, and a nice corner desk. The desk will help make is more of an office/classroom. Office for me in the morning, and classroom for Bre and the kids during the day.

I will be in Florida this week, or else we would probably have the whole thing done by next weekend. Hopefully we will be able to get some paint on the room and then put the flooring down. Bre and the kids can't wait to get in there and start putting it to good use.

My testimony aka. why the wretch

Sometime in late 2005, when my son was 2 years old, I started noticing that he was picking up things that I was doing. This really got me thinking about the things that I was doing. Not just everything that he could see, but stuff that I was doing when nobody could see. Did I want my son to turn out like me? Did I want him doing the things that I was doing when people weren't around. This realization of who I was and what I was doing drove me back to God. I knew who God was, I had been sitting in church for 10 years, but until this point in my life I thought that I was a pretty good person. God was pretty lucky to have me on His team. But I realized, I wasn't really on His team. I was just pretending, and all my efforts at being good were just another big lie heaped up on tons of other lies. I found out shortly after this realization what true repentance is. It is not just feeling sorry for what you did and trying to do better on your own, but it is turning completely from your whole way of life and moving in a different direction. Then by placing your faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of you sin, He will give you the Holy Spirit that allows you to continue on this new path.

I skipped something, right? Why would you even need to repent or place your trust in Jesus. An easy way to get to the point where you see yourself as I did is to look at God's standards or His law.

How many lies do you think that you have told in your life? If you are like me, you probably cannot count them. What do you call someone who tells uncountable lies? A Liar

Have you ever stolen anything, no matter how small the value? Been late for work, or cheated on a test? What do you call someone who steals things? A Thief

Have you ever taken God's name in vain, or used it in place of a 4 letter filth word? You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. (Exodus 20:7)

Have you ever been angry with some one unjustly? Ever got torqued at someone on the rode?

Jesus said,"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. (Matt 5:21,22)

Also Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt. 5:27,28)

So are you a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, a murder, and an adulterer at heart? Don't think about it according to your standards or the worlds, but think about it according to Gods standard.

9.Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God ? Do not be deceived ; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,10.nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9-10)


I mentioned early that I repented and placed my faith in Jesus. Ray Comfort explained placing your faith in Jesus in a really good way. He described it as a parachute. You wouldn't hold your parachute out at arms length, but your would put it on. You would also leave it on no matter how uncomfortable it made you feel, or if other people thought you were strange for wearing it. If you know that at any minute, you will be jumping out of an airplane, then you would make sure that you keep it on.


Jesus called this whole process of repentance and faith being "born again." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."(John 3:3)


That is how I got to the point in my life where I saw myself not as a good person, but as a bad person, aka. a wretch. This drove me to the point where I knew that I needed a savior. The Bible clearly states that Jesus is this one and only savior. "And there is salvation in no one else ; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

The new addition - to the family

With all my talk about the new addition to the house, I forgot to mention the new addition to the family that will be here in September. Bre has all of the fun symptoms, morning sickness and crazy food craving. As soon as we find out more information, I will post it ASAP. We are planning to take a trip this summer to a place that specializes in 4D ultrasounds. I will definitely have those pictures posted. God has blessed us with two beautiful and healthy children so far, and we are praying that this new one will be healthy as well.

Update on the back porch

The porch is coming along pretty good. Here are a few pictures of our future classroom. Breanna can't wait to actually get it painted and start going to work on the inside of it. We are even getting a 10x35 pad poured to replace our porch.

These are exciting times at the Davis family.

Uterly Amazing

I am utterly amazed at how God can take a situation that seems so bleak and hopeless, and use it in the life of a Christian family to bring Glory to himself and purpose to our situations.

A family in our church has a 6 year old daughter who has cancer on her heart. Things did not look good at first, and they are a constant roller coaster now, but their faith. . . . . . . . . .oh what faith in God to know that all of this is happening under His control and for His purpose and glory. Through this little girls cancer, so many people are coming before the throne of God daily to intercede for her. If this is the only result, that more people come to God in prayer daily, than her suffering has brought glory to Him and purpose to her cancer.

If you would like to find out more about what is going on with little Lexi, you can visit this site http://caringbridge.org/visit/leximoore , where her mother posts updates almost daily on what is happening.

New Back Porch

Don't mind the date stamp. My camera needed technical support. It was taken today.

God has blessed us with the opportunity to refinance our house for an outrageously good rate. This is allowing us to get a little bit of money out to close in our back porch. The plan for this extra room is to turn it into a classroom. My wife home schools my son, in Kindergarten, and she will start pre-school our daughter next year. This classroom will get us off of the dining room table so that we can have a place set aside for just learning. My plan at first was to try and tackle this project on my own, because really, how hard could it be? In God's providence, He led me to a gentleman at church who has been doing this for many years and who I would be able to hire. As soon as I did, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to construction, code, how to hang a door, how to hang sheet-rock, so it is really great to know that this important project is in the hand of someone who is more than capable to finish it a timely manner and do it right the first time. I have done those projects before where I tought that I would try to save a few dollars, but ended up wishing I just would have paid the right person to do the job for me.

What I am writing a paper on now

My paper this week is on why European Christianity (both Protestant and Catholic) has declined. The hardest part that I have had on these papers is finding good sources for peer reviewed articles on the topics. There are a lot of good articles out there for me to choose from on this one, so this paper shouldn't be that hard. Here are a few good links to some articles that I found.
http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2005-08-18
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2003/jul18.html

What I am listening to now

Ligonier Ministries - Tough Questions Christians Face.
Good CD's. You can get the MP3's here for only $16.00. https://store.ligonier.org/product.asp?idDept=M&idCategory=TH&idProduct=FAL08MC Pretty good price for all of the great topics
-Brian

WHAT I AM DOING NOW

School work!! I am current taking classes from Liberty University https://www.liberty.edu/.

I love it. It allows me to continue my education while being able to work and stay at home. While looking for seminaries to go to, this was the best option for me. I couldn't really take a whole day to go to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans.

The class that I am taking right now is History of Christianity 2. The book for the course is Zondervon's History of Christianity. it is really good. The first class, History of Christianity 1, covered from the early church to the middle ages. This class is covering from the reformation until now. It is so interesting to see how much influence the past has on current trends in evangelicalism. I have been taking quiz's and writing papers every week now for almost 12 weeks straight. The latest papers have been on how the thinking of the 17th and 18th centuries has had influence on the church. Some of these topics make for some very interesting conversations. I will try and post some of the material that I have researched on the topics that I am currently studying. Like anybody would really be interested in that. :-)

-Brian