Christianity and Ministry Archives - Page 2 of 5

Company Policy

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Hannah Davis

An arm-chair-quarterback was sharing her opinions about a prominent Christian leader the other day. I’d never heard of the leader (or the quarterback) before, so she could have been totally right. But she made a statement that bothered me.

“I think [Christian] leaders should be held at a higher standard, even more than the lay members.”

I guess. Yeah. But not really.

Because when we say that leaders are called to a “higher” standard, it implies that the rest of us are called to a lesser standard. And that just doesn’t work for me.

I mean, think of it like this:

I worked at Wal-Mart for 3 hellish months (OK, it was 3 mildly aggravating months). And there was not one standard for the managers because they were “leadership” and another for the regular employees.

The company never said, “If you’re management, you must come to work on time, but if you’re a cashier, you can come in 20 minutes late.” No. Or, “Management is not allowed to steal from the cash registers, but if you’re only part time, we look the other way.” No.

They had company policies. It didn’t matter your role or how many smiley stickers you handed out, you still had to wear a shirt to work. You had to show up for your shift. You couldn’t beat your coworkers up. You couldn’t sell alcohol to minors. Stuff like that.

And the Kingdom of heaven is no different. We all work for the same company and we all have to follow company policy. Yeah, some of us have roles that require more responsibility, or more time, or more skills than others of us.

But. None of us are allowed to sin. Leaders or non-leaders. We’re called to be perfect, like God. Dead to the flesh. Free from sin. And if we do sin, we all receive the same grace. And are all made the same righteousness of Christ.

So, back to this whole, “Leaders are called to a higher standard” bit. Why do we say that? I mean, most of us have probably spouted something akin to it at some point. I know I have. So, why?

Because it makes us feel better. Just like any form of judgementalism, it lets us think we’re really doing OK. If so-and-so is a leader and she just checked into rehab, then my little gossip problem isn’t too much to be worried about.

And guys, Jesus is so beautiful. The grace and forgiveness He’s extended to us is nothing we could even remotely deserve. Let’s just quit trying to play this little “God grades on a curve” game and live our lives in response to the love He’s lavished on us.

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The Sovereignty of God and Yogurt

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Hannah Davis

In my last blog, I told people not to be mean when discussing theology. This time, I’m going to talk theology (kinda). So it’s possible that my previous entry was just a ploy to make you be nice to me…

I’ve been wrestling with a lot of big concepts lately.

Like the sovereignty of God. Yes.

Basically, I hear a running debate around me in Christianity, which I’ll sum up like this:

If man has a free will (to make choices about his life and/or salvation) that would negate God’s sovereignty. However, if God is in complete control, then man must not have a free will.

I believe in the sovereignty of God. Completely. But, I mean, man obviously makes choices. We’re not robots or drones. Or puppets.

I was thinking aloud to my husband the other night. And I said, “I don’t really understand why this is a debate. Why, if God gives man a free will, would that make Him any less sovereign? If He lets man have choices, how does that make God any less in control?

Like with our kids. If I say to Isaiah, “Do you want peach yogurt or strawberry yogurt for lunch?” does me offering him a choice mean I’m any less the parent? No one would look at me and say, “Wow, that lady’s kids are so out of control. She let them pick what kind of yogurt they want.”

As parents, we give our kids choices all the time. We give them choices when we don’t care what they decide because either option is good for them. Sometimes we offer two choices, one good and one bad, knowing which one they’ll gravitate towards: “Do you want to stop whining or go to bed?” And then there are those learning choices: “If you want the other kids at the park to play with you, then you need to be kind. It’s your decision.”

Honestly, when parents don’t give their kids choices, it’s a bit disconcerting. Something would feel a bit off if we saw a mom sitting in the playroom with her kid, deciding which toy he would play with next. Most of us, would say, “Back off, Lady! Give your kid some space.”

And when we give our kids controlled choices, it doesn’t negate our authority in their lives. It doesn’t mean the kids are running the show. Often, by giving our kids choices, we are actually shaping their lives more than if we told them every move to make.

So do we think we’re better parents than God the Father? That’s pretty much what Jesus was asking here:

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11

I think it’s kind of funny that we think our choices could thwart the plans of the God of the Angel Armies. Friends, we are not that big. We’re not that powerful.

He’s a good Father. He knows when to sovereignly give us a choice.

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Fighting about Jesus

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Hannah Davis

My husband and I like to learn from a pretty diverse group of Christian leaders. Listening to different movements and schools of thought keeps us well rounded.

But if we put all of our favorite pastors in the same room, a brawl would probably break out. Not between the pastors. No. I mean between their followers, who would freak out that their favorite leader was hanging out with “so and so.” Of course, this is just a theory…

Which kind of makes me think of my kids in the car yesterday. They asked me to play a specific song. “I want the one about baby Jesus!” Leah exclaimed. Which means Misty Edwards’, People Get Ready.

So we were listening to Misty sing:

“He’s not a baby in a manger anymore
He’s not a broken man on a cross
He didn’t stay in the grave
And He’s not staying in heaven forever!”

And my kids started FIGHTING. Leah was singing along, which compelled Isaiah to complain that he couldn’t hear the song. Even though I’d already turned it up so loud that the car next to me wanted to get saved. Leah defended herself, avowing that she was singing “quiet.” And back and forth it went.

I mean, normally I love a good irony, but I really was compelled to intervene, “Guys. We are fighting about listening to a song about Jesus. Do you think that makes Jesus happy?”

So really, guys, when we fight about Jesus, does that make Him happy?

Pre-trib versus post-trib. Eternal security versus losing our salvation. Miracles versus cessationism. Grace versus law. Free will versus sovereignty of God. Alcohol versus no alcohol. Fighting about Jesus. And what He said and what we think He thinks.

Studying the Word to learn the truth about the nature of God is not bad. Personally, I love long drawn out theological conversations… but we’re not supposed to be mean. For reals.

You know how I know? Because Jesus said so.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Jesus doesn’t want us to fight about Him. He doesn’t want us to use the Bible as a sword to hack each other in pieces. He wants us to show off our love for each other.

So play nice, kids.

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Just for Company

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Hannah Davis

I’m so not a “cleany”.

I mean, some people keep their houses clean so they will be clean. You know, “a clean house is a happy house…” la la la. What I’m trying to say is, they clean their houses for THEMSELVES.

Yes, weird I know.

I clean my house because the landlord is stopping by. Or my kids have a playdate. Or Chris’ family is coming to stay for the weekend. Or we’re having church in our living room (this is every week, so…).

In other words, I clean my house for other people. If push came to shove and no one was coming over for a few weeks, I MIGHT clean my house just to make my husband happy or something. But still… it’d be for other people. Because personally, I don’t care that much.

OK, so here ‘s my dilemma: I’m really tempted to “Jesus juke” my own blog here. Normally I hate a Jesus juke… but it is MY blog, so I can do what I want. Ahhhhh… OK, I’ll go for it!

So you know how I just said I only clean my house when other people are going to see it?

Yeah. So I think often we Christians (and really, everyone) walk out life dictated by what other people will see.

I’m not really talking about sin, because you know, sin is bad anytime. No, it’s more the other stuff.

Like praying. We have a way to pray in front of other people that I doubt most of us use in private. In Bible Study Group, we’re all, “Oh most gracious Heavenly Father…” but in private, it’s more of, “God please help me…” And really, which is a more authentic prayer?

We just like to make things sound so pretty and nice. And glossy.

For example, in our home we read a Bible story to our kids every night… or almost every night. When we aren’t getting them in bed at 10 PM. But I get all stressed out when I hear other parents talk about doing “Family Devotions.” I have pictures of them preparing lesson plans, complete with a flannelgraph and appropriate memory verses. And then my wise husband says, “Babe. We do ‘devotions’ with our kids. We pray with them every night and read them a Bible story.” And I’m all like, “Oh. That’s all there is to it?”

Because my version doesn’t seem as glamorous to me. But it’s real.

I guess I don’t want to live in a pretty, glossy way that leaves others feeling slightly inadequate. I’d so much rather serve Jesus in a way that is genuinely me, even if it’s a little rough around the edges.

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Thank Goodness It’s Good Friday

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Hannah Davis

I have strict holiday rules.

I mean, I’m not some Martha Stewart-esque holiday girl. But there are certain things that are just important to me.

For example, no one plays Christmas music in my house until the Day After Thanksgiving or I will hurt them. All members of my family must wear appropriate festive clothing for anything Christmas related, such as seeing Santa, baking Christmas cookies or setting up the Tree (except my husband, because I can’t tell him what to wear). We do not open ANY Christmas presents until Christmas morning. Not even if my husband tries to melt me with pleading looks. (OK, I’ve caved on that one, but I’m not proud of it.)

It’s not just at Christmas. Easter has its fair share of important things. Children in my house must be dressed up. Floral for girls, ties for boys, etc. And pictures will be taken. Many, many pictures; before church, so that nothing gets spilled or smeared on Easter finery. And they’d better not even think about taking off those Easter clothes until after any potential Easter egg hunts.

And then there’s Good Friday.

I’m very particular about Good Friday weather. I don’t appreciate sunny Good Fridays. No, Good Friday should be rainy, foggy or at the very least, cloudy. And people should wear black. All black, preferably.

In all seriousness about Good Friday (not that I was joking before), I really do feel that there is an epic solemnness about this day that should be observed.

I grew up in the Charismatic church culture, where Good Friday was kind of passed over as a dreary inconvenience. At least that was my impression as a child. Maybe I’m wrong and everybody LOVED it. I don’t know.

But typically, all we did to “celebrate” was a prayer meeting over the lunch hour. And then, when I got immersed in the “revival culture” (if you don’t know what that is, you can message me and ask… or something), Friday night services were already the norm, so we pretty much did business as usual on Good Friday. And honestly, many churches don’t have any type of Good Friday gathering.

And I just don’t get that.

Good Friday is one of the most important days in the whole Christian calendar. I mean, we do realize that without Good Friday, there is no Easter, right? Without Good Friday, there’s no lily filled sanctuaries, no Sun-Rise Services, no chocolate bunnies, no egg hunts, no forgiveness of sins.

Without Good Friday, our whole faith ship is sunk. So why don’t we celebrate it? It seems like it would be normal to embrace the wild wonder of a Life sacrificed, revel in the mournful awe of Holy death, embrace the momentary gloom that will be replaced with resurrection splendor. Is it really so inconvenient to halt our normal routine and reflect on the fact that Jesus died so that we can live?

So I’m so excited (in a calm and mournful way, of course) for Destiny Church’s Good Friday Vigil.

We’re going to have a candle-light gathering in our living room, where we’ll sing about the beautiful cross, meditate on Jesus’ great sacrifice, share Communion and embrace the deep darkness that preceded the light.

And yes, a couple of kids will probably have a jumping contest in the playroom immediately above our vigil or wander through making car noises. But you know? I don’t care. I’m going to fully delight in Good Friday. You can count on it.

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I May or May Not Hate Bible Reading Plans

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Hannah Davis

So I’ve been reading through the New Testament in a month, using You Version’s New Thru 30 plan. At the beginning of the venture I expressed my disdain for Bible reading plans.

So here is the update. I finished! OK, my New Thru 30 was more of a New Thru 31, but I can still say I did it in a month, so I’m satisfied.

How was it, you ask? Well, it about killed me. I started out with glowing enthusiasm. That was when they had me reading between 8 and 12 chapters a day. And then one day it was 25 chapters. TWENTY-FIVE, friends! That’s a lot of reading. Those weekends for catch-up became vital to my existence.

And then I missed a day.

After that it was just brutal. But I finished! I finished.

Do I regret doing the plan? Not a bit. I mean, I read the New Testament through in a month, which has never been done in the history of me. And the Word is amazing. And I discovered that I really liked checking off on my iPhone as I read the chapters. It guilted me into reading when I didn’t want to and made me feel like a million bucks when I did it.

So this is what I picked up in my whirlwind tour of the NT:

• Jesus is good. Oh so good, with a a goodness that leaves me speechless and undone.

• The Kingdom of God is simple and epic all at the same time. And we American Christians barely have a clue what it’s all about. But I’m going to try to figure it out, if it’s the last thing I do.

And here’s the crazy part… even though I almost died doing my first Bible reading plan (believe me, it was a close call!), I’ve already got my next one picked out to start tomorrow!

It’s the Historical Plan, where you read the Old Testament through the way Jewish people would have back in the day, and the New Testament in the order it was written. Sounds fun!

Just to up the ante, I plan to read it through by the end of the year, even though I’m a month behind. I can catch up! After all, most days it only has me read 3 chapters a day. After 25 at a time, this will be a walk in the park!

And… here’s my nifty badge that You Version gave me for finishing New Thru 30. Aren’t you jealous?!

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I’m stuck…

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Hannah Davis

As a self-avowed Bible-reading-plan hater, I’m proud to say that I’m right on track with YouVersion’s NewThru30. It’s crazy to realize that I’ve read all of Matthew and am already into Mark, just since the New Year.

But I’m stuck. I’m stuck back at the end of Matthew 11. I read it over and over. I’ve made my husband read it. I’ve made my friends read it. I’m considering pulling random strangers off the street to read it. I’m going to make you read it:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” MSG

Sometimes it feel as if Christianity gets bogged down in a wearying array of traditions and meaningless add-ons. But this Kingdom, the one Jesus offers, is something completely different. It’s simple and real and makes my heart swell with joy.

It’s the kind of Kingdom I want to sign-on for.

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I Hate Bible Reading Plans

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Hannah Davis

I don’t do Bible reading plans. They just don’t work out well for me. It always turns into an epic fail, somewhere between week 3 and Leviticus.

So when people on Twitter started buzzing about #NTx12 (reading the New Testament through in 30 days, for 12 months), I complained to Chris about my personal disdain for Bible reading plans, how they were too much pressure, etc.

When I got done ranting, my much-more-Christlike-than-me husband looked at me out of the corner of his eye and said, “I was planning on suggesting Destiny Church do that plan for the first month.”

And there I was, faced with a dilemma. Was I going to be a pathetic whiner or a submissive wife and spiritual church-planter?

I’m not going to lie. “Whine” was pretty much my first reaction. But something stopped me (I think we can safely assume it was Holy Spirit). It came down to this: Was I willing to spend extra time immersing myself in more of the Word than normal? Um, it didn’t really sound like a bad deal when I looked at it that way.

So now that I’ve got my heart behaving properly, I’m actually really excited about this plan! For one, it’s only 30 days long. That barely gives me time to fall off the wagon!

Also, the way YouVersion has it set up, you get weekends “off.” Before you cry “unspiritual,” think about it… You don’t get sidetracked on the days that you have a routine.

No, it’s more like… SUNDAY MORNING. When your hair won’t do right, and the kids are crying because they have to take a bath before church, and the dog wants to walk around the block 4 times before he’ll do his business. After you manage to get everyone piled in the car more or less alive, you realize you haven’t done your Bible reading, but you think, “Well, at least they’re going to read the Bible at church.”

THAT’S when you get behind. And then it’s a rolling snowball of behindness, that leaves you having to read all four Gospels in one day, just to catch up. So I’m good with weekends off.

And the last reason I’m excited is because I’m reading in The Message and I love the fresh perspective. I did my first day of the plan and I basically bawled through the whole thing. Because Jesus is just that beautiful.

So you want to join me? I’ll give you a hint. Even though the plan started on January 1st, today is the first day with reading, so you’re not behind! Once you click “start plan” on YouVersion, edit your start date to January 1 and it will correctly place you on Day 3 and you can start reading today!

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I’m His Favorite

Posted on January 23, 2010 by Hannah Davis

I love the line that Misty Edwards sings, “Jesus, here I am, Your favorite one.” One time I quoted it to a friend and from the look on his face, you would have thought I said, “Jesus is going to eat me for dinner tonight.”

He asked me incredulously, “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“Sure I do.” I replied. “But I think you’re His favorite one too!”

I 100% believe that each of us is Jesus favorite one, but how does that work logistically? Wouldn’t all of us being His favorite essentially make none of us a favorite? I mean, the very nature of favorite implies singling out.

Let’s pretend that you’re taking one of those amazing quizzes that are perpetually making the rounds of the internet:

What is your favorite movie? “Sound of Music”
What is your favorite food? “Corn on the cob”
What is your favorite animal? “Platypus”

What if the next question demanded, “Now, of those 3, which is your favorite?” It’s a ridiculous question, because they are all your favorites. One can’t be chosen over the other, as each item is from a different category and impossible to really compare with the others.

I think that may be how the Lord looks at each of us. He doesn’t view humanity as a mass and say, “Well, I like that one’s nose better, but this one has better social skills, and the one over there sings prettier.” He doesn’t compare us based on each other.

Rather, I imagine He sees us each in our own category, made unique by Him, with our own individual characteristics, talents, smile, temperament and worship to bring Him. To Jesus, a new genre was unveiled when every one of us was born: incomparable to those around us, completely different from anything else He’s ever made.

We love to judge ourselves by the person next to us, but Jesus’ only measurement is based on who He created us to be, totally non-contingent on other people. He says, “You’re the perfect Hannah!” “Rob! Wow, just what I imagined!” “You’re so good at being Kelly!” “You’re exactly what Tim should be!” “I love how you do that Kevin thing!”

He looks at you and says, “You’re my favorite one!”

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A Lesson From the Gay Community

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Hannah Davis

My husband made a comment the other day that really caught my attention. We were discussing some recent events in the news and he said, “It’s interesting that the gay community is about 4% of the population of the United States.” However, the media, movies, and even popular opinion make it seem that the percentage would be much higher.

The reason this conversation sparked my interest is because Ron Luce has predicted that if things continue in the same vein they’re currently in, only 4% of teenagers will grow up to be genuine Christian adults. So, theoretically, in the next generation, the Christian community and the homosexual community will be about the same percent of the American population. When Christians hear a statistic like that, we seem to throw up our hands and say, “That’s horrible! Oh poor us.” I say, “Not so fast, people!”

I was recently at a conference, where the speaker claimed that about 10 years ago, 12 members of the gay community met in a hotel room to strategize how to shift the culture of our nation in their favor. They drew up a plan that encompassed movies, music, TV, politics, etc. And it worked! Our country’s perspective regarding homosexuality has undergone a drastic change, to the point it has become a socially viable lifestyle.

Here’s the bottom line. If gays can bring that much of a cultural reprogramming, being about 4% of the population, Christians can transform our country that much more, with Holy Spirit backing us up! We are completely able to bring cultural reformation, to be a driving force that shapes the face of our nation and advance Kingdom principles.

But. The homosexual community did not change a nation’s mindset by acting “straight”. They didn’t think they could advance their agenda by pretending to be like everyone around them. And neither can the Church. We need to lose the idea that we can talk the same, walk the same, be entertained the same, and look the same as those around us and still achieve a change in our world.

If we desire to bring cultural reformation, we must be focused, strategic, purposeful and wholeheartedly committed to our goal. We must lay aside the weights that hold us back and keep us from walking in our destiny of advancing the Kingdom. There are people waiting for you to show them the truth, to change their perspective on life, to show them Jesus. Walk as children of light and transform your community and ultimately the world!

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