The God Who Sees Me

To say that Hagar is not a biblical hero is something of an understatement.

We easily preach sermons on Abraham, Moses, Ruth, and even Jacob.

But Hagar? Not so much.

She's a maidservant for goodness sakes. She's "the other woman" -- in a sense used by Abraham for procreation purposes when it appeared Sarah was barren. And Ishmael, her son by Abraham, does not carry the covenant in the way his half-brother Isaac does.

Yet in spite of her inherent disadvantages, Hagar utters one of Scripture's most beautiful sentences in the aftermath of Ishmael's birth:

"You are the God who sees me, [for] I have now seen the One who sees me." (Genesis 16:13)

The God who sees me.

It's still true.

When you feel invisible in the midst of your family of origin, you have a God who sees you.

When you feel invisible because of a lack of tangible professional success, you have a God who sees you.

When you feel invisible because your marriage or your romance hasn't worked out, you have a God who sees you.

And yes, when you feel invisible because you are travelling on business and with that anonymity act in ways contrary to your deepest beliefs, you have a God who sees you.

When you feel invisible because grief overwhelms you, you have a God who sees you.

When you feel invisible because it seems as though you are an outcast in your family, on your job, or even in this country, you have a God who sees you.

God saw Hagar when few others did.

And he sees you as well.

Where Have All The Editors Gone?

The book I am currently reading (not listed in Books I Like on the left, by the way) contains this sentence:

A tough customer who was determined to leave it all on the field, Somerville, like many of his teammates, played way above his head.

Let's see. That's three cliches in one sentence.

A tough customer . . . .

leave it all on the field . . .

played way above his head.

A major New York publisher released the book which prompts the obvious question: who lets this stuff through? It's bad enough that the author wrote that sentence, but where is the editor who corrects it before sending it to press?

Want to know something else? I like the book itself.

I just wonder how offenses to the English language hit the promised land of publishing.

And it makes me even more diligent to avoid cliches.

Like the plague.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Things About A Texas Weekend

I don't ride horses, wear cowboy hats, hunt deer, or eat barbecue brisket.

But I am Texan.

It's hard to understand if you're not from there, but if you are you know what I mean: it's always home.

So I was excited to travel there this past weekend with my 18 year old son Riley in order to look at two prospective colleges, the University of Texas and SMU. We flew to Austin, stayed with family, visited the University of Texas, drove to Dallas, toured SMU and attended the SMU-TCU game, hurried back to Austin for the UT-UCLA game on Saturday before catching a flight home on Sunday.

I hit the Wall about midday on Saturday. But it was all worth it.

Here are the top five things about this Texas weekend:

5. Extended time with Riley. A dad would be a fool to take that for granted.

4. T-shirts for sale in Dallas that said: "Keep Dallas Normal." Here's the background on that one. For years, much of Austin has been a land that held on to the 60s as hard as it could. Sort of the Haight-Ashbury of the southwest. Its semi-official slogan -- seen on shirts and bumper stickers everywhere -- is "Keep Austin Weird." They've succeeded. Dallas' new shirts are its impassioned plea to stay far from the Austin vibe. They're succeeding as well.

3. Taking a picture of the house I grew up in. The block that seemed so long and imposing as a six year old now seems small and manageable.

2. UT-UCLA on Saturday. It's the kind of spectacle you have to experience to understand. 101,000 people in Darrell Royal stadium, 95,000 of whom wore burnt orange t-shirts. The bands were loud, the fans rabid, and the food forgettable.



And when it became apparent that UCLA was going to pull off the upset -- they did so in dominating fashion, 34-12 -- I went through some secret delight. Because the last time I'd been in that stadium was as a six year old boy, desperately longing for visiting SMU to knock off the favored Longhorns. They didn't (38-14, I think)and I was devastated. Revenge was delayed, indirect, but still sweet . . .

1. . . . which explains my top moment, the time at SMU. My dad was on the law faculty there for from 1947-1977 and much of our lives centered on the school. That campus is still gorgeous. The people are still enthusiastic. And the football team still lost -- though they played TCU tough, leading briefly in the second half. Seeing Riley wear one of the shirts with this logo on it



is one of those moments you have to be a Davis to appreciate.

So where will Riley end up at college? We don't know . . . but probably closer to our Carolinas home than either of the schools in Texas.

But every once in awhile you can in fact go home again.

While I Was Away . . .

While I was away this weekend (more on that trip tomorrow), we showed this in Sunday's worship:



Rebecca Grayson then followed that with a killer sermon called "The Love Laboratory."

Something else interesting happened in worship yesterday: we received an award from Adam Neal of the United Methodist Church's General Board Of Global Ministries for giving the most money to Haiti relief of any church in the Western North Carolina -- just under $60,000.

We had no idea until they called us.

Our Missions Pastor Ron Dozier then took the opportunity yesterday to remind the people of the church: We don't have fund raisers. We don't take up special offerings. We don't hold bake sales. We simply receive the Sunday offering and because the people of the church are such phenomenal givers -- and perhaps because they appreciate not being "nickel and dimed" with special appeals -- we had the money when the need arose in Haiti.

So it was good to be recognized, and to have yet one more occasion to teach the people of the church why we do what we do.

It's nice to be able to leave town and know that the church can manage just fine without me.

Sacred Marriage Week Three - The Love Laboratory

A laboratory that produces love.

Full of mistakes, miscalculations, and then, when you least expect it, strokes of genius.

That's what this Sunday is about.

Sacred Marriage, Week Three: The Love Laboratory.

Don't miss it. The Spirit's moving.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Small Things Are Big

One day this week, I took one of our staffers along for a pastoral visit with a family in the early stages of grief.

As some of you know, it's the kind of work that I find challening but invigorating.

On the drive back to the church, my Good Shepherd colleague and I processed the visit. We re-hashed the things said, the things not said, the body language involved.

He noticed details in the conversation that I had taken for granted. He picked up on spoken and unspoken clues the family gave us.

In all of it, my friend saw the fingerprint of God in places where I had simply seen "conversation."

His insights were another reminder that in pastoral work, the small things matter. Nuances in conversation carry great weight.

So pay attention to the small parts of the conversation. Something big is happening.

And God is all over it.

Wednesday Groups & Sunday Classes

This semester, we're dividing up our Passage classes into two different days meeting two different needs.

Wednesday nights are care-oriented classes and groups. We launch both GriefShare and Financial Peace University tonight. Considering that the bulk of my pastoral ministry involves helping people in their initial stages of grief and supporting folks through the many pressures brought on by financial hardship, I think these are two excellent choices.

Sunday nights feature four bible-oriented experiences. Staring on September 26, we offer high-level, content heavy classes such as The Bible For The Rest Of Us, The Theology Of Romans, Living Hopefully In A Shattered World (Minor Prophets), and Defending The Faith. It's a lineup of subjects and teachers that I think can't be beat.

We're walking together here. Which means we're growing together. Won't you take the next steps on your way to spiritual maturity?

You can get more information and register for the classes here.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five 'Always' & 'Never'

"Always" and "never" are words you're never supposed to use in marital spats (or that you're always supposed to avoid), but I thought I'd give some of the leading "always" and "never" moments from my life.

1. I've never won at Bingo. And in doing nursing home ministry I've played it a fair amount. I long for that time when the victorious shout "Bingo!" will leave my lips.

2. I always shave twice a day. Morning and evening. It's like starting the day all over again.

3. I've never locked my keys in my car.

4. I always wear two pair of socks during the work week. White, thick Thor-Lo underneath to keep my feet warm and then dark blue on top to look somewhat respectable.

5. I've never smoked a single cigarette of any kind. Thanks Mom!

Sacred Marriage Video Surprise

We showed this before the sermon yesterday:



We had two purposes:

1) To emphasize the theme of the series: God designed marriage more to make us holy than to make us happy.

2) To put a face on at least part of my family. Because we have three services and because Julie, to put it mildly, is not a "typical" preacher's wife, most people in the church have not met her. (Instead of playing piano or accompanying me on pastoral visits, she's a vice-president of sales here.) The response at both the 10 and 11:30 services was full of surprise at the "reveal" at the video's end.

Sacred Marriage Week Two

It's provocative but it's true.

God designed marriage more to make us holy than to make us happy.

That's what Sacred Marriage teaches us.

And it has been so rewarding to hear the response of the people of Good Shepherd. A lot more "a-ha" than "no way!"

So we're calling Week Two "The Refining Power Of Marriage."

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Get Smart

As we walk together at Good Shepherd, we list "growing" as one of our milestones.

Meaning, we invite and expect the people of the church to grow in their knowledge and application of biblical truths.

One of the best ways we've found of accomplishing that goal is "Passage," our semester-based program of high-level, content-heavy classes.

Classes that help you get smart.

This fall we offer four different Sunday night bible classes. You can check out the list here.

I'm truly excited about our on-going partnership with Gordon-Conwell Seminary and you'll probably see me in Professor Steve Klipowicz's class on Hope For Shattered Times.

Fixing Your Thoughts

Hebrews 3:1 says it this way:

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling,

fix your thoughts on Jesus,

the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

My thoughts usually range from Good Shepherd to ESPN to Julie and my kids and then back to Good Shepherd.

They're not fixed anywhere, much less on Jesus.

What would it look like in my life if I truly fixed my thoughts on Jesus?

I'd have courage where I now have fear.

I'd have tolerance where I now have judgment.

I'd have wisdom where I now have confusion.

I'd have holiness where I now have sinfulness.

Fixing thoughts on Jesus -- his life, his words, his death, and his continuing exaltation at the right hand of the Father.

I'll try it today.

Will you?

Top Five Tuesday -- Five Things I Like About Pathfinders

So last night we had our launch of the Sacred Marriage Pathfinders group ministry. It was another reminder of why I like this approach to group life so much.

Here goes . . . the top five things I like about Pathfinders.

1. More people show up than sign up. Going into last night's event, we had about 70 people who had signed up. 150 showed up. To be sure, we had to scramble some but it was all worth it.

2. Groups are eclectic. Though this cycle of Pathfinders will focus on Sacred Marriage, the group I will lead has six people who are single. We also have a variety of generations. And we have Anglos, African-Americans, and Hispanics. You know . . . like we'll have in heaven.

3. It "de-weirds" small groups. Because the focus is more on community than on content and because it doesn't begin with a covenant form drenched in church lingo, Pathfinders is more accessible to people exploring the faith than the traditional small group model.

4. The curriculum is the sermon. By framing the conversation as a follow up to the Sunday message, Pathfinders keeps large segments of the church focused on the same topic at the same time.

5. It makes a big church feel small. When I see people socializing throughout our campus and I ask them how they met, they almost inevitably answer, "we were in a Pathfinders group together." That's a win.

You can still get in on this six week Sacred Marriage Pathfinders cycle by checking here.

Weekend Odds And Ends

Perhaps it was the fact that the weekend came so soon on the heels of the Labor Day holiday.

Or maybe it was because the weekend was full of both down time and up time.

Or even the fact that I spent some time getting over an infection brought on by my days at high altitude in Utah.

But it seems like a lot happened just since Friday. A sampling . . .

• Riley's Charlotte Christian School football team won its Friday night game 50-14 and now stand at 3-1. They were ahead 41-8 at half time and game officials mercifully had the clock run continuously throughout the second half.
• I officiated at a wedding on Saturday afternoon.
• Grew despondent watching Roger Federer lose to Novak Djokovic in Saturday evening's US Open semi-final. Federer had two match points yet Djokovic came back. This was the third match Federer has lost this year after holding match point, though of course the other two didn't hurt nearly as much as this one.
• Decided I couldn't quite stomach the novel I'd started so ditched it in favor of an easy-to-read sports book. See "Books I Like" to the left.
• SMU beat UAB, 28-7.
• Saw that Princeton's women's tennis team has received an NCAA reprimand. Seriously?
• On Sunday morning, our scheduled bass player had a car wreck on the way to church. He had X-rays in the ER but was released to home. Here's what's doubly interesting. Chris Macedo subbed at the last minute on bass . . . yet he played the bass guitar part on a keyboard. His high tech synthesizer has a bass guitar effect, so he simply played that part while looking for all the world like he was playing keys. Amazing.
• Launched Sacred Marriage. It's an honor to teach on such important material.
• You can still sign up for the Sacred Marriage Pathfinders Launch here.
• Also started a new prayer ministry on Sunday morning called the Altar Prayer Ministry. We now have a group of trained prayer guides available for prayer and conversation at the conclusion of each service. I was glad to hear that several Good Shepherd folks took advantage of it on the very first Sunday.
• Started something else on Sunday: Pathfinders Espanol. Our own Sammy Gonzalez now leads a Sunday morning Pathfinders group in Spanish. They had to bring in extra chairs for the first meeting. Dios le bendiga!
• Continue to write a lot of notes to first time guests each Sunday night. Don't know why we've had an uptick recently. That note writing is long but rewarding work.

Sacred Marriage Launch

Urgent.

Excited.

Passionate.

Determined.

That's how I feel about our new series, Sacred Marriage.

We're throwing all our best resources at this effort to cast new light on an ancient institution: sermons, music, visuals, and, perhaps most importantly, Pathfinders groups.

We are passionate about teaching people on Sunday mornings and then having them "re-gather" together on Monday night in Pathfinders groups to discuss the same concept.

To sign up for the Pathfinders launch -- childcare provided -- check here.

The first sermon in the series is called "What If . . .?"

Sunday. 8:30. 10. 11:30.

Methodists in Utah

These pictures are from the stunning mountainside of Park City, Utah.

Julie and I were there for three days last week at a gathering of Methodist pastors.

A gathering of Methodists in Utah sounds weird, I must admit. There's another religious group beginning with "M" that we usually associate with that state.

Yet there we were at the Leading Edge Conference, an annual gathering of pastors of the 100 highest attended United Methodist Churches in the Country. This year, 89 of those pastors showed up along with 20 or so bishops . . . who I think wanted to see what we are up to.



What are we up to? The purpose is three-fold: 1) share best practices; 2) mutual encouragement and exhortation; and 3) planning and praying for the renewal of the denomination.

Some interesting statistics about these churches:

1) The largest is the Church Of The Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas with about 17,000 members and 8,000 in weekend attendance.

2) The smallest of the "100" averages 1189 people per Sunday.

3) Four churches come from Mecklenburg county: Matthews, Good Shepherd, Myers Park, and Davidson.

4) Of the 89 pastors in Utah, 23 hold degrees from Asbury Seminary. That's a remarkable statistic, especially considering that ATS is not an "official" United Methodist school in the same way as Duke, Emory, or SMU.

The Bible And The Self

American culture is wrapped up in the "self.'

There's Self magazine.

A few years ago, many of us believed that infusing teenagers with self-esteem would solve their problems -- or prevent problems from arising in the first place.

Even today, we focus in on self-respect and self-care.

Yet the bible seems remarkably free of such concerns.

Instead, listen to what Paul tells Titus:

Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. (Titus 2:2)

Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. (Titus 2:6)

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'no' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age. (Titus 2:11-12)

Not self-care, self-esteem, or even self-respect. Self control.

What kind of difference would that make in our society?

What kind of difference would that make in your life? In mine?

If this becomes a series . . . you heard it here first.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Things About Having A Son

As I posted last week, my daughter celebrated her 21st birthday on September 2.

Well, yesterday my son Riley turned 18.

Twenty-one and 18 . . . two major milestones.

Anyway, as some of you know I was in the early days unsure about my ability to be a father to a son. I knew I would do well with a daughter, but for a variety of reasons I did not have confidence when we found out that we would be having a little boy.

Eighteen years in, I can't imagine it any other way. I worked on those fears and soon after Riley invaded our world, I realized that this relationship was just the kind of gift I needed.

While I haven't taught him to fish, hunt, or chew tobacco, nevertheless we've done well together. Here are the top five things about having a son:

1. Sports & Memory. When I was six or seven, I'd cry whenever the SMU Mustangs or Dallas Cowboys lost a football game. Riley did the same thing at the same age, only with the Tampa Bay Bucs and the University of Miami Hurricanes. What is it about little boys that they invest such emotion in heroes, athletes, and teams? I don't know the answer . . . but I do believe their focus and loyalty has something to teach us.

2. Music. What a progression. He fell asleep in my arms at a Jars of Clay concert when he was four. Then I took him to a Hanson show when he was five. Soon I introduced him to Led Zeppelin . . . and he liked it. We saw the Rolling Stones together when he was 13 -- the first event ever at what was then called Bobcats Arena. And now? I watch him and his band in some of the shows they play around the area.

3. Juvenile Humor. I think most middle-age men still find the things they laughed about in high school to be funny. We're just wound too tightly to admit it. Living and laughing with a high schooler loosens me up.

4. When They Need Us. Car wrecks. College advice. Questions of faith. Even teenage boys have times when the veneer drops and they really do need their parents.

5. My son's a beast. That's a good thing, by the way. It's what they say in the gym or on the football field about people who are really strong. And he is.

Servolution Week Five: Bring It On Home

No, not the Led Zeppelin song of the same name.

Instead, a way of reminding ourselves of the fact that Servolution has everything to do with our closest of relationships.

And that servolutionaries need to know and remember when the servolution begins.

I think you'll like it.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Twenty-One Years Ago Today . . .

. . . I became a dad.

We lived in Georgetown, Kentucky, I was in my last year at Asbury Seminary, and our daughter Taylor Charlotte Davis was born at the Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington.

I still remember that she had a head of thick dark hair (like her mom, of course) as well as big, brown eyes.

Today? She still has thick dark hair and big brown eyes.

I also remember an feeling an overwhelming sense of responsibility -- Julie and I had, humanly speaking, created this life and now were in charge of it. Of her.

These days she's a senior in college and by all appearances has a level head and a firm faith. The nicest thing she ever said to us was, "I never had to find myself because I always knew who I was."

The Next Series

Servolution isn't even complete yet, but we are already talking about the next series: Sacred Marriage.

Here's a glimpse of how important the series is to me:



I love it when the Sunday messages and Pathfinders groups are so tightly connected. For this particular Pathfinders cycle, the guides spent their Monday nights in August do a "pilot" Sacred Marriage group. So as they lead the groups that start on September 13, they will be well prepared indeed.

To sign up for the Pathfinders Launch event that will allow you to go deeper into Sacred Marriage, click here.