Jeffrey Davis

Electricity is a strange and mysterious thing. If you touch something that results in a small electric shock, your hand will be knocked right off it, leaving simply a tingling sensation. However, touch something with a higher electric charge and you may receive quite a painful (or fatal) shock that results in the inability to let go of the object that is delivering the shock. It’s quite interesting really, the larger amount of electricity actually makes the muscles contract, making it impossible to release.

As God continues to reveal erroneous ideas and beliefs, programmed into me by the institution of the church, of who He is and how He relates to us, I find something similar to electricity. Some of the less shocking “doctrines”, “theologies”, etc, are easy to let go of and nearly knock my hand off of themselves altogether. However, the underlying and over-arching ideas and doctrines that, like electricity, are the most painful and hurtful, seem to foster the inability to let go. Ironically, the longer a person holds on to the item delivering the shock (i.e. those big, painful, doctrines), the greater their chance of permanent injury or death.

Fortunately, anyone and everyone can be resurrected from this death. All it takes is the realization of the grace and unconditional love of Christ.

Along those same lines, I’m looking forward to a book coming out soon. It’s called The Diety Formerly Known as God (click here to read an excerpt). Hmm, do you think it’s a coincidence that so many people in all different parts of the world are waking up to the same things regarding the love of God?

Tags: Grace, Love, Electricity, Church, Institution, Religion

This one’s going out to all my eight to four peeps. Everything in this gem of a video/song was true of my life until two months ago…all except for the last line of the song (which I won’t give away).

Some people really thrive off of this sort of job, but I’m more and more grateful for our new business with Arbonne every day.

Tags: Arbonne, Cubicle, Video, Song, Funny

Whew, what a weekend! Friday night the wife and I kayaked out to luau island on good ole’ J. Percy Priest lake (via Elm Hill Marina) with some friends to camp. There’s a two tent limit on the isle and fortunately for us we were the only people there! Campfire, glow sticks, junk food, pipes, cigars, and good convoy, how do you beat that?

Saturday I went with a buddy to Hardee’s Buzzfest 6. We got there thirty minutes before the gates opened and stayed about six hours, and yes, the temp was in the mid ninety’s for the majority of that time. The blazing hot sun coupled with my refusal to remove my sunglasses (super-sensitive eyes) proved to be the perfect recipe for my lovely "racoon tan" I currenty have going on. Anyway, though they were the first band to play on the main stage (which normally means they suck), Ligion (no, not misspelled) was as good as any band there! I’ll be downloading some of their tunes. Black Stone Cherry, another band we purposely wanted to catch, definitely put on the best stage show. I also came to a conclusion while there on Saturday, I would prefer to NOT see the majority of the population without their shirts on…guys and girls alike. I’ll stop there.

Today, Shaunna and I caught a matinee of Little Miss Sunshine. Oh my gosh! Freaking hilarious. Dark and sadistic, but hilarious! A note to fellow movie goers, if you have a problem with liberal use of the "f" bomb, you’re gonna want to avoid this flick. But if you don’t, then I’ll quote my blog bud Sam Davidson and say, "walk, run, or push your van to the theatre."

Whew, what a long, but fun, weekend.

Tags: weekend, movie, little miss sunshine, kayak, buzzfest, camping

So what? Why explain the description of my own blog? Because it is not really what this blog is about. Some may say, "yes it is, it’s most always the topic at hand", to which I would reply, "is it really?" So allow your eyes to wander to the upper right corner of the page, that white, italicized, text reads, "Chronicling the mysterious adventure of learning what it means to BE Church, not go to it…"

It’s true, meditating on what it means to BE Church was the thought that first allowed me to scratch the surface of the real, underlying topics I talk about here, but that is all. It was merely the toe deep water I found myself in that afforded the opportunity to hear the call of the deep. However, if that were all I muse about here, essentially, I would be talking about a style of doing church, and hence I would be compelled to label it so that others may duplicate it and realize how cutting edge I am (and I’m desperately restraining from providing annoying examples, at this moment).

So I know my 20-30 visitors per day aren’t necessarily huge commenters (which is totally cool with me), but I’m curious, what do yall think I’m actually dealing with here.

Tags: Blog, Church, Faith, Spirituality

…who still fail to realize that Christendom is dead. Seriously, can we PLEASE stop referring to “biblical principles” and speaking in our native learned tongue of Christianeze, assuming total strangers and the whole of society actually know (or care) what we are talking about.

These habits and practices are destructive on many levels, and quite frankly, it needs to be stopped. Much to the popular belief of the church sub-culture, we do not live in a “Christian” society any longer. As a matter of fact, it’s been a while since we have.

So please, I know you mean well, but attempt to acclimate yourselves and each other into our culture, living the love of Christ there, rather than continuing to create a sub-culture that mirrors the ideals of Constantine (the emporer, not the movie).

Tags: Christendom, Love, Christ, Southern

Sam Davidson, a local Nashville social justice, spirituality, and life blogger, has recently launced a very innovative and much needed site called CoolPeopleCare. From the site: “CoolPeopleCare is the web resource for people who want to make a difference. Browse our site; you’ll find practical ideas, helpful hints, and local events, all aimed at motivating you to change your world.”

Get off your butt, err, home page, go check it out, and spend five minutes towards changing the world…

Tags: Cool People Care, Social Justice, Blog, Nashville, Sam Davidson

One of my very best friends in the world is off to the land of our neighbors to the north. That’s right Lacey is off to Vancouver for a year to work with a unique new church in formation. Because this church isn’t all about making money (thank God!), she’s gonna need some financial help to survive in maple leaf land.

If you feel so inclined, and I do hope that you do, you can donate to Lacey’s totally secure, online piggy bank at GiveMeaning.com. Any amount would be totally helpful and all donations are 100% tax exempt. So please, open up your heart and help a sista out.

Tags: Lacey, the Open House, Vancouver, Canada, Missions, Donation

Just a short rant to express both my tiredness and disappointment in the reaction to Mel Gibson’s drunken statements. First off, I can’t believe this is still a popular topic of media convo. I actually heard one show early this morning say, "He crossed a line, what he said is unforgivable."

*Cue the dull roar of the mob in their mantra, "crucify him, crucify him!"*

Secondly, as much as I hate it, we all have prejudices. We all stereotype. We all say things we don’t mean (whether it’s in a drunken stupor or not). If what Mel said was "unforgivable", then we all deserve to be burned alive for our prejudices and silent (or not so) hatred of people unlike us.

*Fade to clip of the movie Crash*

Tags: Mel Gibson, Crash, Jewish, Hate, Love

This week I have decided to end a chapter in the story of my life. I no longer see value in sitting across a table from someone, sipping on a cup of joe, going point for point against each other regarding spiritual, theological, or "religious" things. My reason, no good can come of it.

In such a conversation where a person intellectually proves that they are right, what happens? Normally, the person being "proven" wrong gets pissed, and the relationship is critically injured and eventually dies. The "victor" in this scenario has the short-lived pleasure of gloating over their intellectual supremacy, but at what expense? The loss of a friend. What kind of world is it that we live in where being right is of more value than relationships, more valuable than love?

Of course there are many different scenarios that could play out in a point for point conversation, but they all have similar results. Whether the conversants are best friends or strangers, it matters not. People still suffer, love is suppressed, and no one really "wins". The gamble is great and the chips are raked into the abyss of human pride.

Tags: pride, intellectualism, friendship, love