Thanks to the awesomeness of my mac, I put together this website last night in about an hour:
www.ewdavis.com
I'm going to do my blogging there from here on out so check it out!!
2.19.2009
2.06.2009
a great feeling
I've worked at the church for over a year now and have grown to love those kids. As any of you who've worked with or parented teenagers knows, you always wonder if you're getting through to them. I tend to find a good statement or phrase and use it over and over again, injecting it into any lesson I teach. My latest statement is, "I can't stand it when people make statements about the Bible or Christianity without being able to back it up."
One of the kids came up to me after church one Sunday and said, "When you said that, it made me want to read the Bible more."
It was amazing!
One of the kids came up to me after church one Sunday and said, "When you said that, it made me want to read the Bible more."
It was amazing!
2.03.2009
Our Christmas Video!
Sorry about the low quality...The best version was too large to put on here. Enjoy!!
1.28.2009
Ice Day!
While Indiana tried to shovel out of a ton of snow, Dallas was hamstrung by a ghastly 1/4" of ice. Everything was shut down, including large portions of vital roadways. I spent the day at julie's, watching Rat Race, catching her up on Lost, and eating some Chik-Fil-A. I went with the #4, no tomatoes.
Now it's time for some reading!!
Now it's time for some reading!!
1.20.2009
this wedding song thing
It's been about 7 hours since my fiancee got the official call about the fate of our wedding song choice. I had to wait this long to write this so I wouldn't concentrate on my feelings about the wedding music committee, but on the song and it's meaning for Julie and I. I'm actually going to write it, save it, email it to Julie, then come back to look at it again to make sure I stay on message.
(as an aside, it seems ridiculous to me to get this upset about a song, or even feel this attached to a song, but it affected us in a great way...hopefully you'll see that in my words)
As our wedding grows closer (53 days away!), I've been reflecting on the circumstances that led us to each other.
Julie is from Mississippi originally and moved to Dallas almost 6 years ago to work while most of her friends and classmates chose Nashville or some other southeastern city. While here, she befriended some DTS students who, to this day, remain her close friends. After I graduated from college, I worked around Indiana politics for a few years, ultimately deciding to pursue a seminary degree here in Dallas. About 6 months after I moved to Dallas, I moved in with some fellow DTS students who were friends with Julie. After some careful scheming by our friends, Julie and I were introduced and started dating about 6 months later.
It's amazing to me how God brought us together. Without boring you all with the details, the whole story seems very unlikely. A job opportunity here, a different living situation there, and we wouldn't be together. That's what makes this song special to us.
The song "Bigger Than Us" is more than just a love song. The songwriter is communicating to his wife the fact that God brought them together. He talks about how God designed the stars from the beginning and set the earth's rotation to precise specifications, just like He did for the couple in the song. He talks about the love God used to design the world, even to the great detail of pairing two people together. When we hear that song, we praise God for putting us together from the beginning and directing our lives with such precision to put us together in the right time and place.
The fact that this song was denied has upset us both, and really saddens me on a few levels. First, our wedding committee contact was not even open to discussing it with us. Their reasoning was that it wasn't worshipful enough. No questions asked. It's not like we're trying to pull the wool over their eyes here. In our opinion, there is no question about the singer's intent--to praise God for His handiwork. But they didn't want to hear that and wouldn't answer our rebuttals. They just said something like "A lot of people get their wedding songs denied. We won't even let Ave Maria be played." (Ave Maria and Bigger Than Us are two completely different theological viewpoints...should be irrelevant) Conversation over.
Second, I'm really disappointed that poetic license has taken a hit in the church. Here is a Christian singer/songwriter who writes amazing lyrics and, just because they aren't in the style of Michael W. Smith, it is deemed to be not worshipful enough. We shouldn't have to apologize for substituting the words "this love is something bigger than us" for "our marriage is God-designed and ordained." It flows better and makes a better, more interesting song. I'm sure if we picked some Darlene Zschech-Hillsong-baby's milk-spoon-fed-follow-the-bouncing-ball song, it would have been approved (an older lady I used to work w/ called them 7-11 songs...7 words repeated 11 times). He's not making the audience stretch to understand that he's talking about God, he's stretching the audience to think about love in the context of God's whole creation. Beautiful!
Third, the way we were designing the service, the song would have gone after the homily, giving our pastor the opportunity to set the song up by talking about how our marriage is designed by God. A wedding isn't just a thing that people should go to, smile, and leave. It should point to God in a way that is poignant, thought-provoking, and emotionally stirring. Placing this song after the homily gives the attendees the chance to reflect on what the pastor just said in a way that is new and fresh...perhaps a way they've never thought about before. A way that could be more accessible without compromising the Truth.
Fourth, it's our wedding! I could understand this decision if we were trying to slip Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" by them (an actual suggestion on a wedding music website). We should be able to choose the music we want at our own wedding.
I know there are more songs out there that can do all of these things that might get past the Iron Curtain, but this is a song that stirs us spiritually and means a lot to us. The fact that a small committee in a large church can make the determination without even talking to us about is extremely disturbing. It also helps me remember that churches aren't perfect (and neither am I, judging by my thoughts immediately after hearing the news).
Pray for Julie and I, our attitudes and conduct in this situation. We love each other, and we know that our marrige is more than a song, but, as you can tell, this is a song and an idea that means a lot to us.
(as an aside, it seems ridiculous to me to get this upset about a song, or even feel this attached to a song, but it affected us in a great way...hopefully you'll see that in my words)
As our wedding grows closer (53 days away!), I've been reflecting on the circumstances that led us to each other.
Julie is from Mississippi originally and moved to Dallas almost 6 years ago to work while most of her friends and classmates chose Nashville or some other southeastern city. While here, she befriended some DTS students who, to this day, remain her close friends. After I graduated from college, I worked around Indiana politics for a few years, ultimately deciding to pursue a seminary degree here in Dallas. About 6 months after I moved to Dallas, I moved in with some fellow DTS students who were friends with Julie. After some careful scheming by our friends, Julie and I were introduced and started dating about 6 months later.
It's amazing to me how God brought us together. Without boring you all with the details, the whole story seems very unlikely. A job opportunity here, a different living situation there, and we wouldn't be together. That's what makes this song special to us.
The song "Bigger Than Us" is more than just a love song. The songwriter is communicating to his wife the fact that God brought them together. He talks about how God designed the stars from the beginning and set the earth's rotation to precise specifications, just like He did for the couple in the song. He talks about the love God used to design the world, even to the great detail of pairing two people together. When we hear that song, we praise God for putting us together from the beginning and directing our lives with such precision to put us together in the right time and place.
The fact that this song was denied has upset us both, and really saddens me on a few levels. First, our wedding committee contact was not even open to discussing it with us. Their reasoning was that it wasn't worshipful enough. No questions asked. It's not like we're trying to pull the wool over their eyes here. In our opinion, there is no question about the singer's intent--to praise God for His handiwork. But they didn't want to hear that and wouldn't answer our rebuttals. They just said something like "A lot of people get their wedding songs denied. We won't even let Ave Maria be played." (Ave Maria and Bigger Than Us are two completely different theological viewpoints...should be irrelevant) Conversation over.
Second, I'm really disappointed that poetic license has taken a hit in the church. Here is a Christian singer/songwriter who writes amazing lyrics and, just because they aren't in the style of Michael W. Smith, it is deemed to be not worshipful enough. We shouldn't have to apologize for substituting the words "this love is something bigger than us" for "our marriage is God-designed and ordained." It flows better and makes a better, more interesting song. I'm sure if we picked some Darlene Zschech-Hillsong-baby's milk-spoon-fed-follow-the-bouncing-ball song, it would have been approved (an older lady I used to work w/ called them 7-11 songs...7 words repeated 11 times). He's not making the audience stretch to understand that he's talking about God, he's stretching the audience to think about love in the context of God's whole creation. Beautiful!
Third, the way we were designing the service, the song would have gone after the homily, giving our pastor the opportunity to set the song up by talking about how our marriage is designed by God. A wedding isn't just a thing that people should go to, smile, and leave. It should point to God in a way that is poignant, thought-provoking, and emotionally stirring. Placing this song after the homily gives the attendees the chance to reflect on what the pastor just said in a way that is new and fresh...perhaps a way they've never thought about before. A way that could be more accessible without compromising the Truth.
Fourth, it's our wedding! I could understand this decision if we were trying to slip Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" by them (an actual suggestion on a wedding music website). We should be able to choose the music we want at our own wedding.
I know there are more songs out there that can do all of these things that might get past the Iron Curtain, but this is a song that stirs us spiritually and means a lot to us. The fact that a small committee in a large church can make the determination without even talking to us about is extremely disturbing. It also helps me remember that churches aren't perfect (and neither am I, judging by my thoughts immediately after hearing the news).
Pray for Julie and I, our attitudes and conduct in this situation. We love each other, and we know that our marrige is more than a song, but, as you can tell, this is a song and an idea that means a lot to us.
1.19.2009
Bigger Than Us
We wanted this song to be played/sung at our wedding...but it got nixed
Got a feeling
Somebody's up there pulling the strings
We're not on our own
Do you see it?
It's just like watching gravity fall
And you don't know how
Oh, but signs point to a miracle
It's not coincidence
We've gotten into this
Baby, this love is something
Something bigger than us
Bigger than us
Our love is something
Something bigger than us
Look above us
You'll see what I've been trying to say
These stars were arranged
Just like we were
And I thought I found you
All on my own
That's crazy now
Oh, when it's all so unbelievable
I'm not superstitious
Baby, it's just making sense that this
Love is something
Something bigger than us
Bigger than us
Our love is something
Something bigger than us
To say that from the Beginning
To the beginning of this day
The ways the world could be spinning
And it had to be this way
Oh, and love's not just the sum of us
It's so much deeper
Goes so much wider
Love of a sweeter kind
Love with a patient mind
Bigger than my eyes have ever seen
Than my imagination dreams
It's big enough
Bigger than us
Love is patient, love is kind
Love has given us a sign
It's big enough
Bigger than us
And love is something
Something bigger than us
Bigger than us
Our love is something
Something bigger than us
Got a feeling
Somebody's up there pulling the strings
We're not on our own
Do you see it?
It's just like watching gravity fall
And you don't know how
Oh, but signs point to a miracle
It's not coincidence
We've gotten into this
Baby, this love is something
Something bigger than us
Bigger than us
Our love is something
Something bigger than us
Look above us
You'll see what I've been trying to say
These stars were arranged
Just like we were
And I thought I found you
All on my own
That's crazy now
Oh, when it's all so unbelievable
I'm not superstitious
Baby, it's just making sense that this
Love is something
Something bigger than us
Bigger than us
Our love is something
Something bigger than us
To say that from the Beginning
To the beginning of this day
The ways the world could be spinning
And it had to be this way
Oh, and love's not just the sum of us
It's so much deeper
Goes so much wider
Love of a sweeter kind
Love with a patient mind
Bigger than my eyes have ever seen
Than my imagination dreams
It's big enough
Bigger than us
Love is patient, love is kind
Love has given us a sign
It's big enough
Bigger than us
And love is something
Something bigger than us
Bigger than us
Our love is something
Something bigger than us
1.15.2009
Overheard at the gas station
Guy buying a lottery ticket:
Amazing insight...
"I don't have any premonitions about today's [lotto drawing]. Man, I bought $40 worth yesterday and didn't get nothin'! It's like the state is just wantin' to take our money and keep it for thyselves!"
Amazing insight...
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