by Rebecca Davis | Dec 13, 2016 | challenging the status quo
In Jane Austen’s classic Emma, someone gives to someone else a surprise—of a pianoforte. It was all the buzz of the elite community. But Mr. Knightley had a different take. In the movie version he said, Now, I know that small surprises can be fun (I’ve experienced a...
by Rebecca Davis | Dec 6, 2016 | challenging the status quo, our New Covenant identity, sanctification by faith alone
Not long ago I had the privilege of having a deep conversation with a young man who was attending an excellent local Bible school. What made this conversation unusual was that this young man began telling me about an addiction to pornography that had gripped him since...
by Rebecca Davis | Nov 30, 2016 | challenging the status quo, our New Covenant identity
In a small group my husband and I visited, the topic of “serving the church” came up. Tim and I both began thinking about the people the Lord had brought into our lives, listening to their stories, talking to them about the goodness of God, helping them with...
by Rebecca Davis | Nov 16, 2016 | challenging the status quo, untwisting Scriptures
One way abuse victims are taught to give up their rights in Christian circles is by teaching them to give up things that are presented as rights but aren’t really rights at all. (So then they’ll say, “Oh, well, yes it’s obvious I should give...
by Rebecca Davis | Nov 1, 2016 | challenging the status quo, untwisting Scriptures
At the beginning of the book of Ruth, Naomi was bitter. No doubt about it. She said she was bitter. She changed her name to “Bitter.” (That’s what “Mara” means.) Preachers and writers often point to her as an example of sinful bitterness....
by Rebecca Davis | Oct 17, 2016 | challenging the status quo, news and musings
Safe Harbor is a local nonprofit here in the upstate of South Carolina, dedicated to helping victims of domestic abuse in a variety of ways. Until recently, those “ways” didn’t include a whole lot of interaction with evangelical and fundamentalist churches. Until...