This Sunday at NewSpring is going to be one that we’ll remember for a long time. Pastor Davey Blackburn from Resonate Church will be joining us for a live interview to talk through all that God has been teaching him over the last six months.
For those of you that may not know about Davey, I wanted to provide you with a brief backstory to set the stage for Sunday.
I first met Davey when he was in college. He was "Crazy Davey"…that’s kind of how I referred to him in my mind. I have to remember people in certain ways, and that’s just what stuck. So Crazy Davey came up to me one day and asked if I would be willing to go to lunch with him and a group of friends sometime to talk about what it’s like to plant a church. We went to Ryan’s, they asked lots and lots of questions and then they left. I remember thinking about Davey, something’s not right about that boy :-).
When Davey graduated from college, a guy on our staff said that we needed to consider hiring a guy named Davey Blackburn. I couldn’t put a face with the name until someone said “You know! Crazy Davey!” We went through some interviews, and he did great. In the process, I found out that he was engaged. When we interview people, I love getting to meet their spouses. You can tell a lot about a person by who they’re married to so I told Davey that for his final interview, I wanted to meet his fiancé. When the day came and I met Amanda, that thing that wasn’t quite right about Davey was made right when she walked into the room. Amanda truly was the person that completed him and made him a better man.
Davey is one of those guys that’s magnetic. He’s good-looking and charismatic. Whenever they went somewhere, you’d recognize Davey, but you’d remember Amanda when they left. Amanda got phone numbers and took prayer requests. She would lock eyes with people and sit with them- letting them talk about anything and everything for as long as they wanted. The Blackburns made an incredible team and served faithfully on our staff in Greenville for 4 years.
In 2012, they asked to meet with me. Over dinner, they shared that God had placed a new burden in their hearts. "We’ve got to go to Indianapolis. We’ve got to plant this church. We’re going to do this. We want to see Jesus make a difference in Indianapolis." So our church sponsored them and supported them, and I've gotten to watch God do remarkable things in them and through them over the last 3 years.
On November 10, 2015, I got a text from Davey. He said Amanda had gotten a head wound and asked that I keep her in my prayers. I assumed she must have slipped in the kitchen or something along those lines and let Davey know I was praying for her. I went into a meeting, and when I stepped out, a couple staff members took me aside to tell me that a home invasion had taken place while Davey was at the gym that morning and Amanda had been killed.
I would love to tell you that in that moment, my faith was rock solid. But when I heard the news I, just like you, thought, “No, God. No. Not her. This isn’t her time, God. She’s 28-years-old and she’s got a little boy. They’re expecting a little girl, God. No.” I was crying, complaining, confused and shaken.
Over the last 6 months, I’ve watched Davey follow Jesus through this storm. His world has been shaken. His faith has not.
In Romans 8:28 Paul writes, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
Amanda Blackburn loved Jesus. She was called according to His purpose. The same is true for Davey, and because of what the Bible tells us in Romans 8:28, I KNOW that God is working for their good. The cross is proof that when we think God has lost control, He is still in control and can use all things for good.
You will not want to miss this Sunday at NewSpring, and it’s a great week to bring a friend that may need some extra encouragement. Davey is so excited to share how God has come to show him that he (and you and I) really do have what it takes to make it through this.