Good morning, Loved Ones:

Ok today’s blog is a little lengthy, but it’s what was on my heart, so here we go….

Yesterday evening, I was thinking about my spiritual journey from birth all the way up to today.

I am so thankful and grateful for my eclectic religious background. It has allowed me to be spiriually well-rounded and as a result I am able to be very comfortable in any religious setting.

As a child, in Knoxville Tennessee, I was born into the Baptist Church from birth until about five years old. My father played the organ and piano and my mother and my aunt sang in the choir. We attended Wilder Baptist Church as well as New Salem Baptist Church.

In the Baptist church, I learned and enjoyed how to worship God through music and visible worship. I learned that I didn’t have to be ashamed to vocalize my joy. It’s also the place where I gave my life to God and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

Our family moved to Nashville Tennessee when I was six years old. I was then introduced to the Lutheran church (Christ Lutheran Church). It took some time to get use to the change in worship styles. I had never worshipped using a book before. It felt so structured. However, as I got older and completed my Confirmation, I truly began to love the simplicity and beauty of a service that taught me to respect, understand and worship God on a different level.

One of my favorite parts of Sunday service, in the Lutheran Church, was reciting the Apostles Creed. As I grew older my relationship with God grew. I took very seriously what I said I believed. At the age of 15 we moved to Atlanta Georgia we attended St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, where I grow even more.

As a young adult I left the Lutheran church and explored the Pentecostal faith. I grew in yet another level of God. I learned about being filled with the Holy Spirit, the gift of healing,   laying on of hands, intercession, fasting, prayer and how to present my outer body in my dress, speech and actions. I learned about my spiritual gifts and more than anything, I learned that I was worshipper. As the Spirit of God moves, I sing what I see in the Spirit. When I worship God, in song, I sing as if I am singing to Him. As I go deeper into worship, I’m allowed to see things in the Spirit. My songs are spiritual narratives of what I see in the heavenly realms.

Over the years, I have grown in Christ and have learned so much about the different houses of worship. One thing all of the churches, I have attended, have in common is that God dwelled in them all. I learned that there is no perfect church and there are no perfect people, but HALLELUJAH we all serve a perfect God.

Every church and house of worship, I have attended, or visited,  has been God ordained,  because they have made me the person I am today. I want to thank every pastor, minister, elder, prophet, evangelist, and lay person that has allowed God to use them for the Kingdom.

• Wilder Baptst Church, Knoxville, TN
• New Salem Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN
• Christ Lutheran Church, Nashville, TN
• St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Decatur GA
• Avondale First Baptist Church, Avondale Estates, GA
• Raffa Frontline Ministries
• River of Life Church, Lilburn GA
• New Mercies Christian, Lilburn GA
• Rise Church Atlanta, Atlanta GA
• Kairos Institute for Progressive Spiritual Study
• Berean Christian Church, Lithonia GA
• New Life Church, Decatur GA

I end today’s devotional with what I belive:

The Apostles Creed

Ecumenical Version

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy (Universal) church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Rev. Marcia Davis