Thanks, Adam.

In basketball, players play offense and defense each possession. Although each team's game plan changes depending on who they face, one thing remains constant: each player has an assigned role. The execution of their role is critical to the game's outcome.

In life, we also have roles. Even the greatest minds in coaching have flaws in their game plan. However, God’s game plan for us is flawless—His Spirit equips us to serve Him faithfully.

The Koine Greek word for “workmanship” is: poiema. In other words, we are God’s beautiful haiku. We are His work of art, and He created us to create masterpieces for His glory and our good. There’s one problem, though: we’ve compromised ourselves. A software update won’t do; we require a new operating system.

Poetry in Motion

Poetry does not write itself—it needs an author. Many Christians tend to forget who the Author of their lives is, leading to confusion, discontent, laziness, and, eventually, despair.

When we take our eyes off Christ, these feelings invade, infect, and hijack our thinking. We must remember Jesus Christ.

As slaves of Christ, we owe it to our Master to serve Him well. Why, then, are we prone to give Him unreliable products? Our unreliability is a direct result of relying on ourselves rather than on the One who created us to do the work in the first place.

We’ve replaced God’s promises with a pipe dream.

Malware Detected

Nine times out of ten, malicious software takes control of people’s devices due to their negligence. Opening that PDF that came from an email address unknown to you, clicking the link sent via SMS, urging you to pay your bill immediately to avoid account cancellation, and visiting pornographic websites are common ways these cyber attacks occur. The way to prevent these attacks is simple: self-control.

As you know, self-control is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit.

It gets better.

Here’s the problem: our current infection prevents us from downloading and installing the truth above in our minds. Although we are no longer slaves to sin, we operate as if we are still in shackles—treating our remaining sin as something that has dominion over us, instead of something that Christ conquered for us.

System Override

Let’s face it: we don’t have the administrative rights to fix our corruption, but God does. We must surrender our credentials and yield to a total system override. A system override means giving up absolute control. While we know that God is sovereign over our lives, it’s time for us to apply this truth. The days of us giving the Lord our corroding scraps and hoarding our firstfruits are over. We’ve grown accustomed to our putridness, and as a result, we failed to realize that our firstfruits were rotten.

On the contrary, without God, nothing is possible. (John 15:5) That is the cause of the mess that we’re in. Exchanging God’s truth for Satan’s lies kept us away from relying on God, and in turn, we began to depend on ourselves. Our failure to trust God led us to make excuses, blame others, and succumb to and live in unconfessed sin.

Repent!

The loving arms of Christ are open, and He’s ready to receive you. Just like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, who pursued his wayward child, Christ is doing the same towards you.

Resist the devil, pursue Christ, and reject passivity.

Christ didn’t save us to be losers; stop living like one.

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The Order of Loves (Ordo Amoris)

The third single off of New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne’s album, The Carter IV, was titled “How to Love.” The song is a ballad dedicated to a young girl who has never experienced a healthy romantic relationship with a man. The first few lines of the chorus describe the woman's inability to discern a guy’s character, leading to bad luck and to her never figuring out how to receive love properly.

One could argue that her history of poor romantic relationships stemmed from the foundation her father failed to provide. Although this song is fictional (as far as we know), it is, unfortunately, the soundtrack to many young women's lives.

What’s worse is realizing that I also lacked the training that I so desperately needed from my father. The lack of instruction led to chaos, misery, and foolishness. Although my sinfulness would have produced similar results had I had proper training, I think a lot of the nonsense I got into would’ve been avoided at best and, at worst, restrained.

The lack of training was half of the battle; I lacked order. It took me years to discover “how to love” without knowing who to love first.

Although my father wasn’t around, and my stepfather wasn’t a godly man, in the words of Dr. Tom Ascol: “We have a book.” The word of God taught me how to love righteously and in an orderly way.

We’re living in a time where people say silly things like, “Smash the Patriarchy.” Well, I have news for them: God created the Patriarchy, and it’s here to stay.

In typical worldly fashion, the culture rejects God’s Patriarchy because it hates order. When freedom is confused with oppression, quagmires will occur. God gave us biblical Patriarchy for our good and His glory; if we continue to disregard it, human flourishing will cease.

Just as a university needs a dean to function properly, the family needs a head of household to lead them in a godly manner.

Aligning ourselves with God’s hierarchy is the only way to build Domestic Seminaries.

Mine is currently under construction.

Amor Dei (The Love of God)

There are many flaws we could point out in men like Abraham, Noah, Moses, and David. However, there is one thing that no one could deny: these men worshipped God.

One of the most beautiful examples of the heart of worship we have is in 2 Samuel 12. After David’s sins of adultery and murder were exposed, and his sinfully conceived child died, he did the unthinkable:

His contrition led to worship. Honestly, worship should be our primary response to the forgiveness of sin.

But we must use David’s error as a cautionary tale. For a split second, David’s love for God became secondary to his fleshly desires. He failed to love God with his mind by forgetting God’s promises and forsaking His law, and he refused to utilize the strength the Lord gave him by staying home when he was supposed to lead his men in battle.

This is why we must have our loves appropriately ordered.

Loving God with our minds means we must delight in His Word (Psalm 1:2). Furthermore, loving God with our strength looks like giving Him our best; more Abel and less Cain.

Here’s the beauty in all of this: none of this is done in our strength. Absolute surrender to the Lord will produce the love that He requires of us.

God, the Holy Spirit, will help us love and honor God. Trust Him.

We find ourselves in pickles, and some even question their salvation because we’ve usurped Christ off the throne of our lives and taken His rightful place.

Newsflash: we make lousy saviors.

Amor Conjugalis (The Love of the Wife)

I cannot save anyone; I can only tell others about the One who saved me.

The second half of the Great Commandment tells us the next step in the Order of Loves:

I was today years old when it finally dawned on me: my wife is my neighbor, too. Not only is she my neighbor, but she is the most critical neighbor I have.

How in the world could I claim to love God, but I hate my wife? I would never say, “I hate my wife,” but my behavior at times will tell a different story.

The reason for this is simple: my order of loves is out of whack.

In my former line of work, it was very common for a customer with computer issues to call us for assistance, and the first question we’d ask was: “Did you restart your machine?”

As insulting as the question may seem, it was usually the most straightforward fix. Oftentimes, we overcomplicate things, leading to more problems.

Instead of overcomplicating our lives, let’s take God at His Word.

The Bible is clear: husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church. Again, the beauty of this passage is that God equips us with the tools we need to accomplish this!

The obstacle we must overcome is actually believing AND applying His Word to our lives.

Treasuring God’s Word means I can love Him the way He requires, leading to my love for Christ increasing, and for my wife as well.

Husbands, our wives are the primary beneficiaries of the love that we have for the Lord. The aroma spreads throughout the home. As a result, our wives also grow in the Lord, leading to peace and harmony.

And when trouble arises, there’s no need to be discouraged, because she and your children will follow you as you follow Christ.

Amor Prolis (The Love of Offspring)

When the first two loves are in order, the third flows naturally.

Children are a gift from the Lord.

To love the Lord means we must be willing, like Hannah, to “lose” our child for Him.

Thankfully, there won’t be a need to drop off our soon-to-be-born son to a prophet; however, that doesn't mean we just pray for our children and hope for the best. No!

God gave parents instructions.

If we claim to love our children, we must teach them how to love the God who created them.

Doing so builds the foundation necessary for them to order their loves rightly.

By God’s grace, our children will always love us, but the goal is for them to love God more than anyone or anything in this world. This can take place, but we must be like Abraham and believe God (Genesis 15:6).

The meditation of God’s law daily and nightly is not a suggestion, nor should it be treated as an individual goal, but a covenantal one.

Chapter 21.6 of the Westminster Confession of Faith has this to say regarding Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day:

In other words, the construction of Domestic Seminaries begins in the home, but will take God’s covenant people to do their share, leading to fruitfulness in our homes, our churches, and the nations.

Let’s pick up our swords and trowels and build!

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Hi, my name is Franklin Davis.

For as long as I could remember, I have had a vivid imagination.

As a boy, you couldn't tell me I wasn’t the NBA Finals MVP at recess on Monday. On Tuesday, I was a member of the Justice League, ridding the playground of bullies. On Wednesday, I performed my greatest hits at a sold-out show in Madison Square Garden. And on Thursday—well, you get the picture. My mind was a labyrinth of identities, and I fully inhabited each of them.

I dreamed big, but snored louder.

In other words, I hid behind my ideas. It was better for me to create a virtual reality in which I could remove the headset at any time and continue doing absolutely nothing.

In my mind, I wrote multiple albums, sold numerous books, and achieved world peace. The only problem is that none of these things happened. If anyone else had trouble figuring out what to do, I had a million-dollar idea ready for them at the drop of a hat. But for myself? Nothing.

Why? I guess because I was afraid of failing. And if I’m being honest, I was scared of success too (more on that later). I felt that I could do impactful things, but it couldn’t be “me.” I needed to create a persona that would spark curiosity, protect my privacy, and leave me unscathed when negativity came my way.

So I created just that: a false identity.

…but for a long time, I was hiding behind “Buddy.”

Franklin is not only my name, but my father’s.

Yes, I love him, but he was absent. I have nothing against him, but for a long time, when someone would say my name, it felt like .223 rounds were entering my chest. So, I did my best to go by any other name.

But for a long time, I was hiding behind ‘Buddy.’

The $50,000 question remains: Where in the world did “Buddy” come from? I’m glad you asked. My lovely wife, Danisha, gave me that name a few years ago, and it stuck. It became Kevlar. Suddenly, the name given to me at birth lost its ammo; the nickname given in love protected me from the baggage of the past.

However, I can no longer live that way in good conscience.

When Christ saved me, I became a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). My name is included in that redemption.

This means I no longer need to hide behind a “safe” name because of my father's absence. Jesus stripped me of my baggage when He died for me, and He gave me a new identity.

I’m done hiding. I am choosing to take back the name “Franklin.” Christ restored my broken heart, and through Him, I have access to the most loving Parent ever: my Heavenly Father.

This verse reminds me of the Lord’s kindness to me. With His help, my wife and children will never endure what I had to.

The days of shame are over. I am building a legacy that will outlast me—one that will bless my children, my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren. By God’s grace, I will remain a husband of one wife, and my children will not just know my name, but they will know me.

…because I was afraid of being imperfect.

In the United States Air Force, one of our core values is Excellence in All We Do. For a long time, I convinced myself that I could not share my gifts with the world unless it were perfect.

How foolish of me.

Thankfully, Scripture whipped me right back into shape (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and rid me of futile thinking.

I concluded that I was being a hypocrite! I had the answers for others, but I refused to apply those same principles to my life. Thinking, there’s no way this would work for me, but that was just a fancy way of me calling God a liar, and deceiving myself. God forbid I ended up like the wicked slave in Matthew 25:30.

Something had to change.

Thank God for repentance! My inaction was a waste of time I can no longer get back, but thankfully, I can redeem the time remaining (Ephesians 5:15-16).

…so today, I am stepping onto the field.

So, consider this my clocking in.

The days of burying the talent are over. I was so consumed by the exterior's appearance that the interior was rotting away from inactivity. It is better to be present and obey than to be a hypocritical hermit.

This platform, The Black Puritan Society, is my “work.” Here, you will not find perfection, but pain turned into literary images that hit the soul.

It will be raw, gritty, and faithful. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

My name is Franklin Davis. I am a husband, a father, and a slave of Christ. And I am ready to work.

Please keep me, my family, and my work in your prayers.

Soli Deo Gloria

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