French Public Schools Ban the Abaya

On Sunday, August 27, 2023, Gabriel Attal, Minister of Education, announced a ban on wearing abayas, a long, traditional Muslim robe, in public schools. For many Americans, whose schools allow for great vestimentary expression, religious or otherwise, the ban on abayas might sound like an attack on religious rights and freedom of speech. The Republic Read more

Frederick Douglass — Prophet of Freedom

A brief review of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight cannot do justice to Douglass’s multi-layered life and his impact in the nineteenth century. Douglass was born into slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shores as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (1818–1895), the son of Harriet Bailey and perhaps also the son of his mother’s Read more

Marie Durand – Prisoner for the Faith

In 2017 my wife and I visited the Tower of Constance in Aigues Mortes in the south of France. It was a sobering experience to ponder the suffering of Huguenot women who had been imprisoned there, some for decades. Perhaps Marie-Durand is the most well-known. In her tower prison there is an inscription engraved in Read more

Corrosive State Coercion

The city of Philadelphia and Catholic Social Services (CSS) are arguing a case before the Supreme Court. CSS had provided foster care for two hundred years for children in need, seventy percent who were racial minorities. In 2018 the city sought to close down CSS because it follows Catholic teaching on marriage and refused to Read more

Revocation and Revolution

Mabry observed in his work De l’étude de l’histoire that because we disdain history by ignorance, by laziness, or by the presumption to profit from the experience of past centuries, each century brings back the spectacle of the same errors and the same calamities. The connection is clear between the Catholic Church’s persecution of Protestant Huguenots Read more

New book on French Secularism

My book has been published under the Pickwick imprint of Wipf & Stock. It was accepted by the Evangelical Missiological Society for their Monograph Series. “Rise of French Laïcité: French Secularism from the Reformation to the Twenty-first Century.” Following are some of the endorsements. “Davis’s masterful treatment of the historical rise of French laique culture Read more

Mission Articles

In July I had two articles published in mission journals. The first was “Islamic Headscarf Affair of 1989: A Window for Understanding the Muslim Immigration Crisis in France.” Evangelical Missions Quarterly, vol. 56, 3 (July–September 2020). The second was “Ministry in Laïque France: Understanding History to Confront Present Challenges.” Missiology: An International Review (July 2020). Read more

New book: Urban Church Planting

In November my book on church planting was published by Resources Publications, an imprint of Wipf & Stock. It is available on Amazon and should soon be available on Kindle. This is not a how-to book. It is more a look of challenges in urban areas and in particular the planting of Grace Church of Read more

PhD

In May I completed a PhD at Columbia International University under Dr. Ed Smither. I wrote my dissertation on the rise of French secularism from the Reformation to the present crisis with Islam in France, which might not interest many people but allowed me to use mostly French resources and keep up with the language. Read more

New book and Other Writings

In this season of life (65 in October) the Lord has given me some time and opportunity to write. My first book was just published in July by Wipf&Stock. “Crossing Cultures: Preparing Strangers for Ministry in Strange Places.” https://wipfandstock.com/crossing-cultures.html  I’m biased but I think it would  be helpful for prospective missionaries and those sending them, Read more

« Previous Entries