AG U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis Dies From Cancer

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis, a member of the Assemblies of God who served in Congress for seven years, died Oct. 6 after a two-year battle with breast cancer.

Davis, 57, became Virginia's first Republican woman elected to Congress in 2000, and she was a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Her determination to fight the disease is an inspiration to all of us,” President Bush said. “She was a fine example of a public servant who worked hard to cut government waste to ensure the people's money was used wisely. “Her common-sense values will be missed on Capitol Hill.''

Her first piece of legislation, passed by the House in 2001, increased the life insurance benefit paid to survivors of military members killed on duty.

A conservative who came from modest means, Davis was known for her unquenchable inquisitiveness and how quickly and deeply she learned about any legislative issue.

“I always admired Congresswoman Davis' strong convictions and the tenacity that she brought to bear in acting on them,” said U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, a fellow Virginia Republican.

She underwent chemotherapy treatments and a mastectomy when her cancer was first diagnosed in 2005. When the cancer returned this year, she underwent chemotherapy again and often monitored hearings from her home in Glocester.

Survivors include her husband, Chuck, two sons and a granddaughter.

Editor Ken Horn interviewed Rep. Davis in Washington, D.C., from a Conversation that was published in the February 29, 2004, Pentecostal Evangel. That interview follows, exactly as it appeared:

Christians in politics

Jo Ann Davis serves Virginia’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House
of Representatives. She spoke with Managing Editor Ken Horn during the
Assemblies of God’s 50th General Council in Washington, D.C.

PE: What is the atmosphere and what are the challenges as a believer
involved in government?

DAVIS: I’m not a politician first; I’m a Christian who happens to be in
politics. I feel very strongly that this is the path that God led me on. I
see a lot of ways in Congress, in Washington, in which God is working. I
think now more than ever we have a godly man in the White House and we have Christians in the House and Senate. I believe God is trying to move and it’s time now that we pray and humble ourselves.

PE: How would you recommend Christians pray for government and for the political climate in the nation?

DAVIS: I would pray that the leaders in government would have godly wisdom, that they would listen to the Lord and that they would be bold, step out and not worry about being politically correct. Pray that God’s Spirit would descend upon Washington and upon each and every member of Congress. I ask people to pray that I would not only have wisdom but that I would be open in my spirit to hear from God, and that I would be obedient to the Lord.

PE: What are the issues that Christians should be concerned about?

DAVIS: Issues that impact the family are the ones that concern me the most — the homosexual agenda, the need for pro-life legislation, for example. Families are the basis of our nation.

PE: During the continuing conflict overseas, how should we be praying and
supporting our troops and our leaders?

DAVIS: I serve on the House Armed Services Committee and International
Relations Committee and I have visited our men and women in the military
over in Afghanistan. We need to pray for their safety, that God will bring
them back home to their families.

PE: How did you come to know Christ?

DAVIS: I was saved when I was 25 in 1981. My husband’s sister led me to the Lord when his mother died.

PE: Describe your journey into politics.

DAVIS: I spent months asking God to use me. Eventually, I got my real estate license and opened a real estate company. One of my real estate agents in 1997 asked me to consider running for the state legislature against a 15-year incumbent. I was not political in any way, shape or form. I voted every year for pro-life candidates, but I didn’t know anything else about them. And then my friend said those fateful words: “Would you pray about it?” So I prayed. I started to feel led by the Lord to run. I asked my husband, knowing that if he said no, I wouldn’t do it. And he said, “I knew three years ago that you would do something like this.” I ran for the state legislature in 1997, and started serving in 1998. I served three years and then the congressman in my district announced his retirement. I knew that I was supposed to run for Congress. I did, against all odds. Even the governor endorsed another candidate, but I knew that the Lord had told me I was going to Congress. So we ran even though we didn’t have any money. We won. Here we are.

PE: Any other thoughts?

DAVIS: Just continue praying. There are so many of us in government who feel those prayers and we know the prayers are what keep us going. Without prayer, I couldn’t be here.

End of interview.

The staff of Today's Pentecostal Evangel are appreciative of the life and ministry of this godly woman who was a patriot and a Christian.

(Photo By Peggy Horn)

Atheists have taken aim: How should Christians respond?

By Kirk Noonan

If some prominent atheists have it their way, the United States will be devoid of religion. To that end they are rallying constituents by lashing out at God and the faithful through scathing, anti-religion books. They do so, they say, because religion — specifically evangelical Christianity — is toxic, has too much influence in America’s social and political arenas, and deceives people.

As evidence, atheists point to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a national ban on partial-birth abortion, strong opposition of evolution and stem cell research by evangelical leaders, and the government’s funding of faith-based initiatives.

To thwart such influence, atheists are ratcheting up their invective.

According to Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, “Religion kills.”

Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith, calls it a “ludicrous obscenity” to take one’s children to church.

“I am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural,” writes Richard Dawkins, in his book The God Delusion, which has been on The New York Times best-seller list for weeks.

Hitchens and company represent a burgeoning breed of atheist. These neo-atheists are strident and possess a fervor that leaves little room for civil discourse or tolerance of other people’s views, especially those who follow Jesus.

Despite the written and verbal salvos, Christian leaders implore followers to take a different tack, one they hope will change the minds and hearts of countless atheists.

Rhyme and reason

“If you’re going to create a market for anti-religion literature you have to create some kind of buzz,” says Earl Creps, who is working with the Northern California-Nevada District of the Assemblies of God to plant a church in Berkeley, Calif. “As with a lot of social groups, atheists have become defensive and have started to ‘evangelize.’ ”

A survey of culture and media seems to support Creps’ view. Television talk shows have become the atheists’ bully pulpits. On the Internet there are numerous sites devoted to atheism, including one that encourages users to blaspheme the Holy Spirit on video then post it on YouTube.

Last year on eBay an atheist put his soul on the auction block giving bidders an opportunity to save him. The atheist has since written a book about his experience and done numerous media interviews.

Recently, a U.S. congressman was among the first high-ranking government officials to come out of the closet as an atheist.

There is even a summer camp for the children of atheists. Traditional summer camp activities such as horseback riding, archery and campfires are offered.

“But campers also learn about critical thinking, science education and humanist values,” reads the camp’s promotional material. “Through an exercise that challenges campers to disprove the existence of two invisible unicorns that live at the camp, the children discover the limitations of arguments for and against supernatural claims, like the existence of God or gods.”

One atheist group even boasts of targeting children by advertising on Web sites geared for preteens. Creps warns, “If atheists have a Sunday School, the Internet is it.”

In perspective

Despite the strides atheists have made of late, they remain a minority group on the fringes of society. Studies indicate that only 8 to 11 percent of the U.S. population describe themselves as agnostics or people of no faith. Only 1 percent identify themselves as atheists.

Paltry numbers for sure, but atheism seems to be gaining traction in a culture that is increasingly moving away from its spiritual moorings. Some Christian leaders wonder if the state of the Church has something to do with this.

In the United States 80 percent of the population identify themselves as Christians. But a recent Harris Poll found that only 76 percent of Protestants say they are absolutely certain there is a God.

Church attendance and membership have also declined. On any given weekend only 45 percent of Christians, according to The Barna Group, attend a Christian church.

The divorce rates among born-again believers and those who are not are almost the same.

George Barna says in his book Revolution that the typical churched believer will die without leading a single person to Jesus Christ.

“It is important for Christians to understand the environment and the perspectives of people who are different from them, especially among young generations whose culture is moving rapidly away from Christianity,” says David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group, who recently directed a study of the lifestyles and habits of no-faith adults in America. “Believers have the options of ignoring, rejecting or dealing with the aggressiveness of atheists and those hostile to the Christian faith.”

Christian leaders TPE spoke to lean toward not only dealing with atheists, but also actively seeking opportunities to share Christ with them. But doing so, they warn, should not be taken lightly.

Turning from atheism

Though anti-religion rhetoric can be offensive, Creps says, it can also serve a valuable purpose in that it can get believers thinking about how they are representing Jesus as they live and share their faith.

“Believers should continually be asking themselves questions such as: Am I loving and caring toward nonbelievers? Am I living out the relationship I say I have with Christ? Are there any discrepancies between what I say I believe and how I live my life?” says Creps.

Alicia Britt Chole was once an atheist. She says she used to believe that God had not created humans, but humans had created God to help explain complex matters.

“There were just so many questions in life that were never going to be answered by science, reason or experience,” she says. “Because of that, it seemed understandable to me that individuals and communities would create mythical beings and call them gods or God.”

Atheism took Chole on a wild ride. She became suicidal at her lowest point and angry enough to lash out at anyone who suggested the existence of God. Like others with doubts, she wondered how God could be all-powerful but would not use His power to prevent all the pain and suffering she saw in the world.

Despite her worldview and penchant for berating anyone who tried to share their faith with her, two Christian friends eventually played a part in her conversion to Christianity.

“My friends gave me what God gave them,” she says. “I now call that the ‘present of Presence.’ They got close enough for long enough that God actually echoed through their humanity and suddenly something within me began to quicken.”

Today, Chole, a wife and mother of three children, is a popular Christian author and speaker. Her conversion experience is illustrative of things believers should and should not do when reaching out to atheists.

“All too often, believers underestimate the power of proximity,” she says. “God is within us, and His existence is not awaiting an affirmation from our senses to begin to be true. With the Living Word within us we give people the present of Presence.”

Chole recalls feeling agitated, as an atheist, when believers tried to convert her but could not explain why they believed what they believed.

“I was open in that I considered all thoughts equally,” she says. “But when people of faith couldn’t articulate their thoughts, instead of listening to their hearts over their words, I let their words distract me and give me a reason not to take their beliefs seriously.”

Randy Hurst, the AG’s commissioner on evangelism, says every Christian is responsible to share his or her faith with those outside the body of Christ — even with angry atheists.

“As believers our lives cannot contradict our message,” says Hurst. “In our culture, which is one that is hugely exposed to Christian images and verbiage, the credibility of the messenger is paramount.”

Creps says religion is the name people give to Christians’ relationship with Jesus Christ. The challenge for Christians, he adds, is to keep that relationship alive and healthy with love at its center — for God and other people — even in the face of attacks.

Besides Scripture study, intercessory prayer and the offer of genuine friendship, another effective way to communicate God’s love, says Randy Rich, operations director for Convoy of Hope, is to be an agent of compassion.

“When the Church serves like Jesus, it makes a tremendous impact on people’s lives,” says Rich. “For many people — including atheists — such outreach may be the first real demonstration of Christ’s love they’ve ever seen. When an individual feels loved, respected and cared for, that greatly opens up his or her heart and mind to Christ.”

High stakes

No matter one’s evangelistic goals, it is important to remember many atheists would like nothing more than for evangelical Christianity to be abolished in the United States. If Christians quietly stand by hoping the rising interest in the subject will eventually dissipate, the consequences could be severe on social, cultural, political and scientific fronts.

“Christians need to be well informed about atheism and able to give a defense of their faith,” says Creps. “But Christians shouldn’t treat atheists as a special class of people. Like all humans, atheists need a radical solution — which is Jesus — to a radical problem — which is sin.”

KIRK NOONAN is managing editor of Today’s Pentecostal Evangel.