Heart & Mind
God’s Sovereign Leading
Meet a Seminary of the East Sudent
by Rebecca S. Cotton
A slight, unassuming gentleman, James Davis is a testimony of God’s grace and sovereignty. Davis serves as a deacon in his church of 11 years, First Baptist Church of Glenarden (FBCG). He is also a student at the Seminary of the East Metro D.C. Center.
His is a story of prevailing against all odds.
A native of New Jersey, Davis grew up in the civil rights era with all of its challenges. He remembers being excluded from a “whites only” amusement park and having derogatory expletives hurled at him. He learned to believe he would always be the underdog.
But Davis 
James Davishad a mother who prayed. She prayed Hannah’s prayer for a son (1 Samuel 1:11) and, like Hannah, promised to commit him to God’s service. God gave her Davis, and she had a strong vision and hope for his life.
When Davis was a little boy, his mother would point to a certain building in downtown Newark, N.J., and tell him, “You’re going to be a lawyer, and you’re going to work in that building.” Time and time again, she and his grandmother would repeat that belief-so often, in fact, that that is what he did.
Davis eventually earned a law degree at Seton Hall University and went to work in that building.
Still, Davis tried to live life his way and on his own terms. He said it took him “40 years to make good on (his mother’s) promise” to God. It was his mother’s pain that drove him into the arms of Jesus.
In a span of about 10 years, Davis watched his mother go through very difficult times with multiple serious health problems. Then the worst: Davis’ sister, who was in a drug-induced rage, shot their mother five times. His mother lived. She went through all of that pain “yet, she continued to cling to this Jesus,” Davis explains. Through her example of trust, Davis placed his trust in her Jesus.
Davis left the practice of law and New Jersey to start a new business in Maryland.
“I came to Maryland and got on fire for the Lord,” he says.
After visiting a few other churches, he tried FBCG. “The first time I came to the church, I felt the pastor was speaking directly to me,” Davis says. “I felt love. This church just felt right to me.” He has worshipped, grown spiritually, and ministered at FBCG ever since. He describes the church as a “big church with a small church feel.”
“My mother told me to find a Bible-teaching, Bible-preaching church. I even brought her here to give it the once-over and her seal of approval. And that was good enough for me,” Davis reminisces.
That was just the beginning.
“Then I began asking God to give me a passion for the world,” Davis said. “He answered that.”
Davis participated in a three-year men’s ministry program, Brothers in Discipleship. As with most FBCG programs, there were practical ministry applications in which Davis was expected to participate, including street witnessing, feeding the hungry, and working with prisoners. Prison ministry was the most difficult because of 
Davis’ background as an attorney. “I got there, and God worked on my heart,” he says. “I discovered I had the gift to teach.”
So Davis went through the church’s program to be credentialed to teach and graduated as a full instructor. Since then “I’ve just been teaching and teaching and teaching,” he says. Davis has taught adult vacation Bible school and been an instructor in his church’s Leadership and Bible Institutes.
Davis realized his need for more formal theological education, though, when he and his wife of 26 years, Julia, were mentoring other married couples. Now he is pursuing a master of divinity degree through the Metro D.C. Center of Bethel Seminary of the East.
Through his first class, Spiritual Formation, Davis says, “You look at yourself in ways you haven’t done. I saw that I was spending way too much time in Christian activity-conferences, retreats, and seminars-which is a poor substitute for spending time with the Lord, in His Word, fasting, and meditating. I sensed God was calling me to a different place. Spiritual formation reinforced my heart’s desire to spend more time in the presence of the Lord.”
During the first several weeks of the Spiritual Formation class, Davis says, “I thought we were spending way too much time journaling, delving into the past, and on life maps. But then I realized it was a smart approach.”
Through the course, Davis met a sovereign God who had been planning the seemingly “unconnected dots” of his life. “I could see how God was working in my life even prior to getting saved in 1994.”
God continues to work in and through Davis’ life. Equipped by his new theological education and deeper walk with God, he is reaching out to others, helping them trust his Jesus, and making a difference in their lives.
Does Deacon Davis ever think of going back into law? Sure he does. But he also sees how God is using his legal training for other purposes. He’s on a pathway of learning, making new discoveries about God, His sovereignty, and himself. The passion in his heart is leading him down a different road.