Come join Love Life as we unite many evangelical churches and businesses in Birmingham together in front of Planned Parenthood to worship the Lord and pray for the end of abortion. This is not a protest or political rally (no signs or engaging with people outside the prayer group). It is strictly a time of peaceful intercessory prayer and celebration over the hundreds of lives we’ve seen saved this year through sidewalk outreach and prayer. At the conclusion of the walk, Love Life offers many ways to connect on a deeper level with helping moms and dads who are considering abortion. Read more here.
Are you struggling to figure out your purpose in life? Do you feel that something from your past is blocking you from that purpose? Have you always wanted to help others but don’t feel qualified or even know where to start? Would you like to go deeper with God? Feeling overworked, but wondering how to rest and serve God at the same time? Well, you’re not the only one with those questions! Transformation Ministries (TM) was founded and developed to help people receive healing, restore hope and then train and equip you to pursue God’s purpose for your life.Â
Transformation Ministries classes for the fall semester begin August 17. To register, visit www.trministries.org.
Transformation Ministries does three things:Â
1. We provide biblical counseling to hurting families and individuals.
2. We train and equip the layperson to help others.Â
3. We do inner healing and deliverance ministry using the Restoring the Foundations (RTF) prayer model.
The TM School of Ministry offers a four-semester program with each semester lasting about 13 weeks. The fall semester starts August 17 and registration is open now. Visit www.trministries.org to register now. These inner healing classes will change your life. For the Fall of 2021, we’re excited to announce our new Hebraic Institute partnering with “Be One Ministries” with Jeff and Sherri Friedlander. Be One Ministries is a ministry in the local Birmingham area seeking to help Jewish and Christian/Gentiles believers become one family under Messiah, Jesus. The first class taught by Rabbi Jeff Friedlander will be an exciting and interesting way of reading and understanding the Bible from a Hebraic point of view and understanding. Some key topics are The Living Word, The Living Spirit, The Living Communion, The Living Law, Living His Rest, and History of Biblical Israel and Judah to the New Testament.Â
Transformation Ministries offers free high-quality biblical counseling to hurting individuals and families and we are a resource offered to all churches. If you need healing physically, mentally, or emotionally, our prayer teams are praying every day and our prayer rooms are busy. Anyone is welcomed to make an appointment and come receive from the Lord. This summer we are hosting a marriage conference with Dan and Lydia White on August 27-28 at Liberty Church in Birmingham. If your marriage needs help or you just want to make it even better, you won’t want to miss this time with a dynamic and musical family leading worship, teaching, and breakout sessions. For more information about this conference or to register for any of our upcoming events, visit our website, www.trministries.org or call 205 991-4988 for more information.
The word call is defined as “to ask or to invite.” I Corinthians 1:26 says, “For consider you calling…” And II Peter 1:10 tells us, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling…” It is amazing that Almighty God would call us to Himself and that He would invite us to receive His salvation and to share in His blessing. To me, God’s call is threefold: there is a call to salvation, a call to sanctification and a call to service.
1. Call to Salvation. God established and initiated His plan to rescue us from our bondage to sin. The first step to salvation is a conviction of sin. John 16:8 explains, “And He (Holy Spirit) … will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” We must admit that we have sinned. I John 1:9 tells us to confess our sin. Next, there is a call to repentance. There should be a genuine remorse. II Corinthians 7:10 says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation…”
2. Call to Sanctification.Sanctification refers to being “called out” from the world and “set apart” for Godly service. As Christ-followers, we are in the world but not of the world. Sanctification involves the process of spiritual growth which begins after we are born again and experience spiritual birth; as we mature in our Christian walk and journey with God.
3. Call to Spiritual Service. We can only be effective in service if we have been prepared for service. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The Bible teaches that as Christians, we have been assigned a spiritual gift(s) to be used in Christian service. I Corinthians 12:7 explains, “Now to each one the manifestation (gift) of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
Let me encourage you to be attentive and responsive to God’s calling!
-Tony Cooper
Former Exec. Director, Jimmie Hale Mission. Recently honored for his 29 plus years of service at the Mission. Pastor of Pineywood Baptist Church, Gardendale, Ala.
Mission Makers
Every woman hears the Good News of Jesus Christ while staying at The Lovelady Center. Pictured above is a snapshot of a worship moment at TLC.
The Lovelady Center (TLC), founded in 2005, is a drug addiction treatment and prison reentry center located in Birmingham. What makes TLC different than other treatment centers? John McNeil, Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer at TLC, explains it’s the fact that every woman and child who comes through the doors at TLC hear the hope of Christ and the forgiveness available to them. “The Lovelady Center is faith-based. From our perspective, faith in God is the only thing not going to fail them after a woman leaves TLC,” McNeil says, adding that the center is a long-term, residential, faith-based program.Â
McNeil shares that roughly 400 women and 75-80 children are at TLC at any time. Women seeking recovery at TLC typically stay for an average of one year. TLC implements a five-phase program that includes Christian counseling, Bible Study and Parenting Skills, Job Readiness, and more. The courses are designed to equip the women with tools to successfully reenter society. “We believe recovery works best in community,” McNeil says adding, “I go in every day and watch God do miracles.”Â
John McNeil has served as the Lovelady’s Chairman of the Board for eight years. When asked what he does for his job, he responds with, “I go in every day and watch God do miracles.”
How do the two Lovelady Center Thrift Stores- located in Clay and Irondale- help the mission of TLC? “The thrift stores are a great source of job readiness for the women at TLC,” McNeil explains, adding that the thrift stores provide close to 50 percent of the operating budget for TLC. “God continues to bless these stores tremendously.”
How can you help? The two thrift stores are accepting donations of slightly used furniture, clothing, and more. If you are looking for volunteer opportunities, TLC has several! McNeil explains that the program’s classes are often taught by volunteers. In addition, TLC welcomes volunteers to help at the daycare center, lead Bible studies, help in the kitchen, and more. “There are talents that so many people have that can be of value to nonprofits like TLC.” If you wonder what kind of help you could be at TLC, McNeil responds with, “You would be surprised.” To learn more about TLC, visit www.loveladycenter.org.Â
“You restored me to health and let me live. Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the grave.” Isaiah 38:16-17
Dr. Jeff Dugas visiting Dr. Davis a few days before he was discharged from UAB. The two physicians practice at Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham.
In 2020, I went on a journey I would never have chosen to go on but one that led me to a deeper understanding of God’s love and mercy, the importance of relationships, the power of community prayer, and experiencing the realization that He still performs miracles today. As an orthopedic surgeon at Andrews Sports Medicine, I have had the privilege to operate on thousands of patients and improve the quality of life for countless individuals. I have seen innumerable not easily explained phenomena in medicine but had never directly experienced a miracle.Â
Dr. Davis’s wife Sheri prays over him via Facetime, while he was asleep and recovering at UAB. Dr. Davis shares that prayers and the words of Isaiah 38: 16-17 and Romans 8:11 helped sustain him during his grave illness.
I contracted COVID-19 at the end of October of 2020. I became extremely ill and developed breathing issues with decreased oxygen saturation. I was transported by ambulance to UAB Hospital and was admitted into the Covid unit on November 13. Within 2 days, I was admitted to ICU and became better due to an experimental drug. After completing the drug study, I was admitted again to ICU. The loneliness and despair were mitigated by praying and quoting scripture with my wife and listening to Christian music. I deteriorated due to bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary emboli, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). I had to be intubated emergently due to respiratory failure as I was unable to maintain oxygen levels and to remove carbon dioxide. As a last-ditch effort, I was placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to try and oxygenate my blood and remove carbon dioxide as the ventilator was not effective. The intubation and ECMO were both done expeditiously as the UAB staff had contacted my wife about my dire health status. When I was the most ill and near death, there was an outpouring of intense petition and prayer which I believe led me to the miracle of my recovery from what appeared to be in the natural, a hopeless situation. After being on the ECMO device for 3 weeks, I was able to come home on December 31. I was extremely excited to get home and to leave 2020 behind!
Dr. Davis and his wife, Sheri, with their three adopted daughters, two from Guatemala and one from the US. The adoption process with each daughter was different, but difficult and grew their faith in Christ. “There were so many obstacles over months and months,” recalls Dr. Davis but adds that God opened doors to bring the girls home. The family attends Church of the Highlands.
I have worked diligently in a Cardio-Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program and am currently back at work and require oxygen only to exercise. I am so grateful for the multitude of prayers from the Body of Christ and the skill of the doctors that saved my life. The community of believers praying for me extended from Birmingham, Israel, Africa, and Australia. The continuous prayer of believers both day and night occurred during my entire hospitalization. The power of love shown to me displayed by my wife and family, friends, pastors and church family, colleagues, co-workers, patients and those that just heard about my plight along with the presence of God was sustaining and life giving. There is only one explanation of my survival, and it was receiving a miracle from Jesus! My chance of survival was less than 50% and risk for complications much higher than that.
I am so grateful for the prayers, encouragement, love, and friendship of so many. But most of all, I am grateful to God for the miracle of renewed life and improved understanding of what is important in life. The story of the resurrection of Jesus has so much more meaning to me this year. I want to tell others my testimony and am thankful for His love and miraculous power. To God be the Glory!
-Jeffrey C. Davis, MD
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. – Romans 8:11
If you have a Miracle that you would be willing to share, please email [email protected]. Subject Line: Miracle Moments or call 205-408-7150.
Join us for an evening with Dove Award-Winning Contemporary Christian music artist, Mark Schultz as he shares his adoption story and leads us in an amazing night of worship. All proceeds from this event go to St Clair Savalife. For ticket sales and more information, visit www.SavalifeConcert.com.
Alana Bevis with her mother Lee who witnessed her miraculous recovery. “At one point I thought I had truly lost my daughter completely. I couldn’t reach her through love or support. I had to completely let go and let God,” explains Lee Bevis.
That was June. The next six months would prove to be the most painful months of my life. I was mourning the loss of my love and the loss of my legs. But I would not give up. I talked my doctor into giving me a walker. I thought if I just had a goal in front of me that I could try harder. I fell probably 500 times in those months. But I just kept getting back up. Tears and pain were the biggest part of my life. On my birthday that year, November 8, I walked into my doctor’s office with the assistance of my walker for the first time. He passed me in the hallway and looked as if he had seen a ghost. He summoned for his staff and we all cried together. According to the doctor, this was truly a miracle from God. This gave me the incentive to keep going. I was determined that nothing was going to sit me down for good. On Christmas Eve that year, I walked up the steps of my grandparents deck unassisted. It was painful, but I did it. Over the next couple of years my legs became stronger. I grew closer and closer to God, craving his words. My doctor insisted it was just pure determination and gave many explanations of how powerful the mind is, as if he were convincing himself how this had happened. I was treated by the best with no explanations of how my balance, gait, and strength were restored. The doctors still have no explanations as to how my feet are working. I still do not have reflexes or much sensation. They still do not know how I am walking, but I do. I serve a God who gave me a Jeremiah 29;11 promise, and He is not slack on his promises. I stayed sober for a couple more years and relapsed on methamphetamine for a short while. I have been clean and sober, delivered and filled with the holy spirit since October 2017. God has truly kept his word. He is using me to minister to children and women in recovery. I am also in nursing school to become a Registered Nurse in medical missions for Jesus Christ. My life is not my own and I will spend every breath giving God glory and testifying to the miracles He has preformed in my life. Never give up. God has a so much joy in store for you!
-Alana BevisÂ
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
If you have a Miracle that you would be willing to share, please email [email protected]. Subject Line: Miracle Moments or call 205-408-7150.
Visit a variety of health and wellness booths to learn new approaches to conquer your health concerns and find new ways to enhance your physical fitness, financial wellness, safety, and nutrition. Event takes place on May 1 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Veteran’s Park Alabaster, 7305 Hwy 119, 35007. Learn more here.
Brought to you by: Community Partner Convene, 
