The Eerie Message Davey Blackburn Preached 2 Days Before Wife's Murder
Two days before his pregnant wife Amanda was fatally shot in the head in their matrimonial home two weeks ago, Resonate Church Pastor Davey Blackburn preached an eerie message on using worship as a weapon to get through "situations that we can't handle."
"We call this buzzword worship a lot but we don't really know exactly what it means. And so we wanted to help you understand that worship ultimately is not a moment when we sit in a service and we sing. Worship is essentially what controls you. What controls you is what you worship and so worship is a 24/7 lifestyle lived out not just on Sunday but Monday through Sunday every single day 24/7," said Blackburn in the nearly hour-long message recorded on Nov. 8 and posted to YouTube on Nov. 19.
"We all come upon situations that we can't handle, that are too big, too painful, too daunting for us to overcome. In these times, the only answer is to put our eyes on God and let worship be our weapon against whatever opposes us," the description of the video noted.
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On the morning of Nov. 10 while Blackburn was away at the gym, police said his wife was shot in the head during a home invasion. She succumbed to her injuries the following day along with her 13-week-old unborn daughter, Everette "Evie" Grace Blackburn.
"So many people in this room are new followers of Jesus. And I want you to know that in your walk with Jesus you're gonna face some enemies, you're gonna face some battles. Sometimes the battle is in me. I've heard this said before, the greatest enemy is in me. Sometimes it's in your own mind, your own psyche, your own thoughts," he said two days earlier.
"Sometimes it's other people. You're gonna face some things, but by God's mercy He's going to walk you around some things that are stronger than you. But you will face those things later when you're stronger because God wants to show you that he's stronger and that he will prevail," he added.
Since his wife's death, Blackburn appears to be putting his own message into practice. On Monday, after it was announced that two suspects had been arrested and charged with Amanda's gruesome murder, he said he would allow God's power to work within him.
"Though everything inside of me wants to hate, be angry, and slip into despair I choose the route of forgiveness, grace and hope. If there is one thing I've learned from Amanda in the 10 years we were together, it's this: Choosing to let my emotions drive my decisions is recipe for a hopeless and fruitless life," he said.
"Today I am deciding to love, not hate. Today I am deciding to extend forgiveness, not bitterness. Today I am deciding to hope, not despair. By Jesus' power at work within us, the best is STILL yet to come. Even when I don't see it, I believe it to be true."
During his Nov. 8 sermon, Blackburn told his congregation: "It is OK for you and I to be afraid when pressurized situations hit."
"Sometimes you just need to be reminded that when you get that phone call, instead of worrying about it maybe you need to worship. Boom! Instead of worrying about the medical bill … maybe you need to worship. … Maybe instead of worrying so much about your kids, you need to lift it up and surrender it to Jesus."
Amanda's father, Pastor Phil Byars, lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Elkhart, Indiana, said he and his wife are also leaning on the Lord for support.
"I'm sure any dad would understand that when your daughter's a little girl, there's nothing gonna stand between you and your little girl. You're gonna do everything in your power to protect her from any kind of wickedness, any kind of evil. Never gonna let it happen, right? I have those same feelings today with my adult children, especially my daughters," said Byars during an interview with WTHR.
"So what rises up in me is hard to deal with, because I want to be angry. It would be really easy to become bitter and hateful in the midst of all this. But there's nothing good down that road. There's nothing happy down that road. There's nothing righteous down that road. I'm trusting that the Lord is gonna strengthen us and take that away, those feelings," he continued.
Byars also quoted scripture, saying, "'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. It's not ours to take into our hands vengeance upon anyone who does evil to us or our children. But it hurts and it's painful. So we're asking God to help us with those feelings."
