Dave Miller

My dad devoted his life to studying and preaching God's word. He was kind of an old-fashioned guy, with fundamentalist leanings. He'd gone to Bob Jones until he got chased out of the school, but he never completely shook off his old-school ways. He spent hours daily studying his Bible (I mean 8 hours, 10 hours, every day) and this was before anyone had ever heard of computer software. He died believing that demons inhabited computers, except for MLB.com which allowed him to watch Yankees games. He wore out Bibles quickly. It shocked a lot of people, then, when one day in a sermon, he said … [Read more...] about What Do YOU Do with Old Bibles?

There was a time when my trips to Taiwan or Israel or Senegal created something of a problem here at SBC Voices, since I was active on a daily basis. Such is not the case now, but I thought I would let folks know I am taking my 11th trip to the villages of the Casamance in Southern Senegal. Plan to return April 3. We walk from home to home telling Bible Stories and sharing the gospel. For many of these folks, it is their first exposure to the true gospel. Would appreciate your prayers. I have gotten sick the last few times I have gone and we have been encountering some resistance in … [Read more...] about If Anyone Remembers Me, I’m the Guy in Africa

I'm not a huge Andy Stanley fan, to say the least. He likes to stir things up by throwing evangelicals under the bus in an effort to reach those who doubt, who are departing, those who are deconstructing and leaving the church behind. I appreciate his effort to reach people like that, but it seems counterproductive to hit the eject button on the family of the redeemed in the effort. I am not sure the end justifies the means. The latest iteration of "Barbeque Andy Stanley" had to do with a quote he put out on Twitter. He cannot claim he was misquoted or anything, since it was his own tweet. … [Read more...] about Thoughts on Andy Stanley’s Recent Sermon

Since the moment Ed Litton was elected, elements of the SBC have been seeking his destruction, fault-finding and nit-picking in ways that are not of Christ. They did manage to find a fault, one Ed readily admitted to and apologized for, and one for which certain segments of the SBC showed absolutely NO grace. They dragged him through the mud. This is a good man, a godly man. Not a perfect man, but one who has served Southern Baptists well.   A message to the SBC. https://t.co/RWMBfTWeZr — Ed Litton (@EdLitton) March 1, 2022 I deeply regret not being able to vote for him a … [Read more...] about Ed Litton is NOT Running for Reelection as SBC President

I have been isolated these days and am not privy to anything going on behind the scenes, but I just saw a statement by the Executive Committee of the SBC. Evidently, this is some part of a settlement but I do not know what went on behind the scenes to make this statement happen. Here is the statement.   Here is what I know. Jennifer Lyell was abused in a most despicable way by a Southern Baptist leader. She did not have a "consensual affair" - she was groomed, abused, and mistreated horribly. Every single one of our leaders who examined the details of her abuse agreed … [Read more...] about The Executive Committee Has Apologized to Jennifer Lyell

I have friends who think it's impossible, Luddite-leaning folks who think the only holy response to social media is to turn it all off. Many others seem to be without introspection, justifying pretty much every word they say as righteous. I take these next two statements as truisms. 1. Social media can be used for the glory of God and for the advancement of the kingdom.  2. Social media has often been a source of shame and has brought much reproach to the church and to the name of the Savior who shed his blood for that church.  I believe social media has been and can be a great force … [Read more...] about Social Media Engagement that Glorifies God

I have been involved in blogging and social media for over 15 years, and have been running SBC Voices for nearly 12 years now. For a while, I was spending way too much time on this site and in the last year, I have largely ignored it, with the exception of two brief times - the SBC Annual Meeting and the unfortunate upheaval surrounding the Executive Committee's refusal to follow the will of the Annual Meeting, leading to the resignation of Ronnie Floyd and several EC members. I haven't looked at the stats, but I'm guessing I posted fewer articles in 2021 than any year since 2009 when I … [Read more...] about The Eternal Conundrum of Social Media Involvement

Okay, before you go ballistic, I admit that the title is a bit of a piece of clickbait. Yes, there are racists among us, and people with doctrinal issues, and those who abuse women and children, and people with moral and ethical failures, as well as some structural, administration, and leadership problems within our entities. Yes, problems abound in our little denomination. Every year when our statistical report is published, the weeping and wailing can be heard throughout the cosmos and to the four corners of the earth. We have problems. I am making a simple point today, one I hope … [Read more...] about The “SBC” Doesn’t Have Problems

At a Turning Point gathering on December 19, 2021, Donald Trump, Jr. drew wild applause from conservates, many of whom would describe themselves as “Christian conservatives” when he said the following. “We’ve turned the other cheek, and I understand, sort of, the biblical reference — I understand the mentality — but it’s gotten us nothing. Okay? It’s gotten us nothing while we’ve ceded ground in every major institution in our country.” If you have any doubt that the modern conservative movement is divorcing itself from any biblical moorings, realize that this conservative crowd cheered when … [Read more...] about Weapons of Our Warfare

I haven't had time to enter into the fray here, so I thought I'd drop by leave a Christmas message here. I know our audience isn't always motivated unless there's something to fight about, but this is what I'm writing and working on these days. Do you ever wonder during all the hullaballoo of the Christmas season if anyone understands what the season is all about? We celebrate frenetically but seem to have little clue about the season’s true meaning. This phenomenon is not new. There is little evidence that those who experienced the events of the first Christmas fully understood what was … [Read more...] about The Man Who Understood Christmas