Dave Miller

It is crass to use a tragedy to buttress a political point, but it is a common tendency among politicians and theologians alike.  While the numerical decline in the SBC can hardly be classified as a tragedy compared to events in Norway, the way that everyone has used the statistics to make their point is an example of this tendency.  "Numbers are down so we have to seek new ways to relate to the culture." "Numbers are down so we have to go back to the traditional ways." When something bad occurs, we often want to use it make our point.  The greater the tragedy, the more tawdry the instinct to … [Read more...] about The Norway Murders, Christian Fundamentalism, and Media Bias

I read a post by Laura Ingraham that was a tease for a new book she is writing.  She listed several signs we are in a cultural meltdown: When our kids know more about the Kardashians than the Constitution-- When Ke$ha's "Get Sleazy" tour becomes the favorite summer stop for the tween set-- When grown men share their girlfriends' concealer and eyeliner-- When parents name their children after appliances, fruits, numbers, and one of the five boroughs of New York-- When people nurture their virtual crops on Farmville while subsisting on Lucky Charms in their parents' basements-- I … [Read more...] about You Know You Are in a Cultural Meltdown When…

After the compensation study we have been discussing, I decided to edit and reprint an article I published here in December.  Let me be clear, I am stating MY CONVICTIONS.  While I believe they have a biblical basis, I am not trying to make them a universal demand for all. I got my first paycheck from a church in 1980, and have been in "full-time Christian ministry" for the last 30 years.  I served as a youth pastor for five years in Tequesta, Florida, as a pastor for 4 years in Drakes Branch, Virginia, and am approaching my 20th year of ministry in Iowa - over 14 in Cedar Rapids and the last … [Read more...] about My Personal Conviction: I Will Not Negotiate Salary with my Churches

Dr. Nathan Finn, a prof at SEBTS, is doing a series of posts on Baptist Identity at his blog, "One Baptist Perspective."  It is a must-read for all of us who call ourselves Baptists. I think he is on his fourth or fifth post in the series - his blog posts appear on our blogroll on the left of the main pain.  Go back and read the whole series if you have missed it so far. Good stuff. … [Read more...] about Nathan Finn’s “Baptist Identity” Series – A MUST READ!! (Don’t argue! Because I said so, that’s why!)

I'm on vacation and I'm not going to take the time to write much here.  I've got a grandson to spoil and a limited time in which to do it.  I remember being frustrated when my kids would come home from my parents house and we had to spend a day "detoxing" them and reminding them that rules have to be obeyed.  It is much more fun on the other end - doing the spoiling and letting Faith and Josh worry about it later. 1)  I had a thought, and don't really have the time to work it through.  The Bible says that God loves us like a father.  I think of how I look at my grandson and there is just an … [Read more...] about Random Thoughts from the Black Hills

I actually have nothing to say. I'm on the way to Omaha to pick up the world's cutest and most wonderful grandson ever (and I will not tolerate debate on this issue). But here's the challenge.  Top that title! There is a large cash prize (I'll take a dollar bill and blow it up to an 11x17 sheet of paper and mail it to you) for the best potentially controversial blog title. My money is on Doug Hibbard. … [Read more...] about Mark Driscoll on Church Politics concerning Illegal-Immigrant Calvinist Homosexual Homophobes who Deny Baptist Identity in Emergent Megachurches

There are several modern inventions I think are genius. The in-car GPS?  Give that inventor a Nobel prize.  And the DVR - wow!  I get to fast forward through commercials.  I can watch a soccer game in about 15 minutes, but just zipping through it until the score changes then watching the goal.  Amazing.  Recently, I got a smart phone - a Droid because everyone else says to get the iPhone.  How did I live so many years without a smart phone? But there is one modern innovation that this aging pastor hates.  I don't know who the low-down varmint was who came up with the idea that we have to … [Read more...] about Why Can’t I Sit in Church?

I don't have time to write a lengthy article here and this is too long for a tweet, but I'm going to vent my spleen a little and you can chime in. I read some things today that got me thinking, and fuming, and writing.  So, here it is.  I'm not giving details because I don't want this to be personal. My church is having a tough time financially.  Yours is too, probably.  The vast majority of non-profits in America are struggling.  Churches.  Associations.  State conventions.  The SBC.  We are all in the same boat - sailing in a sea of red ink and leaking fast. Let's assume, for the sake … [Read more...] about The WRONG Way to Handle Church Financial Problems

I had a long talk with a woman last week.  She grew up in what I will call left-brained Christianity and she is tired of it. She was raised in churches that prized doctrinal correctness and biblical knowledge and had very strict standards for behavior - typical American conservative evangelical churches.   They have emphasized the holiness of God, His glory and supremacy.  But she has also seen the dark side of left-brained Christianity.  One church she was a part of used "truth" as a hammer to keep people in line and obedient.  She is very tired of a Christianity that is defined by what it is … [Read more...] about Right-Brain Christians, Left-Brain Christians: Can We Walk Together?