Dave Miller

Visiting a church in a church in Birmingham (well, Fultondale) thinking through some issues I am going through in my church. After 14 years there I haven't seen the progress I'd like to see. I get discouraged, angry down, frustrated. Sometimes it feels every day is a Monday. I sat...well, stood...in church and the praise team did a song I'd never heard. It was a moment. It was as if the words of the song were written to address precisely the situation I was going through. I am not going to be specific because I don't want this to be a discussion of the particular person or … [Read more...] about Blessed by a Song by a Group I Disdain

I have spent a lot of time and energy on this in recent weeks. I thought I would state a few things I think and believe, and then it is my intent to move on. These are random thoughts. 1. Gender issues will be key in the future of the SBC, but likely won't be a huge issue in Birmingham. If the Mother's Day Homilicaust had kicked off earlier, we might have gotten a spate of resolutions, but I doubt this will dominate the meeting. Abuse will be the issue this year, not gender issues. 2. Complementarianism is becoming a meaningless term. It is actually a noble word – men and women … [Read more...] about Random Things I Believe about Gender Issues in the SBC

I wrote a post a few days ago in which I argued that the path forward in the SBC on the "complementarianism brouhaha" was fairly simple.   We adhere to our common confession, the BF&M 2000 which details that the pastoral role be reserved for men and that there is a differentiation of roles in marriage. We adhere to our long-held principle of local church autonomy for the rest. As long as a church is faithful to the BF&M 2000, we allow the local church to decide precisely what role women can have in their local church. One church can fence the pulpit from women … [Read more...] about A Soft Question for “Hard Complementarians”

There are fights worth fighting, times when taking a stand is necessary. When the gospel is at stake or when the reliability and perfection of God’s word are challenged, we must stand and be counted. The world hates us because we hold to the biblical ideal that marriage is between one man and one woman. If the SBC abandons that I will abandon the SBC. If the SBC walks away from the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, or a number of other essential doctrines, I will walk away from the SBC. But we must stop tearing the SBC apart unnecessarily by demanding that … [Read more...] about Our Current Complementarian Brouhaha – Finding a Way Forward

I wrote an article suggesting that the IMB should hire a president with field experience. I wrote an article (maybe more than one) detailing the qualities we needed in an Executive Board president - none of which was heeded. I wrote that the presence of five entity openings was a perfect time for the SBC to break our all-white history. We have long believed that NOBTS was the best chance and most appropriate place for that to happen. Clearly, my writings carried great weight! Literally, NOTHING I wanted, argued or appealed for happened. What should a person like me do? I have … [Read more...] about I Didn’t Get My Way. What Do I Do Now ? Living in the SBC

I am glad Bart is on his sabbatical on Mt. Ararat or Disneyworld or wherever, because I may say some things about him I would hate for him to hear. Better to speak behind his back. A few years ago he mentioned needing someone to minister to a UUPG his church had identified next to his UUPG called the Bayot in the Casamance region of Southern Senegal. I was looking for something like this and I said I would go. I hung out with Bart for a week and had a great time. Here's the part I am not sure I have ever told Dr. Barber. I spent much of that week trying to concoct a reasonable excuse … [Read more...] about “You Want Me to Do WHAT?”

I recently visited my dad and mom at their home in Florida and had a great time sitting and talking with them. I am a bad son. When I get time away from the church I tend to visit my grandkids and I haven't been down to Florida in several years. I was trying to plan a trip to Florida in conjunction with the SBC in Birmingham and my deacons sort of chided me that I needed to get down there sooner and see my parents. As I started planning things, I realized that April 28, the Sunday I was planning to be gone, was also my dad's 90th birthday. The years have been tough on dad. I will not be … [Read more...] about A Stark Reminder of Easter’s Victory