Dave Miller

I am sitting in the Omaha airport waiting on my first flight of  the day. Will head to Minneapolis then JFK, where I will meet up with a team from Bart's church (Bart remains in the Witness Protection Program). We fly overnight to Dakar then will make connections to Ziguinchor, Senegal before heading out to villages for a week of ministry with UUPGs. If all goes well we return on Thursday the 23rd. We have some posts set and the guys will manage things here. We have some new features.  I asked Tony Jones to post "Prayer for IMB" snippets several times a week and the men from "Small … [Read more...] about Senegal Bound

From our "Tempest in a Teapot" News Division, the SBC narrowly averted disaster today when a minuscule percentage of SBC churches decided to have women address their congregations on Mother's Day. Some Twitter pundits opined that this would cause a chain reaction that would bring an imbalance to the force, align the SBC squarely with egalitarians, cause us to completely abandon any biblical moorings, and embrace women pastors immediately. However, like Y2K and the 12 predictions of Snowmageddon that didn't come to fruition in Sioux City this year, this seems to have been what Uncle Willie … [Read more...] about BREAKING NEWS: SBC Narrowly Survives Mother’s Day

I visited my mom and dad in Florida last week to celebrate the old guy's 90th birthday and as was to be expected, dad and I had some late night chats. We talked about the greatest sports team in the history of sports - the New York Yankees. We talked about family, about grandkids. We talked about old times. More than any other topic, though, we hashed out what is going on in the Southern Baptist Convention. Dad devoted his life to ministry within the SBC. Dad was never a bigwig but his service in the convention made it such that he was widely known by people who were. A graduate of … [Read more...] about “Yeah, It’s Worth It” – Why I Stick with the SBC

John 13:34-35 is one of my favorite verses. “I give you a new command: Rebuke one another. Just as I have rebuked you, you are also to rebuke one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, by how boldly you rebuke heretics.” Judging from social media, that must be how many read what Jesus said. Seldom a day goes by that I don’t get another warning that someone has “denied the gospel and forsaken the truth,” putting the church at risk. Our only hope is to listen to brave "discerners" who identify and call out those false teachers among us. The problem comes when I … [Read more...] about They Will Know You Are My Disciples If You Trash Heretics

The veil of heaven was pulled back for a moment and in Revelation 4, John recounts his vision as glorious worship is directed to the One who is seated on the universe’s throne. Angelic beings gathered around him crying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” The Elders of the company of the redeemed encircled the throne and lifted their praise to the Father who was worthy to receive all praise. But as we enter chapter 5, drama arises. The Father holds a scroll in his right hand, a scroll which will reveal his plan for the future of the world; his … [Read more...] about Is He Worthy? A Good Friday Meditation

I coached at Isaac Newton Christian Academy in Cedar Rapids for about 13 years, before I moved to Sioux City, both soccer (we were the dominant program in Eastern Iowa among Christian middle schools) and basketball. I kept track of stats and analyzed them. I still have the files. Numbers and statistics fascinated me. SBC Voices is coming up on a strange confluence of significant statistical milestones. Wordpress has analytics and I monitor them and noticed that several statistical boxes are about to be checked. This is in a time when we have been having a lot of discussions about the future … [Read more...] about Milestones at SBC Voices

Baptist Press is reporting that Pennsylvania pastor K. Marshall Williams has announced that he will nominate J.D. Greear, of Summit Church in Raleigh, for a second term as president of Southern Baptist Convention. There is much solid information in the BP article. We have been thrilled with J.D. Greear's diverse appointments, his leadership on the sexual abuse issue, his promotion of evangelism, and leadership of the convention.   … [Read more...] about K. Marshall Williams to Nominate J.D. Greear for Second Term

Baptist Press carried an article about the trustee meeting at Southwestern Seminary this week, in with its new President, Dr. Adam Greenway, spoke of his desire to lead the seminary to "recalibrate and to reposition" itself in "every way to strengthen the core of what we do." Greenway said, At the end of the day, our core of strength is what we do right here on Seminary Hill. It is the experience that happens here in the classroom and on this campus. Theological education in the context of a vibrant, worshiping, learning, living together community -- that is of first importance. He added … [Read more...] about Southwestern Seminary: Painful Recalibration

I called to talk to Julie a moment ago to see if I could come by and see her father again. "Dad passed away this morning." It left me with a feeling of guilt that I've experienced often before. On Monday, my supposed day off, I got a call from the father of a man who used to attend our church. His wife's uncle (great uncle?) was sick and he asked me if I would go over and "lead him to Jesus." I tried to explain that it was a little tougher than just showing up and automatically leading a guy to Jesus but I said I'd go. I did. Early Monday afternoon I met with Jim in his room at the … [Read more...] about The Never-ending Struggle of Ministry