Dave Miller

Everyone knows that when I talk about sports, I keep my personal opinions out of it and maintain complete and humble objectivity. For instance, when I speak of the great evil that is the Boston Red Sox or the fact that Brady and Belichick are servants of Sauron, I only speak the unvarnished, factually established, truth-beyond-doubt-or-debate. So, I thought I'd take a crack at a brief analysis of the Power football conferences after the opening weekend that was dubbed the "Greatest Ever" by many in the press. I will stick to the facts and keep my opinions to myself, as is my usual policy. … [Read more...] about A Completely Unbiased Examination of NCAA Power-5 Football Conferences after “The Greatest Weekend”

I will tell you from the start - I love the Babylon Bee. It's brilliant, biting wit is unmatched. While I've found a few of the posts a touch mean-spirited and a few have bothered me a little, but the Bee has given me more than a few chuckles and "oh my goodnesses." My question today is not whether the Bee is funny or whether it is "spot-on" in its analysis. The question is whether there is a place in the Christian social media world for satire. Is There a Problem with "Christian" Satire?  I recently copied this Babylon Bee gem to my site and had an interesting response. One of my … [Read more...] about The Ethics of Christian Satire: An Examination

I remember when I could blame my mistakes on youth and inexperience. Those were the good old days. Now, I think I make fewer errors, but coming up with acceptable excuses is so much harder. When worse comes to worst I can always revert to the tried and tested Garden of Eden Hall of Fame excuse Adam used, “The woman you gave me…” He blamed both the woman and God in one short phrase. Brilliant. I have spent a lot of time in recent months trying to get my life in order. I’m talking here more about my stuff than about my spirit, though I’ve been working on both. I’ve been going through boxes … [Read more...] about Managing a Messy Church Like Yours and Mine

  You can see him there between the Gatorade coolers, seated, while everyone else is standing to honor America. The National Anthem is playing and Colin Kaepernick, the (likely 2nd string) quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, is seated. It wasn't an accident. He was doing it as a protest. When asked, he said, I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and … [Read more...] about Colin Kaepernick, the National Anthem, Racism, and America

I am woefully behind my time on this post, but perhaps that is a good thing. I've been mulling this since the height of the Black Lives Matter/Blue Lives Matter/All Lives Matter battle that erupted a couple of months ago. It has died down, at least to the extent that it is no longer on the front pages of the news, but the controversy still simmers. As soon as another situation occurs it will be back to the forefront and we will be discussing it again. So maybe now, when it is not leading the news cycle, is the time to discuss the issue with a little more calm. My premise, as the title makes … [Read more...] about Why “All Lives Matter” Is Not a Helpful Response to “Black Lives Matter”

The US women absolutely dominated in gymnastics last night - I probably could have performed the final routine and gotten enough points to put them over the top. Then came the medal ceremony and a great tragedy occurred - at least that is what the Twitterverse seems to think. One of the "Final Five" stood on the stand during the national anthem with her hands at her side instead of with her hands over her heart. The horror. Social media lit up with people fit to be tied that Gabby hated America, and was publicly disrespecting the Red, White, and Blue. Hey, folks, can we lighten up on … [Read more...] about An Olympic “Scandal” Leaves This Old Guy Scratching His Head

I'm a big fan of two things: sports and Christianity. I love it when those two things dovetail. I respect a Tim Tebow who stands strong for his faith, though that whole thing did get a little out of hand. Linsanity was a phenomenon, but it seems that Jeremy Lin has a fairly consistent Christian testimony. Of course, there are messy moments – some men play for the Red Sox or the Patriots and STILL try to give a Christian testimony. Light has no fellowship with darkness, folks. That’s in the Bible. But frankly, many of the “testimonies” I hear from athletes are a little embarrassing. … [Read more...] about The Best Kind of Athlete Testimony

I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where dealing with racism was on the back burner because Iowa is one of the most lily-white states in these United States. Back in the 60s, it was even lilyer-whiter than it is now, since the influx of Asians, African refugees, and a large number of Hispanics (yes, many of them undocumented). Ours was anything but a racist home. In fact, my dad was a racial trendsetter back in the day. We had an integrated Southern Baptist church (dad was one of the first SBC pastors in Iowa) and he worked to build bridges with local black pastors. We would sometimes drive over … [Read more...] about My Three Stories: A White Man’s Racial Journey

I had a conversation with Jonathan Greer today and I'd like to share a few minutes ago and I've, frankly, done little else since I got up today. I also received some other information from two sources. 1. Jonathan's story has been confirmed in general by other sources. Of course, none of us can know exactly what happened in the church meetings, but the fact that this was about race and not about visitation has been confirmed independently. Unfortunately, those sources have not given permission for their names to be used, but they are knowledgeable and reliable. Those of you who want to … [Read more...] about Follow Up: A Conversation with Jonathan Greer

I've been voting since the first time an unelected president ran for reelection. You politics geeks can figure that one out, right? By my count, I've voted for president 10 times and I'm batting .500. This was going to be a tie-breaker election for me but now I'm seriously considering whether I should even vote at all. I know that offends some who consider voting a sacred duty, but so far I've found absolutely no options for me. So now, post-convention, in this break before the real electioneering fires up, I have a few things to say. After I say them, it is my intent to retire from writing … [Read more...] about NONE of the Above: An Examination of Our Election Options