Dave Miller

Two things can be said about the vast majority of us who are Southern Baptists. We believe that every word of God is true, inspired, and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. We believe that slavery is a deep stain on America's history which was ungodly, unjustified, and evil. That makes certain verses, like Ephesians 6:5-9 troubling for us. Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. 6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing God’s … [Read more...] about Slavery and the Bible: How Shall We Respond?

Counterfeiters do not spend a lot of time printing fake bills from failing economies. They seek to reproduce the US Dollar, perhaps the Euro or the Pound – stable currencies. They counterfeit what is real. There is nothing more real, more powerful, than forgiveness. My entire soul hangs in the balance with the reality of Christ’s forgiveness of me, and according to Scriptures – not just one or two, but many – my walk with Christ and the success of my Christian life depends on my obedience to Christ’s commands to love my enemies, return good for evil, and to forgive those who have sinned … [Read more...] about Questions about Forgiveness

My wife and I took a stroll down memory lane on Saturday evening, headed down the street to the Carmike to watch the movie, "Jesus Revolution." I would encourage each of you to go see it, though if you didn't grow up in the 60s as we did, it might not have quite the nostalgic impact it did for us. It was a well-made movie, with good acting. It tells the story of Greg Laurie's conversion, and also the beginnings of the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s, in which many hippies, who had "turned on, tuned in, and dropped out" but found the promises of the flower child lifestyle failing began to turn … [Read more...] about Jesus Revolution: A Primer in Quenching Revival

Due to life circumstances, I am not nearly as involved in SBC life as I used to be. I am content, since the SS SBC is being piloted by the capable hands of the good Dr. Bart Barber. Still, recent actions by the EC have stirred up quite a response on social media. The information in Jay Adkin's "explainer" was tremendously helpful but I thought I'd engage in the conceit of opining on the topic, and related issues. My views have been forged since my first SBC convention meeting, in 1979. Yeah, I'm old. 1. The Convention has changed drastically in the last 50 years. (Duh?) Back in my … [Read more...] about Reflections on the EC Controversy

This is the second in what I intend to be 6 or more posts in a series on forgiveness. I believe the biblical accuracy of my point in this post, but it is generating a strong reaction among some in the survivor community. I intended to deal with some of the issues they are concerned about at the end of the series, but it appears I will need to do this sooner rather than later. In the meantime,  I made some edits to the post to until I state my views on key issues, especially to a somewhat harsh illustration. It made a point, but it wasn't worth the injury it gave. … [Read more...] about Forgiveness is NOT Optional

On June 17, 2015, the SBC Annual meeting was breaking up in Phoenix while the Emmanuel AME church in Charleston, SC was holding a small prayer meeting. A skinny white loner wandered in and was welcomed so warmly that he almost changed his mind about the evil he had come to do. When the prayer service ended, he pulled a gun and opened fire on the mostly elderly congregation. Nine people, including the pastor, entered eternity and the world was in shock. Dylann Roof fled but was apprehended quickly and the next day was brought in to be arraigned. At the arraignment, the story took a turn. … [Read more...] about Forgive As Christ Forgave

I pastored a church in Virginia long (long, long, long...) ago and ran into a culture I wasn't used to. Many of the people there thought that ministry was preaching a decent sermon on Sunday (one that let out on time, of course) and then going from house to house the rest of the week doing visitation. This wasn't evangelistic, but simply calling on people to see how they were doing. This church was in a very small rural town. Then I moved to Iowa, where I served two churches over the past 32 years, both in cities of more than 100,000 people. In these cities, drop-in visitation was not only … [Read more...] about The Pastor and Visitation

“I prayed about it.” These common words can be both comforting and annoying. My wife and I have been in a transition time in recent months and have prayed for wisdom on every decision, every option. Sometimes, I feel like Abraham on his journey “to a land I will show you.” God isn’t giving us anything but day-by-day, step-by-step guidance. We should not make decisions without praying, seeking the guidance of God’s word, and being led by the Spirit. Praying about things is important in our walk with Christ. Still, there is a problem when we act as if saying “I prayed about it” or “After … [Read more...] about “I Prayed about It”

Few would argue that the American Evangelical church (or our convention) is in a golden period of health and vibrancy. There are healthy churches, of course, but overall, things are not good. The church is badly divided. Christ prayed that we would be one. Of course, we should not unite with false teachers, but church of Jesus Christ, those faithful to the gospel, is fractured contrary to Christ’s prayer. My dad traveled to well over 100 churches in a couple of years when he was doing Bible conferences and said that he could count on one hand those that were not badly divided. When we … [Read more...] about What’s Wrong with Us? Facing Our Problems

There was quite a brouhaha on Christian Twitter over the holidays focusing on the scandal-mongering of Christian magazines. Christianity Today released its Top-20 news stories of the year , based on readership (online clicks, I think) and as you might imagine, the vast majority of these focused on scandals within the church - a good number of them on Southern Baptists and our troubles with sexual abuse. My article on giving standing ovations to men like Matt Chandler, which appeared here and then was carried there, made the list at #9 (yeah, it was a tough year for me so I'm bragging a … [Read more...] about The Insatiable Desire of Christians for Scandal