Dave Miller

I got a call today, one I would have never expected. My good friend, a pastor in my state and someone I'd spent a lot of time with, one of the nicest men you could ever possibly meet, decided to end his own life. I was reluctant to say anything on this blog, but Facebook is full of the story, he is on the news and a pastor friend from North Carolina even contacted me about it. With social media, there are no secrets anymore. So, I guess it doesn't hurt for me to reflect on it a little bit and to draw a conclusion from the tragedy. That's how I process things. I write about them. I hope you … [Read more...] about Is There More I Could Have Done? Reflections on a Painful Loss

As far as I am concerned, we could change the bylaws and make Fred Luter SBC President for life. I got to travel to Israel with him back in October and it is my humble but correct opinion that the closer the next president is to Fred Luter in temperament, passion and deportment, the better we all will be. Of course, I felt the same way about Bryant Wright. He was a good man and did a good job. And I have an unabashed man-crush on Frank Page and I thought Johnny Hunt did a great job as well. But the Luter administration has been refreshing in many ways and I am sorry that it will come to an end … [Read more...] about What I’d Like to See in the Next SBC President

In my family, we often relate by teasing each other. We actually get along pretty well, but if you saw a transcript of some of our conversations, you might not think so. It’s how we do. As we rag on one another, we often use the verbal equivalent of emoticons in our exchanges. “No offense,” says the one doing the teasing. “None taken,” says the one who is taking the shot. There is a similar phrase I've come to enjoy and employ when giving my siblings or my children the business. “Of course, I say this only in the spirit of Christian love.” That’s my family – it’s how we roll. It might not … [Read more...] about For the Love of God, Please STOP!

I saw a link yesterday to a January 8 article in Christianity Today about a question that is becoming increasingly significant in the modern media age. The article describes the problem, "Who Owns the Pastor's Sermons?"  That used to be an insignificant issue. It was hard to get a book published or get a radio ministry that produced income. But with the explosion of self-publishing and podcasts and monetized internet options and PayPal, there are a lot of ways for pastors to make a little income from their messages and writings. But hold on a second, preacher! You may be taking profits … [Read more...] about Do You Own Your Sermons?

I am leading my church to pursue discipline against anyone who supports the Seattle SeaTalks and will probably place anyone who cheers for them on moderation here. We need to stand for right, folks. America cannot survive if we do not speak out for what is honorable. I'd like to share my reasons for this principled and convictional stand. 1) Peyton Manning is a great American story. Rising up from poverty (well, his dad's teams seldom won games anyway), he started ingloriously - in an act of shame, he signed with an SEC school where he couldn't beat the Gators or win a Heisman (lost to a … [Read more...] about Why You Should Cheer for the Denver Broncos

What is the foundation, the cornerstone of church discipleship programs? I realize that a lot of folks, especially some of my good friends, are not going to agree with this old fogey's take on this. The church has a lot of discipleship programs today - Sunday School, small groups, short-term studies, how-to classes. All of them have their effect and impact. But in my 32 years of ministry, I have come to believe that there is a specific discipleship program that is the ground of truly effective discipleship. The impact of the other programs is magnified if this discipleship program is … [Read more...] about Biblical Exposition: The Foundation of Effective Discipleship

This is the edited text for my message today at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, IA.  It would be hard for the Bible to be clearer about anything than this fact: no one knows when Jesus is going to come back. There is a lot about the Second Coming that remains shrouded in mystery, but God has made it clear that this mystery will not be revealed until the moment the trumpet sounds. In spite of the unequivocal and adamant assertions of Jesus that no one knows the day or the hour of his return, people continue to be fooled by those who announce that they have either received some … [Read more...] about Be Awake, Be Ready: A Personal Journey

I am having some medical tests, and my normally prolific staff of writers has badly failed me, so here is one from the archives - published at my personal site "Word Processing" about a hundred years ago. Today, it meets a need for me, if no one else gets anything from it.  I sucked my thumb. There, I said it. My deep, dark secret is now out. I loved that thumb. It gave me security and pleasure. But my mother had a different opinion. She knew that my thumb-sucking needed to stop. So, she put “Thum” on my thumb. Thum tasted bad. Really bad. It wasn’t poison, but it tasted like it. Every time … [Read more...] about A Bad Taste

I may be stepping into a great big pile of...well...trouble. The SBC has a lot of critics, from those who love the SBC but have a few small areas of critique to those who think the denomination is dying, even some who seem to think that would be a boon to the Kingdom! Some have been productive and measured in their criticisms. Others, in my opinion, have been overly harsh, heaping condemnation on our convention. But what I would like to do today is to give some criticism to the critics.  More to the point, I want to challenge critics of the SBC to filter their criticism through a biblical … [Read more...] about A Plea to the Critics about Criticism

Authors Note: I have added a section at the end of this post spelling out what I believe would be a redemptive approach to this sad situation. As Christians, as the redeemed, our duty is to be avenues of redemption and healing. Okay, I will admit that the title is a bit melodramatic, but it reflects the angst I feel over an issue I have been made aware of in a Baptist College; one that reflects values I consider to be more Pharisaic than Christian. Let me tell you the story, then you can weigh in on whether I am right or wrong in my feelings about this. It all started when a young man who … [Read more...] about When Pharisees Attack (Addendum: What SHOULD Have Happened)