Dave Miller

I did an experiment this week, and decided pretty quickly I'd made a mistake. I have a somewhat eclectic theological combination, but I found a facebook group that I thought I fit into pretty well - one that shared both my soteriology and my eschatology. Perfect, I thought, conversing with people who are as right about these things as I am! So, I signed up and read some of the posts, engaging in a couple of discussions. Tonight, I left the group with a bad taste in my mouth and an intention not to join groups like that again. I haven't changed my theological positions; I still believe as I … [Read more...] about Get Out of Your Bubble!

Hold your ammo, there, Bubba. I give an invitation every Sunday. I give people an opportunity to respond and to come talk to me about spiritual issues. No pressure or manipulation is used. But I think it is a good thing to offer people a chance to make a public profession. It is not a biblical mandate and I realize that there are other ways to accomplish the same goal. But, at my church, we close our service with a hymn and give people an opportunity to respond. But there is one thing I don't like about the invitation - it's not really the invitation but the way people view it. I've noticed … [Read more...] about What I Don’t Like about Invitations

Sorry, I got all Baptist with my alliteration in the title. I won't let that happen again! Have you been to a good conference recently? Maybe one of the many Calvinist/Reformed conferences that focus on the "gospel" (as they see it). Perhaps you've been to one of the several "Calvinism Ain't Good" conferences that examine the points of Calvinism in order and expose their weaknesses. Perhaps you have gone to a church planting or church growth conference, or a spiritual life conference or a pastors' conference or...well, there are so many! And each of them has their own benefits and … [Read more...] about Conferences that Build Up instead of Bash, Bludgeon and Blast

Let me make two statements before I address this topic: 1) I am a longtime fan of John MacArthur's ministry, his writings, and his theology. I am in no way anti-Mac. 2) I did not attend or stream his recent "Strange Fire" conference, nor have I read the book. My experience with MacArthur and his views on the charismatic movement are based on his older book, "Charismatic Chaos" and other books I read as a young cessationist preacher boy (fresh out of Dallas Seminary), which informed my view on charismatic/Pentecostal issues for the first decade or so of my ministry. John MacArthur and the … [Read more...] about “Strange Fire”: John MacArthur is Right…and VERY Wrong

It certainly wasn't the first time I'd aggravated a denominational leader. And it, unfortunately, was far from the last time. Twenty years ago I was asked to speak at a BCI meeting with church planters to share the "success" of my church. In the two years I had been in Cedar Rapids, our church had doubled in size, then tripled. Eventually, we almost fourpled, before our attendance became more stable (unfortunately, I guess). We Baptists have a one-size-fits-all concept built deep within us. Whatever I was doing at Northbrook needed to be analyzed, quantified and reproduced in other churches. … [Read more...] about Numbers and God’s Blessing: Baptists’ Uneasy Romance with Statistics

The last 24 hours have been a brutal inconvenience. An hour and a half drive to the airport in Omaha. A flight to Minneapolis on a smaller jet. Hanging out, killing time in MSP until we board our 3 hour flight to JFK in New York. Then, things got interesting. We thought we had about 6 hours to kill, but we had not accounted for dealing with El Al security - that is no joke, folks. Some really invasive questioning and another trip through security. Then, we finally boarded a 747 for a ten hour flight to Tel Aviv. Without going into specifics, they do not engineer those seats for people who are … [Read more...] about Excited about the Destination! Lessons Learned by a Weary World Traveler

Making announcements at church is a big, fat pain in the...uh...well...neck! In my nearly 3 1/2 decades of service to churches, I have been involved in about 3,345,972 discussions of how to handle announcements and ministry promotions during our worship services. We've talked about eliminating them completely, and just ask people to read the bulletin, look at the web, or whatever other electronic or printed means of dissemination are available. But the problem is that people don't often do that, don't know what is going on, don't show up, then complain that we didn't make the … [Read more...] about An SBC Voices Forum: Making Announcements without Messing Up Worship

Here is your "Fat Pastor, Fit Pastor" devotional thought for the day! Israel had no shortage of great warriors, who accomplished great deeds in battle; with David, perhaps, the greatest of these. He defeated Goliath and many other foes during the years he led Israel. When he ascended to the throne, he made them musical directors in the house of the Lord. They knew him and his work. And, in Psalm 44:6-7, they said these words, words which I’m sure reflected David’s beliefs and practices. “For I do not trust in my bow, and my sword does not bring me victory. But You give us victory over our … [Read more...] about Fat Pastor, Fit Pastor: October Weigh-in Time!

First thing in the morning, I'm headed to Omaha, to fly to Minneapolis, to fly to JFK to fly El Al airlines to Tel Aviv, Israel. I will be returning on October 11. I have been excited beyond words about this trip. About thirty pastors are joining Frank Page, Fred Luter and a few others to tour the Holy Land.* I have no idea how much internet access I will have, or how much time I will have to write posts. I plan to post as much as I can at my Facebook site to keep friends and family apprised about our travels. But I'm not sure if I will have time or interest in writing posts for … [Read more...] about Off to Israel!