I have been negligent in writing as of late, but I don’t want to let this opportunity to pass by without talking for a minute about the Stephen Olford Center at Union University. About 2 weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend their Institute on Expository Preaching. Pastor Johnny recommends all of his mentees to go to this school because he attended years ago, and it deeply impacted his life. I went with much anticipation, and I was not disappointed. If you are in ministry, I highly recommend attending. It is the best training I’ve ever received on preaching, but the institute also afforded the opportunity for Spiritual renewal. It was a week of refreshment in the Word. I will never look at ministry and preaching the same again. There is too much to say in a single post, but if you are in ministry, you have to check out their Institues.
ATTENTION ALL SOUTHERN BAPTIST! Go to www.greatcommissionresurgence.com to read and sign the statement from our President Dr. Johnny Hunt. In the past we fought for the Inerrancy of Scripture. That battle has been won! The time has come for a new rally cry. This document contains that cry, The Great Commission Resurgence. May we put our differences aside and join together to bring the gospel to the nations.
In brief, here are the 10 points of the document:
I. A Commitment to Christ’s Lordship.
II. A Commitment to Gospel-Centeredness.
III. A Commitment to the Great Commandments.
IV. A Commitment to Biblical Inerrancy and Sufficiency.
V. A Commitment to a Healthy Confessional Center.
VI. A Commitment to Biblically Healthy Churches.
VII. A Commitment to Sound Biblical Preaching.
VIII. A Commitment to a Methodological Diversity that is Biblically Informed.
IX. A Commitment to a More Effective Convention Structure.
X. A Commitment to Distinctively Christian Families.
Ask many of you know, Jenny and I just got back from a trip to San Diego. We went with the intention of looking at the city as a possible place to plant a church. Although San Diego needs churches, it is not the place for us. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but God didn’t give us a peace about planting there.
Thank you all for your prayers! We are now back to the drawing board looking for our next step. The Lord has been leading us down an interesting journey, and we are looking forward to seeing where He will take us. Hopefully I can share some stories about our trip, but in the meantime, here are some photos. You can see them all and many more here.
This morning , as I do every morning, I read My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers. If you are looking for a good devotional to read, I highly recommend this one. I have been reading it for years, and it continues to minister to my life and challenges my walk with the Lord. This morning’s section challenged me in regards to my prayer life and I wanted to share it with you.
This morning Chambers opens with the statement: “The reason many of us stop praying and become hard towards God is that we only have an emotional interest in prayer.” How true is this in my life? I have to admit that far too often. I come before God looking for some magical, emotional experience where I can “feel” closer to God. However, is that Biblical? No where in the Bible do you find that teaching. Maybe some of that thinking comes from our “American mentality.” We are so emotionally driven!
Chambers continues his challenge:
“Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means raising ourselves up to getting the mind of Christ about the one for whom we are praying for. Too often instead of worshiping God, we construct statements as to how prayer works. Are we worshiping or are we in dispute with God— ‘I don’t see how You are going to do it.’ This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God we become hard and dogmatic. We hurl our own petitions at God’s throne and dictate to Him as to what we wish Him to do. We do not worship God, nor do we seek to form the mind of Christ. If we are hard towards God, we will become hard towards other people.”
“Are we worshiping God in a way that will raise us up to where we can take hold of Him, having such intimate contact with Him that we know His mind about the ones for whom we pray?”
Prayer is not about us, it’s about God. Prayer is not for us to change God’s mind about a matter, but rather to get our thoughts in line with His plan. Prayer is an act of worship! It is an amazing thought that we can come before the throne of God to speak to Him. May we not abuse the privilege, but rather let it touch our hearts. May we walk away from our prayer time more like Christ than when we entered. May our prayer time change our outlook on the world, and may we see people the way our Lord sees people. I hope that you apply these truths to your prayer life today!
Today I bought a new devotional from Charles Spurgeon called Look Unto Me. Pastor Johnny has been reading it and talking about it, so naturally it peaked my interest. After reading today’s installment, I know that it is going to be a great read.
The title of the book comes from Isaiah 45:22. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” This is the verse that Spurgeon heard preached at the age of 15 showing him the way to salvation.
Today’s reading is centered around Luke 22:48 where Judas is betraying Jesus in the garden. Before you jump on the band wagon of criticism, Spurgeon warns us about our actions. We betray our Lord every day with our actions. Spurgeon asks, “Do I live as carelessly and worldly as unbelievers while professing to be a follower of Jesus?” I have to confess that I have to answer yes to this question far more than I would like to admit. For those who are willing to admit their betrayal of their Lord, Spurgeon offers this wonderful prayer:
Then, dear Lord, keep me pure. Make me sincere and true and protect me from every false action. Never allow me to betray my Savior. Dear Jesus, I do love You, and although I often grieve You, my heart’s desire is to be faithful “to the point of death” (Matt. 26:38). O God, may You keep from being a smooth-talking hypocrite, simply professing Christ, but ultimately falling into “the firey lake” (Rev. 19:20) because I betray my Master “with a kiss.”
This is my prayer, and I pray that you would make it yours!
With every passing day I am amazed at the love that grows in my heart for my son. Fifteen months ago, God chose to bless us with the most amazing child. I’m sure that every parent thinks that of their children, but if you ever meet Josh you’ll agree with me. Since becoming a father the Lord has used Josh to teach me many lessons about His love for me.
I love Josh so much, and I only want the best for him. Because of that love I will set boundaries around his life. These boundaries are for his good and protection. I don’t want him to stick his hands in the fire because it will hurt, yet it amazes me that he still chooses to disobey me. The thing is, we do the same to God. He loves us so much, far more than I can ever love Josh. There are things that He told me not to do. Not because He doesn’t love me, but because He does. He wants the best for me just like I want the best for Josh. But His best comes with obedience! He wants me to live a victorious Christian life, but that can only happen if we live within those boundaries. Yesterday I took a much needed day off, and I spent the day with my family at the Georgia Aquarium. We had a wonderful time, but the thing that I enjoyed the most was seeing the joy on my son’s face. I also loved the fact the he didn’t want to be with anyone except daddy. He wouldn’t let anyone, even Pop Pop, hold him. Of course I didn’t mind holding him all day, but this got me thinking. How much more does my Heavenly Father receive joy when we are living rightly before Him and experiencing the fullness of His joy? How much more does God enjoy our delight in Him? How much more does He enjoy the time that we spend with Him?
Being a father makes me a better man! I love how my son adores me, but this also brings great responsibility. Josh wants to be like me. He makes faces like me. He dances like me (which is not very good). He wants to work on what I am working on. Last night before I went to bed, I slipped into his room to look at him as I often do. As I stood over his bed, I thought about how God might use him one day for His Kingdom work. But I also thought of the great responsibility that I have. Josh is my son, but more importantly he is God’s child. I am a just a steward of this little life. I pray that I will live a life worthy of honor so that my son might grow up to become a man of God. I pray that I will not be a stumbling block for my son to trip over. If I fail in my life before God, then my son will more than likely fail. That thought alone spurs me on to be a better man!
There is more that I can say, but I will defer until later. I did want to leave you with a few pictures of my little man! Enjoy!
As some of you might know, Church Planting has been a burning desire in our hearts the last few years. I won’t dump the whole story on you, but it all dates back to the Bonfire Conference held here at FBCW in October of 2006. At that conference I heard Vance Pitman speak about their church planting experience at Hope. During his session, he whet my appetite for Church Planting in the West. Yes, there is a need for churches in the East, but in the West there is an unbelievable need. The demographics show a much higher percentage of unchurched people in the West – in many places as high as 95%.
I say all of this to update you on our current endeavor. Since being at Woodstock, we have been looking at San Diego as a possible place to plant a church. I’m asking that you all please pray for us as we will be traveling out there April 3-10. Yes, there is a great need for churches, but we desire to be where the Lord wants us. Pray that if it would be His will for us to be in San Diego that He would make it clear to us. Thank you all for your prayers as they are greatly needed. If you would like some more details about our trip or our desire to do church planting, send me an e-mail ( natekmiller@gmail.com ).
