Tuesday, August 7, 2012

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE! The Silence

Too many Christians believe turning the other cheek means keeping a stiff upper lip and yielding ground to a bully. Wearing a a "grin and bear it" grimace, silent saints suffer, in self-imposed exile, in their own nation. They have lost their voice in the culture wars, not from the hoarseness derived from spirited debate, but from a self-inflicted gag order.

 The right to vote is one of those private expressions that is still available to a Christian citizen in what remains of a republican (small "r") form of government.  Some voices within the church, oozing with misplaced mercy and ill-advised counsel, attempt to convince Christians that mobilizing their base to vote is form of bullying.  Express personal convictions based on the Word of God has become the latest form of hate speech in those outside of the church. Both of these positions take separation of church and state to whole new levels of absurdity. impotency. God-given rights should not be taken lightly, nor given up easily. Deluded expressions of benign piety or a misguided spirit of self-resignation are poor substitutes and expressions of contemporary Christian citizenship. 

Politicians bow down to the culture bullies because they know half of all Christians in America don't register to vote. They are also aware that half of those registered to vote will never cast a ballot. Political figures are merely actors on a stage, performing a script written by the audience. They are not influenced by those who speak up, but they pay close attention to those who show up.

 Politicians look at a petition presented by a group of Christians, and they divide by four. Remember your fractions? One half of one half is one-fourth. When they see a small group of protesters, with a reputation for contributing big money and consistently casting ballots, they multiply by ten. Christians don't influence politicians by raising their voices, signing petitions and eating more chicken. They do it by registering to vote and casting ballots. There is a huge difference between symbolism and substance. Politicians pay lip service to the former, and pay attention to the latter. 

All that glitters isn't gold and silence isn't golden, when it is just plain yellow. Color blind Christians are too often perceived as cowards, and seldom considered a constituency. Perception is the cruelest form of truth, but the truth is that this perception will not change until  Christians leaders stop focusing on policy initiatives, press releases, and photo -ops. Politicians do not fear the turn of a phrase or the next leadership summit. They fear voter turnout. Mobilizing pastors to inform and inspire their people to register to vote and to enter the voting booth to express their Biblical convictions is not complicated. It is consistent with the Scriptural admonition for  Christians to be salt and light in a tasteless and sightless world.  

The voting booth and the prayer closet have one thing is common. SILENCE. Politicians listen to the faintest whisper of the voting booth. God inclines to hear the cries of His children rising up to Him from their prayer closets.  Votes are heard in Washington D.C., but prayers are answered in Heaven. 

Bullies fear votes. Satan fears prayer. The Soul of America is impacted by both. Cast yours.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
Dr. Gary Miller,
Twitter@garydonmiller

Sunday, June 17, 2012

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE! The Father

"It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray...'" Luke 11:1 

"One of the disciples..." Not a committee, nor a convention or a called solemn assembly. One. Just one. All it takes is one. What a contribution to the world that one unnamed disciple made to the cause of intercessory prayer and world evangelism.  If that one person had not asked, would we know that prayer always points us  back home? One disciple, and two little words unleashed the power of Heaven... "Our Father." Lord, do it again!

Prayer and my Heavenly Father are virtually inseparable. On this Father's Day morning, it is a gentle reminder to me that my earthly father pointed me in the same direction. He has always maintained the same connection. I am grateful today for my father, my Dad, Don Miller.

Don Miller was raised in Pennsylvania. His family came from sturdy stock. From his father's side, Puritan ancestors came from England to the shores of Connecticut. Their arrival predates 1635. They were on the wrong side of history in their native land, when the royals came back in power. Their chosen form of worship put them at odds with the law. They left everything behind, and they came to America. By 1640, they crossed the Long Island sound and established the first English speaking church on the eastern end of "The Island."  From his mother's side, his root system goes back to Germany and the Thirty Year's War. His people came to Pennsylvania on a circuitous route that took them from Hesse, to Ireland, across the Atlantic to Philadelphia and westward into what became Columbia County. They were hardy Lutheran lumbermen who built strong churches and covered wooden bridges that still stand in that heavily timbered part of the nation.

World War II interrupted the plans of millions of young Americans. When the Japanese bombs landed on ships in Pearl Harbor, Dad was a DJ at WKOK Sunbury, PA. He had developed a huge interest in drama while in high school, and had his eye on a career in radio or the stage. He was gifted with one of those "Columbia School of Broadcasting" voices that were so popular back in the day. In his high school yearbook, his class-mates predicted he would have a future in directing and producing 3-D movies. What a difference a war makes.

In May of 1943, stationed as an Army Air Corps cadet in Monroe, Louisiana,  Dad came to know Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. His Reformed root system was rich and filled with the legacy of great personal sacrifice of those who gave him a start in this nation. Yet, it was a simple Gospel sermon, by Dr. L.T. Hastings of the First Baptist Church of Monroe, LA. that led him to an awareness of his lost condition. Dad had been invited to attend church on Sunday morning by another service man from Alabama. Later that day they were seated outside on the steps of the tar paper shack barracks of Selman Field. They were talking about what they had heard the preacher say about the love of God. Dad reached out his hand and said to his army buddy, "I don't know how to do this, but if you will take my hand, let's shake on it. Let's agree to take that preacher at his word, and accept it as fact God loves us and is willing to forgive our sin." They shook hands. Dad was saved. They never saw each other again. The rest,as they say, is history.

The saving grace of Christ is such a mystery, but it is no less real than the breath in a man's lungs. It gives life. It forgives sin. It bears fruit. It is hard to determine when it begins in the lives of some, but it always gives evidence that it is there. Dad's life was no different. He shared with the Baptist preacher what he had done, and Dr. L.T. Hastings encouraged him to make his public profession of faith in Jesus. His signature on the certificate indicates he baptized Dad on May 6, 1943. On that same day, my father was called to preach. He has been doing it for almost seven decades. Thousands more have turned to the saving knowledge of Jesus as a result of that one hand shake. What was shaken on those barrack steps was sealed in the halls of Heaven. What a story!

As the war drew to a close, God's calling on Dad's life turned his thoughts towards college. Dr. W.A. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Church of Muskogee, Oklahoma, directed Dad towards Baylor University and away from Bob Jones College. Credit belongs to Dr. C for turning our family into Texans. The "G.I. Bill" opened a door for an education. It had never been an option before the war. Dad became the first person in his family to graduate from college, since they left Europe. God bless America!

Dad met my mother in the First Baptist Church of Monroe in 1944. She was singing in the choir, when she heard him preach for the first time. Mom said he was a wild man, moving all over the stage. He had the congregation laughing, and crying. His stage presence was a bit over the top and pretty over-whelming to her. She had not seen his year book yet. He had a flair for the dramatic. Long story short, she fell in love with the wild man.

Dad and Mom partnered together for over 30  years as he served as pastor, home missionary, itinerant evangelist and church planter. God used all of that experience to turn Dad's heart for prayer into another phase of ministry.For 33 years, 1977-2010, Bible Based Ministries took Dad and my mother into a thousand churches, 48 states, and every continent. The videos of his prayer conference, distributed by Texas Baptist Men, went even farther. Their little house on the East Side of Ft. Worth became Prayer Central. Today the Don Miller Prayer Conference has been produced in a DVD format by his dear friend, Dr. Steve Gaines of Bellvue Baptist Church of Memphis, TN.  This has assured Dad's legacy of personal prayer and passion for intercession within the church will continue for decades to come.

An interesting side note: The Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention appointed Dad to lead out in Pioneer Missions and plant churches on Long Island in 1960. He remained on "The Island" until 1977. He was pastor of one of those churches he planted in Suffolk County from 1966-1977. Only recently did we discover his early ancestors planted the first English speaking church on Long Island in 1640...on Suffolk County. Dad had come full circle.You can't make this stuff up.

Still, the greatest legacy my Dad has given to me is his consistent and passionate heart for prayer. His first words of every prayer he prays are, "Holy Father."  On this "Father's Day" I am grateful for my father's love for me. He has always been a father who would hear me out, and not shout me down. I know he has not always agreed with me, but I have had confidence that he has always prayed for me. That is not wishful thinking. It is a fact based on the experience of having him pray with me. He has taught me to give God elbow room in the face of every impossible situation. He has shown me the wisdom to slow down to the Spirit's pace, to step back and to watch God do the HIMpossible. He has shown me how prayer is the way back home to The Father's arms for every lost child. By his own example, Dad has shown me how prayer is the only way to place a man-sized problem in The Father's hands for a God-sized solution. Dad has shown me how prayer provides rest, but that it is not for the lazy man. Prayer leads to rest by Releasing Every Single Thing into The Father's hands and leaving the results up to Him.

Happy Father's Day! Dad. Thank you for reaching out your hand to The Father 69 years ago. I join thousands of grateful people you have taught to call out to "Our Father."  Thanks for showing us the way home.

As always, I am proud to be called...

Your son,

Gary Don Miller
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
www.garydonmiller.com
gmillerlight@gmail.com







Tuesday, May 22, 2012

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE! The Comforter

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE! The Elbow

"And behold two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus...and they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. Jesus Himself approached and began travelling with them...And He said to them, 'What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?'...One of them...answered Him and said, 'Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of these things which have happened here in these days.' And He said to them, 'What things?'" Luke 24:13-35

There is a huge difference between talking and praying. Talk loses perspective in the white water rapids of a rocky river turning it into foaming flow of perpetual whine. The process of talking oneself through a crisis never ends well. It usually provides more hot air that expands and thickens the fog of confusion. Prayer clears the air and places the outcome of the crisis into the hands of the only one who can make sense out of it.

When the two disciples walked the seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, they were on a downhill slide, geographically and spiritually.  They had been witnesses to a very emotionally draining and defeating experience. "These things which had taken place" were filled with the drama and trauma that included the betrayal, arrest, trial, scourging, death march and crucifixion of their friend, Jesus. All their hopes and dreams had been crushed under the heavy hand of religious bureaucracy, and the clenched fist of Roman authority. They were in no mood for chit chat and not inclined to suffer fools gladly.

"Jesus Himself approached and began travelling with them" serves as a reminder that He does not wait to be invited to a crisis. He shows up to make sense out of it.  These victims were overwhelmed by defeat, but they were only a breath away from The Victor over death, hell and the grave. Talking among themselves had left them breathless and hopeless. Talk is never cheap if it costs a person the breath of life. Prayer is the breath of Heaven. It provides fresh air for the journey and hope for the destination.

Jesus knows the difference between talking an praying. Notice how He gently elbowed His way into the conversation these two people were having about their crisis. "What are these words which you are exchanging with one another?" They had been talking to one another for seven miles, but no closer to Jesus than when they had started. Talk leaves a victim out of step with Jesus, and on a slippery slope to despair. Prayer transforms despair into desperation. It turns a crisis over to Jesus, and He reveals God's direction, protection and correction.

When Jesus elbowed into their independent lecture series on their crisis, He was attempting to get them to talk to Him, not about Him. This shift in priorities provoked one of the distraught disciples to spit back sarcastically, "Are you the only one...unaware of these things which have happened here in these days?" It was not very prayerful, but it was natural.  Prolonged pain poisons a person's heart and sharpens their tongue into a viper's sting.

Rather than take offense at the remark, Jesus responded, "What things?" Now that His elbow had broken   up their discussion among themselves, He wanted them to pour out their pain filled heart to Him. What flowed out was a laundry list of past offenses. They were so focused on the past that they were unable to see Jesus in the present. Prayer puts intimidated people and circumstances in the proper perspective. Those who are intimate with God are seldom intimidated by anything or anyone else. Jesus heard them out, and then reminded them of the promises in the Word of God. When he had finished, He had made sense out of what had happened to them.

"It is amazing what God can do with a broken heart if you give Him all the pieces." Samuel Chadwick

After Jesus completed His walk through the Scriptures, Luke's account records that He acted as if He would go farther down the road. With a fire in their heart ignited by their companion, the disciples strongly urged Him, "Stay with us!"


What initially felt like an intruding elbow had become a helping hand. Jesus chose to stay with them and share a meal.  As He blessed the bread, they saw Him as The Risen Christ. They couldn't wait to get back up hill, the seven miles to Jerusalem, to let the rest of the disciples know, Jesus is alive. Prayer will do that every time. Prayer resurrects hope by taking the worst thing that can happen to a person and placing it in the hands of The One who can make the best out of it.

When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He told his disciples to go to Jerusalem, and to wait and pray for The Promise of the Father. Ten days later in an upper room, 120 people were filled with the Holy Spirit. Moments later the church was birthed through the power of Spirit-filled preaching.

The church was never designed to function without prayer. It began in the climate of prayer and will always be breathless without it. The voice of a prayerless church will become a faint whisper that is easily shouted down by the enemy. Prayer is the breath of Heaven and the hope of the church. Without unceasing and life-giving prayer, the church will never thrive, nor will it even survive.

The Holy Spirit of Christ now lives to give the church "The Elbow."  He encourages the church individually and corporately to give God elbow room in the middle of any and every crisis. Prayer turns Impossible into HIMpossible by overwhelming the big "I" with "HIM." Take a deep breath and  TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

BTW: If you liked "The Tebow" you are going to love "The Elbow."

Dr. Gary Miller
TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!
gmillerlight@gmail.com
www.garydonmiller.com
Twitter@garydonmiller








TALK LESS! PRAY MORE! The Elbow Draft

"Call unto Me, and I will show you great and mighty things which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

"And it shall be that before they call I will answer..." Isaiah 65:24

"With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible." MT 19:26

"If you live in Me (abide vitally united to Me) and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you." John 15:7

"Pray at all times in the Spirit." Ephesians 6:18

"When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles." PS 34:17

"In the day of my trouble I will call on You, for You will answer me." PS 86:7

"He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him in trouble..." PS 91:15

"O Lord You have heard the desire and the longing of the humble and oppressed." PS 10:17

"What things?" LK 24 Jesus

"God intervenes in the affairs of man." Ben Franklin addressing the Constitutional Congress

Prayer gives God elbow room. If you liked "The Tebow," you're going to love "The Elbow."

The gentle touch of The Holy Spirit is the tip of the spear of God's powerful elbow intended to move us out of the driver's seat and to turn to Him as the source for all direction, protection and correction.

"So too the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness, ..." Romans 8:26

"O my God, incline Your ear and hear, open Your eyes and look at our desolation." Daniel 9:18

"What are these things which you are talking about?

The Risen Christ interrupted the downward spiral of confusion and chaos. He was there before they prayed. He was there before they saw Him.

Caught up in the waves of the stormy past, this couple could not see The  Risen Christ in the present.

"Prayer is the intimate communication between the Heavenly Father and His child." Don Miller

"It is amazing what God can do with a broken heart, if you give Him all the pieces." Samuel Chadwick



Benjamin Franklin's Request for Prayers at the Constitutional Convention

Benjamin Franklin
July 28, 1787
Print Page 
The Constitutional Convention had been meeting for five weeks, and had hit a perilous deadlock. The large states were insisting that congressional representation be based on population; the smaller states wanted a one-state-one-vote rule. The entire effort to create a stronger union was in jeopardy. Eighty-one-year-old Benjamin Franklin, quiet during most of the deliberations, then addressed the group. According to James Madison's notes, here is what happened next.
Mr. President
The small progress we have made after 4 or five weeks close attendance & continual reasonings with each other-our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes as ays, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of Government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.- Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?
To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that "except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move-that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service-
Mr. SHARMAN seconded the motion.
Mr. HAMILTON & several others expressed their apprehensions that however proper such a resolution might have been at the beginning of the convention, it might at this late day, I. bring on it some disagreeable animadversions. & 2. lead the public to believe that the embarrassments and dissensions within the Convention, had suggested this measure. It was answered by Docr. F. Mr. SHERMAN & others, that the past omission of a duty could not justify a further omission-that the rejection of such a proposition would expose the Convention to more unpleasant animadversions than the adoption of it: and that the alarm out of doors that might be excited for the state of things within, would at least be as likely to do good as ill.
Mr. WILLIAMSON, observed that the true cause of the omission could not be mistaken. The Convention had no funds.
Mr. RANDOLPH proposed in order to give a favorable aspect to ye. measure, that a sermon be preached at the request of the convention on 4th of July, the anniversary of Independence; & thenceforward prayers be used in ye. Convention every morning. Dr. FRANKn. 2ded. this motion After several unsuccessful attempts for silently postponing the matter by adjourng. the adjournment was at length carried, without any vote on the motion.