|
|
|
Most recent blog entries |
 |
|
| Sunday August 28, 2011 "Life Outside of Worship" Proverbs 6: 1-19 | | Brad's Blog
| By Brad Miller on8/31/2011 9:25 AM | |
| Occasionally I hear someone say something like, “I want to read the Bible, but it just doesn’t seem to have much in the way of practical advice in it.” Okay, some of the language may be different than ours and some of the parables and metaphors and similes might not fit our sensibility, but all in all, I feel like the Bible is chock full of practical advice.
Some of our most treasured scriptures contain great practical words: The Ten Commandments; “Love your neighbor as yourself”; “Judge not, lest you be judged.” But nowhere is there more practical advice than in the book of Proverbs.
This book is aimed specifically at helping us to understand how to act in order to live a good life. It is aimed at the most practical aspects of day to day activities. Having spent some extended time with the book in the last few months, I am astonished we don’t carry around a book of proverbs the way some carry around a book of Psalms!
Hear some of the p ... |  | |
| More... |
| | Ordinarily exceptional | Brad's Blog Mid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/25/2011 10:59 AM | |
| I was reading through my daily devotional today and it really didn’t speak to me at all. So, I just started randomly looking through the days until I found one that had passages highlighted from some past reading. Highlighting is something I became accustomed to in college. The idea being to highlight the really important stuff so when I went back over it, I wouldn’t waste my time on the unimportant and mundane. The problem is that sometimes I would go back to look at a chapter and find that I had unwittingly highlighted 95% of the chapter! Other times I would look to see what the few highlighted passages said and think, “Huh? Why did I highlight that?”
Well, today when I looked at the highlighted passage I knew immediately that I had highlighted it for good reason, and that reason was still as important today as when I first read it. Here’s what it said:
‘We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises – human nature and pride are sufficient for us to ... | | |
| More... |
| | Sunday August 21, 2011 "The Way of the Good" Proverbs 2:1-22 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on8/23/2011 7:24 AM | |
| One of my favorite singer/songwriters, Stephen Stills, wrote a song called “Thoroughfare Gap” were he describes in great detail a train ride of some length. The train begins its ride from the level plain of the foothills and winds it’s way up through mountains on it’s journey. He describes the feeling of the train laboring through the ascending portions of the journey and the exhilarating feeling of picking up steam on the level places. He describes the beauty of the landscape, the river rising with the melting snow of winter, the charred field that lies dormant following a lightning strike and fire. There is time to contemplate the beauty, and there are times when the train seems to strain to make it to the next rise. And as the train nears its destination, Stills sums up the importance of the experience of finally getting there: “It’s not the destination. It’s not the distance. It’s the ride.”
I think that this song does a good job of summing up our faith journey. As people ... | | |
| More... |
| | Just Fine | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/18/2011 6:31 AM | |
| For those of us who are affected by the twists and turns of the economy (read: all of us!) it has been an uneasy couple of years. The debt ceiling debate of the last few months was particularly nerve wracking as no one really seemed to know what the consequences of certain actions might be and how it might affect you and me. And no matter what side of the aisle you agree with, there was precious little objective, cooperative leadership going on. We have gotten used to living with metaphorical shifting sands, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
The church certainly is affected by the economic drama that we have been witnessing. That does not mean the church has to be at the mercy of the markets and our economic ups and downs. Take BCC, for example. At the end of last year, we knew that 2012 would be a difficult year. We talked about it, prayed about it and finally passed a budget that would help us provide the ministries and services that we feel called to provide. It meant that ... | | |
| More... |
| | On being human | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/11/2011 3:03 PM | |
| Twenty five years ago I was teaching at Northeastern University in Boston and lucky enough to work with two colleagues who would become lifelong friends. Chris and Harry and I had birthdays within a week of each other and…this is the important point…all three of us are avid baseball fans. (Hey don’t stop reading this if you are not a baseball fan! It’s not about baseball. Really!) Harry was from Baltimore and was an Orioles fan. Chris was from Cleveland and was an Indians fan. And of course, I rooted for the correct team, my hometown Detroit Tigers. Every summer whenever Baltimore or Cleveland or Detroit would come to Fenway Park, we were there…as well as lots of other games. But the hometown team visits always made it a special event. When the Tigers came into town I would organize the group, and Chris and Harry would do the same when their teams came through.
One year, the Orioles were coming to town and Harry informed us that he had bought 8 tickets and a whole group of us ... | | |
| More... |
| | Sunday August 7, 2011 "The Beginning of Knowledge" Proverbs 1: 1-7 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on8/8/2011 4:03 PM | |
| For the month of August we will be exploring the subject of Wisdom, especially as it is presented in the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible.
The book of Proverbs is sometimes overlooked in our Bible study, and I’m not entirely sure why that is. I looked back through my records and found that I have only preached on a text from Proverbs one time among approximately 300 sermons I have preached here at Brookhaven. Well, it’s time to correct that oversight!
When I was in seminary one of my favorite professors was a man named John Hayes who was a world renowned Hebrew Bible scholar. He was also a cattle rancher in Alabama who did his chores before he came to work at Candler, and if you met him on the street, you would probably be more likely to guess he was a rancher than a world class scholar. But for me, John Hayes helped the messages of Proverbs come alive, not just because of his expertise, but because of his example. He well understood the importance of ... | | |
| More... |
| | Grateful | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/8/2011 4:00 PM | |
| Some days, for one reason or another, I find myself being very grateful. Today is one of those days. I just look around and am grateful for all that God has given me. I am grateful for the family that I was born into; grateful for friends who have shared the journey with me throughout the years; grateful for my wife who has made my life so good and full; grateful for a church family that cares, not only for me and for each other, but for everyone that they encounter. I am grateful for the ability to worship as I please without fear of reprisals or censure. I am grateful for sunny days and rainy days. I am grateful for the sweat that pours out when I work hard; grateful for the chance to simply sit and be. I am grateful for good health and for the availability of health care when it becomes necessary. I am just plain grateful for what I have in my life.
I saw a movie recently where a man who had been a notorious criminal found himself working hard to protect some folks against a hor ... | | |
| More... |
| | Empty Shelves | | Brad's Blog
| By Brad Miller on8/8/2011 3:58 PM | |
| These are, without a doubt, the dog days of summer. The heat makes me want to head for the beach and sit under an umbrella and sip a drink that has an umbrella in it. Or at least sit on the back deck with a glass of ice water. Or at least just sit. But even when the heat presses in and the threat of a renewed drought pops up, I know I am blessed to have an air-conditioned office and house to go to, a well stocked refrigerator and protection from the oppressive heat and humidity. I am also keenly aware that many are not so lucky.
Every winter I am moved by the plight of those who must search for shelter in the midst of snow and freezing rain and temperatures too cold to live outside in. In spring, even when the weather turns warmer, the rains come (most years) and those who are the mercy of the elements are in my prayers again. In the midst of the blazing temperatures of July I see homeless men at freeway exits seeking food in exchange for work. Almost every night of every season ... | | |
| More... |
| | Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/8/2011 3:56 PM | |
| For the last few months, I have been paying special attention to signs. Big signs, little signs, colorful signs, simple signs, church signs, business signs…you name it, I’ve been looking at it. And I haven’t been alone. The BCC Executive Team, Rev. Jennifer and several of you have been looking around at signs that might look good on the church property. The reason is that in the spring, a storm took out the last of our big Oak trees on the north edge of our property and it came crashing down right on top of our church sign, smashing it to smithereens. So, while we have been waiting for the insurance company to do their thing, we have been looking at signs. (By the way, after all that looking at signs, the executive team is ready to make a recommendation about what we need to do about replacing our sign, so immediately following worship they will present their recommendation to the congregation so we can move forward. Please make an effort to stay for a few minutes on Sunday to hear their report.)
| | |
| More... |
| | The Essentials | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on8/8/2011 3:54 PM | |
| I love baseball.
I love the flow of a game. Sometimes a game can be a tense 90 minute pitchers duel and sometimes it can be a lazy, three and a half hour game with hit upon hit and run upon run. I love the beauty of the infielders as they turn double plays with the precision and grace of ballet dancers. I love the power that explodes when a batter gets his arms fully extended and the ball rockets into the outfield stands. I love the green of the grass and the crisp whites of the uniforms. I am in awe of pitchers who can throw a ball 100 miles an hour and place the pitch exactly where they want. I am jealous of the fact that there are grown men who get to play this game into their 30’s and 40’s. I am especially intrigued by the fact that individuals, with very different particular skills, must find a way to become a team if they are to be successful. I love that on any given day the most important play might be a 400 foot homerun or a bunt that only travels 6 feet. I love that ... | | |
| More... |
|
|
|
 | |