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| Thursday April 18, 2013 "Lament" | Brad's Blog Mid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on4/18/2013 10:41 AM | |
| Once again this week we were devastated by an act of unspeakable terror. Innocent lives were lost, scores injured, and we don’t even know why. It has hit me hard, both as an American, and as former Boston resident. I spent several wonderful years in Boston. Carol and I met in Boston. The church she attended when we met, Old South, is literally just around the corner from the site of the bomb blast. Patriots Day is one of the signature events in Boston. Schools are closed, government offices are closed, the Red Sox always play a day game that starts at 11:00 in the morning so as not to conflict with the Marathon. And the Boston Marathon is the centerpiece of it all. Crowds line the 26 mile route to cheer the runners on. Parties take place in apartments and houses along the way. It is a great celebration.
And on Monday, the celebration came to a screeching halt when two bombs exploded near the finish line.
How are we to respond? I have seen several posts ... |  | |
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| | Wednesday April 10, 2013 "Identity" | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on4/11/2013 7:37 AM | |
| Tuesday I had the opportunity to talk to a communication class at Georgia State University about my “identity”. It’s the second time I have been invited by Professor Jaye Atkinson to meet with her class as they explore how different factors help forge peoples different identities…at least I think it is something like that. We talked about my identity as a Detroit Tiger fan, as a Detroiter, and as a minister, among other things. It really was a nice discussion with good questions, and hopefully, thoughtful answers.
On the way back to the church, I was thinking about what we had talked about during the class and was thinking about several things that have had an impact on me over the years. Places I have lived, jobs I have held. But over and over again, the most important factor in shaping who I am have been the people I have encountered along my journey. Several of them you already know through my missives: my parents, my friends, random strangers that have touched my life, minist ... | | |
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| | Sunday March 31, 2013 Easter Sunday "Comes the Dawn" Luke 24:1-12 | | Brad's Blog
| By Brad Miller on4/4/2013 8:43 AM | |
| In preparation for this Easter Sunday, I found myself seeking out the great theological thinkers for guidance and inspiration. In the various commentaries, there is a great amount of discussion about the fact that the gospel accounts differ about what happened that first Easter morning. Was there an earthquake that rolled away the stone to the tomb? Was the stone moved from the inside out? Was the stone in place, yet the tomb empty? And just who came to the tomb that morning? Was it Mary Magdalene alone? Was it a group of women? Did they come to carry out the remaining burial rituals, or did they come simply to mourn and pay their respects? All seemingly good questions.
And what follows most of the discussion on these topics in many, many commentaries is an attempt to explain, logically, why there are differences in the gospel accounts, and to lay out a persuasive case for the reality of the resurrection.
After working my way through several commentaries, ... | | |
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| | Wednesday April 4, 3013 "Leave Taking" | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on4/4/2013 8:38 AM | |
| In the newsletter that went out last week I mentioned that one of the hardest things I will have to deal with is not being part of your lives when my time at BCC ends. I then went on to say that means that I would not be available for visits, or special events and that the Midweek Missive would not be sent out any more. Seeing those things in print made me realize how difficult this will be for me, and I have heard some folks who have indicated that it will be hard for them, too. The one question that keeps coming back to me is, “Why do you have to stop sending us the Midweek Missive? Couldn’t you just add your new church members to the list you already have?” Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
Each week when I sit down to write the Midweek Missive, I have an audience in mind: the good folks of BCC. It has been a great gift to me to be able to reach out to you each week, and each week, you have thoughtfully responded. It has been a wonderful conversation over the years. Someti ... | | |
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| | Sunday March 24, 2013 Palm Sunday "And So It Begins..." Luke 19:28-40 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on3/27/2013 10:22 AM | |
| For many of us, the Lenten road is a difficult one. We do our best to stay on course because we know where it leads. We stay on course because we know that if we are to truly become the people God would have us be, we must take the time to confront who we are in order to move toward who we will become. We stay on course because Jesus stayed on course, and because of that, the world is changed.
The hardest part of the road is still in front of us. The coming week commemorates both the worst and the best that we could ever encounter. The worst manifests itself in betrayal and pain and death. The best manifests itself in resurrection and an offer of new life to each and every one of us. We enter this week with mixed emotions, but just like it is when we look deep into our own selves, we must face the worst and the best if we are to truly understand.
And so it begins…the week that changed the world forever.
It begins in hope and celebra ... | | |
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| | Barbara's Wisdom | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on3/27/2013 10:18 AM | |
| As we get further into Holy Week, the feeling of anticipation and dread grows stronger. As we move through the commemoration of the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, we are awed and troubled by all that Jesus did for us. We grab on to the fact that we know what happens come Sunday, knowing that it will get us through. That is the shape of Lent…it is hard, but the end result is comforting and real. It has also dawned on me that in our day to day lives we go through “mini-lents”. Times when we are tested; difficult times that try us. It also seems to me that the church community is the “Easter” in those mini-lenten journeys. What does that mean? I think Barbara Hurst can explain it much better than I can. Here are Barbara’s words.
“Just as I was thinking ‘what is happening here’…our children and adults alike text, email, even what they call facebook and other things…use words that are not completely spelled…I can’t figure it all out! It is a stoic world. ... | | |
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| | Wednesday March 20, 2012 "Spring" | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on3/20/2013 1:30 PM | |
| Today is the first day of Spring. Yet as I stepped out the door this morning and as I look out my window, it doesn’t feel or look much like Spring. But the calendar says it is, so I will celebrate what the calendar tells us. Welcome to Spring!
I have lived in 5 different states in my life. And each of them was special. They all had something unique to offer. In some places it was the geographical location; the proximity to oceans or lakes or rivers or mountains. In some it was the chance to experience something culturally different than I had experienced before. In some it was professional experiences that helped me grow and develop. In every place it was a chance to become a fan of a local team: the Kentucky Wildcats, the Kansas City Royals, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox and Celtics, the Atlanta Thrashers (may they rest in peace), the Atlanta Braves - all of which, of course, take a back seat to the Detroit Tigers, Red Wings and Michigan State! In some it was bei ... | |
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| | Sunday March 3, 2013 "Drink It In" Isaiah 55:1-9 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on3/7/2013 3:02 PM | |
| “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.”
This is something we understand in practical everyday terms. Especially in the middle of summer in a place like Atlanta. The heat and humidity are relentless and it is important we hydrate ourselves regularly. Working outside…playing outside…even just sitting in the sun some days leads to that feeling where we know that we need and want water.
But if you live in the southwest part of the country, you may not even realize you are thirsty! A couple of years ago Carol and I were at a conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is a beautiful spot, surrounded by mountains, and when we were there, not overly hot…at least it didn’t seem like it. The fact was, it was a lot hotter than I thought. One day I walked to find a grocery store so we could get some snacks for our room. I got a little turned around and it took me a lot longer to get where I was going than I had anticipated.
But, I was comfort ... | | |
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| | Wednesday March 6, 2013 "Blessed" | | Brad's BlogMid-Week Missive | By Brad Miller on3/6/2013 3:22 PM | |
| Last week in worship was a special day. Miki and Blake Morgan, mother and son, chose to be baptized on the same day; Kathryn and Steve Sabol presented their youngest son, Samuel, for dedication and blessing. And Cindy Heimanson came forward to transfer her membership to BCC. It is the kind of Sunday that really puts a spring in the step of a minister because it is a sign that things are alive and well in the congregation. But it is not just us minister types that are excited by such days. Several people have remarked to me what a special day last Sunday was. And each of them added a very similar caveat. Something like, “It’s great to be part of a healthy church.”
The fact is that we have had Sundays where more people were baptized. We have had Sundays where multiple children were dedicated. We have had Sundays where several people came forward and joined. But there is something special about a Sunday where all three of those things take place. It points to all aspects of life ... | | |
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| | Sunday February 24, 2013 "Wait, I Have a Question..." Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 | | Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons | By Brad Miller on2/28/2013 9:52 AM | |
| As we travel our Lenten road, it is sometimes easier to have examples to hold up as guides to how we are to become the people God would have us be. Because, for me anyway, it is easier for me to envision me doing something difficult if I see that someone else has done it. Having seen their example, it is a little easier to say, “I can do that.”
Our lives and our Bibles are full of such examples. Folks who have shown us the way and given us guidance on our faith journey, simply by showing us how to act, how to live, how to keep God at the center of all they do.
The Israelite Patriarch, Abram is one of those people.
But I have a problem with Abram.
The problem is that for so much of his journey, he sets and impossibly high standard to meet.
It’s all fairly straightforward: God speaks, Abram listens. God promises; Abram believes. God commands; Abram obeys. There comes a point, though, when in t ... | | |
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