Tag Archives: Jesus

December 13, 2012

The Clans of the Proud (from a friend)

By Ryan Miller

Simple words, yet eternally profound.

I have actually never done this before. But because the topic is so important, the result so hurtful, and the friend so dear, I decided to post her blog word for word. I encourage you to take this blog and share it with every Christian you know. Please post the link to your social media feeds and forward the email if you directly subscribe to my blog.

 

The Clans of the Proud by Julee Huy

We speak of unity,
And loving one another.
Do we love outside our community,
The one God calls our brother?

I’m not talking about a one world religion.
I’m talking about division,
And pride,
And separating into sides.

The air fills with the sound,
Of drums beating loud.
To tribes we are bound,
The clans of the proud.

In love, His blood was shed.
In humility He came and died.
By His grace we have been led.
In greed, we mock Him with our pride.

There is sweet unity in our cause.
Strength and wisdom yet to glean.
For one Savior we seek applause.
On one God we all do lean.

We speak of unity,
And loving one another.
Do we love outside our community,
The one God calls our brother?

The actual post and more from Julee’s heart can be found at the link below.

The Clans of the Proud

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

November 26, 2012

It’s All I Want To Hear

By Ryan Miller

Could you imagine if all you ever heard was Jesus?

There are over 250 million proclaimed Christians in the United States. I’m not going to debate that number (even though I could) but use it to show something quite shocking. Stats on the web show that in order for a topic to trend on Twitter, it needs approximately 30 tweets every 5 seconds. If approximately 500,000 people tweeted once per day something about Jesus, he would never leave number 1. Jesus would be the most talked about (trending) topic on Twitter every single day. And that’s only 500,000. Could you imagine if 1 million? 100 million? Instead of Jesus, we get trending topics like #20ThingsIDontLike or #CyberMonday. Those are just today’s most recent trends. Other days, it’s the name of the latest celebrity to get pregnant, or divorced, or both. For a while it was all politics. Food probably lands there from time to time. It is just ridiculous to think that anything other than Jesus would be number 1.

He is the Savior of the World, your Savior if you call yourself a Christian. Through none other will you receive the eternal security that you so dearly hold onto. 

So how about you personally? What do you talk about? What trends in your life? As Christians, we are called to glorify God in all we do (1 Cor 10:31). Are we glorifying God when we spend so much time talking about the things we do? I know I’m not! It’s time I examined my life and so should you. The examination has to take place every day. I ask you join me in praying a simple prayer now…..

“Father forgive me for the time I have wasted on selfish and futile things. May I always live to honor and glorify you”.

Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, the dinner table, the grocery store line, your job or school, it’s time Jesus is trending number 1 in your life.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

November 15, 2012

Guarantee

By Ryan Miller

There are performance guarantees and money back guarantees.You can get them in durations of days, months, years and even a lifetime. Unfortunately most of those guarantees have loopholes. The fine print is so small you couldn’t see it with a microscope. You void the guarantee as soon as you get it.

And even if you find the perfect-no-loopholes-guarantee, it will only last until you die. Then you don’t need to care, right?

That type of thinking may work with products and services, but not our actual lives. There is a huge debate in regards to what happens after you die. That debate leads to many conversations and HUGE amounts of worry. People are freaked out by death.

But what if there was a guarantee for life (against death)?

I’ve got one for you. Clear as day, for you to read and receive even right now.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”

Those beautiful words were penned by the apostle Paul in the Book of Romans (Rom 6:23). It is a signed, sealed, and delivered guarantee that if you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life you are given the gift of eternal life. This means that you do not have to fear death. NOT NOW, NOT EVER! You may experience a tragedy and leave this earth early or you may not wake up from a good night’s sleep at some point, but that isn’t death. That’s the beginning of the rest of your life loving, worshiping, and experiencing Jesus face to face.

So what are you waiting for? This isn’t a guarantee that will cost you a thing. It was bought and paid for over two thousand years ago.

All you need to do is accept it!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

October 28, 2012

Impossible Earnings

By Ryan Miller

After church this afternoon, we headed over to the quad at the Claremont Colleges to engage the community. While walking around we noticed a guy on his knees, burying his face in the grass every minute or so but we figured he was praying so we kept kept walking as not to interrupt what he was doing. After talking to a few other people, we made our way back over towards he and his family.

The man was extremely polite, eager to share with us about his upbringing, his profession, and his faith. There was no heated discussion, no debate over view points, not even push-back from me when he blatantly discounted my Jesus as a mere man. He went on to talk more about the dedication he has to his faith.

He memorizes his entire religious book. He prays at least five times a day, saying exactly what he is told to and in the same direction he is always supposed to point (yes, direction). He gives of his time and money to those that need it more. He respects others. He worships his god. Then I asked him.

“What happens after you die?” 

“Hopefully I have done enough to earn a good standing with God” he says.

Done enough? Good standing?

How about no chance!

I responded ”The Bible says that none is righteous, not one. We all sin and fall short.”

“I serve a merciful and just God” he says.

No matter how hard we try, not matter how much we do (or don’t do), we will never earn one sliver of good standing with God. The same God that has mercy on all must also be just with all. Justice means we all pay for our sins. Thankfully mercy came in the way of Jesus.

Without spinning circles with this man, I shared one sentence.

“Through Jesus, you can be sure of your standing with God”

With that, I thanked him for his time, greeted his wife and kids and went on my way. You see, there was nothing I could say in that moment to get him to feel what I feel.

ONLY GOD SAVES

What breaks my heart is he will go about his life doing everything he can to earn the impossible.

I only pray God changes what my conversation never could.

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

October 9, 2012

Thankful at the Bottom

By Ryan Miller

Today was a great day. 

Normally, I come home from a Christian conference trying to get my wife to feel all the excitement I felt from the day’s speakers, worship and more. It never really works the way I envision it. First, because you just can’t communicate the spirit of God moving unless you are present. Second, I get really into things (she may say overboard) and people just don’t feel it like I do.

But this day was different because I got to experience it with her.

In this most recent season of life we gave struggled and fought to keep our financial well being above water. It hasn’t been easy and we (particularly I as the husband) haven’t done a good job keeping us breathing. But today was an example of why I can thank God for being in this season. In my old job, I wouldn’t have had priceless days like today with my wife. The only reason I treasured time before was if it allowed me to put together another business deal.

BUT NOT THESE DAYS!

God has removed much of that from me so I could focus on the calling He has chosen for me.

HUSBAND – FATHER

I would lay down every last dollar and possession I had to spend all my days with my wife. She makes me feel like nobody else can. Her smile lights up my life like nothing else can. It’s not that I want to be in this season of struggle, but if this is what it takes to be the husband and father God called me to be then I am all in.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

October 7, 2012

Caught Up

By Ryan Miller

Theology, Themes, Genres, Chaisms, Parallels, Author, Audience, Context

I have spent the last couple of days in lectures, learning to become a better preacher and teacher of God’s word (I have a long way to go). And this session has been part of a three month journey covering additional areas of biblical study and ministry. It will span five more months.

Two things have become very apparent.

  1. Image being extremely thirsty. You are looking everywhere for water and your only alternative is the fire hydrant on the street. As you go to get a drink, someone cracks it wide open. How much would even get in your mouth? That’s how much information we have been taking in. It is a blessing beyond all belief and the content is life-changing, but getting it all in my little brain has been a challenge to say the least!
  2. I can get so caught up in all the teaching, all the information and all the preparation that I lose sight. I can begin preparing my next sermon with my notes on the right outline, right content and right delivery but forget.

Without the Holy Spirit leading and guiding my preparation, it won’t affect a single person. With the Holy Spirit opening my mind to the Word of God, it will never make any sense to me, nevertheless to the people I am attempting to teach.

But this doesn’t just pertain to me studying in this program. It goes for all of us at work, at home, and in every other area of our lives. Without the power of the Holy Spirit we will end up doing the same things in the the same ways the rest of the world does them.

WHAT’S THE POINT OF THAT?

The answer is…….THERE IS NO POINT!

We have been created to image and glorify God. The only way that can be accomplished will be by asking God to send the Spirit down on us. Maybe by this point you are wondering when you should ask that question.

  1. Before you start your day
  2. Before you get to work
  3. Before you walk into your bosses office for a “talk”
  4. Before you head out to a business meeting
  5. Before you make a phone call
  6. Before you discipline your children
  7. Before you disagree with your spouse
  8. Before you eat
  9. Before you go to sleep

You see a pattern here?

BEFORE YOU DO EVERYTHING ASK FOR A FRESH FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!

“God I pray now that as I send this blog post out, I pray that these words are your words laid on my heart for your people. I pray that this blog blesses someone in a new way. I pray that you would be made known to someone new. Father I pray that my life would always be a testimony of the love and grace you have given to me through the cross of Jesus Christ.”

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

September 23, 2012

Past, Present and Future

By Ryan Miller

Everybody sins and there is no getting around it. And if that’s not bad enough, we are told that because we sin, we have to pay the penalty of death. We are totally depraved and cannot help ourselves. Thankfully God sent Jesus down to pay the penalty for those that will be saved. In one of the most incomprehensible acts the world has ever seen, our sins our erased.

But it doesn’t stop there!!!!

The more I grow in my relationship with Jesus, the less I will sin (hopefully). But I will still sin and the wages of those sins is still death. Wonderfully, Jesus’ death on the cross paid for ALL my sins (not just the past).

PERFECT PAYMENT

Today in church my pastor shared a bit on the security of our salvation. We were studying 1 Corinthians and in chapter 1, verses 7-8 the apostle Paul says Jesus will sustain us to the end. It is an awesome promise and stems from the perfect payment Jesus gave on the cross.  There are plenty of other verses in the Bible which confirm our eternal security in Jesus. Check out Colossians 1:21-23, 2 Timothy 2:11-12 and Philippians 1:6 to name a few. 

There was nothing that I did to earn my salvation.

There is nothing I can do to ever lose my salvation.

I love knowing that I am eternally secure in Jesus because while I want to live in such a way that obeys Jesus’ commands and glorifies God, I am bound to have days that just aren’t so good.

You can be confident in that too!

3 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

September 11, 2012

Unstained

By Ryan Miller

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27

I had a discussion the other day with another pastor and a young guy over the topic of alcohol (now let me preface this by saying that I believe the Bible allows for the Christian to drink on occasion. The Bible does not call moderate consumption of alcohol a sin). The conversation was much more about what we should and should not do as Christians versus clear sin or not sin. 

The Bible says that in this life, we will never be perfect. Our sanctification is a process in which every single day (hopefully) we are made more righteous by the Holy Spirit by the loving grace of God (2 Cor 3:18). While we hold onto that truth as hope for transformation from our sinful ways, there are things we just can’t perfect in this life. 

So why in the world would you continue to partake in things that are “borderline” which you can control?

I have many times told people (and God) that I want my life to be all about Jesus. LOVE JESUS, SERVE JESUS. In my heart that means that I am willing to give up everything for His glory. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for the One that did everything for me. There are many things in this world that are allowable but not good for me as a follower of Jesus so I just won’t do them. When I said yes to Jesus, my rights became His. Now even more so as a pastor I need to live in such a way that glorifies Jesus. Even when that means I don’t do something that is allowable.

A case can be made for many things which are allowable but not good. Things like drinking, smoking, and watching certain movies or television programs. What do you think? Am I going too far? Could we pick apart our entire lives determining what’s good and what’s not? Maybe that’s exactly what Jesus wants!

2 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

August 22, 2012

Planted

By Ryan Miller

For just over one year, what started out as a few families praying has brought about the opportunity to plant a new church in Claremont, California.

We have struggled through many things to this point and I am certain that there will be many more ahead. But knowing that this is what God has called each of us to, we are ready to do whatever is takes to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ in Claremont.

Claremont is a great little city (population approx 40,000). The residents are diverse, with a variety of people of all shapes, sizes and colors. Faith is diverse as well, with multiple Christian, Quaker, Catholic, Jewish and Islamic churches/worship centers (and a Church of Scientology). Overall, the vibe is fairly liberal and this is evident in the Claremont School of Theology’s recent addition of a “Master’s in Muslim Leadership Degree” (the first of it’s kind in the United States). The arts are also well represented, ranging from music to dance to theater. There are great families spread throughout the city and kids from all over flock to Claremont for their well-regarded Claremont Colleges.

By the grace of God, we pray that we are a light for Jesus to the people of Claremont. We want to share the Gospel in truth and love. 

I ask that you come along side us in prayer that God would be glorified and that many would come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

It is all For His Glory!!!!

You can like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ForHisGloryClaremont

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

August 2, 2012

What Did You Say?

By Ryan Miller

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Phillip, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. And he rose and went.” Acts 8:26-27

This is the beginning of the story of Phillip meeting the Ethiopian Eunuch on the road. I think about how often we don’t take the time necessary to hear from God when we seek to share the gospel with the lost (or do any of His work for that matter). And how often do we question God after we have been given direction? In this story from Acts, God commands and Phillip goes. It is that kind of obedience that causes God to produce fruits from our work.

Time and time again in the Bible this type of story reigns true. God calls on someone to go or do and the result of their obedience is fruit. Alternatively, we see evidences in the Bible where God calls and people disobey. Take Jonah for instance. He went in the complete opposite direction that God asked of him. The great thing is that God’s perfect grace is irresistible and in His timing, Jonah saw God’s ways as better than his own.

Our disobedience will always have consequences but better yet, our obedience will always produce fruit. In the case of Phillip in this story, the fruit produced was an an eternal one. The Eunuch heard the gospel, accepted Christ and was baptized!

So what is it that God has called you to do? Are you waiting to hear a better confirmation on something God has asked? Or are you all out disobeying the calling God has for you? 

Trust that God’s will for your life is perfect and go for it, because inside of that will there are no regrets!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Christianity

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,306 other followers