Steven Miller

1 John 4:18 - "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."      For many years, I have been thinking about the complete meaning of this verse. I have not been able to completely understand what "perfect love" truly was. And trying to figure out how it cast out fear was something I did not understand even more.      I thought I understood what love was; after all, I had been married to a wonderful woman for almost 25 years and those were some pretty awesome years, even with all the problems she had with her illness. But I apparently did not have a complete idea of what God's love really was. I understood things like, "for God so loved the world" (John 3:16), but I still did not understand the reality of God's love.      I haven't thought of this for verse for quite awhile, but as he so often does, recently God gave me a complete revelat...

If you have never been canoeing, one thing you need to know is that it is an exercise in teamwork. It takes a lot of cooperation to keep a canoe going straight in the water. It also takes a lot of cooperation between the two rowers to negotiate a tight turn or narrow passage or rapid waters. In addition to good teamwork, it takes a lot of commitment. If either rower gives up and does not do his/her part, the rowing effort becomes more difficult  for the one who is left doing the rowing. The canoe is harder to turn; harder to get moving again from a standstill and also harder to keep going straight. Teamwork in canoeing is not unlike the teamwork it takes to keep a good marriage moving ahead. Each spouse must take up his/her part of the teamwork and do what's necessary to keep the marriage going straight. If either slacks off or refuses to do his/her part, the couple will veer off course. They will not be able to navigate the tight twisting turns that life has and the marria...

So many churches these days are under the mistaken idea that because they have switched to singing choruses and contemporary songs for their services, that they are now worshiping God more fully. But apart from our hearts being set upon seeking God and worshiping him "in spirit and in truth" they are no more truly worshiping God than they were when they were only singing hymns.  It's not the type of songs being used for the worship that matters. It's where your heart is focused  during the worship time that makes it true worship. Just as we are to love the Lord "with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' we are to worship Him in the same way. Mindlessly "worshiping" Him with no heart in it, is not worship at all. Jesus said in Matthew 15:8, quoting Isaiah ""'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;" So it seems to me that our hearts directed toward...

I LOVE a good story!  So much so, I get involved in a movie or TV series very deeply.  I will talk to the screen, saying something in response to something that was said in the movie. In TV series that I have loved, I start to feel as if I'm a part of the show. I can readily identify with the characters and even come to care about them.  And when a series comes to an end and I watch the final episode that will ever be made, I have often experienced a sense of loss, as if I have a good friend who left or passed away. Oh sure, I know that they aren't real, but to me, that is a sign of a "good" story.  One that pulls you into it; makes you readily identify with the characters and makes you feel that you are a part of the story.  THAT is a good story! The Gospel has been called "The Greatest Story Ever Told", but it is not just a story.  It is not a fictional account of something.  It is the actual telling of what Jesus came to the earth to do... to s...

I know it's so tempting to call people, especially liberals, dumb, stupid, idiots and so on, when they are doing things that deserve such names, but it has been grieving me a lot lately to see so many brothers and sisters in the Lord launching out with such things, or sharing memes that say such things. Who is going to listen to the "truth in love" if we are calling them such names and showing how we don't really love them? Jesus died for them as much as us and the only real difference between them and us is that we know it and they don't (most likely). So as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:4 - "Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God." I think we can probably fit name calling into that list as well. Showing Jesus' love to them is very important. I also might add, loving them is not the same thing as condoning their actions. Loving them is just that, loving them.

I wrote this the morning after the storm ripped through Quincy, causing much damage on July 11, 2015.  I'm just now getting time to post it. I sit here writing this the morning after a strong storm that caused a lot of damage all throughout Quincy. The electricity is out throughout the majority of the city.  I haven't been out much to survey the damage, but from the few pictures I have seen online, it's fairly extensive. Being without the electricity gives one a reminder of how dependent we as a society have become on modern conveniences; though I imagine that electrical power has been around so long that is probably isn't thought of as modern anymore, but it is a necessity none-the-less. I'm drawn to wonder about the gifts that God has given us and how they depend on power too.  Just as our appliances need the electrical power to function, so too do we need the power of the Holy Spirit to have the spiritual gifts that God has given to us to function as well. ...

I have come to love using texting... so much in fact, that I prefer to text to conversing over the phone.  There's nothing quite like being able to zip off a text to someone and go about your next task for the day.  Comparing that to having to dial a phone, hope the person you're calling answers and if they don't, then you have to hope that their voicemail is set up and if it is, then you have to hope that their voicemail box isn't full, because they haven't bothered to either check nor erase their messages, so there's no room for your message, then you have to call back again anyway.  A text is so much easier. The problem is, when you try to use texting as your main source of communication in a long distance relationship, it's sorely lacking.  It creates misunderstandings that are never even close to what you intended and then you get taken for being the biggest jerk in the world, when all you really wanted to say was, I'm sorry and I love you.   Te...