New Creations

God has really been moving a lot of the teens hearts in our youth group. It's really been a blessing to be a part of what's been going on here at Landmark. I usually don't tell you guys what's going on too much ministry wise, so I thought I'd put up a couple photos. Indulge me this one time. This happened last night after our class and I've been praising God as I've been amazed at how many teens have been coming to me wanting to be baptized. What's wonderful about it is they are making a personal decision that the Spirit is convicting them of. We have had about 25 baptisms this past year...I know you're probably laughing at me putting up a number, but come on...only God could do that!! I'm thankful to be along for the ride and that Marcie and I get to be used for such a time as this.

If you look closely you can see a couple of little heads at the front watching...what a joy for the boys to see most of these baptisms. It's fun as parents, teens, and kids crowd up on stage up close to the baptistery. This happened after I had the teens completely lead worship last night and sharing their own testimonies. Can you believe we had 120 teens last night?? I know, there I go again with numbers...but again, only God could do that as a year ago we had 50 coming on Wednesday nights. It may not appear so by this article (ha), but I've never felt more humbled to be a part of what God is doing in youth ministry than I am right now. Pray the teens keep encountering God when they enter the Firehouse! 2 Corinthians 3:7-18...guess I should not be surprised at what God is doing. Blessings to everyone!!

From Blue to Green

I took Andrew to the orthopedic yesterday morning as it was time to get a new X-ray and for him to get a new cast. The X-ray looked great as his bones are growing back together nicely. Andrew was a great patient again as they cut off the old blue one and put on the new Green color he chose. He is still pain free.

Andrew has figured out how to do basically everything with his cast without missing a beat...even going to the bathroom. He wasn't sure about the green cast at first, but said it looks better "signed".

Grandma and Big Daddy came into town this weekend to watch Easton and Isaac play Upward Basketball and we have had a good time with them. I coach Isaac's team and they tied 38 to 38...it was pretty intense. Isaac only shot a couple of times and scored 4 points and took an intentional elbow in the face without fighting back...good thing he got that reaction from Marcie! Easton's team blew their team out and Easton played tenacious defense and scored 10 points...he ends up frustrating the other player as he stays on you like a gnat.

We took Grandma & Big Daddy downtown yesterday to take a tour and look at the Archives Musuem and then Marcie and I went out for a date last night to a nice restaurant we had a gift card for...Bonefish Grille. The boys have enjoyed different card games and Marcie has enjoyed Lee fixing odd things around the house. Blessings to all!

Random Photos

Andrew's doctor appointment went well yesterday morning. The X-rays showed his bones healing "great" as the doctor said. He was also glad to hear Andrew has been pain free this week...we praise God for that! Andrew got to choose a blue wrapping that they put on the outside of his original cast to make it tighter...they will put a new one on him next week that will be even tighter. Andrew enjoyed buying us all ice cream with the money Nana & Papaw sent in the mail. He also enjoyed a sweet letter from Grandma Stracke. Thanks for all the prayers and even texts from Chase checking in on his cousin.

Below are random photos of late as I just downloaded the photos...it's been a busy month for us. One of them is Marcie with number 20...Charis. That's me, Nick, and Lee jumping down 10 feet into freezing water with it 42 degrees outside for the 2nd Polar Bear Club. We had to swim to the raft...and then on in. It actually was pretty fun.

We had a good time with Mom and Dad at Silver Dollar City...and we also enjoyed the infamous Ice Cream Birthday cake that shrunk a little. As you can see, we had our youth trip to celebrate the new year at Panama City. We had one day where it got to 65, so our family and the teens took advantage of it...the water was cold, but not as cold as it was in the Polar Bear Club in Arkansas. Blessings to all of you from the Miller Family!

Thank you for your prayers!!

Just a quick update on Andrew and his right arm. He has been doing great this week in regards to pain and the lack of it. He has slept great each night and his brothers have been sweet to help out and pray for him. I will go in with Andrew in the morning to see the doc as they made incisions on the top and bottom of his cast so they can take it off and do another x-ray. Pray for the arm to be healed as it needs to be!
Todd

Wings of Eagles

The morning we found out Prentice had gone to be with the Lord I asked Marcie to start reading to me from John 14 about the peace of heart and mind that only God could give as I was struggling with God with the why. We put Christ Tomlin on in the background as we were headed towards Missouri and were still in Tennessee close to the Mississippi River...this is when God gave us a gift to show us He was still here and that we were to trust in Him, even when we don't have the answers. God has appeared to us through Bald and Golden Eagles many times these last several years and this was no doubt one of those God moments. These are a couple of the shots we got as we came back over the river and they were still there waiting for us and started soaring soon after we started taking pictures. I will put up some Thanksgiving/Miller Christmas photos tomorrow. Merry Christmas!!

Trusting His "Favor"

Let me start with two verses that will navigate my thoughts. (Don't worry, my next blog entry will have some thanksgiving photos before we take off to Arkansas for Christmas.) I feel led to share thoughts and for the first time am not worried what happens from there...I'll explain more later (ha). Galatians 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.

If you take the time to look at the context of these verses you will be amazed at the motivation, conviction, and boldness Paul had in presenting the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul was not caught up in what I term "Performance-based Christianity". He was concerned about Glorifying God as he continually presented the gospel that God was putting on his heart, not man. Tough to emulate Paul in today's world in this respect as I have always been somewhat of a people pleaser. Also, my family's financial welfare can influence too greatly on my boldness to share the truth of the gospel, or how much to confront someone. I find myself relying more and more on the Spirit's prompting of when to be bold and confront tough issues that come with the territory of being a minister. As always, I am a work in progress as I try and keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5).

Yet, God graciously revealed to me recently how performance based I still have been in my ministry...and life in general. In a book I read called "The Search for Significance" about 10 years ago, the author laid out the performance trap: performance + other's opinion = self worth. Being a performer on stage, the baseball diamond, and just starting out in ministry...this really spoke to me. I have been battling wanting the favor of men more than the favor of God ever since. God convicts our hearts and minds in His due time and patience, but it took a major rejection to reveal how I valued praise of men, more than praise from Him: and how I was still trying to gain God's favor.

My time in Tennessee taught me many things and one sticks out...it was the first time in my life a significant male authority in my life had flat out rejected me...over and over. For the first time in my life I couldn't "win" someone over that I needed to. Through this breaking down process I realized that I needed to rely more on pleasing God with my life more than pleasing a minister, my wife, or my family. This journey started about 3 years ago and God has been very gracious in teaching me how I have been "striving" to not only earn the favor of men, but His favor as well.

I have been convicted in parenthood and ministry that you can only take people as far as you're willing to be "taken" by God yourself. So, God recently used some mentors here to draw out how the need to perform and gain the favor of people has still been a motivation for me. (Don't worry, I asked them to help identify my weaknesses!) Performance isn't always the motivation, but the Spirit convicted me the other day more than ever how God views me...I don't have to earn His favor!! I will "never" have to earn His favor! No matter what God "accomplishes" through me from here on, it will not change the way He loves and accepts me one bit. This kind of unconditional love and acceptance is found to be very rare in our relationships here on earth yet God's favor on us is called grace (Definition of grace is unmerited favor). He doesn't force it on us as we have to accept this love and forgiveness freely and then freely give it away...but what an amazing thought that I don't have to earn His favor. Jesus is enough! What peace, assurance, love, and confidence is found as you soak in that thought. Motivates me to love my wife, children, and teens the same way God loves me!

I wanted to share that with you guys as this is very freeing to me as a person and as a minister and I simply thought it would bless you! Just receive it for yourself and hear God saying the same thing to you and receive it. Don't worry about this making me a steamroller not concerned of other's feelings...just rest in the fact we don't have to earn the favor of God! Jesus is enough...I love you guys.

Todd

Loss of a modern-day Prophet

When you look at the definition of a prophet at dictionary.com the meaning is written as follows: a person who speaks for God by divine inspiration. We usually are apprehensive to label someone as a prophet because we immediately start thinking of someone predicting the future and loose the main purpose of a prophet...delivering the message God is giving them to His people.

I have always thought of Prentice as a modern-day prophet due to the amazing gift and passion he has in delivering God's message to His people. I just listened to his last prophetic message to His people and I was very touched and feel moved as I write this entry. My heart and mind became paralyzed after the first couple of minutes into the lesson (Personal Revival) as our modern-day prophet spoke these words for our future..."Don't we need a surprise sometimes to challenge our apathy? There's not a lot of passion, feelings, or emotion anymore. God mercifully uses terrible events in our lives to sometimes surprise us and get our attention. He even allows evil events into our lives to move us out of our boredom and out of our apathy, out of egotism, and even out of our pride."

Prentice was simply sharing what the Lord was laying on his heart. God has definitely used this shocking event in our lives to surprise us and get our attention. All of us have been moved out of apathy into a state of conviction and urgency. I received this lesson with credibility, respect, and admiration from a man who lived out a life full of passion, purpose, and boldness for his God. After pausing from the paralyzing effect of a man prophesying the weeks to come, I went on to hear a wonderful lesson that we all need to hear several times a year to be taken back to our personal "Bethel".

Prentice simply said, "I want to be a man of God. I want these young people to be close to God. How can we commit ourselves to God alone? 1) Go back to your Bethel, your place of commitment and conviction as ultimately...we become like the gods we worship. 2) Get rid of the foreign gods of money, doctrine, apathy, rationalization for disobedience, power, sports, family, etc. Identify and smash these gods." I was impressed at how he delivers a story that happened 1,600 years before the arrival of Jesus and interweaves a practical application for the gods we worship today that come between us and our God.

Prentice went on to ask the questions, "What is your first love? What is competing for God in your life? What do you talk about? What do you read, give your money to...Go back to Bethel! God loves a repentant heart that awakens itself to God and you are no longer Jacob...but Israel."

I think that I speak for myself and others when I say that this lesson, Prentice and his family fighting for his life over the weekend, the outpouring of support from those all over the world, and the Celebration of his life on Saturday...this has become our Bethel.

We will honor God by letting this message and the life of Prentice be a living Bethel to all of us. I saw it in my brother-in-law Mark this past weekend...the mantle was passed. I felt a peace and warmness when I hugged Mark on Friday night. I saw Mark do maybe the hardest thing he has ever volunteered to do...speak with an amazing presence and composure at his Dad's Celebration/Funeral. There is no other way to explain it...there was a Supernatural presence on Mark that truly was a gift from God passed down through his earthly father. I see great blessings ahead for Mark and his personal walk with God...his personal returns to a Bethel that no one else on this earth can have as only Mark had the father-son relationship with Prentice.

Prentice didn't compromise God's truth to earn the favor of men...yet so many people loved and admired this man of boldness and passion. Yet, his greatest accomplishment was he and Barbara's ability to pass this faith down to their own children and grandchildren. God co-labored with Prentice to bring thousands to Jesus Christ...yet no amount of success in the workplace can compensate for a failure at home. Prentice had success in all areas of life...he had the favor of God and he used it for His Glory.

Oh God, extend your favor to us as we all feel a new sense of urgency for you and desire for you after what happened over the last 10 days. Extend to us the same passion, purpose, and zeal for You that you gave to your servant Prentice. May we continue to go back to our Bethel that preceeded Thanksgiving 2008. You used Prentice himself to be a mouthpiece to tell us that we need a surprise sometimes to challenge our apathy. Prentice told us You mercifully use terrible events in our lives to get our attention. You even allow evil events into our lives to move us out of our apathy and pride. God, you have our attention...you and Prentice have spoken and our commitment to you is to honor your word and your servant as we identify and smash whatever it is that is competing for You in our own life.

Thank you Prentice for taking us back to Bethel.

Todd