Josh Miller

We don't always see this at the outset, but it's true. "It is a kindness from the Lord to be brought to the end of yourself." -Awake, My Soul

AN HONOR TO PASTOR It's a privilege to pastor the people who will fill these chairs tomorrow. Pastoring involves the following (but is not limited to) when it comes to the people that God brings our way: ➡️To love them. ➡️To pray for and with them. ➡️To preach to them. ➡️To teach them. ➡️To weep with them. ➡️To warn them. ➡️To laugh with them. ➡️To rejoice with them. ➡️To watch them grow. ➡️To watch them stumble. ➡️To encourage them to not give up. ➡️To cheer them forward. ➡️To stand firm even when they don't understand. ➡️To lead them. ➡️To be gentle with those who are young in the faith. ➡️To prod those who need prodding. ➡️To counsel them. ➡️To walk alongside of them during dark days. ➡️To explain Scripture to them. ➡️To pass on a love of God's word to them. ➡️To share a godly spirit in the work, not an angry spirit. ➡️To lift high Jesus Christ. ➡️To minimize one's own name. ➡️To spend and be spent. ➡️To die to both criticism and praise. ➡️To listen to them. "Lord, although I might get tired IN the work, may I never tire OF the work. Help me to love these people, YOUR people, the way they should be loved."

If you are a wounded individual, be careful with your heart and your words. "Wounded people often find someone else to blame." -quote from May/June Dwell devotional

🎵🎶 O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, Rolling as a mighty ocean In its fullness over me. Underneath me, all around me, Is the current of thy love; Leading onward, leading homeward To thy glorious rest above. -S. Trevor Francis

It's an interesting verse when the Psalmist asks God to "Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness." Psalm 119:36 Why does he do this? He knows the wickedness of his own heart. This is an excellent prayer to pray unto God and reminds me of part of an old poem written in the 7th century by one named Rabanus Maurus. Create anew, our wills control, Subdue the rebel in our soul; Chase from our minds the subtle foe, And peace, the fruit of faith, bestow; And, lest again we go astray, Protect and guide us in the way.

@mnwickens We use it for all of our church playlists before/after our services. Solid tool 💪🏼

The Windows Media Player from around 2010 is probably still the best media player. Can it stream or cast to other devices? No. But it's simple, it's dumb, there are no ads. It's just a simple media player.

Want to slowly kill your marriage? - Stop pursuing your spouse. - Stop making sex a priority. - Stop communicating daily. - Choose to eat every meal in front of the TV instead of the dinner table.

What a God we serve! An eternal guide that helps us in this life and will guide us unto the threshold of eternity. What a comforting truth! Psalm 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

I have observed the following in ministry: ➼ Men who dislike pointed preaching, and yet crave Bible knowledge. ➼ Men who are fixated on specific "jot & tittles" in Scriptures, but not interested in the Spirit's fixation on their heart. ➼ Men who love to point out problems with other doctrines, but despise when confronted with issues regarding their devious heart. ➼ Men who will show up to listen to their favorite Bible teacher, but cut out when the Bible preaching begins. ➼ Men who hide behind "I just don't agree with..." while justifying their lack of faithful attendance to the services of the local, NT church. ➼ Men who love to argue & debate the finer points of theology, but who love to cut abrupt the conversation when it hits close to the heart. Don't be this type of man. Be the man that GOD wants you to be. Faithful. Fruitful. Tender to the Spirit. An example to other believers both young and old. I'm thankful for the many men over the years who have NOT been the men described above. And I cherish the many friendships that God has used to sharpen me through another godly man. Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17

Too many are sleeping. Be a loud voice to a deaf world. "I love those that thunder out the word! The Christian world is in a deep sleep. Nothing but a loud voice can waken them out of it!" -George Whitefield, 1739

Today is day 100 of 2026. What course corrections do you need to make? Even a small correction with a steering wheel can make a HUGE difference in your direction over the long haul. Step back. Mull this over. Make the correction.

Term limits now!

@JoeShakour This is exciting! Praise the Lord

2.3 million committed and 1.3 million given in building program!! We also have around 1.5 to designate. Blown away! We’re ready to break ground To God be the glory!!

I love this

So many are chained by these fetters... "O the happiness of those souls that have broken the fetters of self-love..." -Henry Scougal

Scougal properly shows that it is not the REMOVAL of said affections, put directing them rightly which makes the difference. "Our natural affections are not wholly to be extirpated and destroyed, but only to be moderated and overruled by superior and more excellent principle. In a word, the difference betwixt a religious and wicked man is, that in the one divine life bears sway, in the other the animal life doth prevail." p.31 -Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man

This is not only common sense, but crucial for every healthy marriage.

Ahhh...this young man who lived in the 1600s pinpoints the love of God vs. the love of the world perfectly: "The love of the world, and the love of God, are like the scales of a balance; as the one falleth, the other doth rise: when our natural inclinations prosper, and the creature is exalted in our soul, religion is faint, and doth languish; but when earthly objects wither away, and lose their beauty, and the soul begins to cool and flag in its prosecution of them, then the seeds of grace take root, and the divine life begins to flourish and prevail." -Henry Scougal

Good advice here regarding our tongue. 👅 "If we would so take heed to our ways, that we sin not with our tongue, we must accustom ourselves much to solitude and silence, and sometimes with the Psalmist, hold our peace even from good, till once we have gotten some command over that unruly member." -Henry Scougal

“A man’s life is always more forcible than his speech. When men take stock of him they reckon his deeds as dollars and his words as pennies.” Charles Spurgeon