I am losing my little girl. She is only three, but regardless, I dread every day that passes knowing that at some point very soon, she won’t want to cuddle with me anymore, or fall asleep in my lap at night. It won’t be long before taking a nap with Daddy isn’t something she will look forward too and no longer will she look up at me and ask “You want to kiss me don’t you??!”

If you know me, then you know I am not a compassionate person. You also know that I am sarcastic and gruff, stubborn, straight forward and a guy who doesn’t show emotion. Essentially, I am the OPPOSITE Rob Slane! lol.

Regardless, that little girl has changed me in so many ways. Sure, the average person may not see it, but deep down, I have been softened by the hugs of tiny arms….. She has all of me…..and I think she knows it.

It won’t be long before she is talking on the phone with boys, and bringing them home to meet her Daddy…..to which I will be putting the fear of God into them every way I know how too. She will be back talking me and telling me how I am ruining her life…… And even the thought of “giving her away” to someone else……let’s not even go there.

I was thinking about a song a buddy of mine wrote about his little girl and it just about brought me to to tears. Roy Goudy wrote a song that I believe he titled “The Ghost of You” and it’s about how his daughter is now a bit older but he still sees her as a 3 year old. Running around the house, making messes with chocolate ice cream all over her face. He still can see her perpetually running everywhere she goes cause lets face it, 3 year olds don’t walk anywhere. Even though she is still there, so much of her is already a memory.

I am losing her. With every day that passes, she is one small step farther away from me. I see other parents with kids who are older now and I grieve for them inside while wondering if what I am feeling is normal. She is gonna grow up, I have to deal with it……but why is it happening so fast?

~jfm3~

Look, I have been a Christian most of my life, and throughout my life have had the debates on Christmas and Santa, Easter and the Bunny……and to be honest, I went to Bible College, so I am aware of the traditions and histories and rituals of said holidays and how they don’t pertain to Jesus…….whatever.

Is it a sin to teach your kids about Santa? I don’t know. Is it a sin to hide an Easter Basket on Easter Sunday with colored eggs in it? Who knows at this point. More importantly, is it right for a Church to hold an EASTER EGG HUNT for the community? I say ABSOLUTELY.

I know every angle of detraction there is for this one, from the paganist reasons to the “the church could have spent that money on the poor” reasons……and frankly, if those are your reasons, it seems to me you are just looking for something to complain about. Seriously, I just said that.

Jesus before He left this planet, gave His followers ONE job. That job, which most American Churches have walked away from, was to provide those who don’t know Him with an opportunity to meet Him. The best part is that those of you who are starting to get angry at the fact that I would use some gimmick plastic egg filled with candy as a “draw” for some unchurched person to come to our Easter service full well believe, or should I say, HOPE that people will magically come to your church when the truth is, they don’t know who you are, what you believe, why you are there and frankly, if your church burned down tomorrow, wouldn’t notice you were gone.

Angry yet? I hope so.

The Bible says to COMPEL them to come. COMPEL THEM TO COME. That doesn’t mean putting catchy phrases on your churches letter board by the street, the best of which I ever saw was, “If you love Jesus, Come on in!!” Well, what if you DON’T love Jesus? What if you are searching for the truth? What if you have questions?

Why do we try to force people to live by our rules and beliefs when they don’t believe what we believe? How can they understand anything when they don’t know anything about what you understand?

Jesus said to compel them to come in, if providing someone’s kids with some free candy jammed in a plastic colored egg hidden in a swampy field gets them to show up on Sunday, hear the Gospel and have an opportunity to accept Jesus, send me all the colored eggs you got!!!!

Our job is to get them in the door using any means necessary short of sin. After that, it’s in God’s hands.

Word.

~jfm3~

We were talking about doing a Worship series in our creative planning meeting today. There is a good chance I will actually get to preach during one of those weeks which would be an awesome honor for me.

As we were talking we were going over why people don’t worship and what the level of our congregations “knowledge” is with the actual definitions of worship.

On one hand, worship is not necessarily a “slow song.” Worship is a life style…..which sounds really churchy. But what I mean by that is that God created us to worship Him. Obviously, it is not possible to spend the entire day and night in a state of worship……so what does He want us to do?

Well, God created you and me for a purpose. We worship God with our lives when we are doing what He has created us to do. In short, that means, when we are perfectly living within His will for our lives. An Eagle soaring thousands of feet above the earth is worshiping God because that is what He created the eagle to do. An Eagle attempting to live it’s life in a chicken coup feeding on corn and nesting in a box is not worship. It is, at that point, outside of the will of it’s creator.

But worship is also a call to action. Worship is the outward manifestation of what God has done in your life. The Bible speaks often of dancing, singing, shouting, clapping and going crazy in adoration for our God.

I could argue quite convincingly that standing in the auditorium with your arms folded being a spectator is not “how you worship” but rather, how you observe. If you have bought into the idea that this IS how you worship then you are either lying to yourself, or you have no realization of what God has done for you……

When God shows up, worship happens. Don’t believe me? Read your Bible. I don’t think there are many examples of where God showed up and the dude just stood there with his arms folded. lol.

~jfm3~

Tim did it, and it is appropriate that I do it as well.

Even though I went on a rant the other day, there have been a lot of people step up to help. Some have donated countless hours…..and like Tim said on Sunday in his message, a lot of them you don’t even know the names of….. And you would never know that they are most of the reason we are able to have the Grand Opening next Saturday….

Names like-
Mark, Jackson, Leah, Steve, Andy, Joe, Bob, Ed, Kim, Mike, and many many others…. There have been entire Life Groups who have shown up to help…… it has been awesome to see people give of their time to see this vision come to reality.

I just want to say “thanks” to all of those who have helped, both those named and the ones who I have forgotten, missed or accidentally left off the list…… It is your sweat, dedication and hard work that will open new doors for people who need God to come to a place where they can meet Him.

You guys are awesome and as your Executive Pastor I appreciate everything you do!!!

~jfm3~

Ecclesiastes 7:18 – Is it good to grasp the one and not let go of the other? The man who fears God will avoid all extremes. (via Youversion)

I would probably be considered a liberal Christian by today’s standards, and I would probably be considered a heathen by the people I grew up with in Church as a young man.

More important than any label or judgment of me is the fact that I am myself. I am Joe Miller. Like it or leave it…..what you see is what you get. I am real. I don’t fake my faith, or pretend to be some super Christian. I depend completely on God, I make mistakes……don’t tell anyone, but I also SIN. (OH NO!!! Our Executive Pastor is a SINNER!!!) News flash, so are you. And every other person inhaling oxygen on this planet……and everyone who is inhaling things they shouldn’t be too…lol

My point? God looks at your heart. Did you hear me? GOD LOOKS AT YOUR HEART. He knows whether or not you are sincere in your belief in Him,….He also knows those who pretend to be all Holy and Righteous on Sunday and live like the Devil on Monday.

I don’t get caught up in the rules and rituals of old time religion anymore. I live my life trying my best to love others and help those in need. I pour my life out for my ministry and I give myself away for a cause greater than Joe Miller.

I allow the BIBLE to tell me what is right and wrong and I follow this heart Jesus gave me. He said if you read His scriptures and hide them in your heart, they will guide you and they do.

Paul also said we are not suppose to be “Of this world”…..but we have to live in it.

Am I saying you should live life like a heathen? Absolutely not. But you shouldn’t try to be some super spiritual Christian who walks on water, makes people believe you pray “without ceasing” and look down your nose in judgment to all others, especially non-Christians, meanwhile hiding the ugliest skeletons of all in your closet.

Here’s a thought…..just be yourself. Love your neighbor and your God, go to church, read your Bible and talk to Jesus. It will bring you balance and I bet you will be happier!

Love you guys.

~jfm3~

We are close to completing the new Kids facility, but there is still a long way to go. Myself and two other Life Groups will be here building furniture, toys and other things that need completed.

To be honest, between the building, Worship leading, the new project, the downstairs remodel and everything that goes into being the Executive Pastor, I find myself not at home anymore.

Not sure how many days straight it has been, but it has been a lot. Also not sure of how many 10+ hour days I have in over the last month…..but it’s also a lot.

I am overwhelming grateful for the people who have come out to help paint, build, clean, and whatever else…. But I am also a shade angered at those who have kids and have done nothing. If I may be frank for a moment, we are all busy. We all have “a lot” going on. We ALL would rather be at home enjoying the evening with our family or just vegging out….. But if we ALL did that, the building would never be done. In my opinion, if you have kids who will be using this facility for the next 20 years of their lives and you have not lifted a finger to help, shame on you.

Now that you feel guilty, here are things we still need help with…

Painting
Building furniture
Laying Ceramic Tile
Cleaning
Moving stuff from the old building to the new one
Installing sound gear and other media stuff
Building sets
Building the stage
Installing the new coffee bar
General help in multiple areas
Did I say CLEANING?

Joe out.

~jfm3~

This weekend we will be collecting the pledges and one time gifts for the Auditorium expansion. Essentially, we are looking to double our current seating capacity which, at the rate we are growing, is vitally important for us.

Last night at Worship Practice, Ed was praying that the hearts of those in the community who need God would be moved and that they would be open to receiving Christ once the project was over. Ed prayed that “the fields are ripe with Harvest” and it is true, they are.

But as Ed prayed it struck me. The Bible says that we will go and we will reap where we have not sown, which is exactly what we at Crossroads have been living. We didn’t build this building, we didn’t develop the land we own….

The Bible also says that we not need to worry about the Harvest, the Harvest is there waiting for us. It says that the Harvest is full but the workers are few….also a reality we have been living with at Crossroads.

What we need is for the current Partners of Crossroads the grab a hold of the vision and sow into this Ministry, with both their wallets and their time. This week, we need the hearts of our Church attenders to change and we need them to see God’s Vision for this ministry and for their own lives. If we come together and sow our seed, the Bible says we will see the Harvest.

The souls are there, they are ready, but we have to prepare the way for them! I hope you and your family are praying about how much God wants you to give this weekend! It is our time to sow…..don’t miss this opportunity!

~jfm3~

It is overlooked how important it is that any group of people working together as a team need to be all on the same page. I remember stressful times in my old band that would have been non-existent had everyone been on the same page. Conversely, I remember when the lineup fully solidified and how awesome everything was cause we were all pulling in the same direction.

Think about the disciples for a second. Here you had a group of guys following Jesus, who couldn’t have worked their way out of a grocery store with a map together….. The Bible speaks of them always arguing of who would sit at Jesus’ right hand when He became King. They never understood a word the man spoke and even at the end, when God’s plan was being fulfilled, they were scattered like the stars at the first whim of a challenge.

They were not on the same page.

It was only AFTER Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven that they fully “got it.” Once that happened, that small group of men had a greater impact on the Earth and human history than any other group ever. To be honest, it is amazing to me that Jesus was able to fulfill His destiny with these guys tripping over themselves constantly…..but praise God they GOT IT when it mattered.

I am overwhelmed to be on the team at Crossroads. What you guys don’t know is the leadership team at Crossroads are all on the same page. We are a cohesive unit all trying to accomplish the vision that God has given us. We work together, sacrifice for each other, lift each other up, hug when we need hugged, love when we need loved, rebuke when we need rebuked and none of us put ourselves above the task God has set before us.

I am proud to be on this team that God has put me on and I love every one of them with all my heart!

~jfm3~

Totally hanging in South Carolina at Newspring with the Crossroads Leadership, minus one Youth Pastor…..

It was the first time I really got to hear Perry Noble speak and I will say I was very very impressed. He isn’t stunningly handsome, he doesn’t have a golden voice and he isn’t pumped full of the Bible…..he is just Perry Noble. He spoke truth, he didn’t hold back. Everything he said was Biblically correct and he was funny and relevant. It was refreshing!

I am taking away a lot of things from this conference.

Once again, it is an awesome feeling to know that a lot of what we do as a leadership team at Crossroads is on point and continually confirmed when we go to these leadership conferences. What that means is that we are not missing the mark….. We say it all the time that we don’t have it “figured out” but it is comforting to know that we are going about things the right way.

Key points from Perry and the Breakout Sessions-
1. Checking tithing records of volunteers and staff members will tell you instantly how committed they are to the vision of your church. (this was a tough one for me…..to me tithing is a personal thing between God and the believer)
2. Just because someone is told their whole life how great of a singer they are, you may be required to be the one to finally tell them the truth. (ouch)
3. If you are struggling with whether or not you need to hire someone, you probably should have already hired them a month ago.
4. If when out to eat with my child, a person comes up and wants to talk, I should stop them and tell them politely that I am on a date with my with my daughter and I will talk to them some other time. Why? Cause I would rather have some other person think I am a jerk, than my daughter think I am a jerk.
5. Speaking negatively to someone who can fix a problem is not gossip. Speaking negativity to peers or subordinates who cannot fix issues IS gossip and will get you fired.
6. Everyone deserves a weekend. People who love their jobs like we do will sacrifice their family and personal lives for the church. If they destroy their lives by overworking, it is my fault as their boss.
7. In church leadership, we are all connected. Meaning, when someone sees me out side of Crossroads, they don’t see Joe Miller…..they see Joe Miller from Crossroads, who serves Pastor Tim Moore, plays in the band with Bobby Sykes, and is married to the Childrens Church director. Which is why it is SO VERY important that out side of these 4 walls, I am on my best behavior. There is a mountain of truth in that word.
8. It is awesome to move someone from a part time role playing in the band to some other full time ministry position. For instance, when one of our drummers first came to Crossroads, that’s all he was. Now, he is taking responsibility of a real ministry position here where he can affect the lives of other people. He is thriving in that position and soon will need to be allowed to only focus on the calling of God in his life. Does that mean he doesn’t want to play drums, no….it just means he sees the importance of the role God is calling him too. Awesome.

I have more, but will update later!

~jfm3~

thehungr rocked Saturday Night. What a feeling. It is amazing to me that guys who have not played together since February 20, 2007 can show up at a venue, run through the songs quickly once and play like they haven’t missed a day…..

Justin thanks me for playing and asked how it felt to play with them again and my response is, “ya know Justin, the only people I truly feel comfortable on stage with is you guys….” It’s true. Yes, I am a worship leader and we have a lot of great musicians at Crossroads, but it just isn’t the same as when you play with guys you have been stuck in a van with for years. Guys who have seen the best of you and the worst. Guys you know, love and depend on. They are a part of me and I will always feel as though the members of the band are my family.

I was surprised by how many showed up. There had to be 80-100 people there. CRAZY. What you don’t know is that the weather was horrible. There was a blizzard in full affect, yet people came to see us. It was a great feeling. I was also surprised by some people who didn’t come…… hmmmm…..

It’s weird how something that is such a huge part of who you are can lie dormant for years, and when it comes back, it’s like it never left.

I am blessed and overwhelmed to have been a part of something so amazing…..

~jfm3~