So I was in Justin’s car with @Bobbysykes on our way to see 30 Secs to Mars and I made the comment that I was “getting past a slight cold and that I was surprised cause pretty much every time I get sick, it goes right for my chest and prevents me from being able to lead worship, and this time, it didn’t….” Well, the next day it hit me like a ton of bricks and now, I am barely able to talk. Somewhat frustrating. Maybe it’s just my body telling me that my vocal cords need a break? Who knows….all I do know is that I am a miserable sick person! lol.

Also, I am going to give my blog a make-over and I am going to change my blogging habits and subjects.

Part of the reason I never blog is that I feel like I am suppose to be saying something inspirational or “pastoral” all the time….and frankly, that just isn’t me.

Why can’t I blog about my family, or how much the Buffalo Bills suck?

So I have decided I am going to start opening my blog up to whatever I feel like talking about….

If this causes you to suffer, just un-subscribe.

~jfm3~

Sometimes it is hard to not allow ourselves to be defined by the stuff we own, rather than the person we are.

Now, I am not going to go on some spiritual rant on how great a person Job was cause when everything was taken away from him, he still loved his God, though, it is relevant….

My problem sometimes with that story, though most of us face situations similar to his in our lives, is that it truly is an extreme case. Yes, we have all gone through the fire, and we have all gone through times in our lives where the rent was due and we had no idea how it was gonna get paid. Times, like now, where buying food for the table takes priority over the cable bill or our cell phones…. (well, I would hope it does. The reality is, some people would lose their house before their cable and iPhones were turned off. It’s true, I’ve seen it)

Regardless,… People have to be stewards of their own money and what is a priority to some may seem foolish to others. But I am now off my point……so,

My point is simply this, Job went through a situation where he not only lost all of his possessions and worldly riches, but he also lost all of his kids, employees and everything else. Only, they didn’t leave, they were killed.

I have not heard many stories like this in modern days, though they may exist, and frankly it’s hard for me as a man, and a man of God to relate to something so tragic. Even if I lose my house and my car, surely, I will still have my kids and my family.

So how do we find comfort in a story like this? How do we relate it back to our lives? How do we use Job and his circumstance in a way that can help us through times of difficultly like we all are facing right now?

For me, I break it down to something very very simple.

It’s just STUFF. Everything you own, the cars you drive, your flat screen TV’s, your golf clubs, your guns, your shoes (mom, lol), whatever it is that you are holding on so tightly and so desperately afraid of losing, including the roof over your head that is far bigger than we ever needed in the first place, it’s just STUFF.

Your STUFF is not WHO you are…..despite what a perverted, lying world has told you. You don’t have to keep up with the Jones’ or anyone else for that matter. Who gives a rip what they think of you anyways?!

All that matters are your faith in God, your family and your health. If you have those things you are blessed. Think about it…. What is more important than your kids? Your parents? Your spouse,….or whoever else is close to you? What is more important than their health or their lives? What is more important than those you love? Nothing.

I am not saying it’s easy. I have looked around my own house as of late and said, “Do I really need that? Can’t it just be replaced when money isn’t quite so tight?”

What you own shouldn’t define who you are. What you possess should never come before the ones you love. For God sakes, it’s all His anyways and you cannot take it with you. If He gave it to you once, trust Him enough that He will replace it, just as He did with Job.

Much Love.

~jfm3~

Now let me start by saying that I grew up in a church environment where my family went to church Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, Wednesday Night and then I was back for Youth Group and any other events that were going on…..essentially, if the doors were open, I was there,…..at church.

That was the old paradigm,….and like all things, the pendulum swings and the paradigm shifts.

Right now, most churches, as well as Crossroads are focused on getting the most impact out of the Sunday experiences we have, while not trying to consume a person or families life throughout the week.

However, in churches across the nation, regardless if that church has 1 service a week or 25, every SUMMER starting in June, the attenders VANISH. lol.

Which leads me to my titled question. Where do YOU PEOPLE go??

Look, I have no problem with people taking a break on a Sunday, spending quality time with the family, being on vacation, whatever…..in fact, I ENCOURAGE it. The last thing that should happen is the church becomes your life. If the church becomes your life, more then likely, you are being churched, when in fact, you were called to BE THE CHURCH.

That being said though….where do people go for 3 months?

It’s amazing every September when the people come back. The building fills up and people come back energized and refreshed…… But even as awesome as that seems, what concerns me are the people who never make it back. Meaning, they got out of the routine, left the church for the summer and now, God doesn’t seem as important as He did last winter when things were kind of depressing and maybe there was uncertainty of sorts….

I mean, com’on…..it’s SUMMER! Things are awesome! We are out on the boat, or golfing….having picnics and parties!! Who has time for church? Even if it is only an hour a week?…..

Let me speak to the heart of it,….as some of you may be thinking, “it’s not about church”…

I would say you are correct. It’s not about church. In fact, for those who are strong in the Lord and have become “the Church” as Christ commanded, those breaks are necessary sometimes….although, I could never imagine why someone would need a THREE MONTH break from something they “love.”

I am concerned though for the ones who “think” they are strong….. “think” they need that break only to come out on the other side of it with no passion for the things of God. Essentially, Jesus has been replaced with summer…..

And unfortunately, those are the people I never see again…… I am praying for them, and I ask that you would too.

~jfm3~

For those of you who are not familiar, Crossroads built a huge Children’s Ministry building called The Boulevard that opened Easter Sunday this year. The building for our kids is actually BIGGER than our current sanctuary. (that is a huge statement)

The one area that we were not able to complete in time was The Loft, which I am excited to say is getting really close to being finished!! (like in a week or so)

The Loft is a multipurpose room that has 4 Xbox gaming systems, couches, TV’s, a small stage and sound system and a small office area for the Youth Department staff…

It is an exciting, age appropriate room that will be used for 4th through 6th graders on Sunday Mornings, thus expanding our current Children’s Church reach on Sundays, it will be used on Thursday nights for Merge, our JR High Youth Group, it will be used on Monday nights for RPM, our SR High Youth Group and it will be used on Friday Nights for our College/Career Group called theMeet. (that is what I call, multipurpose!!)

However, it has come to my attention that some folks are not “excited” about what we have done with the room. Lodging complaints about the five 42″ flat screens and the four 32″ flat screens in the room. Apparently, there are thoughts that the money could have been used more responsibly “elsewhere.” To which my response is,

“REALLY??!! Are you serious???”

Are people really complaining about the fact that we bought 9 TV’s for a youth room? A room that is going to be used 4 days a week, by hundreds of different aged youth throughout the week? Are people really upset that we are trying to provide an environment that would attract young people who DON’T KNOW JESUS?? Are people really surprised that Crossroads would be doing something OUTSIDE THE BOX from a church culture standpoint to reach those that need JESUS??

If you are one of those with an eyebrow raised, I guess I have several responses to you….

1- I bet the mother of the 16 year old kid who hates church cause it is “boring” doesn’t think it is money wasted.

2- Seems to me, spending money on 9 Flat Screens in a room to be used 4 times a week makes a lot more sense than spending it on something for the ADULTS in the sanctuary that gets used ONCE a week.

3- So, what you’re telling me is that you don’t care about the church of tomorrow?

4- If ONE kid comes to know Christ by us purchasing 9 TV’s…..was it worth it?

5- In order to reach those who aren’t getting reached, CHURCHES will have to do things that other CHURCHES aren’t doing!!

6- Isn’t it time that churches began INVESTING in the youth department?

We opened this building to be a “Community Building”….to be a place that young people who don’t attend Crossroads and don’t know Jesus would want to come too….a place where they could get together and learn about Christ in an environment that they are familiar with….. The EXACT same thing we do for the adults on Sunday mornings….

Anyways, I am excited. I know the parents of the youth are excited…..and I would pray that EVERYONE would be excited about the opportunity to reach people for Christ. After all, that is what we were CALLED to do.

To that end, I am assembling some volunteers to help us finish up the last bit of painting, cleaning and decorating and whatnot for different times this week. So if you have some spare time, let me know.

Love you guys….

~jfm3~

I have been approached with a couple different opportunities to make a new record and after some thought, consideration and a fair amount of prayer, I do believe it is time to move forward.

What does this mean?

Well, I have not written any complete material in several years, so that means I am going to have to commit myself to writing about 20 songs. I have some old stuff, and there are always the opportunities for covering someone’s song, but to be honest, I would like to do something new and fresh.

Why now?

Well, there are a several reasons. One is a sincere lack of resources. As a worship leader in a very progressive church, there are not many people putting out the type of stuff we do, which makes it very difficult for me to find songs for us to do at Crossroads…couple that with my overly critical opinion on music in general, and you end up with a situation where there is barely anything to use.

Two, opportunity. Both from a time and ability standpoint, and from an industry standpoint. Right now the industry is changing and making it much easier for a solo artist with no label support to make a dent in the music scene……there are other things, but I don’t feel comfortable putting them out there just yet.

Three, I just feel the need to be creative again. I have had the itch to write for about 2 years and have kinda been waiting to see if my old band would be interested in writing with me. You see, I love the dynamic of writing with others and the “others” I have written with before are pretty sweet. At this point, however, it doesn’t appear that my band of brothers will be heading in this direction any time soon, so I have decided not to put it off any longer.

How long will it take?

I am not sure. I sat down the other day and started pounding away on my acoustic and some cool stuff started coming out. It may happen fast….it make take a while. I hope not though. I would like to start writing regularly just to keep that side of me working fully.

So I am excited. Really excited. The crazy part is that I already have ideas and plans for about 2 or 3 other records, so it will be interesting to see where God takes me in this venture…..

Stay tuned….. And go to iTunes and buy my old band’s record! (thehungr)

~jfm3~

Which is insane to me.

Understand the process. I spent the better part of 10 years trying to get to the point in the music industry where the records my band was making was available to the world to hear. In 2004 we did sign a recording contract with Word of Mouth Records and got to make this awesome record with them (The Rose.) Shortly there after, things went sideways and I never got to see any type of distribution of that project.

As a band, on the road we sold over 2000 copies at shows within the first year which is amazing, but then in 2006, we stopped playing together as a band.

Now, to see it available to everyone and anyone, it is quite overwhelming.

Anyways, go to your iTunes store, search thehungr and it pops right up. If you don’t have it, buy and download it. If you ALREADY HAVE IT, buy it and download it…..IF YOU HAVE A BURNED COPY OF IT, buy it twice for stealing it the first time!!! lol (jk…..but not really) Just buy it.

A couple notes, the price was suppose to be $7.99…..and no, I am not giving a $2 rebate after you purchase it. Also, it was released in 2005, not 2010……but who cares, it is up there and I am EXCITED!

~jfm3~

Most of you know I am from Buffalo NY originally.

Buffalo, though a large place like Columbus, is a somewhat small community when it comes to “church.” Mainly because, in Western NY, Protestant churches are not the norm. Heavily gripped in Catholicism, you will find a Catholic church on every corner, much in the way you find a Protestant church on every corner here in the Mid-West. Heck, Buffalo is even home to the Basilica, which, I am told is a miniature version of the Vatican.

Anyways, back home, I have a lot of “friends” in the ministry. I grew up with them and they were all there to watch me grow as a worship leader and a man of God. We worked together and helped each other. We labored together.

Now, since moving to Columbus, I am sorta out of touch. I don’t really know anyone outside my Crossroads family. I am feeling the need to be close with some other guys whose hands are to the plow, plowing the same ground I am and trying to grow the same crop.

I sent some emails out today. I am praying in faith they are received well and I can begin to lock arms with some folks here locally.

(just some thoughts for the day)

~jfm3~

I have had the itch to start writing again. By that, I mean music.

I am unable to find what I would call “ideal” resources when it comes to finding songs for Crossroads mainly because, as all of you will know, we are not normal worship on Sundays. Some of the stuff we do is standard, but a lot of what we do is pretty progressive and to be honest, I want to continue pushing the envelope.

Ironically enough, I had an idea/dream/vision to create and run a Worship Leaders resource website about a year ago and actually registered the URL, www.wiredworship.com.

That would be a place where worship leaders, like me, could go and get HELP. Serious help. Everything from songs, to ideas, to worship structure to whatever else they need.

Right now, there is nothing out their for young worship leaders who have aspirations of doing more than Passion stuff. (I am not knocking Passion, just saying, not all of us are huge fans of their stuff)

So, I think I am going to actually get that site launched and to go along with it, I registered a facebook page to go along with my blogsite…. It is simple, just www.facebook.com/joemillerwired/138255769529883.

Go there and click “Like” if you could!!

I have another potential announcement, but I still need to soak it in some prayer….. stay tuned.

~jfm3~

VACATION.

I have not been on an actual vacation in 9 years. That was for my honeymoon and that my friend, was the only one I have ever been on.

Obviously, I have done the couple days here or there thing, but this past week I took the whole family down to North Myrtle Beach where we stayed in a condo right on the beach. Man, it was an amazing time. (before you start thinking “must be nice”…..it is still offseason rates and it really wasn’t that expensive)

To just sit there and relax. Watch my little girl enjoying the beach and playing in the sand……it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. McKenna had a blast and cried when we told her we were headed home. Addison actually loved it too. We would just put her in her Bumbo and set her on step or in the water as the waves gently came in…..it was so cute.

It actually took me a couple days to unwind. To be honest, I almost didn’t know how to “shut down.” I am an “always going” kind of person….I always have been. Very spontaneous and I hate to be stuck in the house…..so to just sit all day took some adjustment.

But once I got in the right mind frame, it was pretty cool and can see why it is important. Not only for personal reasons, but also to be able to stop and spend quality time with your family.

McKenna learned how to swim with just her floaties on, and she was getting brave enough to put her face underwater.

Everything went well until the last day there…..on the last day McKenna skinned her knee, we ruined our camera and I lost my sunglasses. lol. It was still worth it.

~jfm3~

So, as everyone here knows, Crossroads is a bit of a different ministry. We are what I would call, ahead of the curve….. Musically, media wise and probably from an Evangelical standpoint as well. Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t other churches out there like Crossroads, but right now there are few. Interestingly enough, the number of churches that have begun shifting more towards what I would call a more culturally relevant vision is astounding in my opinion.

Andy Stanley’s church in Atlanta is a huge ministry that functions a lot like ours, and they made a video that picks on themselves and I must say, it is dead on!!!

“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Com’on, you know you are laughing!!

We are a little different but the core meaning is there and I love it.

What I find more awesome is I have heard of some people using this video as a “slam” of sorts against this new movement of God. Showing the video to their people and asking, “what do you think of this?”

Meanwhile, not realizing the creators of the video are SPOOFING themselves.

I believe with all my heart our God has a sense of humor, and I think this video makes Him chuckle as much as it does me!!

~jfm3~