Andrew J. Miller

The Kingdom Is In You...

2008-10-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, I havn't written in months....not sure where I was at....Jesus told some people (and this is my paraphrase) - you go here and you go there looking for a sign...but the Kingdom of God is within you....

I love that. The Kingdom of God is within you....we run here and we run there....reading this and buying that....looking for the next "thing" in the subculture that we call Christianity. But that is not what Jesus was about. He said the Kingdom is IN US. We need to allow that Kingdom to come out of us. Why are we stock piling it? The psalmnist said - "my cup runs over..." - what does that mean? It means he had the Kingdom in him to such a degree that it began to spill out of him...

The writters of "Starving Jesus" say this-"we don't need the next THING or great idea to be discovered, rather we need people to do those things that have already been thought up..." In other words - stop running around looking for the Kingdom, it is in you - let it come out of you and spill onto the lives of other people...

A New Chapter...

2008-10-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

As you know, we returned to Orlando from California this year. Upon helping the church get started out west, we sensed called back to Orlando until further direction was given. As the year progressed, our heart grew to pastor again. An opportunity opened for us this month. We have transitioned to Lake Michigan Christian Center – in Bridgma, Michigan. We are the Young Families Pastors. Our roles will be to pastor the young families and young married couples and to give oversight to the Children’s Ministry of the church....We believe that God's vision is for families to be whole (in all arenas of their life), that his desire is for families to be in harmony with Himself & each other... In addition we will be helping with the Missions Department and in time will help set up and take teams on missions trips over seas! We are very excited about this new season of ministry.

2008-02-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Alteration:

Luke 9:29 - “...And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white...”

When I was younger, I was always a chunky little guy. When I was 10 years old, I couldn’t buy clothes in the “ten year old clothes area.” I had to go to the store where the older kids shopped to find the waste that fit me. However, the pant legs would end up being 6 inches to long! So I would have them altered to properly fit my height. Having said all that, here is one definition of the word altered: changed in order to improve or make more fit for a particular purpose.
What an amazing truth we can learn about the power of prayer! I will admit, that my strength lies in reading the Bible and trying to allow the Spirit of God to speak to me and change me through scripture. But I am desperate, to allow prayer to consume my life to a greater level than it does already. Think about it—”Jesus’ face was altered as he prayed.” As we pray, areas of our life are altered. Our thought life; our vision for what God wants us to do; our relationship with our spouse and children; our finances; etc… As we pray, areas of our life become altered (changed in order to improve us or make us more fit for a particular purpose]. So, the more we pray, the more we are “changed in order to improve us and make us more fit for the kingdom of God! “ Take the challenge with me; instead of us complaining about our circumstances or the way we are as individuals, let us approach God in prayer and watch as His Spirit alters our lives and our situations!

Avoid Presumption...

2008-02-01T15:57:00.000-08:00

Judges 11:29 – “Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah…”

This is a truly interesting story. This story tells of Jephthah in Judges 11:29 - 40 and how he makes a very un-thoughtful vow unto the Lord. As he prepares to go to war, he tells God that if He will give him victory, he will sacrifice unto the Lord, the very first thing that comes out of his home to greet him when he returns from war. So Jephthah goes to war and the Lord gives him victory. Upon returning from war, his only daughter runs out to great him. Understandably, Jephthah regrets the vow he made to the Lord, yet because of his commitment, within the next 4 months, he keeps his word and sacrifices his daughter as a burnt offering to the Lord.

What a thought: the Sprit of the Lord was UPON Jephthah, and yet he made a foolish vow that to some degree ended in tragedy. How often does that happen to us? Maybe we read an awesome passage in scripture during a quiet time or in the midst of a worship service we get goose bumps from the presence of God. Upon these experiences in our excitement and zeal we begin to make commitments and promises to God that later we don’t follow through with because they were to hard, or we later realize that the promises we made were kind of foolish and we realize they weren’t from God, but because of our vows we feel obligated to walk them out and end up wasting time doing things God never intended us to do.

Jephthah’s passion and zeal to serve God were right. The Spirit of God was upon him stirring him to service! However, maybe the story would have had a differed ending if Jephthah would have “inquired of the Lord” on how to give Him worship? What if he would have waited on God to hear his voice and asked – how can I give you honor upon a victorious battle?

This is where we error so often. We just presume thoughts, ideas, and all opportunities are of God. We get excited in a moment of God’s presence and make commitments God may have never intended us to fulfill. What if we were more intentional to wait upon God and inquire of Him and listen to His voice? Maybe we would have less screw ups and calamities in our lives. If we were more intentional about being "presumptuous," maybe we would spend our time un-waisted and more fulfilled in doing things that the Lord truly intended us to do.

Eternal Purpose...

2008-01-20T05:30:00.000-08:00

“...this was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness, and confidence…” - Ephesians 3:11-12

I am completely taking this out of context, I know that, but as I meditated on this verse, something just got me excited with the following idea: We have to pray and seek God about our “eternal purpose.” We can spend our lives and time doing 10 spiritual things that we submit to God...and we may tend to get frustrated and mad about them, or we may do well and flourish, but never feel a peace and contentment about life….we spend it always wondering? Yet if we seek God and can get His 1 eternal purpose straight from Him - we can walk in “boldness” and “confidence never wondering if it is the right thing or if we should be doing something else. I encourage you, that if your life seems like you are doing way to much or not enough, etc...just stop! Take it all in your hands and lay it at the feet of Jesus. Start fresh...ask Him to reveal your “eternal purpose.” Don’t give him any of your thoughts or ideas about what would be good. Get it straight from Him...it will bring you to such a place of peace and you will be able to live out each day in “boldness and confidence” that has come straight from our Lord…

My True Vision?

2008-01-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

Mark 16:15 - "...And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere..."

The main vision and overall true vision of every Christian is - preparing people to stand before Jesus – those perishing and those being saved...But today I, standing with the Fear of the Lord all over me and being convicted to the core am clearly seeing that so often in my life, I am pursuing my vision in the name of Jesus, but in reality I am really pursuing myself!

We are aiming to help people throughout the world to open there eyes to the Lordship of Jesus in the midst of where they are. The vision of the Kingdom of God is not church planting, or conferences, or missions, or converting people to our stream of denomination. The vision of God's kingdom is preparing people to stand before Jesus. We are wanting their hearts to be pure and undefiled before him; submitted to His Lordship...

Before all of you my friends, I repent to the King of the Universe for chasing my vision and tagging His name to it. My heart is freshly visioned to prepare all peoples in any way God leads, to stand before Jesus....

Returning to Orlando...

2007-12-22T20:04:00.000-08:00

Well once again it is that time of year for celebrating the birth of Jesus, admitting that Santa is not real (again), drinking eggnog and peppermint hot cocoa with our friends and of course setting New Year’s resolutions. It is the time of year where we can reflect on the past years accomplishments and failures. We then learn from all these things in looking ahead to target our New Year’s pursuits...

Two years ago my wife and I had a stirring in our hearts concerning being pastors and wondering what that looked like in a practical application. As much as we loved being a part of YWAM Orlando, we felt we had to settle the pastoral stirring in our hearts. As you know, after much prayer and wondering, we committed to be a part of planting Origins Church in Long Beach, CA.

As of November 2007, we had been a part of this church plant team for a little over 1 year. And though it has been a great experience and we have learned a lot from this journey, our hearts have been settled concerning the prior stirrings that we have had – our hearts and lives are committed to being a part of YWAM Orlando. We really believe that one of our rolls was to help the church get started and to get the ball rolling; and we have done that to the best of our ability. There is a team that is established and committed to being in Long Beach, and our weekly gatherings have a regular attendance of 30 – 40 people. However, upon much prayer and talking with various respected spiritual leaders in our lives, we believe that it is time for us to return to Orlando. We are not having marriage or family problems and we have not been involved in any “sin" [people usually think that is the case when pastors leave a church]. It is just that upon searching out our hearts along with the heart of God, we truly believe that we belong in YWAM Orlando...

We concluded our responsabilities with Origins through December 15th....we are currently in Michigan until the 31st of December where we will be relocating back to Orlando...

The Desire Of God

2007-12-21T06:06:00.000-08:00

As I look back on this year of 2007, I am really noticing how much time I spend doing things that I think please God and bring a delight to his heart. But I think that I have missed it. I have been thinking on and dwelling on the life of Joseph in the Bible. His story in the Bible starts off with all kinds of info about dreams and visions from God. All good correct...yes...God gives us dreams from Him to pursue...

Fast forward. Joseph is sold into slavery and along the way is bought by a man named Potiphar who gives him a role of authority and makes him ruler over his household. Joseph is second in command. People are bowing to him. His dreams are starting to come true. He could have just become content with that and went on with life as normal. But he doesn't...

Potiphars wife tries to get him to commit adultery with her....day after day she nagged him until he just runs away!....That is awesome!....now most of us would think that God was so proud of Joseph because he had made it to the top in Egypt. He had a good job, good money, etc. but most importantly, the dream he received from God, looked like it was coming true....

I tend to think that in reality, to God it wasn't a big deal that Joseph was leading in Egypt. Maybe it was part of God's plan in those dreams, but I think more importantly, and this is the image that I get, that Jesus was standing in heaven and applauding Joseph when he ran from evil. The desire of God was coming alive, not in the fulfilment of a dream, but in a man who was so in love with God, that the commands of God were being lived out...obedience to flee sin....

So I end by saying, and take this in the context of what I am saying (God does want you to do great things for him and fulfill the dreams he gives you....I am not saying that), but think about the idea that God is more concerned with who you are becoming than what you are doing. Pursue his dreams and callings in life, but along the way, don't lose the character and ways of God that are in you....

The Pressure of Being "Great"...

2007-11-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

"...Philip...went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently to what he had to say because of the miracles he did. Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city..." - Acts 8:5-8

So here is the scene...believers fled Jerusalem and started going everywhere sharing the Good News about the Messiah. Philip ends up in Samaria. And things go well for him. Crowds listened to his messages...miracles were going on...People were even being set free from demonic oppression...oh, and the sick were being healed. This is a pretty descent Church Plant...I think we would consider Philips "ministry" a success....BUT...read on...

"...Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, 'Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' This is desert..." - Acts 8:26

Basically, the Lord was saying to him, "leave this place that is successful and is in the comfort of the CITY and go out into the DESERT to minister..." This is so contrary to our lives and our world. We live in a culture that always says, the next step in life, has to "trump" the last step you took. The next step in life, has to be more amazing not only to me, but to those around me so that they don't think that I am weak. They need to see my greatness in my "promotions." If you have a job making $40 K, a year and you leave it, you must find a job making $50 K a year - even if it takes up your weekends, etc. If you are leading an amazing small group of 100 people at your church, you won't help out in the nursery consisting of 4 kids, because that would be a step backwards...

Interesting, the Lord led Philip to leave revival and success to go reach 1 person out in the desert. No glory. No promotion. In reality, a step backwards in the eyes of those who knew him...yet Philip walked in obedience. And he ended up sharing the Good News with an Ethiopian who maybe went on and transformed his country with the Kingdom of God...

Here is my point...why do we risk our marriage, our family, our relationships and even our salvation...because we always have to push ourselves to a greater level of success and accomplishment...after a while, we get burned out and everything in our lives falls apart...I am not saying don't aim for and achieve great things...but what if God leads your life to a season or you recognize you need a season that appears to be a step back, but in the end....it restores your soul...the Psalmist says in Psalms 23:2-3 = "...He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul..." Note that it is in the time of stillness, not necessarily business that his soul was restored..."

Remembering The Scriptures...

2007-10-31T12:02:00.001-07:00

Matthew 5:19 - "Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven..."

Here are my thoughts on this passage: most of us want to do great things for God with our lives. Most of us are not content with just living out the next 50 years without leaving our mark for God’s Kingdom on the earth with the life we have been given. But the more we do for God, and the more responsibilities we take on in life and the more relationships we obtain, etc…causes life to become busy….and as that happens – something has to give ...we get to the point where we have to “relax” in something…

This is my concern; is that we will become “relaxed” in the areas that we really should be strengthening. We don’t relax in our jobs, or our golf game, or any area that would be considered busy. Instead, we tend to relax more at becoming the teachings of scripture. We stop taking the light of God’s Word and looking into the darkness of our hearts. Instead of spending time reading scripture and allowing God to convict sin, we read a 30 second devotional and think we are good for the day. Not that 30 second devotionals are bad, but I don’t think you can be sustained on a regular basis spiritually [I am not downing on short Bible readings. I once taught a Sunday School class that implimented "The 3 Minute Bible"....and I am a working adult with children....so I know where you are coming from...but we need more than 3 minutes].

I have heard a few stories this month about men / pastors whom I know personally and those whom churches I have visited that have fallen into adulterous relationships. 500 people congregations. 2000 people congregations. The churches are founded on truth and people are coming to know Jesus, yet thes men have struggled...what happened? I believe that these men got to a place of business and maybe burnout, and instead of relaxing in the area of doing less (even if it meant doing less ministry), I think they relaxed in continuing to allow scripture to convict them and shape them.

Hey, I love to read a good book. In fact, good books, bring so much life to me! Many times, God uses them to draw me closer to Him and His heart…..But I was at Barns and Nobles the other day just looking through the Christian section and there are so many books. And I think that we can spend so much time becoming more post-modern, post-Christian, more Emerging, praying all the different 8 step prayers – 14 steps to a better life, etc…and yet in the midst of gaining all this knowledge we lose the simplicity that is in Christ – we can become more lax in becoming like Jesus – “…we gain the whole world & yet lose our own soul.”….