ritchiemiller.org

I have lived in the metro area of Atlanta for nearly 15 years now. When my family first moved here I was not used to the insanity of the traffic. After all this time I now drive faster, more aggressively, and find myself with far less patience on the roads. I think the Atlanta driving motto should be “Have Gun Will Travel.”

One day, during my first few months here, I was driving on the Interstate and I saw a car with a Christian bumper sticker that read, “Honk If You Love Jesus.” In my naiveté I thought that was an invitation to be friendly so I pulled up beside the car and blew my horn.

Imagine my surprise when the surly looking dude glared at me and flipped me off! I think he should remove that bumper sticker from his car if he does not like good Christian horn-blowing.

Today is Friday. Drive safely and don’t give anyone the middle finger while you are driving. That could be me blowing the horn.

Ritchie

When I was seven years old my family moved from North Carolina to Spartanburg, South Carolina. My dad’s job moved us there and we lived there for two years before we moved back to North Carolina. My mom wanted to make the transition smoother and she did everything in her power to help me meet new friends. We were there less than a week before she signed me up to try out for a little league baseball team.

I was nervous because I was a total stranger and I had never played baseball before. Playing catch in my back yard was about the extent of my experience. I met the coach and the very first thing he did was put me at home plate to see if I could hit the ball. The pitcher looked to be much older and bigger than I was. I am pretty sure that you should not be allowed to pitch in little league if you have a full beard. He wound up and threw a pitch that zoomed by me at about half the speed of light. It came up and in on me so I flinched a little. I am not sure how I ended up halfway down the third base line because it only felt like a little flinch.

I will never forget what the coach said next. He yelled at me to stop being a “fraidy-cat” and told the pitcher that if I flinched again to hit me with the ball on the next pitch.

I never played baseball again.

I have played a lot of sports competitively or recreationally: basketball, football, soccer, track, softball, racquetball, water skiing, snow skiing, cross country and have been bungee jumping and cliff diving. Even though I was never very good at any of them I loved the competition and the adrenaline rush. I am not trying to suggest that it was a great loss for me never to have played baseball. I can assure you that I have a much better chance of being the starting point guard for the Atlanta Hawks at age 45 than I ever did of being good at baseball. (Just in case you missed the satirical hypothetical I have a zero percent chance of playing for the Atlanta Hawks…unless they are looking for someone who is old, slow, and can’t jump, shoot, pass, dribble, rebound, or play defense)

My point is that your words have power. They can build up, inspire, and give confidence or they can tear down, cause fear, and crush someone’s dreams. Use them wisely today.

Ephesians 4:29 Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

Ritchie

My grandpa Phillips – my mom’s dad – was a Scott-Irish tobacco farmer who scratched his living from the rich but reluctant foothills of North Carolina. His father and grandfather had, by sheer force of back-breaking labor, become merchant-land barons of a sort. Pa Wendell, as I called him, possessed the gift of a “Welsh tongue.” He was endlessly entertaining, a captivating story teller, and possessed a lust for life that made everyone around him feel alive. I think I inherited my gift for telling stories and public speaking from him. Even as a child, I loved being around him.

One of the stories I told at his funeral captures his wit and his “everything-is-going-to-be-OK” attitude. When he was around 50 he suffered a massive heart attack. It would be the first of several, but he grabbed life by the throat and would not let go until he was 72. During that first heart attack he lay on the hospital gurney in the emergency room and actually died. He was shocked back to life a couple of times and finally was stabilized. My grandmother was hysterical, as you can imagine. When she was allowed to see him she held his hand and with tears in her eyes asked if he “saw a light” like many have described seeing when they were on death’s doorstep. He got a grin on his face and said, “Well, at first, I thought I saw the Devil…but I woke up and it was only you.”

She slapped him right there in the hospital.

Ah…family dysfunction. It’s what helps make a heart attack funny.

So today, no matter what you face, laugh a little. It will be cathartic and will help you through. Just watch out for little, nunchaku-toting, ninja grannies. They slap sometimes.

Ritchie

I love roller coasters. The higher, faster, on-the-verge-of-hurling-my-funnel-cake the better. When I was around twelve years old I remember asking my dad if we could go to an amusement park one summer so I could ride what was advertised as the “world’s fastest roller coaster.” To my amazement, he said yes. I was ecstatic! He told me the date and I could hardly wait. I took him at his word. I believed that what he said was true. I never once doubted that we would go because he was my dad and I believed him. When he told me that we were going I began to live as if his promises were true.

We went just like he promised. I got to ride the world’s “fastest roller coaster.” For weeks I lived as if I had already received the promise. It was so much fun.

I think that is what Jesus meant when He told us that we should have “child-like faith.” We should accept His promises as true and we should live like we have already received them, because we have. We should live excited, adventurous lives filled with hope.

Tonight we are going to practice this kind of faith at our prayer gathering. Meet me at Avalon Church from 7:00 – 8:00 PM. The last two Tuesday nights have been phenomenal and I expect this one to be the best of all. Bring your worries, stress, concerns, requests, problems, and praises and we will claim the promises of God together.

See you tonight.

Ritchie

Yesterday at Avalon Church I announced that we need items for HOPE South Africa, the children’s village we helped build and support in Ashburton, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Dr Bob Graham is the founder and director and you can check it out @ http://www.sacrp.org.

Here is what we need for the children and for some of the missionaries that live there:

Quilting material (Coffee pattern if possible but any is acceptable)
Twin sheet sets
Toothbrushes
Tooth paste
Boys and girls underwear (ages 2-12)
Shoes (We already have all of these we need)
LEGO Powerminers
LEGO Powerminer ThunderDriller (#8960)
Dimensions Giant Cup Cake Pan
Off-set spatula used in cake decorating

You can bring these by the church office during the week or you can bring them with you on Sunday and drop them off at the HOPE table.

Ritchie

Where I grew up in NC there were many churches that picked up people on church buses and brought them to church on Sundays. One such church had a large number of buses and picked up over 1000 people each week. One of the riders was named Frank. Frank was in his twenties but he had the mental capacity of about a twelve year old boy. Frank was a beautiful, sweet, gentle, and faithful soul. He was always entertaining to be around because he had such a great personality and was quite humorous in his own way.

For a period of a couple of months Frank came up to the youth pastor after church and asked him if he could preach one Sunday. Obviously he was incapable of preaching in front of the entire church but because he kept on asking, the youth pastor finally told Frank that he could speak to the children on the bus the next Sunday. Frank asked him what he should preach about and the exasperated youth pastor took Frank’s Bible and put the book marker at the passage in Exodus about the Ten Commandments.

Frank read the passage all week and the following Sunday he wore a tie and stood up in front of all the children on the bus as they made their way to the church. The bus driver told Frank that he had five minutes. Frank opened his Bible and started. “The Bible says, ‘Thou shall not kill.’ What that means is…you ain’t supposed to kill nobody.” He continued on gathering more courage as he went. “The Bible says, ‘Thou shall not steal.’ What that means is…you ain’t supposed to steal nothin’.” Frank was doing a beautiful job until he came to the commandment about sexual purity. He said, “The Bible says, ‘Thou shall not commit adultery.’” He was obviously very uncomfortable with this subject and his face began to turn red. After a long pause, he finally blurted out, “I think I am just going to skip this commandment.”

Frank in his simple, pure way said what I have actually lived out many times in my life. Even though I know what the Bible says, more often than I like to admit, I join with Frank and say, “I think I am going to skip this commandment.”

God help me not to skip anything You say today but let me live my life as a doer rather than just a hearer.

Ritchie

Ecclesiastes 4:12 A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

A triple-braided rope is exponentially stronger than a single strand or three single strands. When you braid them together their strength and potential is much greater.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus alluded to three things that make this spiritual awakening much greater. He said in three different passages, “when you fast,” “when you pray,” and “when you give.” He did not say “if” we do those things but “when” we do them. I think there is a level of expectation from believers that we regularly pray, fast, and give. When you combine these three things together I believe that you call down great power from God to work on your behalf and to receive answers to prayer.

I hope you will combine these three things – praying, fasting, and generous giving – during this 21 day spiritual journey. You will experience great miracles when you do!

Ritchie

I want you to be bold in your prayers and in your faith today. God loves it when we treat Him like He is actually God. Pray bold prayers. Expect big answers. Attempt great things for God today!

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Tip of the day – If you have to go to the bathroom a lot during a fast do not get worried. That is your body cleansing itself of toxins. This is perfectly normal and you will feel much better afterwards. On day 11 you probably are close to getting back to normal. Make sure to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.

Ritchie

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7 (MES)

I love those verses. Today I want you to relax and let God take control of everything in your life. When you put your focus on Him everything else just fades into the background. Before you know it God is going to answer your prayers. Keep on reading the Bible, praying, and participating in the Daniel Fast.

Last night the prayer gathering at Avalon Church was tremendous. People loved it and it was very powerful and moving. I hope you can make it on next Tuesday night from 7-9.

Tip of the day – Sometimes when you are on a fast you get tired more quickly than you normally do. That is normal. If you get tired take a nap! If you can’t take a nap drink a glass of cold water. It will help revive you. Also get plenty of sleep during a fast.

Ritchie

Tonight we will have a prayer gathering in the auditorium of Avalon Church. We will meet and pray from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. Last week the prayer gathering was incredible. We prayed as a group, we prayed in small groups, we prayed specifically for God’s help with finances, health, and many other areas.

Tonight we will have a time of worship, I will read some scripture, and we will have another powerful time of prayer for each other, for Avalon Church, and for the situation in Haiti.

See you tonight.

Ritchie