Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Joel J. Miller

About
Resources
Joel's Books
Article Categories
- Spiritual Growth
- Theology
- Prayer
- Church Life
- Family Life
- Society
- Books
- Misc

Home
Evangelical

2012-12-15T19:13:14-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

How I learned to love Mary, mother of Jesus

Last updated on: December 15, 2012 at 7:13 pm By Joel J. Miller

The first time I really got Mary was on Good Friday a few years ago. In a very solemn service the night of Great and Holy Friday, as the day is called in the Orthodox Church, a series of funeral dirges are sung, one after another. I stood there in a dark church, a bier with an embroidered icon of the crucified Christ in the middle of the room, as the chanters and congregation expressed the mystery of the Lord’s... Read more

Church Life

Dormition

Good Friday

Great and Holy Friday

Mary

Mother's Day

mothers

Patrick Henry Reardon

Theotokos

2012-05-13T00:05:51-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Celebrating faithful mothers

Last updated on: May 13, 2012 at 12:05 am By Joel J. Miller

The most obvious thing to do with mothers is to celebrate them. I watch my Megan day in and out striving to raise, nurture, encourage, protect, correct, and prepare our kids. It’s a humbling thing to behold. When I say that I couldn’t do it, I say the obvious. When I say that she does, I speak of the miraculous. God has a special concern for mothers, something apparent in both the Bible and the memory of the church, which... Read more

2012-12-26T15:43:37-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The redemptive quality of a story

Last updated on: December 26, 2012 at 3:43 pm By Joel J. Miller

In her essay “The Grotesque in Southern Fiction,” Flannery O’Connor writes that readers desire and even need something uplifting in the books that they read. “There is something in us,” she says, “as storytellers and as listeners to stories, that demands the redemptive act, that demands that what falls at least be offered the chance to be restored.” At Thomas Nelson, where I work, we strive to publish stories that are in some sense redemptive. It’s a priority at the... Read more

2012-12-22T07:59:57-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Appreciate where you’ve come from

Last updated on: December 22, 2012 at 7:59 am By Joel J. Miller

3 Comments

When you note personal or spiritual growth in your life, there can be a tendency to disparage your past, to look down on a self that you might now regard as wrong or naive or simply juvenile. I’ve been listening to tracks stored in the dusty, cobwebbed corners of my iPod lately. Songs I haven’t heard in years are tumbling out, one after another. There’s a lot of 77s, Bob Dylan, Bill Mallonee, Tom Petty, and Daniel Amos. Sometimes the... Read more

2012-05-08T19:46:56-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What’s growing while you’re not looking?

Last updated on: May 8, 2012 at 7:46 pm By Joel J. Miller

Little things can affect dramatic change — good and bad — even if you’re unaware that any transformation is underway. If you walk into my kitchen, it might appear at times like a laboratory. Meg and I brew our own kombucha, several gallons of which sit on the countertop, happily fermenting away. We also make our own yogurt, kefir, and lactofermented vegetables, carrots mostly. We’re next thinking about making our own sourdough. It’s as easy as it is fun. All... Read more

2012-05-03T06:47:26-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Daddy by grace: An adoption insight

Last updated on: May 3, 2012 at 6:47 am By Joel J. Miller

My Moses can be a fickle child. The other night he said in his singsongy, Luganda-tinged voice, “You are not my daddy.” It’s a funny thing to hear as an adoptive father. My response was funny too. It was a knee-jerk thing — accidental, really — but I dropped some theology on the boy. “You’re right,” I said, “I’m not your father by nature. I’m you’re father by grace.” Come again? It was out of my mouth before I really... Read more

2012-11-13T15:13:18-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

You get more of what you focus on

Last updated on: November 13, 2012 at 3:13 pm By Joel J. Miller

My son Fionn and I play the drive-time game Slug Bug. The idea, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is to identify as many Volkswagen Beetles as possible while out and about and thereby rack up points against your opponent. Right now I’m creaming my kid, I’m proud to say. Don’t feel sorry for him. He used to win all the time. One thing I’ve noticed is that since playing, I see Bugs everywhere — all the time. Red ones, blue... Read more

2012-04-26T11:03:11-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Tebow and the pay-for-proof-of-sex stunt

Last updated on: April 26, 2012 at 11:03 am By Joel J. Miller

You know the song that runs, “Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket”? Try subbing out the word “Christian” for “star” and you’ve just identified one of the world’s favorite pastimes. The most recent manifestation of this is the dating service that is offering a million dollars if a person can prove that she (or possibly he I suppose) has had sex with Tim Tebow, the popular New York Jets quarterback and outspoken evangelical Christian. Tebow’s professed... Read more

2012-12-21T16:35:35-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus comes to us so we can go for him

Last updated on: December 21, 2012 at 4:35 pm By Joel J. Miller

On the Sunday after Easter the Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates the encounter of the Apostle Thomas with the risen Jesus. You know the story. Skeptical about his fellow disciples’ enthusiastic claims of the resurrection, Thomas took a wait-and-see attitude, earning him the moniker Doubting Thomas. But then, when Christ appeared to him, Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” There in that moment Doubting Thomas became Believing Thomas. Two things stand out for me about this encounter. One is clear... Read more

2014-03-27T14:18:25-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Understanding God’s mysterious methods

Last updated on: March 27, 2014 at 2:18 pm By Joel J. Miller

It’s easy to get frustrated at God and the way he appears to be ignoring our plans and prayers. But God’s ways are not, so Isaiah informs us, ours. And it’s interesting what can happen when we look back at unfulfilled ambitions, unplanned occurrences, and unanswered prayers. Sometimes we can see God winking at us through the supposed disappointment. Why? Because in retrospect it all turned out so much better than we had hoped. If we think about it, we... Read more

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who succeeded Moses as the leader of Israel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Aaron Joshua Samuel Caleb

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Church Life Family Life Misc Prayer Quotes Society Spiritual Growth Theology Uncategorized Video

Select a Month April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 November 2008 October 2008 July 2008 June 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 August 2007 June 2007 October 2002 July 2002 November 1999 October 1999

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Evangelical