We have had our shirts available for pre-order for a couple of days now and the response has been so encouraging. From emails of encouragement, to people letting us know they’re praying for us, to the fact that we’ve sold 20 shirts in the last 6 days, it’s just been such a great week of confirmation for us.

However, we keep getting requests from people who are not on PayPal, nor do they desire to be on PayPal, as to how they can give to our Ethiopian adoption. We certainly want to make it as convenient as possible for you to give, and realize this isn’t always the most convenient for people.

So we have opened a bank account dedicated strictly to the funding of our Ethiopian adoption. You can now send in shirt orders, or even just donations in the form of check or money order to:

The Journey
C/O Stephen Miller
7701 Maryland Ave.
Clayton, Missouri 63105

Just make the checks out to Stephen Miller, and put “Ethiopian Adoption” in the subject line. Make sure if you’re ordering shirts to include your order (sizes, number of shirts, return address) in the envelope.

Thank you all so much!

Grace and peace,
The Millers

P.S. For more to the minute updates on the adoption, follow Stephen on Twitter, username @_stephen_miller.

This is an article on Biblical Worship I wrote that was recently posted in Lucid Magazine. Read more at www.lucidmagazine.com/Biblical-Worship

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Douglas and Marvin awoke today to the frantic shuffling of their mother and aunt dragging their bed across the dirt floor of their 8′X10′ home in the rain forest of El Salvador. As water cascaded across the floor, now mud, they desperately tried to push it out of the house before it washed away the mud walls. This is an every day occurrence for them.

Months ago, their uncle and mother’s boyfriend were building this home on abandoned property so that they could have a place of their own. In the process, the uncle was shot and murdered by members of the MS-13 gang. Soon after the boyfriend split, and Douglas and Marvin were left with an unfinished house and more desperation for someone to come through and fight on their behalf.

I know this because I stood in their home. I watched their mother weep. I watched the family’s reaction to the tragedy that is their reality. And yet, in the midst of all their sorrow and suffering, I watched them smile and laugh and beam with joy because there is a hope for them that they hadn’t known two years ago. The hope of Jesus Christ.

Two years ago, Compassion International adopted this family into a project that God would use to meet their physical, mental, spiritual and emotional needs. We’ve come to their home because we’ve heard that they have no food and we are called to meet the need. We’ve come to be Jesus to them. But I think they were more Jesus to us.

Months ago, I was reading Matthew 25:31-46 and was utterly undone. My entire understanding of the Gospel and Christianity was so backwards. I’m a worship pastor. I travel all over the country to teach people through song and hopefully bring them to a place where they engage in worship with a holy and mighty God who loved them and gave Himself up for them.

But it’s really easy to give your life for a ministry that will give you something in return. To love and teach and serve people who will love you back. To worship through songs. But I’ve come to realize that songs are our smallest expression of worship. What does Jesus say to his people in Amos 5 when they come around singing without having loved justice and mercy and taking care of the helpless people that Jesus loves? “Get away from me with your NOISE! I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT!”

God really started doing something in me about a year and a half ago in showing me that true worship IS a life of justice and mercy. A life spent for the glory of Christ in loving Him. And what is loving Him but obedience? Feeding the hungry and poor. Visiting the prisoner and clothing the naked. What really messed me up is the question, “If this is true worship and I’m a worship leader, what am I even doing here? Is God even pleased with the worship I bring Him?”

I am finding that God is a lot less concerned with our songs and a lot more concerned with our lives; a lot less concerned with what I do on stage and a lot more concerned with what I do off stage. God is concerned with the needs of His broken people across the Earth who He died to purchase. These needs should be met by our hands and our words and our wallets.

I would encourage the church to dig down deep into the dark hidden places of our soul and invite the Lord to shine the spotlight of His holiness on all the places He would do things differently. To really begin to ask Him if He is satisfied with our worship. Are we content to simply sing songs on Sunday when God is saying, “I desire that You would act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Me!”?

How can we as a church begin to really effect change in the millions of lives across this planet who live in utter poverty and hopelessness? How can we tangibly meet the need so that the Gospel is more than words? How can we love Christ in the least of these?

Answer that question, and begin to live that answer and I believe we will recover biblical worship that pleases the heart of God.

have you ever noticed that leaves don’t really have any particular desires of where they’re blown and even if they did, you wouldn’t know it? they simply submit to the will of the wind. that’s how amanda and i have really strived to live as much as possible; submitting ourselves to the will of the Holy Spirit and letting Him take us wherever He desires. it’s not always easy, certainly not always convenient, and can often be abrupt. but isn’t it amazing how when you give God the control, you always ultimately find yourself in a much better destination (whether physically or spiritually) than you ever dreamed possible?

we moved back to austin, tx in september of last year… only 5 months ago! we were so excited to be here and have felt the leadership of the Lord the entire time we’ve been privileged to be back. we have held loosely to it though, rather than clutching with a white-knuckled, kung fu grip, as is very tempting when you love a city and a church as much as we have loved austin and the austin stone… but now the winds have changed recently and we submit willingly… and eagerly!

on march 1 (less than a month away! YIKES!), we will be relocating yet again to the great city of st. louis, mo where i will begin partnering with the journey church as a worship leader and pastor. needless to say, i am extremely excited… you really can’t have any idea how pumped i am! i will be working alongside lead pastor darrin patrick who also happens to be an acts29 network leader, and close friend of my current pastor (they’re writing a book together actually!).

this is a pretty amazing opportunity for us and we would certainly appreciate your prayers in the coming months. thanks guys!

grace and peace,
stephen miller