He lives in the basement, which is also where he plays and sings his heart out from time to time.  You can't really hear it in my bedroom, but I really like taking naps on the couch in the living room, and you can definitely hear it there.  Today was a good day for a nap, I thought, until Seth got inspired.  The nap was over.  But it was a good thing.  After getting over the disappointment of a deferred siesta, I told Seth this might be my favorite song of his, and I wanted you to enjoy it, too.  

But Jesus wasn’t just talking about some cosmic, otherworldly kind of second chance.  He reached out and healed people’s bodies.  He restored outcasts from the fringe of society to a proper place in the heart of the community.  He came to teach us that the ‘spiritual’ second chance we need touches every part of our lives – our bodies, our minds, our dreams, our relationships, our work…

There’s a place in South Bend that exists for second chances, and I want you to know about it.  Dismas House has been providing housing, mentoring, community and accountability to ex-offenders since 1986.  A quick web search will tell you that in the U.S., we average a recidivism rate of somewhere around 60%.  In other words, once you’re released from prison in America, the odds are better than 50:50 that you’ll end up back in there.   Since Dismas South Bend has been tracking its own data, only 16% of its participants have ended up back in prison.  That’s amazing.  I had a chance to spend some time with the crew at Dismas Monday night and hear their story.  Here’s a terrible, fuzzy picture I took with my phone:

Dismas isn’t just interested in giving a hand out.  They’re offering a hand up to their residents.  Each person is expected to pay for a portion of their expenses, typically through employment.  However, if you’re from Michiana, you can know how hard this has been lately.  If you’ve had a hard time finding employment in this economic climate, imagine how hard it is when you have to include a conviction on your application. 

In an effort to find alternative methods of raising support, Dismas Designs has been created.  It started with one woman, Coretta, who discovered a talent for making jewelry.  Now the whole house is in on the action, and they mean business.  They’ve partnered with a class of students from Notre Dame that’s studying social entrepreneurship – using business solutions to tackle social problems – and are pulling together their business plan.   

If you’ve always wanted to be a part of someone else’s second chance, this is for you.  These former convicts are choosing a better future and working hard to make it happen, but you can help.  Dismas Designs needs donations of old jewelry that they can use to make their new creations.  They need places to sell their wares.  And they need us to spread the word. 

If you’re interested in helping in anyway, will you contact Maria Kaczmarek, Executive Director at Dismas?  Call 574.233.8522, email dismassouthbend@sbcglobal.net, or head to www.dismassouthbend.org to learn more.  

You can find details here.  It's gonna be awesome!

I have the privilege of serving and leading a team of staff and volunteers that deserves my best, and I need help giving it to them.  I’m looking for an armor bearer – someone who can fight alongside me each day for great art and a strong team that honors God and fulfills the calling He has for us.  I’m looking for an assistant in all the areas where my leadership is required.  Here’s a role summary:

• Maximize Pastor of Arts and Teaching’s effectiveness as arts team leader
• Represent Pastor of Arts and Teaching to staff, volunteers, and other church leaders 
• Assist Pastor of Arts and Teaching with prioritization and scheduling
• Protect focus for Pastor and Arts and Teaching by screening distractions

If you’re interested, head to the MY SONGS page, download the description and check out the details.  If you think it might be a fit, email Jami Ruth (jruth@gccwired.com) with your resume.  

*Seriously, send your inquiries and resumes to Jami, not me. Anything sent to me will be disregarded.

I love you so much, Mom and Dad.  You've both been such a huge part of my life, loving me and Jeff, leading us, taking care of us, teaching us, putting up with us.  Your faithfulness to each other has been a huge gift to us, too.  Thanks for giving each other and us your very best, year after year.  

• We love you guys and we want to show it.
  I really believe that God cracks a smile the size of the Grand Canyon at the way you serve.  You matter to Him and to me and the other arts staff leaders.  Your work is exceptional.  Your dedication is uncommon.  And we want to get together, celebrate that, and say thanks.

• Vision matters.
  We work hard and fast and on and on, and in all of that, it’s important that we remember why.  We want to spend a few minutes talking about it.  

• We want to bring you in the loop on some exciting, important stuff ahead in 2010. 
  There’s some new stuff coming down the pipeline, and it’s essential that we bring you in on it AND that we hear from you about it.  This is the best way for us to do that.  

If you’re on the arts team, you'll be contacted your point leader.  They’ll be asking you to RSVP (yep, it’s that important... we want you to RSVP).  If you have any questions, you can ask me or any other member of the arts staff.  

See you on one of those nights!

Sometimes the sky falls.  You were used to looking up to a God who seemed close at hand, who held everything together even when circumstances felt fragile.  But then you looked again and weren't so sure any of this really affirms the notion of that kind of God.  

I've been reading Moses' story and working with Ben, one of our video producers, on the story of a woman at our church to get ready to teach this weekend, and it amazes me how much we all have in common.  It doesn't seem to matter where we come from or when we live; sometimes reality seems too harsh and escape seems like the best option.  Sometimes our shortcomings make it hard to trust God to do His part.  

Several years ago, I was having a very hard time keeping my grip.  I felt like God had promised to see me through the hard stuff I was facing, but those promises seemed faint.  I went into the hospital, not really sure where this was headed, and I kept grasping for hope that seemed illusive.  The only thing I knew to do to keep my resolve was to sing something (I wrote in my last post that I pray better with songs than silence), so I wrote this song, "whatever it takes", and I've been returning to it this week as I think about all our stories and wonder what God might want to say to us in the next couple of days.  You can preview the song here, and if you'd like your own copy, head to the MY SONGS page to download audio or video.  

Hope to see you at GCC this weekend!

Whatever it Takes from Jason Miller on Vimeo.

If you click on the link above that says 'MY SONGS', you can download audio and video versions of each.  One of the songs is called "smallest part", and it's a prayer song that I have to return to about once a week.  I've heard of pro golfers that take lessons after years on the tour, starting from scratch and rebuilding their swing because bad habits creep in on the tour.  I'm not a pro Christian, but I have been following Jesus for most of my life.  Still, it feels like I need to go back to square one and build all over again pretty frequently.  Bad habits creep in, like thinking I can do this on my own, or wanting to avoid God because I'm so far from what He is.  When they do, I need to pray, but I pray better with songs than silence, so this is one of my prayers.  

You can preview it right here.  Head to the download page if you'd like a copy. 

Smallest Part from Jason Miller on Vimeo.

Well, you might pull together an army of unpaid servants who have experienced that gift, hand them a brilliant script written by an inspired woman, surround them with generous and talented technicians led by a rock star technical director, fill the air with rich sound effects created by a faithful music pastor, place them on a set designed by a video and production genius, narrate the emotional contours of their story through music with the voice of a raw and authentic worship leader, and trust your ace programming director to keep it all tied together.  That’s been our strategy tonight, and I’ve been blown away as the arts team brings the experience of A Christmas Carol to our community over and over again through 6 live services and 1 online for thousands of people. 

I’m grateful to a staff that has led with tenacity through the challenges involved in a production like this, and even more thankful for the volunteers who gave themselves to this work so that Michiana might know that God isn’t deaf to prayers like this:

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, o Israel.

Here’s a picture of the crew from our rehearsal Sunday night (thanks to Mark Beeson for the shot). 

Whether you were at GCC or somewhere else tonight, I hope you head into Christmas tomorrow with eyes wide open to God's gift to us in His son, Jesus.   

Tomorrow (Monday) is my first day officially trying my hand at a new level of leadership.  I’ll have the privilege of leading our Creative Arts teams and joining the senior management team.  There are a few things I know for sure:

• The people I get to lead are exceptional.  Their talent is staggering, but their sacrifice is even more impressive. 
• The opportunities we have in front of us to impact our world are unprecedented.  What we’ve seen so far is just a taste. 
• To whom much is entrusted, much is expected.  I’m painfully aware that my church and my God deserve my very best. 
• I have a lot to learn. 

I sent an email to our volunteers right before Thanksgiving, and it sums up my feelings about what we’re a part of.  Here’s a portion of that message:

To the hardest working, smartest, most inspired group of Christ-followers I’ve ever known,

…we’re surrounded by people who need to know that they matter to God — in our families, workplaces, and neighborhoods.  Elsewhere, people assume that it’ll be purely a matter of luck or divine whim whether those people actually find out how much He loves them.  But not us.  We’ve discovered over and over again that we wake up every day with the chance to reach our community and our world.  We get to follow God’s lead in crafting an experience that He will use to shake the cynics, heal broken hearts, and call his sons and daughters home again.  And we get to do it together, side by side.  God has blessed us insanely and given us a staggering responsibility to serve Him, and I haven’t slept in about a week because of how much that excites me.  

I love you guys, I’m praying for you, and I’m deeply humbled by the chance I have to partner with the arts staff in leading and serving you…

I hope you’ll join me in praying for our staff, our volunteers, and our community.  We’re getting amped up for a new chapter in our ministry, and if the miracles that God has already worked are any indicator, we’ll be blown away by what He does next.