Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
More to the Story with Dr. Andy Miller III is a podcast exploring theology in the orthodox Wesleyan tradition. Hear engaging interviews and musings from Dr. Miller each week.
Andy Miller III: Hey, friends Andy Miller, coming to you from the more to the story. Podcast and Wesley Biblical Seminary.
Andy Miller III: I just want to check in on a couple of things to make sure you know what's happening from our podcast I'm not quite sure that I'm live yet. So I'm just talking to make sure that we're going again. This is a more to the story podcast with Andy Miller from Wesley Biblical Seminary, where we are developing trusted leaders for faithful churches. And I want to give you a couple of updates of things that are happening from the podcast
Andy Miller III: I had come to you a couple of weeks ago and mentioned that we'll be taking a month off of new content. And that was in part because it it. I'm in a time of transition myself as we're needing to hire. We have 3 Vice President positions open and executive assistant open, and I've been. And now I'm kind of doing several of those jobs
Andy Miller III: in addition to my new job as president of Wesley Vocal Seminary. And it's a new semester, and we have our largest group of students in our history with more than 700 students who are studying with us this semester. I have 95 people in my preaching course, this semester. And so it's a really exciting time. And there's a lot happening.
Andy Miller III: much less having 3 teenagers. So that was my excuse. That's my excuse for not having new content in September. So you might see if you follow the podcast that I've re-released
Andy Miller III: some old conversations that I've had. I had one that came out yesterday with cricket, Albertson on her book that she worked in a sense, on with her grandfather, Dennis, Kinlaw, holy happiness. I think in the next day or so a podcast will be coming out with Brian Fickert, author of
Andy Miller III: Dr. Brian Fickert, who is the author of when helping hurts. And we talked about one of his new books at that point, somebody that I've admired for a long time. And who's help helped me a lot. And then I have a podcast, come out with John Oswald, and I think there was one more. Oh, I think we have a Robert Gag, i'm bringing back one of the Robert Gagnon podcasts as well. So that was a way I was Gonna fill up September. But then something happened.
Andy Miller III: So and this is it. This, what was going to be the slowest month in the history of the more the story, podcast which is a 3 year history,
Andy Miller III: became, maybe the most, the the time where we're saturating the market with our information. So about 2 weeks ago or so, I had a friend reach out to me and said, Andy, have you thought about having on
Andy Miller III: Are the candidates for bishop, the the people who've been nominated to be bishop, and this 2 year, Bishop
Andy Miller III: position interim Bishop for the Global Methodist church. There are 9 nominees. I know a lot of them as it is so. But but I saw that. And I thought. Well, I actually saw my friend from the plane spoken. Podcast Jeff Rickman had some thoughts about that, and it wasn't working out for the way he wanted to to happen. And so, honestly, in the midst of this busy month, I saw that it wasn't working out for him, and I just said, No, I don't, don't really want to go there. But then somebody said, Well.
Andy Miller III: it's it's become a philosophical question that Jeff had, and I and he and I have gone back and forth on this a little bit. And and so I I actually looked at it like
Andy Miller III: they. They want to use a communication director to communicate to all them, and I appreciate the sensitivity that a lot of people have, including Jeff, with thinking about not having some of the the bureaucratic system in place that might create more distance between local churches and and people in leadership positions. And I'm very sensitive to that. I appreciate Jeff's concern. I just want to highlight that, and I've I've shared that with him, too. From my seat where I was. Was.
Andy Miller III: I I didn't. I didn't know there are several of the candidates I didn't know, and so when somebody recommended that it was just this philosophical difference, I decided, well, I'll just go and use a communication director because I don't want to try to find everybody's email addresses. And it made it easier for me. So with respect to that view, that is shared there. I went ahead and just communicated
Andy Miller III: with the communications director at global Methodist Church. And they they all agreed that they would come on the podcast and so I set up these interviews. So all of a sudden, then now, I felt a little bit more responsibility to make this happen. And
Andy Miller III: the way I do. My, I'm just gonna tell you. Tell you what's happening behind the curtain, so to speak. Generally, what I do is
Andy Miller III: maybe once a month, a couple times a month.
Andy Miller III: the most. I'll set up a interview morning or interview day, and then I'll just do. I'll I'll put all of my interviews then. And then I have podcasts for a couple of months after doing several interviews generally. That's how I work. Well, all of a sudden I I realized, Whoa! This is, I don't have time. If I'm going to get all 9 of these candidates published in time to be able anticipate the convening conference in Costa Rica. I'm gonna have to do this pretty fast.
Andy Miller III: so there is going to be a rush of information coming your way, if you follow my feed, if you subscribe to our podcast I just wanted you to know that that is coming. So I I decided that my approach would be I that would interview each candidate because I my my 1st thought was, I'll take, and I'll have
Andy Miller III: 3 candidates at a time, and I'll ask them all the same questions, and that will make it a streamlined process. And as I did that as I was thinking about that, I thought well.
Andy Miller III: that could seem like a debate. And maybe I'm a little more attuned to political things in this season in the United States. So I I just decided I didn't want to pursue that that means 9 different interviews, and I'm keeping generally the same questions, though it's more conversational. And so sometimes I I
Andy Miller III: trail off in certain certain categories of people. As we have some similar interest. So I've done 5 of those interviews right now, and they will start coming out tomorrow, with the aim of having all 9 of those conversations published
Andy Miller III: by the convening conference with a little bit of space in there to make that happen, and those have actually been wonderful conversations. One of the things I like about podcasting is not just sharing it. Here, I mean, I do appreciate, I love, the feedback, and I love finding out from people all over the world that they're listening is a delight to see people pick picking up my courses. I just spoke with somebody or email back and forth with somebody from Maine yesterday who's using my heaven course in their church?
Andy Miller III: A last month. Oh, I guess it's still August. So at the beginning of August
Andy Miller III: I found out a group, a Salvation Army Church in Australia was using the heaven course, and I zoomed in with them 4 o'clock in the morning, my time, but just to to check in with that them on that. And then I've also, you know, just met people all around who are able to have access to. Podcast so I
Andy Miller III: it's a real blessing that God's using this platform in that way and it, and it has only so much sophistication. But part of the thing for me. The piece that I like I like connecting with various people. I like having conversations with interesting people. I like talking to nt right? I like talking with cricket Albertson, and I've enjoyed talking to all these episcopal nominees. They are a delight. And there's it's obvious, like
Andy Miller III: with them. Why they're called into this, why, they've been nominated, and why they've accepted that call. And to put put themselves before the church, so I'll and as somebody who will be a delegate at the convening conference, it's also really helpful for me to get to know them and the plans. I want to mention one thing I I'm not able to say on all 9 of those podcasts.
Andy Miller III: Well, a couple things 1st
Andy Miller III: to my non. Gmc, non, umc
Andy Miller III: listeners.
Andy Miller III: I hope this will be interesting to you as well.
Andy Miller III: But like, for instance, I just think about my friends who serve in other denominations like aim. Church of Nazarene, Kojicusa, the Salvation Army. All the all these folks. What we're talking about in these interviews, I believe, is relevant to these denominations. Now, of course, there's differences in how
Andy Miller III: denominations are structured and the polity of each of those denominations. But at the same time, I hope you'll find interesting. It's like in in a lot of times. We're learning about Christian leaders.
Andy Miller III: And through these conversations I think I think that my regular listeners will find this interesting. It's not just a lot of minutia about the Gmc. And the Gmc's political environment at this time. So Ju, just know that. That's the 1st thing the second thing I want to suggest.
Andy Miller III: and I didn't put my
Andy Miller III: everything on silent here. The second thing I wanted to suggest is that I do acknowledge that there are. There are basically really 3 plans. I'm trying to get a place where I can put my hands up 3 plans
Andy Miller III: that are out there that that could happen for the gold Methodist church, and in addition to the 9 interviews I'm doing
Andy Miller III: with the candidates for what's sometimes called the General Superintendency plan. I also am doing an interview with Jay Tharrell. Who is the President pro tem. Of the Florida Conference, and he is part of he's part of the one of the people who's drafted the legislation which is sometimes called the hybrid or the Florida plan which is different.
Andy Miller III: It's a different model. And there's 1 basic distinction and one major distinction. And that is the nature of what a bishop would do administratively, and as a shepherd
Andy Miller III: So in the general superintendent model there is a bishop that comes and functions as a teacher and as a guide kind of a missional of of Stop Gap that is existed to
Andy Miller III: perform ordinations and the like. But in the Florida plan, and actually, I should probably just wait to point you to that conversation, that the the Bishop also has administrative duties, and and honestly, where I am on this discussion I don't know if I'm 50, 50, maybe 55 45 somewhere in there. But I'm really looking forward to having a conversation with Jay to get more clarity on his plan, and I recommend that if you want that information now there was a great interview that he had
Andy Miller III: with Jeff Rickman on plain spoken, and so I checked that out. I also recommend that you go to one of our faculty members, our adjunct faculty and director of research, Matt O'reilly his I think it's called, I'll have a link. And when all the podcasts come, I think it's like theology project is his website. But you can find it. Google, Matt O'reilly,
Andy Miller III: gold Methodist church, and you'll find his, not his, podcast but his blog. And he has some articles coming out on this very subject. So if you're wanting to be oriented on that I recommend you go there. And also Matt's new book that he's edited. That was from his reconstructing Methodist Conference has an article from Scott Jones on this, or like, maybe detailing the way that the Gmc. Has come to this place. So
Andy Miller III: I'm not getting into that debate. I'm just acknowledging that. And then, of course, there's a a 3rd option which seems less likely to me, but it could be chosen by the General Conference, and that is for them to keep with the transitional book of discipline, like what the plan is there to keep Bishop Webb and Bishop Jones doing exactly what they've been doing for another 2 years, until
Andy Miller III: probably the kinks are worked out on what plans going to be used. So those 3 plans are there, and I don't acknowledge that fully
Andy Miller III: on these interviews, so they will be coming out. I have. Here's here's the order. Just so, you know. And I'm just releasing them in the order in which I scheduled them, and I recorded them. So I have Carolyn More, a delightful conversation. Some of my friends who are in the Salvation Army will know she's started become, I don't know. Popular. It's not the right word, but
Andy Miller III: Her gifts are being used for the mission of the Salvation Army. How about that? Instead of just come? But she was at Lake June, Alaska, where the Salvation Army has an annual conference. That happens, and it's a it's a beautiful event. And then she's as a result of that, you know, serving the Salvage Army more and I I enjoy that conversation with her, Kenneth Levinson, from Texas. I had never met him in my life.
Andy Miller III: and was so delighted by this conversation, and just appreciated his energy and his fire for the Lord and evangelism. My friend Ryan Barnett was the 3rd one that will come out that will come out on September second. So Carolyn's will come out tomorrow.
Andy Miller III: and then Kenneth will come out the day after that. Then next week Ryan's will come out. Ryan's a pastor, and he was with me in Seminary, a couple of years older than me, 4 years older than me, actually reveals his age in the interview.
Andy Miller III: So he's a pastor at the Waco Methodist Church. He's been a leader in the Wca. I know he's been at other churches in in the Texas area, and you'll you'll note that it's like easy for me to have a conversation with him, and is kind of like catching up on various things that are happening. He's been a active part of what's happened at Truett Seminary. Then Jeff Greenway, who is my seminary present. I recorded that conversation yesterday. They all come out on the 5th
Andy Miller III: and I you know he served the church in the Columbus area for more than 15 years. And I I again I I'm going to say it. I'm going to repeat myself. I enjoyed that conversation, as also I enjoyed meeting Rob Townsend.
Andy Miller III: Who I I didn't know really anything about except for just some of the information that shared on the Gmc. Website. And again, just a delightful conversation with somebody who has served faithfully in the United Methodist Church, but and interesting about his story, like how God's led him
Andy Miller III: to, even in a conference where he was a minority as an evangelical, to take on leadership positions serve different types of churches, probably had some things that happened to him that were unfair, and he didn't. He didn't highlight that too much. I had to pull it out of them, but just has a real heart for ministry and for serving the church. And so I was excited, enjoyed that conversation. Then I have the other candidates.
Andy Miller III: Kemba, Greg, Leah, and John coming on. I haven't recorded those conversations yet, but they're coming, and I want you to know that. So
Andy Miller III: in between all these, this, these are all. All these conversations are gonna happen in the next 17 days. So it'll be 9 podcasts coming your way in addition to the ones that I already had scheduled, these replays of old conversations with Brian ficker,
Andy Miller III: John Oswald, and then, of course the Jay Therrell interview is going to happen in there and then, Robert Gagden, one, so
Andy Miller III: be be ready. Be ready for what's coming your way. And what I thought was going to be a quiet month for the more of the story podcast has all of a sudden become more active, and but I'm thankful for opportunity for me to share with them on behalf of Wesley Biblical Seminary, and on behalf of you, my listeners. I'm thankful to have you engaged in what's happening here, and I just wanted to acknowledge some of the context of what was happening. I'm excited, too, by some of the other conversations I've had, I have.
Andy Miller III: These podcasts will be coming out well after
Andy Miller III: Well, well, after a general conference, but I have David Bonson from the Bonson group. He's a he's written a book called Full Time. I listen to him on the world and everything in it as he gives a Monday money beat. He's a i mean, I imagine he's on Wall Street, but just somebody attuned to the markets. And
Andy Miller III: I I think his worldview is something that can really speak into our world at this time, and and I think that's communicated through his book called Full Time. Then I also have Jay Warner Wallace coming on. I have an another person who's named Ryan. I can't think of his last name now, who wrote a book called Trustworthy about the trustworthiness of the New Testament.
Andy Miller III: I've I am working as hard as I can to get Bill Yuri on this, Podcast that is, the most re often requested Guest. People say, have you thought about having Bill Uri on? And we just haven't been able to make it happen. But I think we're getting close. I think we're getting close. I'm excited about his book that's been published by the I've said, excited too much on this podcast.
Andy Miller III: Forgive me. The his book published by Francis Asbury Society. That's Christology as theology. And I I'm really intrigued by this concept, and I think that this book is going to have a much wider discussion outside of that book and outside of
Andy Miller III: outside of certainly the podcast that I'm going to do with him. But this comes in that tradition that I I think, stems from some of the.
Andy Miller III: I would say, founding voices in in like critical voices in the evangelical Wesleyan world, and one of the principal ones to me is Dr. Dennis Kinlaw. And this is this is a series of books that's coming out. This one that Bill Uri has done. It's the first.st And this
Andy Miller III: theology series that's building upon Dennis Kinlough's book, let's start with Jesus so, and you kind of sense that in the theme theology, Christology as theology. So maybe I have that backwards. But in there or less, is the Christological focus to theology. I'm looking forward to that conversation. Right, Bill, we're going to make that happen and several other things coming our way. I'm glad to get suggestions. I have some things gonna I'm gonna
Andy Miller III: put out some resources that I'm sharing in my preaching course as well, because I think that that might be helpful for people as they're thinking about their own preparation for teaching and preaching.
Andy Miller III: I. I have 2 other new courses that sometime this fall are going to make their way to my website. I already have the Jude course, the 6 week course
Andy Miller III: on the book of Jude that has a video series, discussion guides and a discussion board online that's available. Then I have my heaven course, which I've already talked about here. Then I have a course coming out on holiness. Just a and it's a mini. Course. It's a type of thing
Andy Miller III: you could do with a group of teenagers. So it's a kind of a kind of a basic like holiness 101. Then I also have a course on I was asked to do this, and so the resource available. It might only be interesting to a small segment of my audience. But that is the Wesleyan foundations of the Salvation Army. So that will be hopefully coming out my website here soon, I have A. A you'll notice as these episcopal interviews come out.
Andy Miller III: I have a sponsor. There's some interesting groups. There's this group called True Charity, that's doing some work with various global Methodist churches and wants to connect with more churches. And so they've come to me. And they're interested in in the people who are in my audience. So I at the end of each of those episcopal conversations there's a little interview, a 5 min interview that I have with one of their executives. So I encourage you to check that out.
Andy Miller III: And as always, I'd love for you to like
Andy Miller III: subscribe, and if I could get some people to share some reviews on apple podcasts. I think that would help us as well. You might have noticed as well that there's a new podcast coming from Wesley Biblical Seminary, and it's called the Biblical Wesleyan. This is a whole series of all kinds of content. That will be, do will be happy contents not done here. It is like.
Andy Miller III: presentations are happening at Wesley Biblical Seminary. Rather. They are chapels, academic lectures, conversations that we have. We had some things that we've already published there from our alumni reunion. So the week it'll be a weekly podcast at least of our chapel sermons. But that's something I would love for you to subscribe to and
Andy Miller III: something we're bringing away. In addition to other podcasts, Steve, Blake, Moore and Matt, freedmen both have podcasts that come from Wbs. We'd love for you to check those out as well. But I wanted to give you this brief update just ahead of what's coming our way on the mortis story, podcast thanks. So much for praying and supporting this, looking forward to connecting with you all through these various things that will be coming out in the next month. God bless you!