JoLeen Miller – Grace Gospel Press

A Day At The Fair: The Power of God

By JoLeen Miller Paul taught that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). As the young man stared at the verses, he agreed. “This is really powerful. This is just so powerful.” Minutes earlier, he offered to share his spiritual viewpoint. Though he wore a neon tank top, reading “One tequila...two tequila...three tequila...floor,” his explanations quickly revealed he was a sincerely religious man. With no air of pride, he earnestly explained that [...]

JoshSchmitz2019-02-10T01:51:12+00:00December 31st, 2015|

A DAY AT THE FAIR: I DON’T LIKE IT

By Joleen Miller I really don’t like it,” she asserted with a downturned lip. Minutes earlier, the young woman agreed to share her spiritual viewpoint with me as she crossed the dusty path from the funnel cake stand at the fair. She slouched in the dented folding chair while she explained that she’d been to church a few times and thought she’d probably go to Heaven because she remained true to her personal journey. The rainbow falling star tattoo around [...]

Darrell Patterson2019-02-10T02:43:13+00:00September 9th, 2015|

A DAY AT THE FAIR: FROM CONFUSED TO CONFIDENT

By JoLeen Miller The young man stared down at the sidewalk as he shuffled past our survey tent at a Minnesota summer festival; but when I read his shirt aloud, “My sport is your punishment,” his gaze darted up at me. After explaining that he was a runner, he agreed to take a spiritual viewpoint survey. Though confident when describing running, he melted to uncertainty as he slouched in the metal folding chair and read the survey questions. Before answering [...]

Darrell Patterson2019-02-10T01:58:19+00:00March 25th, 2015|

A DAY AT THE FAIR: REALLY?! THE BIBLE ANSWERS THAT?!

By Joleen Miller Throughout the festival weekend, many people sat across the dusty plastic table and shared their opinions about God and Heaven. Sprinkled among humanists, Universalists, agnostics, Catholics, Lutherans, and people who described themselves as “a mixture,” members of one evangelical church in this town of about 1,000 residents also shared their views. Each person from this particular church shared the same answers on the survey. They declared that they were 100-percent certain that they were going to Heaven [...]

Darrell Patterson2019-02-10T01:41:15+00:00January 12th, 2015|

A DAY AT THE FAIR: EARNESTLY RELIGIOUS BUT LOST

By JoLeen Miller When an athletic 17-year-old wearing an Adventurous Christian t-shirt sat across from me to take a survey, I did not know his underlying fear. But God did. The young man’s blue eyes twinkled with excitement and his grin covered his face when he explained his religious views. He loved his church. He liked learning about God. He participated in every youth event. Yet, when asked what his personal chances were of going to heaven, his grin faded [...]

Darrell Patterson2019-02-10T01:42:38+00:00September 4th, 2014|

EVANGELISM: A DAY AT VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

By JoLeen Miller I was surprised by the 7th grader standing calmly on the pitcher’s mound outside of the community center we rented for Vacation Bible School. The children had just started singing in the building when I peeked outside and noticed the boy wearing a crumpled, stained t-shirt, stringy long hair, and mud encased shoes. When I greeted him, he said, “I wasn’t sure where to go for VBS, but I figured someone would find me out here.” Before [...]

Darrell Patterson2019-02-10T01:40:01+00:00July 14th, 2014|