The Jack Miller Archive

CJM Archives, St. Louis, MO.

Jack Miller collection, St. Louis, Missouri.

"I grew up in a community where Sunday morning was generally considered the dullest hour of the week. At that time there was only one church in our Oregon community, and it was so boring that the mayor of our town what suggested the slot machine to be installed in the sanctuary to promote a little profitable action in a place where nothing exciting ever seemed to happen. Quite properly, The mayor was admonished for his blasphemous attitude, but perhaps he really did have a point. When he made a suggestion that the church install slot machines practically everybody said with horror that gambling had nothing to do with the purpose of the church. But a suggestion also revealed that nobody ever told him what was the purpose of the church and at least he had the idea that something all to be happening in it.
As a teenager my own attitude was more typical than the mayors. It was clear the church did not have a purpose beyond that of comforting people who need religious solace. In my view "church" was for timid people - not for the tough-minded tight like myself who are ready to face the unpleasant truth that God probably did not exist and that worship was a charade designed to conceal that he was permanently absent both for worship and the universe. Therefore, at age 14, I withdrew from the church attendance and began to search discover the real action was in life.
Some years later, on the return trip to Oregon, I met Christ and became his follower. It was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me. Once I knew him personally, I sensed without anyone telling me that the keyword for describing his purposes was "others." He had not died for himself but for others like me were helpless and confused.
Location: With Jack's Personal Background