Ron Miller's Blog: Ron's Reflections, page 7

Welcome and Charge to the Helms School of Government Graduating Class of 2019 at Liberty University

Note: These are my prepared remarks from the 15th annual graduation ceremony of the Helms School of Government at Liberty University, delivered during Liberty University’s 46th commencement on May 11, 2019.

On behalf of the faculty and staff of the Helms School of Government, it is my privilege to welcome you to our 15th annual graduation ceremony. We are honoring around 570 graduates in attendance today, not to mention the hundreds worldwide who were unable to be on campus with us. This is ou...

Rays of Ravishing Light and Glory

Today is the 242nd commemoration of the ratification of the United States Declaration of Indepedence, which took place on July 4th, 1776. Had it been left up to John Adams, however, a signatory of the Declaration, an agitator for independence and, subsequently, our first vice president and 2nd president under the U.S. Constitution, we would have had a three-day weekend this week.

Adams declared in a letter to his wife, Abigail, that July 2nd, the day the 2nd Continental Congress passed a resol...

Then We'll See What Comes of His Dreams

Note: These are my prepared remarks from the No Walls University event, "Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Dreamer and His Dream", held at Mosaic Church in Lynchburg, Virginia on April 14, 2018.

In the 37th chapter of the book of Genesis, we first meet Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, whose prophetic dreams revealing God’s plans for his life drew the hatred of his brothers. In Genesis 37:19-20, it reads:

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him i...

Missing the Messiah

This message has run through my head multiple times in the past few days, and I've got to get it out, but I am genuinely afraid to do it. I may have to pray to the Lord for forgiveness later, but my frustration is overwhelming me.

Over the past seven years, the Lord has been taking me on a journey of discovery and revealing to me the pride with which I viewed my success in life, and He has pointed out to me how little I had to do with the circumstances which increased my chances for success.

Be...

Black Panther, Wonder Woman, and the Hole in the Soul

As I write this, the blockbuster movie of 2018 thus far is Black Panther, the Marvel Studios film adaptation of the comic book superhero of color first introduced in 1966 by, ironically, two white men, then writer-editor Stan Lee and writer- artist Jack Kirby. Created at the height of the 1960s civil rights movement, T’Challa, the king of the fictitious African nation of Wakanda and the Black Panther’s alter-ego, was the first superhero of African descent in mainstream American comic books, a...

Breaking The Silent Night

I love Christmas music and I’ve been playing it a little earlier each year, much to the chagrin of family and friends, because I want to hasten the arrival of my favorite time of the year. Of all the Christmas carols, Silent Night is a perennial favorite with its peaceful and tender account of the Savior’s birth.

It’s instructive to note, however, that the first Christmas, in fact, broke the silence that had blanketed ancient Israel for about 400 years.

The last words of the book of Malachi in...

The Church Will Endure

In this time of domestic strife in our nation, I’ve read and heard a great deal about the failure of the church to provide desperately needed moral leadership. In fact, the church is splintered into various factions, usually among political lines, and its ability to transcend our divisions and be a force for unity is seriously compromised. Non-believers are observing our behavior and declaring us hypocrites for our immersion into worldly affairs. Some Christian thinkers believe our witness to...

Is our Constitution "Wholly Inadequate" Today?

As a lifelong student of American government and history, one question has always intrigued me about the events which led to the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

How unlikely was this assembly of leaders and populace in one place that bred a nation which, in its early years, was unlike any other that preceded it?

It’s fashionable today to revisit the founders and other great men and women of American history, measure them against 21st...

Race Relations in the Post-Obama Era

Note: These are the prepared remarks from which I gave my presentation on February 21, 2017 at Liberty University's Jerry Falwell Library in Lynchburg, Virginia as part of their Faculty Author Series.

In considering the title for this talk, some may think it’s far too soon to evaluate the post-Obama era. After all, it’s only a month and a day old!

With passions regarding the past eight years of the Obama presidency still high on both sides of the political aisle, it’s fair to assume that any v...

All Things Together for Good

I awoke this morning before I wanted to, and I felt compelled to share a personal thought with you.

I have a lot going on in my life right now, most of it good or very good, some of it not so good. As I lay in bed fighting the aching in my right hip -- more on that in a moment -- and resisting the slow but sure reawakening of my mind to the point where I couldn't go back to sleep, I was overcome by an assurance that, regardless of what is happening to me or around me, God knows exactly what H...