A year and a half ago, I got an email from David Miller, a pastor and writer who dubs himself the Chief Encouragement Officer with good reason. He invited me to be a part of a “dynamic community of inspiring and innovative faith-in-Christ-based leaders…who just happen to blog.”

After exploring his site, Life Letter Café, it was my privilege to join this growing group of believers who are impacting their world with the message of Jesus Christ. Today it’s an honor to interview the man behind the Café – join me in welcoming David Miller.

David: I was raised by wonderful godly parents who lived “hospitality” by continually having missionaries and local church leaders in our home for delicious meals and short and long-term stays. I got my warped sense of humor from my Dad who often shared with others that I was “adopted” . . . and at that, by accident. I learned how to live in and refresh-forward encouragement from my mom who suffered greatly from chronic health ailments and physical injuries as a result of a collision with an intoxicated reckless driver – her life verse was.

I have been a fan of the S.F. Giants since my 7th birthday when I witnessed Willie Mays win a game over the Dodgers via a massive home run shot. I love the game of golf because it slows life down and makes time for deeper friendships. I am willing to try any restaurant’s best fish taco and think of Mexican food in general more or less as vitamins.

I am married to my best friend and prayerfully desire all-things “Wild at Heart”/John Eldredge for my four sons.

My core gifting is encouragement and discernment and I am a massive cheerleader and coach for both leaders and emerging leaders. My favorite line from the current campaign for President of the U.S. 

Most of all, I love the power of story . . . shared story . . . especially the story of a God so in love with us and full of mercy and grace for us that He just couldn’t stay away, but sent His Son to give us life and His Spirit to be our life and our hope for Christ’s soon return.

David: Serving as a Pastor engaged me in two disciplines I still absolutely love to this day: teaching from God’s Word and equipping leaders – naturally, I still love to share how God’s word intersects with “little things” in everyday life, I love to share narratives that relate someone’s demonstrated faith, courage and perseverance in the face of loss, rejection, setback – even suffering. And I love to tackle any and all leadership challenges with my pen.

On a theological level, serving as a pastor opened my eyes to how often the church and “church people” so easily miss God’s grace and fall into judgmentalism and rejection towards others – especially other Christ-followers. I love amplifying the performance-shattering character of God’s love and grace and reminding readers about the one true God who is for us and is never surprised by our weaknesses and limitations.

David: There are 3 core motivators behind this ministry:

Discouragement is not only a fact of life, it is an unwelcomed all too frequent visitor in the body of Christ. While God’s Word never regards discouragement as a sin, it warns that discouragement presents an ever-present temptation to “give-up” on any and all things good. Even if we resist the urge to quit on our own future dreams, present relationships and past commitments, the enemy will seek to use discouragement to replace our Christ-focused engagement with self-absorbed, self-soothing paralysis.

God’s Word calls out Christ-followers as a whole to a life of uncanny, unparalleled, unworldly devotion to each other. In a world full of rejection, condemnation, gossip and slander, I understand that my gifting is my calling and when properly utilized can serve as a motivator for those who claim to follow Christ to come alongside others much in the way Christ has first come to them.

I love the power of uplifting story and found a desire to write much deeper than ever after the passing of my father in 2004.

From it’s very beginning at that time, LifeLetter has been all about experiencing the power of story and helping readers find themselves forever in God’s story. Our web site, lifelettercafe.com, is the virtual home to hundreds of stories (many are narrative-based). Each one is an invitation to be encouraged, to encourage others, and most of all, to embrace God’s grace in the moment of this very day!

In a time when more and more ministries are personality and event driven while saturated with the success-drenched vocabulary of “fastest growing”, “bigger than ever”, “most impactful”, “New York Times Bestseller” . . . to the point where society is now witnessing a generation of “look at me/look at us” churches and Christian non-profits . . . I am compelled to crash through the walls of comparison and competition and create a safe place of ministry collaboration that first lives and breathes by the mantra “Look at Him – and only Him” and celebrates and honors the body of Christ as a whole . . . cutting across denominational, non-denominational and “territorial” lines vs. the hype and contrived significance of a ministry stuck on one man at davidjbmiller.com

Today, we offer a digital forum that includes and honors more than 200 selfless dynamic kingdom leaders who have the ability to write with conviction and clarity.

As a result, LifeLetter Cafe’s purpose is essentially to be a web-based ministry designed to

David: Hardly a week goes by where we don’t receive a letter of thanks from our readers – typically along the lines of “this could not have been written/published at the Café at a better time.” 

Some of the most profound impact comes through the ministry of prayer that takes place behind the scenes – in particular, for our LifeWriters (Guest Contributors). In that special community, God has used the Café to bring hope and encouragement to families battling cancer, childhood diseases and families working through the grief process in the wake of a death.

David: There is no ceiling when God is involved – so we excitedly look forward to growth in the form of a daily devotional ministry for subscriber/members, a more robust web platform, a re-launch of the Café newsletter under the brand “The Pour”. . . and of course, dozens if not hundreds more LifeWriters who “get” the power of collaboration for God’s glory.

David: My January LifeLetter series asked these questions: 

“Do you smell like Jesus? Or put another way, are you known for your push or your pull? Does your life continually and generously make room for others ahead of your own needs or does pride and self-soothing keep some, perhaps many at arm’s length (or more)? Is it possible that in your effort to move ahead with “your life” you have missed His?”

The Cafe is ALL about bringing clearer focus about Jesus to our readers AND that “everything” that occurs when we say yes to His love.

I went on to write in that same article, 
”Jesus created you, gave purpose to you, came for you, died for you, conquered death for you . . . Jesus offers His life to you . . . because Jesus loves you. But be warned, a life of calculated measured giving must necessarily give way to “extravagant generosity” in any and all directions . . . and for the first time . . . you will begin to really smell . . . like Jesus.”