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Don Miller (author)
Encyclopedia
Donald Miller is a best-selling American author
and public speaker based out of Portland, Oregon
who focuses on Christian
spirituality
as "an explanation for beauty, meaning, and the human struggle".
, Texas
and went to Portland
, Oregon
, where he put down roots as he had planned when he started his road trip a few months before. Miller's first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance (Harvest House Publishers 2000), chronicled the cross-country road trip he took at age 21. It was printed with little fanfare, but it was republished more successfully in 2005 as Through Painted Deserts. During this time, Miller was the editor of an online Christian magazine called roadsearching.com and the owner of a small Portland-based publishing company called Coffee House Books, which published home schooling textbooks. Miller became a New York Times Bestselling Author when he published Blue Like Jazz
in 2003. In 2004, Miller released Searching For God Knows What
, which explores how the life of Jesus illustrates the human personality. In 2006, he added another book, To Own A Dragon, which offered Miller's reflections on growing up without a father. This book reflected an interest already present in Miller's life, as he founded the Mentoring Project (formerly the Belmont Foundation), a non-profit that partners with local churches to mentor fatherless young men. Don's next book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, was released in late 2009. Later that year, Miller began production of All Things Converge http://www.allthingsconverge.com/ —a series of DVDs for small groups that feature Miller interviewing prominent Christian
writers and theologians. The first three DVDs in the series were released in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Miller also serves as the Founding Director of The Burnside Writers Collective, a group of spiritual writers who contribute to an online magazine.
Miller is recognized for his feelings that Christian faith should be a relationship, rather than a formula. He writes in Searching for God Knows What that too many Christians act like the Bible is a sort of math textbook, rather than a long story of God's involvement with people through friendships with Biblical figures like Adam, Abraham, and Moses. This emphasis on the Bible as a narrative
has made his writings popular with many involved in the emerging church
conversation. Miller does not consider himself a follower of the movement; he still recognizes the need of mankind to recognize its depravity so that it might better teach the concept of love.
On March 2, 2007, during an interview on the Relevant Magazine
podcast, he revealed that he has been working on a screenplay with Steve Taylor
.
On Don Miller's website http://www.donmilleris.com/ he further discusses the screen play noted above.
Miller delivered the first night's closing prayer at the 2008 Democratic National Convention
on August 25, 2008.
Miller serves on President Barack Obama
's Task Force on Fatherhood and Healthy Families.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and public speaker based out of Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
who focuses on Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
as "an explanation for beauty, meaning, and the human struggle".
Biography
At 21, Miller left his home in PearlandPearland, Texas
Pearland , is a city located along the Gulf Coast region in the US state of Texas within the metropolitan area and is in the counties of Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris. As of the census of 2000, the city's population was 37,640. As of 2008, Pearland is estimated to have a population of 90,700...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and went to Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, where he put down roots as he had planned when he started his road trip a few months before. Miller's first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance (Harvest House Publishers 2000), chronicled the cross-country road trip he took at age 21. It was printed with little fanfare, but it was republished more successfully in 2005 as Through Painted Deserts. During this time, Miller was the editor of an online Christian magazine called roadsearching.com and the owner of a small Portland-based publishing company called Coffee House Books, which published home schooling textbooks. Miller became a New York Times Bestselling Author when he published Blue Like Jazz
Blue Like Jazz
Blue Like Jazz is the second book by Donald Miller. This semi-autobiographical work, subtitled "Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality," is a collection of essays and personal reflections chronicling the author's growing understanding of the nature of God and Jesus, and the need and...
in 2003. In 2004, Miller released Searching For God Knows What
Searching For God Knows What
Searching for God Knows What is the third book by Donald Miller, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc., in 2004. This work continues and expands many of the "Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality" that appeared in his second book, Blue Like Jazz...
, which explores how the life of Jesus illustrates the human personality. In 2006, he added another book, To Own A Dragon, which offered Miller's reflections on growing up without a father. This book reflected an interest already present in Miller's life, as he founded the Mentoring Project (formerly the Belmont Foundation), a non-profit that partners with local churches to mentor fatherless young men. Don's next book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, was released in late 2009. Later that year, Miller began production of All Things Converge http://www.allthingsconverge.com/ —a series of DVDs for small groups that feature Miller interviewing prominent Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
writers and theologians. The first three DVDs in the series were released in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Miller also serves as the Founding Director of The Burnside Writers Collective, a group of spiritual writers who contribute to an online magazine.
Miller is recognized for his feelings that Christian faith should be a relationship, rather than a formula. He writes in Searching for God Knows What that too many Christians act like the Bible is a sort of math textbook, rather than a long story of God's involvement with people through friendships with Biblical figures like Adam, Abraham, and Moses. This emphasis on the Bible as a narrative
Narrative theology
Postliberal theology began as a late 20th-century development in Christian Theology. It proposes that the Church's use of the Bible should focus on a narrative presentation of the faith as regulative for the development of a coherent systematic theology...
has made his writings popular with many involved in the emerging church
Emerging Church
The emerging church is a Christian movement of the late 20th and early 21st century that crosses a number of theological boundaries: participants can be described as evangelical, Protestant, Catholic, post-evangelical, anabaptist, adventist, liberal, post-liberal, reformed, charismatic,...
conversation. Miller does not consider himself a follower of the movement; he still recognizes the need of mankind to recognize its depravity so that it might better teach the concept of love.
On March 2, 2007, during an interview on the Relevant Magazine
Relevant Magazine
RELEVANT Magazine is a bimonthly magazine providing content on “God, life, and progressive culture”. It is published by RELEVANT Media Group and a circulation of 56,667. Its companion web presence, RELEVANTmagazine.com, launched in 2002 with the email newsletter, 850 Words of RELEVANT...
podcast, he revealed that he has been working on a screenplay with Steve Taylor
Steve Taylor
Roland Stephen Taylor , is an American Christian singer, songwriter, record producer and film director.-Early life:Taylor, the eldest of three children, was born in Brawley, California. Taylor's father, Roland Taylor, was a Baptist minister. When Taylor was six years old, the family relocated to...
.
On Don Miller's website http://www.donmilleris.com/ he further discusses the screen play noted above.
Miller delivered the first night's closing prayer at the 2008 Democratic National Convention
2008 Democratic National Convention
The United States 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform and officially nominated its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. The convention was held in Denver,...
on August 25, 2008.
Miller serves on President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's Task Force on Fatherhood and Healthy Families.
Published works
- Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance: Finding God on the Open Road, 2000 (Harvest House Publishers) Note: republished as Through Painted Deserts
- Blue Like JazzBlue Like JazzBlue Like Jazz is the second book by Donald Miller. This semi-autobiographical work, subtitled "Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality," is a collection of essays and personal reflections chronicling the author's growing understanding of the nature of God and Jesus, and the need and...
: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, 2003 (Nelson Books) - Searching For God Knows WhatSearching For God Knows WhatSearching for God Knows What is the third book by Donald Miller, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc., in 2004. This work continues and expands many of the "Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality" that appeared in his second book, Blue Like Jazz...
, 2004 (Nelson Books) - Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road, 2005 (Nelson Books)
- To Own a Dragon: Reflections On Growing Up Without a Father, 2006 (NavPress) Note: expanded and republished as "Father Fiction"
- A Million Miles in a Thousand YearsA Million Miles in a Thousand YearsA Million Miles in a Thousand Years, subtitled “What I Learned While Editing My Life”, is the sixth book by Donald Miller. The book centers on the realizations that Miller came to while editing his successful memoir, Blue Like Jazz, into a screenplay for a movie, directed by Steve Taylor...
, Fall 2009 (Nelson Books) - "Father Fiction: Chapters for a Fatherless Generation"
External links
- Official web site
- Burnside Writer's Collective
- Belmont Foundation
- Donald Miller fan page on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- 2000 interview with Donald Miller from the Billy Graham teen website passageway.org (accessible via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
- The Meadow at Black Butte Ranch, a poem by Donald Miller, reprinted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (from Miller's roadsearching.com webzine) on the Billy Graham teen website passageway.org (accessible via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
- Ride:Well Bike Tour Website for the cross-country bicycle trip Don Miller took in June and July 2008. Eighteen people cycled cross country to raise money and awareness for the non-profit, Blood:Water Mission.