The Jack Miller Project and the Gary North Challenge
—By Michael A. Graham
I began The Jack Miller Project in 2016 when I started my PhD work on the life and ministry of C. John “Jack” Miller.
As soon as I began interviewing people who knew Jack—people from all over the world—I realized I was learning far more than I could ever fit into the dissertation.
The dissertation eventually reached 599 pages. I had to get special approval because it far exceeded the usual limits. There was simply too much material—stories, history, context, and gospel insight—to fit inside academic boundaries.
The final title was:
Cheer Up! A Biographical Study of the Life and Ministry of C. John “Jack” Miller: A Twentieth Century Pioneer of Grace (2019)
If anyone ever wants to read the full academic version, I can provide a PDF upon request.
Because so much wouldn’t fit into the dissertation, The Jack Miller Project became a place to share the overflow: interviews, observations, historical context, and reflections from the research itself.
The Gary North Challenge — From Dissertation to Book
When the dissertation was complete in May 2019, P&R prepared to publish the adapted book. It came out in 2020 under the title:
Cheer Up! The Life and Ministry of Jack Miller
At that point, I wasn’t sure what to do with The Jack Miller Project. The research was done. The book was on the way. I wondered if the Project had reached the end of its purpose.
Then I received an email from Gary North.
Many people know how different Gary North’s career was from Jack Miller’s. But in the early 1960s, they worked together at the Center for American Studies. Decades later, North encountered Jack’s Sonship teaching through his pastor—and described its impact on him as comparable to The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification by Walter Marshall.
He had read my dissertation and sent some encouraging feedback. Then he said something that stayed with me:
“Nobody cares about history today. You need to make Jack’s teachings available.”
As surprising as it was—coming from Gary North—that comment helped me see The Jack Miller Project in a new light. Rather than treating it only as a place for research overflow, I began writing more directly about Jack’s teaching: his gospel focus, his theology of grace, and the biblical themes that shaped his ministry. The Jack Miller Project became a space where I could continue thinking about these things in real time—not just in the past tense.
A New Chapter
The next major shift came in 2025. Jack’s wife, Rose Marie—who will turn 101 this December—entrusted the rights to Jack’s unpublished writings to Serge (formerly World Harvest Mission). A smaller portion went to her son, Paul Miller.
Because of this, I now need permission from Serge before publishing anything new directly from Jack’s unpublished archival material.
At the same time, I still have the most complete digital research library on Jack Miller anywhere. I built it over nearly a decade—thousands of pages of letters, sermons, manuscripts, and interviews. I use that library constantly, and it shapes my writing. But unless Serge gives permission, I won’t be publishing anything new from it.
For a while I wondered if that meant the end of The Jack Miller Project. The dissertation was done. The book was published. And now the rights belonged elsewhere.
What remained?
The more I thought and prayed about it, the clearer it became:
The Jack Miller Project was never only about publishing archival materials. It has always been a place where I work out the gospel personally and pastorally—through Jack’s influence, through Scripture, through ministry, and through my own life.
What the Project Is Now
Today, The Jack Miller Project consists mostly of my own essays—reflections and studies rooted in Jack’s theology of grace, faith, repentance, and renewal, but written in my own voice.
It has become where I continue to wrestle with the gospel in the world we now live in—a world Jack never saw, but one where his insights still help me navigate faith, ministry, and grace.
If Serge gives permission in the future, I may be able to publish more archival material. If not, The Jack Miller Project will continue in its present form.
For me, the reason is simple:
The gospel Jack lived and preached is the same gospel I need today. Writing helps me think clearly about it and share it with others. And I’m grateful to keep doing that.
A Word About the Temptation to Make Too Much of Jack
One of Jack’s children recently asked me a fair question: is there a danger of turning Jack into an idol?
Yes, there is. That’s always a risk when we’ve received something good. Our hearts are built to overtrust what helps us. But that doesn’t mean the work shouldn’t be done. If I stopped every time I saw mixed motives in myself, I wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.
The better way is to continue—and to continue by faith in repentance.
That’s how I’ve approached this project from the beginning—writing about Jack as a real historical person, not a larger-than-life figure. And I’ve tried to engage his teaching seriously—not just as something to admire, but as something to examine, critique, learn from, and sometimes push back on.
I’m not doing this because Jack got everything right. I’m doing it because the gospel he preached is still worth hearing, and still shaping me.
That’s the ongoing work of The Jack Miller Project—continuing in the gospel, and continuing in repentance. I hope it serves others as it’s served me.
P.S. Want to explore the archive?
I’ve created a full Master List of publications from The Jack Miller Project—organized by year, with links to every essay:
[Master List of Publications (link coming soon)]
If you’re new here, feel free to subscribe. And if you’ve been around for a while, thanks for reading.
—Michael
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