Life Story featured in, I am Second (2012)
Chairman of Interstate Batteries since 1978
GUEST BIO
Norm Miller: I Am Second
By
The 700 Club
CBN.com -MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING
Norm started working at Interstate Batteries as a battery salesman fifty years ago, selling batteries out of the company trucks. Two and a half years later, Norm started selling and setting up Interstate distributorships. Days were long and soon he started drinking. Eventually Norm needed alcohol to function. After two DWIs, Norm was drinking heavily one night and was driving home. He got stopped, but luckily the officer didn’t check his record for a previous conviction. “He didn’t even give me a ticket!” says Norm. When he woke up the next morning, Norm realized the severity of his drinking. He cried out, “God help me! I can’t handle it!” A few days later, a friend told Norm to read the Bible and the more he read, the more he realized the Bible was true. “My life was in shambles,” says Norm. “I was unfulfilled and unhappy….I had all the money and success I ever wanted, but I was miserable and anxious.”
One Sunday, Norm was in Sunday school class which was being taught by a woman smoking a cigarette. The lesson Norm got that day was that God loved him. “How could God love me?” says Norm. “I lived totally for myself. I was selfish and broken.” Soon after, Norm was at a friend’s Bible study and the man helped Norm make his decision.
Norm previously measured his success in dollars. Once he made a decision for Christ, Norm began to change. He started to measure how much he was experiencing God’s love and how he was showing that love to others. “God really brought purpose to my life,” he says. “Life is more than money. Love is what matters.”
In 1978, Norm took over as chairman of Interstate Batteries. While everyone is treated equally, Nrom says he is not shy about his faith. “I strive to be both sensitive and bold in sharing the love and message of Jesus in my life and in my business. I want to be known not just as the guy who sold batteries but also as a man who shared God’s love.”
GOD IS FIRST, I AM SECOND
Several years ago, when Norm turned 70, he realized that he wasn’t sure how much longer he would live. He recalled the message in the Bible that we are all to be witnesses all over the earth. Norm felt he needed to share the love of Jesus to the people in the Dallas area. He asked himself, “Does Christ need to be lifted up?” And he answered the question: “Well then do it.” Norm thought about how he would lift Christ up to others. He asked himself, “What would I do to sell more batteries? I would do a media campaign. Maybe that’s what I need to do for Christ.”
Norm had been involved with E3 Partners for over 20 years. The ministry had typically been outside the United States and had been praying for something to open up domestically. After the E3 partners and Norm met, they decided on the “I Am Second” campaign. (God is first, I am second.) In Spring 2008, they started a media campaign in Dallas and asked 20 churches to help with those who made commitments to Christ. Today they are in over 212 countries with over 7 million hits on their website. Most visitors stay over 7 minutes.
The website features stories of personal struggle, transformation and hope from celebrities and everyday people. Some testimonies include abuse, addictions, pride, eating disorders, broken families and the search for meaning in life. In addition, there are I Am Second films on the website. The book of the same name includes stories from celebrities like Michelle Aguilar, Michael W. Smith, Brian “Head” Welch, Bethany Hamilton, among others. For more information, please visit www.iamsecond.com
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