Background research was conducted into this story to determine its reliability and it appears that Duane Miller’s healing is legitimate. It has become a widely cited “miracle” (1).
In 1990, Miller was serving as the senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas when he contracted a flu virus (2). According to Miller: “In January, I contracted a flu virus that ultimately penetrated the mylan sheath of my vocal folds and damaged the nerve tissue beyond repair” (3). The damage of the virus on his vocal folds permanently damaged nerve tissue. Miller sought medical help because a pastor’s voice is essential to his or her occupation. Over the following three years, Miller,
“was seen by over 63 specialists and their teams (totaling over 200 doctors) as they tried to diagnose and treat me. I had been left with a voice that sounded like the worst case of laryngitis you have ever heard, and could only make that if I screamed at the top of my lungs.”
Unable to speak clearly, Miller resigned from his post in 1991 saying that “Everything I had ever done to earn a living had been connected to my ability to speak and suddenly my “tool kit” was gone.” He moved to Houston with his wife. Miller’s wife was the primary breadwinner for the family while Miller became a private investigator. This left him feeling unfulfilled: “A dear friend gave me a job as a private investigator working in an area where my voice was unimportant, but I ached to do the ministry to which I had been called.”
Miller and his wife began attending Houston’s First Baptist Church and one year later he was asked to teach an adult Sunday school class (4). He initially declined because he feared that no one would understand him but after some persistence he agreed,
“In April 1992, the teacher of the Catacombs [a Sunday School class that had first met in the basement of the church hence the name] had to take some time away for personal reasons. Our directors (a husband and wife) asked if I would fill in while a permanent replacement was sought. I protested that I was too hard to understand which was met with “we’ll listen REALLY carefully.” I have come to understand that they asked, not because I was such a profound teacher, but because they loved me and knew how desperately I needed to teach.”
But the despair and pain Miller felt days prior overwhelmed him and even to the point of suicide,
“Two days previous, I had sat for hours in my living room with a shotgun in my mouth and I had come to the end of myself.” He came through this and on January 17, 1993, was scheduled to teach through Psalm 103, which was the curriculum assigned from the “Bible Book Series.” But Miller says he experienced intense feelings of conflict and doubt, “I stood to teach the class of 150 or more on that morning. I had never been more emotionally drained than I was that morning. I had never had less faith than I did that morning.”
The notion that through Jesus Christ’s death on a Roman cross God had offered the opportunity for attaining salvation appealed to him, “I had no problem with that discussion,” he explains. But when it came to the part of the sermon in which healing was the message Miller remembers struggling,
“But, when I began to talk about healing, my words were, “I still believe God heals,” while my thoughts were, “but why not me?” I moved through that discussion as honestly as I could and began my third thought: He redeems my life from the pit.”
That is when Miller claims the healing occurred,
“I began my discourse, “I have had, and you have had, in times past, pit experiences.” On the word, “pit,” the pressure that had been in my throat for three years was gone as if someone had removed their hand from choking me.”
Because the church records sermons for those not in attendance, the relevant part of the sermon is accessible on YouTube (see 01:49 in the clip). Miller continues,
“I continued, startled, “We’ve all had times when our life seemed to be in a pit, in a grave, and we didn’t have an answer for the pit we find ourselves in.” While I was speaking, I was swallowing choke-free, and I’ll never forget my thought, is that what I think it is?”
Miller visited doctors over the following days, all of whom confirmed that his voice had been fully restored,
“Doctors confirmed that it was what I thought it was when I saw them the following days. My voice has been totally restored, and to quote my lead physician, “I can’t find any evidence that you ever had a voice problem”… the event was caught on tape in the most casual way. The event changed my life and has affected literally millions of people worldwide.”
Miller’s story has reached many through his book and online ministry called Nuvoice where he speaks about his healing experience.
“From that day to this I celebrate the restoration of my vocal ability. I wrote of the experience the following week and described it in terms that likened it to Lazarus coming from the grave. My gratitude and my emotions have not waned in 20 years… God has used me as an object lesson of His grace and power. I have appeared on the Oprah show and have shared my story with one little lady in a nursing home who could not speak, but wept as I related the timeless story of His Goodness. I still go wherever the opportunity is given to share the story and I will do so until I am physically unable to do so.
What message does Miller wish for his listeners to take away?
Listen and believe this…if God could do that for me, He can solve whatever problem you have in your life. He loves you every bit as much as He loves me.
References.
1. Stroble, L. 2018. Would You Believe a Miracle Caught on Tape? Available; Sala, H. 2013. What You Need to Know About Healing: A Physical and Spiritual Guide. p. 18; Thomas, G. 2011. Simply Sacred: Daily Readings. p. 54. Deere, J. 1996. Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering how God Speaks and Heals Today. p. 145; Peterson, W. & Petersen, R. 2009. 100 Amazing Answers to Prayer. p. 255; Anderson, J. 1998. The Power of Miracles: Stories of God in the Everyday. p. 28.
2. Miller, D. 2013. “The Miracle Moment” 20 Years Later. Available.
3. Bruce. 2018. Miracles Happen: Here’s One. Available.
4. YouTube. 2016. MUST-SEE. Available.
Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy 
I have been aware of quite a few undeniably miraculous healings over the years, often at the hands of shy, timid people who didn’t really expect GOD to work through them. On the other hand, I have also known of godly men and women who have lost their lives to diseases such as cancer – despite unwavering prayers with faithful expectation of healing. Nabeel Qureshi, who posted regular ‘vlog’ updates during his battle with cancer, spoke of praying with presumptive expectation of healing, and yet he died without being healed.
This may seem to present a traumatic dilemma, but I think a key question is this:
Is physical death the worst thing that can happen to someone? Many people will accept or reject GOD’S offer of Grace through Jesus Christ based on the outcome of their request for a miracle. But I am convinced that GOD has provided all the proof that we require to make an informed decision concerning our eternal destiny.
I read about Nabeel’s cancer diagnosis months ago, and saw on facebook that many were praying (including a call to corporate prayer) for Nabeel after his diagnosis. I sent him my thoughts and prayers as well (though I am agnostic). In spite of so much prayer and three alleged encounters with “prophets,” he died.
I also watched Nabeel’s YouTube “Vlog 010 – Do Not Despise Prophetic Utterances” in which he cited 1 Thessalonians 5:20, “Do not despise prophet utterances.”
In that vlog Nabeel mentioned that he went to a church in Houston for prayer and his friend Justin had Nabeel stand up and receive prayer, including a laying on of hands. Nabeel left early, because he had undergone an exhausting session of chemo that day, but his friend Justin later told Nabeel that after the service Justin had received a text from one woman, and presumably had a second different women come up to him in person, both saying that they “have words to share from the Lord” concerning Nabeel. The gist of both of their prophetic utterances were, “We saw in a vision that Nabeel was attacked by the enemy through his spine. We believe that Satan found entrance to his stomach through his spine, and we suggest going to see a chiropractor and praying against anything which might have entered in that way.” Since it was allegedly two different women with the same message from the Lord (and not the same woman texting and then walking up to Justin) Nabeel tried seeing a chiropractor.
On the way to see the chiropractor, a friend of Nabeel’s who was driving, had to stop at a church, (Houston’s First Baptist, to which Nabeel had been going to quite frequently) where a third woman noticed Nabeel and asked if he was the one who had preached there a few weeks ago (a sermon in which his cancer diagnosis had been mentioned presumably by Nabeel or others). Nabeel says this third woman said she had received a vision from God back when Nabeel had been preaching, but she didn’t know how to get in touch with Nabeel to tell him about it that day, so she told the Lord, “If you want me to share this vision with Nabeel please bring him across my path,” and she added, “Here you are today.” She then told Nabeel that she had a vision of Nabeel lying on his back and a man coming up to Nabeel, a man who had himself been healed, and laying on top of Nabeel, imparting healing to Nabeel.” (Compare stories in 1 Kings 17:17-24, 2 Kings 4:18-37 where two Hebrew prophets each “stretched themselves out” upon a person, eye to eye, hand to hand, to raise them from the dead. Perhaps this woman had read her Old Testament?)
The chiropractor x-rayed Nabeel’s spine and told him that his spine was starkly misaligned in two places, one of them being the spot where nerves reach the stomach and esophagus, so the Chiropractor aligned Nabeel’s spine, and Nabeel was feeling great, and the second time Nabeel went back to the Chiropractor the Chiropractor told Nabeel that he spoke with another Chiropractor who guessed based on the stomach and esophageal cancer diagnosis that Nabeel was misaligned in the two places shown in Nabeel’s x-rays, because that second chiropractor had treated patients with stomach cancer who had the same misalignments. Nabeel concluded that his encounters with the three women seem to have been verified as authentic prophecies.
Nabeel added that he believes God is a healer, and that “I take His word seriously” that “He took on our infirmities, bore our diseases (Isa. 53 and Matthew 8);” and, “Whatever we pray for, if we believe we have received it, it will be given to us (Mark 11);” Nabeel added, “All this to say, I believe I will be healed, I believe the Lord is in the process of healing me.”
Nabeel’s video from which I am quoting above was Published on Dec 1, 2016 on youtube.
Personally, I would like to know more about the first two women (it also might just be one woman if her text name differed from her real name, or if one woman overheard another and was sharing that message, making it appear like two separate women were involved), and I would like to know if the woman/women were prone to speaking about Satan entering via the spine of other people, or if they had perhaps picked such talk up from some televangelists they were watching, or perhaps they were fans of chiropractic or back massage themselves? I would also like to know how many people with misalignments in those two areas don’t die of cancer. And also how many people with esophageal and stomach cancer don’t have misalignments in those particular areas. Actually, those two misalignments, such as the atlas vertebrae, are very common due to the weight of the head and the many ways it can turn compared with other vertebrae. While the T5 thoracic vertebrae is also at a critical point in the spine, right in the middle of the curve between the shoulders which receives a lot of pressure being where it is. So it is not unusual at all for those two vertebrae to be out of joint. As for the healing Nabeel believed was in the very process of taking place due to standing on biblical promises, I don’t deny people their beliefs (though I find such beliefs debatable), nor take pleasure in their deaths. We all suffer. Christians, Muslims, agnostics and atheists all get cancer. I liked Nabeel, a very loving person. He reminded me of myself when I was on fire for the Lord as a teen and early adulthood in college. The fires eventually cooled down and I began asking more questions and admitting I had fewer definitive answers.
Yet another female Christian who claims to have received visions from God concerning Nabeel, commented:
Kirsty Nelson “Noooooooo!!!!!!!! I felt such JOY for him earlier in the Spirit. I saw white garments coming down to clothe him from heaven… I was convinced the prophetic word he got from the Lord that he would see his children’s children was true.”
P.S., I have studied many conversion and deconversion stories trying to make sense of what to believe. See my piece that questions the uniqueness of the Christian experience and that cites many different conversion stories of people converting in different directions. https://infidels.org/library/modern/ed_babinski/experience.html
And see the book, Leaving the Fold:Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists.
And this post on how Christians and ministers suffer depression and sometimes even commit suicide like everyone else. https://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2015/08/christians-or-non-christians-who-suffer.html
And how Christians receive mixed messages from their prayers or from nature or God just like everyone else. https://edwardtbabinski.us/scrivenings/2015/divine-providence-or-mixed-messages.html
And how Christians don’t always conquer their addictions just like everyone else. https://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-recovering-from-alcoholism-drug.html
And how Christians suffer doubts, questions, disagreements just like everyone else. https://edwardtbabinski.us/scrivenings/2009/christian-publishers-admit.html
Tertullian’s Paradox; Why Protestants and Catholics, Calvinists and Armenians, will never see eye to eye
https://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2008/05/tertullians-paradox-insufficiency-of.html
Not to mention this list with extensive links to things Christians have been against. https://edward-t-babinski.blogspot.com/2012/03/list-of-things-christians-have-been.html
And the added question of whether Christianity invented charity and how charitable Christians are compared with others. https://edwardtbabinski.us/scrivenings/2012/charity-and-nonreligious.html
It is one I’ve thought of very often. Why does God heal some faithful and not others? However, looking at it evidentially, the evidence supports miracle healing, as I have discovered. The reasons as to why God does not heal every faithful Christian or some faithful Christians is a separate issue. It is specifically one full of emotional charge and significance, and an important one as a result.
Better edited response, please use this one
A miracle? I suspect his throat was healing over those two years, but he was neurologically used to speaking as he had to speak when it remained injured and was still healing. That kept his voice gravely, the constant expectation and usage of having to force nis voice out. Like riding a damaged bike for years and having to keep one’s knees out at an awkward angle and one’s body tilted at an awkward angle, and having to press extra hard in the pedals due to a sticky wheel chain assembly.
But after his throat reached a certain point of healing after two years, it took the right moment for his voice to relax and his brain to rediscover the old less tense way of speaking. Kind of like getting a bike that was repaired and riding it around in the same awkward way until one suddenly loosens up and recalls how one used to sit before the bike was damaged, more upright and comfortably with your knees straight, and not having to press extra hard on the pedals, and suddenly you are really riding a bike again in full force.
Again, like riding a bike, one often starts out wobbly and can’t stay up on two wheels. But once you get the feel, just once, of being on two wheels and in control then one has suddenly gone from falling over after every effort to actually being in control.
Peripheral nerves can and do heal over time if you keep using them as he did for those two years. It is only the vertebral nerves that get permanently damaged.
Duane Miller
Quite the coincidence don’t you think, Edward?
Miller having lived with a condition for three whole years, visiting countless doctors who couldn’t heal him, never healing and only to heal on a stage in a church during a sermon that included teaching on healing that he had tried long and hard to get out of but, for some reason, he ended up teaching because he was approached.
I’m incredulous that it is anything but a healing because God wanted to heal him there and then.
[…] of a church healing service after being prayed for by the pastor, as was captured on video. Pastor Duane Miller contacted a flu virus that ultimately penetrated the mylan sheath of his vocal folds and damaged […]
[…] återställande av stämbanden 1993. Duane var pastor i First Baptist Church i Brenham, Texas, och fick en allvarlig virusinfektion 1990. Viruset skadade stämbanden och nerverna där till den grad att han aldrig skulle kunna tala […]
[…] återställande av stämbanden 1993. Duane var pastor i First Baptist Church i Brenham, Texas, och fick en allvarlig virusinfektion 1990. Viruset skadade stämbanden och nerverna där till den grad att han aldrig skulle kunna tala […]