Scott Miller Blog :: Good Stuff

Maybe she has gas?

Megan, the girls, and I had dinner Monday night with Roger and Sharon Coleman and their kids. The Coleman's have been great comrades in ministry over the past many years (they led Journey Church in Granger), and are now moving to Arkansas to pastor there (something about Granger not being redneck enough I guess).

We had a craving for Cracker Barrel, so we met there. Insert our darling 4 ½ month old baby girl Hayden. Sleeping when we arrived, she awoke about 5 minutes later. She then decided that she had had enough of Cracker Barrel and commenced a screaming fit. Megan got up and walked around with her for a while, didn't help. I got up and walked around with her for a little while, to no avail…but…I did get some great advice.

Have you ever been to Cracker Barrel on a week night? It was full of Grandma and Grandpa's, foaming at the mouth to give advice. As I walked through the merchandise area, with my screaming child, it seemed like every one of these dear people had a piece of advice for me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate those who have been there and done that…and I would say that the older folks sharing with the younger folks is even a Biblical concept…but I had to laugh as I was mobbed by these well wishers…here's what they said:

• Maybe she's hungry…no maam, she isn't supposed to eat for another hour.
• She must have gas…could be…could be…isn't it funny how we talk about such things when it involves a baby, but we would never talk about such when they are grown? When was the last time you walked up to someone in the lobby of the church and asked, "you don't look well…do you have gas?"
• When my grandbaby was 6 months old they found out that his intestines were all twisted and they had to go in through the bellybutton and redo everything and then they had to redo his bellybutton so that he would have one but it was b/c of the intestines being twisted that they had to go in in the first place…(run-on sentence on purpose…that's exactly what it sounded like)…oh really…that's horrible…poor guy…well, I think Hayden's intestines are ok…
• You need to take her to the doctor…have you been to the doctor?...yes maam…we actually had a doctor involved in the birth, as well as regular check-ups since…
• Here, let me hold her…(at which point I give the well meaning grandma a chance)…what you need to do is to hold her close to your chest and neck like this, see?...yes maam, that's the way she actually doesn't like to be held (as Hayden screams all the more and is now twice as loud as she was before I gave her to the dear lady)…

Ahhhhh…Cracker Barrel on a weeknight…

Pass It Forward - CVMC

Starting tonight, Crystal Valley Missionary Church will be hosting their Pass It Forward event (WNDU covered it here). I just stopped by there to check it out…amazing!

Their sanctuary is packed full of toys and stuff…the back part of their building (same size as their sanctuary) is packed full of clothes…all of it donated, and all of it given away free!

Here are the hours…if you know anyone in need, let them know about it!

Wednesday – 5-9pm

Thursday – 2-9pm

Friday 2-9pm

Saturday 9am-1pm

2000 pies in 2 days

A piece of useless information for you folks…I have it from a reliable source that the Essenhaus sold around 2000 pies last Tuesday and Wednesday (before Thanksgiving)…

How many calories do you think that is?

Why…Missions?

The answer "b/c God says to" got to be a bit of a joke as we were discussing some of these 'why' questions at our LT Retreat...but…it is the correct answer for every one of these! Including missions!

Acts 1:8 gives the clearest call for every and any church in the area of outreach – Reach your Jerusalem (your town, your city), Reach your Judea and Samaria (the regions surrounding you), and Reach the ends of the earth (self explanatory). What this means is that it's just as important for us to reach Middlebury/Elkhart as it is for us to reach Paris, Czech Republic, Madagascar or East St. Louis. It's an equal call!

We accomplish this through local church ministry in our Jerusalem, and supporting (with prayer and finances) qualified missionaries in all the other areas of this call (Judea, Samaria, end of the earth). Right now, we support a slew of missionaries and missions agencies on a regular monthly basis. Within these are three missionaries that we call our strategic partners. These are missionaries that for whatever reason, we feel a greater connection to. We support these missionaries more financially, as well as stay more relationally connected to them throughout the year. These strategic partners are listed below with links to get more information.

• Bill and Linda Howell, Next Level International…Sign up for the Howell's Email Update
• Jay Covert, Urban Outreach East St. Louis (and growing)…
• Robby and Tracy Bradford, Missionaries to Paris…Sign up for the Bradford's Email Update

Naming Your Year in Reverse

Great post from Jeff Leake on naming your year in reverse…worth the 2 minutes to read, and whatever time you might give to thinking on it!

The smells and sounds of Thanksgiving and Christmas

I love this time of the year…absolutely love it.

Today, I've been working out of my basement (which by the way is immaculate in preparation for my sister Jacquie and her family who are coming into town…why is it the only time we really clean something up like this is for everyone else to enjoy and not ourselves?...I'm sure none of you are dealing with this…hah!). The smells and sounds are wafting down the stairs (along with our big hairy dog…who brings not so delightful smells).

Down the stairs they come…the delightful smells of pumpkin pie (which I don't even really enjoy much) and sounds of Bing Crosby singing Christmas carols (I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas music…you can have your Christmas Shoes and your Grown Up Christmas Wish…give me Bing, Dean Martin, and Burl Ives!).

Ahhhhh…Christmas…a time for family…relaxation…and the celebration of God's greatest gift – Jesus. I love it…

Why…Kids and Youth/Student Ministry?

Wow…I could tell you where we've been…or I could tell you where we're going!

I really don't like the idea of Scott and Megan Miller, dropping their kids off at Pathopolis (Pathway Kids Ministry) on Sunday mornings, or 365 (227 at EC), so that their kids can be discipled. Discipleship starts in Scott and Megan Miller's home! (isn't it strange when people talk about themselves in the 3^rd person)

Pathway gets your kids for a few hours a week…you get your kids throughout the week! So, our overall goal is to come along side mom and dad and help you disciple your kids! This will be displayed in many ways over the next year in both of these ministries…but as to the big picture…

• To give focused ministry to the age and spiritual level of your kids. The whole vision of mtng people where they are at, and helping them grow!
• To further teach your kids the main stories and doctrines of the Bible.
• To give a vision to your kids that:
  • God has a place for you!
  • God has big things to do in you and through you!
  • The local church is mine, and I fit in there!
• To give our teenagers a sense of identity in their youth culture, yet an overriding sense of I'm part of something bigger through this local church. Even helping them start to discern how their passions and gifts fit into the local church!

I could go on about this, but these are the major answers to our why question!

Good stuff!

Saturday Night Audible

I called an audible Saturday night…I worked all week on a message for the Middlebury campus on Faithfulness for the 22nd (will be at Elkhart campus on 29th). Early in the week, I felt drawn to the story of Jonah…but given that Jonah was rebellious in the story, and not faithful, I couldn't figure out how to make the two things fit together! So, I threw Jonah overboard (hehe) and went back to other thoughts.

Fast forward to Saturday night…usually, by Saturday (as with this Saturday), I have a pretty finished product of a message. I work on it off and on throughout the day to simply polish it, maybe add a few illustrations, etc. At about 8pm Saturday night, I started in for my final 'rehearsal' if you will…by 8:15pm, I had this odd feeling in my gut that this wasn't the message I was to preach. Panic set in…then faith. The only thing I could grasp onto was Jonah!

I sat down at my laptop, and from 8:15pm to about 10:15pm, I typed as fast as the Holy Spirit was giving it to me. I'm glad I got past my spirit of block-headedness to listen to the Holy Spirit as the message seemed to really resonate with many who were there.

2 thoughts:

1. I am so glad it's not all on me to come up with a Sunday message. The Holy Spirit is active in the process…and should be at the beginning, middle and end of the process!
2. I am not bragging in any way about this experience via this blog post. I think I could have had this message earlier in the week if I would have simply taken the time to really press in further on what I was sensing about Jonah. I was just too distracted by other things…lesson learned…

One thing worse than being a Chicago Bears fan…

The one thing worse than being a Bears fan on Monday morning, November 23rd is…being a Cleveland Browns fan (who got beat by the Lions yesterday).

One thing worse than being a Notre Dame fan…

I've decided that there is only one thing worse than being a Notre Dame fan on November 21, 2009…that would be being a Michigan fan…

Why…Weekend Services?

The Biblical evidence of believers mtng weekly is evident, so that is a bit of a no brainer. Beyond that, why do we do what we do on Sunday's? Let me see if I can bring you in on that…

There are several ways to approach Weekend services. Some churches build their Weekend services toward a focus on those yet to follow Jesus. Others build their Weekend services around the already committed (equipping the committed). Some try to have a mix of both! Where does Pathway fall?

We fall in more of the category of equipping the committed…yet being seeker intelligible. Meaning, our Weekend services are geared to help 'equip the saints' to live the Real Life (Jesus like, Holy Spirit filled/led, loving the Father type Real Life) throughout the week! Yet, we are committed to helping the person who is yet to follow Jesus to understand what's happening in the midst of our service, and how they can experience Jesus as we do. This is accomplished through worship that's exhibited in the following ways:

1. Preaching. Preaching that leads to your individual and corporate discipleship. Most of our preaching is geared toward individual discipleship (book of James, Legacy, Parenthood, Give me your eyes, etc.). The rest of the time, we preach for corporate discipleship (R3, Bigger, etc.). This isn't just a preaching point where the only goal is to disciple the individual…there is an overall vision God has for this house (our church), and preaching is one method to steer/display that vision!
2. Singing. Our goal with our singing time is to lead us into an awareness of God's nearness and presence. It has very little to do with getting through a list of songs…and everything to do with us getting our eyes off of ourselves and onto Him!
3. Prayer. There is something powerful that happens when we corporately gather together in prayer. Though there will be expressions of prayer that are geared more toward the individual need (laying on of hands, etc.), we will also join together in faith for the corporate needs of the house.
4. Response time. Most every Sunday, time is given to respond to the Word. Before we jump in the car and head to Hacienda (or Applebee's, Rulli's, etc.), we need to take time to process what we've just heard. We feel the best way to do this is through some sort of prayerful response time.
5. Bringing Tithes and Offerings. This is as much a part of our worship as any other portion of a Weekend service. The Bible says to bring our tithes and offerings to the storehouse and therefore we do it weekly!

Any thoughts?

Encouragement

Yesterday, I group of us spent 4 hours discussing and re-discussing how we are doing in the area of organic and mechanical discipleship. I left that mtng being completely encouraged by the future of our Life Group ministry as it pertains to discipleship. With a few enhancements, our LG ministry is going to continue and further make it happen!

I just got back from lunch with one of our LG leaders at Rulli's. I need to do that more often (lunch with a LG leader that is, not so much the Rulli's buffet…my waistline couldn't stand that)! Exciting to hear how God is moving in their LG.

Are you plugged in to a Pathway LG? What are you waiting for?