Scott Miller Blog :: Good Stuff

Baby Hayden

Born 7-15-09 at 1:32am, 6lbs ¾ ounces, 18.5 inches, Hayden Anne Miller, with more hair than her daddy…Megan and Hayden are both doing well…

Baby Here

She's here...will share more later, but at 1:32am the world added another Miller...will post more later...mom and baby are doing great...

Baby on it's way

It's Midnight...officially July 15 and we are having a baby in about an hour and a half! Baby is coming early! Yahoo!

Elkhart Campus Telephone Number

Jason Brooks, Elkhart Campus Pastor, formerly known as only a Pathway Connections Pastor, just stuck his head in my office and declared the new phone number for our Elkhart Campus (which will actually just ring into our Middlebury Campus at this time).  You'll never guess what the number is...go ahead...guess...you'll never guess...really...293-8992!  Nope, really, 293-8992.  If you've never called the church before, you probably see no significance.  But, if you happen to know the church number, 825-8992, you'd completely get it. 

Pathway - One church, many campuses...and...same last four digits of our phone numbers...how about that...I was more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs about that one...

Video Message?

I spent most all of Monday looking at possible facilities for our Elkhart Campus. One of the key features we have to look at concerning our Elkhart Campus facility (facility makes it sound like a bathroom or something...how about we call it...oh, I don't know...a building), or might I say building, is how well can the whole audience see the screen.  If the Word is going to be brought via video every week, then we better be able to see it! 

Speaking of video, I thought we got a great feel for how video of a speaker can work in a church setting this past Sunday.  Did you notice how you and the rest of the audience reacted to the clip I played of Matt Chandler preaching?  The second service actually started to applaud at one point in response to one of the funny things Matt said. 

I know it's different...I know most of us have never experienced it, at least on a regular basis, but I think we are going to find that a video message format is doable and effective.  Might not be for everybody...but...I think that pig is going to oink. 

People God uses Greatest

Mark Batterson has a great post on the people God seems to use the greatest – people who aren't afraid to look foolish (while they are climbing a tree to see Jesus, stepping out of a boat on water, follow stars to find the baby Jesus, or chase after a lion).

Worth a minute to shoot over to his blog to read it…

Serving in Elkhart

I just took a few moments to look through the Sunday edition of the Elkhart Truth. I noticed an article about a block party Granger Community Church (Elkhart Campus) did for the Washington Gardens low-income housing development this past Saturday. Jason and I have both spent time with their campus pastor, Jeff Bell. They have a heart to serve…I love it.

At last night's Pathway Elkhart campus mtng, we talked about an upcoming garage sale we'll be helping out with at Hawthorne Elementary (raising money for the school and providing cheap clothing and supplies for the students and families). I love it…serving for Jesus…serving like Jesus…

Matthew 20:28 ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Thanks church…

I wanted to say thanks to you church for catching this whole serve 2 vision thing. Loads of you have signed on to serve both services in our guest services area, Kid's Church area, Nursery area, Worship team, and A/V Team. It blows me away your heart to serve the house. I'm proud of you church (a good pride)…

Psalms 92:12-15

12    The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,

    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

13 Planted in the house of the LORD,

they will flourish in the courts of our God.

Praying Scripture – Philippians 4:6

I'm curious, have you continued to pray the Come Near Scriptures? If so, what has your experience been? Have you seen God do anything as you've prayed?

Today, I finished reading through Philippians, and 4:6 hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm praying through this today…

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heats and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Praying Scripture ignites your faith…give it a try!

Surge Protectors

 

A few weeks ago, our church building was zapped by lightning, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage (most covered by insurance) to our AV equipment, elevator, air conditioning units, etc. 

Now we've (I should say the volunteer help of Pathway's finest electricians) figured out that we can spend a couple hundred dollars on each electrical box to install surge protectors.  It's an absolute no brainer!  Of course we are going to do that. 

We install surge protectors that will take the hit of any future lightning strikes, and save the church staff/volunteers headaches and moola in the future...I love it. 

Instead of reacting to each lightning strike, and getting a sick feeling in my gut every time I see lightning anywhere near Middlebury (as it seems our building has some sort of "Kick me" sign on our backs when it comes to lightning), we can rest in the fact that we've taken care of things on the front side of the storm, so we will be protected. 

We can't keep the storm from happening...in fact, a good storm every once and a while is a good thing!  But we can be prepared as possible on the front side so that when the storm comes, it doesn't knock us on our hind ends.

Huh...I think you might get the correlation I'm getting at here. 

What are you doing to get Bigger, and play hurt?  Pick up the whole Bigger series (from Jan '09) at the Welcome Center this Sunday and let it stretch you again!

America the Beautiful

I set off my fireworks for the kids on Friday night...had a good time...I don't think it was until tonight that I really took the time to thank God for my country.  I realize we aren't perfect, but we've got a great thing going.  I love my country...I love Jesus Christ more...but I love my country and am proud to be an american citizen, and hope you are too (insert Lee Greenwood).  

Churches commitment to Family

What does a church that loves and is committed to families look like?

They have a youth pastor, a children's pastor, and a million dollar youth/kids facility?

Is that really how you gauge the level of importance family is in a church?

Or is there a bigger picture? Is there a way to minister to families that can be more fruitful than the above, even if using some of that structure? Ahhhh…welcome to my brain for the past few months…pray with me, the staff, and the LT…will you?

(I actually journaled thoughts on this back in January '09)

Giving Time

Was thinking about asking our church to go this route in our giving...I've been working on my diving summersaults...

Thanks to http://www.gregatkinson.com/ for the video...

Date night with your spouse?

Things learned while one’s wife is on bed-rest…

1. Pink and Green Kleenex boxes actually have pink and green colored Kleenexes in them…strange blowing one's nose into a green Kleenex…(Megan always purchases the grey or brown box as they are white inside)…
2. One should always read the box before purchasing an item…such as a 24 pack of Swiffer Dusters at Sam's Club which was thought to be a 4 pack…I thought it was rather expensive…
3. One's house does not get magically vacuumed everyday during dog hair shedding season…someone has to do that (meaning the one not on bed-rest)…
4. Working all day outside of the house, then working all night at the house, can wear one out…and I didn't even do everything (Megan still did the laundry and such as it is all upstairs) and the girls helped pitch in…
5. There really is no Molasses at the South Goshen Walmart…
6. We have a church full of people that want to show their love tangibly to their pastor…as in FOOD! We had chicken, spaghetti, pasta stuff, casserole's, pizza, Chinese takeout, Subway, beef and noodles, whoopee pies, and the list keeps going…DELICIOUS!

Toe Fish at the Essenhaus

A while back, we were looking down into the Essenhaus pond from their bridge.  We saw a huge turtle and a bunch of fish.  Then we discovered a brand new fish...the Toe Fish.  See if you can see it in the picture...

 

It doesn't happen very often, but every once and a while I get the girls...and get them good.  This was worth every slug in the arm and gut I received!

5 Components of a Healthy Marriage

Just read a great reminder on marriage from Rick Warren…if you get a couple of minutes, it's worth the read…