Scott Miller Blog :: Good Stuff

More Haiti Sunday

2Pics at church...kids literally jump into your arms

Lavec (sp)...500 homes to be built!

Little kid I met

New Guesthouse we are staying in ...we worked on this last year...

Haiti Saturday

Haiti Sunday

Ryan holding his pants less friend

Some of the guys playing game with kids

A couple of cute kids I met

Haiti - we are here

We made it and all is well...looking frwrd to a packed sunday tomorrow...this picture was taken as we drove through Port au Prince...(sp?)...

Haiti Trip In Chicago!

Dinner at Portillo's (http://www.portillos.com/) with the team tonight (Friday)...leaving 7:30am Saturday...

2012 Mission of Hope Trip

Friday I join a team of about 11 of us from Pathway as we head to Haiti to work with Mission of Hope!  This Sunday I get to preach at the MOH church (see a glimpse of this in the video below)!  We'll be helping finish a few homes, as well as ministering in several villages throughout the week.  Really looking forward to this!  I'll be posting updates here on this blog throughout the week (as we have internet access of course). 

Church of Hope from Mission of Hope Haiti on Vimeo.

 

Sign at Funeral Home

Saw this sign in the back room/kitchen area at a funeral home...

MOH Update

Just got this update from Pathway's strategic missions partner, Mission of Hope…read on to see what you accomplished through your missions giving at Pathway!

In an instant 300,000 lives were lost and all lives were changed by the earthquake that shook Haiti to its very core two years ago today.

Now two years later God has taken the darkness of January 12, 2010 and is shining new Hope on Haiti. In the days after the earthquake Mission of Hope promised to serve the people of Haiti and praise God in 2011 we had our biggest year to date!

In 2011 Mission of Hope:

•    Led 540 people to faith through the Church of Hope

•    Led 13 Voodoo priests to Jesus and a career change

•    Delivered over 15 million meals to school children and their families with our partner Convoy of Hope

•    Provided a quality Christian Education to over 3,000 students

•    Opened two new Mission of Hope Campuses

•    Worked with over 100 other ministries to see every man, woman and child in Haiti know Jesus

I love it!!!

Lasting effects of Fasting

I was able to slip away Monday for an overnight time of prayer and study at the Lindenwood Retreat Center in Plymouth. I go out there several times a year, usually just for the day. The thing I like about this place is that it's in the middle of nowhere, away from it all. It's actually the same place where Ancilla College is if you are aware of that school. The rooms there are spartan and plain, and the cell signal is weak, but that adds to the disconnected feeling. I like walking around the lake there…sounds strange, but I like prayer walking through the cemetery full of white grave stones…I like taking a moment to sit in their huge chapel (it's run and owned by a catholic group – the Poor Handmaiden's of Jesus Christ) and take in the grandeur of it all.

I find that when I get out of my regular routine (be it location or even eating!), it makes it easier for me to tune into God's voice as he speaks through prayer and the Bible. Author/Pastor Mark Batterson says it this way – A change in routine often results in revelation. In formulaic terms, change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. Agreed!

Fasting never gets easier for me! I love my food! BUT…I love even more the lasting effects of fasting. There is something powerful that happens after taking time to put food aside, and spend more time in prayer, thinking, Bible reading, etc. There is a new edge to my faith, a heightened awareness of God's presence as I go throughout my day. If you can push through the hunger, and the feeling that you don't want to drink one more bottled water, the results will be super-natural!

Thanks to all of you Pathway people who joined me this week in prayer and fasting! Would love to hear anything the Lord might have spoke to your heart as you prayed…

What I’ve been reading…The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson

I laughed when I read that someone called Mark Batterson 'controversial' b/c of some of the things he writes in this book about prayer. This book is packed full of faith building stories, as well as simple, yet profound teaching from the Bible. I dare you to read it and not allow it to affect your prayer life. Seriously, if you read one book of a spiritual discipline nature in 2012, make it this one.

Favorite Quotes (for some reason page numbers aren't appearing on the Kindle edition):

"As I read this story, I felt as though the Spirit of God said to my spirit, "Stop praying for it and start praising me for it." True faith doesn't just celebrate ex post facto, after the miracle has already happened; true faith celebrates before the miracle happens, as if the miracle has already happened, because you know that you know that God is going to deliver on His promise."

"God isn't offended by big dreams; He's offended by anything less."

"I do know that 100 percent of the prayers I don't pray won't get answered."

"I don't know if this will be encouraging or discouraging, but the will of God doesn't get easier. The will of God gets harder. Here's why: the harder it gets, the harder you have to pray."

What I’ve been reading…Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll

Well…whew…this book…well…it was good. Mark Driscoll is known for not pulling any punches, or being afraid to say it like it is. In this book, he does just that. I think the way in which he and his wife Grace interweave their marriage issues with Biblical truth is done well. I'm not sure I agree with everything said in this book, but it did make me think long and hard about my own marriage…which was worth the price of the book!

A couple of favorite quotes:

"Marriage is about friendship. All the talk about spending time and doing life together, making memories, being a good listener, growing old and taking care of each other, being honest, having the long view of things, repenting and forgiving can be summed up in one word – friendship." Page 23

"…three kinds of marriages – back to back, shoulder to shoulder, and face to face." Page 32

"What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?" Page 40

"Marriage is for our holiness before our happiness. Your spouse is the most sanctifying, and often most frustrating, relationship you will have." Page 159

What I’ve been reading…The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom with Elizabeth and John Sherrill

I've known I should read this book since first hearing about it as a kid, but I never did until this past fall. The story of how the Lord used Corrie and her family to save countless lives during WWII is amazing. I look forward to visiting the hiding place in Holland soon!

Favorite Quotes:

Father held the baby close, his white beard brushed its cheek, looking into the little face with eyes as blue and innocent as the baby's own. At last he looked up at the pastor. "You say we could lose our lives for this child. I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to my family." Page 115

"Perhaps only when human effort had done its best and failed, would God's power alone be free to work." Page 138

Corrie's very physically sick sister Betsie speaking while they were in a work camp – "…must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here." Page 227

"There Corrie learned that her own release had been part of a clerical error; one week later all women her age were taken to the gas chamber." Page 250

I love the New Year

I love the New Year.

I love the fresh start.

I love the opportunity to put all of the good and bad of the past year behind me b/c God has something new and fresh for me this year.

I love the feeling of the unknown, yet mixed with the feeling that God knows all. There is not one thing that 2012 will bring me (or you) that God doesn't already know about. There will be no curve balls thrown at me this year that will surprise God.

God's promise to me is that as I remain in Him (following Him to the best of my ability), my life will produce much spiritual fruit this year (John 15:5). God's promise to me is that as I remain in Him, and His words remain in me, my prayers are going to make a major difference in my world this year (John 15:7).

I'm actually looking forward to next week's fasting and prayer time. I believe God is going to use it to sharpen the spiritual 'axe' of many of us who have allowed the edge to wear down on our spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study, fellowship, sharing Christ, etc.

I believe the word God gave us back in November…this is the season of more than enough…and the supernatural! Amen.

What's the new year mean to you?

John 15  ⁵ "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Multiplication (and Reproduction)

I keep re-hashing this past Sunday's message from the Christmas story. I'm not sure it was one of my best messages as far as presentation goes, but the guts of it really connected with what I feel God's heart is for this season at Pathway. I was just reading in my devotional time the book of Genesis.

Genesis 1:12 God created vegetation in such a way that it would bear fruit, it would reproduce its same kind!

Genesis 1:21 God created creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing in water (and birds), and commanded them to be fruitful and increase in number!

Genesis 1:28 God created man and told them to be fruitful and multiply!

It's God's heart that reproduction happens! Ok…I'll admit, that sounds a little funny that I would talk about reproduction…but it's true! Multiplication and reproduction are simply God's way.

This is what I'm getting at - If you choose to be a follower of Christ, that means instantly you have a call on your life to go and make disciples, multiplication and reproduction! It's not an option. Every one of us leading someone! Do you take this seriously? Interesting stuff…

What happened to Joseph?

Where is Joseph at the cross - that is the question I just asked myself as I've been studying all day. John records that Jesus told the disciple whom he loved (probably John) to look after his mom…and that disciple did by taking her into his home. Therefore, we know Mary was a widow. This question led me to come to the conclusion that Joseph died. Matthew 13:55-57 doesn't mention Joseph, just the fact that Jesus is the carpenter's son, his mother's name is Mary, etc…would be easy to assume then that as of the time period of Matthew 13, Joe was not with us. Some believe that Joseph died some time after Jesus turned 12. Fact of the matter is, at some point between Bethlehem and the cross, Jesus lost his dad.

Makes a guy who also lost his father at 15 look at Hebrews 4:15 in a little different way… 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Jesus knew the pain of losing an earthly father. Jesus probably knew what it was like to long for his loved one to be with him at the different seasons of his life.

Not sure why this hit me today, but it did. He's a good God.

Caleb Cripe at the CAN/AM Swim Meet!

Follow my nephew Caleb Cripe via his blog as he swims at the CAN/AM swim meet in LA this week! He, Shayne, and Gary (and his brothers) travel to California today. Competition starts on Thursday of next week! Thanks to the Middlebury Community for sending them for the week!

Here's a video from about a year ago about Caleb and his swimming...

 

Lois Clifton with Jesus

Yesterday, Megan and I buried another one of our beloved grandparents, Lois Clifton. Not really intending to use my blog as an announcement board for the latest grandparent that went to be with Jesus, but it may seem that way!

Something that dawned on me this week as Megan and I were processing her Grandma's passing – there are so many different emotions when you lose a grandparent like this. Most of them, I've thought of before. For instance, you miss them – talking with them, being with them, laughing with them, etc. You hurt for others who will miss them – like my grandma missing my grandpa, or Megan's grandpa Lewis now missing Lois (this is really painful!).

There is one emotion that I didn't identify until this week (actually Megan identified it) – loss of a season. The season of having grandparents is coming to an end! I've always had grandparent…my whole life! Since the day I came out of the womb, I have had grandparents! Soon, I will have them no more. There's a feeling of loss as each of them have sown something into my life. Maybe that means I'm getting old? Maybe that means I am turning a bit more nostalgic? I don't know…but this really hit me this week.

Glad you were able to join me in this…hah!

 

After a long time…

Ugh…that's what I think when I walk through a season in life where I feel like I sense no direction from God. I study the Bible…I pray…I listen to other messages from great Godly men and women…and it's all good, just doesn't seem to hit me right where I'm living. I know there are reasons for times like this, but that doesn't make it any less annoying! Hah!

But, this is what I find – I typically come through a season like this with a deeper appreciation for God and amazement for the fact that he desires to speak to me at all! If I need to, like Jacob in the Old Testament, wrestle with God for my 'blessing,' I'll go there. Just wish I'd learn not to stress out so much about things…

1 Kings 18:1 ¹After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah…

Margin

How does margin play out in everyday life?

• Margin would be showing up maybe 5 or 10 minutes early to a meeting so you are not stressed all of the time.
• Margin financially would be having money leftover at the end of the month.
• Margin is having distance between you and temptation.
• Margin could be having emotional capacity to deal with problems.
• Margin could be having three or four nights a week, where you don't have anything at all on your schedule.
• Margin could be having extra time or extra money to invest and give to people and ministries that you love.
• Margin could be simply having time to think, to reflect, to meditate, to dream. Margin could be having significant time with God.

(Taken from Craig Groeschel's series on Margin)

Click here to listen to the first part of a series I shared on this subject. Listen to the rest of the series by going to the podcast page here, and scrolling down to April/May 2011.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God.