Scott Miller Blog :: Good Stuff

Great Marriage Series

Every once and a while, people ask me about a great book/series on marriage that they and their spouse could work through. This series called "The Secrets of a Satisfying Marriage" is probably one of the best all around series I've listened to. It has 12 separate messages from Rick and Kay Warren. Would be a great series to download/purchase if you are going on a trip with your spouse or had some down time.

http://www.saddlebackresources.com/The-Secrets-Of-A-Satisfying-Marriage-12MP3sTranscripts-P1714.aspx

Ken Neilson Funeral

From Tim and Jenny Buckholz:

Dear Family & Friends of Ken Neilson,

The celebration of Ken's life will take place on Friday, April 29th at 11am at Voice Ministries in Elkhart. Lunch will be provided following the service. As we celebrate, the family asks that you wear brightly-colored clothes in honor of Ken's joy in the Lord. We invite everyone to join the Neilson family for this celebration.

Isaiah 40:31

I love the way the message puts Isaiah 40:31…

³¹But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.

They spread their wings and soar like eagles,

They run and don't get tired,

they walk and don't lag behind. (TMSG)

 

Now, if I could only live it more effectively…

The Bridge Illustration - Mark Mittelberg

 
I wanted to get this video link on my blog for Life Groups that might use this week's message notes for their LG study next week...use the first 3 minutes of this (after that, the acting is a bit cheesy and dated)...

Something about Worship through Song

The other day I had a mtng with someone (someone from outside of the church) that I was a bit anxious about. You know that kind of mtng…the one's where you know you have to do this, but you really don't want to (almost like the dentist, but without the drills and bite wing Xray's that almost make me gag). As I sat in the Jeep, waiting for the appointment, the anxiety started to rise like the Old Faithful geyser inside of my stomach.

I said a quick prayer, and trusted that God would be with me (knowing that he is and was of course). But…then I remembered worship. In the OT and NT, when they began to sing songs of worship, the presence of God came via the Holy Spirit. For me, it's not that prayer doesn't help, it's just that something different happens when I begin to press in, and from my heart, begin to sing to God. So…sitting in the parking lot, in my Jeep, I began to sing the first worship song that came to my mind. Hopefully there were no security camera's in that parking lot as the security guy would have thought I was a bit strange (which I've been told may be partially true). It worked. By the time I got out, and walked in for the mtng, there was simply a peace that was with me.

Prayer, worship, your life in Christ, is not meant to be some sort of good luck charm that you rub and it makes things all well. But there is a level of peace that is ours to have in every situation through the power of the Holy Spirit! Good stuff!

Fyi…you can listen to a series I did on worship last August right here…it expands on the thought of this blog...scroll down to Aug 8, 15, 22…

How to prepare for Easter Sunday!

 

This Sunday is Easter Sunday (just in case you didn't know)!  We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!  We'll be doing a live feed at the EC, enjoying a continuation of our I Quit series, specially formed for Easter. 

   

How to prepare:

---Prepare your heart by reading through the last few chapters of Matthew or Luke.  Dive in as a family!  Take time to read through the scripture references from the handout your child got in the 1st-5th grade Kids Church this past Sunday. 

---Come expecting God to do something powerful and great at our service this Sunday!  Bring your praise!

---Invite someone to come with you.  Family, Friend, Neighbor, whoever needs Jesus, invite! 

---Be over helpful on Sunday.  Take the farthest parking spot from the building.  Give up your seat for our guests, and you sit on the front row.  Go out of your way to greet people that you don't recognize as regulars.  Check in with the Head Usher at the Welcome Center and ask if there is anything you can do to help. 

   

Who knows but that the way you treat our guests this week may be the very thing that softens their heart, and opens the door for them to come to know Jesus!

2011 Couples Retreat – May 20-21

May 20-21 – Couples Retreat - Building a Win Win Marriage

Plan on being a part of our next Couples Retreat, happening in May!  Wayne and Cathy Benson will be leading our weekend!  They not only led a great church in Michigan for 25 years, but Wayne most recently was the president of Emerge Ministries, a powerful counseling ministry in Ohio. 

We'll be talking about:

• How to build a Win Win Marriage
• Creative communication
• History - How to be released from history in order to build a much better future together
• Reflective time with your spouse
• Interactive Q and A with the Bensons

Here are some further basics:

• We are going back to the Potawatami Inn in Angola, IN.  More information on the park and the area can be found here  http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/inns/potawatomi/about.html#local  and here http://www.lakes101.org/
• There is a Thursday night option if you'd like to take advantage of an extra night away.  Let us know if you'd like to do this when you sign up. 
• Get any childcare needs you may have setup right now! 
• We'll be starting Friday night around 7pm, and going through 4pm on Saturday.  Eat dinner on the way over Friday night, or check into your room and head out for a meal in the Angola area before our session starts. 
• $155 covers your room, our mtng room, dessert late Friday evening, Buffet Lunch on Saturday, and any other expenses for the retreat.  $40 Deposit is due by Sunday, May 1st.
• Appropriate Dress is casual.
• Sign Up this week at the Welcome Center at either campus!
• Questions?  Email office@pathwayag.com...

All this information can be found in this document... Download 2011 Couples Retreat Info

This is sick...6 yr old being frisked

This is sick...evil...demented...anyone who would cause a 6 year old little girl to be frisked like this ought to be fired and sent to an island to live by themselves...this is horrible...absolutely horrible...

No excuse for this...it was bad enough when the TSA agent grabbed my rear-end the last time I flew, but to do this to a little girl?  Are you kidding me?  I would go to jail before I would let someone do this to one of my girls...

Shameful...anyone who would do this, or ask anyone who works under you to do this, is a bunch of sicko's and perverts...

 

Dream with me…

Dream with me for a minute…

I'm thinking about what it's going to look like when we have 300 in one service (including kids and all) in Middlebury. In the Sanctuary, we can seat the lower 200's pretty comfortably, upper 200's packed full (but in taking the kids out, it's all manageable). Imagine 100 people (kids and all) meeting at the Elkhart Campus. Imagine the air conditioner at the EC not even being able to keep up b/c there are so many packed into that room, singing praise to God.

Some say, "but it's not all about numbers…I'm interested more in quality than quantity." I'm not so sure that's Biblical. It sounds good. It sounds nice and spiritual. I'm pretty sure the guy who first said that was a pastor who had come to the end of his rope on ideas of how to grow his church, and decided to give up. Which I've learned is a great place to be…at the end of MY rope. B/c the truth of the matter is, it is not 'his church' it is 'HIS church.'

The Great Commission is not optional. The call to reach and teach people is at the bedrock of what we are to be doing. Each attendance number represents a life. A life that God has given us as a church the opportunity to help find and become more like Jesus. I'd much rather be impacting 400 lives, wouldn't you?

It's coming…dream with me…better yet, dream with HIM…

Pathway LG's

 

 

 

Just a quick post to point you to our 2011 Spring/Summer Life Group Directory...get plugged in!

2011 LG Directory