[kwlug disc.] custom 404 message

[Chris Bruner]

I'm trying to create a custom php error message, and from what I've 
read, the proper way to do this is create an .htaccess file containing:
ErrorDocument 404 missing.php

where missing.php is my custom message.

When I do this, the page comes back with the text
missing.php

This happens whether it's php or html.

Does anyone know how to get apache to actually send back the page 
instead of just displaying the name of it?

TIA, Chris Bruner