Stepping OutPosted by Patrick Scott on September 22nd, 2008

I am so excited about what is going on and ask for prayers from all of you that read this.  Sometimes God asks us to do something that we are not comfortable doing.  Many of the adventureous things we are able to be a part of in this life are not initially something we feel comfortable doing.  I am preparing to take this journey to the community.  God has been working on me as well as some brothers in Christ over the last couple of months, to do more.  

I currently volunteer full time in student ministry and have come to the realization that there is more that needs to be done.  We minister to an average of 350 to 400 middle school and high school students weekly and many of them come from tough environments.  As I have been a part of following up with these students I see a strong desire in many of these students to discover God and they want change.  We see them one night during the week and then they go back to an environment that does not promote the necessary foundation for them to lead lives for God.  I asked myself, “How can we become more instrumental in adding value or encouragement for these students to succeed?”.  After talking with some people I felt God leading us to leave the comfort zone of our church and go into their community.  I have to admit I am a little fearful of this, but I know that where God leads has already been prepared.   We have made a decision to go into communities and reach out.  Before Jesus left this earth He told his followers to “Go”.  We know that we need to go, by stepping out.  As we head into these communities we will be focused on building relationships with the families in these communities.  By ministering to their needs we will be able to minister to their hearts.  Our prayer is to create a viral outbreak of God’s love in these communities.  

God is already ahead of us paving the way and is now asking us to join Him in this journey.  Over the upcoming months we hope to develop some small groups of believers that will help create a foundation that will be impactful in these students lives.  We will also be looking for people that are led to serve in this ministry, either prayerfully, financially, actively participating with us, or providing resources.  The resources that we will be looking for are family counseling, financial counseling, drug or alcohol counseling.  Some of these families may need help with clothing, food, or employment.   The next few months of listening will help to determine what areas we need to resource.  Please pray that we continue to seek God’s will and the we have wisdom and discernment.  I am excited to see what God will do and look forward to being a part of this amazing adventure.  

Whoever finds God finds life!!!!  

“Knowing is half the battle”!!! - GI JoePosted by Patrick Scott on September 5th, 2008

As a parent I have always believed discipline to be the act of punishment for a misguided behavior. I have uncovered so much more to this word and its true power. Discipline should never be stereotyped as punishment. Being narrow minded in understanding discipline allows a person to sit back and judge. Discipline involves active participation, participation that involves hands on training. What am I teaching my children? When am I teaching my children? How am I teaching my children? If I settle for redirection as reactionary then I am setting them up to fail every time. I need to teach them before they reach the crossroad of obedience versus disobedience by showing them the importance of the correct decision. If we are born into a sinful world and our nature is to sin then we will lean more towards disobedience as a natural action. Redirection needs to happen before the action, as anticipation, and not reaction.

Discipline is training in action and a disciple actively learns. I recently did some research on the two words and have found that a disciple does not just know what to do but puts what they have learned into action. The idea of putting practice into action is accomplished through discipline. The two most important components of discipline are perseverance and focus, by the disciple and the teacher. If you don’t have perseverance, and a challenge comes up, you quit. If you don’t have focus you lose sight of the purpose you are trying to reach. As we lead our children, our families, and others to become fully devoted followers of Christ, we must look into our souls to see if we have the necessary perseverance and focus to lead. When we own this, it will pour out into others by the example we show through our own life and our amazing journey.

2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

What does discipline mean to you?

Is perseverance and focus important in your journey?

What are some other things that hold you firm in your pursuit of God?

Taking Care of BusinessPosted by Patrick Scott on September 3rd, 2008

Sometimes I am tentative to share my faith with a total stranger and while I am not alone in this, something bothers me about it.  If my life and focus is in line with God’s will shouldn’t I be excited to share? All I have to fall back on is Matthew 28:18-20.  The phrase “Go and make”  does not strike me as a passive phrase.  Everywhere I look I am reminded that the time is near and that the work is still not finished.  Should I let it stress me out?  It does.  Last night, I was having dinner with a brother in Christ and we had the opportunity to witness to our waitress.  It was extremely refreshing and was received well.  After a while she came back over and started asking advice.  Maybe, stress is not the right word to describe how I feel about things, maybe it is desire to do more.  I know God will work this out in my life as I live to love and love to learn.

Does the fact that the work is not finished ever stress you out?  Why or Why not?