3-18-13: Modern Day Miracles

Hello everyone!

I have some good news and some bad news, and I'm sure this will affect some of you as well.

Friday at around 6PM, a 5th grade student (Dominic), a good friend of mine, at my old elementary school was hit by a train. He IS alive, stable, and somehow still his cheery self, as he was reported to be "in good spirits." He really hasn't changed! Few people can survive this kind of accident, much less a child! Dominic is a modern day miracle for anyone who has doubts that they still exist.

However, on the down side, he has suffered severe injuries, the worst being that he lost one foot, with severe damage to his other foot.

He's one amazingly strong kid, but no one in the world can be prepared to go through this kind of trauma alone.

Thank you all and may the LORD watch over you.


Prayer request: Please pray for him, his family, and his friends (including myself) as this sinks in and give us all strength through this. He's been in the chess club I helped coach for 3 years and this is hitting me pretty hard.

Verse of the day: And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ~1 Thessalonians 5:14

3-17-13: Day Of Jesus' Works

Hello everyone!

I've gotta say, today has been AWESOME! Today at Willow, we had baptism, and with about 100 planned to be baptized at the 11:15 service, there was an estimated 200+ baptized! The stage where the people were being baptized in the pool, the line just never stopped getting bigger!!! The service went a good 45 minutes longer than planned! The band ran out of songs and restarted! It was truly incredible!

Also, last night, my dad told me my grandma agreed MONTHS ago that she would fully fund was left for my Dominican Republic mission trip, no matter how much is cost! God is AWESOME! Out of $1,600, I had raised $840...she paid a full $760 for me to go on my trip this spring break (next week). I'm amazed!

For anyone wanting to know how long until I leave, just check out my Dominican Republic Countdown.

Verse of the day: Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the [spiritual] gift of the Holy Spirit. -Acts 2:38

For more information on your spiritual gift, or to discover what yours is, check out my previous post on spiritual gifts.

God bless you all, and I hope you have a Christ-filled week!

3-13-13: Sharing God's Movement

Hey guys and girls!

I'm proud to say that this blog has now been viewed in SIX different countries: USA (naturally), Germany, Italy, the UK, Canada, and France! I honestly have no idea how this reached anywhere besides the US, Germany, and Canada, considering I have family and friends in those countries, but hey, the farther His Kingdom reaches, the better!

Of course I can't take all the credit. God has naturally done most of the work. He's the one I want to tell everyone about. He's the one who has changed my life and is leading my life. He is the one I want to worship and praise all my life, and I don't care who knows, for I am unashamed of Him.


Verse of the day:  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." -Romans 1:16

Prayer request: Could you all please pray that the audience of this blog continues to grow, that my story and walk with God inspires others to take steps in their faith.

Don't forget to share this blog with your friends and family! God bless you all!

3-11-13: Spiritual Gifts

Hey everyone!

I hope you've all been well, I know I have...of course it could just be because I'm forgetting everything before yesterday!

I had an AWESOME day with one of my college friends; their Spring break began on Friday for the next 2 weeks, so I hope I'll be able to spend plenty of time with my college friends. Man, I miss them a ton! He and I played 10 rounds of pool (he won 9 of them...minor detail. We still had fun) and I won 2/3 rounds of Fussball! I played probably one of the most intense games ever! The final game finished 11-13 with me with the win! And yes, this will tie around to God again...just wait.

The past 3 weeks at church have been covering spiritual gifts and how we can use them in our everyday lives. My top two, for example, are mercy and shepherding. The definition of a mercy gift is "the capacity to feel and express unusual compassion and sympathy for those in difficult or crisis situations and provide them with the necessary help and support to see them through tough times." I find myself able to use this every day, especially with these couple friends I've been talking to consistently on Facebook about relationship or family problems, and while it helps them feel better and more comfortable with what's going on in their life, it also helps me in my own troubles. It's really cool how this stuff works!

The same goes for shepherding: "the divine enablement to nurture, care for, and guide people toward on-going spiritual maturity and becoming like Christ." I often incorporate the two gifts by using scripture to help my friends through their problems. It's actually a ton of fun and it brings me tons of joy to know that my friends feel better with my help.

If anyone else would like to discover their spiritual gift, here's a link to the test I took given by my church: http://studentimpact.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Full-Spiritual-Gifts-Test-Chart-and-Descriptions.pdf. I'd love to hear what your gifts are! Feel free to comment or email me at spikesscott@gmail.com

And here's a link to a website with more information about what your gift is, how it can be used, and how it's shown in the Bible: http://theresurgence.com/series/spiritual-gifts

I hope everyone has a great week and I'll try to start posting more consistently. As I said, helping friends has been a ton of work, and while it is tons of fun, it does cut out time to post. However, of course friends' needs must come first! Thank everyone for your understanding!

My prayer request is a pretty major one in my case. I'm going, as I've said, on a mission trip in two weeks, and I'm $800 short! Please pray I get the funding needed, because as a high school student, I have ZERO money for myself to pay!