ScottyNeal.com

All you can Do Is....

 
 Yesterday Stacy and I had a pretty scary afternoon.  Our youngest son Baylor had a slight fever when Stacy met some friends at Sharon Woods for a couple hours of fun.  When she left the park she was in the McDonalds drive thru and Baylor went into a seizure.  I know it's not that uncommon for children to do this but out of our 5 this has never happen so it was pretty scary.  Stacy rushed him to the hospital and they gave him a clear report and we have been monitoring his fever since but it was definitely a pretty anxiety filled afternoon.

This morning I was running thru my response to the texts and calls in my mind and as all the fear rose up in me I kept saying to myself "all you can do is PRAY".  I was with a Pastor Friend at the time and I was trying my very best to carry a normal conversation about how I had seen this kind of thing many times with other children as we were doing about 90 miles an hour toward the hospital.  

As I was praying this morning I was thinking about how I kept saying that to myself and it occurred to me that it wasn't only "all I could do" but it was also "all I really wanted to do".  You see in that moment of confusion and concern it was my trust and complete surrender to the Lord Jesus that was kicking in.  More important to me at that moment than answers was knowing that God was Sovereign and active and going to Him at that moment was more than all I could do, it was all I really wanted to do.  Since I believe what Psalms 62:7-8 NIV says which is "My salvation and my honor depend on God ; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. {8} Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah" it wasn't only the right thing for me to do, it was also the most productive for me and my family.

So next time you feel like all you can do is PRAY, remind yourself that it is probably all you really want to do also......just because it is outside your control its not outside of His.  He really is working things together for His Glory and Your Good!

Tyson Update

They have finalized all the details for Tyson's surgery. It will be Wednesday morning at 9:15. He will go to pre surgery prep around 8. They should have him back sometime from 10 that evening. They will be addmitted in to the TCC and Ty will be taken directly in to the PICU after surgery. Thanks in advance for the prayers. :)

Less Likely to Let Garbage In

I have been working out a little with my man Dan and he said something recently that parallels our spiritual lives.  For most people when you are working out and health conscience in the area of exercise it seems to make you more conscience with your nutrition also.  Raising your game in the exercise department almost immediately also makes you more aware of the garbage that you are eating.

The same is true in your spiritual lives, when you raise your game in reading your Bible, Praying, Church Involvement, you seem to immediately become more aware of garbage that you are letting in your life.  Its just as Romans tells us:

 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."  

Renewing our mind keeps allows us to see what is good, acceptable, and perfect to let in and so we become less likely to let garbage in.  How bout you, when you work out do you tend to eat better?

Sunday Night Notables

Awesome weekend for sure!
We had some pizza and hung out with the leadership at the Franklin campus and i'm blown away to see how God has brought leaders for that campus- I can feel the momentum.
This morning started kind of rough, Trystan my oldest son got sick last night and Ty got sick this afternoon....sickness on the weekends is truly a bummer in our busy household.
The message this weekend really taught me alot, I've been doing some self-evaluation establishing strategy to defend from acting like a prodigal, counselor, or peer to God.
Had a great meeting this weekend about the student ministry, I'm stoked about what God is doing in that area right now for sure.
We are partnering again with our friends at PennyRoyal Baptist and Camp Chataqua and having a 3 day kids camp, my kids loved it last year and I loved speaking,----I'm looking forward to an even greater year this year with our theme being "Free to be Me".
If you have a 3rd to 5th grader then make sure you contact Shannon@originschurch.tv and secure your spot.
Our volunteers are 2nd to none for sure- it seems like every week the school throws a curveball at us that we hit out of the park.
The band is continuing to grow together as well as numerically which is so great considering we originally had so much difficulty finding musicians. All of those guys/girls are amazing!
By the way you won't want to be late next week cause the music set is off the chain.
The global influence golf outing is coming quickly and we have already doubled from last year if you haven't signed up yet email Dan@originschurch.tv
All the money raised by the way from that go directly to oversees missions thru global influence.
I love Origins and am so grateful for her!

Make an Influence Globally

If you want to make a difference in the world, HERES YOUR CHANCE!

Peru 2010 from Origins Church on Vimeo.

GLOBAL INFLUENCE - Peru 2011

January 15-22, 2011

Lima, Peru

Cost: $1,600.00

Teams:   Medical

              Adult Evangelism

              Children Evangelism

              Construction

Deadline for sign-up ($100 deposit):  July 25

               - Make check to Origins Church with "missions" in the memo.

               - Check may be given to Chad Miller, Lori Neal, or any staff member.

For additional info contact Chad Miller at drchadmiller@gmail.com.

Sunday Night Notables

• Great great weekend for sure!
• This series has been awesome for sure, but so convicting for sure, I think God is using it in an amazing way.
• The only bummer from this weekend is that apparently baby dolls are more anti- flammable than we thought. :(
• Joel tested one and it went up in flames, apparently I don't have the pyro ability he does. 
• This week we have tons going on to Love those around us, if you have some free time and want to jump in on it let us know at joel@originschurch.tv
• I was sharing Origins story with a Pastor yesterday and I was overwhelmed with gratefulness as I walked him through Her story....wow it still amazes me the work God has done.
• I feel like God is preparing us for an exciting fall and I can't wait!
• I get to meet people every week who come from invitation of our OC Peeps, the inviting culture of Origins blows me away, I am so grateful that from our start all of us have continued to invite our friends and family relentlessly, I Know Jesus is so honored by it!
• Some hurting families right now really have my heart and emotions in a bit of an uproar, I really hate the Devil and his constant attack on families!
• I am really excited about the Growth Groups that are coming up this fall, if you are ready to experience some growth then you will definitely want to be a part of them.
• Stacy is going to be teaching a growth group for woman that she and I are very excited about, I think God is going to do some serious building into the Origins woman thru it for sure!
• If you haven't already invited someone out to Hopewell on Tuesday Night then get on it cause it is going to be a great way to introduce them to Origins and show them where our location is.
• When I get discouraged I just start thinking about the lives that Jesus is changing and it charges me up, I've read a card from last week several times just reminding myself of the amazing God we serve who is using Origins to apply His grace to people's lives, someone who accepted Jesus has week wrote this "Scotty, I grew up in a Church that was, to be pleasant, divisive.  It rattled my faith, and I never felt comfortable in any Church.  Thanks to Origins, my faith has been restored." 
• I don't know about you but reading that makes me want to invite everyone I possibly can.....and I plan to!
• I love Origins, thanks to all of you who work so hard to make Her exactly what Jesus wants her to be.... a place where people are able to find Hope in Jesus.

Sunday Night Notables

People accepted Jesus last weekend and this weekend as we have kicked off our new series TRUE RELIGION!

Jake and the band did awesome last night it was if Jesus Himself had arranged the set list to flow right into the message.....He prob did. :)

Aaron and the band did awesome today....they nailed Losing my Religion by REM, that was an awesome blast from the past for sure.

My little man Ty turned 7 today and we had a party for him this morning and it was awesome.

The school still has some challenges for us but I really feel at home there.

Lots of people saying thanks on their cards for having an environment where they were able to heal from some previous Church experiences.

James is an incredible book and it has been so awesome studying it, I think it's ramping up to be one of my favorites so far!

I think if we compiled James down to one sentence it might be "start smoking what your selling".

This past week I got to spend time on the phone with the Pastors on my overseer board and I can't say enough how grateful I am for their love for me my family and Origins!

I'm hearing some really awesome things about the discussions coming out of our Starting Point class, if you are new to the Bible you def want to grab the class next time around fo sure!

We have some amazing opportunities coming up this month to "love those around us" be sure to email Joel@originschurch.tv or stop by the NEXT table so you don't miss them.

We had a Global Influence meeting this weekend and as I prayed to conclude the meeting I had a real excited feeling knowing the work that God has ahead for us to accomplish in his Name Globally.

I really can't say enough about Global Influence, it blows my mind when I think about the impact that we are having and will have globally thru it!

I know I have been pretty inconsistent on the blog but I'm planning to ramp it up a bit so if you are a regular reader or new around here check back a few times a week for some new content.

Both of our campuses have some serious momentum swelling and I am so pumped to see what God is planning to do this fall!