The Power of Being Present

April 4, 2012 By nick 1 Comment

It has been rare in my life, especially growing up in the church, that I have met genuine Christ-Followers who I know I can trust and who I know are not a bunch of talk; people who genuinely love Jesus and love people. I count it a privilege every time I get to hangout with my brothers from other mothers, Shane and Drew. I got to do that last night.

Last week, Shane spoke at the Bible study for the substance abuse program I manage. Shane was raw and genuine with the men and he connected with a lot of them on a personal level. Shane had the opportunity to talk with some of the guys after the meeting one-on-one as well. As early as the next day some of the men were asking when Shane was going to return to speak for them again. This group is made up of non-believers, Christians and followers of other faiths (i.e. Islam). These men are not worried about style or appearance or professionalism; things that a lot of us get caught up with in the modern, American church; these men care about being cared about and about others being real with them. Shane made an eternal impact for some of these men because he chose to be present and he preached Jesus.

Last night, Shane and Drew took some time out of their day to play flag football with these same men. We all had a blast, especially since our team destroyed our opponents. Shane tweeted this following the game, “Felt more like a Christ follower tonight playing flag-football than in a long time. #Jesusandfishermen” We didn’t sit down with the men and have a Bible study and we didn’t preach them a message, we simply chose to be present. It is my hope that through our presence these men know that they are loved and cared for, that they are no less of a person than the guy who seemingly has it all together. We laughed with them, we high-fived them, we cheered for them and bragged on them. We communicated through our actions that no matter what they have done, they were still important enough to play football with. Isn’t that how God responds to us? No matter what we we have done, God stepped into our field and put us on his team through his Son, Jesus.

Shane has already shared that message and I can’t wait until Drew gets to share that same message with these men as well. Some would criticize us for not sharing the gospel on the spot, but that’s okay, because we lived it and we have an open door to keep living it and in those moments we speak it, these men will be hungry to listen because they know we love them and our words are supported with loving actions. Drew’s testimony is awesome and I know he is going to reveal Jesus in a powerful way. Drew has already opened the door for these men to hear him out because he made a choice to be present. That’s just one of the reasons I am thankful for my buddies, Shane and Drew, because I can trust them (except for Drew, I don’t trust him around my family and that’s why he has never met them) and they genuinely love Jesus and other people.

Join the Conversation…How can you impact people’s lives eternally by choosing to be present? When is the last time you chose to be present in someone’s life and it led to a great eternal impact as a result of your influence?

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There’s Hope for a New Generation of Young People

February 27, 2012 By nick 1 Comment

Nicki was cleaning the house the other day and found a paper airplane one of the boys had made lying on the floor. As she went to put it into the trash can she noticed that it had writing on it, so she opened it up and found a note Gavin had written. Apparently, Gavin had a class assignment where he had to write a note which included all of his spelling words. Nicki showed me the note, I was totally amazed.

Gavin is 9 years old and is writing about God as if he has known him for 25 years. I wish I had this level of understanding about God when I was 9 years old and now that I am 31, I wish more adults had this level of understanding about God. I am biased being that I am Gavin’s dad, but I am proud of him that he would write something like this for school, but also because he seems to truly understand our God. I read this and immediately felt confident that there is hope for the upcoming generation of young people. May God continue to raise up a generation of young men and young ladies who will live gospel-centered lives for the glory of God.

Click on the image to enlarge it, if you still can’t read it, I typed the words out below and underlined his spelling words as they appear in the note.

CLICK Photo to Enlarge

 

I live in the state of Georgia where we lively honor God. He wants us to be honest. He will direct us away from evil. He is the direction. There is no doubt that he is good. He is not doubtful of people who worship him. I know he is good and not evil. He is not unknown he is known by people who love him. He can make me relive. He is living and there are statues of him, but we worship he himself. He is honorable. Honestly, I love him. He is my director. He will not indirect us, he is always leading us in the right direction. He is undoubted and always trusted. He gives us knowledge.

My favorite parts:

He is living and there are statues of him, but we worship he himself.
Honestly, I love him.

 

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Ministering When It’s Inconvenient

November 28, 2011 By nick Leave a Comment

I am re-posting this from my wife Nicki and my mother-in-law Elaine on Facebook. It appears the original post came from the True Woman blog by Erin Davis. This is a great article…

In Matthew 15:29, we find Jesus trying to rest on a mountainside. He barely sat down when a crowd of people came to Him looking to be healed. How did He respond? He healed them.

When Jesus received word that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been killed, He tried to grieve alone. But crowds of people followed Him and begged for His attention. Scripture tells… …us that instead of hiding in His grief, He had compassion and healed the sick in the crowd (Matthew 14:13–14).

On the night before Jesus was betrayed, He didn’t hide out. He didn’t run away. He spent the evening with His disciples. He even took the time to serve them by washing the mud from their feet (John 13:1–17).

If we look closely, we find an interesting pattern. We know that Jesus spent His time on earth serving others. But have you ever considered how often He ministered when it was inconvenient?

  • He served others when He was tired.
  • He served others when He’d have rather been alone.
  • He served others when He was sad.
  • He served others when He’d been serving non-stop for days and days.
  • He served others when things went terribly wrong in His own life.
  • He even served others when He knew His own death was right around the corner.

I am deeply challenged by this truth. You see, I don’t mind serving others when it’s convenient for me. I like to help out when it works into my schedule or fits into my agenda for the day. But there are lots of times when ministry is inconvenient. I’m tired. I’m stressed. I’ve got more important things to do than to meet the needs of those around me. Under those circumstances, I feel justified in giving priority to my own needs and temporarily ignoring the needs of others.

But this isn’t how Jesus lived. It isn’t how Jesus served. And it isn’t what He wants from you and me.

The reality is, serving others requires sacrifice. If we only do it when it’s convenient, we’re missing the point.

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When God Promises then Waits

November 22, 2011 By nick 1 Comment

Last Sunday, my sermon was When God Promises then Waits. I was reading this devotional today from Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry Blackaby from November 14 and it fit so well with the sermon from Sunday. Check it out, you can watch the sermon below (for some reason the audio was not recorded for the last 5 minutes of the sermon):

God is Faithful

He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

God never calls us to do anything without faithfully keeping His word and enabling us to do it. We are not always faithful to do what God tells us, but He remains faithful and stands by His word to fulfill what He has promised (Isa. 46:11).

When the children of Israel reached the Red Sea, they might have concluded that God had abandoned His promise to them. The sea was barring their advance, and the murderous Egyptian army was racing to overtake them! Yet God proved then, as He has ever since, that He is absolutely faithful to every word He speaks to His children.

God may have spoken to you about something in particular—a ministry in your church, the way to raise your children, or what you should do in your job. You have obeyed Him, but now you face a Red Sea experience. It seems that what you thought God wanted to accomplish is not happening. Perhaps your ministry has not been well received, or your children are rebelling, or those at your workplace are criticizing your actions. Trust in the character of God. It is His nature to be faithful. The testimony of His people throughout the ages is expressed by the psalmist, who declared: “I have been young, and now I am old; / Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, / Nor his descendants begging bread” (Ps. 37:25).

Regardless of how bleak your present circumstances are, do not lose hope. No one has ever experienced unfaithfulness on God’s part! Allow time for God to reveal His faithfulness to you. Someday you will reflect on what God has done and praise Him for His absolute faithfulness to you.

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The Best Father Daughter Dance Ever

September 24, 2011 By nick Leave a Comment

Oh, what a dad will do for his daughter! If you know Steve, you know only the love for his daughter, Diana, would convince him to do this (it get’s interesting around 1:28 in the video)….

Be sure to share this with all of your friends :)

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Celebrate with New Passion on Our Birthday

September 9, 2011 By nick Leave a Comment

Hey, friends and family and anyone else reading this! I would love to have you join us at New Passion Church this Sunday, September 11, to celebrate our 2nd Birthday! God has used our small church to make a big impact in people’s lives in just two short years, and we want to celebrate his faithfulness. From 9:10-9:40 am enjoy a pancake breakfast. Immediately following the worship service (begins at 10 am), we’ll have birthday cake and inflatable bounce-houses for the kids.

Invite others to join you this Sunday, we’d love to have you celebrate with us! You can get directions to Patriot’s Park on our website.

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A REALLY Big Announcement

August 12, 2011 By nick 1 Comment

As many of you know my position at my former job was dissolved back in June. Needless to say, it has been a very interesting couple of months. There have been some great God moments and then there have been some disappointments.

I am excited to announce that as of Monday, I will be the new Assistant Manager for the Men’s Residency Program with the Salvation Army. I will share more about this role in the future, but in a nutshell, it is one of the many great programs offered by the Salvation Army to assist people who are in desperate need. This position works directly with the program that helps the homeless receive counseling for addictions, assists with job training, Bible studies and many other programs to help men get reestablished into society and in some cases reunited with their families.

It is a great honor to be chosen to be a part of the Salvation Army team. They have a great reputation of helping people and seeing their lives transformed through the gospel of Jesus. Here is what their About Us page says:

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

I look forward to being a part of the mission God has given the Salvation Army in the CSRA. I believe it is the mission God has called every church to.

I would like to thank everyone who has been praying for our family while I was without a job, for those who have been praying that the right door would be open, and for those who have assisted us through various means over the last couple of months.

For those wondering, of course, I am still pastoring New Passion Church :)

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Me. Church.

July 31, 2011 By nick Leave a Comment

Here is the video that I was going to show two weeks ago for Source Code Week 3 as we looked at
Acts 2:42-47 together. The video was on my thumb drive that was stolen with my backpack in
Costa Rica:

Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity-all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

As funny as the video is and as corny as it seems, you’d be surprised at how accurate this is to the modern American, Consumer Driven, Church and her attendees. You can change the illustrations and have real life scenarios.

You can purchase this video and others like it at Igniter Media.

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The Most Expensive Coke I Never Drank Part 3

July 25, 2011 By nick 1 Comment

Get up-to-date by reading Post 1 and Post 2 of this blog series first!

It was a huge blessing to get our passports at the U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica within 20 minutes. As we walked out of the doors, I think both David and I felt like yelling out for joy. One major hurdle had just been crossed much quicker than we had anticipated.

We got to the van where Edwin was waiting and the first thing he tells us is that it looks like we won’t be able to leave the country until the next day. The police station had called him while we were in the embassy and needed us to come back to complete another report as well as to meet with a judge.

I was kind of caught off guard. Everything within me resisted the whole idea of having to stay another day. I had already been away for 9 days and even if we caught a flight that afternoon, this whole day would be over by the time we got home. I asked how long Edwin thought it would take, but he could not say. We quickly started figuring out how long it would take us to drive from the embassy to the police station and then back  to the airport. It looked as if it was going to be tight on timing.

David and I both resisted a little more, explaining that it was simply our desire to go home, but Edwin insisted that our testimony could help get the robbers off the streets which in return could help the local community including the families and children we had been ministering to all week. So, we compromised.

I told Edwin that we would go fill out the extra report and if there was time we would  talk with the judge if that is what they wanted, however, we would be leaving at 10:30 am local time. Edwin started driving to the police station, and of course, traffic was extremely heavy. It seemed like the day was going by so slow, but the time on the clock was ticking by faster and faster. Had I known what had just taken place in the United States with Congressman Frank’s office in assisting us with expediting our passports, I’m not sure we would have even risked going to the police station.

We finally arrived at the police station and it was nothing but confusion. We first had to get through security and then as we proceeded to the first office, the same place we gave the report the night before, we discovered after wasting valuable time that we were in the wrong place. They sent us to another office, once again it was a dead-end. David and I decided during our walk between offices that if it did not appear we were making any progress in the next fifteen minutes, we were just going to leave, even if we had to take a cab. We already considered all of our stuff a total loss anyway. We just wanted to get home. Finally, the third office that we stopped at was the right one. We waited and waited some more. Finally, Edwin got someone’s attention and told them what the situation was and how we were short on time, because we were determined to catch a flight back to the U.S. at 1 pm. The judicial office moved quickly.

We were immediately called back where we gave our testimony and description of the robbers, all of this seemed like a total waste of time since the restaurant provided the police a video of the suspects. We finally signed the paperwork and signed Edwin over as our representative in-case they needed a local contact. As soon as we were finished we checked the time, it was 10:35 a.m. – It appeared we were in the clear to make it to the airport on time.

We were also on a time crunch to get to a WIFI spot so that I could contact Nicki to make sure we had a ride. The only communication we would have was SKYPE. My only set of keys to my Nissan Altima were in my book bag. Nicki was working all throughout the day to get the car towed and a new key programmed. She had to know if we were on our way home in time to get to Atlanta, pick-up the car, and then get to the airport to pick-up David and me. We got to the airport and there was no WIFI. The free WIFI zone was not working, and the only other place that offered it wanted $30 a person to enter and use the internet. We were running out of time, I had to notify Nicki from the airport so she had time to make all of the arrangements.

I finally found a booth selling 20-minute international phone cards for $5. Fortunately our flight was delayed by 45 minutes, so this bought us a little extra time. Finally, we could slow down and breathe. I called Nicki only to get more bad news, it cost $483 to replace my keys. Fun! But, the good news was, we had our tickets home, and thanks to Drew’s mom, she got the change of flight fee of around $300 waved the night before. Nicki would be at the airport to pick us up when we arrived in the states.

I would like to say a special thank you to Billy and Seree Wilson for dropping what they were doing that day to assist Nicki. It’s always a blessing for a pastor to know there are people at home watching after and caring for their family while they are away. Billy took off work early to drive to Atlanta to help Nicki get my car and to make sure we got home safe. By the time I arrived in Atlanta I had been up for around 43 hours, so Billy drove my car home while I rested with Nicki and David in their van as Seree drove us home. We finally arrived home around 12:30 am on Wednesday. I was exhausted but grateful and excited how God worked all things together for the good to get us home.

Like I said in my first post. The robbery was only the beginning of a whirlwind day. Getting home was more stressful than being robbed. There are so many people to thank. It is amazing to see the church and family rise up in times of need to make things happen. It is the greatest network I have ever experienced.  I would like to once again thank Drew’s mom, Kim Writer, for all she did the night of the robbery with phone numbers, flight scheduling and financial savings. I would like to thank, my wife, Nicki Carnes, for all of her support and hard work at home to get the car issue situated with the hotel and Nissan and for being there when I got home. I would like to thank my brother-in-law, Clay Brewer, for having the intuition to contact my brother, Ben. I would like to thank Ben for pulling Congressman Franks out of a meeting to take care of business, as well, I would like to thank Congressman Trent Franks for getting the ball rolling immediately with his staff. I would like to thank, Greg and Michele Hansel for caring for Billy and Seree’s children, so they could drive Nicki to Atlanta, and once again, for Billy and Seree with all they did to help us get home. Finally, I would like to thank everyone who prayed for our missions team and for David and me while we were stranded. I thank God for you and I thank God he heard and answered your prayers.

Until next time… :)

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The Most Expensive Coke I Never Drank Part 2

July 21, 2011 By nick 6 Comments

…Continued from Part 1

As soon as we were finished with giving our report at the police station, Edwin asked if we wanted him to go by McDonald’s to get a coke or to get something to drink. We all told him that we were okay, we were just ready to get back to the hotel as we had a lot of things to figure out before morning came. Besides, I told Edwin that, “It was coke that got me into this mess to begin with.” So I boycotted it for almost an entire day. Edwin dropped Jeremy, David and me off at the hotel around 12:30 0r 1 am; he had to be back at 4 am to pick the group up for the airport, so it was evident that no one was going to get any sleep that night.

Edwin’s plan was to drop the group off at the airport and then come back later in the morning to pick David and me up to take us to the airport and to talk to the police some more. He had plans to take his kids to school, but I expressed that I would like to get to the U.S. Embassy as soon as possible, so Edwin decided to send his kids to school via a Taxi so he could help us out. At this point we were okay with not talking to the police again; we had a copy of the report for the Embassy and we pretty much knew our stuff was going to be a total loss.

When we got into the hotel, Drew met us at the door with Kadie’s phone; he had his mom, Kim, on SKYPE and she was already working all of the details out for David and me to get home as quickly as possible with as little problems as possible. She had already researched all of the numbers for the U.S. Embassy and started working on getting our flights changed to either another flight on Tuesday or to the earliest flight possible on Wednesday. She also helped connect with my wife, Nicki, to arrange details on picking me up. I found out that my only key to my Nissan Altima was in my book bag, which had been stolen, so I would have no way of getting home, even if we could get a flight out of Costa Rica on Tuesday.

We called the emergency number with the U.S. Embassy and was told that they opened at 8 am and expedited passports would cost us $100 each. They told us there was a possibility that we could get the passports on the same day, so our hopes were strong that even though we may be delayed, we would have a chance to make it home on Tuesday.

Kim called us back with even more great news. She was able to get us a flight at 1 pm on Tuesday if we could make it or at 7 am on Wednesday if we were delayed by the U.S. Embassy. The best news was, she was able to get the fees for changing the flight waved, which saved us over $300!

But then I talked to my wife again, she had bad news. It was going to cost almost $300 to get my car key situation fixed. I told her to do whatever she had to do, because we had no other way to get the car home.

Monday night/Early Tuesday morning David and I may have gotten a 20 minute cat-nap. By the time all of the SKYPE conversations and the emails went out, it was after 3 am and Edwin would be back at 4 to pick everyone up. We were determined to ride with Edwin and the rest of our team as he dropped them off at the airport and then go straight to the U.S. Embassy to be the first people in line. I am not sure Edwin knew he would have to be out there from 5:30 am until whenever for this whole ordeal, he kind of made a painful sound at 6 am when we told him they did not open until 8 am.

Fortunately the Embassy let us in at 6:30 am to start taking our passport photo and to start filling out paperwork. This would prove to be a huge help at 8:15 am when we finally got to talk to someone. Time went by so slow. We were very anxious about how long everything would take and whether or not we would be out in time to catch the flight. Traffic would start getting heavy and we would still have to pay taxes at the airport and go through customs. At 8:15ish, we were called up to make our request. We handed in all of the paperwork, our photos, the police report and a copy of our stolen passports. I asked the lady after she made fun of my last name meaning ‘beef’ or ‘meat’ how long it would take, she replied, “Around 2-hours, maybe a little less since you are first in line.” I asked, “Is there anyone we can sweet talk to insure they hurry up?” “We have a 1 pm flight we can catch if we get out of here in time?” She just smiled. I think she thought I was joking.

Little did I know, some sweet talking was taking place on our behalf! We did not know this, but my brother-in-law Clay heard what was taking place through my sister and my mom. Fortunately, word got out to my mom, and she likes to ask people to pray and give news updates to the family. I am so glad she called my sister when she did, because it opened the door for my brother-in-law to get involved. He told them to get off the phone and call my brother, Ben, who works for Congressman Trent Franks out of Arizona. Ben pulled Congressman Frnaks  out of a meeting and notified him of the situation. He agreed to call if they needed him to, but suggested his immigration representative make the first call since they’ve dealt with immigration issues for years.

The immigration representative for Congressman Franks called while we were seated waiting to talk to the U.S. Consulate. The consulate told Congressman Frank’s representative that he could see us waiting in the waiting area and that we had already initiated the process. As I said, I didn’t know this was taking place, so it all makes sense now that the Consulate was with us very quickly and asked us what time our flight was. When we said 1 pm, he assured us, we’d have no problem making the flight. Before sending us back to our seats, he told us, we’d have our passports in about 20 minutes! We were amazed. The only surprise and problem we had at the Embassy was the actual cost  of the passports ended up being $135 each instead of the $100 the emergency operator told us, but then again….In less than 20 minutes, we were walking out with our temporary passports in hand!

One of the coolest things that makes me so proud to be an American, was having an lady who is a U.S. citizen come up to the cashier and check to see if we had all of the money that we needed. She overheard our story of being robbed at gun-point and was willing to help us if we needed it. Two complete strangers and she was going to make sure we got home. That was very cool!

The Most Expensive Coke I Never Drank Part 3 tomorrow…

 

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