It’s Here!!!
From what I’ve heard P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is now open in Augusta!!!
However, I will be waiting a couple of weeks to eat there because restaurants are ridiculous when they first open. Go eat and enjoy!
Popularity: 1% [?]
P.F. Changs Augusta It’s Here!!!
March 1, 2008 By Leave a Comment
It’s Here!!!
You Have Unbelievable Potential by Perry Noble
February 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I was over at Perrynoble.com today and really enjoyed reading his post. I don’t know about you, but I truly desire for God to use me for something great to further his kingdom. I ask for it…I desire it…and I am not ashamed of it. Sure it would be nice to be a movie star, a rock star, a successful business man…but I would much rather be all that Nick Carnes can be for the Creator of the Universe. I want the Holy Spirit to consume me and to have full reign in my life, that is better than anything the world can offer.
I want to be the first Nick Carnes, I don’t want to be the next Billy Graham, the next Rick Warren, or Perry Noble or Andy Stanley…God is using those people to fulfill his plan through their lives, but he is going to use me to fulfill his plan through my life…doing something that only I can do!
When I first shared with my dad and a group of pastors that I felt the Lord was calling me to full time ministry as a pastor (I was 11 or 12), an elderly missionary who had a huge impact in my life, wanted to pray for me…the only part I can remember is that he prayed that God would raise me up to be the next Billy Graham…Wow!!! I was blown away, God hasn’t done that of course, but the missionary believed in me as a pre-teen that God could do that through me, and the fact is God can do even greater than that, I am open to whatever he wants to do…what about you?
I used to feel like I was being arrogant or doing something wrong to pray and ask God to use me for BIG things, but I don’t anymore, I want that more than anything…not for my glory, but for Gods…here is a snippet of Perry’s post:
“I believe in people.
I just do!
I believe that every person on this planet has an incredible potential to do great things for God and live a life that is so far beyond their imagination.
I believe that once Jesus Christ comes into to someone’s life–there isn’t ANYTHING that can get in their way IF they will completely sell out EVERY area of their life to Him…
Their passions
Their possessions
Their relationships
Their job
It ALL must become His–we must let our dreams die so that His dreams can live through us; after all, our dreams, if allowed to come true, usually turn into nightmares!
I believe that God has called all that He saves to NOT just sit…but to accomplish GREAT things for Him (Ephesians 2:10), to make the name of Jesus famous…to live an abundant life…”
Its always good to know people believe in you…even if they do not know you!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Thought for the Day
February 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I’ve done it again!!! I started another book without finishing the others that I am reading, however, I felt like I needed to read this one now, plus it is totally different than the other books I have been slowly (and I mean slowly) reading…here is a great thought today from “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.” If you have not read the book, you will need to in order to understand the context that leads to this statement, regardless it is powerful all by itself!
“I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness.
He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him.” Jim Cymbala
This quote is in the beginning of the book, and I am sure it helps set up a lot for what I am about to read. Maybe it is not so powerful to you, but I think it means a lot to me because that is where I am right now…just simply needing God, knowing that I cannot do anything without Him. I desperately want God to be attracted to me…what about you?
Popularity: 1% [?]
Blog Transition
February 25, 2008 By 3 Comments
I am in the process of transitioning my blog and personal website into one application. This is going to make it easier to update information and to streamline what I do with both sites. 1 is better than 2 or even 3!!! This means I will be leaving blogger soon, at least for this blog and heading over to use Word Press.
Word Press allows me to add multiple pages, which helps it to act and serve as a traditional website, with blog features. Please continue to read my posts here at blogger until I get everything moved over. I will let you know on here once I am finished so you can update your bookmarks, links, and RSS requests!
Check out my progress HERE!
Popularity: 1% [?]
2008 Sugar Bowl Champions: My Georgia Bulldogs
January 3, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The Georgia Bulldogs are the 2008 Sugar Bowl Champions after beating the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 41-10 on Tuesday night. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding not only their win, but also their rightful place in the BCS.
The truth is this win should have been taking place in the National Championship, but at least we can say we’re champions! Georgia, who was projected by all of the so called ‘experts’ to either be upset by Hawaii or to only win by 3-5 points solidly hammered the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors by 31 points.
A little over a month ago Georgia was leaped by three teams in the final polls. It was not the computers that pushed them out of contention for the BCS National Championship, it was the other coaches, all for a rule that does not exist. Many say the Bulldogs had to win their division to be in the National Championship, however there is no rule that a team has to win their division to go to the National Championship. Georgia was ranked #4 behind the #3 Ohio State team when #1 Missouri lost to Oklahoma and #2 West Virginia lost to Pitt in their final week. In all previous cases in the BCS no top 5 team has been leaped by another team, much less by three teams.
A lot of thanks goes to arrogant coaches like Bob Stoops of Oklahoma who voted the #4 Bulldogs at #10 in the final polls before the bowl selections trying to give his team a shot at the National Championship, other coaches voted Georgia in places like #9 and #12 and some even worst. Bob Stoops, who helped vote his team into the previous spot that Georgia held at #4 got a taste of the game he voted himself into when he was hammered by West Virginia last night, losing by 20 points (48-28). The Sooners had no answer for Pat White and the West Virginia offense and really their defense. So, I believe it is rightfully so that Georgia fans are calling for a split National Championship. The AP could very well set the record straight by voting Georgia as #1 at the end of the season. If you watch college football, you are very aware of what happened to the Bulldogs and it wasn’t right.
However, Georgia’s Sugar Bowl win over Hawaii was a lose/lose/lose for them. I called it about a month ago on the ESPN forums and the Foxsports Forums. People are already saying the things that I thought they would hours after Georgia was victorious. The first loss for Georgia would be if they smoked Hawaii, as they did, then it would be said that it was no challenge for the Bulldogs and that Hawaii did not deserve to be in the Sugar Bowl. (Listen you may be able to hear Mark May saying it now.) The second loss for the Bulldogs would be if they barely won, in this case it would have been said that Georgia was not as good as they or their fans said they were and did not deserve a shot at the National Championship afterall. The final loss for the Bulldogs would have been if they lost to Hawaii. The experts would have hailed and praised the Rainbow Warriors and would have said once again that Georgia did not deserve a shot at the National Title and that their coaches and players were confused about how good they really are. Georgia has barely received the credit they deserve, as is, for shutting down the #1 scoring offense and the only undefeated regular season team in the Sugar Bowl.
The experts who are now saying that Hawaii did not deserve to be in the Sugar Bowl are the same ones that said they would upset Georgia, or that if Georgia pulled out a win it would only be by 3-5 points. Funny how the success of one team will change a story. Thank you West Virginia! You solidified that a smaller team can beat a larger team. You proved that a smaller team can be just as fast and carry just as much talent as the bigger schools. With your solid win over Oklahoma, it proves one point for UGA. They are as good as they say they are and their play over their past 7 games is for real. Hawaii could have won if they were better than the Bulldogs, if they came out with passion as did the Mountaineers, but they didn’t and they could not overcome Georgia’s defense, so does Georgia deserve to be in the National Championship? Yes! As does USC. No one in the country wants to play these two teams, and without a playoff they don’t have to, but Georgia should have never been leaped over by 3 teams. #4 Oklahoma (a division champion) already lost, #3 Virginia Tech (a Division Champion very well could lose tonight) and #2 LSU (a Division Champion) may lose as well. If all 3 division champs lose, what will everyone say then about Georgia having to win their division? The point is invalid, and the BCS is a joke!
All that to say, Georgia is the 2008 Nokia Sugar Bowl Champions and National Champs in my mind!
Popularity: 1% [?]
Georgia PDYM Community Lunch
December 6, 2007 By Leave a Comment
Hey Georgia PDYM Community members…our community lunch is this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Email me (under my picture) for all the details! I can’t wait to see you!
Nick
Popularity: 1% [?]
Bye Bye Andrew Jones
December 6, 2007 By Leave a Comment
I know the Braves said they were not going to negotiate with Andrew Jones for 2008, but everyone can live in denial. Well today it all was finalized. Andrew Jones is going to play for the Dodgers for 2008 & 2009. Bye Bye Andrew…we will miss you!Popularity: 1% [?]
Porn vs. Social Networking
December 5, 2007 By Leave a Comment
According to a recent article in Time Magazine, Social Networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook rule the internet when it comes to website hits from 18-24 year olds in comparison to “adult entertainment” sites, better known as porn. Here’s a quote from the article:
“Here’s a shocker: Porn is not No. 1. I’ve actually been puzzled by the decrease in visits to the Adult Entertainment category over the last two years. Visits to porn sites have dropped from 16.9% of all site visits in the U.S. in October 2005 to 11.9% as of last week, a 33% decline. Currently, for web users over the age of 25, Adult Entertainment still ranks high in popularity, coming in second, after search engines. Not so for 18- to 24-year-olds, for whom social networks rank first, followed by search engines, then web-based e-mail — with porn sites lagging behind in fourth.” [Entire Article]
The secular columnist gives credit to the idea that the social networking sites do two things:
#1 They draw the interest of this age group more than porn sites, stating that 18-24 year olds would rather talk with friends online than look at skin.
#2 They say that the social networking sites take up so much of the time of the 18-24 year old that they have no extra time to surf porn sites.
I however, believe this gives more validity to the Biblical world view that a lot of the more modern churches have been sharing for several years now. That view being that we were created to connect in authentic community. Is Facebook and Myspace authentic community? Some may say no, but I would bet that those individuals are from a less tech-friendly generation. If you were to ask a majority of high school students who it was that made up their friends list, I am sure an overwhelming majority of them would be friends from school, church, and social groups or clubs that they are doing life with outside of the virtual world. The next highest number of friends on their lists most likely comes from bands and movie stars. We all know that students are not having long conversations with movie stars and band members. These young adults are spending time with their friends.
Social Networking sites do connect us with people around the world, but through examining the profiles and comments of students you will see that their time is being spent with those that they are doing life together with, outside of the virtual world. Porn does not do this. Yes it gives cheap thrills and a limited amount of pleasure, but I believe that Generation Y as well as the Mosaic Generation is finding that they are more satisfied with real life connections. The principle that we were created to connect, is transferable to life outside of the computer box, and into our relationships. Porn does not provide a genuine connection with people, therefore it does not meet the need to connect.
This proof of a Biblical principle relates to premarital sex as well. Most students enter into a sexual relationship looking for an emotional bond with another person, they desire to connect and they desire to feel and be loved. They take the natural desire that God has given us to connect with one another and they combine it with what our secular society teaches about sex, and it ultimately becomes destructive for a majority of young people. While groups like Planned Parent Hood discourage and disagree with teaching on Abstinence, I believe the church and the home need to increase their efforts in teaching God’s plan for marriage, dating, and connecting in community. We have all heard negativity of the social networking sites, but it is always good news to hear that less people are visiting porn sites.
Nick
Popularity: 1% [?]
A Child Hero
December 5, 2007 By Leave a Comment
A Detroit girl who jumped in front of a hail of bullets to protect her mother from an enraged gunman Saturday night is being hailed as an “angel from heaven.”
[Read Entire Story]
[Read Entire Story]
Popularity: 1% [?]
Ten
December 3, 2007 By Leave a Comment
That’s how many pounds I have lost since my surgery on Thanksgiving. I lost 4 pounds since last Thursday, which was 4 days ago (1 pound per day!!!)
Here’s how I’ve done it:
- I got a 6 pound head start from my Appendectomy – I could not eat for about 3 days.
- When I could eat again I could really only eat a small portion of soft foods (soup, apple sauce, shepherds pie, etc.)
- Since then, I eat about 3 tablespoons of applesauce for breakfast, about 8 to 10 ounces of soup for lunch, and a semi-large dinner (usually consisting of high protein). On 2 of the 4 days I ate 2 egg whites, 1 large blueberry pancake and 2 sausage links, however my food intake for the rest of the day was very little, on one of the days I ate no lunch, and on the other I ate a small portion of soup, but a very small dinner. The cool thing is, before my surgery I would be starving if that is all I had for breakfast and lunch, but so far I have had no problems.
- Yesterday and today my calorie intake has been between 800 & 900 total calories for the entire day. (Here’s an example of my meals yesterday: 3 tablespoons of Breakfast: Applesauce, 50 cal; Lunch: 10 oz. bowl of low fat Chicken & Noodle Soup w/sourdough bread slice, 280 cal (140 each); Dinner: Weight Watchers steak and Portobello Mushroom meal w/steamed seasonal vegetables and a small portion of garlic red potatoes from Applebees (not worth the $10), 330 cal. Total 660, plus at our community group I snacked on a couple of sausage balls and two small slices of a tortilla thingy, so I will say 200 cal. on that for a grand total of 860 for the entire day!
- Thursday, Saturday, and Today (Monday) I walked…I cannot run or do any weight lifting. Thursday I walked a mile and a half, Saturday I walked approximately 2 miles, and today I walked 2 miles, but today had no effect on my 10 pound weight loss!
Popularity: 2% [?]