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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Unprepared

February 10, 2010 By nick Leave a Comment

Have you ever felt unprepared for something?

I remember it wasn’t too long after I said ‘I Do‘ that I realized marriage was much more complicated and required much more responsibility than dating. The closer Nicki got to giving birth to our first child, I remember thinking that I was definitely not prepared to be a father, then Tristan came, even less prepared for two, oh yeah, then we had Hailey…three kids!? I’m still unprepared.

Have you ever just stopped and thought, “How much preparation would it require for me to feel prepared?” Maybe you feel unprepared because someone told you they didn’t think you were ready or qualified for a certain responsibility. What would it take for those people to see you as ‘prepared?’ Many times we don’t have a gauge at which those people would be pleased, but we allow them to point us in their direction for our lives.

I’ve never felt more unprepared for something than I do in my new role as a pastor and church planter. I am constantly facing new challenges and struggles that I’ve never experienced in other roles. You can tell me that you think I am unprepared for this role, and I’d agree, in fact you’d only be preaching to the choir. Although there are times I feel unprepared and I know that there are areas in my life where I am definitely unprepared, I had to make a choice whether I would listen to my feelings or past voices in my life or would I be obedient to God by listening to his voice. If I based having children on a timetable of feeling ‘prepared’ Nicki and I probably wouldn’t have the three amazing children God’s blessed us with.

We started a new series this past Sunday called ‘Ready, Set, Go!!!‘ – In the series we are exploring the journey that Christ calls his Church to and how he wants us to be obedient to that call.

We started off by looking at Jeremiah and the mission God sent him on as a Prophet to Jerusalem. There were several reasons why Jeremiah felt unprepared to fulfill this mission God had called him to. If Jeremiah were in our present time, I am sure there would be a “Prophet Assessor” or a “Senior Prophet” that would give Jeremiah a failing grade in this mission God called him to, but God declared him as prepared.

My encouragement to New Passion on Sunday is that when it comes to obeying the instructions of Christ #1 We are Prepared Because We are Called (Matthew 28:16-20) and #2 We are Prepared Because We are Gifted (1 Corinthians 12) – It was the same for Jeremiah. God Called him (Jeremiah 1:4-5) and God Gifted him for the mission (Jeremiah 1:7-10).For some of us, our obedience in pursuing Christ may not be anything huge (I.E. Planting a Church, Foreign Missions, Etc.), it may just be simple obedience in things like sharing the Gospel with a friend, loving those who are in distress, providing for those who are in desperate need.

Join the Conversation…Is there something that you are standing still on because you feel unprepared? Have you allowed other people’s opinions to hold you back from pursuing what Christ has called you to?

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A Stepping Stone

December 15, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

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Friday night, we had our first annual adult Christmas party for New Passion Church. I believe it was a major stepping stone for our church and that this one little party could serve as a huge turning point for us.

I believe relationships are the key to success in any church and in any ministry. I remember starting small groups in our student ministry at a former church. I believed in creating smaller environments where our growing group of students could be known and cared for. It worked. I remember our high school group starting in Billy’s 3 bedroom apartment. We had 4 and 5 groups meeting in that one apartment. We utilized bedrooms, the living room, the kitchen…anywhere we could fit kids, we did it.

They were successful. I believe for several reasons. Students felt like they were involved, they found out that there were caring adults who were genuinely concerned for them, and they grew spiritually. I think this environment made it comfortable for students to invite their friends, therefore we grew even more.

I saw some great chemistry on Friday night. Wives who literally just met were standing around talking as if they were friends for 18 years. People who literally come through the doors of the school where we meet, drop their kid off, attend service, pick their kid up, and leave for home (in that specific order) were able to stop for a little while and interact with our team and with other people from the church. There was a lot of smiles and a lot of laughter. It was a great night. Sunday rolled around and some of those same people who are in and out of the church in a flash, slowed down just a little bit and enjoyed conversation with some of their new friends from the church. There was a buzz surrounding our Community Groups which will be kicking off on January 10, 2010.

I believe healthy relationships are a key ingredient to a healthy church, and I believe Friday night’s party helped add that ingredient to New Passion Church…I can’t wait to see what happens once our groups get off the ground. New Passion will be an unstoppable force! I guarantee it :)

npcchristmasparty

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Revolutionary Change

October 12, 2009 By nick 1 Comment

106Sunday we complete week 5 of our Rediscover Church series at New Passion. This week we discussed how we value creating Revolutionary Change through our Local and Global Influence.

We focused on 3 main questions after looking at 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

#1 What am I Becoming? – Paul said he became all things to all people. We looked at the story of Dorothy from Entertaining Angels and how she chose to live poor in order to reach the poor, the homeless, the prostitutes, and the drug addicts. Her effort to create Revolutionary Change required that she bring herself on the level of the people she reached out to versus elevating herself above them.

#2 What is my Motive? Paul said he made every effort to reach out to those who were different than him and to become like them for one reason…to lead them to a loving relationship with Christ. His goal was not to become famous or to build his own following, his motive was to lead people to Christ.

#3 What am I Changing? Paul and Dorothy alike saw people embrace their vision of Revolutionary Change and they too took action. Change can only happen if we decide to start influencing the change.

I was reminded of the trip I took with a former church after Katrina hit Biloxi, Mississippi. It started with a simple idea of taking water down to the victims, within a few hours we were on the road with water and a few groceries in hand to do what we could, our desire to be involved led into 4 total trips, three to Biloxi and one to Texas. I’ve posted video of our first trip and our second trip. The video from trip #1 is 18 minutes long. We used it as a part of the following Sunday’s message to show the need in the area, the second trip is the relief trip we took our church on. We were literally larger than the Red Cross relief effort in the same area. The point is this, what may start as a small idea or a small effort, God can use for Revolutionary Change in the life of those you are  investing in and influencing for Christ.

Katrina Relief Trip #1 from Nick Carnes on Vimeo.

Katrina Relief Trip #2 from Nick Carnes on Vimeo.

Join the Conversation…How are you participating in creating Revolutionary Change? What are your dreams to see Revolutionary Change happen in our world?

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Twittering Pastors

August 3, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

twitter-church

I was a local celebrity pastor for one Saturday when I made the following article in our local newspaper about pastors who use Twitter in their ministries. Story by Kelly Jasper.

[Read more...]

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Its Bigger Than Me

June 9, 2009 By nick 3 Comments

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I was driving home Sunday night from guest preaching at a church out in the country. Since I was all by myself, I decided to come back by way of Grovetown, the city where we are planting New Passion. Anytime I get a chance, I love to drive through there and to think about our plans, to dream up new ideas, and to ask God what it is  that He’s specifically thinking.

Sunday night I felt prompted to take a few new turns in the city as I was driving through.  Ever since I first drove to Grovetown and prayed about launching a church there, I’ve had specific neighborhoods that I’ve kept my eyes on and I’ve watched them over the last couple of years grow tremendously with new people and new families. As I turned down these new roads Sunday, I could not believe my eyes. Its the same feeling I get every time I take this kind of drive in Grovetown.

I was blown away! I could not believe all of the new homes being built in the crevices of this city. Ever since I stepped out to launch New Passion, I’ve understood and known that this whole thing is BIGGER than me. However, every time I go to the city, I drive away feeling overwhelmed and with a greater & sobering feeling that this thing REALLY is Bigger than me!

I wish I could put into words the potential that lies in neighborhoods 0-2 miles from where we will be meeting. Soldiers, Couples, Children, Teenagers, College Students, and Single people…they are all there! People who need Jesus in one way or another in their life. The potential is not people to grow a church, the potential is people who need to be introduced to Jesus. Our churches external reach has huge potential within the community with all of the new residents moving in, but our potential on a local level for our external reach increases dramatically when considering that most of the existing neighborhoods are 0-2 miles from where we will be having services as well. Believe me, the 8 main churches within the main city are not even touching the existing residence with the Gospel, there is no way they can reach all of the new growth alone, especially if they are not going to add services or change the way they currently meet. Don’t get me wrong. A churches reach does not always show in their attendance, but I believe attendance says a lot about the health of the church. 8 churches in the main city of Grovetown are reaching on average 235 households! (Avg. 29 households per church) New Passion is all about the Kingdom. Our goal is not to come into Grovetown and uproot the existing churches or try to overshadow them. Our goal is to add more people to the Kingdom. Consider us the spiritual reinforcements if you would like.

I wish I could get everyone to see the potential like I see it. I wish I could convince Christians who are simply sitting in a chair at some church or out of church doing nothing or not being used to strap their work shoes on and come help us launch new passion. I wish I could get selfish people to be selfless and to reach out of their comfort zone to see lives changed. I believe the world can be changed from Grovetown, GA. I believe a generation can be transformed from Grovetown, GA. I believe God wants to do something amazing with New Passion. I believe it takes people to reach people.

I’ll just be honest here…When I see the potential for what God can use us for in Grovetown and then I see where he is placing us. I want to run BEG everyone I know to partner with us and make this thing happen. But then I remember…that wouldn’t be smart! This thing is bigger than me and I want God to build it with the team he has planned. So, if you will, continue to pray that God will build this amazing team.

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Live Blogging PDYM the Conference Session 6

March 26, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

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Live Blogging Session 6

Doug Fields: Discipleship

  • 1. Discipleship cannot be reduced to programs and people
  • Discipleship can be viewed as 50% Relational 50% Educational
  • If student’s faith is married to a program or a person, when they are gone, their faith is gone
  • 2. An “On Your Own” Discipleship philosophy is a top down philosophy
  • A Discipleship Strategy is the HABITS
  • H = Hangout with God
  • A = Accountability with Another Believer
  • B = Bible Memorization
  • I = Involvement in the Church Body
  • T = Tithing Commitment
  • S = Study Scripture
  • 3. Expectations without experimentation= Frustration
  • Its better to teach people to fish versus giving them a fish
  • 4. Discipleship Never Ends
  • The PDYM model focuses on Discipleship as a Process versus a Program
  • Connecting students to an adult leader makes the difference

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Live Blogging PDYM the Conference Session 5

March 26, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

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Live Blogging Session 5

Doug Fields: Fellowship

  • 1. Smaller is better when focusing on Fellowship (building relationships)
  • Christ had a group of 12 but invested in 3
  • Figure out how to make “Large” Feel “Small”
  • 2. Volunteer leaders are better than paid leaders.
  • Paid leaders’ main focus should be to develop other volunteer youth workers, the volunteers job is to love on kids.
  • 3. Shepherds are Better than Chaperons
  • 4. Better is Better – Tweak, Twist, Don’t Settle
  • Messy people need a small group
  • “If you build a place where Students can share their hurts and pain, they will come” – Megan Hutchinson
  • “Hurt and abandonment in teenagers in pandemic in our world today and in our youth groups–every single teen hurts.” Megan Hutchinson
  • “Pain is always top down” – Hutchinson
  • If the church doesn’t do anything to help the hurting, who will?
  • There is more than one way to do small groups
  • Small Group leaders need to be set up for success
  • Empower small group leaders to be their kids’ youth pastor
  • Small Groups rise and fall based on their leader
  • Small Groups are the Bridge to the next steps (Discipleship – Ministry)
  • The bottom line is to cultivate relational capital – Ben Taylor

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Live Blogging PDYM the Conference Session 4

March 25, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

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Live Blogging Session 4

Doug Fields: Worship

  • There is a direct connection between Evangelism and Worship
  • We need to expand our focus of worship to celebrating God
  • Genuine Celebration is attractive and makes a heartfelt connection with unbelievers
  • We have to be careful not to create a “Club” mentality in our environments
  • Be aware of your audience.
  • Work hard for an understandable message.
  • Value Fun…What is our element of “Fun?”
  • A Front door program should be about relationships, relationships, relationships
  • The Entry Level Program can be broken down to 3 key focal areas: 1. The people 2. The place (environment) 3. The program
  • Worship is a part of everything students do. – Latasha Morrison
  • “Dont think like a youth pastor, think like a church planter” – Jason Gerdes

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Live Blogging PDYM the Conference Session 2

March 25, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

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Live Blogging Session 2

Doug Fields

  • Purpose Driven Ministry has Godly leaders.
  • If your Ministry is bottle necked take a look at your ministry, it may be because of you.
  • Discovering God’s Purposes Begin with God’s Word. (The Great Commission & The Great Commandment)
  • You have to own the Purposes of your ministry, no one will bleed it like you!
  • If we push people to be evangelistic, we have to be that way ourselves
  • Biblical Purposes will clarify a ministries existence
  • There are several ways to say the same thing
  • Biblical Purposes will minimize conflict in your ministry
  • Biblical Purposes will help create excitement
  • A ministry guided by Biblical purposes is not easy to build…but its healthy
  • People unite under a vision that is bigger than their own
  • Will your ministry pursue Biblical Purposes?
  • Evaluate: Do the people in your ministry get the Biblical Purposes for your Ministry? (Leaders, Students, Parents, Staff, Etc.)
  • You cannot fit all of the Biblical Purposes into one Program. Make sure each Program/Process has 1 Primary & 1 Secondary purpose
  • A lot of churches are using a discipleship method on students who are being forced to be at church, so it doesn’t work.

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