Tag: Personal

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Old Shoes

I bought a pair of New Balance running shoes several months ago. The shoes are extremely comfortable and perfect for running. They met my needs until I started playing basketball. My New Balances are still comfortable, but they do not give me much ankle support. I’ve played basketball for a long time and I know that you need ankle support or you can seriously injure your ankle.

A couple of weekends ago, Nicki and I went to a departments store that had a big sale going on and on top of it we had received a coupon for an additional 15% off anything in the store. I decided it was the best time to get a pair of basketball shoes.

I’ve tried to wear these shoes twice. On both occasions they tore my feet up. I tried the shoes on and they fit perfectly, but that was until I tried to use them in play. My poor little toe is ripped to shreds from the friction of the shoes. I am going to try and exchange them for a wider shoe to see if that helps.

This experience has made me think about life and ministry… Continue reading “Old Shoes”

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Making Room For Hailey (Updated!)

Hailey will be here at the end of July and we’ve got to make room for her and prepare financially, so we are parting ways with some things and upgrading with others. A few months back, I got convicted about some of the credit card debt that we had, so I started parting ways with non-necessities to pay off debt. I told Nicki we would replace some things as we could do it with cash. Therefore I sold my X-Box 360, my guitar, one of my computers, and now we are parting ways with some other things. Maybe you have a need for it or you know of someone else who may, please let us know if you do info@nickcarnes.com or call 706.955.2341.

All Picture are located at the bottom of the page. Please click on the Thumbnail to see a larger photo:

  • Nick Mart Item #1 2005 Nissan X-Terra Off-Road Edition

We are selling our Nissan X-Terra because we can no longer fit in it safely with 3 kids.

Selling for $15,500

Great Condition, Under 38 K miles, A/C, V-6 245 H.P. Engine,5 speed Automatic Transmission, 2-WD, Roof Rack, Running Boards, Privacy Glass, AM/FM Radio w/ Single CD, 1 Owner, Great SUV.

  • Nick Mart Item #2 2006 ETS Wolff Systems Sunvision Pro 28LE Tanning Bed SOLD!

This Bed Is In “LIKE NEW” Condition, We bought it brand new almost 2 years ago with our tax return and have barely been able to use it.

It has VERY low bulb hours on original bulbs! It has 28 Wolff Velocity Body Bulbs that will last a minimum of 1000 Hours of use. (only 80 hours on them now)
It uses a 20 Amp 220 Volt Outlet.

Sunvision series 7ft 28 lamp commercial bed.

NEW MSRP: Price: $4,699

This is what Sunvision has to say about this model:

The Sunvision 28LE tanning bed provides unmatched tanning versatility. The Sunvision 28LE is one of our most versatile tanning beds. The Sunvision 28LE tanning bed would make a great revenue addition to your hair or nail salon.

Selling for $1900
Best for Local Pick-up but will be willing to deliver within specific locations for an additional charge. Buyer is free to arrange their own personal pick up and delivery as well.

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Living Delusional

In Chapter 2 of Chasing Daylight, Erwin McManus writes about a conversation with his friend Joe White.

Joe has been diagnosed with terminal cancer…(In the conversation) He was clear that today might be the last day he had to live. I could live under the delusion that today is just one day of many still to come. The gift of his cancer was the value of today.

I’ve heard it asked several times, what would you do if you had 30 days to live? 30 days to live still gives enough time to procrastinate. What would you do if you knew that today could be the last day that you lived?

What could we do as a community of believers if we approached everyday as if it were our last one? What could we do as individuals, if that was our focus? Would we fix that broken relationship? Share Christ with that lost family member or friend? Would we set out to fulfill that dream that we never took the initiative to conquer? Would we spend a little more quality time with our family? Would we (fill in the blank) ________________?

How much further could the mission of Christ be furthered if we simply lived like this was our last day to live? Would we truly choose to live or would we choose to sit back and exist for one more day? There are some dreams that I want to see happen, things God has spoken to me about that I want to obey Him on, but I have been sitting back and waiting for “the right timing” to do it, but what if I sit back too long? Could my delusion of another day lead me away from seeing those things ever accomplished?

How about you? Are you living with the delusion of another day? Or, are you living today as if it very well could be your last day? If you are reading this, you have been gifted the value of a day, what are we going to do with that gift?

I close with this challenge from Erwin…I think it sums this up pretty nicely:

Wake Up! Get out of bed. God wants to change the world through your life if you’ll just do something.

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What Fuels You?

An excerpt from Chasing Daylight, chapter 2, “Initiative”

Until our bodies turn to dust, there will always be a voice crying out within us to move from existence to life…The possibilities that await us in each moment are fueled by the potential God has placed within us…It is about the kind of life you live as a result of the person you are becoming. The challenges you are willing to face will rise in proportion to the character you are willing to develop. With the depth of godly character comes an intensity of godly passion.

It is in this process of transformation that we find the fuel to engage with confidence the opportunities placed before us…For some strange reason many sincere followers of Christ have come to think that their passions are always in conflict with God’s purpose.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) When you draw near to God, God infuses passion…When we delight in God we become anything but apathetic. In fact, we become intensely passionate. These desires of our hearts are born out of the heart of God…The more passionate you are, the more proactive you will tend to be (even if you boldly do the wrong thing!).

“The more passionate you are, the more proactive you will tend to be…” Wow! If that does not sum up a lot of things. If I were to apply that one statement to Christians alone, it may help pinpoint why some people do not get plugged into ministry in order to serve others in the body. It very well could be that they don’t get plugged in because of a heart issue…they may not be passionate about God, other people, or the ministry they are being asked to do. I’ve seen it first hand, if someone is passionate they are going to be committed, no passion…no commitment.

Green Freaks…are proactive about the environment.
Nascar Freaks…are proactive about watching cars drive in circles.
Animal Freaks…are proactive about saving the minks.
Jesus Freaks…are proactive about sharing the love of Christ.

What is fueling you? What makes you want to get involved with whatever it is that you are involved with?

It could be in the “Spiritual” world or the “Secular” world, but chances are, if you are proactive about it…you have a passion, a love, a longing for it. If you are not active with anything…you are just existing…not living, that’s apathy! Motivation for me is to be proactive in growing in my journey with Christ, as I grow, He will give me the desires that I need to be passionate about, and with passion I can act, therefore I can live.

If you are not living, chances are you’re not growing. What’s holding you back? God wants to remove those barriers and replace them with passion.

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Discontentment

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I guess it would only be natural to do a discontentment post just days after posting about being Content. I have to be transparent. I struggle with a lot of stuff, and it all stems from the church environments that I was raised in. My dad always did a great job of challenging me when we would discuss what I was being taught in my “Christian” school. I never heard him support some of the legalistic stuff that I was being taught, although he did have his opinions at times in the area of music, but God freed him of that long ago. The problem is, we didn’t discuss everything that I was being taught, therefore a lot of it sank in, without me lifting a finger to find out if it was a Biblical truth or if it was merely a person’s opinion. One of those struggles is discontentment and whether it is a bad thing to be discontent, or if it could be a good thing.

18 months ago I resigned as a full time youth pastor to get plugged into a new church plant in our area as a volunteer. I love our church and have no problems with it, but I am discontent. I don’t have the space to tell the entire story, (Email me if you want to know it) but I ended up getting a full time job at a 200 year old Presbyterian church in their publications department and overseeing their web design. Maybe some of the discontentment comes from not fully being able to use my gifts and talents as I once did when I was full time? It is hard going from one environment to a totally different one. Going from a full time pastor to a full time administrative position. I know God called me to preach when I was 12 years old. I had the opportunity to serve in ministry at my families church since I was around 10 and I remember how God kept speaking to me, I would wake up in the middle of the night, and I couldn’t shake it. I didn’t want the calling, but God didn’t ask.

Anyway, I tell my wife that if God sent me to Greenbrier for the sole purpose of meeting some of the people that I have been able to meet, then it would be worth it. I value Shane’s friendship more than anyone will ever know. I have never had a friend that was as sold out and as in love with Jesus as Shane and Hank. I love those guys and I have not known them for that long. My pastor Chuck has been a huge positive influence and was a breathe of fresh air at a time where I needed it. Being on the outside and kind of on the inside of a church plant, I feel like I’ve learned a lot, so I know that God uses his timing for many good things. The problem is, I know that, yet I am still discontent. I was looking at a book that was at our church office the other night waiting for our youth workers planning meeting to start. On the back of the book Bono was quoted as saying that within the next year over 10,000,000 children in Africa would be affected by HIV/AIDS, many of which will lose their life. Did you know that in the next year I will print over 146,000 worship guides? That has nothing to do with the crisis that Africa faces with HIV/AIDS, poverty, pandemic diseases, illiteracy, and other crisis’. Continue reading “Discontentment”