Passionately Following Jesus
At the beginning of the week as I was spending some time praying the old song, He’s Still Working on Me, popped into my head. It all just clicked and made sense…what I was asking Jesus was simply, “Lord, Make Me What I Ought to Be…”
Where I lack wisdom…
Where I lack love…
Where I lack patience…
Where I lack skill…
Where I lack in priorities…
Where I lack…
“Lord, Make Me What I Ought to Be!“
Join the Conversation…What’s Your Prayer?
My church (the church @ greenbrier) jumped on board with the ONE Prayer Campaign as other churches were finishing up, but I am glad that we did. I love hearing our pastor when he shares God’s Word with us, but there was something special with the messages that we were treated to during the last 3 weeks, I truly believe Jesus gave Craig Groeschel a fresh idea of His vision for His church. This week, we watched the message by Craig, “Lord, make us ONE!”
Craig started the basis of his message with Jesus’ prayer from John 17:20-24. Pete Wilson is starting a series on relationship surrounding verses 20 & 21 of chapter 17 in the fall, I can’t wait to check those out on Cross Point’s website. I am sure that series will be just as powerful as this message, and people’s lives are going to be changed because of it. Here are some of the highlights and my thoughts at the end, take a couple of minutes and check it out:
“We always want Jesus to answer our prayer, but what if we (Christians/the Church) decided to be the answer to Jesus’ prayer?” – Craig Groeschel
What will it take to unify the church?
1. If Christians/the Church recognize we have ONE ENEMY! Amen & Amen!!!
**Satan is that ONE enemy, not other churches or other believers.** We all have ONE thing in common, the same enemy! (1 Peter 5:8-9) (John 10:10)
2. ONE HEART! Christians/the Church can have different methods or manners in which they do ministry; there is power in our diversity, but we should be united in our passion of making the name of Jesus famous, because it is through Jesus that those who do not know him can be saved. We are not called to be uniform in style and preference, but to be united in Love. (**My Note: I wholeheartidly believe this, but only when it does not cross the line into doctrine of the Gospel and of God’s Word**) (John 13:34-35 – “Love One Another”)
**Christians/the Church should be united. When “I” get out of place, united become “untied” (which is the state our churches are in), but when “I” is in its proper place we have “united.” – We must stay aware of whether we are in our proper place or whether we are not.
3. ONE PURPOSE! (Matthew 28:19-20) “Go and make disciples” – Church in greek is “ekklesia” which means “called out ones” (**Personal Note: Why do we allow personal style and method preferences stand in the way of this one? No matter which version of the Bible you read or what denomination you are a part of, this teaches and reads the same, so on this point alone, why are we not united here?**)
I encourage you to go watch the video HERE. The illustrations, stories, and videos that were shown with this message are great! I really enjoy messages like these, because growin up I saw and heard so much division due to personal preferences over styles and methods. Through a disagreement on these things people came to conclusions about doctinal beliefs of other denominations or churches that were not true, thankfully I have learned to explore & question on my own and to allow the Lord to free me from the legalism and the bondage these people put me under. I have seen first hand how these things divide the Church Jesus said He was going to build versue building it up and uniting it. I believe the greatest thing is at risk by our churches being divided over petty issues, People’s souls!
…about new sister and Jesus.
Gavin was in the bathtub at MeMaw’s house yesterday and here was their conversation (some of which is not exact word for word being that it was told to me, but was totally unaided and unprovoked…straight from a 5 year old’s brain & heart to his lips):
Gavin: “We need to go get Hailey a balloon and a blue balloon from the store.”
MeMaw: “Ok, we can go get Hailey a balloon, but why a blue one?”
Gavin: “The blue one is not for Hailey, its a thank you balloon for Jesus.” – “We can send it up to him to tell him thank you for giving us Hailey!”
I am so thankful that I have a 5 year old son who already has a heart to please Jesus. I was speachless when I heard the story, and as MeMaw told the balloon lady, she began to cry. Needless to say, I was blessed with a brand new Beautiful daughter this week, but I have already been blessed with two awesome sons, for which I cannot thank God enough for. We always hear how God will ‘open the windows of Heaven and pour us out a blessing’ and so many times people automatically think of financial blessings, but I know that it does not always come in the form of finances (that would make things a lot easier) but it comes at times like these conversations, becasue I would take a son with a heart for Jesus over all the riches in the world.
If the video comes out ok I will post it so you can see Gavin pray before he sends Jesus his ballloon.
Blessed,
Nick
Trust is the emotional glue that binds followers and leaders together.
Warren Bennis and Bert Nanus
A Danger always presents itself when someone who is in a leadership role gains the trust of those they desire to follow them; for it is with that trust that they can lead their followers in a positive direction or in a negative one.
I can think back to many of the wrong ideas I had about life, marriage, church, Christianity and leadership and it usually originated from someone who had earned my trust and used their emotional bond to influence me with their ideas, thoughts, and opinions. The same can be said about the positive influences in my life, they too can be traced back to influencers who have played a major role in my life, my ministry, and my career. Today I am pointing out a handful of people who have had a positive influence in my life, whether small or great, some while I was growing up and others are more recent. Later this week I will name a few more people who have influenced me:
1. My Dad (Tim Carnes): I remember seeing a huge transition in my dad, from a day where he believed Carmen was not godly music to the night we drug him to a Third Day Concert and attempted to get him in a mosh pit (He is a Southern Gospel Nut). My dad was tough and strict at times, but he never forced us to conform to a Biblical teaching just because it was taught. I remember numerous times coming home from a Christian school excited about something I had learned in the Bible and being challenged to back the new found teaching up with scripture. He taught me to believe what I believe because the Bible taught it, not because man said it. He taught me to work hard and to make sure the family is taken care of, even if that means working a 2nd or 3rd shift at Wendy’s. He also taught me that you can overcome any situation in life if you put your mind to a task and work hard, he earned his Bachelors, his Masters, and Doctorate Degrees through Life Scholarships when he was in his 40’s. At the age of 50 my dad ran for the U.S. Senate in South Carolina against Lindsey Graham, which taught me that at any age we should continue to live lives of adventure and risk.
2. My Grandpa (Jack Carnes): A gentle but tough man. He drinks 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar everyday to prevent certain health problems, yet last year he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Yet he does not stop and he’ll keep giving 110% of his life everyday until the Lord takes him to Heaven. My grandpa has two fingers on one hand, because he disobeyed his dad at the young age of 12 and played with a dynamite cap, it exploded taking off his fingers. Through his life story I have been taught that there are times you have to work 2 and 3 jobs to pay the bills and provide for your family. God comes first, your family second, and then your ministry.
3. Doug Fields: I remember when I first got hired full time in Student Ministry; I thought I knew a lot, I didn’t. I got a copy of the PDYM Book and devoured it. I remember being stopped at traffic lights trying to get one more sentence in. I came from churches who’s lifeline was programs and rules, so to hear an approach that focused very little on programs and strongly on relationships, processes, and freedom was liberating to a young and naieve pastor. Doug through his messages and leadership played a major role in that development, though it was from a distance at first.
4. Melvin Minitor: He allowed me at the age of 11 or 12 to be involved in ministry. It was during my involvement in the ministry he led that I felt the Lord call me into full time ministry. I learned how to share my faith with all walks of life as we sent almost every Saturday serving migrants in south Georgia. He has shown me the most genuine love of Christ I have ever seen and it has given him a deep love for people. He is one of the most genuine Christ followers I know. He is now very old and feeble, but I know everyday is a passionate walk with his Savior.
5. Shaney “Waney” Padgett: Shane and his wife Diana have been very good friends to my wife and me. They are such awesome people who love Jesus and love others. Shane has a life motto that is contagious, Biblical, yet short and effective: “Loving Jesus, Loving Others, and Pursuing Both!” I’ve stolen this because it says everything. My deal has always been to passionately pursue Christ because he passionately pursued us, and through that our hearts would be led to passionately pursue others. Shane’s motto says that effectively and in simpler terms. Shane has a passion for Jesus that is contagious and it is evident in the life of the students he has had the opportunity to invest in.
6. Chuck Gordon: My pastor (the Church @ Greenbrier). I have been able to learn many things from Chuck in my year and a half serving at Greenbrier. Nicki and I left a very tough situation, and Chuck (along with our church) provided a breath of fresh air for us when we needed it the most. We started leaving church on Sunday feeling challenged to grow in our walk with Christ.
7. Josh Griffin and Pete Wilson: Josh Griffin (High School Pastor @ Saddleback) influenced me to start blogging and I love it. He is also the happiest guy I know…I never see him without a smile (Live or on Podcast). Pete Wilson (Senior Pastor @ Cross Point Community Church) has influenced me to blog in a different way than the way I started out. Instead of being one sided, I now try to involve others in the conversation. Blogging is much more fun when others are participating along with you. The authenticity of Pete and his team is humbling and inspiring.
Influences (Part 2) will be coming later this week…
Join the Conversation – Who has been a positive influence in your life?
Thanks to all who prayed for me this past Sunday as I preached in an Adult service for the first time in 2 years. Yes, I was nervous. Yes, I was worried that I would go over my given time…All a perfect recipe for a disaster. So, who knows the outcome, except Christ and those who heard the message. I had some positive remarks, a few people who conveyed they needed the message at that exact time in their life, and then Chuck emailed me and reported HERE that we had two people mark their communication card that they received Christ in the service. So regardless of how I feel about the message, my main prayer is that the Lord used it in people’s lives.
I am posing the MP3 of the message HERE – the sound is not very good on the recording (Update: I’ve had a few people say it does not sound the same as it did live…its too loud – plus some Firefox users have had some downloading issues). We are doing a Summer series called Get Reel where we are doing messages around Movie Blockbusters, I did my message from Rambo, here are a few things you may need to know:
#1 I opened with this clip, so you may want to view it before listening…it may put some of what I was saying into perspective:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-3BgQOusD8]
#2 When I refer to a monopoly faith I was using these as a visual aid (my hot wife made them), sometimes I said some things and was pointing or referencing these so it may confuse you on those parts:
Finally the audio goes silent in one section, its because we showed this clip to close out the message:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtJO6iZUddQ]