Tag: Church

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Chasing Daylight Chapter 4 Thoughts (Part 2)

Here are some quotes from Chapter 4 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus, that have really stood out to me. The chapter is on “Influence.”

  • Influence is defined as “power affecting a person, thing, or course of events” – especially one that operates without without any direct or apparent effort.
  • Many times we conclude we are powerless because we cannot changes things “up.” Those who hold positions of power and authority simply will not see things our way. All too often when we cannot change things up, we conclude that we cannot change anything.
  • How many times have we concluded we were powerless to make a difference because the available resources were withheld from us?
  • Two roadblocks that often mislead us are lack of authority and lack of resources.
  • [In the story about Jonathan and Saul referenced in the book] Saul was paralyzed because he had too much to lose. **My Note: I never want to be paralyzed because I have too much to lose.**
  • Title, position, and authority may hold power, but influence travels through relationships. And in the end, influence is the fountainhead of power.
  • The essence of influence is to win the heart and soul of another person through the strength of your own character and personhood. This is why influence is always more powerful than authority. Authority can shape what a person does, but influence shapes who a person becomes.
  • All of us pass a bit of ourselves on to others. You better like who you are and make what you give to others from yourself a gift and not a curse.
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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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Chasing Daylight Chapter 4 Thoughts (Part 1)

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Here are the first quotes that have stood out to me so far from Chapter 4 of Chasing Daylight from Erwin McManus. The chapter is titles “Influence.”

  • Manipulation is the use of influence to control others for personal gain. It is the dark side of influence. Manipulation could be described as a relational lie. It is not merely deception in language, but the corruption of trust.
  • While manipulation is inherently evil, influence is the best way to lead and move others toward what is good.
  • A life touched by God always ends in touching others.
  • We have lost confidence in the power of influence, and because of that, we have lost the beauty of its art. The problem with potential power is that while it may control the actions of another human being, it does not capture the heart.

Just being straight up…this chapter has stood out to me so far because I have been in a church environment where the pastor was a master manipulator. I have seen where his manipulation has severely wounded and damaged people, some to the point of no return. I see a pattern in scripture where God was disgusted and angered by the priest in the Old Testament and the Pharisees and Sadducees in the New Testament because they led people away from the love of God versus towards it. Jesus said in Matthew 23 that the Pharisees would travel land and sea to make one convert, only to turn them into twice the sons of hell as they were.

I saw this pastor use his influence to manipulate the sale of a church and its property that people invested years of their life and in some cases “hundreds” of thousands of dollars to see a deceptive vision come to pass. All for nothing, there was no reason for anything that took place. I’ve forgiven this man, but it does not diminish the damage and the hurt caused by the power of manipulation. Erwin is correct…it is the “Dark Side” of influence. My only prayer is that God extends the same amount of mercy and grace in my life as I need it as he has this man. My true prayer is that I live for God in such a way that I never need that much.

Nicki and I were talking the other day about men who have used their influence in the same manner. I told Nicki that if I had as much influence as these people had, I would truly use it to change the world, not to meet a personal agenda. That is my honest desire. I believe the key is when Erwin said, “A life touched by God always ends in touching others!” What do you want to use your influence to do?

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Major Self Promoter

Why write a blog if you don’t want anyone to read what you write, right?
My community group had fun with me last night, because on several occasions, I have actually blogged about a topic that we were discussing and as I shared my view and opinion on the matter, I told the group that they could read more about my opinion at www.nickcarnes.com – Now its the big joke. Whenever I start to talk someone throws out nickcarnes.com, in fact I don’t even think they refer to me as Nick anymore, but rather, Hey Nickcarnes.com. They have told me to have t-shirts made to wear around, but I think I am going with the $4.99 car magnets from Vistaprint.com.
(You can order some too and give me free advertising :mrgreen:

So maybe I am a little bit of a self-promoter, ok a major self promoter, but I told my group I would give them some free advertising, so here goes, a shout out to Kieth and Alexia Larson, Eben and Cathy Gray, Shane and Diana Padgett (the coolest couple I know), and Ford Hatcher (who drives a Chevy).

Are you a self-promoter? For good reasons or bad?

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The 2008 Orange Conference Final Thoughts

The 2008 Orange Conference Rocked!

I posted highlights from each of the main sessions on my blog: (Sessions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) it was the first time I blogged anything live, it was challenging keeping up with the likes of Louie Giglio and Francis Chan, because while you type they can throw out like 3 huge thoughts that are essential to their talk.

Modeling Leadership: The over all message that I heard throughout the conference was that our children and students need adult leaders to model being the kind of church they are to be when they take on the roles of the adult leaders in the future. – The big issue I see here is the need for adult education, because if you are awake and a leader in the church, you may have heard by now that the church is in decline, that’s because our adults are modeling a church they were shown, and its disconnecting with this generation.

Being Versus Doing: I think Louie Giglio ended the conference with a great message. He opened by asking the crowd, “What if we decided to just BE the church?” He did a great talk about how the church cannot make relevancy its “golden calf,” but his fear is, that the contemporary church has already done so, and that the modern church will make social justice their “golden calf.”

I think the best point was that we should choose to be a transcendent church, being the church of Jesus Christ as our goal, versus trying to always be relevant. The problem with relevance is that you will always be a step behind, because the person who is setting the pace for “relevancy” is always going to be a step ahead, but with the church, we have Jesus and He was before us, He is with us, and He will be after us. It doesn’t matter what happens with culture ahead of us, because Jesus will be there.

Breakouts: Were good minus 1. I did not care too much for the UNEDITED: reThinking Student Ministry. Then again I have been to some of the top notch student ministry conferences in the country and I get to hang out with the absolute best youth pastors in the country and Doug Fields once a year, so I may be a little spoiled? In this breakout it felt like the session never gained traction!

Breakouts “Engaging Parents of Teens” with Chap Clark, “Mobilizing the Next Generation” with Stuart Hall, and “College Prep: Protecting our Investment in Kids” with Chuck Bomar was absolutely awesome. I am going to have to email these speakers to get their notes as I could not keep up. Every single session was top notch. Continue reading “The 2008 Orange Conference Final Thoughts”