Tag: religion

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Hailey arrives today

Well, today is the day that we have been waiting on for the last 8 months (since we found out Nicki was pregnant); and the day we’ve been waiting on for almost 6 years. Our first two children were boys, Gavin and Tristan, who we love dearly, but Nicki has been wanting a little girl for just as long…so today is the day!

The hospital we will be at does not have WiFi as far as I know, so as soon as mom and baby are ok and taking their post-surgery naps I will run down the street to Panera to upload some pictures. Sorry folks, I’m poor and do not have one of those fancy iPhones that enable me to streamline my life 🙂 – So thank you all in advance for your prayers, thoughts, and support – Pictures coming soon!

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The Final Countdown

The Final Countdown has started. In approximately 24 hours
Hailey Elizabeth Carnes will arrive!

Nicki is scheduled to be at the hospital at 10:00 am tomorrow and the surgery is scheduled at 12:30 pm, so Hailey should be here around 1:00 pm (weird time for a c-section). We would appreciate your prayers for a safe delivery and for a healthy baby and mom. (Of course you can add that she is beautiful as well…and smart…and whole (meaning she has all of her normal body parts and functions) if you want) 🙂

Nicki and I are going to celebrate one last evening without a crying, poopy baby with dinner and most likely Batman the Dark Knight (if we can get a ticket) since the boys will be with their MeMaw.

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When The Millennials Come Marching In

I found this video about my generation and thought it was interesting. Its almost 13 minutes long, but if you were born between 1980 & somewhere around 1995 then this video is talking about you. Take some time to watch it and the Join the Conversation with your thoughts…I’m posting mine below the video player:

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  • First of all, I don’t think you can clump and entire generation into one description. A lot has to be factored in such as upbringing, influences, education, etc…
  • On the part of the video where the business man goes off on Mr. Rogers, I totally disagree! First of all, every person is unique and special. God has made everyone different and there is no need to conform to one mold, so by saying Mr. Rogers caused all of this by telling kids they were special is a little far fetched to me! I do however believe we are a generation that does not do something because we are told to do it, we have learned to question versus to blindly comply. The problem is, many from the generation before us did not have the answers to our questions, therefore in many ways we did not comply where they apparently did, without asking questions.
  • Instead of trying to pass the blame on a decent man like Mr. Rogers, we can easily start with the parents. I am in this generation and I have some of these traits, but not a lot of them because my parents taught me differently. Parents play the largest influential role in a child’s life, so we should start there. We can blame the government, after all, they are the very source of teaching people to rely on them versus to work hard and rely on themselves. Yes many in this generation are looking for a free pass, but that wasn’t taught by Mr. R – How about our education system? We were influenced by our teachers for longer time spans than when we sat in front of the tv watching Mr. R’s program. Finally, we can look at other media outlets just as much as we can Mr. R – After all it is commercials that teach us we need something, even when we don’t and we need it now, and if you can’t afford it, go put it on a credit card.
  • Personally, I think it is ridiculous for business to even pander to people like this. Honestly, I would love to work in an atmosphere like what was shown in many of the video scenes, but by pandering to the people who are self absorbed, you are only making it worst, thus the very reason why many of my generation has the attitude and the arrogance that they have and display, they’ve been pandered to versus being taught, disciplined, and honestly roughed up a bit.

Join the Conversation: What are your thoughts on the Millennial generation? Was the video accurate or not?

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Did It Just Randomly Happen?

“…that I may know Him…”
(Philippians 3:10)

A saint is not to take the initiative towards self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means to obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him.

– Oswald Chambers

How many times has something gone crazy in our lives and we immediately start taking a self-inventory of the things we may have done wrong; the sins we may have committed to bring such pain, torment, and suffering upon ourselves? How much time do we spend sitting around thinking about what it is that ‘we’ can do to overcome the circumstances and the situations our lives are in? Each process is simply a step towards self-realization and a step away from a vigorous life of abandon to the cause of Christ.

So did that situation or that issue just happen at random in your life? Is that how we look at our present state of affairs? If you are like me, you start questioning the steps you took to get to where you currently are: ‘If I only would have ignored that email.’ ‘If I only would have turned right instead of left.’ ‘If I only would have…” Issue by issue we act as if it all happens by random chance. I am not speaking as if God brings every situation in our path. I truly believe that we do lead ourselves in many of the directions that our lives take. My thoughts are focusing on when we face these issues and circumstances whether God delivered or self caused is how do we view our journey while in the midst and what is our viewpoint on the backside when we have come through it.

Oswald Chambers proposes that a spiritually vigorous Christ Follower looks at the issues in his life not as a random occurrence, but as an opportunity to grow in our knowledge of the One we say we follow, Jesus Christ. This is a step away from self-realization and a step towards total reliance on Christ. This is not easy, in fact it is very difficult. However, any situation (whether self caused or God led) can serve as an opportunity to know Christ more.

“Lord, I was just lied to, betrayed, stabbed in the back, and wounded…reveal yourself to me!”
“Lord, my parents are going through a messy divorce…reveal yourself to me!”
“Lord, I lost my job and cannot pay my bills…reveal yourself to me!”
“Lord, my child has has abandoned you for the world…reveal yourself to me!”

Oh, how this is easier said than done. If it were up to us, we would remove every circumstance and issue that required faith on our part, we would settle for everything we could handle on our own and only for the things that we could provide an answer for. Christianity is a faith life and that faith leads us to rely on someone who is greater than we are when life is not the way we like it. This faith life is not for the prideful; surrender requires humility to understand that we are weak when standing on our own, but through the life of Christ that indwells us, we can make it to the other side. In the end, do we strive to make it on the other side to say ‘I beat an illness?’ Or to say ‘my marriage was restored?’ Or is our motive to say ‘Now I know Jesus a little more.’

I have recently experienced some things in my life that are rather confusing and I am asking Jesus, ‘how can I know you more through this?’ But also, with a new baby on the way and uncertainty in my ministry and career path, I want to get to the other side and be able to say, ‘I know my Jesus a little more now!’

Join the Conversation: What are you facing right now, that in the end will lead you to know Jesus even more?

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Influences (Part 1)

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?