Tag: Shane Padgett

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It’s More than Just a Sermon

At New Passion we have been in our Source Code: A Journey through Acts series for a little over a year now. We took a couple of short breaks and picked back up where we left off a couple of months ago.

Today, I preached out of Acts 16, there are several important things that take place in this Chapter, but the best thing about this post is what happened today AFTER I preached this chapter, so keep reading:

  1. Acts 16:6-10 – The Holy Spirit does not permit Paul and Silas to go where THEY want to go. He prevents them from going to the province of Asia and into the north region of what we now know is Turkey. Instead Paul receives a vision from Macedonia and there God would start the church of Philippi through his efforts.
  2. Acts 16:11-35 – God starts to build the church of Philippi with a business woman, Lydia; a (formerly) demon-possessed girl; and a prison guard.
  3. How did God do this? Well, first with Lydia it began by God not giving Paul his way. He closed doors and took away what some would say were opportunities to share the gospel. Paul instead followed the leading of the Spirit, took the time to invest in Lydia, share the gospel and then she believed; Secondly, with the demon-possessed girl, God allowed Paul to be annoyed and frustrated by the demon constantly proclaiming that they were there to preach the message of salvation, through his frustration, Paul casts the demon out of the girl; finally, with the prison guard, God allowed Paul to be arrested for doing God’s work. Through Paul’s example of true, selfless Christianity, the guard believes and is saved. Paul could have looked out for his own neck, but instead he stayed in prison so the guard did not have to lose his.

Here was my point to our people this morning and where my story comes in this afternoon. Who is it that God wants you to stop, take time with and share Jesus with them? That’s your Lydia. Who is it that God is allowing to annoy you? You know that pesky neighbor or co-worker or the aunt you can’t escape from. Maybe he is frustrating you so you’ll share the love of Jesus with them so they might believe. That’s your demon-possessed girl. Finally, and this is where my story comes in today. What situation do you find yourself in where you feel like you are in prison or like your world is falling a part? Who has God surrounded you with in this moment of your life that you can display true Christianity to, so that they might believe and be saved? That’s your prison guard.

Today, I received a tweet from a young man that I have only met once, but got to be with during a week long camp in Jackson, SC, last Summer. I wrote about my experience at the camp in an earlier post, it was amazing! Here’s what his tweet said:

That made my day! I had the privilege of preaching in the service where Noah placed his faith in Jesus for salvation. That in-and-of-itself is awesome, but what makes this story even greater is the fact that I was going through my own “prison experience,” although it was without the orange jump suit and the jail cell.

I was fired (“laid off”) from my job a week before having the opportunity to go speak at this camp. Needless to say, I had a lot on my heart and mind at the time, tons to worry about with a wife, three kids and bills. I didn’t get my way, God closed a door and allowed me to be placed in a very difficult position, but God placed me in that position at that time for his glory and for the salvation of Noah and anyone else who placed their faith in Jesus for salvation during that week of camp.

Sometimes I wonder if Christians think sermons are just a bunch of fancy talk, but can’t really be applied in their own life and in their specific situations. I think some people get excited to hear a different take on Scripture to bring out a point that they’ve never seen, but by the end of the service, the whole point of the message is lost. Today’s sermon was more than “just a sermon” for me, it was real life, it was my life just a year ago. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to lose my job which freed me up to prepare for a camp where a young man, plus others were saved. Noah, is my modern day prison guard. God used my difficult situation to share Jesus with him. Life is not about me, my job or my comfort; it’s about people seeking and feeling their way towards God to find him (Acts 17:26-27). I want to be a part of helping them find him. Thank you, Shane Padgett for allowing me to be used in the middle of a difficult season and thank you for having such a huge vision for students through PHAT Camp.

What situation do you find yourself in right now? Does it feel like Prison, maybe even Hell? Look around you, those are the people watching you to see how you will respond and how you will act. In the middle of living your faith out, you will have the opportunity to share the answer for your hope. Will you take that opportunity? It’s more than just a sermon….

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The Power of Being Present

It has been rare in my life, especially growing up in the church, that I have met genuine Christ-Followers who I know I can trust and who I know are not a bunch of talk; people who genuinely love Jesus and love people. I count it a privilege every time I get to hangout with my brothers from other mothers, Shane and Drew. I got to do that last night.

Last week, Shane spoke at the Bible study for the substance abuse program I manage. Shane was raw and genuine with the men and he connected with a lot of them on a personal level. Shane had the opportunity to talk with some of the guys after the meeting one-on-one as well. As early as the next day some of the men were asking when Shane was going to return to speak for them again. This group is made up of non-believers, Christians and followers of other faiths (i.e. Islam). These men are not worried about style or appearance or professionalism; things that a lot of us get caught up with in the modern, American church; these men care about being cared about and about others being real with them. Shane made an eternal impact for some of these men because he chose to be present and he preached Jesus.

Last night, Shane and Drew took some time out of their day to play flag football with these same men. We all had a blast, especially since our team destroyed our opponents. Shane tweeted this following the game, “Felt more like a Christ follower tonight playing flag-football than in a long time. #Jesusandfishermen” We didn’t sit down with the men and have a Bible study and we didn’t preach them a message, we simply chose to be present. It is my hope that through our presence these men know that they are loved and cared for, that they are no less of a person than the guy who seemingly has it all together. We laughed with them, we high-fived them, we cheered for them and bragged on them. We communicated through our actions that no matter what they have done, they were still important enough to play football with. Isn’t that how God responds to us? No matter what we we have done, God stepped into our field and put us on his team through his Son, Jesus.

Shane has already shared that message and I can’t wait until Drew gets to share that same message with these men as well. Some would criticize us for not sharing the gospel on the spot, but that’s okay, because we lived it and we have an open door to keep living it and in those moments we speak it, these men will be hungry to listen because they know we love them and our words are supported with loving actions. Drew’s testimony is awesome and I know he is going to reveal Jesus in a powerful way. Drew has already opened the door for these men to hear him out because he made a choice to be present. That’s just one of the reasons I am thankful for my buddies, Shane and Drew, because I can trust them (except for Drew, I don’t trust him around my family and that’s why he has never met them) and they genuinely love Jesus and other people.

Join the Conversation…How can you impact people’s lives eternally by choosing to be present? When is the last time you chose to be present in someone’s life and it led to a great eternal impact as a result of your influence?

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PHAT Camp 2011 Week 2 Recap

If I die before I wake, my life will be complete.

I finally got to be a part of the world famous PHAT Camp last week. PHAT Camp was founded by Shane Padgett and Joshua Glymph; and I must say, both are tremendous leaders. That is evident both in the execution of their vision and through the leaders who serve beside them.

I have to admit that I was nervous leading up to the camp because Shane was sharing with me the legacy of PHAT and how God has brought so many godly young people and now leaders through the camp. I felt fortunate that I had the entire week before camp to prepare for the 5 messages I would be sharing with the students every night during the worship service. I ended up taking around 7-8 total messages just in case the Holy Spirit led in a different direction.

He did.

I ended up only using one of my pre-prepared messages and that was the one I felt missed the spot, but I didn’t feel at liberty to share anything different, so I trust that the Holy Spirit used what I felt was a fumble for his purposes. The Holy Spirit showed up powerfully on Tuesday night, it is a really long story, but with less than an hour to prepare for that night’s service, I felt he laid around four verses on my heart with no time to prepare any notes or thoughts, just Scripture and the impression that a lot of students are not fully surrendering their hearts and lives to Jesus because they’ve surrendered their hearts to sexual immorality. I’m not sure what the Holy Spirit had me say, I really couldn’t replicate it, but I know around 20 students chose life that night by placing their faith in Jesus and about half the rest of the students sought a leader out to repent and pray for whatever it was they were surrendering their hearts to outside of Jesus. I remember praying with one guy who just buried his head in my chest and wept. What I found just as amazing was to step back into the chapel to find the remaining students heads bowed praying for their fellow students who were seeking Jesus; and they stayed praying for a while.

I’ve seen emotional spiritual highs in youth services/camps/retreats before and from my experience, I don’t think this was emotional for most of the students, I believe the Holy Spirit genuinely spoke to them and drew them to himself. There was nothing I could have said or done that night to work in those students lives, how do you talk about sex and 20ish students get saved? That’s God. Tuesday night once the chapel lights were turned out and everything shifted back down the hill to the camp, I couldn’t help but to feel overwhelmingly unworthy to have even stood on that stage that night. For the rest of the week I truly feared standing in the way of what the Holy Spirit wanted to do in the rest of camp. It is truly a sobering reality to know how powerful the Holy Spirit is and how feeble I (mankind) is, what a huge responsibility it is to stand before God’s people to preach HIS Word with such sinful lips and a wicked heart. Tuesday night brought a whole new perspective to my life when it comes to being accountable to preaching the Gospel.

It was a huge honor to be with not only the students at the camp but the leaders as well. It is a joyful thing to be around so many gospel-centered leaders. I have always been challenged to be more passionate in my relationship with Jesus and to love him more when I am around guys like Will Clark, Drew Hall, Shane Padgett and Hank Murphy. I really love those guys and appreciate their heart’s for Jesus. It was great to meet so many great new people as well, people I can’t wait to stay connected with and watch Jesus use in tremendous ways. It was also a huge honor to serve Jesus beside Hank Murphy and his band. Truly anointed.

I walked away from camp excited about our future as a global Church. God continues to show me that we have a passionate generation of students who are going to transform this world through the transforming message of the gospel. I’ve seen it in other student ministries recently as well, and week 2 of PHAT Camp has continued to persuade me! The students of Grace and Greenbrier are special and God is going to use those who surrender their heart to living their life for the glory of God  for some amazing things.

Will you join me in praying for these students as they settle back into normal, everyday life that they would continue to remember that transformation is a process and to keep pressing forward despite the circumstances in life they will face in the days, months and years to come?

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180Weekend at TrueNorth Church Recap

I had the opportunity this weekend and on Wednesday to participate in a movement of God.

A couple of months back Adam asked my friend Shane to speak for TrueNorth Church’s 180 Weekend for their students. Shane was not able to speak because his student ministry at Greenbrier Church was also hosting a similar weekend with their students, but Shane gave Adam my name.

The Theme for 180 was Collide, so I went to their normal Element mid-week service to set things up and give a preview of the weekend. I left on Wednesday really impressed with the genuine worship from both the middle school and the high school, I also left feeling a little nervous. These kids are special and I felt like I may end up hurting what God was trying to do rather than help. After all, the previous two weeks have been CRAZY at home, at work and New Passion. I worked 52 hours the week before 180 at my normal job not including my second job pastoring New Passion and my primary job of husband and dad. I was facing 6 messages between Wednesday and Sunday, so I had no idea what to expect, and for most of the week I just wanted to just stop and shut my eyes. At times I didn’t feel like I had 100% to give this ministry and this special weekend. Of course, God is sovereign and he can use a donkey if he wants to, so I knew He was in control of the weekend.

I thought it was funny to learn that Cliff Jennings was leading worship. I have never heard of Cliff, so I had never met him, however, he is the Worship Leader at Stevens Creek Church in Grovetown. They meet just up the road from us, so here two Grovetown ministers were going to lead at TrueNorth (Come to find out his dad is Gene Jennings, the Executive Pastor at TNC). It’s funny how God puts things together. Let me add right here. Stevens Creek is blessed with a great worship leader, he’s almost as good as Jonothan 🙂 – I got to talk with Cliff for a little bit after the final session, he’s a great guy, and Stevens Creek is blessed to have him.

All I can say is I felt the presence of God strongly at the Blok. A few students shared with me a little of what God was speaking to them from the weekend. If God so chose to use my feebleness, I am truly blessed and thankful.

I have a special place in my heart for North Augusta. My wife and her family are from there, my kids spend the weekends at my mom-in-law’s house there, I lived there for a while, went to school and church over there, and I eat lunch there sometimes. I’ve heard for several years that God is doing something great through TrueNorth, and now I’ve experienced it first hand. I heard things continued over into the Sunday service as well. I cannot wait to watch and see what God does next as they prepare to move onto their new property and continue to take the gospel to the community.

I can only pray that God ignites a fire in New Passion as he has in TrueNorth. Their people are excited, passionate, and the love of Jesus flows through them. I know that God is using their pastor Steve and youth pastor Adam as well as their other leaders greatly. I hope God does the same in Grovetown through New Passion and Stevens Creek what he is doing through TrueNorth.

P.S. We have a bright future. I’ve had the privilege to meet, speak to, and hear from a lot of local students over the last 4+ years, and Jesus has won their hearts and they are going to transform this world like we’ve  never seen before. I just know it!

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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?