Partying 101 April 28, 2009
Posted by clintcarter in Family, Friends, Life.1 comment so far
We went to a wedding for our good friends (Ferro and the Swiss Miss) on Saturday night. After the wedding we partied like it was 1999 – which incidentally was the year Carey and I got married. We got there early and were some of the last to leave. After the slow dances, Josh and Andrea had the Carter Clan join them on the dance floor to kick off the party with the Cha Cha Slide. From that point on The Carter 4, ruled the dance floor. They must have danced for 3 hours straight. Madi had obviously been working on her moves from High School Musical. Emma makes up her own moves. Payton spent a huge chunk of time break dancing (I think he gets it from his mother). And Alli was passed from person to person.
I’m going to get thoughtful on you here. As I was sitting around on Saturday night, enjoying the atmosphere and all of our closest KC friendships, I realized that the gospel is all about infiltrating lives. As I looked around I saw clearly that I had infiltrated the lives of my friends and they had infiltrated mine. I cared about them. I wanted the best for them and I wanted to be apart of that process.
Jesus was and is all about infiltrating lives. The difference is that He inflitrated the lives of people who were nothing like Him. I tend to gravitate toward those with whom I share some type of affinity. Specifically those who are Christ followers. And that is the bane of my attempt to be like Jesus.
I grew up with an understanding that God wanted us to be called out and separate from the world – which is partly true. It is true that as we imitate Him our lives are going to look different and will set us apart from cultural norms. However, He by no means desires that we stiff arm those that don’t know Him. And that’s exactly what I grew up doing.
As I sat there at the wedding reception I recognized that in order to be like Jesus, infiltration needs to happen with those who are far from Him. I need to get into their lives and I need to invite them into mine. I need to be sitting at their parties, attending their weddings, and just doing life with them. This makes me uncomfortable on many fronts, but I really don’t have a choice in the matter. I gave up my way and my comfort when I surrendered my life to Christ. I am His now and I need to walk in His steps.
Mentors February 20, 2009
Posted by clintcarter in Friends, Leadership, Life.add a comment
On Wednesday of this week I got to spend time with 2 of my mentors from high school. These are guys that have been in the local church for years and have ministered with integrity and focus on what’s most important. In fact, chances are that apart from their interest and investment in my life, I probably wouldn’t be in ministry.
I was challenged and inspired due to my time with them this week. They were excited to hear our story of God’s call and provision in regards to church planting. They strongly encouraged me in our endeavor and asked me to keep them informed.
These are 2 very busy guys, and the fact that they took time to see me on short notice spoke volumes. People matter most – not projects, plans and schedules. I hope to model my life after theirs and keep the main thing the main thing. Their continued investment in my life challenges me to continue to invest myself in others.
Welcome to the world July 11, 2008
Posted by clintcarter in Friends.1 comment so far
My friend and intern, Curtis, just entered the mighty world of blogs. No he is not interning to be my friend, although I do have a 5 month program for that if anyone is interested:)
Check out his first post here
The video on his first post is sweet. You need to check it out. It’s 2 minutes long. As I watched the first half I thought “this isn’t anything special” and then half-way through I thought “Oooooh”. So it’s pretty cool.
