The other pastor September 15, 2009
Posted by clintcarter in Church Planting, God.1 comment so far
At Crosstown Church we believe in leadership by a team of Biblically qualified elder/pastors. As of right now there are 2 of us. Ben and me. There will be more someday, but for now there’s not.
One of my favorite things about Ben is his ability to teach God’s Word. Right now on Sunday nights we’re doing a hybrid between a Bible study and a worship service. Sometimes the preacher in Ben starts coming out and I absolutely love it. I love his passion for God and the Scriptures. His wisdom and depth of insight continually amaze me. God shows me something new every time I sit under Ben’s teaching.
Sunday night he was talking about serving God and brought up the passage where Jesus says “you can’t serve both God and money.” We talked about what it means to serve money and that you don’t serve money by doing something for it. You serve it by being controlled by it and seeking the delight it can bring you.
Jesus draws a parallel between how we interact with money and how we interact with God. Am I finding delight in God and what He offers? Am I yielding myself to His control? Am I dedicating myself to the pursuit of God?
Thanks Ben for bringing this up and challenging me once again.
California June 17, 2009
Posted by clintcarter in Church Planting, God.add a comment
So I’m in California this week. Today I played frisbee golf and elbow tag with a bunch of guys that are college campus ministers – really they’re just grown-up youth ministers.
Oh yeah, and I’m going to Missionary Support School everyday from 8-5. Eye-opening teaching on Biblical apologetics for raising support. Some very practical plans of implementation. Plus a whole lot of role playing and working through our presentations.
On the front side I really wondered if raising support could be done in a way that both honors God and the individuals. After 2 days I’m convinced not only that it can be, but that it’s a privilege to share what God is doing and invite people to be apart of that. If God has truly called us (which I believe He has) to fulfill His plans in OKC – than supporting His purposes is one of the wisest investments possible. And in fact, as I’ve listened to the stories of these other missionaries and the work that God has called them to, I want to give to their visions. Once I get home and talk with Carey, we will be choosing some of them to partner with by investing in God’s kingdom work through them.
One thing that stuck with me from our commissioning service last month. The speaker said “You need to pray more for missions. You need to give more to missions. You need to go more and be personally involved in missions.” And he said this to a room full of people that were giving their lives to full time missions service! And he was absolutely right. I need to be doing all three of those things in ever increasing measure for the rest of my life. Regardless of how much I am praying, giving, or going, I always need to be challenged, encouraged, and inspired to do more.
And that is taking place this week.
Overtaking you May 6, 2009
Posted by clintcarter in God.3 comments
From my time in the Bible this week, came across this verse. It’s one of the coolest I’ve seen in a while.
“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.” Deut.28:2
What a cool picture. Getting chased and caught by blessings.
Gary on the kick drum May 3, 2009
Posted by clintcarter in God, Humor.add a comment
What is it that makes you come alive? Are you doing something about it? I love watching the guy in this clip – both because he is hysterical and because he is intense when it comes to singing. And he’s not content just to talk about it. He’s so passionate that he has to act on it and share it with those around him. As a Christ follower – the gospel (the good news that Jesus proclaimed) should compel us to act on it and share it with those around us. Does the gospel move you and me to this end? If not perhaps we need to re-examine the significance of what Jesus said and did.
One important distinction between the actions in the video clip and what we’re called to do: I don’t think God intends for us to make those around us uncomfortable. Now it’s true that there are times when His Word will make some uncomfortable, and that’s fine – there are times it makes me uncomfortable. However, many times the reason people are turned off by Christians has nothing to do with the message. Don’t blame the gospel for your weirdness or your impertinence.
The Big Day April 11, 2009
Posted by clintcarter in Family, God.1 comment so far
We drove down to Ft. Worth on Saturday to spend Easter with my family. We’ve missed spending the last 7 Easters with them because we lived in Missouri. Looking forward to being with my siblings and their families. The egg hunt should be pretty wild with 10 kids under the age of 9 – plus their calling for thunderstorms in the area tomorrow afternoon so we’ll need to put rubber soles on the children and make sure their baskets don’t contain any metal 
I wish Easter had the type of intro that Christmas gets. You know, we could start listening to Easter songs right after Valentine’s Day. The stores could be stocked with Easter stuff (oh, wait never mind). Seriously, I do think there is some value in the crescendo toward an important date. For a Christ follower, Easter is incredibly significant. It was the proof that Jesus’ message was true and truly good news. I think I connect more so with what Christmas means because I’m prepped for a month before hand. I think Easter could become the same type of celebration – not by secularizing it – but by believers marinating in the truth of what they are celebrating for more than just a Sunday morning. So in that vein – let me leave you something to marinate in.
Discovering God’s Will September 5, 2008
Posted by clintcarter in God, Life.add a comment
I’m currently leading a class on Wednesday nights and we’re using the study “Discovering God’s Will” by Andy Stanley. This is a dynamite study and some really grounded teaching on what the process should look like in each of our lives.
Other than having an ornery group:) – we had some really great discussion this week.
2 big ideas: 1) God has a personal vision for your life. 2) He wants you to know it even more than you do.
So often we (me especially) approach God’s will as something mysterious. We think it’s this big game and God wants us to jump through hoops and solve the clues to figure it out. Or we worry that we’ll miss it if we’re not tuned in enough.
That’s kind of silly. God is the Creator of communication. If he wants us to know something – He’s going to make sure we get it. If you’re at a point in your life where you are looking for some specific direction from God (and you live in the KC area) - I’d invite you to come and join us next Wednesday. If you’re looking for specific direction from God and you live elsewhere – go listen to the podcast of these 4 sermons – you can only find it on i-tunes “North Point Ministries: Andy Stanley”.
More Sweet July 18, 2008
Posted by clintcarter in God, Life.add a comment
“True confessional Christianity is not a propositional faith, but expressional faith. To know something, to communicate something, you have to become something.” I don’t follow Christ to gain greater knowledge or deeper understanding or to tell others what they ought to do. I follow Christ to become something. And I don’t need to try to communicate that something until I allow it to morph who I am.
“A spirituality that does not bring together body and mind is like an unconsummated marriage. It’s a spirituality that could well be annulled.”
Quotes from “The Gospel According to Starbucks” by Leonard Sweet
Starbucks and Jesus July 17, 2008
Posted by clintcarter in Church, Church Planting, God.1 comment so far
- null
Read through Leonard Sweet’s “The Gospel According to Starbucks” this summer with my interns. We had a lot of great discussion about how Sweet’s thoughts interact with what we do.
The point of the book is that Starbucks didn’t set out to reinvent coffee. They aimed to reinvent the coffee experience. And that’s what the church needs to learn – we’re not trying to reinvent Jesus or the Bible – but we do need to experience and present them in a new way that engages our culture.
Excellent book. Much to chew on.
One concept that caught my attention was Starbucks cannibal approach to growth. They will start a new store across the street from an existing store. Why? Because they really believed their credo “Good experiences for the soul”. They were more interested in making sure people had a good experience than packing them in.
There’s a big nugget there for any church to unpack. If life transformation through Christ is really our credo, and we know that it happens best in regular, intimate settings with a few believers; why are we so consumed with packing in the people on Sundays? We’ve lost sight of what the mission is, and replaced it with what we think it should be. I hope to be apart of a group that recognizes that reality and changes it.
“Oh there you are, Clint” June 25, 2008
Posted by clintcarter in Church, God, Life.add a comment
I found myself yesterday. It reminded me of this clip from the movie “Hook”.
It’ll take a little bit of explanation, but hang with me. God has used several communicators to remind me over the last couple of months that spiritual growth and maturity is found in serving others. Getting outside of yourself and being Christ’s hands and feet to those around you. It all clicked in my head last night.
Jump back 15 years. From the time I was 16, well into my mid 20’s, I had people make comments regularly that I had spiritual maturity beyond my years. I never understood what made me different than my peers. But it hit me last night, it was because I was regularly looking for places to serve and people to reach. Coupled with a constant diet of the Word, my spiritual growth was steady. I’m not saying any of this to draw attention to myself. If anyone other than God deserves credit, it would be my mom. From my earliest memories she had us out finding ways to minister and serve others together on a regular basis. It just became apart of who I was.
This revelation also shed light on why my spiritual growth has slowed over the last 5-7 years. As best I can tell, the change began right about the time I started getting paid full time in vocational ministry. The water began to get murky for me. Suddenly I was getting paid to do, what before I had only done out of service to my King. As I began to view ministry as a paycheck, part of the blessing was stolen. I began to view my service as an extension of my job rather than as an extension of who I was and wanted to be. So if something was outside of my job description, I didn’t feel the need to participate.
Now I’m not saying that the last 5-7 years haven’t been filled with some authentic ministry moments, because they have. But I want to return to the place where I constantly serve out of love and gratitude to my heavenly Father. Where I reach out to others, not because I have to out of obligation to my paycheck, but I have to because there’s something burning inside of me to be who Christ has called me to be.
I realize this won’t come like the flip of a light switch. I’ve been thinking of it incorrectly for several years so it will probably take a while to adjust my mindset. But I feel like that moment in the movie “Hook”. I’ve seen something in myself that has been dormant and hidden, and I can’t wait to rediscover it.
The Fog Blog June 6, 2008
Posted by clintcarter in God, Life.1 comment so far
Had partial knee reconstruction this morning. I am still under the influence of the anesthia, so I thought it would be fun to post something. Had lots of people praying for me because needles and blood just freaks me out. If you were one of those praying, thank you. It wasn’t fun, but they were able to get the iv in without having to hold me down. After that I really don’t remember anything. Coming too after being knocked out was really weird. I keep falling asleep, even as I’m typing.
God definitely came through for us in all of this. Because it was a workman’s comp claim we didn’t have to foot the bill for any of this. So while hurting my knee wasn’t fun – it happened at the perfect time. I’m praying for complete recovery and maybe I can start playing basketball again without fear of injury.
I’m out.
