Carnell grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina where he attended First Baptist Church and graduated from Terry Sanford high school. He is a 1983 graduate of North Carolina Central University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

While in college he met DeLaine Holland of Charlotte, North Carolina who is now his wife of twenty-two years. Carnell and Delaine have three children, Christian, Alicia, and Grant.

In 1985 Carnell accepted  a job offer to work as a computer programmer for State Farm Insurance Companies in Bloomington, Illinois. He is currently a Systems Analyst with State Farm with 23 years of service.

In 1986 Carnell was ordained as a Deacon at Mt. Pisgah Baptist church where he served for five years until 1991. He joined a newly formed church, New Hope Fellowship, in 1992. One year after the inception of the church the founder relocated and Carnell took over and was ordained as Pastor.

Over his fifteen years as pastor Carnell has faithfully utilized his teaching gift of being able to bring the scripture to life by revealing wonderfully insightful gems mined from the depths of God’s word. His sharing of these timeless principles and their applicability to this current generation challenges attending believers to grow into accountable, productive, and blessed disciples.

Carnell is the creator of the best-selling Christian card game, Amen and another Christian card game, Kingdom. These games have sold over 100,000 copies and are available in Christian bookstores in every English speaking country.

As a regular contributing editorialist for the Bloomington-Normal Newspaper, The Pantagraph, Carnell has rendered Bible-based, thought-provoking articles for the “From the Pulpit” column for over a decade.

Carnell is also the author of the Christian financial stewardship book entitled, Manna-Free Living. This book challenges the Christian to dare to believe that God wants miraculous provision to flow through them and not just to them. Manna-Free Living is a must-read as it is a biblical precursor to becoming debt-free.