The "S" word....

 

Who's to do list....mine or God's?

 

What is your "gift"?

 

Happy Monday

 

Facing challenges....

 

Juneteenth!

Exercise your faith!

To my graduates

I love God!

Why love God? Why not is the better question! How can we not love God makes even more sense!

We love Him because he first loved us! (1 John 4:19).

Many of us throw the word love around a lot. 

• "I love you." 
• "I love you more." 
• "I loved you first!"

Well, God can tell us all that He loved us first and more than anyone ever could love anyone!

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Once we learn to love God, it makes life make sense. We can navigate through the ups and downs of life knowing our Creator loves us despite ourselves and this world. We can turn to Him for encouragement, forgiveness, confidence, and peace. 

I love God . . . Do you love God? 

Carroll Family Outreach Summer 24 update

A teacher never really rests...

 Ok...summer break has arrived. As a teacher, it is a time for rest, relaxation, and time away from the classroom and kids. Yet as a bible teaching evangelist, I am always in contact with current and former students and always searching for new ways to reach them for Christ. I enjoy the break, but embrace the time to plan as well. This teacher never really rests!

"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." (James 3:1)

You see, this generation of young adults has no church foundation. Many are not raised in typical CHRISTian homes. Most do not attend church. The only Gospel many of my students hear and see is through my fellow teachers and me at our school. This is a burden I cherish and embrace. . . but it is challenging and at times lonely and tiresome. Yet, I thank God for it.

Please pray for my wife and me as we plan this summer how to reach another group of young adults in the coming year. We are asking God and planning for:

• exciting lessons, 
• challenging projects
• souls to be saved, 
• students who are saved to mature in Christ
• a successful mission trip in the summer of 2025
•  and decisions to be made for careers in CHRISTian service.

The work never stops...until Christ returns!

Thank you and God bless you!

Jc4kids@gmail.com 

What God has for me . . . .

We hear it in CHRISTian circles often: What God has for me is for me. It is so true. As we go through life, we pray about this and that concerning our lives. Often we wonder why someone else received the promotion or was granted a favor or two rather than us. As I have been told several times in life, I have to trust the process . . . . God's process. Listen to these words of Paul:

No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen,what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived” . . . the things God has prepared for those who love him . . . these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:7-10)

Just as Paul wrote, we read in  Jeremiah 29:11 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2029%3A11&version=NIV) that God indeed has a plan for each of us that even the sharpest mind cannot conceive. His plans are awesome and perfect . . . if we are careful to follow after Him and not this world. Boy does that take patience and perseverance! The key to these verses is that as we grow to love God more deeply and live in His purpose for our lives and not our own plans, He will indeed carry out His plans. 

If I truly want what God has for me, then I must trust His plans  . . . His will . . . and and not my own.  He will do what He says He will do! (Phil. 1:6)

Correction is good.

Correction is good! 

Can I be honest with you? 

I know none of us . . . young or old . . . including me, enjoys being corrected. If you are like me, when confronted, I tend to excuse my errors or worse; point out what others may be doing wrong as well. Misery loves company. I will diminish my wrongdoing even to the point of blaming others or deflecting my wrongs. Does that sound like you as well?

As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. (Proverbs 27:17)

If we do not accept criticisms or corrections, we will continue doing things wrong. We will not grow. Worse yet, we could come to failure or calamity. As with sports, the only way to do things right is to do things right. If we are failing due to an incorrect method, then we will continue to fail. Correction is good, no matter how it hurts. How we point out others' misgivings is the key. We do it in love!

Spiritually speaking, we all need correction. As sinners, there is only one way, one Person to an eternal relationship with God the Father . . . Jesus. To know Him is to accept His correction and repent of our sin. He died and rose from the grave as a price for our sin debt. To be corrected . . . or cleansed . . . we must repent and believe in Him!

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)

Accept Jesus today and turn from sin.

Finish well . . . honor God.

As Paul was coming to the end of his life, in chains for preaching the Truth, he had only one thought in mind  . . .  

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

Whether we are finishing a project, completing a task at home, ending the school year (like many fellow teachers), or ending a high school or college journey (like many students today), we must remember that we are to finish well. 

As believers and followers of Christ, we are called to do all we do with excellence. We are not to limp to the finish line, but rather, run through it! Paul desired to honor God until the very end of his life, even though he was in chains for doing what God called him to do. Often, we feel chained, bound, and held captive by the current morals and principles of this world. We cannot allow this to hold us back and cause us to withdraw. We must push through and continue to do the right thing. 

So meet those deadlines. Finish that project. Complete the work. Walk across that stage. Finish well . . . Honor God! There is always a new task ahead . . .