West Virginia Meeting In August

I have scheduled my first-ever revival meeting in the state of West Virginia at the end of August.  In fact, this will be my first visit to the "Mountaineer State".  I will be preaching at North Fork Baptist Church in Riverton beginning at 11am on Sunday, August 29, 2010.  The services will continue at 7pm Sunday-Wednesday night September 1st.  For more information or directions call Pastor Dan Powers at (304) 567-2015.

Youth Rally Saturday In Alachua

I will be preaching during a youth worship service at New Oak Grove Baptist Church this Saturday, July 31, 2010.  A meal will be served at 6:30pm ($3/person) and the service will begin around 7pm.  James Desuyo will be leading the music for the service.  The church is located at 18100 NW 262nd Ave. near Alachua, Florida.  If a youth group from your church is planning to attend please call Youth Pastor Billy Poyner at (386) 462-3390 to allow for adequate food preparation .

Preaching In Graham, FL This Sunday

I will be preaching at Praise Christian Assembly near Graham on Sunday, August 1, 2010.  The morning worship service begins at 10:30am.  Praise Christian Assembly is located on County Road 18 east of Graham, Florida.

Impatient Computer

Youth Rally At New Oak Grove On Saturday

I will be preaching during a youth worship service at New Oak Grove Baptist Church this Saturday, July 31, 2010.  A meal will be served at 6:30pm ($3/person) and the service will begin around 7pm.  James Desuyo will be leading the music for the service.  The church is located at 18100 NW 262nd Ave. near Alachua, Florida.  For more information call Youth Pastor Billy Poyner at (386) 462-3390.

Drive To Church

The Back Pew

JCEA Directors On Mission

Two members of the James Croft Evangelistic Association Board of Directors leave this weekend on foreign mission trips and one returns from a two week trip.

Greg Lyons (left) of Lyons & Lyons C.P.A. in Macclenny, Florida returns from Honduras this weekend after a two week stay.  He volunteers with team members from International Mission Builders of Macclenny on church construction and evangelistic activities.  Greg makes regular trips to Honduras and Haiti.

A new IMB team will leave for Honduras on Saturday including Terry Elixson (right), pastor of New Oak Grove Baptist Church in Alachua, Florida.  This group will conduct a Vacation Bible School in a church they helped construct in May of this year.  The team will also minister in an orphanage and some of the public schools in the country.  Other team members on this trip include volunteers from Sardis Baptist Church of Worthington Springs, FL., First Baptist Church of Lake Butler, FL., and Bethel United Methodist Church of Lake City, FL.

Brian Mimbs (left), pastor of Chapel Hill Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida will be on mission with Orphans Heart, the international ministry arm of Florida Baptist Children's Homes in Guatemala.  Chapel Hill Baptist Church is in a 3-year partnership to rehabilitate a nearly-defunct malnutrition center for children northeast of Guatemala City.  In the past 18 months, the center has been able to increase its capacity from 6 children to nearly 50.  The team from Chapel Hill Baptist departs today for a week of mission work.

Please join us in praying for these teams as they travel, minister to others and carry out the Great Commission.

Cedar Creek In Sanderson This Sunday

I will be preaching in supply for Pastor Wayne Williams at Cedar Creek Church on Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 11am.  The church is located at 14742 County Road 124 north of Sanderson, Florida.

Speaking To Youthful Offenders Today

I am scheduled to speak at Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler, Florida today at 12:45pm.  The presentation will be a motivational address to youthful offender inmates.

A Last Farewell

Our Daily Bread

I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. —2 Timothy 4:6

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, 47-year-old Randy Pausch returned to Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a final lecture to colleagues, students, and friends. The professor of computer science thought that perhaps 150 people might show up. Instead the 400-seat auditorium was packed. For an hour, Randy opened his heart to them in a humorous, insightful, and moving farewell that was focused more on living than dying. Within weeks, the videotaped lecture had been seen by millions on the Internet and later became the seed of a bestselling book. Those facing death often have an unusually clear perspective on what is truly important in life.

The apostle Paul’s last farewell has inspired countless followers of Christ through the centuries. “The time of my departure is at hand,” wrote Paul. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:6-7). Paul’s instruction to Timothy spans the ages to challenge us as well. The letter begins and ends with God’s grace (1:2; 4:22) and in between is a celebration of the unceasing faithfulness of God.

A message from the dying can give purpose to the living. Paul’s triumphant finale, “To Him be glory forever and ever” (4:18), is a message we can all live by.

Do we live our lives for what will last
Or for what will fade away?
Are we striving for the world’s praise
Or for Christ’s “well done” one day? —Sper

If we are ready to die, we are ready to live.

One Day A Week Job

The Back Pew

Cedar Creek Tomorrow

I will be preaching in supply for Pastor Wayne Williams at Cedar Creek Church tomorrow at 11am.  The church is located at 14742 County Road 124 north of Sanderson, Florida.

Follow Me On Twitter

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Do You Have A Presence On The Web?

Have you been considering creating a website for your church, business, organization or for personal use? Have you been considering registering a domain name for your new site or maybe an additional domain name for an existing site? Do you have an existing website and domain name, but you're wondering if you're paying too much? Well, if you answered "yes" to any of these questions, I invite you to check-out my online business called Giant Web Plans.

You'll find very competitive prices for various levels of hosting plans and website enhancement tools, as well as domain registrations and transfers. If you're not exactly sure what you need, a knowledgeable representative is just a phone call away 24 hours a day. Giant Web Plans also offers around-the-clock tech support to help you with any questions that may arise.

Please visit Giant Web Plans if you're considering a presence on the World Wide Web or just looking to enhance the one you have. If you're not in need of these services at this time, but know of someone that is, I would appreciate you passing this information along.

Consultant Needed

New Oak Grove Youth Service

I will be preaching during a youth worship service at New Oak Grove Baptist Church on Saturday, July 31, 2010.  A meal will be served at 6pm ($3/person) and the service will begin around 6:45pm.  James Desuyo will be leading the music for the service.  The church is located at 18100 NW 262nd Ave. near Alachua, Florida.  For more information call Youth Pastor Billy Poyner at (386) 462-3390.

Cedar Creek Church On Sunday

I will be preaching in supply for Pastor Wayne Williams at Cedar Creek Church on Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 11am.  The church is located at 14742 County Road 124 north of Sanderson, Florida.

Extreme Makeover

"Camp Rocks" Next Week

I have been asked by Pastor Johnny Hobbs of Pine Grove Congregational Methodist Church to speak at the church's upcoming youth camp.  I will be speaking during the camp worship rally at "Camp Rocks" youth camp Monday-Thursday, July 12-15, 2010 each night at 7pm.  The church is located at 15105 NE CR199 near Raiford, Florida.

No Consequences

Ministry E-mail Newsletters

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Preaching Schedule

An e-mail will be sent each time an event is added to Evangelist James Croft's ministry schedule.

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Research reveals value of event evangelism

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Block parties, festivals and other evangelistic events are essential ingredients for effective churches, according a study by the Scarborough Center for Baptist Church Planting at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in conjunction with the North American Mission Board.

"Our findings suggest that many of our nation's most effective evangelistic churches are utilizing attractional evangelistic events," said Jerry Pipes, team leader for mass evangelism at NAMB.

WHAT THE STUDY REVEALED

Several common denominators emerged among highly effective churches:

-- They sponsor more holiday-related, revival-like and sports and recreation evangelistic events than any other types (in that order). More than half sponsor revival-like evangelistic events.

"We define evangelistic events as special events, which intentionally draw lost people through relationships and attraction, clearly present the Gospel and provide an invitation to respond," Pipes said.

Read more of this story at Baptist Press.

What We Do

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FBC Macclenny On Sunday

I will be preaching in supply for Pastor Edsel Bone at First Baptist Church of Macclenny this Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 10:45am and 6pm.  The morning service is also broadcast on WJXR 92.1 FM beginning at 11am.  The church is located at 372 S. 6th. Street in Macclenny, Florida.  For more information or directions call the church at (904) 259-2933.

Lake Butler First On Wednesday

I will be preaching in supply for Pastor Jason Johns at First Baptist Church of Lake Butler on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 6:30pm.  The church is located 195 East Main Street in Lake Butler, Florida.  For more information or directions call the church at (386) 496-3704.

True Freedom

Our Daily Bread

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. —Galatians 5:1

In 1776, the 13 British colonies in North America protested the limitations placed on them by the king of England and engaged in a struggle that gave birth to a brand-new republic. The infant nation soon adopted that now-famous document known as the Declaration of Independence.

Almost 2,000 years ago, the Lord Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” proclaiming the believer’s “declaration of independence.” All of humanity was under the tyranny of sin and death. But Christ, the sinless One, took our place on Calvary and died for our sins. Having satisfied God’s righteous demands, He now sets free for eternity all who trust in Him.

Paul wrote, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). Romans 8 assures us, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus . . . . For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (vv.1-2). Galatians 5:1 urges all who have been redeemed to “stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free.”

We are thankful to God for any freedom we enjoy in a nation. But above all, believers everywhere can praise Him for the freedom that is found in Christ!

Now are we free—there’s no condemnation!
Jesus provides a perfect salvation;
“Come unto Me,” O hear His sweet call!
Come—and He saves us once for all. —Bliss

Our greatest freedom is freedom from sin.

A Good Mood?

Ghana's Black Stars shine at World Cup

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (BP)--A team that prays together plays well together, or so it seems for Ghana's national soccer team, the Black Stars, who have advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals.

Of six African nations that qualified for the World Cup, Ghana is the only one still in the tournament. The Black Stars get their name from the country's flag, which features a black star in its center amid three horizontal stripes -- red, yellow and green.

"What I've noticed, more than anything, about the Black Stars is they are a team in every sense of the word," writer Jeff Bradley noted in an article for ESPN The Magazine.

"From their pregame -- and postgame, and halftime, and pre-training and post-training -- songs and prayers, to their disciplined adherence to [coach] Rajevac's rigid system that features a single striker, they are true believers that the whole can be greater than the sum of its individual pieces," Bradley wrote.

Read more of this story on Baptist Press.

Independence Day At Morriston Baptist

I will be preaching in supply for Pastor Keith Stewart this Sunday, July 4th at Morriston Baptist Church.  The services will begin at 8:30am and 11am.  The church is located at 20291 SE 33rd Street in Morriston, Florida.  For more information call the church at (352) 528-4080.

Company Memo

Notice: Our company requires no further physical fitness programs. Everyone gets enough exercise:

    * Jumping to conclusions
    * Beating around the bush
    * Running down the boss
    * Going around in circles
    * Dragging their feet
    * Dodging responsibility
    * Passing the buck
    * Climbing the wall
    * Wading through paperwork
    * Pulling strings
    * Throwing their weight around
    * Stretching the truth
    * Bending the rules
    * Pushing their luck
    * Starting the ball rolling
    * Bending over backwards
    * Balancing the books
    * Jumping on the bandwagon and
    * Putting their foot in their mouth

Sounds like some churches too.  8-)