Testimony Tuesday: Craig Suglia

God Gold of the day

First I want to say thank you to Joe Dean for letting me share what God has done in my life and is continuing to do now. It is still crazy to me how God has used a simple accountability question to Jordan to reach people for His glory. Just want to say how proud I am of my brotha Jordan for listening to Gods call on his life and how he has been SO COMMITTED to this and to watch it grow has been a joy to see.

Some things I have learned throughout my life and looking back is; God has always had a plan for me, one that is to prosper not to harm to give me a hope and a future (Jer 29:11) and something I was told by my Papa was to always keep my eyes on Him (Hebrews 12:2).

My life started out from a very sad situation. My mom had 4 miscarriages losing 5 children in the process which led my parents to adopt. They had people in their church at the time rally around them in prayer in such a trying time. One family gave my parents some of the money to be able to adopt me and that’s where my life started. I was adopted at 4 months old from Seoul, South Korea. Right there looking back tells me God had a plan for me out of the millions of children and millions of parents I could have went to I went to a loving Christian home with 2 parents who loved God and loved me.

I grew up in church went every time the doors were open. At the young age of 5 I asked my mom how I could spend eternity with Jesus. I knew I did not want to spend forever away from Him and I certainly did not want to spend eternity with the devil. So I was saved at 5 and baptized when I was 8 years old. From when I was saved to 7^th grade I was a “good Christian boy” I went to church, youth group, went the Christian school, well behaved, and I kept myself busy with sports. 8^th grade came and I was going to public school and I knew it was going to be very different from Christian school so I wanted to make sure I got in with the “popular kids” and that is where I put my identity. That started the trend of me putting my identity in things that would not bring me true joy and purpose in life. To be honest it worked I was popular, but also led me to make poor decisions with smoking weed and drinking some at a young age to be “cool”. I took this same attitude to my new school (Christian school) in New Jersey when I moved in 10^th grade and this time I put my identity in being an athlete. When things weren’t going as good as I wanted my junior year I put so much pressure on myself I turned to weed for some relief. I ended up getting caught and getting suspended for 3 months and being let back just to get suspended again for cheating on a test. That time in my life I was pretty low and turned to God for help, but at the time my relationship with Him was more like a genie I went to Him with my wants when I needed Him. So I stayed low key my senior year and just wanted to be done with HS because I had college soccer to look forward to again putting my identity in being an athlete. I ended up leaving the school I planned to play college soccer and transferred to North Greenville. Where I had no identity and I had to find one quick since sports were gone and I became a partier a started just living for the next time I was able to hang with my friends. That lasted all the way to junior year of college. I had just left the football team and really found no fun in partying anymore I really did not know what I was supposed to do. I started praying more and reached out to Jordan to keep me accountable in that and my hidden sins. From there my relationship with Christ became just that a relationship. I was beginning to figure out what was really important in life and I found my true identity I am a CHILD OF GOD. I won’t say it has been smooth sailing since then, but I rely on Christ in my situations now and have learned to “control the controlables” something my HS basketball coach saying thousands of times. This life and relationship with Christ is definitely a journey and yes maybe I would have changed some decisions, but God has had a plan for it and used it for His glory. So how I try to live my life now is to keep my eyes on Jesus, control the controlables, and know that God has a plan for my life.

Testimony Tuesday: Sarah Rogers

God Gold of the day

Blessed Plans.

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” –Jeremiah 29:11

Have you ever looked back on your life and seen the good come from tough times? Even if you didn’t know how tough they actually were? As I have grown out of my younger years, I have seen and felt this verse, Jeremiah 29:11, to be some of the most true and comforting words. I can say that because as I reflect back on how the Lord has worked in my life, I know there has always been a plan. There has always been a purpose even in tough times. 

I was blessed to grow up in the household that I did. I come from a long line of strong Christ-centered households. Households that prayed before meals, before bedtime, in good times and bad times. Households that went to church together, served together, and grew together. But, even though I was fully surrounded and poured into, I still had growth to do in my own personal walk with God. 

Wednesday nights became a favorite night of the week because that meant Youth Group was happening. I was blessed to grow up in a church in Lexington, SC. A church with a family focus and where pouring into children was seen as essential. Everything from leadership, games, friends, and trips, were, in my opinion, THE BEST. Starting in middle school, I loved being there. I loved growing there. I was challenged to grow in my faith. I was taught lessons about spreading the gospel, reaching the lost, serving others, you name it. It was through those experiences that I decided to ask Jesus into my heart. To repent of my sins. To be saved. 

As late high school started, even as fun and exciting my church life was, other areas of my life became just as ‘fun’.  Areas that involved making decisions that did not reflect the life of someone who followed Christ. Someone who had a growing relationship with him. My priorities shifted. If you would have asked me then if I was happy at that time, my answer probably would have been yes. Looking back now, I know that was going down the wrong path. I know that path would have taken me far from Jesus.

BUT GOD. God’s plan was bigger for me. God had more of a purpose for me. God had more blessings to come. College was a game changer. College brought me a community of girls that were strong in their faith. College brought reminders of God’s faithfulness. College brought restoration and growth in my relationship with him. I was reminded that living a life for Christ is ongoing. It takes work. It takes investing. But man is it worth it! The reward is so big! Complete salvation. Free from all the pains of this world. 

God is not done with me. He is still teaching me, growing me, and working in my life. God is still placing people and opportunities in my life to show me He has a plan. He is constantly bringing me to the foot of the cross as a reminder that the work has been done and I am forgiven. I just have to trust Him.

If this is true for me, then it is true for you too. I encourage you today to reflect back on your life. Think of the tough times, was there any good that came from it? That’s the Lord at work in your life. That’s His reminder to you that you are loved and He has a plan for your life. That plan ends with you being back with Him. 

Testimony tuesday

God Gold of the day

I started out as a young boy always going to church with my family. Seemed like I was always finding the right words to say, showing up every time the doors were open, and always appearing like I had it all together. That was always what I was taught to do. I quickly found out that I couldn’t rely on my parents faith to get me to heaven. I had to believe in Christ and what He did for me for myself. Because I was always around church, it was easy for me to think in my head, “I’m going to heaven” because I was around all the Jesus stuff all the time. But I still didn’t know exactly what to do. So at 8 years old I got saved. It’s what I was always encouraged to do, my friends were doing it, so I did it.                                

Throughout high school I fell into this trap of just going through the motions. I would wake up, say my prayers, go throughout my day thinking nothing about The Lord and then say my prayers before bed. THIS WENT ON FOR 4 YEARS. There was so much wandering and wasted time that could have been spiritual growth. I came to a point in my life when I was eager to seek The Lord, I was just very unsure of how to go about it honestly. I never had anyone really come along side me and teach me how understand what I was reading, how to really surrender myself to The Father in prayer, and continually walk and grow in my faith. This continued to happen until I went to college. Stagnant is what I like to call it. 

When I made it to college, it was a game changer. I knew that I wanted to go to school somewhere that was going to have a lasting impact on my life. I was tired of pretty much putting on a happy church face on Sunday’s and then kind of doing my own thing during the week. So I had a mentor come along side of me! Man did that make a huge difference in my personal walk with The Lord. I was able to honor The Father in everything, not focusing on myself but how he could use this broken person to do His PERFECT WORK! I was wanting to learn and grow as much as possible! 

Then, The Lord really tested me. I came home to my parents splitting up. The perfect picture of love/relationship/marriage that I had ever seen. Completely gone in a moment. I remember thinking that afternoon after everything settled down, “God I know that you are the only one I can run to. You are all I have.   I promise, as angry as I am right now to fully trust you in each and every situation in my life, no matter how hard or for how long. I know that you have me in your mighty hand.” 

Ever since that day, I have actually LIVED for Christ. I wanted to go tell everyone how he restored me. How he was always there in the midst of my spiritual blindness. It took me being completely broken from what I thought was perfect (my family) to see who the perfect one is. 

Golden Interview w/ Travis Dixon

God Gold of the day

What’s going on God Gold family!

I am excited to share with you today a God Gold message that is the first of it’s kind! After seeking ways to bring you the Gospel of Jesus in this Easter season, God opened up an opportunity to share with you a real-life experience of how powerful and life-changing the Good News of what Jesus has done can be in our lives! Thankful for my good friend, Travis Dixon, sharing with us today his story on how Jesus turned his world upside down in the best way possible!

Hope today’s message is a blessing to you and opens you up to see the truth of what Jesus has done for me and you in a BIGGER way than ever before! I promise you, you DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!!! Grab your morning coffee or a bowl of popcorn and check out the video below to hear of how AWESOME Jesus is!!!

Hope you enjoyed today’s message! Big thanks to Travis for taking the time to share his story and heart with us!

If something from today’s message resonated with you, shoot me a message, share any thoughts or feedback you have on how this message impacted you and show my boy Travis some love!

If you find yourself wanting to take that next step to follow Jesus, maybe you don’t know what that looks like or you have questions. PLEASE don’t be afraid to contact me on the God Gold FaceBook or Blog page, my phone number is listed on both! I’d love to pray with you, answer any questions you may have and help you walk through this step!

Or, if you know someone who doesn’t know Jesus, share this message with them today! Who knows, maybe it’s the day they hear the Good News of Jesus in a way that meets them right where they are at and changes their lives forever!!! Remember, keep sharing God’s Gold with those He’s placed around you! Let’s make Jesus famous together, one message, one person at a time!!! Hope you have a great day!