My name is Jeff Carver - I run the ElevenTalents.com and SpiritualGiftsTest.com websites. I would first like to thank you for visiting and using this site. My wife Michelle and I have been happily married since September 27, 2003. I have been involved in youth ministry since 2003 and Michelle has served in youth ministry and the food ministry. I recently graduated from Liberty Theological Seminary with an M.A.R. and will continue on in the M.Div. program. Our call is to start a church in Southern California near our hometown of Rancho Cucamonga. We attend The Vine Church in Rancho Cucamonga and truly thank God for what he has been doing in our lives since we've been here.

In 2003, the Lord placed on my heart the desire to create and freely distribute a spiritual gifts test. So I decided to start this website to accomplish just that! The test is modeled after one we took at our previous church, Community Baptist Church of Alta Loma, California. Both the site and the spiritual gifts test have been blessings to me and my family along with many others. I have studied (and still do) this subject in depth to gain a better understanding of spiritual gifts and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Through Him all believers are given gifts for the glory of God. God has allowed me to serve Him in this way, and I am deeply grateful.

ELEVEN TALENTS - THE NAME

The name Eleven Talents came to me from the parable that Jesus speaks of in the the book of Matthew about the talents. Though it is a general parable about stewardship of the grace that God has given to all of us, each time I read Matthew 25:14-30 I am reminded of my spiritual gifts and the fact that believers are called to be good stewards of them. We are told to use them to "bear much fruit" that lasts. In the parable, a talent is a unit of measurement. It equaled about 75 pounds of coinage. This would be the equivalent of 15 years of normal wages for one person. This was a big responsibility to each of the servants in the parable. The master was leaving on a journey and to one of his servants gave 5 talents, to another 2 talents, and to another 1 talent according to their ability. What happened when the master came back to settle accounts was this: the first two servants had put the money to use and were able to double their amounts, but the servant with one talent hid his master's money and was afraid to use it. So his talent was taken from him and given to the one who had ten talents. And that servant was called lazy and wicked and was thrown "into the outer darkness." It is my desire to be like the first two servants and take the risk in using my spiritual gifts while encouraging others to do the same. Let us be glad that we have gifts from God who will use us for His purposes.