Michael Harrison's e-devotion

In the past month I have spend time with two friends that lead Celebrate Recovery ministries at their churches.  CR (Celebrate Recovery) began at Saddleback Church where Rick Warren is pastor.  It is a powerful program that is helping people with all kinds of situations.  Go take a look at it her e: http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/celebraterecovery/default.asp I first had a conversation with Glen .  As we sat at the breakfast table on my recent trip to Oklahoma I was moved to tears by Glen's testimony.  How God is using at Glen and his church, Asbury in Tulsa, is amazing. Another friend of mine, Morgan , spent some time with members of our team at the Catalyst conference.  It was awesome.  Morgan is a church planter from Tennessee and has worked with Raceway Ministries for several years.  In our conversation about DR, I learned how God is leading some of the people at his church to find awesome freedom in Christ. So, I began a short journey that I am still ...

Philippians 1:5  (NLT) ---  for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. Who are your partners in life?  That would be your co-workers or classmates, your parents or spouse, your relatives or neighbors.  All of those people share life with you. Who are your partners in faith?  That could be the people you go to church with and the people you minister with, the people you pray with and the people you study the Bible with and many others. Those partners help us to live life.  They really do.  Our lives would be empty without the partners that God gives us.  For me these people give me encouragement.  They remind me when I move off track.  They lift me up when I am weak.  They meet me where I am when things aren't so good.  They fill the gaps in my life so often.  Yep.  Sometimes it is family.  Sometimes those people are my friends.  No matter who, they are our partners. I looked around at the pe...

As I was at the speedway this weekend working with Raceway Ministries a picture struck me that I want to share with you.  It was a little boy sitting on his dad's shoulders.  Thoughts raced through my mind about what I saw and how that fit our relationship from God. Sitting on his dad's shoulders the boy can rest and not get tired. Sitting on his dad's shoulders the boy can see further than standing on his own. Sitting on his dad's shoulders the boy is safe and knows his dad's presence. That is one awesome picture.  I remember sitting on my dad's shoulders.  All accept for getting tired of carrying a heavy kid, I enjoy putting my little boy on my shoulders.  How much more does God desire to carry us and show us awesome things as well as give us His precense?  That is a great picture. Then I heard a song by Francesca Battistelli called "Free to Be Me".  Read these words: At twenty years of age I'm still looking for a dream A w...

Jeremiah 33:3  (NASB) ---  ' Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' If you could have any question answered about anything of life or of faith, what would it be?  I have lots of questions for God.  Some are like: why is D-Day or 911 have to happen? or why did that sweet Christian lady have to suffer with cancer? or how can I guard better my relationship with my wife? Those questions and hundreds of others come to mind and come up in conversations often.  Does that happen for you?  If so, you may be able to help us with our next series at The Community . Gather your questions.  Think them through.  Then email them to this address: questions@thecommunityfellowship.org .  Just so you will know, these questions WON'T go to me.  I won't get your email and all of our people won't know who asked the questions.  One of our team, Cindy Hall, will receive your email (you can also call her or ch...

John 12:32  (NASB) ---  "And I, if I am  lifted  up from the earth, will  draw   all  men to Myself." How important it is to do a little examining from time to time!  The last few weeks we have talked about getting honest with the love God has for us and how we share that with others.  Far too often what we do, even as Christians, is to make us look good or to draw attention to ourselves.  But when we lift up ourselves, we lift the wrong thing. Lifting ourselves rather than Jesus, doesn't give people a Savior.  Lifting ourselves or our plans rather than lifting Jesus, doesn't give people hope and meaning. What will keep us from lifting up ourselves and start lifting up Jesus? Ministry at Martinsville Speedway  is one of my favorite things.  We get to speak to, to encourage thousands of race fans.  Lots of conversations about Jesus.  But I am stopping today to pray and seek God about who I am lifting up today in ministry.  I stop often and make sure...

This weekend my family and our church had the awesome opportunity to spend time with Dave & Jean Ohlerking.  They lead a ministry called Children's Cup International Relief .  I met them through their son, Dan , and through their home church, Healing Place in Baton Rouge, LA.  This organization is feeding 30,000 kids 5 days per week.  That happens at 28 different places called "Care Points".  At those "Care Points" kids are not only fed but they learn about Jesus through Bible clubs, have medical needs met and more.  I challenge you to learn more about what God is doing through Children's Cup and support them as Julie and I are. Here is a blog post from Dave titled Guide Me with His Eye? .   There is some deep spiritual insight. This verse used to puzzle me: Psalm 32:8  (KJV) ---  I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. How does His eye guide me? It does as long as I ...

Proverbs 20:18  (NLT) ---  Plans succeed through good  counsel ; don't go to war without wise advice . Proverbs 4:7  (NLT) ---  Getting wisdom is the  wise st thing you can do!And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. The Community Fellowship is gearing up for our next series.  We have seen God do some amazing things through the series we have been through together.  Remember the series 30 Days to Live  that impact lots of lives around the church?  Remember the Chase the Lion series that taught us about taking risks and watching God work?  Each of these have brought some wisdom and insight our way.  Our next series will be much the same. But we need your help.  The next series is Q --- questions about life and God.   What we are looking for is the basic stuff that goes through your mind on a regular basis.  It may be something you deal with when you are depressed.  It may be one of those questions that just keeps coming up.  My point is to hear and speak to the things...

We finished up our series on 40 Days of Love this Sunday and I shared just a few things that have deeply embedded in my heart since I have been working to memorize Romans 12.  Let me share some of that with you today (first here is a big portion of that Scripture).   Romans 12:3-10 (NLT)  ---  3  Because of the privilege and authority s  God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4  Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5  so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.  6  In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7  If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8  If your ...

This is going to be a great weekend at The Community as we are going to a new level.  You don't want to miss the fun.  So, here are some great thoughts, words, insight, praises and much more. Don't forget that this Sunday is our day to feed the homeless in Roanoke.  We leave the church at 1:30pm and return before 7pm. shoes from BB&T Last Friday I got an e-mail from Beth at the BB&T near the church.  They had a special event going on for customers, and they collected over 50 pairs of shoes.  See the picture.  They have given the shoes to our clothes closet.  Several of those ladies helped us with our back2school event in August.  Great work calls for great partners. new projectors and screens Take a look at the picture.  Better than that, come to The Community on Sunday and experience it for yourself.  Our new projectors are up and running.  This is gonna be awesome.  Thanks to all the people who have helped this happen.  Great work calls for great partners. drummer...

It is the time of the year when we get to do some great things and point lots and lots of people to Jesus.  So, in this email you are going to get several items to think about that will be happening over the next month or more. Don't forget this weekend it our time to feed the homeless in Roanoke. RACEWAY MINISTRIES --- we use many volunteers to pass out refreshments, drive carts, work info booths and to pass out Gospel tracts.  Will you help?  You are needed Friday, Saturday or Sunday Oct 23-25 at Martinsville Speedway.  For more information write Lee Hobbs at lhobbs@thecommunityfellowship.org or call the church office at 276-647-8231. WEDDING --- Cristy Clifton and Travis Cassady are getting married.  It is   Oct 24 at 4pm- fairystone state park-conference center. Please rsvp if you are coming, let Cristy know at church or call 276-732-3444, or email her at cclifton2005@yahoo.com HALLOWEEN --- Each year we partner with btw21  for a great family event.  This year we will be...

"Every point we have a check or a hesitation before obedience to God in our lives is God calling us to be closer to Him."   Matt Chandler That is an awesome point.  He shared that at the leadership meeting called Catalyst that I attended with some of our people and some friends last week in Atlanta.  If you were at The Community this past Sunday, you know that God is working in my heart drawing me and us closer to Him.  It is at those points where we have hesitation that God is trying to get and wants our attention, yet that is also the point that we often miss some of His best for us. Did you hear that?  We often miss the things that God has for us.  The reason is because we are not close enough to Him and we are not obeying Him.  No, we don't serve a God who has a big stick ready to beat us when we don't follow Him.  We serve a God, the God who is ready to bless us and love on us when we get closer to Him.  That is where we find His best, real sweetness...

Joshua 1:6  (NASB) ---  Be strong and  courage ous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them . Several years ago I was asked in a meeting to begin reading Proverbs each day of the month.  It was at least 14 years ago when Johnny Hunt encouraged a small group of pastors to join the journey he has been on for a long time.  I jumped in and haven't let up since. Proverbs has been a huge encouragement to my life and it has been something that I have encouraged those I serve and those I serve with to read each day.  Would you join the challenge? Proverbs 14:26  (NLT) ---  Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a refuge for their children. We have to have courage to step up to the challenges that people give us.  Bigger than that we have to take courage to step up to the challenges that God gives us.  One of the sweetest situations I found myself in last week at the leadership con...

We have been spending the last several weeks at The Community in our 40 Days of Love talking through what 1 Corinthians 13 says about love.  How we measure up and how we apply OR NOT apply what God says will mark our lives one way or another with God's love. Let's revisit why we are here and why we follow Jesus.  Why does The Community even exist.  Why do we care about Jesus.  One of the first things we said: It is not about us!   We've said it a 100 times.  We have to say it 1,000,000 more.  All of this is about GOD.  Nothing more and nothing less. 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB) --- (love) it does not seek its own… There you find Jesus. Why did he allow Himself to die?  What was the point to His suffering?  Why was he always questioning the normal and the religious people?  There was a reason. It was because they were making it all about the wrong the thing.  We have that tendency.  Do you hear me?  We often do that.  And we will do that IF WE DON'T KEEP OUR ...

Thanks for letting me take a break the last couple weeks as we went to a wedding in Oklahoma and then spent last week in Atlanta at a leadership conference called Catalyst.  This was a great time of connecting with people, hearing from God and gaining vision for what God is doing in my life and in His church.  I am learning. One of the things that the last 4 days has meant to me is a renewed desire for God and time with Him.  It is so evident that God wants my time and is ready to pour out Himself and more when I give Him that time.  Does that make sense? I spoke to our people yesterday on the fact that "Love Isn't Selfish", and what I got out of my study and preaching time is that when I don't spend time with God, I am being selfish.  The results are more of me and less of Him.  Which is just ... wrong. We are selfish when we give people, our family and our friends and others, anything other than our best and God's best.  So, what is keeping us ...