Michael Harrison's e-devotion

"If all the Christians-I mean all of 'em-got outta the pews on Sundays and into the streets, we'd shut the city down.  We'd shut down hunger.  We'd shut down loneliness.  We'd shut down the notion that there is any such of a thing as a person that don't deserve a kind word and a second chance." --- Denver Moore in What Difference Do It Make That quote was sent to me by one of our ladies at The Community last night.  What a huge and right on thought?  We are making a difference in our cities when we step up and do what Jesus did and what Jesus calls each of us to do. Hebrews 13:16  (NLT) ---  And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. 1 John 3:17  (NASB) ---  But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Maybe I sound like a broken record to you, but I have to do what God ...

Photo credits:  rossoscarknightphotography.net (NOTE: Donna Pratt from www.thecommunityfellowship.org posted this blog today, and I want to share it with you.   Click Here is the original link.) "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills...

Photo credits:  rossoscarknightphotography.net (NOTE: Donna Pratt from www.thecommunityfellowship.org posted this blog today, and I want to share it with you.   Click Here is the original link.) "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills....

We are stronger together.  It is easier to see and get through any situation when you are not alone.  At times those friends lift us up because we are weak or we lift them.  Other times they remind us of God's goodness or might even let us know that we have messed up and need to keep walking with Jesus in this life.  God didn't create us to be alone. Friends make life sweeter.  Today I found three things that friends ought to do for each other as we help each other stand strong: Proverbs 27:17  (NIV) ---  As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. We must sharpen each other or make each other sharper.  This is anything from learning from each other or helping a friend with a project or a problem.  Listen up, we need to be sharp in this tough economy and since Christians have Satan as an enemy.  Lets sharpen each other. Mark 13:9  (The Message) ---  ...  You're placed there as sentinels to truth. A "sentinel" is a guard or a l...

Monday began really early.  It was just after midnight Sunday when I woke to find myself sleeping soundly in my easy chair.  I got up to go to the bed when I heard water running.  It was then I realized that it was raining heavily.  Our basement (where our den and master bedroom are) was beginning to get wet.   We began to do all we could to stop the water coming in, but the water couldn't be stopped.  Before the night was over about 25% of our basement had water and mud covering it.  Not a pretty picture.  It's been well over 2 years since we fixed the problem.  I wasn't happy to say the least.  The clean up began the next morning.  Schools were closed due to flooding as well.  I was amazed at how easy the clean up went (plus at how my sweet wife worked so hard at cleaning when I had to leave).  Only a few reminders of the water remain in the house.   After a great time with our church leaders, I got home rather late last night.  Sitting in that same easy chair...

I showed THIS VIDEO to our church this weekend.  Have you ever found yourself where that dude was?  What is it that keeps us from dong great things are being all we want to be?  We are simple people that God wants to use.  Yes, it is you that God wants to use. Acts 4:13-14  (NASB)  --- Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.  And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. Peter and John were simple guys, but God was using them in huge ways.  They had confidence because they had been with Jesus.  Through their actions people could tell they had been with Jesus.  What about us shows people we had been with Jesus. Just before these verses they were arrested.  Authorities wanted to shut them up and keep them from talking about Jesus, but when people saw the guy they helped heal and he...

Blessed to do what I get to do. I flat love being the pastor of great people. We have some of the finest leaders and ministry partners on the planet. Saturday was our 2nd day of "feeding the hungry" in 2010 and we had 47 guests join us. We have fed 140 + people so far this year. Vicky, Donna and Gordon are making it happen along with 35 plus volunteers. Trey & Matt & our worship band did an incredible job in both worship experiences. Proud of the band. I love the song "Uncontainable" because of great music and it speaks of the fact we can't contain God and His work. We are seeing that. Our first 4th Saturday night Worship was a huge hit with 110 people present. Awesome. Again great volunteers make a difference. Several guests we invited & prayed for came. We will do it again next month, but I'm praying that we will do this every Saturday night. Wow. Our kids ministry workers are doing a good job. Grateful for Tracy and her team. Sunday...

What happens when someone takes a stand for Jesus and another person doesn't?  There is a conflict.  It may begin small, but it will grow.  Some relationships grow totally part through this decision to follow or not follow God.  Other relationships end up more like a war. Such was the case between Ahab and Elijah in 1 Kings 18 .  The choice Ahab made to not follow God led to the death of many people.  The choice Elijah made led to many people coming to see and know God.  What about your choice of who you follow? In these last verse for the week, ask yourself and ask God to reveal you are really following: Matthew 15:8  (NLT) ---  These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. John 10:27  (NLT) ---  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they  follow   me . John 13:35  (NASB) ---  "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Philippians 3:10  (NLT) ---  I want to kno...

Proverbs 29:18  (KJV) ---  Where there is no vision, the people perish... One of the things I love about what I do is being able to share what God puts on my heart.  As I hear from God and lead others to pursue God, I get to see and be part of a vision that is bigger than myself and bigger than any of the people around me.  God wants to give His people vision for big things, for big impact in our community and the world.  Yet a problem with that is there are few people who are seeking God for His vision. When see the huge needs around us, we have to admit that we can not meet all the needs by ourselves.  We don't have all the answers.  But we do know who has the answers and who can meet those needs. That is God.  He is able to do more than we can dream up on our own.  We have to be connected to God, We need His vision.  When we get His vision, people will be changed.  We will be changed.  And God has called us to be agents of change. "Vision acts as a ...

Mark 8:13-21  (The Message) ---  13-15  He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn't a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, "Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod."  16-19  Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, "Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don't you see the point of all this? Don't you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?" They said, "Twelve."  20  "And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?" (They answered) "Seven."  21  He said, "Do you still not get it?" We are so often like the disciples.  All ar...

The earthquake in Haiti this past week was huge.  Thousands upon thousands of people are touched by this event.  People from Haiti to the United States and around the world have been touched by this event.  You can't get past the pictures and the news stories that have surfaced the last few days.  I have a heart for Haiti because I have a heart for hurting people. This weekend marks our 2nd day for The Community to feed the hungry here in our community.  It will be from 4 to 6 pm Saturday followed by the kick off our 4th Saturday Night Worship service.  This will be good.  Again, our desire is to demonstrate the love of God to our community  and help people who have little or no hope.   How are you sharing hope with people?  Julie and I visited two churches in Nashville yes terday as we were in town for a meeting.  At Crosspoint we watched a a video from their partner church in the Dominican Republic (which shares the same island as Haiti and the church is mostly Haiti...

Ever noticed that there are times you have vivid dreams that you remember and other times you don't dream or just don't remember them?   There is something that happens in us when we dream.   The same is true when we begin to have God dreams.   Something happens so that our vision or desire or dreams from God grow and grow.   I believe that the key to those kind of dreams is our connection to God.   It is our intimacy with God.   It is our desire for Him, directly tied to the time we spend with Him.   Matthew 6:33 (the Message) --- Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.   When people are not tied to the happenings around them alone, they will begin to dream more.   Is our reality only what is around us?   There is more to life and to our vision that what we can see right here.   I want more.   How about you?   What keeps us from Dreaming dre...

One of our faithful THE COMMUNITY men sent this to me this morning.  You might have seen it before, but it is a great reminder.  As we remember that God is good, hold these close and live them out since they are true! THE TOP TEN PREDICTIONS FOR 2010 1. The Bible will still have all the answers. 2. Prayer will still work. 3. The Holy Spirit will still move. 4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people. 5. There will still be God-anointed preaching. 6. There will still be singing of praise to God. 7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people. 8. There will still be room at the Cross. 9. Jesus will still love you . 10. Jesus will still save the lost.

Have we put 'God in a box' saying He will only do this or that?  Often we as God followers lose sight of what God can do when our faith can't be stretched.  One of the ways this happens is through our connection with God or maybe best understand as our disconnection from God.  When we say we love God, but we don't time with Him. Jesus address religious leaders a lot while he was on earth.  He pushed them to get honest.  We need to get honest. Hold off, now.  What I am sharing with you today in this devotion is not that I am pushing God away or that I am or you are far away from Him.  What I am saying is that maybe our small or short connection with God is keeping us from seeing and experience all that God has for us.  Read this passage and then I will go on:  Mark 7:6-8  (NLT) ---  Jesus replied,  "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, 'These people honor me with their lips,  but their hearts are far from...

God has consumed my heart the last few weeks with Scripture from Matthew 6 .  In my reading, thinking and walking through these verses, God has taught me so much.  Yesterday I shared some of that with The Community church family.  God is so gracious... I was waiting on my children one day last week and was listening to Matthew Barnett's sermon from January 4th via podcast .  In that message God birthed a desire to go deeper so that our church and myself will see even more of our Dreams Come True in 2010 (that is our theme for the year).  God put that so heavy on my heart that I stepped forward with a commitment and I asked our church family to do the same. At the end of our worship time yesterday, 50 or more of our people took the same challenge and began our commitment to pray.  Here is what we were challenged with: 3 Commitments for Dreams Come True    1.  20 minutes a day in prayer --- spend that time in concentrated prayer 2.  fast 1 meal per week ...

Got to brag on Greg Fulcher.  He is our resident painter / artist / tattoo artist.  He just finished our theme painted on the wall.   Dreams Come True  has come to life ... great job, Greg!

Community Family - Tomorrow opens a new door for our church family as we begin  feeding the hungry .  We are now 3 years old and have seen God do incredible things at The Community, but I believe we have not seen even a little piece of what God is going to do.  Our theme for 2010 is "DREAMS COME TRUE" and just one part of that is our feeding ministry.  Will you be part of this? Tomorrow from 9 until noon at the church we will be having some what of a soup kitchen.  This is the 2nd Saturday and takes place during our clothes closet ministry (and ever 2nd Saturday at The Community).  We will also be feeding every 4th Saturday from 4 to 6 pm.  That one is followed by our 4th Saturday night worship service at 6 pm. Please help us get the word out about this ministry to those in need and to those who want to serve. Next weekend, Sunday January 17th, we will celebrate and share what God is doing as we end one phase of feeding the homeless in Roanoke and begin feeding here in Coll...

Recently I wrote about being in awe of God.  With more thoughts along that vein, I understand that the more intellectually we approach the Bible and our faith really the less in awe we are in of God.  We will see less and less wonder about what God does. It is also true that the closer we get to ministry the tougher it sometimes is to stay close to Jesus.  The case before us is the disciples.  They saw it all.  They experienced what Jesus could do and how much He loved.  But they were sometimes so close that they couldn't see for themselves.  Ministry is like that.  It may become routine.  It may seem we have heard that story or that experience that piece before.  That leaves us less touched, in less awe. Think about kids and how they see things for the first time.  They are in awe.  My kids recently played in the snow, and it was the largest snow they have ever seen.  Watching my son and one of his friends last Sunday slide down an ice covered hill was priceless.  They...