(This article originally appeared on the front page of the Martinsville Bulletin on Friday, January 28, 2011. It can be viewed by clicking HERE .) Dream Center plans area homeless shelter By HOLLY KOZELSKY - Bulletin Staff Writer Organizers of The Community Dream Center say the area may have a homeless shelter up and running in three months. Michael Harrison, the pastor of Community Fellowship in Collinsville and a member of the Dream Center board, said the group is close to being able to buy property for such a shelter. A count in 2009, conducted by the West Piedmont Better Housing Coalition, found 54 homeless people in Martinsville and Henry and Patrick counties. The annual count was conducted Wednesday for 2011. Harrison envisions having a shelter for the homeless and eventually a halfway house to guide people toward living on their own. That would be largely for "people coming out of jail, (off) drugs, alcohol, all other kinds of life situations. ... This is Chris...
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The Community Dream Center is coming to life. Check out www.TCDC.info or www.thecommunitydreamcenter.info . This week also brought our first board meeting and lots of new perspective. More to come. Please pray for property for our homeless shelter for men as well as for our discipleship & transition program. We are helping "reBuild the Dreams of Broken People" one life at a time.
Job 29:4 NIV Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house, James 2:23 NLT And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." He was even called the friend of God. I'd like to have been a proverbial fly on the wall when God spent time with Adam in the Garden of Eden before sin entered the picture. The Bible portrays a wonderful picture of friendship between them. The verses I quoted above talk about Job and Abraham also having a friendship with God. We can and must have a friend in God. He desires to spend time with us, encourage us, speak into our lives, help us when we are in need and even celebrate with us when things are good. That is what a friend does. God is big and good. He is holy and righteous. He is worthy of our praise, and as other Scripture reminds us, we should fall on our faces in worship of Hi...
Have you ever been intimidated by anything? I have. Lots of things throughout my life have been a bit tough to handle. I could name them, but lets move on. There are times that living by faith is a bit intimidating. Following God is the right thing to do, yet taking the steps needed may seem a bit out there. I'm continue to study and preach through the book of Nehemiah. Each week I have become more and more convinced that God must have been all over this situation and the people that Nehemiah led. In fact in chapter 3 we learn that there were at least 40 work crews helping with the rebuilding of the wall and the gates. That took lots of organization. Those 40 groups were made up of people from every walk of life. Look through the chapter and you will find some of these people: priests and temple workers, families, business owners and merchants, people from other villages, and more. What an awesome move this had to have been. Nehemiah had to dream big. ...
John 2:17 NLT Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: "Passion for God's house will consume me." Jesus did somethings that were pretty far out there. He didn't follow anyone else's code of conduct or religious law. Jesus passionately did what His purpose told him to do. The verse above comes right after Jesus had a fit in the temple and cleared the house when the people had made it a shopping center or flea market of sorts. What was wrong with the situation? The people forgot the purpose of the temple. When we forget the purpose of the church and our purpose, often we do things that are just not right. But when we remember our purpose, some of the things we do may seem wrong, but those actions and choices fit because of our calling. It is kind of like helping the poor. It might be uncomfortable and hard, but we go there because it is our calling. Maybe it is like the guy who is called to work with AIDS p...
hope ( hōp ) --- noun a feeling that what is wanted is likely to happen; desire accompanied by expectation; verb to trust or rely ... I was standing with a large group of people preparing for a performance of a program, and as I was reading through the lines assigned to me I was struck by a piece of wisdom that gripped my heart then and now. It was simply some words on a page that were being attributed to the Character of God. All of the sudden I heard something like this: hope doesn't just come from Jesus; hope is Jesus; Jesus is hope. It is His character to give us hope AND to be our hope. That means in finding real hope we find Jesus. Do you ever get to the place that I often find myself when I need to spend time alone with God? I need to hear His voice. Maybe there is some specific direction I am in need of or just a sense that He is moving and in control. But I need Him. I'm there pretty often, and we all need to be there. Jesus is ho...
We don't always know the right answer to give. In fact, far too often the right words just escape from me. God is always speaking, and we as His children need to be listening. As I think about hearing God there is no special place to go or thing to God to be able to hear. We simply need to listen. The Bible tells us to be still and listen. We are told to follow God and listen. It makes a difference when we deal with sin and trouble so that we can hear God. Those things are true. Yet at other times we simply need to listen. Isaiah said: Isaiah 6:8 NLT Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me." Isaiah heard and responded to God. Big things happened after Isaiah listened. Samuel said: 1 Samuel 3:10 NLT And the Lord came and called as before, "Samuel! Samuel!"And Samuel replied, "Speak, your servant is listening....
Things are not the same between the way we think and the way God thinks. Success in the world's eyes is far different from what God says is success. Let me share with you a couple of things that have been rattling in my head for the past 12 hours or so: quote (not sure where it originated) --- 99% obedience is 100% disobedience Matthew 16:25 NLT If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Luke 9:23 Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." Following Jesus is always right and never easy. In fact, following often means denying me to follow Him. Notice within the quote and the scriptures above that obeying God comes with a cost, and at times, that cost is high. How can that be a win / win situation? We win at that point because we find more purpose than w...
Romans 15:2 NLT We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. Who are the people in your life who lead like Jesus? Maybe it is a friend, or your pastor. Maybe this is your mom or dad. Name them and then thank them. Several years ago I attended a seminar led by some great people who spend a couple days teaching us, all kinds of ministry leaders, how to lead like Jesus did. Many years before that I had some people who poured much into my life to help me do what Jesus did and to lead like Jesus did. This week I have been part of the National Fellowship of Raceway Ministries ( www.racewayministries.com ) winter board meeting and annual membership meeting, and tonight we were able to honor our director for 10 years of service. Roger Marsh has faithfully led this group of people to impact the lives of race fans across the country at large and small race tracks. His passion is like Jesus' passion. His plan often reminds me of wha...
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doin g. The last two days I have sat around the table with some incredible people. They are from several different parts of our nation, but each one has a heart to serve God and to lead others to know God. Sitting here listening to their stories does something huge for me. They bring courage and strength so that I will keep on and other will keep on doing what God has called us to do. Who are the incredible people in your life? These are people who speak truth into your life. They will encourage you when things are good, and they will often bring your courage to face some of the toughest of situations. Jesus was such a person. He spoke truth into many lives. He lifted them from the gutter and placed them where there is hope. Because of some incredible people in your life and mine we are better than we would ...
1 Thessalonians 1:4 NLT We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. We have all kinds of resources at our disposal. Walk into any library and many of our homes, and there are thousands of books to read. Search the internet, and you will find endless information both useful and useless. Pull into the gas station, and most of the time you can buy fuel till all our money is gone (that is happening as gas prices rise). Go to the grocery store or large discount store, and there are isle after isle of goods to feed, clothe, clean and do all kinds of thousands of things. Yet those and others are not our greatest resources. The Community Fellowship has become known as a church that helps and encourages people. As we interact with people we know and many we don't, it is sad to see the huge needs, yet the most difficult thing we deal with are hurt relationships. Unless you are a hermit, you have to deal with pe...
NOTE: this is my journaling from a trip I took with some people from Martinsville and Henry County, Virginia to Manchester and Clay County, Kentucky. Our prayer is that God will transform lives in our community and our community. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Our day started off pretty early as we drove the 6 hours from Martinsville to Manchester. Excellent ride with 8 people. 3 police officers, 3 pastors, 1 ministry leader and 1 busin ess man. We arrived at noon and met at Starwood Restaurant. We ate lunch with Pastor and Mrs. Abner as well as John who runs their TV station. This restaurant started through the spiritual awakening that has taken place in this city and county. Steve Collnett was with us too. He shared how drugs wrecked his life and his wife's l...
Have you ever thought you don't deserve the grace of God? Maybe you are like me and have thought that about someone else. What I have seen and found to be true is that God is always willing to love us and help us. In the story of Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden this is seen spelled out in a big way: Genesis 2 :6-7,21 NASB 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings... 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Sin kills. That first sin in the Garden of Eden allowed them to see that they were naked. It was their decision, and when they sinned, they did e...
Have you ever thought you don't deserve the grace of God? Maybe you are like me and have thought that about someone else. What I have seen and found to be true is that God is always willing to love us and help us. In the story of Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden this is seen spelled out in a big way: Genesis 2 :6-7,21 NASB 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings... 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Sin kills. That first sin in the Garden of Eden allowed them to see that they were naked. It was their decision, and when they sinned, they did everything they could in ...