Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  It has been a full and good week already.  Today I would like to share with you just a little of the overflow. In one week I will be headed back to Cuba where I get to serve once again with the FCA sports ministry.  Please pray for this important ministry as the Cuban leaders are making a great impact on the lives of athletes, coaches and their families.  The doors are open for the work and for the churches connected to the ministry seeing God work. I ask you to do three specific things.  First, please pray for the ministry and those doing the ministry.  Pray for the team members traveling with me on this trip (team members are from Virginia, Texas, Missouri, Minnesota and Costa Rica). Pray for the staff of the sports ministry in Cuba and their families.  Second, please consider going on a mission trip with me in the future.  Get your passport and let me know you are interested.  And third, please give to help this ministry.  A gift of...

There are so many people who make our lives better and stronger.  We could name so many of those people, but really I want to be one of those people for others.  It is a choice. Some of the people that encourage us and make us better are ones we know very well.  Maybe this is family or co workers, pastors or friends.  We need these people.  They make our lives richer and so much sweeter.  I am grateful for each and every one. Yes, I am a preacher.  That makes me strange, at least to some people.  It also means I really enjoy listening to other preachers.  Some get my attention even more.  Some of them I have never met, but I am so encouraged by their ministries and messages. Again, I pray that I am that for others.  Many people have encouraged me through the years.  Some school teachers come to the top of the list.  My parents are at the very top of the list.  A few are close family friends or people I have met along ...

  The last couple days I have been at a pastor’s meeting in Atlanta.  It is one I have attended before, and it is awesome to soak up learning and to spend time with people who do what I do in life.  None of us have arrived.  We all need to grow, and this is a place that helps me, challenges me and brings me a lot of joy. So, I’d like to share some of the things that stood out for me.  May some of these encourage you as they have me. From Pastor Johnny Hunt - Everything rises and falls on leadership. - Your calling determines your staying power - God has called you to teach you something - If you don't have a vision, you are not a leader. - The Christian never has the luxury to be unkind.  (quoting Jerry Vines) - None of us are who we are without the people who poured into us. Every now and then God gets you alone so he can get something out of you. From seminary president Dr. Danny Akin - - The hardest work we will ever do is marriage. - Love is not an emot...

We are blessed with great partners.  People are blessings.  That is one reason why this week we have a mission team helping at our new campus from South Carolina.  They are awesome.  In fact the leader of this team, Pastor David Moore, has brought more teams and help than any other.  I want to say THANK YOU and ask you to pray for David and his church, Pacolet First Baptist.   It doesn’t end there.  Also with us for a day has been a pastor and youth pastor from a church that was here early in the summer and who are planning to serve an apartment community in December.  These guys, Michael and Ethan, bless me big time.  They are from Mount Pleasant Baptist in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Then I get a text from a great friend who shows up to work for a day and a half with us.  Jim is a chaplain at South Boston Speedway and lives near Waynesboro, Virginia.  He showed up, climbed on a scissor lift, and began working with the team. These...

The following email is from Jeff Henderson of the FOR Company.  What Jeff shared made me stop and think, and that is why I share it with you today. This is good stuff.  It can be applied to almost any one, not just your pastor.  But you can understand why it catches my attention.  Read on… Last year, I received a 14-paragraph email from a couple upset about an email I had supposedly sent out regarding a current social topic. They said they were considering leaving the church but wanted to see my response before officially deciding.  The only problem was I had no idea what they were talking about. I asked if they could forward to me the specific email they were referencing.  A few minutes later, I received a two-sentence apology. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that the email was sent from a local magazine not our church. The email font “looked like the Church’s."  So, if you’re keeping score: The first email threatening to leave the church was 14 ...

Yesterday I shared some of the take aways from the Timothy + Barnabas conference I attended this week.  I want to finish that up with some more of the notes I took. The following are from the last day and from Benny Tate and Jordan Easley.  Read on and taken in what God makes stick with you… You can’t delegate the vision of the church.  God gives it, and we are responsible for sharing it. You can assist a ministry without owning the vision. Your vision comes from the burden God places on your heart. Without vision, people perish.  Without vision, people look for another parrish.  Yesterday’s home runs won’t win today’s games.  Babe Ruth Those closest to you over time determine your success. Don’t ever doubt what God can do through you. 4 things we can do for others: tell them you are proud of them, promote others, share your possessions with others, pray for others. Look for moments to maximize every moment for the glory of God. Every crisis is an opportuni...

  I am with some friends this week at a pastor’s conference.  It is called Timothy + Barnabas and led by Johnny Hunt.  This has been a good time.   I’d like to share some take aways with you.  These are more like one-liners and great take-aways.  Lean in and listen to what God might say to you. When God commissions, God commands, and we just have to obey. Between the commission and command there is one word, obedience. What if your obedience is contingent upon someone else obeying the Lord? If you get close to Jesus, it is going challenge those around you.  Oswald Chambers It is not the truth you know.  It is truth you only that changes you. Theres no such thing as a leader without vision. Where God guides, He provides. Fallen stars attract attention, but there are a billion stars that are still in place.  (this was in reference to a well know religious leader falling) You never miss what you give away.  Odus Scruggs Biblical tithing is ...