March 31st 2008
Sunday Morning Message Recap 3/30/08
What an awesome privilege to carry the cross of Jesus. Pastor Jeff gives us a picture of what it was like for Simon the Cyrene to help Jesus on the day of his death and reminds us all how we too can carry the cross each and every day for our Lord.
Dig deeper with these Scriptures:
Here are some pictures from this Sunday. Enjoy!
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March 29th 2008
As you may know, Pastor Greg has been working on his autobiography for the last few months. The book is titled Lost Boy and will be released later this year in bookstores nationwide.
But you can read exclusive excerpts from Lost Boy, including the preface and first chapter, right now at Pastor Greg’s blog. And you have the chance to post your own “Lost Boy” or “Lost Girl” story of how God changed your life.
Check it all out by clicking here.
March 28th 2008
Hey Everyone,
Guess where I am?
New York City!
Without question, NYC is my all-time favorite city. It’s noisy, crazy, congested, and full of action.
I am here through this weekend to speak at a Harvest Christian Fellowship we planted here, way back in 1982. Back then, we were doing some events here due to the amazing response to our radio program, A New Beginning. Yes, we have been on that long . . . actually even longer! Those events ultimately resulted in a church plant with a great guy and good friend named Mike Finizio leading it. Mike was raised in Hoboken, New Jersey, and knows the city like the back of his hand.
To read more, check out Pastor Greg’s new blog here.
March 27th 2008
Midweek Study Recap 3/26/08
Listen as Pastor Jeff continues to sift through finding the golden nuggets that are in the Book of Psalms. Find out what hallel and shevah mean. And learn why the Psalms have always and will always be important to all believers.
March 26th 2008
Pastor John Collins remembers our beloved Lloyd Porter:
I went to a friend’s funeral today. I can call him a friend, even though I don’t know I was ever much of one. But I am sure he would have given me the shirt off his back, or at least one of the old flannels he used to wear.
His name was Lloyd Porter. We first met when he started attending a home Bible study in my house in the early eighties. I was new in the Lord and eager to establish my credentials as a leader in a new and vibrant church that was filled with young people, Harvest Christian Fellowship. Lloyd was well into middle age and a former drug and alcohol user.
I suppose we couldn’t have been more polar extremes. My hope for the future was to become a pastor and to go on staff at Harvest. Lloyd’s hope was to simply put his life back together. And so we began ministry at Harvest on parallel but distinctively different tracks.
I absorbed the Bible in massive doses back then, filling up with verses and chasing after theology as if it were the last morsel of bread. Lloyd didn’t absorb the Bible; the Bible absorbed him. Our study group would shred through chapters and books, he’d just marvel at the first truth he saw. It seemed like I was always in a hurry, and Lloyd was satisfied to be in the moment. For me, ministry opportunities lie ahead like mountains to be scaled; Lloyd was content to shake the hand of the next person he met.
You see, by most standards, Lloyd wouldn’t have been considered one of the “in crowd.” He came, quite literally, from the street and the gutter of alcoholism. Somehow, Lloyd came to know Christ way back then, although I cannot ever remember him sharing just how that came to be. He wore thick glasses, black clunky shoes with white socks, shuffled when he walked, suffered from gout, dined on fast food, and, as far as we know, was never married.
When he died, he had no family to mourn him, except those who became his family at Harvest. Despite what life had stacked against him, he was the most faithful attendee to that Bible study in my house in those early days.
Back then, it was hard to hold a conversation with Lloyd because the alcohol and drug abuse had so fogged and clouded his mind. He would halt and stammer and work hard to get just one clear thought out about what he had learned from the Bible. But he would always end a conversation with the phrase, “As the Lord leads.” It was as if that was the ONE thing he was absolutely sure about.
God would lead him. He never stopped saying it. He never stopped believing it. It became his calling card. We used to joke about it among our Bible group and when he would suggest something, we’d say, “As the Lloyd leads.”
He never reveled in his past, never used it as a means of building into a “great testimony” to share. Lloyd just slowly changed. He memorized Scripture, he studied it daily, and he applied it with a simple faith. And over time, Lloyd was transformed from someone who could barely string a sentence together, into a loving man who counseled hundreds and even learned to teach.
Along with his friend George, the two of them headed up a drug and alcohol ministry at Harvest that, at one point, grew to 150 people! He never had a job that we know of, so the church paid him a small sum to help and counsel the down-and-outers and the hurting.
His well ran deep for them. He worked in a small cubicle during the day and answered phones from people calling in for help all around the country, even overseas. He became the “go to” guy for people at Harvest with drug or alcohol addictions. He always patiently applied the gauze of Scripture.
I’ll never forget, those many years ago, a comment that was made one evening during a time of prayer at my home study. A woman who was visiting said she had a prophecy for us. She said that two people from our little Bible study would go on to be a part of a nationally-known ministry and that God was going to use us in ways we couldn’t imagine.
I had the great privilege of being one of those two, being elevated to a place of executive director for Harvest Crusades for Pastor Greg Laurie and the Harvest team, literally traveling the world doing evangelistic crusades. It wasn’t until today, 25 years later, that I realized Lloyd was the other guy!
To many, I was seen as the big shot. He was the guy people thought had no shot at all. I got the big office and company car; he got a cubicle and drove an old green Ford Escort. I always looked upon him with a sense of amusement. He was so content, so without guile. I was so eager, so ambitious to succeed. He was an anchor, clinging hard to the promises of Scripture; I was a flag whipping in the wind of promise.
I loved Lloyd, though to my shame it was from afar. When he first got sick and went into the hospital, I brought him the Bible on tape, figuring that with his failing eyes from diabetes, maybe he’d find it easier listening to the Bible rather than reading it. I should have known that wasn’t Lloyd’s way. His way was to take it in small bites, to chew on it, to rejoice in what few words his eyes would afford him to read. Twenty-five years later, I was still hustling around the Bible, he was still content to let it sink in.
In my youth, I don’t know that I ever truly appreciated Lloyd Porter. Not the way I should have. In his death, I’m remembering much about his life that, like Jesus, was full of grace and truth. He was an example in life and he is an example in death, and his faithfulness has brought new meaning to the phrase we used to chuckle about: “As the Lloyd leads!”
March 26th 2008
Jackie, Albert, Stephanie, and Joshua are faithfully following God’s calling on their lives!
They came together to form a band called Claimed Hearts, which began with much prayer and preparations. Nicole and Albert Sr., parents of Jackie and Albert, mentor the band by praying with them, digging in the Word, and counseling them. God also brought Emil, a skilled band director to train them. Emil also sees the sincerity in youth and enjoys working with them to see them become the best they could be.
After four long months of training, Claimed Hearts debuted at the Harvest Jr. High talent night. What do you think happened? You got it! They truly blessed everyone there.
Hanz Ives, Minister of Music at Harvest said, “I thought they were great . . . very impressive.”
This is evidence that God is at work in our youth here at Harvest. Jackie, Stephanie, Albert, and Joshua are examples of the many who hear and respond. They have taught me to pay close attention to the smallest of ways God is working in me and others. And more importantly, to value every life and to treasure what others give to me no matter how small. This Harvest member hears God through these students loud and clear!
March 25th 2008
The Harvest Seniors Ministry is full of mature believers in Christ who have been followers of the Lord longer than many of us have been alive. There are many who younger people look up to and say to themselves, “If the Lord allows me to live to be their age, I want to be just like them.”
Carl and Ruthie Johnson are examples of this. Ruthie has been battling cancer for four years. She has been in and out of the City of Hope several times. A few months ago, the physically active 79-year-old Carl had an accident on his bicycle that landed him in the hospital for several days.
During that time, when visitors would come to cheer him, they would leave having been strengthened in their faith as Carl would explain in a joyful way how God was teaching him and Ruthie many lessons through their trials. Just like Job, he would say.
Carl’s hospital roommate was an unbeliever who had brain cancer. One night, after hearing Carl share these things with his visitors, he had a conversation with Carl.
“Phillip, do you know God loves and deeply cares for you?” That question eventually led to a conversation and then a conversion to Christ, as Phillip gave his heart to the Lord when Carl led him in the sinner’s prayer.
The next morning, Phillip was transferred to another room. Two days later, the hospital chaplain asked Carl, “Did you know Phillip died in his room two days ago?” Phillip had gone to heaven within hours of receiving Christ.
Carl’s accident had placed him in a situation that was no accident! He recognizes it as an appointment from God, in a series of what outwardly appeared to be hard times.
Carl and Ruthie are experiencing firsthand the joy and the truth of this verse from the Bible: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18).
March 24th 2008
Easter Message Recap 3/23/08
Do you feel a sense of hopelessness? In his Easter message, Pastor Greg challenges us all to have hearts that burn for Jesus and realize that even in our most desperate moments, He is there for us, just as He was for the two people on the road to Emmaus.
Dig deeper with these Scriptures: