All posts by mjharvell

Welcome, friend—I’m glad you’ve pulled up a chair on the front porch of my little corner of the internet. My name is Michael Joe Harvell, and I live my life with one simple mission: to glorify God, encourage people, and leave this world a little better than I found it. I’m a husband, father, pastor, writer, Jeep enthusiast, and front-porch thinker who believes that life is best lived on purpose. I serve as pastor of Eureka Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina, where I get the joy of preaching, teaching, and walking with people through the ups and downs of everyday life. Over the years, I’ve discovered that faith isn’t just about Sunday mornings—it’s about living every single day in the presence and power of God. I’m also an author. My books—including The Grace Exchange: How Forgiven People Forgive People and The Word Works—grow out of the sermons, stories, and lessons I’ve learned on this journey. I write in a style that’s conversational, a little front-porch-rocking-chair, and full of stories, quotes, and Scripture that point us back to the goodness of God’s Word. When I’m not writing or preaching, you might find me sitting outside with my Bible and journal, cruising the backroads in my Jeep Gladiator, or sharing a meal and some laughs with the good folks God has put in my life. I love helping people find peace in their spirit, strength in their body, and encouragement in their soul. This blog is simply an extension of that mission. Here you’ll find devotions, encouragement, reflections, and practical insights for living a life of purpose, peace, and joy. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a rocking chair, and stay awhile—I’d be honored to walk this road of faith with you.
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Team Work Makes The Dream Work!

Egg Hunt 2009Northwood Easter Egg Outreach – Giving of ourselves to help people find the right direction in life!

This past Saturday the Northwood family showed up at Lake Cunningham with a mission of sharing the love of Jesus in a real and meaningful way. Men, women, boys and girls came out to help set up and everyone worked hard to make sure that people from our community felt welcomed, loved and special!  The event was totally free to the community and was made possible by the generous gifts of the Northwood family.  Everyone had a great time and God blessed with an extra beautiful day.  Thank you to each and every person that gave of themselves to help make this great outreach event a success!

If you want to know what the church looks like, then you need to come out to one of these events and watch our people as they work, sweat and give of themselves to share the love of Jesus.  I just want all of you to know how proud I am of you and how thankful I am to be a part of this team and family!  Thanks for all that you do to help Northwood be the place and people that help people to find the right direction in life!

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Obituary For Someone Else!

Our church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, Someone Else. 

Someone’s passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. 
Else has been with us for many years and for every one of those years, 
Someone did far more than a normal person’s share of the work. 
Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, 
one name was on everyone’s list, 
“Let Someone Else do it.” Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person 
was looked to for inspiration as well as results; “Someone Else can work with that group.”It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most liberal givers in our church.   Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference.

Someone Else was a wonderful person; sometimes appearing superhuman. 
Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. 
Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do. 
Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? 
Who is going to do the things Someone Else did?

When you are asked to help this year, remember — we can’t depend on Someone Else anymore.

Author is Unknown

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Right Direction!

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One of my friends and a member of the church I pastor took this photo:  Brian at Reel Video And Stills

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You can read our church tag line on the sign it says “Helping You Find The Right Direction In Life!”  Everyone knows that the right direction is away from the fire!  What a great visual reminder of the task that God has given us as a church!  We tend to want to make it about so much other stuff, but the truth is our task is simple, so let’s get busy “Helping People Find The Right Direction!”