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.
Are you a thankful person? I like to think that I am thankful, but I am not sure that my conversation and thoughts always prove that to be true. In fact, if you and I pay attention during our prayers, we will notice that our prayers of thanksgiving quickly turn into prayers of request.
We know how to do it! We start out saying thank you to God and quickly move into the area of trying to move God to move on our behalf. Between now and thanksgiving, I am going to be working on genuinely being more thankful and I want to invite you to join me.
Take some time this week to listen to your conversations and prayers. Ask yourself this question: Am I really thankful? If we are really thankful, then we and others will hear it, in and through our conversations.
I like to think that I am a pretty good guy. I am a Christian. I love Jesus and I am thankful for the relationship that I have with Him. He really has changed my life and I know that my eternity is safe in His hands. I love God and I love people and I really do enjoy serving them both. I am a faithful husband, a very involved dad and a committed friend. I work pretty hard to be a good guy, but being a good guy is not enough!
I was a sinner, but God’s grace changed that! I still mess up! I still miss the mark! I still don’t measure up! In fact, I don’t even come close. I often fail to do the right thing and I don’t even realize that I am failing. I sometimes do the wrong thing and hate to admit it. I don’t mind admitting this – in fact it is very freeing when you realize it, admit and seek God’s forgiveness and restoration. Because of God’s grace, I get to make the choice to do the right thing. I want to make that choice more consistently and in more areas of my life.
I’ve got a lot of work to do. God is showing me areas of my life that I have neglected. While I have paid attention to some areas and they are growing and beautiful, there are some areas that I just haven’t given the attention that they deserve. God is opening my eyes to these areas and I am working to make them right for Him.
Let’s face it – not a one of us is perfect! What areas of your life do you need to pay some attention? Trust me – they are there – realize it or not! Ask God to reveal to you the things that are hard to see and you will find Him ready to grow you in ways that you had never even given a thought!
It was a rough, but good night! Last night I get up as I do on most Wednesday nights to receive prayer request and praise reports and we are having a very good time of praising God and sharing our concern for loved ones and friends. We had a very good group of people who showed up last night and everyone seemed to be in a really good mood. I noticed as I was sharing that everyone seemed to be paying extra special attention to me. I did not think much of it, because I am the Pastor and I am standing in front of all of them.
Things were shaping up and looking good! After a nice time of sharing, I prayed a very beautiful and serious prayer. I took time to acknowledge God’s holiness, thank Him for His faithfulness, ask for His forgiveness and plead for His interaction on behalf of all of the request that had been mentioned. It was a very nice time of prayer! As I finished praying and walked to the side for the music to begin, one of my members walked over to hand me a note. I opened the note and it said “ZIPPER?” As I made my way to the back sure enough – I was having a “wardrobe-malfunction!” I immediately took care of the problem and after the singing stepped back up to deliver the Word. I thought it best to say nothing of the zipper incident. The Word was powerful and spoke to all of us and I think we left church challenged in more ways than one.
At Home! Later when I got home and was telling my wife about the incident, she quickly spoke up and said “oh yeah – I heard all about it from” and began to share a list of names. She then reached over and turned down the waste of my khakis and said “and you are wearing your red underwear!” I’ve thought a lot about this episode through the night and I only have one thing left to say: “I love Christmas!”
