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40/50/90/3000 Devotional: Day 6- February 28, 2010

Day 6 – February 28, 2010

Christ Befriended the Friendless
Scripture: John 8: 3-11
One day the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman taken in adultery. Jesus said, “He that is
without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” They who heard it, convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one; and Jesus was left with the woman. Then he asked the woman: “Where
are your accusers? Has no man condemned you?” She said, “No man, Lord.” And Jesus said: “Neither
do I. Go and sin no more.”

Religious people brought this woman to Jesus.

Not long ago a woman committed suicide. She said she had served a jail sentence, and no one would help
her. Everyone turned against her. Another woman in Pennsylvania had been out of jail for a year, and no
one had spoken to her.

Judas came with the mob to take Jesus to the house of the chief priest to be put on trial. He had betrayed
Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Yet Jesus called him “friend.” Jesus knew that soon the men who
conspired with Judas would turn against him. Judas lost his place with the disciples. He lost his place with
the scribes and chief priests.

Jesus died on the cross between two thieves. Around the cross was the sneering mob, gambling soldiers,
arrogant priests. One thief said to the other, “We did justly, this man unjustly. Lord, remember me.”
(Luke 23: 40-43) Jesus answered, “This day you shall be with me in Paradise.” The thief found a friend in
Jesus.

Jesus calls us friends if we do what he commands us. “I call you not servants, for the servant knows not
what his Lord does.” (John 15:15) Jesus said, “But I call you friends because I have imparted to you all
that I have learned from my Father.”

So many of your children, our Father, think they are in a friendless world. May they find in us friends to
help them along life’s toilsome way. Amen.

Harry Denman
(Prophetic Evangelist: The Living Legacy of Harry Denman, 1993)

February 28, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | 40 Day Devotional Inspired by Harry Denman, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

40/50/90/3000 Devotional: Day 5- February 27, 2010

Day 5 – February 27, 2010

“I remember Harry Denman as always warm, open, friendly. He had a view of evangelism that was
anything but narrow. While he subscribed to most of the traditional methods of evangelism –
including revivals and personal witness – he was open to many other methods, some new and
experimental.” (Prophetic Evangelist: The Living Legacy of Harry Denman, 1993)

New and experimental ways of evangelism
I work with a group of teens today who have challenged every concept I have ever had concerning
evangelism. They certainly want to hear about Jesus Christ, and they even desire to be part of the church
of today. However, they do things differently than most in the church world have ever done them.
When it comes to communication, they do it differently. They don’t talk on the phone so much anymore;
they text message each other, even if they are sitting in the same room, often sitting on the same piece of
furniture. I have even found myself texting with them while in the same room. It offers a degree of
privacy while staying in the group.

Facebook and Myspace are two of the communication tools of choice with the teens of today and, by the
way, the generation of people 50 years old and above are also coming to use these tools in huge numbers.
E-mail is passé with the youth of today; they just don’t use it. Communication with the youth of today
needs to be in short bites, a text message; in video format, such as Youtube; in music they can download
from the web, such as itunes; in becoming their friend on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace.
It is time that we as the church embrace the methods necessary to communicate the gospel to the youth of
today, without changing the message in any way. Take the time over the next days and weeks to get to
know the youth around you, in your community, in your own church, through the media of social
networking sites. You may just find they are open and receptive to coming to visit your church and, better
yet, they will come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Jesus taught people in many different places at different times. He taught in the synagogues, out in
the open, while moving along the shore in a boat. Jesus never changed the message but he took the
message to where the people were.

Luke 5: 1-3 (NLT)
One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to
listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left
them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push
it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

Lord, like Jesus, John Wesley, and Harry Denman before us, let’s take the gospel to where the people are.
Amen.

Submitted by: Rev. Ronnie G. Collins

February 27, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | 40 Day Devotional Inspired by Harry Denman, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

40/50/90/3000 Devotional: Day 4- February 26, 2010

Day 4 – February 26, 2010

Harry Denman would agree with Dwight L. Moody, who told one of his critics, “I like the way I am
doing evangelism better than the way you are not doing it!” (Prophetic Evangelist: The Living
Legacy of Harry Denman, 1993) Howard W. Ellis

Harry Denman was a man who blazed a trail for Christ. He spent a lifetime telling others about
Jesus. Today he sits among that great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12 – cheering us on! I imagine
he is telling us to quit sitting on our hands, to move our feet, to keep our eyes on the prize, and to
run the race with perseverance. Harry never lost sight of his goal, and we are to study how he ran
the race. He never stopped. He never gave up. He responded to God’s call on his life, and he spent
his life sharing the love of Christ with everyone he met. Winning souls for Christ requires
ACTION, and we must be a VERB for Christ. We become that VERB when we practice prayer,
fasting, serving, seeking, and winning souls for Christ. We cannot do any of this without prayer
first and foremost and like Epaphras in verses 5-8, Harry was one reliable worker for Christ and so
are you!

Colossians 1: 3-12 (The MESSAGE)
3-5Our prayers for you are always spilling over into thanksgivings. We can’t quit thanking God our
Father and Jesus our Messiah for you! We keep getting reports on your steady faith in Christ, our Jesus,
and the love you continuously extend to all Christians. The lines of purpose in your lives never grow
slack, tightly tied as they are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope.
5-8The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn’t diminish or weaken over
time. It’s the same all over the world. The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger, just as it has
in you. From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you’ve been
hungry for more. It’s as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate
Epaphras. He is one reliable worker for Christ! I could always depend on him. He’s the one who told us
how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit.
9-12Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven’t stopped praying for you, asking God to
give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways
in which God works. We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work
hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.
We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting
your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over
into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful
that he has for us.
13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he
loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep
repeating.

May your prayers today be spilling over with thanksgiving! We are no longer in the pit and our sins
are gone! Now we must carry out that promise to others and continually throw out the lifeline of
hope. May the strength of the Lord fill you as you put your prayers into action just as that great
cloud of witnesses did who went before us. May your heart overflow with the joy that comes in
knowing Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Submitted by: Donna Godwin, Lay Member Holston Conference UMC

February 26, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | 40 Day Devotional Inspired by Harry Denman, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

40/50/90/3000 Devotional: Day 3- February 25, 2010

Day 3 – February 25, 2010

Be Perfect as God Is Perfect
Read Psalm 139:13-16
2 Corinthian~ 12:9 But he said to me “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may
rest on me. (NIV)

After graduating from college in 1986 with a B.A. in English, I began doing volunteer work for a
Kindergarten class near my home A few days before I was to start work, I went in and met the students
and talked to them about my wheelchair. None of the students had any questions, and they were all very
accepting of me right away.
Then, a few weeks later, I was helping an adorable blonde-haired boy named Anthony. All of a
sudden he put down his pencil, looked up at me with his big blue eyes, and said, “Miss Betsy, just why
are you in that wheelchair, anyway?” I exp1ained to him that when I was born, there was something
wrong with my back, and because of that, I wasn’t able to walk. He looked at me very seriously and
asked, “Did God make you like that?” I replied, “Yes, He did, Anthony.” Anthony exclaimed, “Well, He
made you wrong, didn’t He?” Then he picked up his pencil and went back to work, as if that settled
everything.
Anthony is now a college student. What I hope he has come to learn over the years is that God is
perfect, and everything He has created is perfect. I can’t tell you why I was born with a birth defect. But
God’s Word says that I was created in His image. I sometimes get frustrated because I don’t have perfect
health. And, of course I’d like to have the body of a super-model. Wouldn’t we all? But I know that God
has a plan for my life. He has given me unique talents and abilities. No matter what my limitations are, if
I put my trust in Him and allow Him to have control over my life, He can use me to do His work

Prayer: Dear Father, thank you for creating us! We know that you have a plan for all of us. Please use
our lives in service for you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Prayer Focus: THOSE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES
Betsy Key (FUMC Hillsville)

Betsy lived with a disability that left her in a wheelchair all of her life, but she used every available tool to
win people to Christ. Betsy won people to Christ through conversations on the internet. She utilized email
and Facebook to get the job done. Betsy was also active in door-to-door visitation when it was
possible to make appointments in homes that were wheelchair accessible.
Betsy Key went to her eternal home in heaven in January of this year. If anyone had excuses not to
witness and work for Christ, Betsy did, but she never used excuses.
How about you?

Submitted by: Rev Ronnie G. Collins on behalf of the late Betsy Key

February 25, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | 40 Day Devotional Inspired by Harry Denman, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

40/50/90/3000 Devotional: Day 2- February 24, 2010

Day 2 – February 24, 2010

Harry Denman was a man of prayer. Ed Lewis, pastor in the Baltimore Conference, told about
accompanying Dr. Denman to the Holy Land.
“Early in the morning Ed followed Dr. Denman to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Dr. Denman bent
down, scooped up water in his hand, and let it fall back into the lake.
Ed heard Dr. Denman pray, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done…through me, Lord, through me.’”
(Prophetic Evangelist: The Living Legacy of Harry Denman, 1993) Charles D. Whittle
It is said that Dr. Denman would pray for every Bishop by name, and he would lump all of the District
Superintendents together because there were so many of them.

Philippians 1: 3-6 (NIV)
I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with
joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this,
that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Today and for the remainder of these 40 days, we will pray by name for our Bishop and all of our District
Superintendents. We have 904 churches in the Holston Conference, and we will pray for each of our
pastor’s as a group.

Bishop James Swanson
District Superintendents
Archer Coppedge, Fred Dearing, Doug Fairbanks Jr., Randall Frye, David Graves, Mike Hubble, Adam
McKee, Don Nation, Mickey Rainwater, Meg Taylor, Mike Travis, and Carol Wilson

Prayer
Lord, thank you for these women and men who lead us in the Holston Conference. As Harry Denman
prayed so many years ago, I pray that your will be done through me, but not only through me, through
these men and women who lead us. Lord, you have brought us all together for this time, in this conference
for one purpose, to lead men and women, boys and girls to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. As we lift our
leaders up to You today, I ask that You fill them with Your Holy Spirit and that You give them boldness
to share the Gospel as never before. Father, I pray as our leaders begin to share their faith and invite
people to Christ that we will begin to share your love as well. It is our prayer that not one person who
resides in the bounds of Holston Conference will miss the opportunity to be loved by You because this is
Your will. Let Your will be done through me, Lord, through me.

Submitted by: Rev. Ronnie G. Collins

February 24, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | 40 Day Devotional Inspired by Harry Denman, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

40/50/90/3000 Devotional: Day 1- February 23, 2010

Day 1- February 23, 2010
“The desert mothers and fathers of the third century tell a story about paying attention. A novice asked the
teacher, ‘Holy One, is there anything I can do to make myself closer to God?’ The elder replied, ‘As little
as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.’ The novice responded, ‘Then of what use are these
spiritual disciplines of prayer?’ The teacher answered, ‘To make sure that you are awake when the sun
rises.’” (Oden, 2008)

Spiritual disciplines such as prayer and fasting keep us awake.
In Matthew 6:5 Jesus says, “When you pray.”
In Matthew 6:16 Jesus says “When you fast.”
Actually earlier in Matthew 6, Jesus says “When you give.” Jesus was teaching concerning some very
important spiritual disciplines in the life of the Christian. Giving, praying, and fasting.
In Jesus’ teaching, He uses the introductory word “when” as if He assumed that we as Christ followers
would practice these disciplines. Jesus didn’t say if we give, pray, and fast, but when.

Take the time today to read Matthew Chapter 6 in its entirety. Pray and ask God how He would have you
to seek Him in these 90 Days of Investing in the lives of 3000 people.

One of the comments that I often hear when I talk about fasting is this, “The bible says that we are to fast
in secret,” and that is correct, sort of. The bible says that when you give, don’t do it with a parade to
announce to people that you are giving and how much. The bible says that when you pray not to pray
loudly so that others can hear how spiritual you are and don’t repeat phrases over and over again thinking
that because of the repetition, you will get what you want. Then the bible says, when you fast comb your
hair and wash your face so as not to show the world how wonderful you are for going without food.
In all of this, Jesus is not saying that we cannot receive an offering in church, Jesus is not saying that we
cannot pray in a church service, and Jesus is not saying that when you fast it has to be done in secret with
no one knowing what you are doing.
No, Jesus is saying that when you do these things, do them unto the Lord. Do them because you love Him
and because you are practicing a spiritual discipline that will help you to be awake when the sun rises.

Prayer
Lord, help me to understand your words in Matthew Chapter 6 today. Help me to draw closer to you
through these next 40 days. Give me understanding and revelation and guide me to someone today who
needs to know You. Amen

Rev. Ronnie G. Collins

February 23, 2010 Posted by imagebearer | 40 Day Devotional Inspired by Harry Denman, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment