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Praise God! It’s time! God is moving. Are you ready? Can’t you hear him speaking to you through the Apostle Paul, “… the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality,  not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:11-14 ESV)

Our world has changed. We have changed. So much is different. We have lived through one unprecedented crisis after another. Covid is an ever present reality. Record gas prices, rents and inflation plague us. We are living in uncharted territory. It seems as if the whole world has been turned upside down, and there is no one with any answers to the challenges we face. Many of us are anxious, fearful and uncertain about how to move forward. What should we do? What will tomorrow bring?

The good news is, Jesus Christ is Lord! He rules and reigns in the affairs of men. None of this has taken Him by surprise. He is the answer. There is a time and season for everything and we are entering a new season. Let’s rejoice about it! The long night we’ve been through is coming to an end, and the light of a new day is upon us. God loves us. He has kept us alive, and He has promised to be with us. Because Jesus lives no matter how uncertain this new season may be, don’t you believe He will help us through it. This season has been appointed by God for His people to arise. It is a time for the people of God to wake up, to get up, and “…Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (Hosea 10:12 NKJV) Yesterday is gone. Today, let us seek the Lord. He is saying, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV)

Eartha Harris, President

June 10, 2020

Greetings in the holy name of God, our Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord! I pray you, your family and loved ones are all well.  We are well and thanking God for keeping us safe and healthy.

These past few months have been very troubling.  We have witnessed things that have never taken place in our lifetime.  The Covid 19 Crisis changed the way we live our lives, how we fellowship, how we do ministry and even how we gather to worship our Lord.  Many remain scared to go outside their homes or engage in person to person contact.  We have learned to distance ourselves from others to keep ourselves and them safe, and we have had to learn new ways to express our love, care or concern as handshakes, hugs and touching are now considered unsafe.  So much has changed!

If that were not enough, we recently watched a black man being killed by a white police officer while in police custody, handcuffed, and laying on the ground with the officer’s knee on his neck.  We watched him begging for his life while calling out “I can’t breathe”, as his life left his body. We were forced to watch this blatant reminder of systemic racism broadcasted repeatedly and experience the painful reality of it all.  An outcry and uprising throughout the country and around the world followed against a culture where something like this could even be considered acceptable.  We watched riots and looting and stores burning, angry mobs and peaceful protest all in the name of seeking justice.  And all of this happened while we are still dealing with Covid 19. 

So much to pray about. So much for our hearts and minds to process.  So much hurt.  So much pain.  And what are we supposed to do with it all?   BREATHE! None of this has taken God by surprise.  He remains on His throne.  He is the Sovereign Lord and He sees and knows it all.  Remember, He loves you and He cares.  He is an ever-present help in times of trouble.  You’re not alone.  God is with you to help you.  Acknowledge His presence and trust Him to bring you safely through all this. 

So many people are hurting. People continue to get sick or die from a virus they cannot see.  People are forced to be home and separated from family and friends.  Many have lost jobs, businesses, loved ones.   Fear and frustration are all around.  Black lives matter.  The lives of the poor and needy on the streets matter.  The life of the elderly matter.  The life of the unborn matter.  Life is precious. Jesus came so we might have life and have it abundantly.  May God help us all to genuinely love our neighbor as our self and live our lives in such a way that people know that their life really does matter to God and to us. 

Stand with us as we reach out with God’s love to the least of these in our community.  Thank you for your faithful love and support as we continue to reach out during these times.  Please pray with us that God show us the most effective ways of ministering His love in this new day in which we are living. 

Love you.  Thank you for caring!

Eartha Harris

President

…The righteous will be remembered forever. Psalms 112:6

This Memorial Day we pause to remember those faithful men and women of God that were so instrumental in helping Crossroads grow. We thank God for their lives and for taking time out to minister to the homeless and needy through Crossroads. We owe each a debt of love and we honor their memory. Following are their names, city, state and year they left us for heaven. Please remember them with us.

James Jamison, Brooklyn, NY 2001

Priscilla Stratton, Fitchburg, MA 2009

Edith (Edie) Carlson, Holden, MA 2010

Robert Rosseland, Paxton, MA 2011

Rev. Walter ( Wally) Tilleman, Worcester, MA 2013

Carl Carlson, Holden, MA 2014

Rev. Samuel R. Perry, Gardner, MA 2014

Rev. Dr. Mary Williams, Sulphur Springs, AR 2017

Rev. Ernest (Ernie) L. Watts, Cambridge, MD 2018

Alan Henry Griep, Cambridge, MD 2018

Dorothy (Dottie) W. Rosseland, Paxton, MA 2019

Rev. Joseph (Joe) A. Harris, Co-Founder, Salisbury, MD 2019

Effie Brandoli, South Attleboro, MA 2020

It is hard to believe that we are in a new decade – 2020! It was November 1984 when Crossroads opened its storefront Coffeehouse ministry on Pleasant Street in Worcester, MA. Joe and I had hearts burning with love for the Lord and for the souls of men. All we knew was that God had placed us there and given us a vision of seeing homeless and street people coming to him. What an adventure that was as we learned to trust God and watch Him do what only He could do!

Now over 35 years later, Crossroads remains a viable ministry. While no longer actively ministering on the streets of Worcester, MA, we are having a spiritual impact on the homeless and hurting in Salisbury, MD. Again, God has placed us here and given us his vision of seeing homeless and street people coming to him. The adventure continues as we trust and obey our precious Lord and watch Him do what only He can do.

Please pray for me as I forge ahead in Jesus’ name seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. I believe God has not finished what He started through Crossroads. His Spirit is moving. Can’t wait to see what this decade holds.

Thank you for praying, encouraging, supporting and just caring.

Only Because of Jesus,

Eartha Harris

Don’t you just love Thanksgiving? It is the time when we get to focus on the people and things for which we are grateful. I am grateful for so much! What about you?

Even though 2019 has been a somewhat difficult year for Crossroads and for me, personally, God has not failed to be good! He has been so faithful. He has not left us to deal with our circumstances and situations on our own. He has truly been an ever present help in our time of need, even as He promised.

Crossroads original President and Co-Founder, Rev. Joseph Allen Harris, went home to be with the Lord on March 31, 2019. While he leaves a big whole in our heart and in this ministry, we are so thankful to God for the impact of his life on ours and so many others. Everything accomplished through the ministry of Crossroads was a result of the call and anointing of God upon that man. I am so thankful to God for letting me witness and be a part of it.

Join with me this Thanksgiving as we thank God for the men and women he places in our lives to convict us, encourage us and challenge us to love God passionately and serve him faithfully. And don’t forget to give God all of the praise and thanks due His holy name.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eartha Harris
President

This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it!  Greetings!  I am praying that as you read this you are experiencing great days, filled with blessings of health, financial security, love, joy and peace.  However, if that is not the case and your days have been filled with trials and difficulties, please know that you are not alone.  So many of us have been experiencing a season of difficulties.  Some are facing unimaginable hardships and each day to them feels like years as they wonder how in the world they can carry on.

Dear Friend, Sing praises to God if you are having good days. To those of you who are going through the trial of your life, you need to praise him even more.  James 1:2-4 clearly speaks to us.  It reads, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  So, it instructs us to count our situation as pure joy.  Why?  We are to praise God because all these difficulties are working towards making us mature and complete children of God by producing in us perseverance (patience).  Hooray!  (Smile)

None of us enjoy going through hard times, but  we do want to be all God has created and designed for us to be, don’t we?  This is what life at the Crossroads is all about.  It is where the rubber meets the road.  It is where we live out God’s word daily with his help and by his grace. Isn’t that what we want?

While this has been a difficult season for me with Joe’s health issues and related financial challenges,  along with ministry and family responsibilities as I recover from Kidney transplant surgery, each day, I get up, dress up and show up, trusting in our faithful Lord to be with me as he has promised.  No matter what life throws our way, we serve an awesome God.  He loves us and has promised never to leave us or forsake us.  He is with you.  You are not alone.   This is the day he has made and he knew everyone of your days before there was one of them.  Here are a few scriptures to consider as you face your day:

When you feel like God is taking a long time to deliver you from an overwhelming situation – But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8 NIV

When you are tempted to worry – Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

While each day has enough trouble of its own, please know that God has not left you to face it alone. – For in the day if trouble, he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:5

God knows what you are going through and is able to replace your afflictions with gladness as revealed by this prayer – Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. Psalm 90:15

God is good all the time.  No matter what your days have been like recently, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Eartha Pinder Harris, President

Preaching the good news (gospel) to the poor is an important part of what we are to do in Jesus’ name.    Isaiah 61:1, the Messianic prophecy that Jesus fulfilled and pointed to when responding to John the Baptist when he sent his disciples to question whether or not Jesus was truly the Messiah they were waiting for, starts by proclaiming that ” The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”  Jesus had already plainly declared this early in his ministry.  In Luke 4:18, he stated, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free …  After reading this in the Torah, he clearly told everyone present that this prophecy was even then being fulfilled in him.

Friends, I believe the Lord wants us to continue his ministry of seeing that the good news of the kingdom is preached to the poor.  The message of God’s love revealed to us in Christ Jesus is good news.  The message that God loves even the poor so much that he gave his one and only son so that if they will just believe in Him they will have everlasting life is good news.  Further, the message that God has granted that to as many as receive Jesus he has given them the right to become children of God is great news.  Let’s let everyone know and let’s be sure that we are faithful to preach the gospel to the poor.  They need to hear some good news.  I have been sharing this good news for almost 37 years and continue to do so, because I believe it is a very important part of what we are to do in Jesus’ name.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  John 15:2 NIV

Hi, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic today.  My mind is pondering the past 32 years.  I can hardly believe it but it was over 32 years ago when God called Joe and I to found Crossroads Ministries, Inc.  As I sit here today and look back at what the Lord has done, I stand amazed as I reminisce over those years. Think about it with me for a moment.   God sent a young couple from the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland to Worcester, MA to reach out to the homeless and hurting there.  We left Cambridge, MD in February 1984, wondering why God would send us to Massachusetts when there were so many in our own community that were hurting and needed to know about his love and grace.

We obeyed God and moved to Massachusetts, knowing no one there except Rev. Samuel R. Perry, who had been a spiritual father to me.  Needless to say, when we arrived in Massachusetts, the Lord opened many doors for us. We were adopted by the Stratton family and lived with them as we begin sharing the vision God had placed in our hearts.  Through prayer and faith in an all powerful God, we were empowered to open up Crossroads Coffeehouse in November 1984 and eventually even Crossroads Home for men.  In the process, God also used us to encourage unity among the churches and Christian community for the purpose of effective evangelism and lead major city-wide outreaches, while ministering to troubled youth through Children’s Church, and the establishment of a mission school.  For 18 years we watched God do one miracle after another in reaching the homeless, hurting and even those in the churches with his love and grace.  Crossroads proved itself as an effective missionary ministry in Worcester, MA.  To God be the glory!

Then in February 2002, we left Worcester, MA to return to the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, (18 years to the day)  as Joe had been in poor health since 1998, and wanted to be closer to home.  The Lord has given us John 15:2, so we understood that the move would be a pruning process for us and for the ministry of Crossroads.  Our very successful ministry was pruned back substantially.  We felt as if there was not much left.  Even though we planned to continue ministry through Crossroads while in Maryland, ministry opportunities seemed to be far and few in between.  We felt God had forgotten about us and simply placed us on a shelf.  That was difficult after having such a dynamic ministry in Massachusetts. While Crossroads continued to function on a minimal level, reaching out to the homeless and needy in tangible ways, there was no comparison with its ministry in Massachusetts.

Then in 2011, while working with victims of domestic violence and sexual assault,  I became involved with Hope and Life Outreach (HALO) Ministry, a relatively new outreach to the homeless and hurting in Salisbury, MD.  Through my relationship with that ministry, God once again provided a solid connection with the homeless community.  Now, by His amazing grace, Crossroads is once again able to effectively minister to the unique spiritual needs of hundreds of homeless and hurting men, women and children from all over the Lower Eastern Shore on a regular basis.  I stand amazed at the Lord!  Through his pruning, we now do so much more with so much less. HALO provides shelter so we no longer need to do that.  They feed some 300 a day so we do not need to do that, either. We are free to serve God in the midst of this community focusing  all of our energies on sharing God’s love and his Word, bidding all to come to Jesus and teaching them how to walk in a manner worthy of him.

So here we are.  Jesus Christ remains alive and well at Crossroads Ministries.  He took us from Maryland and returned us here.  He taught us much and we have seen him do miraculous things and then he pruned us back to nothing so he could make us even stronger and better able to serve him.  What a mighty God we serve!  Looking forward to see what he has in store in this next season of our ministry here through Crossroads.  Stay tuned and plan to be amazed by God!

Eartha Pinder Harris, Chaplain at HALO Ministry                                                                                 President, Crossroads Ministries, Inc.

It’s 88 today and very humid.  Most people recognize it a summertime, but I am wondering if you know what season it is in your life spiritually.  I was pondering this scripture: