September 2026 Newsletter
My Lord continues to say to me: “Tell them that I am coming back! Tell them that I am coming back!” In Matthew 25:13 the Lord Jesus states: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” As you will see, I am telling this lost world that my Lord is coming back!
For many years, I have prayed for my descendants to be mighty on this earth; that they will give their heart to the Lord Jesus while they are young (Psalm 112:2)! On Sunday morning, August 16, our granddaughter, Haddy Cate Avis, was beautifully baptized by her father, Pastor Graham Avis, at Heritage Baptist Church in Vincennes, IN, where he is the pastor! Kim and I are still rejoicing! Haddy Cate is six years old, and she is already “growing in the grace and knowledge of her Lord” (2 Peter 3:18)! Praise His Holy Name!
Last Sunday, Pastor Don Bible of Bibles Chapel Baptist Church in Midway, TN, along with his youth pastor, Joseph Gragg, had me to proclaim the glorious gospel there for their Youth Sunday! Mrs. Julie Johnson and all the youth leaders are always prepared as they give their Lord and their young people the very best that they have to give to Him! The youth gave a beautiful presentation of the gospel in pantomime form! The message that my Lord had me to deliver was Departure from This Life. Text: Hebrews 9:27. I literally poured my heart out to all in attendance! No one came forward during the public invitation, but we know that the Word of God will always accomplish our Lord’s intended purpose (Isaiah 55:11)!
Kim and I were recently walking for exercise in the College Square Mall in Morristown. We passed by a man with his teenage children and he waved to us! I knew his face, but I could not recall his name! We passed him a second time and again he smiled and waved. Then he passed us a third time and in a few short minutes I felt someone touch my shoulder and ask: “Brother Jeff, do you remember me?” I did not! With tears of great joy streaming down his face, he lovingly told me that I had led him to faith in the Lord Jesus on outreach at my home church, Calvary Baptist Church, when he was 13 years old! That was 34 years ago! He also told me that a year later he took us to his house and we led his 16-year-old brother to faith in the Lord Jesus! He still has the Bible that we gave him! He introduced us to his three beautiful children! We talked for a while and then we prayed right there in the mall. Both he and his three children were crying tears of rejoicing! We attended church with them the next Sunday, and last Sunday his 13-year-old son was gloriously baptized there!
Not even fifteen minutes later, a man and his girlfriend were coming out of a store in the mall and he said: “Hello Brother Harvel!” I could tell that he was happy to see me, but I could not recognize him! I asked him where we had met and he happily said: “Jefferson County Jail!” He said to his girlfriend: “This is the man that I told you about!” He told me that he is doing well and his girlfriend said that she is taking him to church with her! We were at the main entrance to the mall, but we had prayer right there for a powerful witness to a watching world!
Brother Roger Maltba grew up with me at my home church, Calvary Baptist Church, in Morristown, TN. Roger is now the chairman of deacons and the head of the pastor search committee! He loves his Lord and his church! He invited me to proclaim the gospel there on Wednesday night, August 26. My Lord had His servant to deliver the message: The Call of the Pastor. Text: 1 Peter 5:1-4. My Lord used this message to pave the way for His people to elect the next pastor of Calvary Baptist Church! This coming Sunday, September 6, the message that I delivered will be on the “Calvary Hour” radio broadcast which airs on radio station WJDT 106.5 FM at 11 a.m.! You can also see and hear the message on the Calvary Baptist Church Morristown, TN Facebook page! Pastor Carl Triplett, who was Calvary Baptist Church’s pastor from 1962-’79, started this broadcast over 60 years ago! He is the pastor who baptized me in 1965 at 8 years of age, and he gave me the Biblical foundation to do the great work of the New Testament evangelist! Many men were called to preach under his anointed and powerful leadership! I still call myself “One of Carl’s Boys!” Your work for your Lord is never in vain (1 Cor. 15:58)!
I was so thrilled last month to tell of the mighty movement of our Lord in the Jefferson County Jail that I failed to give the total decisions for the month of July! Thirteen men were baptized, four men were gloriously Born Again, and twenty men recommitted their lives to their Lord! Oh, how your powerful, passionate, and persistent prayers are being answered! With every fiber of my being, thank you (Jeremiah 33:3)!
The awesome power of the Holy Spirit continues to move in this very spiritually dark place! On Thursday, Aug. 6, a man walked into the Church Room and said: “I really need prayer! Please pray for me!” We did pray and the mighty power of God moved upon this dear man! When we finished praying, he was crying tears of release! As I left the service and walked down the hall, I saw a dear man whom we had just baptized two weeks earlier! He had the great joy of the Lord Jesus on his face! He was rejoicing because he was going to be teaching a Bible study that very afternoon! On Thursday, Aug. 13, an entirely new group of men walked into the Church Room! Most of them did not even know me, and they were tense to say the least! We had an opening prayer, a song, and then we did prayer and praise reports, and the power of the Holy Spirit began to move freely and powerfully on their hearts! Suddenly, a very big man stepped forward and began to share his heart in brokenness and in tears! He said: “I have spent most of my life in jail! I have a 14-year-old daughter who barely knows me! I’m tired of living this way! There has got to be a better way!” The men gathered around him and laid their hands on him as I led him thorough the plan of salvation. I then had him to lay his big hand on Romans 10:13 and I led him to pray for the Lord Jesus to become his Savior and Lord! Then, I did the follow-up with him on How to Have Assurance of His Salvation! A young man who heard me say that I was gloriously saved at Fairview Bible Baptist Church on a hot summer’s night in 1965 at the age of eight came to me to let me know that He, too, was saved at the same church at the same age! Oh, your prayers are making an eternal difference in the lives of these men!
When the living God brings the same cell block into the Church Room two weeks in a row, then you know that HE is moving powerfully! Before we even had the opening prayer, with strong conviction in his voice, a young man said: “I really need prayer today! I overdosed two weeks ago! I should have died! The paramedics brough me back to life! God told me that He has a purpose for my life! He told me to come in here today!” I asked him if he had ever been saved! He said: “I believe so.” I led him through the plan of salvation as I had him to lay his hand on Romans 10:13 and pray with me! Then, I led him through the follow-up process to give him assurance of his salvation! These dear men witnessed it all soul winning and discipleship!” When I arrived home, I looked at the Decision cards, and another man had checked that he had been born again that same day!
On Thursday, Aug. 27, the cell block that was supposed to come into the Church Room could not come, but the cell block that is experiencing a “deep move of Almighty God” walked right in there! Our great God makes no mistakes! He is Sovereign in the affairs of men and of nations! This was one of the most powerful moves of Almighty God that I have witnessed in coming in here for over six years! As the men were entering the Church Room, one of the men immediately began praising God out loud for his family had heard of his baptism and his brother and sister have been gloriously saved! These dear men are growing so deeply in their personal walk with their Lord that they are winning their new cellmates to faith in the Lord Jesus! Immediately, another man said: “My mom died two weeks ago! I’m depressed because I know that I will not be in Heaven with her!” WHEW! Another divine appointment! I gave each man my personal Bible to use as they individually led this dear man to faith in the Lord Jesus! It was a beautiful scene to watch them share the plan of salvation and then lead him to pray to be Born Again! No sooner had this young man been saved, that the young man beside him began to cry tears of repentance as he said: “I need to be saved! I’m tired of living this way!” Again, I had the men lead this young man to faith in the Lord Jesus! Then, I had the men lead these two young men in How to Have Assurance of Your Salvation! These dear men are now equipped to lead their family, friends, and cell mates to the Lord Jesus! Soul winning and discipleship go together! Before the service ended, the first young man who was Born Again said: “I am finally going to be the father to my children that I need to be! I am going to see my mom in Heaven one day!” That is the transformed heart of a once lost young man! When I returned home and looked at the decision cards, one of the men had penned these words: “Pray for me as a follower that I can help someone to be with God.” His heart was truly touched by all that he saw that morning, and he wants to become a personal soul winner! A man who was recently baptized wrote on his decision card: “I prayed to see you today. Thank you for all you do.” Five men were Born Again, and twenty-one men recommitted their lives to their Lord in the month of August!
I saw a dear man one day at the grocery store and he asked about my dad. I knew that I had seen him in the community through the years, but I did not know him. He was very gracious, humble, kind, and loving! He told me that he watches A Date with Destiny on television all of the time! Oh, how this encourages me! Then, one Friday night at the Greeneville vs. Morristown West Football game in Greeneville, a very young man walked up to me before we entered the gate and hugged me! He was from the Jefferson County Jail! He told me that he is doing great! As we entered the stadium seating, a football coach from Tusculum University came to me with his little boy on his shoulders and told me that he had met me when I shared the gospel with his team last fall! Many players made life-changing decisions, and some were baptized! After the game, a Morristown West coach stopped me to thank me for giving him a new personal Bible many years ago! He said that he reads it every day! He was also very thankful that I had given him a framed print of the poem The Christian Coach! He has it on the wall in his garage where he can see it every day!
I cannot say thank you enough for staying faithful and persistent in your powerful passionate prayers for this soul winner! Also, thank you for your sacrificial and selfless gifts! As you can see, your Lord is hearing and answering you (James 5:16)! Please pray for a soul winning clinic that I will lead at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Knoxville, TN on Saturday morning, Sept. 19. This is in preparation for their revival on October 18-21. Pastor Bob Provence is getting his people ready to “hear from their Lord!” Pastor Milton Knox will be hosting this passionate soul winner at Central Baptist Church in Spring City, TN from Sept. 27-30. Pastor Milton has told me that he has many great soul winners in this church, so we are looking for a great move of the living God!
Under the leadership of my Lord, I am attaching another great letter from one of the dear men who was baptized in the Jeferson County Jail! The dramatic and traumatic transformation in their lives is nothing short of phenomenal! I appreciate and love you!
For Souls Forever In Heaven,
Jeffrey L. Harvel
Acts 2
Dear Jeff,
Thank you for putting time and effort into coming here every Thursday to preach to every person about their Lord and Savior. Everyone needs to hear about the goodness He has done for us. I wanna thank you for helping us get baptized. I’m truly grateful for your high spirit when you greet us! I am grateful for the sermons that you give. They help me get closer to my God and to focus on the good things ahead. They have even helped me understand a few things I wondered about. I also really enjoy the prayer time we do together. You inspire me to let everyone see the blessings that the Lord has given me. A lot of people have kept putting me down. They’ve tried to hurt me by saying I won’t go home, but I kept my head up and I ignored them! I have a new baby son that I cannot wait to see when I get released. Great things have been happening, and they keep happening! All the credit goes to our Lord and Savior for He truly is amazing and wonderful! I can’t thank you enough for these blessings, and for all that you have done for all of us as well. You have made a huge impact! Keep doing what you do! When I get out, I would love to go to church with you. Stay safe and stay grateful for life and for every blessing the Lord does for us every day. I pray for you and for everyone on God’s earth every day. I love you and thank you.
