Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

Here we are less than one week away from Christmas. I know some of you are panicking. There is yet shopping to be done. The cookies need to be baked. The meals need to be prepped and the house cleaned. Oh, and don’t forget all the wrapping!  I know at times it can be a bit overwhelming, preparing for Christmas. For sure, Christmas can be filled with lots and lots of stress. Yet, I dare to say, most of us wouldn’t trade the world for it.   As I read the gospel account of that very first Christmas—i.e., the events surrounding the birth of Jesus—I can’t help but notice that, that first Christmas was as well filled with all kinds of stressors. For one, Mary and Joseph had to deal with the reality that Mary was pregnant before they were married. After all, who would have actually believed that she had become pregnant by means of the Holy Spirit? For sure, Joseph had to make a very hard and stressful decision as to whether or not he should move ahead with his marriage to Mary. ...

I was thinking recently of how the Christmas lights come at just the right time of the year. After all, December and the winter months to follow are some of the hardest months of the year (at least here in the northern hemisphere). Not only is it cold and the weather unpredictable, but the days are short and the nights long. Each day of December, at least up until December 21 or 22 (approximately), the days get shorter and shorter—and the nights longer and longer. And even after that, any lengthening of the days has zero effect upon us. Thankfully, it is during these dark days of December that we have Christmas. It is during this particular month that we find the increase in darkness counterbalanced by the brightness of the lights of Christmas. In spite of the fact that the days are getting shorter and darker, we often call this month, “The  Season of Light.” And, that’s exactly what Christmas is all about: light shining into darkness. As the prophet Isaiah wrote long ago, “The peo...

Last weekend, Kim and I went to a local park with our son Jonathan’s family. While the adults  walked, our two grandsons Jesse and Jack rode their balance bikes around the park. (The youngest, Caleb, was in the stroller.)  At one point, Jesse, the older of the two, yelled to the rest of us, “Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, you’ve got to come see this!” “What is it, Jesse?” we replied. “Hurry! Look! Come over here! It’s a puddle of ice!”  Dutifully, and with the most excited faces we could put on, we all went to see what all the excitement was about. Well, there it was: a very normal looking puddle that had frozen over—at least to some degree. For most of us, it was anything but all that exciting. For Jesse, however, it was the most exciting thing he has seen all day—maybe all week!  It’s true that, when we are young the small things in life can feel very exciting. Unfortunately, as we age, it takes much more to wow us. No longer does a puddle of ice or a butterfly flitti...

I remember how, when our children were young, we tried hard to teach them to say, “Thank you.” Each time they would receive something from us or from someone else we would say, “What do you say?” And they would eventually respond, “Thank you.”  Our goal of course was to not only teach them proper manners, but as well what it means to be grateful. The first was easy; the second not so much. After all, just because one says, “Thank you,” doesn’t always mean they feel thankful for whatever it is they have received. Our hope as parents was that, eventually our children’s words would represent something within their hearts.  With the arrival of Thanksgiving, I want to remind us of not only the importance of giving thanks, but of actually having a thankful heart. Again, the first is easy; the second is a bit harder. How do we go beyond merely saying, “thank you” to a deep-felt sense of gratitude? Let me share a few means of doing so. (1) Learn contentment . The Apostle Paul wrote of...

Since my retirement from pastoring, I’ve been working as a personal trainer at a local gym, The Fort Athletic Club, as well as through my own business, Second Wind Personal Training. I’m passionate about fitness and health both for myself and for others. That’s why I entered this field as a second career. It’s my hope that I might be able to help others gain the fitness and health they need to enjoy life and live the kind of life God intends for them to live. After all, an unfit and unhealthy body ends up as a body filled with limitations. A fit body is able to move and do and enjoy every aspect of life.  However, I’m also keenly aware that we as people are more than our bodies. God created us as holistic beings: body, mind, soul, and spirit. He designed us to be multi-faceted, not merely one dimensional bodies. That requires that we not only take care of our bodies, but as well care for our whole selves—i.e., our minds, our souls, and our spirits.  The Apostle Paul wrote to T...

With fall in full force, the trees here in New Jersey are bursting with color. The reds, the yellows, the oranges, and even the browns of fall are as awe-inspiring as are the purples and pinks of spring. The colors of the season highlight the fact that we live in a colorful world.   Not only that, but the way we react to the colors of fall (e.g. going to “see the colors” and all the pictures we take), reminds us that we were made for color. Our eyes were designed to perceive color and our brains designed to interpret it. We paint our homes with an array of colors both inside and out. We are intrigued by artists who know how to use color in just the right way or the designer who knows how to bring the right colors together. We create fabrics that are filled with color and thus wear clothing filled with color. And we can’t help but comment on the colors of a rainbow or of a sunrise or sunset as they show up in the sky. Again, we seem to be made for color.   As I was gr...