Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to stop by my son Nathaniel’s tennis meet. (Actually it was a scrimmage). The problem was, just before the meet began, the wind picked up terribly. During the meet wind gusts were blowing across the courts and thus blowing the tennis balls every which way.  If you play tennis, you know that wind creates some of the hardest conditions in which to play. The toss on the serve weaves around causing the server to chase it in the air. As the ball comes across the net the ball is either pushed by the wind, making it come at you harder and faster, or slowed down by the wind, at times causing it to come to a near stop.  The result is that the players are continually trying to out-guess the affect that the strength and direction of the wind are having on the ball.  All in all, it makes for very difficult play.  Your life and mine are filled will all kinds of winds that keep us guessing about what is coming next.  Unexpected cir...

If you live here in the Northeast – and especially in the NYC metro region – I’m sure you’ve noticed that, although we haven’t even finished the month of March the daffodils are up, the dogwoods are in bloom, and the grass is going to need to be mowed soon.   It’s amazing. Although technically spring always arrives the same time each year, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced the signs of spring this early in the year. Yes, it’s been nice having had a mild winter. And, we’ve enjoyed the warm weather.   But, this early spring still seems a bit odd to me.   It’s really quite a surprise. Of course, one of the downsides to the early arrival of spring is the early arrival of the allergy season. So those of us who are allergy sufferers are sneezing and blowing our noses earlier in the year than usual.   Then there’s the “How should I dress?” and “Where are I my short-sleeve shirts?” questions, as we try to figure out how to dress on a day that is suddenly hittin...

I’ve finally entered the world of the “Mac!”   As my Dell laptop began to give up the ghost, it was decided that I should get a MacBook Pro.   So, after years of living in a PC world, I’ve now entered a whole new world—one I’m finding exciting and confusing at the same time.   For one, the way one moves back and forth through windows with strokes of the finger on the pad can be fun until I can’t get to the window I actually want.   I was amazed that, when using the Apple email function, if I begin to type an email in Spanish the computer actually recognizes that it is Spanish (and not English), corrects my spelling errors and even adds the necessary accents. At first, however I wasn’t quite sure what was going on.   The overall feel of the computer is easy and smooth, yet I find myself frustrated when I can’t figure out how to find something or how to do a simple function—not because it is so hard to do on the Mac, but because I was so used to doing ...

Yesterday morning, before leaving Leon, Nicaragua to get my flight out of Managua, I took a brief walk through the city to pick up my daily bananas (I eat a banana almost every morning and especially love the really little ones they sell on the streets there). As I walked, I prayed for the city and for our work there, taking some time to simply absorb the atmosphere of the city.  Eventually, I went to the main plaza, found a bench to sit on, and sat observing what was happening around me.  The vendors were setting up their stands.  A little boy chased a group of pigeons.  A couple of birds landed in the drinking fountain to take a bath.  People strolled by talking and laughing and arguing.  One guy went by smoking a cigarette obviously preoccupied by his need to get to his destination. A dog came by and lay down not too far from where I was sitting.  I don’t think any of the people nor the birds nor the dog took notice of the fact that I was sitting ...

This week I’ve been following the “40 Days Through John" Bible reading that we’ve been doing as a church, both with CityVine Church and Promise International Fellowship (the two churches I pastor).   We began on the first day of Lent and the reading schedule will take us right up to Easter Sunday.   The other day I was reading in John 4, the account of the “royal official” whose son was dying.   What caught my attention was the desperation with which this noble, high-ranking man came to Jesus.   John 4:47 says, “… he (the royal official) went to (Jesus) and begged him to come and heal his son who was close to death.”   (NIV) Here was a man who at other times in his life probably spent his time on things other than searching out the latest and greatest teacher passing through town. Most of the time he was probably caught up in meetings and business and discussions and debates. But, now his son was dying.   That drastically changed the picture of...