Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

Last weekend, my sons Jonathan and Nathaniel came home and together we ran a race in Asbury Park. (Actually, I ran the 5K and they ran the 10K!)   Since they knew that their pace would be faster than most, the two of them began at the front of the pack.   And, they ran the bulk of the race side by side, keeping each other on pace and encouraging one another to keep on going.   At the end of the race, there was a little awards ceremony at which Jonathan and Nathaniel were recognized for coming in 2 nd and 3 rd among the men.   As their names were called, people recognized that they had the same last name, and then that they looked so much alike. People around us began to comment how nice it was to see brothers running together.   (Someone even asked if they were twins.)   Of course, Kim and I were both glad and even a bit proud (in Yiddish, kvelling ) to see our two “boys” enjoying the moment together. For us, it was really cool to have seen them as b...

At the beginning of September, we had Rev. David Kim, his wife Rebecca, and their six-year-old son, Elijah at our church and in our home.   At one point, Elijah saw a picture on the wall of our home of my three children when they were young—probably 5, 3, and 2 years old.   When Elijah saw the picture he asked, “Who are those kids?”   I told him those were my children Jonathan, Nathaniel, and Joanna when they were little.   I then proceeded to show him a more current picture of them—ages 25, 23, and 22.   Elijah’s eyes widened and went back and forth between the two pictures. Finally, looking at the earlier of the pictures he said, “I’d like to play with those kids.” Then after a pause blurted out, “But, too late!”   Well, he was right.   If Elijah wanted to play with Jonathan, Nathaniel, and Joanna at that earlier stage, he would have needed to show up about twenty years earlier—i.e. long before he was born!   Of course, he had no choice in ...

Sometimes I’ve wondered where our acceptance of violence as entertainment would lead us as a culture.   Our movies have sensationalized every aspect of violence, from battle scenes that have become bloodier and bloodier to horror flicks that seem to have no limit.   The video games played by both our kids and adults put the individual behind a gun or tank and allow them to experience some sort of pleasure from killing people or blowing things up in a very realistic manner.   And, without getting into the gun debate, I will admit, I’ve never quite understood how it is that so many people have become enamored with objects that are meant to kill and destroy—not only those needed for protection or for hunting, but ones that are used for complete destruction.   Even our sports have become increasingly violent. When you put it all together, it seems we’ve created a culture that accepts violence as a means of entertainment.   In some ways, we’re not that far off from ...

We all know that over this past month millions of people have had their lives left in shambles, to say the least.   Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and Jose have swept through south Texas and the Caribbean, destroying homes, knocking out power, and taking lives.   Two earthquakes in Mexico, the greatest being close to Mexico City, left the city and surrounding towns in heaps of rubble. In Southern Asia, record monsoon rains passed through India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh killing at least 1200 people and leaving hundreds of thousands displaced.   And, let’s not forget about the, at least 400 people in the West African nation of Sierra Leon who were killed by mudslides triggered by unprecedented rains, as well as the thousands who lost their homes.   And, the list goes on! Looking over the rubble of his home in Dominica.   Jesus said, before the end comes,   “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquake...

A few months ago a friend came over and helped Kim and me choose paint colors for the interior of our home.   After a few days of holding onto them we thought we better put them in a “safe place” until we were ready to paint. Well, now that I’m about to begin the project of painting our downstairs rooms, I needed the paint chips in order to get the right paints. When I went to look for them, however, they were nowhere to be found.   In fact, for two days Kim and I searched for them—with me insisting she had placed them in one place and she insisting they were somewhere else.   Quite embarrassed, I called our friend and told her we had lost the paint chips and had to go through the process of choosing the colors all over again.   Later that day, however, I mentioned the paint chips to Kim again and described their size. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Kim’s head! She knew exactly where they were!   The lost paint chips were found!   I quickly called ...