Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

It seems that over the past few months, I’ve been meeting people in some new and different ways and making some new friends along the way. There’s the young guy in the supplement store next to the gym, where I buy my protein powder. His name is Tom. We connect about three times per week, just to chat and keep up with each other. Recently, we even exchanged phone  numbers.  There’s the neighbors who came into the neighborhood about a year ago, Diego and Iva. They even recently visited our church. And, last week, Kim and I met a couple on our bike ride around the Manasquan Reservoir, Gene and Dawn. By the time we were getting ready to leave, we were as well exchanging phone numbers and talking about doing a bike ride together. Oh, I ought to mention our neighbors Amir and Ansa and their sons who originate from Pakistan and are relatively devout Muslims. This year we brought them gifts on Ramadan and they brought us gifts for Easter. Amir now calls me, “brother.”  And, talki...

This coming Saturday, June 18, is the Red Bank Classic 5K with over 1,000 runners participating.  In fact, this is the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19 that the race has taken place in full. (The last time was June 2019).  So it’s only natural that people are excited about getting out into the community and running together again. I know I am. After all, for many people, being able to run a 5K race like this signifies that we have turned a corner and that it is in some ways a new day and thus, we might say, a new race.   Once again, we will have a team from our church, Shrewsbury First Assembly, made up of about 10 runners (well, maybe a few walkers!). It’s a great way for us to participate with one of our neighboring communities. We will all be wearing our “Caribbean blue” t-shirts with the words, “It’s A New Day!”  Our hope is to not only run well, but to send a message of encouragement to the other runners, to let them know about our church, and most...

I don’t usually follow news about the British Royal family. This week, however, I have found it noteworthy that Queen Elizabeth II is currently celebrating her Platinum Jubilee. That is, for 70 years now she has served as the monarch of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.  This makes her the longest reigning monarch the United Kingdom has ever had. As far as we know, Queen Elizabeth has only been outdone, at least thus far, by King Louis XIV of France who reigned for 72 years. Who knows, Queen Elizabeth just might get there!  The world has changed much during her 70 years on the throne. Think of what the world was like in 1952 when she began her reign and what it is like today. Technology, social mores, ways of doing business, ways of interacting and so much more have changed. The world feels so much smaller due to the internet and our much faster means of travel.  Life in general is quite different than it was 70 years ago. Yet, through it all, the British people ha...

This past week I’ve been working on re-staining and re-sealing my deck. In the process, I’ve run into one obstacle and challenge after another. Thankfully, one of the men in our church who has a flooring company sent out one of his guys to sand down the whole deck and apply the new stain. Unfortunately, the stain I had bought was not what I thought it was, so now I have a deck with a stain and color I absolutely hate! Ugh!   On the other hand, I need to remind myself, compared to what many people are facing in their lives today (even some of you), the difficulties I’ve had with my deck this week are pretty trivial.  After all, when I think of the loss families in Uvalde, Texas are facing as they bury their little ones, the stain on my deck is of little to no real concern. I may not like the color that it turned out to be, but I’m not standing beside a casket weeping over my 10 year old child. I may have an extra task or two on my hands, but I’m not having to live with the...

As many of you know, I’m pretty regular in maintaining an exercise routine.  I’m usually in the gym or running—or something—at least five days per week. At times, however, I have found myself trying to figure out the best and most efficient routine for both building muscle and increasing cardio.  That’s where having a training plan has been a big help.  This past winter, I downloaded an app with a weight training plan. And, it seems to be working (I think!). Oh, I’ll never be “jacked,” but following a plan is helping me develop a bit more muscle mass. And most recently, I’ve been looking at training plans for running a half marathon—a goal I’ve set for myself. After all, I know I can’t go from running a 5K to a half marathon overnight. It’s going to take time to prepare my body to run the 13.1 miles required. But that’s where having a training plan comes into play.  The Apostle Paul understood this well. Thus he wrote, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into st...

By now we are all aware of the fact that the price for a gallon of gasoline has soared. For reasons too complicated to get into (for they are many and varied), we are all feeling the effect of sticker shock when we go to fill up our tanks. Hopefully, the current prices at the pump won’t last forever.  As I casually talk to people about what’s happening in our economy, and especially the soaring gas prices, it’s pretty easy to tell who is becoming stressed out by it all. As gas prices go up (and the cost of other things as well), there are those who can’t help but go on a rant and point fingers. Their stress level seems to be going through the roof. Often their stress turns into an anger that you can hear in their voice or even see on their face. And, I think to myself I really don’t want to go down that road—i.e., I don’t want my emotional state to be tied to the price at the pump!  Like you, I am not at all happy about what I have to pay at the pump these days. And, sometimes...

On April 25, 2022 our family welcomed its newest addition, Jonathan “Jack” Michael, born to our son Jonathan and his wife Danielle. That means Kim and I are grandparents twice over! We are so excited. And, we were glad to have been able to go down to where they live in Maryland last weekend and spend a few days with them, getting to know little Jack, playing with big brother Jesse, and helping them with some of the chaos that comes along with a newborn coming home.  We are grateful that, ours is a growing family. And in many ways, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Now I know there are many situations in which that is not possible, some by choice and some by circumstances, often difficult ones, out of one’s control. But the general trajectory of life is for one generation to bring forth another generation—i.e., for families to be growing. Or as God instructed Adam and Eve, for married couples to be “fruitful and multiply.” Families were meant to grow.  I’m reminded, however, ...