Pastor Tom's Community

  "In your distress you called and I rescued you,I answered you out of a thunderclou…" – Psalm 81:7a (NIV) I like the NKJV on this as well:"You called in trouble, and I delivered you;I answered you in the secret place of thunde … " The secret place of thunder …. The Message puts it…

Seeing God through the filter of who we are. Attitudes shape perception and perception shapes our most ultimate relationship. "The LORD rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. " – Psalm 18:24 (NLT) God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes. (Psalm…

“They laboriously do nothing.” – Seneca

Self-conquest is the greatest of all victories." -Socrates The power of self-conquest is in its greatest challenge, subjugating our own desires, passions, wants, and needs to something greater than ourselves. When we can place things in their proper order, we can conquer any challenge. When we have overcome self and self interest, we will have…

From whence comes the sense that we have a mandate to be harsh with fainting souls? The bright beams of our Father's mercy contrast with the dark frowns our our judgmental stares. The smile of God is more often a proactive greeting of grace than a reactive indicator of our laudable actions. God is irrationally…

Question all assumptions lest they decay into presumption.

“And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” – Matthew 23:12 Humility before God and man does not come easy to us.  The grip of pride is strong upon our hearts. We may be convinced that there is no escape. There is. God is our helper.…

We must be careful not to allow familiarity to obscure holiness to our view. The ordinary may not be so ordinary at all. Our familiarity with the things of God can be a liability if we forget to seek the sacred amidst the profane.

  "… I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – II Corinthians 12:9 Whatever the thorn in Paul’s flesh was, we have all gained from it. That is because, whether we admit it or not, we are all rather thorny people. We could spend our days and…

If it is not love, it is not true and is not of God. It is not just. It is not rational. Radical love that appears irrational defies logic and disarms evil. Even if something is factual, it is not true if it is not spoken in love… at least not for any who profess…