Pastor Tom's Community

  Come what may, the future is bright. It probably involves many years of productive living, but whatever it involves, the future is bright.   I am scheduled for a procedure at UCLA on June 19 – an endoscopy with dilation plus a few extras. More on that in a moment.   I had an…

    "God's children and their happiness are my reasons for being" "I don't want to be called 'the greatest' or 'one of the greatest'; let other guys claim to be the best. I just want to be known as a clown because to me that's the height of my profession. It means you can…

I guess when I grunt and shout over such things, I must be playing to the audience and there must be a reason I do.

We need to embrace the seasons of our lives with relish and wonder. They are indications of God’s creative love and graceful presence. All that men define as chaos in the universe may be that way from their limited perspectives – but it takes an eternal perspective to see that there is glorious pattern beyond…

Do you have the urge? Do you want to change the world? Then the next step is to take the next step.

… that we should go unto the heathen …  -Galatians 2:9 It is a wonderful thing to know your calling. Paul had a clear sense of mission and the church confirmed that mission.  Some would go here and others would go there. Paul's purpose in life was to take the gospel to the Gentiles. That…

  And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. – Galatians 2:9   We have all heard people described as “pillars…

    Rembrandt offers us a remembrance of one of the stoning instances in the New Testament. Stephen was stoned as a false prophet. It was technically legal under ancient Jewish law to carry this out. A few years earlier. a town tried to stone Jesus as He announced a Year of Jubilee and Himself…

  In Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8, Jesus has a boat at his disposal. That is a resource that someone has provided for the ministry. We are looking at a Christian perspective on responsible and redemptive use of wealth, riches, resources, money, and material goods. It is "put up or shut up" time…

  Election day is coming this week. Please vote. Think. Read. Pray. Think. Pray. Vote. Don't expect yourself, your pastor, or your favorite news outlet to be infallible. Don't trust every mailer, tweet, post, or commercial that comes across your path. Your values will be in conflict with each other. Expect it and work through…