Pastor Tom's Community

"Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness…

There is a simplicity buried in the complexity of prayer that emerges in the moment of our fullest engagement as we turn to God and God turns us around and around and around — so much so, that it resembles a dance to which He brings the music. It starts with simple declaration. "The LORD…

Gabby Giffords was not the first to say this, but she is, perhaps, the most credible. Here's what Jesus said: “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:   Which indeed is the least of…

Rejoice with them that do rejoice; weep with them that weep. - Romans 12:15  The hospice instructor wrote the words, “Fix it” on the board and proceeded to declare, “You can’t do it.” You can’t fix it. So then, what can you do? You can be there and experience with some hurting soul, the ministry of…

Bless them that persecute you; bless and curse not.  - Romans 12:14 When you bless your persecutors you are taking control of your own life. There are those even among Christians who consider anyone who takes these seriously to be weak and ineffective. The most commonly watered down words of Jesus in American pulpits are…

Distributing to the necessity of the saints; given to hospitality. –Romans 12:13  Have you ever gone out into the community around your church building and asked neighbors what they know about your fellowship without identifying yourself as a member? It can be an eye-opening experience. There are two dynamic concepts in the verse we meditate…

  Part 1– The Forward View Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer. – Romans 12:12 Discouragement has met its match. Romans 12:12 has a devastating affect on discouragement by wielding a weapon I call "The Triple Threat." It is a formula and I am generally suspicious of formulas. However, this one…

  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord. – Romans 12:11    Half-heartedness is the curse of mediocrity. It is the spirit of lukewarm faith that so offended Jesus about the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation. It is the polar opposite of the wholehearted worship, devotion, and service that is called…

Christian Affection Romans 12:10a – Be kindly affectioned one toward another with brotherly love; There are three kinds of love described in the New Testament through the use of three different Greek words. The first is mandated in Romans 12:9 and portrayed as sincere love that abhors evil and embraces goodness. The next two are…

  Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. – Romans 12:9  There is much in the world that disguises itself as love. Out of the noisy menagerie of voices declaring what true love is, there comes a call to sincere, undiluted, unpolluted love. The clarion cry is the…