Pastor Tom's Community

In the hurry to worry I get nothing done,

Jean Colombe (1430-1493)   Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.  But he answered…

We get angry and then we get to choose what will become of our anger. Will we let God shape it into a force of loving defiance of the evil?  Will we let it reinforce our courage and resolve? Will we let it be for good or will we allow it to create more evil.…

" … the land mourns …" I often drive around my city. Often, I mourn. I see all of this and more. God, please don't stop breaking my heart for the cities. Keep me tender and wounded within for the brokenness I see. Give my soul no complacency or retreat from the nagging call to…

  Shine, rising sun upon these steps I take.It is a dark world this morning, but it is morning.Early, comes morning and only hopeful people venture forth.The world is dark. Is it?Then why is it that I see the road before me and little obstacles in my path?Why is it that I can see if…

Father … I am a "dis-tractable" soul. You know that and I know that and I am amazed how You have accommodated that in me and taught me to manage within the margins of my "dis-tractability" to find a tract within which I can live and seek you and find traction for my journey. I…

Life is a process. Real life is no shallow exercise of mundane motions, but an interwoven tapestry of threads that journey through, across, and deep within the relationships of many threads and weaves until a unity emerges. Here is Psalm 90 (KJV) with an Ives setting to listen to as you read if you can…

  "Theotokos" means "God-bearer."  Rachmaninov composed it as a tribute to Mary, who bore the Son of God and in whom God was incarnate, appealing to her prayers on our behalf. That being said, are you not a God-bearer in whom the Son of God incarnates Himself in the world and through whom He shows…

In Psalm 88, the singer of psalms is distressed and overwhelmed with a sense of alienation. He feels that his condition is so revolting that his friends, loved ones, and even God cannot bear to look upon him. He cannot stand under the weight of his own isolation. Still, he prays, with more desperation than…

  Are you "stuck" in work you feel is insignificant and at the lowest place on the chain of importance? Are you doing menial work when you feel you have a greater calling? Look at David. His entire schooling was doing what kids do in a family like his – chasing ewes, shepherding sheep. He…