Pastor Tom's Community

Even though I wrote about writing in public seven years ago, I was doing it long before and I am still doing it. So, here is the recycled version of Writing in the Public Square. The title could mean at least two different things. To write in the public square might mean to write something…

I am no devotional giant, but little triggers propel mighty forces of thought. Just as the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," it is true that we become wiser as we learn that we cannot be wise enough to fathom God. "Great" is a strong, but inadequate adjective for God. All superlatives…

A little effort is like eating a potato chip. Once you start, the next one just seems natural and then the next and the next and the next. The difference is that the potato chip saps you and leads to lethargy and obesity while effort energizes and brings rewards. You don't fill your plate with…

Is it possible for an optimist to read … "Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless …" … or in a different translation … "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity and a striving after wind …" … and remain optimistic? The possibility of meaning in our moments and movements through the morose and moody maneuvers of a…

  I imagine that you know this, but in case you have forgotten, you are a very important part of something that is far bigger than yourself. You are integral to something that without you is not complete and without which you are incomplete. I know it is a mind bender of a concept, but…

One of the first lighthouses ever built, certainly one of the most famous, was the Lighthouse of Alexandria in 280 BC. Situated on the Egyptian island of Pharos, it was at one time thought to be the tallest structure on earth at 383 – 440 feet. Many lives were rescued because of its existence. Its…

It was 1961. Laws were different then. Some were inherently wicked because their sole intent was to keep people down. That is happening all over the world today. Jim Crow had a franchise on the South. Businesses could decide, based upon genetics, whom they would serve and whom they would exclude. To defy these laws…

Where on the ladder of life are you? You can be a happy bloke in the ashes and smoke. It's all in the handshake. It's all in the attitude. Bert loved his work, his life, and his friends? In these, he found joy and purpose. What could be better than to find that Place of…

  "Help me …"The prayerful cry of the broken heart.The peaceful rest of the weary soul.The quiet resignation of the stubborn will.The blessed resolve of the discouraged traveler.The hope of all who breath its prayer.Help me to do Thy will.Oh God of grace and mercy, God of truth and justice,God of strength and power,God of…

  Here is your God, a God who gathers masses of outcasts, who gets personally involved with individuals, and manages the universe at the same time. The same attention God gives to atomic structures and cosmic operations is directed toward your hurts and broken heart, the same attention and care. " The LORD builds up…