Pastor Tom's Community

What is the meaning of it?Why do I suffer?Why do good people have so many problems?Why do the wicked Prosper? (the psalmist question)Why me? Are they surface questions or pathways to the deeper question of "meaning in the midst?" Does an atonement perspective with a redemptive, priestly, missional mindset re-frame the question itself to plumb…

  Unbridled joy is such a rarity that it is often viewed with suspicion and offense, but it is, in reality, a sacrament of the highest order in that it is an expression of pure grace. The etymology of the word, “scandal” comes from the Greek, “skandalon” meaning “trap, stumbling block, or offense.” On the…

Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God – a favorite life verse of mine with a fresh bluegrass interpretation that you'll love and sing and an even fresher insight from verse 1: What if we live in an environment where pride, arrogance, and chauvinism blunt the force of the prophetic and compassion message of…

I once posted a blooper in a social media platform that I could not correct. In my flawed messages I said that something was going "know where." It was not my first blooper. Nor was it the only one I could not fix. I was going “knowwhere,” but …. I meant "nowhere." I was only…

What is :"The Jesus thing to do?" We may not always be able to influence what local, state, and national governments do, but we can bear witness, exercise influence, and govern our own actions based upon God's moral law and upon what it means to follow Jesus in a world that is often antagonistic toward His…

You really do need to take a break from serious thoughts from time to time and laugh at absurdity if you intend to survive with a sound mind. I'm serious. Humor is no laughing matter. Recently, we lost Mary Tyler  Moore who had such a great gift of making us laugh and smile. She did…

  Frayed and tattered Faded, shattered Vacuumed vitality Stark reality Sound the alarm, but be not alarmed. A cry, a sigh, but none to say, "why." It just is and it is and it is what it is and  What it will be is what we shall see and there only is one task to…

  Luke 10:3 – Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. The costly commission to follow Jesus and to go forth as His ambassadors is so controversial as to appear adversarial. Jesus warns us to expect hostility and opposition. He does not say this to discourage us, but to encourage…

Thirsty soul and fainting flesh can be signs of health seeking more health. The soul that longs for God is the soul that knows enough of God to know that there is more of God to know. God never leaves us so satisfied that we remain where we are, but always creates, within us, the…

Do not assume that all your troubles are a spiritual deficit in your life. They may, however, be a profound spiritual opportunity for asking deeper questions, exploring deeper waters, and seeking and knowing God more deeply. " All this has come upon us,though we have not forgotten you,and we have not been false to your…