Pastor Tom's Community

  "Though it cost you all you have, get understanding." – Proverbs 4:7b Wisdom is a costly commodity. We pay the price in time, heartache, experience, and study as well as money. Yet, the wise man of old testifies to its enduring value. "It is worth all you have" is his message to those who…

  Much that I needed to know for life, I learned from some very special children's books. Dr. Seuss was one of those. Theodor Seuss Geisel was born March 2, 1904. Consider these words. "OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!THERE IS FUN TO BE DONE! THERE AREPOINTS TO BE SCORED. THERE ARE GAMES TO BE WON."…

  We dream; we grow;We move; we flow;We laugh; we glow.While here below,We live in anticipationOf pomp and circumstanceAnd graduation.We are matriculated in the school of lifeArticulated by toil and tears and strife.We are students of all that passesWork and play, day by day, our classes.We are classmates with our fellow creatures.These also are our…

    Your greatest effectiveness may be awaiting the moment when you are least concerned with being great or effective. For some people, who have sacrificed fame, fortune, and the comforts of living in service, there is one last hope in this world – to be remembered. In one reading from Chamber's, "My Utmost for His Highest,"…

It was January, 2010. I was sitting down to the tiniest plate of the softest, soupiest food I had ever assembled at a potluck. I cannot imagine how many times I have heard and said, while staring at an insurmountably challenging plate of food, "My eyes were bigger than my stomach." Simply put: We put…

I had a pretty good lesson in humility and pride a few years ago. It was a moment of internal embarrassment and readjustment in my thinking. It was one of those outdoor shopping centers with a Best Buy and an Office Depot spaced with several other stores in between. I was comparing prices on laptops…

  There is something very right and something somewhat wrong about this scenario: When a crisis occurs in the world, there is an urge to pack up and go, or to at least to write a very big check. Many share that urge. But we are constrained by time commitments, lack of preparation, and enormous personal…

We start each day with hope. At least I do and most positive people I know do the same. There is an occasional "dreaded" day, but it is the exception and is usually combated by positive self-talk and prayer. The rule is that we begin our mornings expecting to exploit our effectiveness and embrace our…

  David would not and could not wear Saul's armor to battle Goliath. He was not Saul. He was not Saul's size. He needed his own garb and his own weapons. When we realize that we are unique, fearfully and wonderfully made people, we will come to be free to be ourselves. We won't try…

  Is there a relationship between the size of a milkshake and long term business success? The question made me think about fair shakes and residual growth. On a night, sometime in the past, at an unnamed restaurant named for some guy named Benny or Lenny or Kenny – something like that, I had a…