Pastor Tom's Community

Laughter us a great gift for celebration, not a weapon of denigration. It is the natural spill-over of the joy that wells up inside of us and in response to surprise, absurdity, and silly wonder. It can be an offering of praise or a response to relief. It is something to be cherished and employed…

The longer I live, the more, not less, I make the same request to the Master, "Teach me to pray," sometimes realizing that such a request is also a prayer. If I can pray no other in the moment, for ignorance or willfulness, it is a place of meeting and if a place of meeting,…

Tongues of fire descended … and something individual happened. Lighting upon each …dividing … They united all in one Spirit. A paradoxical contradiction connected multiple languages,traditions, and customs into curious Oneness. What could not be achieved by ingenuity,invention, or inquisitive cogitations became Obvious in a Divine Moment. One Divine Moment of Descent. One Holy Moment of…

I see that Harold Camping, a man for whom I experienced a couple of days of deep sympathy, is at it again – revising his dates, missing the point (The point being that this is not about points, that the kingdom of God is more analogue than digital), and hoping that he can get the…

There is much talk about the rift in American life – left and right – blue and red – on and on. I was watching a report from a major news source where the commentators were suggesting that it is irreparable and deep. Furthermore, according to them, it goes to our deepest values so that…

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) I am praying for our President this morning. I am also…

I've posted this before, but you and I need it today as we often do. Be encouraged by this scripture set to music. Whatever you are going through, remember that the key word is the preposition, "through!" It is not your destination; it is a passage. The resurrection says, no, shouts, "This isn't all! God…

"I remembered you, God, and I groaned. I meditated and my spirit grew faint." – Psalm 77:3 (NIV) What about the comfort, assurance, and peace pour quiet times are supposed to give us? What aboout the nurturing, loving, contemplative moments that we are told we will experience daily through the spiritual disciplines? This sounds like…