Pastor Tom's Community

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." – Walter Bagehot It is such an enduring truth and ever inspiring plot of great drama – the triumph of the underdog agasinst all odds. Some soul, armed only with a great idea and audacious belief, makes a commitment and follows through.…

by Peter Steinfels The New York Times Ten years ago this month, in a campaign speech in Indianapolis, George W. Bush promised to direct $8 billion in federal financing to "armies of compassion" that he believed could combat social ills in ways that government programs could not. Along with tax cuts, the antiterror fight and…

Why Obama's church choice matters There are political and spiritual implications By Henry G. Brinton Does it really matter whether the president goes to church? The Constitution says there shall be no "religious test," so perhaps Sunday morning should be the one day each week when the president gets to sleep in. He certainly works…

August 4, 2009 U.S. reshaping Darfur policy by Peter Wallsten and Edmund Sanders Los Angeles Times Reporting from Washington and Nairobi, Kenya – After years of worldwide outrage over suffering in Darfur, the Obama administration will soon launch a new policy that could soften some longtime U.S. sanctions against the Sudanese government implicated in the…

According to data just released by LifeWay Research, Southern Baptist membership will fall nearly 50 percent by 2050 unless the aging denomination reverses a 50-year trend and does more to reach out to young adults. According to Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, “The difference in the mean age of Southern Baptists versus the U.S. population…

 Christianity centers not on points, principles & propositions, but on a person & a people. Not sure I've stressed the people enough." – Leonard Sweet That prompted me to respond:  "How about prepositions over propositions? "in," "through," "by," "with," "for," and so forth. Prepositions are relational." – Tom Sims Think of the prepositions that you…

"Religious organizations are a key source of potential volunteers for nonprofit organizations," said Nicola Goren, the corporation's chief executive officer. "Nonprofits looking to expand their reach and impact may find it beneficial to work more closely with religious organizations in their communities, especially in these tough economic times." via www.usatoday.com I have a couple of…

My atheist friends would disagree here, but it will be with Bacon and not with me. It is he who said: "A little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion." It raises two questions:     What do we mean by philosophy?     What do we…

"A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not sufficient."– Purported epitaph on the tomb of Alexander the Great It is uncanny how one's world can shrink from the spacious opulence we consider our birthright to the minuscule confines of a grave. If it was true that Alexander wept because there were no…

"A pessimist is one who feels bad when he feels good for fear he'll feel worse when he feels better." – Anonymous  "A pessimist? A  man who thinks everybody is as nasty as himself and hates them for it." – George Bernard Shaw No one really likes a pessimist except, perhaps a strong and incurable…