Pastor Tom's Community

christianity

  • Re-forming

    What is Re-Forming You? Yes, it is Halloween – not my favorite holiday – not my favorite season as a rule —- getting used to things getting darker quicker. It always gets better. It is Reformation Day. Luther finally, reluctantly,… Continue reading

  • What Soils My Soul?

    From the Heart “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts…” — Mark 7:21 The debate in Mark is over what causes defilement in a person. What makes a man or woman ritually and spiritually unclean? Jesus loves… Continue reading

  • Slow Down to Soak Up the Grace

    Sometimes slower gets you there sooner and better. Like slow food, grace must be savored. Life moves too quickly at best. The Long, Lingering, Meandering Way We meander and gather our thoughts. We stop here and there to taste and… Continue reading

  • Living in Exile

    Are you homesick? Do you feel disengaged, disoriented, and dispossessed in a world where nothing is familiar? Is there a feeling of hostility from or toward you as you confront the values and cultures around you? There is actually a… Continue reading

  • Let It Roll Down

    When do justice and righteousness roll down like streams of refreshing water? “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” – Amos 5:24 It is as if Amos were here with us today. His words… Continue reading

  • Money Makes What Go Around?

    Contentment is not contained in wealth. You can be content whether you are wealthy or poor. Contentment is an attitude, choice, and way of thinking. We gain it in the pursuit of values that transcend wealth You have a relationship… Continue reading

  • Throw out the Idols

    In a World of Manure, You Might as Well Make Fertilizer Setting the Agenda: Reflections on Jeremiah 10:1–16 Part of the problem we have is an agenda — who sets the agenda, and how we live with the agenda we’ve chosen. I think… Continue reading

  • Checklists on the Path of Acting the Way We Ought

    I have two thoughts on behavioral checklists. One is about how central they were to the Wesleyan revival and the Holy Club at Oxford. The list was long and the accountability strong and it resulted in Methodism. The other was… Continue reading

  • Four Precious Girls

    I am consumed by this tonight and often, Our legacy is what it is. It never benefits us or anyone else to forget it or sweep it under the rug. There were four precious little girls who came to church… Continue reading

  • So, You Think This Is Hot?

    So, You Think This Is Hot! But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,… Continue reading