Pastor Tom's Community

faith

  • Biblical Foundations of Authority

    (Creation, Covenant, and Order) A Work in Progress Note, I prepared this as the beginning of a position paper and working document rationale for Facebook and my other platforms. Biblical authority is grounded first in creation, not coercion. Authority emerges… Continue reading

  • Scattered, Not Lost

    A pastoral reflection There are seasons when life feels coherent and gathered.And there are seasons when everything feels scattered. Thoughts come in fragments.Prayers trail off mid-sentence.Good intentions pile up faster than completions.Even faith itself can feel spread thin across too… Continue reading

  • Grace Has Brought Me Safe Thus Far

    He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Psalm 40:2 I tread cautiously on the subject of safety, for safety is an… Continue reading

  • Birthday Generosity

    I Gave My Birthday Away — and You Can Too Turning Personal Milestones Into Community Good As we get older, many of us find that we need fewer things. Our wants change. Our closets fill up. What grows instead is… Continue reading

  • Faith for a New Year

    Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1 is substantive and evidential in and of itself. Does that suggest that faith in anything proves the thing? Yes and no. Yes, faith, because of divine and universal principles set in motion from the time… Continue reading

  • Seasons

    To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. – Ecclesiastes 3:1 Our God breaths upon time and space and enters into our sphere, moving with rhythmic precision and thoughtful order, shaping events, turning tides,… Continue reading

  • The Tadpole and the Caterpillar

    NEW BIRTH “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” – John 3:7 Back in 1978, Barry McGuire wanted to help his little boy understand the new birth experience that had taken him by surprise. So,… Continue reading

  • Defect Removal and Help

    “ The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”  – Luke 19:10 (NIV) The Lord is entirely ready to remove our defects of character when we are entirely ready to have Him do so. He… Continue reading

  • All Wet or Fired Up

    Matthew 3:1–12 — John the Baptist Prepares the Way Excerpted from https://tomsims.substack.com/p/fired-up It was a time when religion, even good religion and theology, had become empty ritual for so many. It was a time when many were longing for something authentic in their… Continue reading

  • When the Kingdom Becomes Visible

    Read the Full Text The Visible Kingdom What does it look like? If we pray for and participate in the prayer, “Thy Kingdom come,” how does that play out in the day-to-day? What does the Kingdom of God look like?… Continue reading