Pastor Tom's Community

faith

  • I Need a Prayer Song—and I Need It Now (Psalm 38)

    Sometimes the heart insists: “I need a prayer song—and I need it now.” Psalm 38 is a template of timely prayer for anyone who has suffered or is suffering. It gives voice and emotion to the cry of the heart… Continue reading

  • Casting Cares

    I Peter 5:7:  “…Casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.” Imagine yourself adrift upon a sea of trouble, tossed furiously by its waves and sinking under the load of care. Along comes Jesus inviting you to… Continue reading

  • Beatitude People: Learning to Hear a Different Rhythm

    Lately, my preaching, writing, and teaching have kept circling back to the same place: a hillside where Jesus sat down, looked at ordinary people, and began not with commands, but with blessing. The Beatitudes are familiar to many of us.… Continue reading

  • 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