Pastor Tom's Journal

  Photo by  Jan Kopřiva  on  Unsplash Are you afraid of snakes? Beware; there are snakes in this story. There is also a fair share of discouragement, bad attitudes, and poor behavior. There is also a salvation story, and a snake is involved in that too. Some people are fascinated by snakes. Others are fearful. The first snake in the Bible is not presented in a very good light. He comes as a tempter, offering an eye-opening experience. We’ve been tempted by snakes, bitten by them, cut off their heads, and have thrown them in the fire. But God made snakes and God made everything. There are snakes in the story I am about to read you. They come in a context of discouragement and complaining, but they also remind us that there is more to the story than we often see up front. Numbers 21:4–9  — (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition) From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, but the people became discouraged on the way. We ...

 We Are All Getting Older and, Hopefully, Wiser.  That includes both spiritual and moral maturity. That involves an evolving understanding of ethics and how we apply the Bible to evolving social circumstances and questions of behavior in this world.  It is always general and it is always personal.  How Do We Know What Is Right?  We have to walk through it, and work through it. Paul the Aged teaches us 1. The lessons we learn and keep learning. 2. The living we lean into to learn. 3. The law of love that informs it all  Philemon New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition   Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To our beloved coworker Philemon, to our sister Apphia, to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church in your house:   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always when I mention you in my prayers, because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward th...

  Order: https://amzn.to/4gTyIWP Download The-Complete-Works-of-Oswald-Chambers Oswald Chambers Scottish teacher "Oswald Chambers was born to devout parents in Aberdeen, Scotland. At age 16, Oswald Chambers was baptized and became a member of Rye Lane Baptist Chapel. Even as a teenager, Chambers was noted for his deep spirituality, and he participated in the evangelization of poor occupants of local lodging houses. Oswald married Gertrude in May 1910, and on May 24, 1913, Gertrude gave birth to their only child, Kathleen. In 1915, a year after the outbreak of World War I, Chambers was accepted as a YMCA chaplain. He was assigned to Zeitoun, Cairo, Egypt, where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops, who later participated in the Battle of Gallipoli. Soon his wooden-framed "hut" was packed with hundreds of soldiers listening attentively to his messages. Confronted by a soldier who said, "I can't stand religious people," Chambers replied, "Ne...