Pastor Tom's Journal

  Malachi 3:16-4:6 Then those who revered the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the Lord and thought on his name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says ...

I had a terrible night of dreaming. I can usually resolve my dreams to some extent, as I dream them, and then wake up with some sort of peace. It was time to get up and all I felt was a sense of longing to get it resolved. As it turned out, that sense of longing was the missing piece to bring what I thought was my well -prepared sermon together this morning. That sense of longing was unifying them. The first Sunday of Advent. There will be signs, All of our Christian holidays and calendars were created by human beings who were longing for God, for meaning, for community, and for some sort of order in their thinking. They are based upon the Bible and written revelation, but they are not mandated, and they are not essential to the faith. You can practice them, disagree about how to practice them, experiment with them, or ignore them completely and still be a Christian, but they are useful tools for meditating on meaning , for gathering as community, , for ordering our thoughts and teach...

What if we prayed Psalm 140 while looking at one of our biggest enemies ... in the mirror? Yes, we are mixed bags of righteous and evil motives who need divine protection and deliverance from ourselves - that the right of who we were made to be might survive and thrive. " Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men; preserve me from violent men, who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually. They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah'' ''Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have planned to trip up my feet. The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net; beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah'' ''I say to the LORD, You are my God; give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O LORD! O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O LORD, the desi...

In a messy world Corrupted by us who are grown old enough to know better, there must be children with audacious imaginations and playful fantasy enough to create new worlds and keep them alive in the land of dreams lest we all slip into our caves and die.

Are you the King?  Not of this world is Jesus’ reply.  It’s apples and oranges.  The key words that differentiate Jesus’ kingdom from our kingdoms are:  Realm, Reign, Rationale Peace, Power, Popularity  If you are like Pilate, and to some extent, we all are at some point, you just don't get it. We can't get it when we try to impose our own or society's definitions of power, might, prestige, and influence on a kingdom that is not of this world.  We ask the same question he asked. With truth standing before us, staring us in the face, trying one angle after another to explain truth to us and to shake us out of our tired definitions, "What is truth?"   The truth is that truth is .... And it is not what we think it is. It never was and never can be.  Truth that transcends and transforms enters the world as a blinding contrast to our values and false passions. it challenges our insecurities and control mania. It challenges our notions that we must reso...

Lord of this morning, Light of this day, Master of the darkness that daily dies, God of night and light and all that is, I come . Empty handed, I come. I bring to the morning and the day, nothing, Nothing, Nothing, but me ...myself .... my self, Undone, unfettered, unconditionally empty. I come. Our Father .... My loved one's Father .... Ours ... Father of my dearest friends and most adamant enemies if I have any .... Ours ... Father of the nations scattered, Father of the stranger ... Ours .... Hallowed be Thy Name. Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God Almighty. Thy name is Holy. Thy Name ... vast, uncontainable, unfathomable, yet ... Revealed to us as "I Am."  You ARE ... Hallowed be THY NAME. Thy Kingdom ... Thy rule .... Thy dominating, liberating, rejuvenating Kingdom of Love, of Life, of Wonder ... COME! I come.  Thy Kingdom Come ... Come to this house, to this body, to my church, my city, my nation ... My world.  WE come, OUR Father ... Send forth Thy Kingdom in us and thro...

Sermon Notes --------------- We are have roles to play in God's story. These roles all have different characters, but the role of the whole is to bear the image and self-disclosure of God and God's story in the world. Therefore, we observe: We all long to have something of ourselves to give back to God. Everything that we ever have to give comes from God. There is a desire to leave something of ourselves in the world and for the world to bless the world. God hears the prayer that longs for this. God's name is made known through those who desire this. Here is a different cast of character over a long period of time: Sara, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary - All had unexpected pregnancies. One of these wanted nothing more. Hannah, mother of Samuel, the last of the judges of Israel ---------------------------------------- Some Background: The name Elkanah is a Hebrew name for boys that means "God has purchased" or "God has created". It comes from ...

First attempt at podcasting through livestreaming on YouTube. Theme - Show Up Jesus showed up in Luke 14.

Believing Is Seeing Mark 10:46-52 “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” - Erasmus     What is in a name? They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.   What did Bartimaeus see? When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"   What did the “many” miss seeing? Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"   Take heart – a three-point sermon in a three-part sentence. Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him,   "Take heart;   get up, he is calling you."   His last possession – Another three-parter So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.   A searching question and a simple ans...

  Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine  -  Own work History. I read it every  day. I take, at least, a shallow dive into the history of events on the day of the month I am experiencing, looking back over the centuries.  It helps keep everything in perspective. I quote from Wikipedia and footnote its sources: History  (derived from  Ancient Greek   ἱστορία  ( historía ) 'inquiry; knowledge acquired by investigation') [ 1 ]  is the systematic study and documentation of the human  past . [ 2 ] [ 3 ]  History is an  academic discipline  which uses a  narrative  to describe, examine, question, and analyze past events, and investigate their patterns of cause and effect. [ 4 ] [ 5 ]  Historians debate which narrative best explains an event, as well as the significance of different causes and effects. Historians debate the  nature of history  as an end in itself, and its usefulness in gi...

Can You Drink the Cup? "And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:" - Mark 10:39   I do not know what I can do.   Nor do I really understand the price of the things I desire and require.   The disciples were posturing and negotiating. Who was most important among them? Who would be entitled to sit with Jesus in his throne room? They still assumed it would be like Herod’s throne.   It was a rather immature exercise. Yet, we still do it, even when we are more subtle about it.   We flash our credentials and flaunt our titles. We brag about our accomplishments and list our achievements as often as possible .  It may be insecurity; it may be self-doubt; or we may just be prideful.   We try to leverage our relationship with Jesus and our spiritual insights for material wealth, prestige, and power.   Jesus says direct...

I never tire of this piece and your presentation has transported me beyond this tired realm of dust and decay. I hope that someday, I can ascend from this place to my permanent home with such beauty in my ears. I am trembling now in anticipation and joy.

  Thoughts Are Things with Wings Let us glorify God in our bodies. It is a difficult thing when our appetites, cravings, and desires shout with such fever pitched shrills seeking to drown out the quiet and still voice of God whose voice is even more pronounced yet deep. We tune to the frequency of perishable fading sounds and tune out that which is truly refreshing and life-giving love. It is our journey and our struggle, but not ours alone. '“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you n...