Pastor Tom's Journal

  Photo by  Kyle Glenn  on  Unsplash Mark 5 Each of these had an identity crisis. One man was so torn by the forces within him that he no longer knew his true name. A woman had allowed herself to be defined by a persistent illness. A little girl was being defined by a death that would not ultimately prevail. Get Up Little Girl "Little girl, " he called, "Damsel," indeed, a damsel in distress, ""Talitha cum," he cried, “Get up!" And she got up. There can be no reign if death when Jesus comes. There can be no victory of infirmity when Jesus is present. There is no harshness or cold indifference. There is no unsympathetic dismissal of the pain of the moment. Jesus will speak to us whether we are dead or alive and, inside of ourselves, we will hear and rise. Little boy, little girl, little man, little woman, hear the voice of Jesus, "Get up." He speaks with affection, compassion, and absolute authority. “Get up!” You who have fallen asleep ...

How to Avoid Rash Stupidity April 16, 2015 When we act out of gut reactions, we often say and do things we either regret or should regret. Acting on instinct does not say much about setting us apart from other mammalian creatures. Instincts are useful, but are not dominant for us as human beings. The psalmist gives us three ideas that can help us and protect us from stupid, rash behaviors. 1. Know who you are - You are a person set apart for a higher purpose and a Higher Person. "But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;" This is one you can consult about the matter as well: "the LORD hears when I call to him." 2. Know what you feel. Go ahead and be angry, but divorce that anger from your next decision. By acknowledging your anger, you dis-empower it from control. "Be angry, and do not sin ..." 3. Know what you know - Ponder on your bed. That means, from a place of rest and removal from the world, consider your options, commitments, and t...

Kathleen Peterson, https://www.kathleenpetersonart.com Filled with Awe “And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, ‘What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? ’” -Mark 4:41 It was when Jesus brought calm that the disciplines found the space to experience the fear. What they had been experiencing before that was the terror and dread of being shipwrecked in the storm. Now, however, it was a kind of holy fear, an experience of the unknown for which they had no frame of reference. What do you do with that? So, the fear that the men had when Jesus calmed the sea was not terror, it was breathtaking awe. It was that overwhelming disorientation that comes when you realize that you control nothing. It is coming to understand, with Anselm, that there is a God who is greater than anything we can conceive of or imagine. We are knocked off of our feet by the magnitude of the divine presence. We are enveloped in glory. We are struck down by power. At the ...

What was on your mind when you woke up this morning? How has it guided your day? How has it affected your choices? how has it informed your planning? How has it inspired or motivated you? Think about the importance of a good start and plan one for tomorrow.

  Why do we say that Juneteenth is a celebration for all when it applied to formerly enslaved people of African descent in Texas? It is because, when we learn to love freedom, the freedom of one is the freedom of all. We all share in its blessings when received and in its deprivation when it is withheld. On Juneteenth, we remember the initiative  to inform and enforce the liberation of slaves in slavery's final frontier of the rebel states. Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War. The date, June 19, 1865, refers to the day when enslaved African Americans, basically, in Texas, learned of their emancipation. The star represents Texas, the Lone Star State, as well as the freedom of African Americans in all 50 states. Read More at https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/issues/discrimination/celebrating-freedom-juneteenth-and-emancipation-da...

"Take your candle. Go light your world."

  One of these pictures is my father in his Navy uniform. He never got on a ship. He flew to San Diego. He flew to Morocco where he occupied a listening outpost and decoded whatever was coded. That's all I could know without him having to kill me. He took pictures all over that country and seemed to have a great time. But those were tough times and everyone who enlisted was in harm's way. I don't think any sailor ever wrote as many letters home to his parents and sister as Jack Sims did. The BIG Deal About Fatherhood It is a BIG deal. B - We recognize the BEST of manhood in a good father. It is the best of manhood because it is an expression of the image of God in Him where he exercises the gifts that flow from the Fatherhood of God through his life and into the lives of his children. When a man is connected to the best God has to offer, he can give his best to others. Men were built for fatherhood and challenged in that role. I - We celebrate INTEGRITY. My father taught it...

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