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Pastor Tom’s Community is a collection of biblical reflections, pastoral observations, devotional studies, personal stories, and practical encouragement for Christian living.
Some posts begin with the daily Scripture readings. Others grow from sermons, memories, questions, conversations, or moments when an old passage speaks with new clarity.
This index gathers recent articles in one place so readers can revisit a meaningful reflection or discover something they may have missed.
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July 2026
When the Right Answer Is Not Enough
Peter correctly confessed Jesus as the Christ, but he still misunderstood what kind of Messiah Jesus would be. This study of Matthew 16 explores why a correct confession must reshape our thinking and lead us into the way of the cross.
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Go Back, Stand Still, or Move Forward?
The Israelites stood with the sea before them and Pharaoh’s army behind them. This reflection on Exodus 14 examines three possible responses to crisis: retreating in fear, waiting in faith, and moving forward when God gives the command.
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Here I Am
God called Samuel during a time when the word of the Lord was rare—but the lamp of God had not gone out. This devotional considers the personal nature of God’s call and the faithful response, “Here I am.”
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When Good Qualities Become Dangerous
Even virtues can become distorted when separated from other virtues. Courage needs gentleness, conviction needs humility, contemplation needs action, and love needs truth.
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Be Still and Know
Psalm 46:10 is more than an invitation to relax. It calls us to release our frantic attempts to control everything and become consciously attentive to the presence and sovereignty of God.
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Finally, Brethren
Paul often used the words “Finally, brethren” to gather the threads of his message and emphasize what mattered most. This reflection considers conclusions, transitions, pastoral farewells, and the importance of leaving well.
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If There’s No Roux, It Ain’t Gumbo
Some ingredients are essential. Without them, something is not what it claims to be. Using gumbo as its central metaphor, this article asks what qualities are indispensable to authentic Christian discipleship.
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Do I Know My Neighbor?
Jesus answered the question “Who is my neighbor?” by describing what it means to become one. Beginning with a dream and moving into the parable of the Good Samaritan, this reflection brings love out of the abstract and into the concrete circumstances of daily life.
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Knowing What Jesus Is Doing
Peter could not understand why Jesus knelt with a basin and towel. Jesus assured him that what he did not understand then would become clear later. This devotional explores trust, service, and the meaning that sometimes emerges only after obedience.
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Follow Me—Just Stay Near
“Follow me” may be only two words, but they contain the essence of discipleship. This reflection considers following Jesus as a continuing relationship of nearness, attention, trust, and movement.
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The Table of Love
John 13 says that Jesus loved his disciples “unto the end.” The table becomes a place of belonging, service, vulnerability, betrayal, grace, and enduring love.
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Daily Readings for Today and for Any Day
A practical encouragement to develop the daily practice of reading Scripture. The suggested passages provide a starting point while leaving room for the Spirit to direct each reader’s attention.
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CRUMB: From Crumbs to Baskets
The Canaanite woman’s encounter with Jesus becomes part of a larger movement from exclusion toward abundance. This study of Matthew 15 examines persistence, humility, faith, compassion, and the widening table of Jesus.
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His Truth Is Marching On
James 5 and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” come together in a reflection on justice, patience, protest, judgment, and the confidence that God’s truth continues to move through history.
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Planters, Waterers, and the God of the Harvest
Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God produced the growth. This reflection encourages those whose work may bear fruit beyond their sight, lifetime, or ability to measure it.
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Not Raised Up, Yet Still Ascending
Psalm 131 is a song of ascent in which the singer refuses self-exaltation. The body climbs toward Jerusalem while the ego bows, showing that spiritual growth does not require worldly elevation.
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God Can Still Reshape This
At the potter’s house, Jeremiah sees damaged clay reshaped rather than discarded. Paired with Isaiah’s image of being cut from rock, the passage offers hope that God can work with both our malleability and our resistance.
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June 2026
Blessed to Become a Blessing
God’s promise to Abraham was never intended to terminate with Abraham. Divine blessing creates responsibility, sending blessed people into the world to become channels of grace for others.
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Do You Love Me? The Sacrament of Failure and Renewal
After Peter’s three denials, Jesus asks him three times, “Do you love me?” Grace does not merely forgive Peter and leave him beside the fire; it restores his calling and sends him back to feed Christ’s sheep.
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Clean Hands, Distant Hearts
In Matthew 15, Jesus challenges religious traditions that preserve outward cleanliness while allowing the heart to remain far from God. The passage asks whether our practices serve genuine devotion or merely protect appearances.
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Sin No Longer Owns Us
Romans 6 declares that grace is not permission to remain bound. Those who have been united with Christ in his death and resurrection are invited to live from a new identity in which sin no longer has the final claim.
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Soft Heart, Quenched Thirst
Israel’s thirst in the wilderness became a test of trust. This devotional reflects on the danger of hardened hearts and the invitation to bring our deepest needs honestly before God.
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A God Like You
Micah marvels at a God who pardons sin, delights in mercy, and casts transgressions into the depths of the sea. The prophet’s question becomes an expression of wonder: Who is a God like this?
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The Face of Jesus Is Grace in the Storm
Six glimpses from Matthew 14 reveal the character of Jesus: eyes that see, a heart moved by compassion, hands that receive what we bring, a face encountered in the storm, arms that rescue imperfect faith, and a presence that heals.
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The Day That Makes Things Clear
Malachi acknowledges how difficult it can be to distinguish good from evil in the present. The prophet points toward a day when God will expose what is hidden, heal what is broken, and make the truth unmistakably clear.
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When Words Carry the Weight of Faith
The Council of Ephesus gathered in 431 to resolve what appeared to be a dispute about theological language. This historical reflection shows how words can carry profound implications for what Christians believe about Jesus.
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I Will Sing Your Love
Psalm 89 begins with a decision to sing of God’s steadfast love and proclaim God’s faithfulness to every generation. This devotional reflects on testimony as something spoken, sung, remembered, and passed forward.
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Gentle Bulls
A father’s description of his son as “a bull in a china closet” becomes the starting point for a reflection on strength, compassion, self-awareness, and the gentleness God develops within forceful personalities.
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Not to Haunt You, but to Heal You
Herod tried to silence John the Baptist, but he could not silence the truth John had spoken. This reflection considers the memories, convictions, and unresolved truths that return—not simply to condemn us, but to invite repentance and healing.
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I Will Be Stubborn and Do What I Want
Jeremiah records the tragic response of people who had already decided to follow their own plans. The passage examines stubbornness, self-deception, ignored warnings, and the spiritual consequences of refusing correction.
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Forget the Tie; Listen to Dad
Proverbs 4 calls children to hear a father’s instruction and remember a mother’s teaching. This Father’s Day reflection moves beyond conventional gifts toward the wisdom, stories, warnings, and love parents leave behind.
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Not Ashamed
Beginning with Romans 1:16, this devotional traces the biblical language of shame and considers what it means to live openly and confidently in the gospel of Christ.
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Seeds for Sowing
Psalm 126 pictures a person going out weeping while carrying precious seed and returning with joy. The article encourages faithful sowing even when results are delayed, hidden, or accompanied by tears.
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Marked for Christ: Glorying Only in the Cross
At the conclusion of Galatians, Paul refuses to boast in religious status or outward achievement. His only ground for boasting is the cross of Jesus Christ, through which his relationship with the world has been transformed.
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Praying Honestly
Prayer does not require eloquence, performance, or borrowed language. It begins when we come before God truthfully, even when the heart is faint and the words are incomplete.
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Real Strength
Paul discovers that Christ’s power rests upon him in weakness. This reflection challenges conventional ideas of strength and explores how limitations can become places where grace is most clearly revealed.
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Malta: When Trouble Becomes Testimony
Paul survived shipwreck, arrived on Malta, was bitten by a snake, and continued serving others. Acts 28 shows how disruption, danger, and delay can become settings in which God’s grace is displayed.
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These reflections are part of an ongoing conversation.
Some are short devotionals. Some are expanded Bible studies. Others begin with a personal story, a historical event, a difficult question, or an ordinary moment that opens a window into faith.
Browse the articles, share one that speaks to you, and return regularly for new reflections.
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