Pastor Tom's Journal

Acts 16:31 – And they said, “Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Here is an acronym for what it means to have saving faith: B- Be convinced of the gospel message for your life: God loves you. Jesus died for you. Your sins are forgiven. Jesus’ resurrection is your promise of eternal life. This is the gospel E– Examine your life honestly in the light of God’s living and written Word and admit your need of a Savior as a result of a broken relationship with God and others. The Holy Spirit will guide you through this process of conviction if you are open. L– Let go of your sinful resistance and self-centered control of your life. Another word for this is repentance, a turning from sin, self, self-delusion, and deception to God. This is a turn-around in your mind, will, and actions made possible by grace. I– Invest your life completely in God. This is basic, gut-level trust and is necessary for the new life in Christ. One way to express this change of heart to God is ...

The House of God Genesis 28:10-19a When were you last in the House of God? Are you sure? Is it possible that you were there and did not know it? Could it be that you are there now? Did you ever wake up in the morning, look around, and see something you didn't expect you would come to the place where you slept in the night. You had slept. You had dreamed. You had tossed and turned in your bed. Now you are awake. The room looks different. The world looks different. It is a new day. It is a new place. The story I'm about to tell you is not paralleled in that experience exactly. Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Heron, according to Genesis 28: 10 through 19. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night because the Sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and laid down in that place. I have often thought that must have been uncomfortable. I have often wondered how a stone could be a good replacement for a pillow. Once I took a nap ...

A New Radicalism Back to the Root of Things ----------------------------- It was a conversation with a friend that brought up M. Scott Peck, I looked for what I might have written on him in recent years. Here is a piece I wrote. ----------------------------- We are being called to radicalism in the same sense that M. Scott Peck called himself a "radical conservative" - one who goes to the root of things and seeks to conserve that ideal. Sometimes the roots are buried deep beneath the surface. Sometimes they are in plain view. Always, they provide the strength and stability to the life they support. To determine what the radix of the Jesus message is, one must focus on the person, work, and message of Jesus in His context and beyond His context. No one was ever more forgiving; yet no one was ever more brutally truthful. His judgment did not condemn and His forgiveness let no one off the hook of personal or collective responsibility for their choices. It is going to take some r...