Pastor Tom's Journal

  Isaiah 44:9-20 All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame. The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes a...

Photo by  Unseen Histories  on  Unsplash I am not sure I ever have a thought completed until I write about it. I keep thinking and writing about Martin Luther King I am not finished. If you want to make America great, make America what it ought to be. This is such an encouraging and challenging message to keep on standing for truth, justice, righteousness, and love in obedience to God. Martin Luther King — “But if Not” — Biblical case for non-violent civil disobedience — obeying God over men. A study of Daniel and his defiance, in faith, and with respect, of the decree of King Nebuchadnezzar which, though lawful, defied God’s moral law. “God grant that we will never bow before the gods of evil.” Be faithful and God will watch over you. Another take away, based on Job: Do I have an “if faith,” or a “though faith?” Remembering MLK I celebrate M.L. King Day every year like, to some extent, I celebrate the liberation struggle of every oppressed people through history and toda...