Pastor Tom's Journal

  Isaiah 49:1-12 New International Version Listen to me, you islands;      hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the  Lord  called me;      from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,      in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow      and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, “You are my servant,      Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” But I said, “I have labored in vain;      I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the  Lord ’s hand,      and my reward is with my God.” And now the  Lord  says—      he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him      and gather Israel to himself, for I am ...

The Word Today Is “Today” What’s in a day? This Day Today What is in a book? The book. The Torah, Law, measuring stick of life. The reading of the prophetic word in scripture from David to Ezra and Nehemiah to Jesus to us proclaims, “Today.” The prophetic word is God speaking, whether about the past or the future, focused on today – what to do today, how to live today, how to think about today. David sang a song of praise for that word in his day. He sang the wonders of The Word in creation and then, in written form. Psalm 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Nature is God’s troubadour announcing His glory to humanity. The activity of God in creation is true to His character and there is much to be known of Him through observation, meditation, and contemplation prompted by an appreciation of all that He has made. The old adage that we must stop and smell the roses is an appropriate reminder to look for examples of the glory of...

  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...