Tag Archives: faith

Uncategorized

Of deadlines, celebrations and new challenges…….

Leave a comment

It is getting down to the wire for our move of St. Patrick’s Mission to Westfield. I stopped by there today and it had yet to be painted, let alone carpeted or the “Animal Hospital” sign taken down from above the door (it’s big!). But too much has happened to lead us to this point, and I am certain that by Sunday morning at 9 we will be up and ready to go. (Okay, hopefully by Saturday night because we need to move in our furniture!)

My life is often like this though, high stress and deadlines. And though it often makes things a bit intense, it is also exciting in that it always seems to work out. Living in a way that counts on God to do His part takes a lot of faith, but I can tell you it works time and time again!

On Sunday we will rejoice heartily at what He has done, and then we will set our sights on something new. We have lots to do and there is never a dull moment…..but that’s the way we like it.

God’s call to us is new every morning…..we can only imagine what He calls us to in the next new day!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

Uncategorized

Of illness, of rain, and of future hopes and dreams…..

Leave a comment

Today was still rainy and wet, but we held practice just the same. I had a Men’s Bible Study scheduled to start tonight, but postponed it one week because some of the guys could not make it, plus Amanda was home sick today. She has not felt good all week, but right after making the calls and telling the people who could make it not to come tonight, suddenly she appears up and smiling, seemingly feeling better. I guess even at 47 I can confess that I do not understand the fairer sex. All I know is that my heart was in the right place, and with the information I had at the time, I made the right decision. But, I am disappointed about the delay. We are going to meet next week instead.

Beyond that, I am working hard to find a permanent facility for St. Patrick’s here in Noblesville. We are having a “Wine and Cheese Party” here at the house on Friday night for all its parishioners and some others, and I had hoped to have the location locked in by then. It is not looking like that will happen….BUT, IT WILL HAPPEN! The goal is to be in a new facility by Thanksgiving! Keep us in your prayers!

Anyway, I am glad Amanda is doing better, and even thankful for the rain. Time will tell about this facility search, but I have faith that I will be thankful for that too! So keep the faith my friends, it is worth it! I hope you have had a blessed day!

Goodnight and God Bless!

Fr. Tom+

Uncategorized

Living those Guy Lafleur dreams……..

Leave a comment

Oh yes….the cooler the better! Though I love the warm weather, nights like these make it very clear that I am a Northerner at heart! I do not mind the cold, and there is no better feeling at all to me than to be out on an ice rink gliding around with the cool wind in my face. I am certain this blog is going to lead me to the rink either this Friday or Saturday too.

I suppose we all have things that bring us great joy. For me, among other things, it’s my faith, my family, our dogs, my wonderful gray and white domestic mountain lion (she is diluted…she’s really just a little cat) and of course my love of ice skating. It’s 55 right now on the back porch with a little wind, and as it hit me, skating was the first thing that came to my mind.

When I skate I feel free and very close to God. The aches and pains of my body and the stiffness that always plagues me all seem to disappear, and I just glide across the ice. Of course being a middle-aged man helps. I still skate better than I walk, but the fact that there are not five guys with sticks looking to knock me down anymore makes it a lot smoother, and more of a pleasurable skate! Don’t get me wrong, I miss the contact and competitiveness of my youth, but as I skate, I now seem to remember only the victories, and the good times! And as I glide across the ice, my mind goes to the things I am blessed with in this life! There is a real sense of peace and joy. It is something I wish everyone had, yet I must confess, it is something I do not take time for enough anymore. I do however, intend to change that by the weekend!

I may have lost a bit of my mind post-stroke, but as I am dealing with it what I have discovered is that God is deepening other parts of me. I seem to struggle with complex thought, and particularly numbers, and even short-term memory, but I now notice much more depth in the world around me. My patience is a lot shorter, yet things seem to have more meaning. And yes, I know you are worried, but my sense of humor took no hits at all, because I am truly convinced I am six inches taller and ten years younger than I was in March….yep, 6’3″ and 28!

Where I come from there is an expression, “you play the hand you are dealt.” Really you can do no more. I do not have a hand of two’s and three’s though……my hand is pretty good. And I need not bluff my way through life because I know I am truly blessed.

I have met a lot of clergy in my time who I have thought were totally delusional, and I suppose some may think that about me. But I can walk and talk, I have a great faith, a great family, and good friends (we cannot all be great). I get confused, but can still do more than most. And for a stroke patient, I am living the rock star life. I KNOW I am blessed, and I intend to make the most of it.

I will continue to make the most of each day, playing that hand the best that I can, and I hope you do the same. We are all given a lot of opportunities every day, and all of them are gifts from God. I encourage you to join me, and lets make the best of all of them! Life is to short to do anything less. And God’s hope for us all is that we would live each day to its fullest!

Goodnight my friends and God bless! Come join me this weekend at Church AND at the rink!

Fr. Tom+

Uncategorized

On the edge of a monumental week………..

Leave a comment
I am at home, out on the back porch with Puddy, and other than running a few work-related errands I have been home most of the day. That has not the norm for me on a Saturday for quite some time, but the service I am normally a part of in Nashville on Saturday moves to Sunday morning AND our first permanent location at 9:00am! It is an exciting time, and though I will need to leave well before 7:00am, I cannot even begin to express how awesome it is! St. Matthew’s Nashville is our smallest congregation, yet this facility just made sense. Brown County is a beautiful place and we will use it for retreats as well as Church. The Lord has blessed us indeed!
Tomorrow also marks the first weekend that I will not be traveling around to all our missions. It is no longer possible, and now Fr. Sean and I will circuit ride with the help of Fr. Chuck, and our three handsome and competent Deacons (well at least they are competent). It will be a big change for our Church, yet one that we believe will lead to a healthier congregation and growth. Personally, I love Fr. Sean. He is my friend, and I was elated he accepted the call to join us. But unlike everyone else, now I will hardly ever hear him preach or celebrate the Eucharist! We will be together primarily at weekly meetings. But I am convinced we have the right guy for the job. Our main prayer (as I believe I have shared before) is that he would meet and fall in love with some girl who LOVES Indiana and wants to stay here forever! People may accuse me of praying selfishly, but he is a fine priest, and I AM thinking of all of you as well! He’s a great guy!
Then we will be finalizing the launch of St. Paul’s Greenfield on Sunday September 7th! That service will begin at 1pm at the First Presbyterian Church. All our clergy will be in that service (even Fr. Sean and I together). But at that point we go from 3 to 4 functioning mission churches, and then set our sights on more!
It is truly a monumental week, not for us as a Church, but for the Lord and the ministry He has called us to! None of this would be happening if He had not led us here, and we would not have seen this come to fruition had we not been faithful! All of us are “pull what little hair you have left out” busy, yet we all feel blessed! If you are a part of us, I hope you feel the same way. If you are not, I invite you to join us.
I have been a priest for close to 20 years and I have never felt so alive and blessed in my ministry. All we do seems unbelievable, but it happens….but isn’t that what faith is to be about?
Come be a part, or invite someone along! The Lord is revealing and doing many things in our midst! Come and be a part of this powerful ministry!

God bless!

Fr. Tom+

Uncategorized

Of Church and Organized Religion…………

Leave a comment

If there is one thing I have always hated about the Church it is the politics. When I was a kid I was quite sheltered from it, but as an adult, and particularly as a priest, I see it all the time! I often ask unchurched people I meet why they don’t go to Church, and am often given the response “because I hate organized religion.” My response to them, without variation or reservation is, “well so do I!”

I think that is part of why we have been pretty successful in the planting of Churches over these last 19 months…..because we have worked hard to not be like other Churches and we have changed our DNA. As a Church are not meant to be an “organization,” we are meant to be a CHURCH. We are the people of God gathered together to build up the Body of Christ in our world. We are to pray, heal, teach, preach, show compassion and mercy, and quite a few other things I would be able to remember if I had a whole mind. But too often churches become “who’s who’s,” and more concerned about monies, budgets, and buildings over Jesus and the people He came to save.

I believe with my whole heart we do not have to follow the bad road (though churches have done it for centuries). Where I have to have a Masters degree to be a priest (and I even have a Doctoral degree) the original disciples were uneducated fishermen and tax collectors among other things. They didn’t form task forces, long range financial plans, nor did they lock their progress up in committees or slow it down in politics. They loved the Lord, they cared for people, and they faithfully walked forward trying to fulfill mission over structure. They never intended to form “organized religion.” They only intended to serve the Lord.

Perhaps this world would be a better place if we hadn’t lost sight of that…..but more than that, perhaps it still can be if we regain that sight. We’re trying here, and I invite you to come join us.

Okay, off of my soapbox and off to bed! Goodnight my friends, and remember, your relationship with God is not about a Church, but about you……and your heart.

Fr. Tom+

Uncategorized

Of telephone, gossip, and faith…..by Amanda

Leave a comment

Have you ever played the game “Telephone” or “Gossip”? I have heard it referred to as both names, but it is essentially the same game. I remember learning it in elementary school where it was used to teach our class a lesson on spreading rumors. It is also used in some team building workshops to understand about the power of ineffective communication. Regardless the reason for playing the game, the message is the same….the more people you put between the person giving and receiving the message, the more chances there are to mix up the message. Sometimes so many of the words are changed by the end of the communication line that the entire intent of the message has changed drastically.

I find the lesson of the Telephone game to have a lot of application in my life of faith as well. The only way to never misunderstand what God is telling us is to receive it directly from Him. Too often, we have put other people or things in the way of that message and allow it to be distorted. Dave Ramsey makes a great reference to this when he says in his Financial Peace University lesson “If you find a pre-approved credit card offer in your mailbox, it does not mean that God has answered your prayers and you can go buy the new boat you have your eye on!” With a much better sense of humor that I have, he is saying the same thing…our guidance on what to do, how to live, who to be and where to go in life only come from one place…the word of God. And that message has to come directly from Him in accordance with His word.

So if the message you believe you are receiving from God does not come directly from Him, or is in conflict with His word, then it is a good idea to ask again. Keep your relationship with the Lord personal and deep so that you are able to hear what he is saying to you. Don’t allow others to filter the message for you….hear it from His heart to your ears. God bless!

Amanda

Uncategorized

Of high blood pressure and the prayers for Godly leadership……..

Leave a comment

With my schedule, I have to get most of my news from the Internet, and I have to say that as I have read about the upcoming Lambeth Conference, it is just making my blood boil. Bishops from all over the world are posturing and making their political moves, while real people are neither being fed nor led.

I just finished an article a few minutes ago which cited an interview with Gene Robinson, the gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, who despite not being invited to Lambeth, and despite being one of the primary epicenters of conflict and schism in the Anglican Communion, shoots off his mouth (irresponsibly in my mind) unapologetically and with conviction. AND he heads to Lambeth anyway!

I want to be clear, I do not agree with one bit of Gene Robinson, nor do I find him anything less than offensive, but I will say I believe more conservative Bishops, (and also the ones who confess to be) would be far better off standing with such backbone and conviction. Bishops are supposed to be “defenders of the faith,” but in my experience I have found very few leaders and defenders, and many more weasels and politicians. I did not, and could not be among them. I was convicted in my heart by the Lord to leave the Episcopal Church because of it. I just could not follow opportunistic or immoral leadership.

But even more than that, it points to what we are doing when we follow such errant leadership. The question I suppose is “can we really be living faithfully if we align ourselves by our presence and support, either directly or indirectly, with such rubbish? I don’t think we can. I was always the pastor of good and faithful churches, but it was still a question I had to ask. In the end, I saw the truth. The Bible tells us that you cannot serve two masters. If I was preaching truth but in bed with corruption, well then, I was only deceiving myself. They say that ignorance is bliss, but not when it is risking people’s souls. A paycheck verses my faith and conscience? No no no……I made the right choice. It’s just too bad many of our leaders haven’t been able to make similar ones.

I believe a lot of the leadership I have known has been lost in a sense of their own self-importance over their faith. You cannot complain about what you know is wrong, but then just wait for a time that is safe for you to hop on the train. Lots of guys I knew were doing that, but that’s not leadership. The Lord requires us to pick up our crosses, to do the right thing, and it cannot be just when we find it to be our best opportunity or about what we can lose (such as our cushy offices or our retirements) Jesus indeed requires more.

You know, I will never agree with Gene Robinson, nor any of his cronies. They spout out about all the homophobes, and label priests like me and others in the conservative side of the faith as ignorant, discriminatory, and even intolerant……but I know better. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mt. 5:11-12)

I do not fear where I am at, nor do I regret being here, for though many have led good people astray, I know I am not one of them. So for now I will pray diligently to see Godly leadership step up, speak up, and lead.

But until then I can see that I will need to be watching my blood pressure.

God bless and keep the faith. It’s worth all your efforts, I swear.

Fr. Tom+

Uncategorized

GAFcon and other theological ramblings…..

Leave a comment

For the last few days in Jerusalem, leaders of the orthodox-wing of the Anglican Church have been gathering at GAFcon (the Global Anglican Futures Conference) to discuss the crisis in our Communion. It is significant, in that it is a gathering of Godly people who are setting politics aside, in order to look at what it means to be faithful witnesses to Jesus in the midst of an Anglican expression.

Over the course of my entire life there has always been this draw to all things Anglican. People seemed to have such an unusual desire to be connected to the “Mother Church,” and things like the Royal Wedding, and the Archbishop of Canterbury. I of course was among them…..it was always a cool thing to be a part of a church with such a rich and wonderful heritage, and there seemed to be no downside to that connection.

But after I became a priest I saw the picture quite differently. The quaint history was still there, but the Church was far from faithful. It was inundated with politics and positioning, and infected with secularism to such an extent that I wondered if it was terminal.

The answer to that was not far off, for as I worked to reform the Church from within, as was both my right and responsibility as a priest, I found deep resistance mainly from my bishop and others who professed faithfulness. When my conscience led me to retire from active ministry within the Episcopal Church and seek out Godly bishops and ministry, I was charged and labeled (by the Church I retired from – the Episcopal Church) as unfit for ministry and as departing from the faith. It’s appalling! People are being led toward hell by the Church itself and by its so-called leaders, and many who profess to agree with me are too weak or too afraid to stand. I like so many others just must wipe the dust from my feet and in faith move on as called by Christ.

The leaders at GAFcon are discussing the very same thing. Archbishop Akinola knows the difference between following Jesus and following something else, and so do I. Sadly, too many people I know who profess the importance of an orthodox faith seem more focused on following tradition instead. The risks for me however, are too high.

Faith is serious business. We cannot just talk the talk, we also must walk the walk. The Bible tells us that you cannot serve two masters, yet too many people try.

In the words of Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” I can do no less, and I hope you do the same. Too much is counting on it.

Your choices in this life count. Make sure you make the good ones!

God Bless and keep the faith…….a real and meaningful one!!

Fr. Tom+