Pastor Tommy's Blog
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Be Kind - June 11, 2026
I had the opportunity to serve on a Walk to Emmaus recently. If you’re not familiar with the Walk, it’s a three-day spiritual retreat that includes 15 talks, all centered around God’s grace and our proper response to it. On this Walk, I was struck by something interesting and surprising. Just about all of the speakers were people who looked like they had it all together. Nothing really suggested that any of them had any problems at all. Yet I’d say two-thirds of them had faced major physical, spiritual, or emotional struggles in their lives.
As I said, I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been. I’m a pastor. People come to me for spiritual counseling. Most of them are people who seem to have it all together. But there they are, in my office, struggling.This reminds me of a quote that I first heard attributed to the late actor/comedian Robin Williams, although the idea has been around for a long time: “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.” As it turns out, he was one of those people. He died by suicide.I’m beginning to suspect that it’s the ones who appear least in need of kindness who need it the most. Or, maybe it’s the ones who invite kindness the least who need it most? Or maybe that’s just a vast overgeneralization. But the fact is, LOTS more people could use kindness than we assume.Jesus tells us that the key to real, abundant, eternal life is to love God and love people. That’s how we were created to live. And loving people includes, at the very least, extending them kindness, regardless of whether we think they need it or deserve it.So, in invite you. Find an opportunity today to be kind. -
The Mall - June 4, 2026
When I was younger (a lot younger), my friends and I would sometimes ride our bikes down to Northcross mall on Friday nights. This was back when Austin was Austin and you could do that sort of thing. Now, part of the excitement of it was the bike ride, and it was fun watching the people on the ice skating rink (although I can’t remember us ever skating), but the real reason we went was the arcade. This was before cell phones, X Boxes, PS 5’s, even before Atari and Nintendo. Back then, if you wanted to play video games, you had to go to the arcade.
And it was awesome. It was kind of like an adolescent version of Vegas. I remember just standing outside of the arcade looking through the door. All the flashing lights. All the ringing and roaring. And you could literally feel the excitement of the people. Stepping through that door and into that arcade was like stepping into a different, and much better, world. It was like stepping out of the mundane everyday world of homework and chores and teen angst, into a world of sensory overload and excitement and just plain fun.Most of us can think of similar times in our own lives. For some of us, it may actually be a casino. For others, it might be walking onto that cruise ship. Or it might just be waiting to get on the plane for an extended vacation. We all have those times when we’re standing in the lives we’ve been living and looking through the door into a different world, a better world, a world where the deepest desires of our souls will be fulfilled.Of course, it never actually works out that way. Eventually the novelty and excitement of the arcade wore off (right about the time I ran out of quarters). Eventually, the attraction of the casino pales (about the time the credit card maxes out). Eventually, the cruise ends and the vacation is over. And whatever it is, it never lives up to our desires. It’s fun, but it never gets deep. We may find happiness for a little while, but we never find the deep and meaningful peace and joy we’re looking for—the peace and joy that’s missing in the everyday, mundane world we’re trying to escape.All of which reminds me of another time in my life. I was standing in the mess I’d made of my life and looking through a different door. There weren’t blinking lights or enticing noises on the other side. In fact, there wasn’t anything to see or hear. There was just a promise; a promise that this time was different; that a new and different life was possible, really possible. That the discontent, anger, and fear I had been living with wasn’t what I was created for. That regardless of all the incredibly stupid things I had done in my life, I was still deeply and divinely loved. I stood in the life I had made for myself and looked through the door into the kind of life I was created to live. And I stepped through. I put my trust in Jesus.And I’ve got to say, my experience since hasn’t been like the arcade. Now, at least in my case, there wasn’t the instant excitement of being overwhelmed with sensory overload. On the other hand, the novelty and excitement hasn’t worn off. Instead, it just seems to keep getting better and better. I’m living a new and different and better life. I’m finding the joy and contentment that eluded me before and, instead of fading away, it just seems to be getting deeper over time.I think this is what Jesus was talking about when he said he is the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). We were created to live in love and joy—in relationship with the God who created us. But, if we’re honest with ourselves, most of the time we don’t. Most of the time, despite what we may put on our Facebook posts, we’re just trying to survive from day to day and get to the end of our lives without too many bad things happening to us. That’s not living.We were created to live. So, we chase after stuff that we think will bring us real life. But despite all the blinking lights and exciting noises, we always just end up back in our old lives. Jesus offers us something different. Jesus offers us something real. Jesus offers us life. He’s waiting just on the other side of that door. All you’ve got to do is walk through. -
No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition - May 28, 2026
Kirsten and I did a trail race last Saturday. It’s one we did last year as well. And my experience of the race this year couldn’t have been more different. Last year was a nightmare. Everything about it (other than the fact I survived) was miserable. This year, I felt good and had a great time just cruising through some of God’s prettiest country.
As I think about it, there are at least a couple of reasons for the difference. Importantly, the weather this year was better; it was a little cooler and there was some cloud cover. But I think the main difference is that this year, I knew what to expect.Last year, I must have mis-read the race description. I thought the course was going to be pretty flat. So, I was surprised to encounter some really big and really steep hills. But worst of all, the race was billed as a 25k. 15.5 miles. But the actual distance was 27.5k, 17.1 miles. I guess trail races distances are kind of like the Pirate Code: more like guidelines.Now, 1.5 miles might not seem like a big difference, but last year, as I thought I was approaching the finish line, right at 15 miles, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say my soul was crushed when the trail turned away, and immediately dropped several hundred feet (meaning I’d have to go back up several hundred feet to finish the race). I was not a happy camper. The injustice! I considered a protest—maybe just sitting down in the middle of the trail—but I was in desperate need of food and water, so just plugged along as best I could.This year, I knew what to expect, and so I enjoyed the hills a lot more, and I didn’t get disheartened when the trail turned away from the finish line at the end.I think life is much the same way. There are many times in our lives when we expect things to go one way, only for them to turn out totally differently. When we’re young, we think “growing up” will solve all our problems. But when we get older, we discover we’ve just got more of them. We might expect to be rewarded for doing the right thing at work, only to be punished instead. We might have certain (usually unrealistic) expectations before we get married, only to find they aren’t met. In all these cases, it seems the unfulfilled expectations result in a sense of injustice. It just isn’t fair.Why is that? I think it’s about control. Our human natures crave control; over our circumstances, over our futures. But the fact is, we actually control very little in this life. Despite our best and most persistent efforts, life usually turns out very differently than we want or expect. And our human response is, “It’s not fair.”Yet while we in control of very little of the world around us (which is probably a good thing), we are in control of how we set our expectations and how we respond when our expectations are not met.And, in my view, there is only one way to properly set our expectations. It’s based on an honest acknowledgment that we really aren’t in control. And since we aren’t, we ought to place our trust in the one who is: God. We should place our expectations in God’s hands. We should regularly pray (and meant it!) the prayer Jesus prayed immediately before his execution, the same prayer we pray in church every single week: God, your will be done.All of which is a roundabout way of saying that when we truly trust our lives to God, we don’t allow ourselves to be where I was last year on that seemingly endless trail. We don’t build our lives around our own expectations. Instead, we rest in God’s care and provision. We trust that God’s got this. So that whatever happens, we can accept it as a gift from God. -
Change Happens - May 21, 2026
I was talking with a friend this last weekend and somehow the conversation turned to change and loss. It was probably inevitable. We’ve both suffered recent losses. He got to talking about a beach house his family had owned. He’d grown up going there with his extended family, and his kids had too. But then the family had to sell it.
The parallels to my experience were almost spooky. I grew up spending the summers and most Thanksgivings, Christmases, and Easters at our family’s cabin on Lake Proctor, with my siblings and parents, aunt, uncle and cousins, and my grandmother. Many of my fondest memories are tied up with that place. When my siblings and cousins and I got married, we would bring our kids up there with us. They had a good time, but it wasn’t quite the same. For one thing, even after adding a second floor, accommodations were a little crowded. And then, the frequency of the visits started to fall off, as we all began to split our time between two families. As families expanded and schedules got more crowded, the visits got shorter, and less frequent. Eventually, we pretty much quit going, and ended up selling the cabin (thankfully, to one of my cousins).In that conversation with my friend, we concluded that change is not fun. We talked about how cool it would be to be able to go back to those beautiful, formative times in our lives.But we also concluded that while change may not always be fun, it is inevitable. And, in fact, it is necessary and good. Jesus said “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24)Growth requires change. In fact, I was reminded last weekend that if you aren’t growing, you’re dying. This is true physically, as my knees and back remind me more and more frequently. But it is especially true spiritually. There is no such thing as spiritually standing still. Doing so is like treading water instead of swimming towards the nearest shore. You might keep your head above water for a while, but eventually, you’re going to go down.We might be comfortable where we are. Or we might even want to go back to the “good old days.” But that is not the Way to Life. The Way to Life is growth; it is the Way of constantly seeking to go deeper in our relationship with the Divine. And when we do that, we discover that while we might mourn the loss of yesterday, God has provided us with the opportunity for an even better today.I still look back fondly on the days spent at the lakehouse. But the loss of that time and that place have created new opportunities for joy and connection. My sister Becca has a place near LaGrange where we still get together as a family regularly. We now take the opportunity to visit Kirsten’s family in Reno regularly (which coincidentally gives us the chance to visit Lake Tahoe regularly). My daughter Caitlin lives in Vancouver, BC, which give us the opportunity to spend time with her and her soon-to-be-growing family up there.The past is often great. But it’s the past. It’s done. The important question for us in the present is how we will take what we’ve learned from it—how we will grow from it—into a new and even better future. -
"Let's Play" - May 14, 2026
Many years and a few pastoral appointments ago, Kirsten and I got a new dog. Her name was Callie Ruth. Her prior owners couldn’t take care of her anymore and through a friend of a friend, Kirsten met her, fell in love, and brought her home. Not being without sin in this regard myself, I wasn’t able to cast any stones.
Anyway, Callie Ruth was, on the whole, reasonably well-behaved. She was pretty even-tempered and got along well with people. But when we first brought her home, we noticed something: she didn’t know how to play. Our other two dogs at the time, Ginger Ruth and Heidi Ruth, were always doing something to or with one another. Ginger was a puppy, so she would constantly be taunting the older dog, trying—often successfully—to get her to play a game of chase. They seemed to always be playing.But Callie Ruth? Not so much. The other dogs would approach and she would growl or just walk off. They would play and she would just stand there looking confused. It was kind of sad. She could be having fun with the other dogs, but she just didn’t know how.Turns out, Callie Ruth’s prior owners weren’t able to get her out to socialize with other dogs. And without that contact with other dogs, she didn’t know how to be a dog.I hear all the time people saying some variation of the following: “I’m a Christian, but my church is nature.” Or, “I’m a Christian, but why would I want to hang out with all those hypocrites at church?” And this morning, reflecting on Callie Ruth, my answer is, “Callie, that’s why.”We are a lot like dogs. We learn by doing. We learn from those we hang out with. If we hang out with folks who don’t know how to play, we’re never going to learn to play.Some folks might take issue with me for comparing following Christ to playing. And while I think that’s unfortunate, I can see where those people are coming from. I readily admit that there are those who make following Christ out to be a lot of hard work. In fact, if I’m honest with myself, I’ve been guilty of that before. But those tend to be the times when I’m making it all about myself instead of God. And I’ll freely admit that there are those in the church who don’t seem to be having a lot of fun. Most of us have seen these folks; the ones that look like they came straight out of “American Gothic.” But I think they’re missing the point too.Jesus said, “my yoke is easy, my burden light” (Matthew 11:30). He didn’t come to bring us hardship in this life so we can enjoy the next one. He came to connect us with the very source of love and joy and hope—in this life and into eternity. And in just about any congregation you go to, there will be some people who have found for themselves some of that joy and love and hope. So, the answer isn’t to avoid church. It’s to find THOSE people and to just bless the others and hope they eventually get it.As C.S. Lewis said, “the Church exists for nothing else but to draw [people] into Christ, to make them little Christs.” That’s what we’re about in the church. And, given the way we humans learn, it’s unlikely to happen at a distance. It’s unlikely to happen by osmosis. It’s only going to happen when we come together, when we hang out with one another, when we offer one another support and accountability. And, when we play. -
Cleaning Up My Act - May 7, 2026
“You have the cleanest mouth I’ve ever seen.” Those are words I never thought I would hear, at least directed at me. They were uttered the other day by a dental technician who was cleaning my teeth. My first thought was that he must be a trainee and this must be the first mouth he’d ever looked at. But he seemed to know what he was doing, so my next thought was that he clearly wasn’t familiar with the old me. If he were, he never would have said that, even if my teeth were absolutely pristine.
In my younger days, much of what came out of my mouth was not pleasant. Not always profane, but almost always negative. To say I wasn’t an encourager would be a massive understatement. Whatever data that entered my brain was inevitably translated into pessimistic and negative thoughts. And those thoughts were quite often translated into words.Jesus talked about a similar phenomenon. One of the many complaints the Pharisees made against Jesus was that he and his disciples didn’t follow all the rules about eating, specifically the rules regarding ceremonial hand washing. Here’s Jesus’ response: “Jesus called the crowd near and said to them, ‘Listen and understand. It’s not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God’s sight. It’s what comes out of the mouth that contaminates the person…. Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? But what goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that’s what contaminates a person in God’s sight. Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adultery, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and insults.’” (Matthew 15:10-11, 17-19)Our words (and our actions) represent the state of our heart. Fearful, hateful, and judgmental words like the ones I used to speak, (and sometimes still do) come from a fearful, hateful, and judgmental heart. And I’m not alone in having this kind of heart. Many of us do, to one extent or another.And I think one of the main reasons we do is because we live in a culture that, like us, is fallen; a culture that is driven by fear and judgment, in which lashing out at those who differ from us is considered natural. If we’re not careful, practically every moment of every day of our lives, practically from the moment we’re born, is spent absorbing this brokenness.And the point Jesus is making is that rules of etiquette or politeness—forms that deny the reality of our darkened hearts—are like putting lipstick on a pig. They don’t change anything.Which, to me implies a fundamental truth: on our own, we can’t change. When we try to change our hearts on our own, not only do we find ourselves fighting against our own fallen nature, but we’re fighting against the 24/7 influence of our culture. It’s a battle we can’t win.Which is where Jesus himself comes in. It was about 22 years ago that my world (and my mouth) began to change. I recognized Jesus as the Way out of the fear and the judgment, and the Way into peace, joy, hope, and love. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that things didn’t change for me nearly as quickly or completely as I had hoped. I’ve still got a long way to go. But I can honestly say that the stuff coming out of my mouth today is quite different than it used to be. And that’s in large part because the things going into my mind and heart have changed.Some people think the point of “salvation” through Jesus is nothing other than going to heaven when you die; it has no impact on or relationship to the life you live here and now. They are wrong. When you entrust yourself to Jesus, you receive a new kind of power—God’s Holy Spirit—that enables you to begin to change. I know some people for whom it was practically instantaneous. For me, it’s been long and slow and occasionally painful. But, looking back, I can clearly see that it IS real. Neither my mouth, nor the rest of me is the same as it was.Now, in the sense that matters, my mouth may still not be cleanest there ever was, but that’s ok. It, and the rest of me, are doing a lot better than we were. -
Training
The other day I was listening to a podcast and the speaker said something I guess I already knew, but in a way that really brought the point home. He said that everything we do, think, say, or experience is a spiritual practice. Think about that.
Now, here’s what I think he meant. First, we are fundamentally spiritual beings. We are eternal. This life is like a spiritual training ground, preparing us for the eternity that comes after. And what that means is that everything we do, say, think, or experience in this life is training for our eternity. Everything we do, say, think, or experience is spiritual training.And we, as creatures uniquely endowed with free will, get to choose what that training looks like. We can choose a training program that prepares us for an eternal life without God, or one that conditions us to crave God’s presence. We can choose a program that makes me the master of my universe, or a program that recognizes God as the master.I have a tendency to think of “spiritual practices” as a discrete set of things I do to get close to God. But I’m beginning to understand that spiritual practices encompass much, much more. In fact, every moment of every day of our lives is a “spiritual practice.” Every moment of every day is either conforming us more into the image of Christ, or doing the opposite. Everything, from the shows we watch, to the books we read, to the company we keep, to how we approach our jobs and families, to how we fill those unexpected, unstructured moments, is a spiritual practice; a practice through which we are training ourselves for how we’re going to spend eternity.So, how’s your training going? -
Body, Mind, Spirit - April 23, 2026
Last Saturday I watched my son Jack complete the Houston Iron Man Triathlon. He swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles, and ran a 26.2 mile marathon. Back to back. I am so proud of him.
And as I watched him swim and bike and run, I was just in awe. I couldn’t imagine myself in his shoes, and didn’t want to. But I was also in awe of the rest of the competitors. Almost 3,000 people participated in this event. The professional athletes from around the world were incredible. But everyone else was too. There was one guy who brought his disabled friend with him over the entire course, first in a kayak, then in a bike trailer, then in a modified racing stroller. And then there was “Ed,” whom we saw several times over the course, who was in his late 70s.Now, for Jack, it’s not like doing an Iron Man was his lifelong dream or anything. Actually, about 7 months ago he just decided to do one. And then, for the next 7 months, he trained. He described the training as a second job. It seemed like every moment he wasn’t eating, working, or sleeping, he was training.And I’m sure that’s how it was for the rest of Saturday’s participants. I can’t get my head around the dedication and the time they must have put in to enable them to finish that race. But they did it. And now each of them has not only a tremendous sense of accomplishment, but also a very expensive belt buckle.As I sit here thinking about that race, I’m a little convicted. Each of the race participants probably averaged 15 to 20 hours of training a week, on the low end. Day in day out. Week in week out. Month after month. All that for a belt buckle.Yet I don’t put in anything close to that kind of time to work on something waaaaaay more important: my spiritual life in God. If I put in an hour a day in prayer and meditation, I feel like a spiritual rock star. If I direct my thoughts and attention to God even 10% of my day, I feel like that’s a good day’s work. If I do a few service projects a month, I feel like God’s gift to the world. Yet all of that combined doesn’t even approach what those triathletes were willing to do for a belt buckle.Of course, it isn’t either/or. We shouldn’t have to choose whether to take care of the body or take care of the spirit. We’ve all got to find a way to balance looking after our bodies, our minds, and our spirits. The key is to dedicate meaningful and productive time to all 3. Which, with the ever-accelerating pace of our world can be difficult. But Jack and all those other triathletes remind us, or at least me, that it is possible. We make time for what’s important. So, what’s important to you?Today, I pray God will help direct my eyes and yours, my hands and yours, my mind and yours, more and more to Him, the one from whom our true life comes. -
Keeping up with the Joneses - April 16, 2026
A few weeks ago, I was listening in on Kirsten’s weekly video call with our daughter Caitlin. Actually, I really wasn’t paying much attention until I heard Caitlin say, “… but y’all are our Joneses.”
Now, I’m sure you know about keeping up with the Joneses. It’s the idea instilled in us by the culture that to be productive members of society, we’ve got to acquire and consume all the stuff the folks around us are acquiring and consuming, or we’ll get left behind.So, I guess Kirsten had told Caitlin that she and her husband Will are our “Joneses.” Which I get. They do have really cool stuff.But then Caitlin said we were their Joneses. Which I don’t get. Our stuff is way less cool.But isn’t that the way it usually works? We run faster and faster on the treadmill of success, trying to keep up with Mr. & Mrs. Jones, while they’re doing the same trying to keep up with us. It’s a little insane if you think too hard about it. Unless, of course, you’re the one selling the stuff we’re buying in our attempt to keep up.This last Sunday I preached on self-condemnation. One of my points was that in our culture (and probably most human cultures), our identity, value, and meaning are determined by comparison. To be worthwhile, valuable, and lovable, you’ve got to be better than someone else. And, for reasons lost in the mists of time, those people are always named Jones.But here’s the reality. The Joneses do not determine who we are. The Joneses are just random people. They may be Facebook influencers, or folks who live down the street, or our closest relatives. But they’re just people; fellow human beings; fallible and fallen like the rest of us. Living under the influence of a fallible and fallen culture, like the rest of us.On the other hand, God is God. God is the creator of the universe. God is the one who has given us life.And this almighty God loves us … all of us. Even you. We celebrated that love just a little over a week agon on Easter. God loves us so much that he sent Jesus to enable us to live a new, bountiful, and eternal kind of life (John 3:16). THAT is where we find our real value. THAT is where we find our real meaning.So, how about this? How about we let the Joneses do their thing, and think a little more about keeping up with God? -
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The Good Ol' Days - April 9, 2026
I’ve got a friend named Phil. He’s from Lubbock, the home of Taco Villa. Phil really, really likes Taco Villa. Which makes sense. He grew up eating it. I remember one time, when our youth group was passing through Lubbock on a mission trip, Phil was so proud of Taco Villa that we stopped there for lunch, giving us all the opportunity to savor the flavor.
Phil, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry. But Taco Villa just isn’t that great. Don’t get me wrong. It’s OK, it’s just not great. I really like Phil and since he was such a fan of Taco Villa, I wanted to like it too. And I tried. I really tried. But I just can’t. And neither can my daughter. She went to Texas Tech. And whenever we would visit, I’d ask whether we could go to Taco Villa. She’d just roll her eyes. It became one of our inside jokes.Now, I wish I could say this is just a Phil thing, but it isn’t. For me, it’s Mr. Gattis. I love Mr. Gattis pizza. It’s irrational, I know, but when I was growing up, we had one of the first Mr. Gattis in Austin quite close to our house. We wouldn’t eat out very often, but when we did, it was usually at that Mr. Gattis. My mother would order one large pizza for our entire family of 7, which is where I learned a little about competitive eating. But mostly I remember how great that pizza tasted. It was just the perfect mixture of sauce and cheese and crust and pepperoni. It was amazing!But nowadays, whenever I ask my friends who didn’t grow up eating Mr. Gattis if they’d like to go there, they just roll their eyes. It’s kind of become a joke.It’s funny how some of those things from our past can make such a big impression on us. A lot of us look back on the old days, on the good times with so much fondness that it can impact our reality right now.And there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m a pastor in the United Methodist church, a denomination with a relatively long history. Generations upon generations have grown up in the Methodist faith. And for a lot of us in the church, there is a tendency to look back on our formative times within the church with fondness and nostalgia—to think that those were the “good old days” and that if we could just keep the church that way, everything will be ok.But we’ve got to be careful, because the only constant in this world is change. And I think that is—or should be—especially true of us Christians. St. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” What I think St. Paul is talking about isn’t just a single, instantaneous change. He’s also talking about growth. God’s intention for us is that we grow throughout the entire course of our lives; spiritually, emotionally, intellectually. And growth means change. It means change in the way we live our individual lives and it means change in the way we live out our lives together in community. It means change in our churches.It’s ok to look back with fondness on the world of our youth, but we can’t assume everyone else feels the same way about that world. If we are going to reach new people with the Good News that God loves them, we may have to grow into a new way of expressing it. After all, not everyone likes Taco Villa, or Mr. Gattis for that matter.
