Category: Church

Comments and activities related to our church, which is Community Presbyterian Church in Louisville, KY

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Breathing

My sister’s name is Lucy Thomas Falconer, and she can’t breathe.

Lucy

Lucy grew up on our farm in KY, met an Englishman in graduate school and married him. Eventually they bought a home north of London, had two children and she pursued a career in business and non-profit work. Sometime in her 30’s, she began to have trouble breathing. Yesterday, her husband Terry told me she probably has only a few weeks to live, because her lungs are almost gone. In between has been a long and painful road, with a miracle of the Lord’s grace almost at the end. Here is a bit of her story.

Continue reading “Breathing”
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Judge Not … ?

We all have faith, don’t we?  That is, we have faith in something.  I might be the  staunchest of atheists, yet faith in the possibility of staying alive, and making some progress in my endeavors, is required even of me as I get out of bed every morning.  Over the years, when sharing my faith with others, I have been told, “… judge not!”  This is meant, I have assumed, to shut the conversation down, or at least make sure my POV has no sharp edges.  It has been spoken as a sort of talisman– once out in the space between us, it is supposed to guarantee that no unacceptable words will come from my side (or at least give cover for ending the conversation with a note of, “… I told you not to go there.”)  While meditating on Christ’s words in Matt. 7:1 (the source of this idea), the realization came that I had significantly misunderstood it.  In reality, the Lord meant to say, “Sentence not…”  Continue reading “Judge Not … ?”

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Thomas Times Newsletter – More from TT

This is the promised addendum to our 2017 news update.  Hope you enjoy it!

As my parents began to forget things and struggle mentally a number of years ago, it became clear that they would need a more intensive “at home” care than we had planned on.  When both were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I remembered what Dad had done for his mother-in-law in a similar situation, and then realized Beth and I were going to start a business we weren’t qualified or trained to pull off: a mini-nursing home.  This past year, after Dad died in June and Mom in August, our careers Continue reading “Thomas Times Newsletter – More from TT”

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Worship the Image

Our church has an amazing pastor & teacher.  For years (and I’m not kidding) we have been learning from the book of Exodus, and recently Bill has been teaching on the “Ten Words”.  As a child, I learned them as the 10 Commandments, but they are actually more than that.  Today’s lesson was a kind of preparation for a detailed study of the 2nd word, which I always thought Continue reading “Worship the Image”

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Social- real, virtual or both?

In a recent meeting of our church leadership, the power of social media to make meaningful connections between people we know and those we don’t was brought up.  Someone commented that “Our church’s new picture directory is … Facebook!”.  Furthermore, this has happened quite organically, and without any set plan.  We are now exploring how to make a biblical impact with social media, and this has reminded me of my own experience.  Quite frankly, I am Continue reading “Social- real, virtual or both?”

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Slippers- their name says it…

“No, my left hand isn’t dangling by a thread after massive loss of blood yesterday as a result of …”  That would be my answer to my brother, who had called from Calif. this morning very concerned by an e-mail he had gotten yesterday from Mom.  She didn’t send it to me; I haven’t seen it; something about serious injury to my whole hand…

Remember when your mother told you to stop running around the house in your slippers because you would bust your head wide open?  (You were 4 at the time; you may not remember.)  I forgot; was just doing Continue reading “Slippers- their name says it…”

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Voo…

A terrible earthquake, apparently building up pressure over hundreds of years, has practically destroyed the capital city of Haiti.  Over 200,000 people, some having died in agony after hours under the rubble, have been dumped in mass graves because there simply wasn’t time to bury them properly.  Many more are terribly injured or suffering from the deepest poverty, because they have nothing left, and they are in line with thousands of others who have nothing left.  But… as my daughter recently commented, this just doesn’t seem fair.  Haiti always seems to get the short end of the stick; they have been in poverty for centuries, and are Continue reading “Voo…”

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Facebook and the next life

OMG– where is this going?  Don’t worry- nothing spooky (Oct. 31st being tomorrow notwithstanding 🙂 )  Give me 30 sec.- something just hit me, and to illustrate it, I’m going to post here and at Facebook simultaneously.

An online IT commentator says in a recent post, “It’s all enough to make me want to stop using Facebook.” The “it” is a creepy feeling he gets when, by way of his Facebook Wall, his relative starts a conversation thread with some guy who is the neighbor of his co-worker, and their only connection is … him!  In other words, his formerly separate spheres of relationships (family, work, neighbors, etc.) are now melding together into one big, sometimes confusing glob.

That’s heaven.  Continue reading “Facebook and the next life”

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The garden again

Please note this:

But the clothes are an expression of a more disturbing, and rising, trend of teenage sexual behavior: Oral sex. More than half of teens (55% of boys, 54% of girls) have engaged in oral sex, according to the Center for Disease Control. Moreover, because it is not actual intercourse, kids do not consider oral sex to be unsafe, or even to be sex.

and now this:

Gen. 3:4,5  But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Everyone knows that the Dragon Deceiver was Continue reading “The garden again”