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5 08, 2022

When Less is More

2022-08-05T10:09:37-05:00August 5th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

God, there are so many things I want. I want respect. I want peace. I want financial security. I want comfort. I want beauty. I want pleasure. I want health. I want victory. I want a long life. I want vitality. I want victory. I want success. I want the world to be as I want it to be! I want. I want. I want. But I know, God, that none of these things are the deepest desire of my heart. You are. You are who I really desire. And more than anything, I want to want you. Lord, deliver me from my wants and set my heart aflame with a [...]

17 06, 2022

Transformational Relationships

2022-06-17T11:56:40-05:00June 17th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

God of love, When I think of all the folks you have sent my way, I am overcome with gratitude. You send encouragers when I need encouragement. You send teachers when I need to learn. You send friends when I am lonely. You send challengers when I am complacent. You send counselors when I need wisdom. You send supporters when I need backup. You send witnesses when I need to borrow some faith. Thank you, God. All around me there are folks who need encouragement, learning, friendship, challenge, wisdom, support, and a little extra faith. Send me. Amen

13 06, 2022

Learning from the Jackass

2022-06-13T10:15:21-05:00June 13th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Dear God, Repentance is hard. Realizing I have been wrong is difficult. Opening my mind to people with whom I have disagreed is humbling. Sometimes, growing is painful. But God, I really do want to grow in Christ and be sanctified by your Spirit. When I am confused about what I should do, what I should think, what I should say, push away the distractions so that I can clearly hear your voice. When my motives are impure and selfish, remind me that your son, who gave his life for others, is my teacher and my Lord. When I am stubborn and [...]

20 05, 2022

Hard Times Prayer

2022-05-20T09:26:25-05:00May 20th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Jesus, Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down, Oh, yes, Lord! Sometimes I'm almost to the ground, Oh, yes, Lord! You do know the trouble I’ve seen. Over the years, the decades, you’ve heard my prayers of anguish, fear, grief, anger, and shame. And you always understand my struggles, because whatever I’ve been through, you’ve been through way worse. But you don’t diminish my pain when I pray. Like you did for the Israelite slaves, you hear my cry. Right now, God, my life feels pretty good. Thank you. So today, I join my prayers in solidarity with those who are praying in real distress, who [...]

17 05, 2022

The expanding circle of love

2022-05-17T08:31:18-05:00May 17th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Dear Friends, I would like to answer some questions I'm receiving about the May 1 launch of a new denomination, the “Global Methodist Church" (“GMC”), and what it means for St. Luke’s. The GMC is a new denomination with a narrower spectrum of opinions around LGBT inclusion. I have waited to update you until I had relevant information from the governing powers that be. On May 10th, the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church issued a decision that determined that an annual conference cannot leave the United Methodist Church until General Conference legislates a process for disaffiliation. [...]

29 04, 2022

Just pray!

2022-04-29T10:37:20-05:00April 29th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Abba, father, So much is going on in my heart and mind that I can’t really figure out what to say when I pray to you. Gratitude, joy, hope, love, and praise for you, are all mixed in with anxiety, guilt, need, pain, anger, and a whole host of not-so-good stuff. I try to sort it all out when I pray, to dig down deep to what matters most. But sometimes, it does seem like I am “heaping up empty words, as the Gentiles do.” In my struggle to figure out what to say, I rest in the realization [...]

22 04, 2022

Have a friend, be a friend, make a friend

2022-04-22T10:07:38-05:00April 22nd, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Jesus, Thank you for my friends. Thank you for casual friends, folks who make few demands but whose presence in my life brings a sense of belonging and community. Thank you for old friends, people who shared life with me years ago, and who I still think about even though time and distance have parted us. Thank you for new friends, those who breathe fresh air and new perspective into life. Thank you for true friends, those whom I can simply trust with my real self, knowing that they will love me just as I am. God, I [...]

11 03, 2022

The Kindness of God

2022-03-11T11:21:08-06:00March 11th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

God, Today, I will be kind. I will offer words of kindness to someone. I will do a deed of kindness without the expectation of gratitude or reward. I will present a kind countenance to someone when all that is needed is a smile. I will practice kindness so that I can get better at it. I will be kind to a stranger, rather than walking by without even noticing. I will be kind to my family, rather than giving them the worst part of me (which I often do because I know they will love me anyway). [...]

18 02, 2022

Promiscuous Love

2022-02-18T10:49:43-06:00February 18th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

God, You gave me a mission for this day, to love others as you love. You ask me… To love those who love me in return. To love those who are hard to love. To love those who say or do things that hurt me or others. To love those who are desperate. To love those who might change and those who won’t ever change. To love those whom I see daily. To love those who seem invisible to me most of the time. Today, I want to answer your call. Show me how to be promiscuous and prodigal in [...]

11 02, 2022

So that…

2022-02-11T10:51:43-06:00February 11th, 2022|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

God, You keep pouring into me so that I can pour into others. You give yourself sacrificially to me so that I can give myself sacrificially for others. You keep blessing me so that I can be a blessing to others. You keep shining your light on me so that I can reflect that light to others. Most of all, you keep loving me so that I can love others. Because love is who you are, I know I will never run out of that love. It will always be enough, as long as my heart is open enough to [...]

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