Columns
Facing relational issues head on
For those of us who follow the liturgical calendar in our churches, we are in the midst of the 40 days of Lent. It’s a ...
Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Author at Farmville - Page 2 of 2
Columns
The season of Epiphany
Between the massive pinnacles of Christmas and Easter lies the valley of Epiphany. This church season, one of the more underrated ones because of its ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, February 1, 2018 8:42 am
Columns
My old friend Simeon
This past Sunday I preached a sermon using an old friend. His name is Simeon, and he’s an old guy, hanging around the Temple of ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, January 4, 2018 8:51 am
Columns
Veteran’s Day thoughts
Tomorrow is a very special day in the life of our country. It is Veteran’s Day. It used to be called Armistice Day, to mark ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, November 9, 2017 8:49 am
Columns
We need each other
In our rugged, individualism-obsessed culture, it would be hard to go an entire week without running into someone who extols the virtues of their independence. ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, October 12, 2017 9:47 am
Columns
Which will we choose?
In these days of wondering how to deal with those who are different — with immigration reform, with the struggle over Deferred Action for Childhood ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, September 14, 2017 9:41 am
Columns
The story of Cornelius
Most of us have our favorite Bible stories from when we were kids. Noah’s ark, the parting of the Red Sea, Daniel in the lion’s ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, August 17, 2017 9:15 am
Church & Community
The Dog Days of Pentecost
Many years ago the Rev. William Willimon, a United Methodist pastor and bishop wrote a meditation for the magazine Christian Century entitled, “The Dog Days ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, July 20, 2017 7:36 am
Church & Community
That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
A couple of weeks ago the folks over at Farmville Church of Christ (FCC) had a very intriguing post on Facebook. They took as their text ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, June 22, 2017 9:21 am
Columns
On offering sustenance during Lent
We are now into spring, or so they tell us. The temperatures may often make us wonder but we are finally into the season of ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, March 23, 2017 12:20 pm
Columns
The story of Cornelius
I’ve always loved the story of Cornelius out of the 10th chapter of Acts. It is the account of a Gentile, an outsider, one of ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, February 16, 2017 12:10 pm
Columns
We are part of the ‘original blessing’
It’s the start of a new year (no fooling). A time for new hope, new plans and new expectations. A time for dreaming about what ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, January 12, 2017 6:47 am
Columns
It’s not Christmas yet
In case you have been living under the proverbial rock for the last few weeks, let me tell you that it is Christmas time. At ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, December 8, 2016 12:03 pm
Columns
Celebrating All Saints Day
On the first Sunday of November in our place we do something I think is fairly common among Christian churches: We remember the dead. Not ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, November 3, 2016 8:36 am
Columns
‘The Bible doesn’t say that’
While driving back home after visiting family up north last week, I noticed a sign in front of a large Methodist Church in the Roanoke ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, August 25, 2016 6:04 am
Columns
Coping through difficult days
We have had some very difficult days lately. I know that has always been the case, but lately it seems we have had more than ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, July 21, 2016 5:07 am
Columns
There’s good and bad in everyone
On the third Sunday of June we celebrate Father’s Day. No doubt there will be many sermons on that Sunday extolling the virtues of fathers. ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, June 16, 2016 10:08 pm
Columns
Dealing with our own prisoners
There is a listing of suggested Bible verses for every day — not just for every Sunday, like the one your preacher might use. This ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, May 12, 2016 5:28 am
Church & Community
An exercise in seeing Jesus in each other
When the time changes and the weather warms up we do something at our place every Tuesday evening: We go for a walk. We got ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, April 7, 2016 4:53 am
Church & Community
A Lenten lesson: Don’t take God’s presence for granted
I grew up with a fairly ecumenical background. Baptized a Lutheran, earliest memory in a Methodist Church, I attended a Baptist Sunday school before my ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, March 3, 2016 5:18 am
Church & Community
Released from the box — give thanks and praise God
Do you remember seeing the release of the doves at the Olympics? Boxes in the middle of the field are filled with doves, and when ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, February 11, 2016 3:16 pm
Church & Community
A birthday reflection — do your best and trust in God
With everything else going on, I got to celebrate a birthday. In fact, it’s today, the 29th of January. Birthdays are nice; you get to ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, January 28, 2016 11:07 am
Church & Community
The best Christmas present is God’s love
At our church we have the Festival of the Nine Lessons and Carols like a lot of churches do. But we have ours a bit ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Wednesday, December 23, 2015 11:35 am
Columns
‘Stop Hunger Now’ — a local response to world hunger
We have all seen the TV images of starving children. We have heard about the statistics, of the thousands of people who die every day ...
by Rev. Dr. Tom Robinson, Thursday, October 15, 2015 3:23 pm
Church & Community
World Communion Sunday unites Christians worldwide
Next month in our church we will be doing something special. It might not seem to be very special — a celebration of the Lord’s ...