Tom Spence Curriculum vitae   Tom Spence is a retired United States Marine Corps officer.   He served in command and staff positions in all 4 Marine Divisions, at Marine Corps Schools in Quantico Virginia as both student and instructor, as a series commander at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, and as a program manager for Marine Corps training systems and simulators around the world.    Tom also served one tour training Marine Reservists in Des Moines, Iowa. His service took him to Marine Bases on the East Coast, West Coast, Japan, the Philippines, and Korea.   He has served in Iraq and Kuwait and has nearly a year serving aboard U.S. Naval vessels in areas north of the Arctic Circle, in Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, Central America, and the Pacific, as well as a year serving in the United Nations. Tom is a graduate of Mangum High School and Oklahoma State University.   He continued his education while in the Marine Corps and duri...

  I wanted something that didn’t look like your standard preacher hits the road stuff. No cross. No Lamb of God. No burning fires of hell. No streets of gold. No Bible or Bible verses. God will come into the conversation. What’s the point if we leave out the Ultimate Authority? I just don’t want to turn people away because they don’t know the Ultimate Authority. It’s the big end of the funnel approach. Let’s start from wherever people are right now. That may or may not include a strong relationship with God. At some point, if we want efficacy, God has to come into the conversation. What you reject, accept, or even embrace is in your court, but we must not exclude thoughts or thinking because it doesn’t fit our current model. That is a self-deluding approach, and this world does not need any more delusion. We surely don’t need to be coconspirators in the process. So, we will take a Consider All Factors approach. This logo looked colorful enough to catch your attention wit...

  Let’s get real.   I’m probably not going to deal with the question, “Is there a God?” That one is self-evident. Ain’t no way that all of this is an accident . Yes, the grammar is purposely butchered for effect. This whole something from nothing thing just really isn’t a thing. You want to believe in the Big Bang theory but can’t answer the question of who set off the big bang. I don’t expect to spend much time on that. We might talk about intelligent design because the word God doesn’t fit comfortably into our modern lexicon, but really, most people understand at a core level, that creation—a word that presupposes a creator—didn’t just happen one day. So what then? How about what does God expect from me? That’s something that I expect to encounter more frequently. Why do I exist? Do I have a purpose? Why am I different from others? Why am I like others? What is life all about? If you are asking these questions, guess what? You are seeking God. He made you w...

  The calling of Matthew, the Tax Collector, is found in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 9 . Tax collectors were despised by the local Hebrew population. The Romans had conquered Israel to include Judea and Jerusalem and demanded taxes from the conquered. The Romans used members of the indigenous population to collect the taxes. They knew the people. So, for Jesus to call a tax collector just seemed totally beyond reason to the local religious leaders. For him to eat dinner at his home was outrageous. For other sinners and tax collectors to join them was over the top and demanded comment by the religious leaders or so they thought. Jesus knew what they were mumbling and grumbling about and said these people are exactly why I came to live as a person in this age. Let’s look at what the religious leaders condemned. First to the sinners. Sinners actually meant that these people don’t sin like me. They don’t jump through the self-righteous hoops that we do. We all sin . ...

  What do you believe about love, money, marriage, work, truth, purpose, hope, and anything else? Do you ever just wonder why? So, you ever think it’s not worth it, this trying to live a good life?   What is a good life anyway? Your mind is always at work. Sometimes it works for you, and sometimes we let it work against us. Our thoughts precede our actions so what we think, say we believe, actually believe, and believe enough to put that belief into practice are important thoughts. They are worth examining through logic and analysis, and compared to what God says in his word. I want to talk with you about these things. I want to do it in your home. I want you to have home-field advantage. I want you in your comfort zone so we can talk about things that are sometimes uncomfortable to examine. I need an invitation from you. I hope you invite a few friends. I hope you see this as an opportunity to talk about real things. I plan to start in the Burns Flat – Dill City are...