Kingdom Alignment: My Plans And Desires
Reading Time 3.5 Minutes “God bless my plan.” For a very long time I have said this mockingly as an example of exactly the type of prayer we should not pray. Living a Christian life requires us to surrender our lives to Christ, which means we live according to his plan and not ours. I…
Read More Getting the Message
The grocery seems to be a place where I find the Kingdom more easily. My most recent experience occurred a few days ago. As I entered the checkout line I saw that the young woman bagging the groceries had an almost rigid mask for her face. That was when I could see her face at…
Read More New Release Contributes to the Popular Appalachian Literature Genre
“Over the past couple of decades, Appalachian literature has developed a strong and close relationship with independent publishing, showing the latter to be an important medium for the expression for Appalachian voice,” writes Kristopher Clifford in a master’s thesis in 2007. A new release, Former Things Forgotten, by Thomas Trezise, published by the hybrid Redemption…
Read More Pray Like Tevya
In high school, I had roles in two productions of Broadway musicals. I didn’t even sing, but they gave me the bug. Since then I’ve had a love affair with Broadway. One of my favorite musicals is Fiddler on the Roof. If you are unfamiliar with it, the musical tells the story of a Jewish…
Read More Good Friday, the Cross, and Atonement
We have now reached the final chapter in the Christian experience of Lent – Holy Week. Lent ends Sunday with Easter. Central to the experience is the crucifixion of Jesus on the cross in what has become known in the United States as Good Friday. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross defines Christianity. The…
Read More Reflection on Turning 67
I turn 67 today. Not much of a milestone except it is the first birthday after my retirement. So not an official milestone, but it does cause me to look at the day as the the first day of the rest of my life. That begs the obvious question, “What am I going to do…
Read More The Operating System: A Parable
To the extent that a book can be a major influence on a life, The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person by E. Stanley Jones has been so on mine. Jones does as complete and thorough an explanation of the Kingdom of God as you can find. Jones relates in the Introduction how he was…
Read More Created for Eternity
You are special. You are loved. Boy, those are simple sentences that pack a lot of meaning. I suspect that most of us more often than we care to admit do not feel that way. So why do I say that? Because God says so. In Genesis 1:1, 27 we find: In the beginning…God created…
Read More Welcome, I'm Tom
I'm Tom Trezise a retired lawyer and corporate executive with over twenty years of experience as a Methodist lay preacher. Raised in Appalachia, I proudly call myself a hillbilly at heart. I'm the executive director of The Everyday Kingdom, a non-profit devoted to fostering a community that helps people find and experience the peace, purpose, and joy available from living every day in Christ’s kingdom.