Photos by Will Crooks

The first time I spoke with Tom Parr, via long-distance phone call, I was immediately struck by his warmth and frankness. Tom doesn’t dabble in ambiguity, but, atypical for those inclined to speak straight, his manner of speech betrays a deeply anchored empathy devoid of harshness. In a word, he is the ideal pastor. 

But while Tom spent the past 15 years pastoring a small church in Washington state, he decided to leave that position for a complementary vocation. Tom Parr is a writer. 

Throughout the history of the church, indeed, the entirety of biblical history, men called by God to proclaim his mercies and his wrath have often spoken from a pulpit (or a mountain) as well as putting ink to paper, vellum, or parchment. God’s men proclaim his gospel to the ears and the eyes.

Tom’s new book, Joy in Dark Places, published by Reformation Heritage Books, is the second of his books with RHB discussing individual fruits of the Spirit. Healing Contentious Relationships and Joy in Dark Places were not, however, the product of detached reflection by a perfect Christian. “I’m not a morose person, but I need joy,” Tom told me. “I’m writing these books because I have spiritual needs.” Since his early seminary days, Tom has endured difficult situations in ministry, family, and health. He is familiar with the darkness that every Christian faces daily, and he writes to bring the light of the gospel into that darkness.

Writing has been central to Tom’s life since his college days, when a certain professor, John Matzko, covered his writing assignments with red ink. This was not a writing class, but historiography (or “how to do history”), and Tom received a master class in writing well. 

After 15 years preaching thousands of sermons in the Pacific Northwest, Tom is convinced that putting pen to paper is the tool by which he can impact even more people. “Preaching a sermon is intimate and relational, but once the sermon is done, you pray it won't evaporate. But put pen to paper, and the influence can expand.” 

During our conversation, the motif of pen to paper appears frequently, and for good reason. Tom Parr writes out everything first in long-hand, including sermons, articles, textbooks, and books: “the pen in my hand just feels right. It gives me a better facility with ideas.” He then types up the long-hand script to digital text on a computer, and in that process reworks the text through its first major revision. At this point the hard work of editing begins: “I edit things to death; I despise my tendency to be wordy. Everything I’m doing in that editing process is working towards brevity, conciseness, clarity. Most of what people say could be cut down by half and their message will actually come across better.”

Despite the power of the written word on his readers, for Tom writing is more than an exercise in audience impact; it also anchors him to God’s heart. “I feel closest to the Lord when I write for God’s glory,” Tom confides, citing Joel Beeke’s own sentiments about the practice. “Writing is about giving glory to God. I’m seeking clarity on God’s mind.” This drives Tom’s passion for clarity in his own writing, a theme he stressed throughout our conversation. When somebody’s writing is obscure, he says, they’re taking an easy route for themselves but leaving their readers struggling over the rocks. “You must work hard [as a writer] to make sure you’re bridging that gap between objectivity and subjectivity. There are big questions we’re all dealing with, and we need to know truth.” 

That pursuit of truth anchors Tom’s work on biblical joy in a biblical relevance that outlasts present-day trends in social media, church culture, and the perennial pursuit of happiness. In contrast to those, Tom wraps his arms around Philippians 4:4 and plunges to the depths with it. Paul’s famous (and notoriously misapplied) statement in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice,” is applied in all its profundity to situations that commonly deprive even the strongest Christian of joy. Old age, societal decay, problem people in the church, these all receive attention as “dark places” in which, Tom argues, joy can (and must!) be found. 

Ultimately, Joy in Dark Places is a book about God and his gospel. As Joel Beeke stated recently of Tom’s work, “This book is the best book I’ve ever read on maintaining the principal of Nehemiah, ‘The joy of the Lord is our strength.’” The darkness, although ever present, and in many situations, especially present, must always submit to the brightness of God’s glory.