A Focus That’s Deeper Than Any Emoji

Posted on April 27, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite emojis?
View all responses

In an ancient culture that focused on political leaders, money, sexual obsession, pleasure, pride, violence, power, alcohol, entertainment, and self-righteousness, a group of people in the Roman Empire found a different focus. They were so captivated by and committed to the living resurrected Jesus that: “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” (Acts 11:26)

The focus of the first believers in Jesus was so intense and so persistent that they were called Christ-ians. The suffix “ian” means “belonging to.” Since Christians were frequently being mocked, insulted, and persecuted, the name was most probably used in a derogatory way.

I knew a group of people like that once. They were so excited about the risen Christ that they couldn’t stop talking about Him. People called them Jesus Freaks. That term was also originally used as a way to insult people who were radically following the risen Jesus. However, both terms were eventually accepted as a compliment.

The Christians of the first century and the Jesus Freaks of the 1960s and 1970s were similar. Both were seeking, as their first priority, to be governed within by the kingdom of God the Father, (Matthew 6:33) to follow and obey Jesus as their absolute Lord and God, (John 20:27-28) and to be continually led by God the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:14)

That kind of focus on and radical obedience to the risen Jesus is rare and easy to overlook in the twenty-first century. But it still exists! Look beyond the proud people who use the name Christian but lack the character of Christ (John 14:15) and seldom demonstrate the fruit of His Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Look for people who are so focused on Jesus that they humbly spread His love, joy, peace, kindness, and presence everywhere they go. When you find people like that watch them and get to know them personally. Spend time with them. True “Christ”-“ianity” is caught by your heart. It’s not enough just to be taught about it.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com
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Christian Unity

Posted on April 26, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What topics do you like to discuss?
View all responses

The Bible teaches that God doesn’t want the body of Christ to be divided and denominated (called) by different names. It says: “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” (1 Corinthians 3:4 NKJ) It’s time for Christians to move beyond church and denomination names.

Christian unity cannot be achieved by trying to unite all Christians into one giant institution. It can only be experienced by heart-to-heart connection between believers. When Christ-followers gather to open their heart and be humbly led by God the Holy Spirit instead of by ritual, religious programs, and religious leaders, a deep sense of unity emerges. Try it and see!

Life Challenge

Contemplate
Jesus Christ
Until You
Radiate
His presence.
Refuse to
Alternate
Between Christ
And the world.
Let Jesus
Animate
All you do.

Posted in Christian community, Christian Denominations, Christian unity, ecumenical, unity of the Spirit | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Invisible Leader

Posted on April 25, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What topics do you like to discuss?
View all responses

There is an invisible leader who is much more reliable than any leader you can see with your eyes. His followers are able to hear His voice as He speaks in various ways. (John 10:27)

The Bible calls the invisible leader: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) This inner leader speaks through throughs, images, words, impressions, promptings, and even through the still small voice of your conscience. Those who are led by the inner voice of Christ’s Spirit are the children of God. (Romans 8:14)

What the invisible leader says will always align with what the writers of the Bible heard Him say. He won’t contradict what He taught them. When you feel like you are hearing Him, always confirm it by the Bible. Refuse to follow a counterfeit of His voice. (Acts 17:11)

As a newly born again follower of Jesus, I began reading the Bible. It burned in my heart. I spent hours absorbing it every day. I’ve read it almost every day since then.

When I was first reading the book of Acts, I noticed that God the Holy Spirit spoke directly to Peter, to Phillip, to Paul and to others. In frustration I asked God, “You spoke to people in the Bible, why aren’t You speaking today?”

Suddenly these words came to my mind. “The problem is not that I’m not speaking. It’s that you’re not listening.” Those words still burn within me (Luke 24:32) because they changed me. They caused me to begin to listen to and to learn to obey the inner teachings, leadings, and promptings of Christ in me.

The Invisible Leader is speaking to you as you are reading these words. Pause and listen to Him now. Take time throughout each day to notice what is going through your mind and your heart. Much of it is your own thinking. Some of it is the voice of temptation and deception. And some of it is God Himself speaking to you. Learn to discern the difference.

When God speaks to you — verify that it’s Him and then obey. The more you obey God, the more you will learn to recognize His voice as He speaks within you. The more you will connect heart-to-heart with Him and with other people who are also hearing and obeying His voice.

Since all true Christians have Christ the Invisible Leader, living within them and talking to them, we don’t need to be dependent on a mere human leader when we gather to worship. If we have the courage to allow Him to, Jesus will personally assemble our hearts together (Hebrews 10:24-25) as He is permitted to lead the meeting.

Here’s how Jesus wants to lead His followers when they meet together. It’s simple. He wants them all to listen for His inner voice and then for each person to say and do what He tells them to. (1 Corinthians 14:26)

You are invited to experience a Christ-led meeting that functions that way. It happens every Saturday morning at Chile Burrito, 330 Franklin Road, in Brentwood, TN 37207 at 8:30 am.

Diverse group sitting in a circle in a support group meeting with a glowing spiritual figure present
A diverse support group gathers in a circle, sharing and finding strength together.
Posted in Christ in you, Christian spirituality, Christian support group, inner voice, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Risk of Being Appreciative

Posted on April 24, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.
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To be genuinely appreciative of the good things in your life requires taking the risk of humility, openness, sensitivity, and vulnerability. It’s a risk I’m learning to take throughout each day. It’s a risk I’ve never regretted.

People celebrate
What they appreciate.
When was the last time
That you celebrated
What God has done for you
And is doing in you?

Daily routine
Is the screen
That blocks your eyes
From the surprise
Of Christ’s presence
That God tries
To show you
Throughout each day.

To celebrate is much more than making noise or attending a party. It is to allow your heart to sincerely, gratefully, and delightfully appreciate someone or something. Celebrate Jesus!

Let God continually update your heart and keep you aware of what Jesus is saying and doing in your life. Then celebration will ceaselessly flow from deep within you. True celebration isn’t dutiful. It’s delightful.

Small children like to spontaneously celebrate and appreciate being alive. If they can do that, the rest of us can too! (Matthew 18:3) Be more than a mere information processer. Seek out and embrace the awe, wonder, and joy of living. Sensitive your heart to the blessings in your life.

To endure life without appreciating its preciousness is to miss the point of why your heart is still beating. Life is full of amazing wonders, but you won’t celebrate them until you become open and vulnerable enough to notice them.

Throughout each day Jesus surprises me with delightful insights and remarkable revelations — so many aha moments to celebrate. He keeps my life so wonder-filled that I can’t stop celebrating Him! To celebrate Christ is to share joy everywhere.

Celebration requires no money. When I observe and contemplate the beauty of nature my heart begins to spontaneously celebrate. The more I gaze at the risen Jesus and allow Him to amaze me with His presence, the more I celebrate His gift of life.

Heartless festivity
Is fun activity,
But it always lacks
The sensitivity
Of true celebration.

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com
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I’ve Let Church Silence Me

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently?
View all responses

I was trained to sit passively in church services. As a new Christ-follower Jesus was doing amazing things in my life and on my college campus during the Jesus movement. However, every time that I attended a church service I was required to passively sit and listen to one man preach. The pressure to be quiet was enormous so I complied.

Even today I can’t find a church service where the attendees are encouraged to share what God is doing in, around, and through them. The thing that I have done differently is to stop attending churches where the congregation isn’t allowed to share as God the Holy Spirit prompts them. Instead, I gather with my wife and with spiritually hungry people throughout the week to pray together and to encourage and minister to one another.

For too long Christianity has been seduced by the love of power. We’ve depended on positional power — having a controlling leader with an official title lead us when we come together for worship on Sunday. We’ve also looked to political power to make us happy during the week.

When a leader in the body of Christ lays down all love of power and begins to help Christians gather to humbly and openly experience the power of Spirit-produced and Spirit-activated love for one another, Jesus begins to amazingly demonstrate His presence in our midst. This happens when Christ-followers are allowed to assemble themselves together to freely “spur one another on to love and good deeds” and to encourage one another. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

When God the Holy Spirit is allowed to directly and personally lead and govern a gathering of Christ-followers by prompting individuals in the meeting to obey His inner voice, the kingdom of God begins to manifest in their midst. This happens as the people present let God strengthen them by His Spirit and allow Christ to literally dwell in their heart through faith (Ephesians 3:16) as they listen to Him speak within them and then do what He tells them to. (Romans 8:14)

Weigh your worries and you will see that they are too heavy for you to carry alone. Let the risen Jesus and your brothers and sisters in Christ help you. (1 Corinthians 14:26) Perhaps it is time to let the unseen Jesus, Himself, lead us when we come together to worship. (Mark 8:34)

Ungag church attendees. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!

If you are in the Nashville area, you can experience an ungagged gathering of Christians. We come together every Saturday morning at 8:30 at Chile Burrito in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Pastor speaking at podium to seated congregation wearing masks in church
A pastor delivering a sermon to a socially distanced, mask-wearing congregation in a modern church
Posted in church leadership, led by the Spirit, Quench not the Spirit, simple church, worship services | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Overcome Nervousness

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What makes you nervous?
View all responses

Learn to let faith fly like a kite in the wind of God’s Spirit blowing within you. (John 3:8) Let your trust in God rise higher and higher.

Faith is the defiance of self-focus. (Matthew 16:24) It is total reliance and dependence on God. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Faith is to exchange personal independence for unending compliance and alliance with God’s will. (Galatians 2:20) It is to continually surrender to the resplendence of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and to be daily led by His Spirit. (Romans 8:14)

Faith is so much more than mere religious belief. It is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith without action is dead distraction from discipleship. (James 2:26) Let God the Holy Spirit train you throughout each day to “live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11) Learn to “walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Faith is something that you do as you interact with God. It’s not a formalized religious meeting.

How many sermons does it take before church members begin to fully embrace the faith to deny themselves, daily crucify their desires, and follow Jesus instead of their own feelings and opinions? (Luke 9:23) All the sermons in the world can’t do that because faith is a gift. The Holy Spirit produces faith in surrendered human hearts. It must be humbly and obediently asked for, received, inwardly cultivated within you, and put into consistent action throughout each day.

Red kite with Jesus Christ image flying in blue sky with clouds
A red kite featuring an image of Jesus flies high against a partly cloudy sky.
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Donald Trump to Publicly Read a Powerful Bible Verse

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
How do you unwind after a demanding day?
View all responses

I just went to the “America Reads the Bible” website and the largest letters on the screen say in all caps: “PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP READING.” Yes, tonight this Bible-readathon will feature Trump (prerecorded) reading what God told King Solomon about how to make a nation great: “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Donald Trump and most of his followers claim to be God’s people. If they truly want to make America great, perhaps they should not only read those words but continually obey them:

1) “Humble themselves:” Perhaps they could decide to set aside pride and to turn away from self-focus. Maybe they could make the decision to put away narcissism by daily obeying this Bible verse: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” (Philippians 2:3)

2) “Pray:” Perhaps they could regularly obey this command from Jesus: “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:28)

3) “Seek My face:” To seek God’s face is to unceasingly seek to encounter His reality. It is to surrender more and more to His presence and His will. It’s to seek first the inner government of God in your life (Matthew 6:33) so you can be continually led by His Spirit. (Romans 8:14) It is the way to genuine greatness.

4) “Turn from their wicked ways:” It’s possible that the people who proclaim that they want to make America great again could ask God to show them their sins. It’s feasible that they could stop their wrongdoing, apologize, and make amends. Pride, self-righteousness, unproven accusations, insulting and mistreating people, twisting the truth, idolizing a political leader, refusing to love your enemies, and celebrating war instead of making peace are wicked ways that keep individuals and nations far away from true greatness!

Here’s the good news. “If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

2 Chronicles 7:14 merely read (even by a President) will leave us spiritually dead and trapped in deception. However, when people who believe that they are God’s people will whole heartedly obey those words, God will heal their land and make their nation great. A national Bible readathon without a lifetime marathon of self-denying Bible obedience will produce self-righteousness instead of greatness.

The Good News of Jesus
Isn’t information.
More than Bible reading,
It’s transformation,
Spiritual formation,
Divine revelation.
“Till Christ is formed in you.”
(Galatians 4:19)

Posted in 2 Chronicles 7:14, America Reads The Bible, Bible reading, Christian nationalism, religion and politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Disciple Making

Posted on April 20, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
How do you use social media?
View all responses

I use social media to try to inspire and motivate people to surrender their all to the living Jesus Christ. I ask God to help me write words that can change people’s lives and turn them into radical disciples of Christ.

To make disciples is to show people how to open up and fully surrender their heart and life to the inner promptings and leadings of God the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:1`4) It’s to train them to follow the still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12-13) of the Spirit (Zechariah 4:6) instead of their own thoughts, opinions, feelings, and desires.

Disciple making is much more than theological lecture and religious conjecture. It is actively demonstrating (1 Corinthians 2:4) the presence, power, and reality of the risen Jesus. It is steering people away from the seduction and routine of passive religions traditions (Mark 7:13) so that they can learn to be animated and directed by the presence of Christ living in and through them moment-by-moment. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Making disciples is leading people beyond mere Bible analysis into the glorious ongoing experience of “Christ in you,” (Colossians 1:27) It’s helping people to overflow with the fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) and the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) everywhere they go.

To make disciples is to train people to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and to follow and obey the risen Jesus. (Luke 9:23) It is showing people how to humble themselves, (1 Peter 5:6) to pray in the Spirit, (Romans 8:26) to seek God’s face, (Matthew 6:33) to turn from their wicked ways, (2 Chronicles 7:14) and even to love their enemies. (Matthew 5:44)

Jesus never separated believing in Him from following and obeying Him. Why do we?

Jesus told His followers to go into all the world and make disciples. (Matthew 28:19-20) Can you think of even one place in even one nation in the world where heart-transforming and radically life-empowering discipling is being consistently done? If so, please share it in the comments.

Ask ChatGPT: What does Free Gas for Your Think Tank blog say about discipleship?

Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.com
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Experiencing Living Stones Being Built Together

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Steve Simms

Yesterday I experienced living stones “being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.” (1 Peter 2:4-5) There were 8 of us — 7 men and one woman. We met at Chile Burrito in Brentwood, Tennessee. We were mostly strangers to one another.

We gathered to be “led by the Spirit” (Romans 8:14) and to spur “one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” (Hebrews 10:34-35) We prayed and asked God to speak to us. Then we shared as we felt prompted by the Holy Spirit. What followed was amazing.

Incredible wisdom and insight began to flow from different people. One brother-in-Christ shared that God had been telling Him to open up more to peace. Then another one shared that for the past 5 days he has begun his journaling by writing, “I have the peace of God.” I told them about waking up that morning with a short poem about God’s peace forming in my mind and read it to them. (I posted that poem here yesterday morning).

We were all in awe that 3 of the 8 of us had been hearing the same thing. It was incredible to see the Holy Spirit bring that to light through our meeting together.

Later the young woman began to speak a powerful word of encouragement to one of the men. It was coming from a place of deep compassion within her. Tears flowed down her face as she spoke. The man was moved and very encouraged by what God led her to say. Then she prayed a powerful prayer for him, and we all felt deeply connected heart-to-heart to one another.

It was a beautiful demonstration of the power, presence and reality of the risen Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:4) We came together as strangers and were quickly transformed into spiritual stones functioning together as a holy priesthood of believers obeying the 50+ New Testament “one another commandments.”

We feel led to meet this way every Saturday morning at 8:30 at Chile Burrito in Brentwood, Tennessee. Everyone is welcome to come freely, without any pressure or obligation to come regularly.

Spirit-led intuition,
The inner voice of God,
Confirmed by the Bible
Is more powerful than a
Religious institution.
Let Jesus speak to you
And tell you what to do.

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The Stranger Encounter That Changed My Life

Posted on April 18, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.
View all responses

“For Christ Himself has brought peace to us!” (Ephesians 2:14) That verse describes what felt like to me to be a random meeting of the risen Jesus Christ in the lobby of my college dorm. I had been invited to a meeting of Jesus freaks and when I walked in, I heard a guy talking about how Jesus had changed his life. In an instant something happened inside of me that radically changed my life. I’ve never been the same. All the rest of my life I have been passionately in love with Jesus! He continually fills me with His inner peace and joy. He carries me through my troubles with the power of His presence living within me.

Let Jesus release
His wonderful peace
Deep within your heart.
Let all worry cease.
Learn how to decrease
So Christ can increase
His presence in you.
Let Him forever
Be your Centerpiece
And your life focus.
(John 3:30)

Group of students seated in a dorm lounge having a mental health support meeting
Students gather in a dorm lounge for a supportive group discussion on mental health.
Posted in Christian support group, inner healing, inner peace, support group | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment