Christian, Write! Spread God-Sparks

Posted on May 27, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
If you could have dinner with any philosopher, who would it be?
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Christians, write. Spread God-Sparks like Luke did when he wrote the book of Acts and like John did when He wrote the book of Revelation. My favorite Philosopher to have dinner with is Jesus Christ. John quotes Jesus as saying: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)

God wants Christians to write from an eternal perspective, so that they can publish and proclaim the good news of the invisible, inner government (kingdom) of God. (Matthew 6:33) If you are a Christian, write!

Write about how Jesus has touched your heart and supernaturally transformed you from within. (2 Chronicles 5:17) Write how Christ lives in you throughout each day and fills you with radiant glimpses of His glory. (Colossians 1:27) Write how the risen Jesus empowers you with His presence and power. (Acts 1:8)

Write how Christ gives you the inner vision and insight to see the unseen (2 Corinthians 4;17) and to set your affections on things above, not on things on earth. (Colossians 3:2) Write how the Holy Spirit overflows from within you with His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23) What you have heard and experienced in the secret place of your soul, write and publish and proclaim from social media and blog platforms — even in books. Christian, write. (Matthew 10:27)

Write like these lovers of God: Moses, David, Solomon, the Old Testament prophets, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, Jude, the Church Fathers, the Desert Fathers, the writers in the Philokalia, Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic mystics, Ramon Llull, Martin Luther, John Calvin and other Reformers, Meno Simons and other Anabaptists, George Fox and other Quakers, the Puritans, John Wesley and other Methodists, Catherine Booth and other Salvationists, CS Lewis, Watchman Nee, and so many others. Christian, write!

Write about how: Christians desperately need the Holy Spirit’s inner spark to set us ablaze with unceasing passion to consistently obey and daily follow the risen Jesus. The moving of God the Holy Spirit inside of a person’s heart isn’t an emotion. It’s not a subjective experience to be wary of or to avoid. It’s ultimate reality! It’s the presence and power of the Creator of the universe living and working inside a human being.

Write about how: The best engineered, most powerful internal combustion engine in the world won’t work without a spark. The best educated, most knowledgeable Christian in the world won’t be able to radically change people’s lives without the Holy Spirit’s spark! The Holy Spirit’s spark is the essential ingredient.

Write about how: Jesus told His followers to wait for the Spirit’s spark. (Acts 1:8) Paul told Timothy to stir up that inner spark (2 Timothy 1:6) so that it doesn’t die down and fade away. Paul told the Christians in Rome: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Paul also said: “Quench not the Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Write about how: The lack of the ability to accurately distinguish between the fire of the Spirit and human emotions has caused Western Christians to tend to shut them both down. We put much more trust in our own intellect and rationality (or the intellect and rationality of Christians who appear smarter than us) than in the inner stirring of God the Spirit.

Write about how: We read and analyze the Bible as a textbook for the mind. However, God inspired His written word to be a love letter designed to stir up the Spirit’s flames within us.

Read the Bible with an open, humble, hungry heart. Let its words reach and move deep inside of you. Let the Bible bring you both tears of broken repentance before God and the tender tears of His inner touch. To hold back God produced tears is to disobey God’s command not to quench the Spirit.

Let the Bible release the Spirit’s spark in your innermost being and produce “joy unspeakable and full of joy” (1 Peter 1:8) Let God’s words flood your soul with “rivers of living water.” (John 7:38-39)

So why aren’t churches and Christians more effective at bringing people into radical, self-denying obedience to the risen Jesus? Christ said: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them.” The Father draws people by means of the Spirit.

No sermon. No Christian conference. No revival meeting. No religious broadcast. No personal evangelism attempt. Nothing can draw people to the living Jesus except God. The lack of radical, totally committed, obedient discipleship clearly shows that we have allowed our fear of religious emotionalism and our love for intellectual Bible analysis to dry us up and shut down the power of Spirit’s heart-spark.

When Christians put more trust in understanding God with their brain than they do in experiencing Jesus with their heart and throughout their daily life, Christianity becomes almost powerless. Then Christians shift their trust from the living Christ to church attendance, sermon-hearing, and even politics. How we need to repent!

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Which for you?

Posted on May 27, 2026 by Steve Simms
“Sit & be told?” or “Go & be bold?”
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Ekklesia Extinguishes Fear And Self-Doubt Replacing it With Christ’s Presence

Posted on May 26, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
How do you handle fear and self-doubt?
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It’s time for Christians to “do the stuff” “Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:5) Instead, go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19) and train them to daily do the stuff that Christians did in the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament. (John 14:12)

Powerless religion:

* Pampers people,
* Programs people,
* Makes people passive,
* Makes people pastor dependent,
* Controls people
* Creates hearers, not doers,
* Gives a false sense of security,
* Often bores people,
* Quenches the Spirit,
* Doesn’t disciple people,
* Manipulates people,
* Neglects to personally empower people,
* Is ineffective at spreading lifestyle Christianity.
* Relies on political power and hierarchal power.
* Doesn’t train people to daily follow and obey the risen Jesus.
* Leaves people stuck in sinful thoughts, feelings, desires, opinions., attitudes, habits, and addictions.
* Trains people to see the Bible as a mere textbook to be lectured about instead of as a love letter of mighty living words to be continually absorbed and lived out in daily life.

The Bible says to turn away from such powerless religion! (2 Timoth 3:5) So, how should Christians meet?

“Ekklesia” is a Greek word that literally means “called out ones.” It was also the proper name of the interactive town hall meeting in ancient Greek cities where any person present could speak in the meeting. In the Septuagint translation of the OT from Hebrew to Greek “ekklesia” is used to refer to gatherings of God’s people.

Jesus was familiar with the term and participatory concept of “ekklesia” because there were Greek cities in the area of His ministry. He chose to use “ekklesia” in Matthew 16 to describe what He is going to build — a body of believers based on direct personal revelations from God.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:26 tells Christians what to do “when you come together.” He says that each person is free to speak in the meeting. That matches how the Greek “ekklesia” met. I believe that is how God wants His people to meet together in the twenty-first century. For more google my book: Beyond Church Ekklesia.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com
Posted in body of Christ, Christian support group, ekklesia, freedom in Christ, God's power | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Personal Pentecost Made Me Question My Perception of Reality

Posted on May 25, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What’s a moment that made you question reality?
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Do what Jesus says! Be unceasingly fed, led, and empowered by His Spirit.

When Pentecost Is Lost

There’s a great cost
When Pentecost
Is Forgotten,
Its power lost.
When believers
No longer hear
The rumbling
Of God’s mighty
And rushing wind
Blowing within.
When they don’t know
What it’s like to
Experience
God’s inner fire.
When God’s Spirit
Isn’t their true
Purifier,
Unifier,
And desire.
O Lord, inspire
Your people to
Surrender to
Christ within us,
Hope of glory,
God the Spirit!
God’s wind still blows.
Will you hear it?
Will you repent
Of ignoring
God the Spirit?
(Acts chapter 2)

Both repentance and God’s grace require humility. (James 4:6) If you are never willing to admit that you are wrong, you are.

Posted in pentecostal experience, Pentecostalism, personal pentecost, speaking in tongues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Make Pentecost Powerful Again (MPPA)

Posted on May 24, 2026 by Steve Simms

On the day of Pentecost there was:

  • Anticipation,
  • Heart-to-heart connection,
  • Awe about Christ’s resurrection,
  • Ongoing heart-cries for God’s direction, and
  • Waiting for the Spirit’s reception.

There was no:

  • Religious programing,
  • Church building,
  • One person controlling
  • Passive spectating, or
  • Benediction.

So what must we do?

A full round-about
Will not help you much
But a turn-around
Will put you in touch
With the living God.
Repent and believe
And fully receive
The Holy Spirit
To take control of
And direct your life
From deep within you.
(Romans 8:14)

If there’s ever a time for people to see you drunk in the Spirit, (Acts 2:13-16) it’s Pentecost Sunday. Loosen up and let God the Holy Spirit inebriate you with joy unspeakable and full of the glory of His presence. (1 Peter 1:8)

If there’s ever a time for you to speak in tongues, (Acts 2:4) it’s Pentecost Sunday. Ask God to give you that gift. Humble yourself and receive it. Then praise and glorify Him in tongues like all of Christ’s disciples did on Pentecost.

If there’s ever a time to boldly proclaim Jesus on the streets, (Acts 2:14) it’s Pentecost Sunday. Do like Peter did! “Declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”(1 Peter 2:9)

If there is ever a time to be led by the Spirit, (Romans 8:17) it’s Pentecost Sunday! That’s not the time to passively sit through another rigidly programmed and tightly controlled religious service.

If there’s ever a time for Christians to assemble themselves together to encourage each another and spur one another on to love and good works, (Hebrews 10:24-25) it’s Pentecost. It’s a great time for all Christ-followers to listen to God the Holy Spirit and then share and do in the meeting, whatever He tells them to. If only churches would allow that!

If church is effective, why are so many Christians saying and doing ungodly things? Why aren’t more believers growing strong in God’s grace? Religious pride and church programming quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and prevent us from experiencing and daily living in the power of Pentecost! (James 4:6)

Too many Christians are focused on a human government but now is the time to put away your sins, align your desires with God’s, and let Him govern you from within. (Matthew 4:17) “Seek first the kingdom (inner government) of God.” (Matthew 6:33)

Can Pentecost be powerful again? Yes! Why not today? Religious pride and church programming prevent us from experiencing and living in the power of Pentecost! (James 4:6)

To learn how you can receive the Pentecost gift of praying in tongues, read this recent article I posted.

Man smiling wearing a red hat with 'Make Pentecost Powerful Again' text
A man wearing a red ‘Make Pentecost Powerful Again’ hat at a rally
Posted in another Pentecost, God's power, Pentecost, Pentecost Sunday, speaking in tongues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Seeing What No Eye Can See

Posted on May 23, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What is the meaning of life?
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Are you putting too much trust in your physical eyes and ears? If so, you are missing out on much that is unseen.

If you want to see
What no eye has seen
And be able to hear
What no ear has heard,
Open up your heart.
Then God will come near.
He will let you peer
Into His presence
And soak you in the
Sound of His voice.
He’ll replace your fear
With revelation.
(1 Corinthians 2:9-10)

“Stir up the gift of God that is in you.” (2 Timothy 1:6)) “The gift of God is eternal life.” (Romans 6:23) Make room in your heart for God’s rivers of living water to constantly overflow you from deep within. (John 7:37-39) “Humble yourself.” (1 Peter 5:6) “Continually prepare the way for the Lord to work mightily both in and through you.” (Mark 1:3)) Keep your heart set on the presence of Christ living inside of you, not on your own opinions, feelings and desires. (Colossians 3:2) Passionately pursue God’s inner government of your life by consistently listening to and obeying King Jesus.” (Matthew 6:33)

It’s easy to ignore humbly hearing and seeing the presence of Christ with spiritual eyes and ears. It’s easy to replace spiritual revelation with pride and self-righteousness. Try to avoid doing that.

Middle-aged man with digitally exaggerated large eyes and ears, wearing a green sweater
A man with digitally enlarged eyes and ears in a cozy room
Posted in discipleship, meaning of life, mysticism, purpose of life, revelations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s The Use?

Posted on May 22, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What’s a word or phrase that annoys you?
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Life is like riding a bicycle. Which bike are you riding? The rickety bike of tormenting thoughts, desires, and feelings that strive to steal, to kill, and destroy your soul? (John 10:1) Or the grace-filled bike of Spirit-led discipleship and direct revelation from God? (1 Corinthians 2:10)

In external silence there is internal presence. In physical stillness there is spiritual realness. In outer quite you can notice the inner diet of voices good and bad that are continually feeding your thoughts, feelings, and desires from inside of you. Then you can begin to improve your mental and emotional diet. You can start to monitor your mind and decide to dine on purity of heart, instead of on the insecurity and disruption of the corruption seducing you from within.

Humanity is continually confronted with inner voices, yet most people prefer to ignore and deny them instead of observing and learning from them. The voices within us human beings don’t just speak with words. Their vocabulary includes both good and bad feelings, desires, cravings, preferences, images, insights, sensations, promptings, leadings, and urgings. The bad voices strive to mislead us, deceive us, tempt us, seduce us, torment us, accuse us, abuse us, and excuse us. The good voices that we call conscience do the opposite. They seek to guide us, correct us, protect us, heal us, reveal truth to us, purify us, encourage us, strengthen us, empower us, comfort us, and inspire us.

Both sets of inner voices are always active within us. They constantly compete for our attention and try to get us to listen to and obey them. Corrupt voices call us to sin. Pure voices show us how to win the inner battle against sin. Yet as humans we become accustomed to allowing outward distractions, and the inner voices of obstruction and disruption to override and drown out the voice of our conscience. So, our spirit wallows in despair as we push aside the inner voice that genuinely cares about our wellbeing — the still, small voice of our Creator.

“For all who are led by the Spirit are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14) Allow the forgiveness, humility, and honesty purchased by the blood of Jesus, to light up your heart with the love and presence of God the Father and radiate in all that you say and do. Jesus puts it this way: “This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 16:17) Continually listen to and consistently obey the voice of Christ in you. (John 10:27) Let the risen Jesus living and working within you be your hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) Bring every thought captive to Jesus! (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Man looking confused between rusty vintage bike and electric bike in workshop
A man contemplates the decision between a rusty vintage bike and a modern electric bike.

Posted in spiritual growth, discipleship, mental health, Christian spirituality, life is like | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The “Perfect” Life-Trip

Posted on May 21, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
How do you plan the perfect road trip?
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Prayer is open, honest communication with and heart-to-heart connection with the living God. It’s being fully surrendered to Him. True prayer is supernatural accountability to God.

To ask, “What would Jesus do?” is merely academic? To ask, “Lord Jesus, what are You telling me to do?” (and to obey what He tells you), that is prayer as accountability to Christ! If you are unwilling to be daily accountable to the risen Jesus living inside of you, are you even a Christian? “As many as are led by the Spirit are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14)

Accountability requires humility and the willingness to be open and honest about your life. People who resist and reject being held accountable are hiding things that they don’t want to become known — but Jesus already knows those things.

Without accountability, with no one to monitor and help remind them of their responsibility to comply with the rules, people tend to ignore them. Without a super strong conscience to hold them accountable, self-righteousness grows in people until they feel justified in breaking certain rules and laws.

Christians have been given a supernatural accountability — the accountability that matters most. When people truly begin to deny themselves, to daily die to their own desires, and to follow and obey the risen Jesus, He begins to personally lead, guide, and empower them from within to hear and obey Him. He seeks to hold them accountable to the glorious presence of His Spirit living inside of them. (Colossians 1:27)

When we Christians resist or reject our accountability to Christ living in us, we quench the working of God the Holy Spirit in us, and we become carnal Christians who follow the desires of our human nature rather than the desires of Christ. That darkens God the Father’s light within us and makes us like salt that has no taste until we blend in with the world and live and act no differently than the society that surrounds us. Then we try to justify ourselves by using God’s grace as an excuse to do what we want instead of what Jesus wants us to do.

Here is a reminder: To ask “What would Jesus do?” is merely academic? To ask, “Lord Jesus, what are You telling me to do?” (and to obey what He tells you), that is accountability! If you are unwilling to be daily accountable to the risen Jesus living inside of you, are you even a Christian? “As many as are led by the Spirit are the children of God.”

Bible information is one thing. The risen Jesus causing the Bible to burn in your heart day and night, is another!

Man driving convertible car with woman smiling and waving, ocean and coastal road in background
A happy couple enjoys a scenic drive along the ocean coast in a convertible car.
Posted in agreeing in prayer, listening prayer, prayer, praying in the Spirit | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Thinking About (Spiritual) Lifeguards

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Steve Simms

If God’s spiritual life is within you, you have been freely given the supernatural gift of the new birth. Be a lifeguard Watch over, protect, and nurture it. Never take it for granted. Follow these steps from “The Parable of the Sower.”

1) Avoid trampled paths. The graceful seeds of life are devoured in such a hard place.
2) Soften the hardness that’s inside of you. Hardness withers and kills life. “God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
3) Resist distractions. They choke out life and keep it from maturing and growing strong. “Quench not the Spirit.”
4) Be fertile ground. Keep your heart fully open to the risen Jesus Christ and His grace. Listen to and obey Him throughout each day. “Stir up the gift that is in you.”

1) The trampled paths of traditional and institutionalized Christianity tend to go in circles that lead nowhere. Sermon after sermon is presented to hearers who seldom do anything to intentionally and consistently apply what they hear in their daily life. Weak after week church attendees stay weak and dependent on a professional pastor to plan and present a prepackaged Sunday morning program as they sit passively and politely try to listen. But what does such a thing produce — what is its fruit? Pastor dependent church attendees often seem to be passive, compliant, casual, satisfied, discipleship-avoiding, lukewarm, nominal, Spirit-quenching, Sunday morning audience members.

2) Hardheartedness usually produces self-righteous. Look what it did to the Pharisee who prayed, “‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” (Luke 18:11-12) Hardheartedness is especially dangerous to faithful church attendees because it can make them think that they are morally superior to the people who don’t attend church, and that they are better than the people who disagree with them politically. It can make pride take off and rocket into cruelty. History shows how self-righteous people can easily step into manipulating, controlling, insulting, name calling, being unjust, blindly accusing, bullying, persecuting, violently attacking, and even systematically killing people who disagree with them. Please don’t let your heart say hard. Let Jesus soften it.

3) Distractions can appear delightful but spiritually they can be disastrous. They can blur and destroy your daily focus on the presence, power, and reality of the risen Jesus, choke off His influence on you, and lead you into addiction to all sorts of things including religious and political idolatry. Distractions are entertaining and compelling, but they aren’t edifying — they steal your attention, but they don’t build you up and empower you to live a victorious lifestyle. Dodge distractions before they tackle you. If they have you laying comfortably in the mud, get yourself up and begin to seek the inner kingdom of God so that you can train yourself to overflow with the fruit of the Spirit — “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

4) Ask God to cultivate your heart and to make it amazingly fertile ground. Ask Him to make you desperately hungry and thirsty for His presence, His will, and His righteousness in your life. Let God the Holy Spirit show you your shortcomings and sins and the wickedness that is in your own heart. Let Him convict you and convince you of your great need for humility, confession, and repentance, Let God plow up and fertilize your heart so that it will be meek and pliable to receive and faithfully obey His presence throughout each day. Courageously and consistently seek for King Jesus to fully rule and direct you from within, from this moment until the day you die. Live in heart-to-heart connection with and mutual submission to Spirit-led people throughout each week as you spur one another on and encourage one another. (Hebrews 10:24-25) “Stir up the gift that is in you.”

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Posted in Christian spirituality, discipleship, parable, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I Want to Erace Deception from My Mind

Posted on May 18, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
If you could erase one movie from your memory and watch it again for the first time, which one would it be?
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We live in a world full of deception. There are many people and forces in this world that are intentionally trying to deceive people. As human beings our own mind and heart can deceive us. We greatly need discernment so we can tell the difference between truth and falsehood.

The concept of fact checking has been mocked and disavowed by multitudes. They need no evidence, no proof. They simply want to blindly believe the things that prominent people who agree with them are saying. They prefer comfortable, self-righteous deception to the reality and truth that irritates them.

The Pharisees in the Bible were great examples of that. Jesus called them, “the blind leading the blind” (Matthew 15:12-15) He went on to say, ” If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” The world is full of dangerous pitfalls, but deceived people choose to ignore them.

It’s easy to sleepwalk through life. That’s why the Bible says: ““Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14) To see clearly and avoid deception we need humility and truth. Jesus said: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32) Unless someone is willing to rigorously fact check his feelings, desires, and opinions, he or she is wide open to deception.

Always be aware that you may be wrong. Continually search for truth beyond your perspective. When you find it, submit to it. But how can you find truth?

Truth aligns with reality. It doesn’t ignore it or deny it. I grew up confused, inwardly tormented, and struggling to hold on to sanity. Then one day I encountered the risen Jesus Christ and began to read the New Testament part of the Bible. As I didn’t the words burned in my heart. It addressed my struggles and revealed realities about me that I didn’t want to see. Admitting those realities and seeking to align my life to the Bible, my conscience, and Christ in me, began to rearrange my feelings, desires, and opinions in ways that released love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control within me. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The Bible can be read deceptively. It can be twisted to fit your feelings, desires, and opinions. That’s what the Pharisees did. That’s what many Christians and churches do today. Dare to step beyond the lie of self-righteousness. Dare to surrender your all to Christ and to be led moment-by-moment by His Spirit.

“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:6-7)

The key to living a victorious and Spirit-filled life is to humbly surrender to and obey God. Allow His Spirit to continually lead and empower you from within so that you can resist the devil’s attacks and temptations. Train yourself to always be led by the Spirit. Pray in the Spirit. Live in the Spirit. Walk in the Spirit

If you want to avoid the traps of deception like Christian nationalism read the Bible with an open, honest heart and surrender to what Jesus shows you. Also read the writing of those in the past who were radically healed and transformed by the risen Jesus: The writings of the Desert Fathers, the Eastern Orthodox “Philokalia,” Francis of Assisi, the writings of the Catholic mystics, the writings of the Celtic Christians, “The Collected Writings of Meno Simons,” “George Fox’s Journal,” “John Wesley’s Journal,” the writings of Catherine Booth, and Watchman Nee’s books.

Freedom matters! You can’t seek the truth without it. Both the religious right and the radical left want to take away your freedom to disagree with them. One wants to force you to applaud and praise their religion. The other wants to force you to applaud and praise sexual confusion and prenatal killing. No one should be forced to violate their conscience. Respect people’s right to disagree with you! Set aside your preferences and seek truth above all.

Man in dirty prison uniform holding rusty jail cell bars looking outside
A man in prison clothes grips the bars of his jail cell, looking out anxiously.
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