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.
View all responses

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.
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Deciding to Help Put a Puzzle Together

Posted on April 17, 2026 by Steve Simms

The body of Christ on planet earth is like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Its peace is broken into pieces — tens of thousands of them called denominations and nondenominational churches that are scattered around the world. Yet, Jesus prayed that all of His followers be one so that the world will know that He has been sent from God the Father. (John 17:21) Where can we find oneness among Christ-followers?

We can’t find oneness in doctrinal discussions. We can’t find it in denominational (or nondenominational) religious pride. We can find it in the passivity of sermon hearing. We can’t find it in faithfulness to a particular Christian theological system or in a human controlled worship gathering. And we surely can’t find unity in religion infested politics.

Unity in the body of Christ is found when believers humbly and openly connect heart-to-heart and begin to experience the leading of the Spirit (Romans 8:14) together. It is found when they start to see Jesus living and working in and through one another as “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) It is discovered when they start gathering to teach one another, to exhort each other, and to encourage one another (and to obey the 50+ other one another verses in the New Testament).

Unity in Christ is experienced when Christians commence to openly and expressively care about one another. (John 13:34) It is found when they share their testimonies with each other. (Revelation 12:11) It is found when they surrender their heart to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and begin to humbly receive and share the gifts of the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:1-11)

How Jesus wants His followers to be one in His Spirit! Why do we disappoint Him? Why do we allow our religious traditions (Mark 7:13) to quench (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and to grieve (Ephesians 4:30) the Spirit and to keep our unity trapped in tens of thousands of religious pieces? (Ephesians 4:3)

I’ve found unity with other Christ-followers from multitudes of different Christian “streams,” “tribes,” and/or denominations — but not through religious organizations or formalized church services or doctrinal agreement. I’ve only found it in heart-to-heart connection with individual believers as we open up and share with one another what the Spirit puts on our heart.

We can do this one-to-one, in small groups, or in larger gatherings with an open mic. When we open up and let other people see Christ working in each other, we will suddenly recognize the glorious Light of our hidden unity in the Spirit. Let’s stop hiding God’s inner Light. Let’s put it on a lamp stand and let it shine everywhere we go! (Matthew 5:15)

I woke up this morning with this poem and announcement forming in my mind:

Open sharing,
People caring.
Spirit leading,
Love succeeding.
Hearts connecting,
Christ reflecting.

Experience this
Each Saturday
@ 8:30 am.
@ Chile Burrito
330 Franklin Rd.
Brentwood, TN.

Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com
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Death Valley

Posted on April 16, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?
View all responses

John Muir was an American author who explored and wrote about nature. Because of his role in preserving wilderness areas in the United States, he is known as “the father of the national parks.” This is what John wrote about Death Valley: “Amidst the harshness of Death Valley, nature’s beauty reveals its resilience.”

It’s not easy to visit people who are passing through the valley of the shadow of death. Recently my wife, Ernie, and I learned that a 79-year-old friend was days from death. We went to visit him expecting to encounter death’s harshness. Instead, we saw joy, beauty, and resilience.

TK was very thin and weak. He was confined to his bed and couldn’t eat or drink. The only thing he had consumed for three days was by sucking on a popsicle. Yet he greeted us with warmth and cheerfulness and offered us a popsicle.

Ernie and I were amazed. For the next half hour, we listened to TK make jokes and tell funny stories like he always did. Out of the blue I found myself asking him if he used to be a comedian (a question I had never asked him before). He smiled big and said yes. Then he told this story. I can’t quote him word for word, but it went something like this.

“Yes. I was regularly doing stand-up comedy in a Las Vegas casino. One night I was performing on stage, and God began to talk to me. I said, ‘God, can’t you see that I’m in the middle of a show.’ but God kept talking. He told me that that was to be my last show and that he wanted me to spend my time telling people about Jesus on the Las Vegas Strip.”

“I said yes to God and finished the routine. After the show I told the casino that I needed to quit working for them because God wanted me to testify about Jesus on the Las Vegas streets.”

“The next day one of the managers called me in to her office. She had a very tall stack of coupons sitting on her desk. She said that they were passes for a free meal in their casino buffet. She told me each pass was good for two meals so that I could bring someone with me from the streets.”

Then TK rejoicingly said: “There were enough coupons that I was able to eat lunch and dinner in that casino every day for four months. That’s how God provides.”

TK wasn’t in denial about his dying. He told us that Vanderbilt University was soon going to come and get his body and use it for research. Meanwhile he continued to make us laugh with his warm, friendly humor.

After we prayed for him, he sent us away with joyful gratitude. We left in awe of the supernatural beauty that was revealed to us in and through our dying friend. TK amazingly demonstrated to us the reality of the Bible verse: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

Thank you, Jesus, for TK and for his amazing testimonies and miraculous joy. My faith is stronger because of him.

The New Testament isn’t about church attendance. If you actually read it, you will see that it’s about total dependence on Jesus. That’s what we saw in TK!

Man holding water bottle near Death Valley National Park sign
A man stands beside the Death Valley National Park sign holding a water bottle under the hot sun.
Posted in death, death and dying, dying, hospice care, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Safe!

Posted on April 15, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Describe a positive thing a family member has done for you.
View all responses

Safe!

We human beings
Are on borrowed time.
The clock is ticking.
Time is running out.
We need to be saved
Before game over.
Who can rescue us?
Is there any hope
Or is our fate set?
I’ve put my trust in
The risen Jesus.
I depend on Him.
Every day and night
He fills me with light
And profound insight.
Jesus has shown me
His reality
And rescued me from
Endless hopelessness.
Jesus in me is
My hope of glory!
(Ephesians 2:4-7)

Let Christ in you
Lead all you say
And all you do.
(Colossians 1:27)

“Christ in you” Christianity is much more powerful than “you in church” Christianity! Genuine Christianity is daily walking with the living Jesus, not simply hearing a weekly talk about Him.!

God wants His people to be more than babies in Christ being spoon fed a tiny bit of religious milk once a week yet not growing closer and closer to the risen Jesus every day. “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly.” (1 Corinthains 3:1-3) O that God’s people would go beyond the milk of church as usual and begin to taste and see that the Lord is good throughout each day!

Chicago Cubs player sliding into home plate while catcher tries to tag him and umpire signals play
A Chicago Cubs player slides into home plate as the catcher attempts to tag him out during a close play.
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