Monthly Archives: August 2019

Scruples seem scarce

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Steve Simms

Scruples (inner desires to avoid doing wrong) seem scarce in today’s society. Without scruples, people do whatever they want with little regard for ethics or honesty. This basic principle of life, “Don’t do things you shouldn’t do,” seems to have … Continue reading →

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Grace isn’t an excuse for bad behavior (fake grace is)

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Steve Simms

Grace is not an excuse to do your own thing and follow your own desires. It’s the supernatural power to live a Christ-like life. Fake grace excuses sin. True grace gives power over sin. Christianity is good news we can … Continue reading →

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When conflict trumps kindness

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Steve Simms

When conflict trumps kindness, communication collapses and coercion commences. Some people’s only concept of conflict resolution is overpowering their perceived opponent. People can choose to be our enemy and refuse to be reconciled to us, but no one can stop … Continue reading →

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Some history should never be repeated

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Steve Simms

The answers that got you a passing grade in history class aren’t always the full truth about the way things really happened. Some parts of history are celebrated; some ignored (or hidden). The ignored parts can tell powerful stories. If … Continue reading →

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Truth is for telling

Posted on August 22, 2019 by Steve Simms

Truth is for telling. That’s called honesty. When mixed with mercy and love, it’s powerfully healing. People who are kind, fair, and compassionate in their interactions with all sorts of people are rarely called racist. If you’re not a racist, … Continue reading →

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Heart proximity leads to compassion leads to kindness

Posted on August 22, 2019 by Steve Simms

Proximity promotes community and compassion. Failure to facilitate heart-to-heart proximity enables isolation. Bring your ear close to hear people’s heart and you’ll see them differently than you did before. Without a soul goal, life is easily trivialized into maintaining its … Continue reading →

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Weaponized words enable violence (just ask Cain & Able)

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Steve Simms

There is both good and bad in every person. Find and focus on the good in everyone and you can love them. Walls in the heart tear people apart. Open hearts connect with caring and compassion. Hard hearts disconnect and … Continue reading →

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Deinstutionalizing the faith

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Steve Simms

The New Testament’s about a supernatural movement led by the risen Jesus, not an institution. When Christianity is biblically and spiritually revitalized it tends to deinstitutionalize. Now is the time to deinstitutionalize — to invest more time in Spirit-led relationships … Continue reading →

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Why all the talk about race?

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Steve Simms

WHY? WHY is race such a big deal? WHY the accusations of “racism”?

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An experience at America’s “lynching memorial”

Posted on August 16, 2019 by Steve Simms

In Off the RACE Track I wrote about my wife and I gathering a few people to pray and ask for God’s forgiveness around the stump of the Rutherford County lynching tree (where blacks were hanged by white mobs) in … Continue reading →

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