Fresno Non Profit Round Table

10/05/2026

When discouragement takes the wind out of our sails, where do we find courage to keep going?

In this Bible Chat, we reflect on Ezra 4:4 and Isaiah 54:4. Ezra describes people discouraged and made afraid to build. Isaiah brings God’s encouragement into the fear of shame and disgrace.

Read the full study: https://tomsims.substack.com/p/when-discrouagement-takes-the-wind

Opposition, stalled progress, and disappointment can leave us ready to quit. Sometimes we also fear hearing someone say, “I told you you couldn’t do it.”

A setback does not define you. God’s encouragement can reach us through Scripture, prayer, a friend’s presence, and people willing to walk with us.

What is discouraging you today? What has helped you keep going? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Continue the reflection on Substack, where the subscriber section offers a group conversation guide on encouragement, prayer, and doing life together:
https://tomsims.substack.com

Explore Tom’s Front Porch on Patreon and other ways to connect:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

More Bible Chat:
https://biblechatonline.com

Subscribe for more Bible reflections and conversations about faith and everyday life.

10/05/2026

In the long game, finding gateway people is about making friends for life.

I’ve sat on both sides of the coffee table: seeking introductions and being asked to make them. Those encounters have taught me to appreciate honest intentions, listen to the person in the other chair, and put friendship in the plus column.

A conversation can be worthwhile even when it doesn’t produce a sale, referral, or agreement. Sometimes we leave with a relationship that lasts for decades.

Read “Gateway People” on Medium:
https://medium.com//gateway-people-349fe158ae2a?sk=7bfc68f4bb3541827a9da48e5b781344

Read the companion reflection, “Never Let Anyone Leave Empty-Handed”:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/never-let-anyone-leave-empty-handed

What friendship began with a conversation you thought would be about something else? Share your story in the comments.

Find more reflections, coaching opportunities, and my Patreon Front Porch:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

Subscribe for more conversations about relationships, leadership, and meaningful living.

10/05/2026

What can you give someone that has no price tag and no conditions?

As a teenager in Richmond, Virginia, I discovered a little bookstore on Broad Street run by two women who told me, “We never let anyone leave empty-handed.” They gave away booklets, advice, encouragement, and their attention. More than fifty years later, I’m still carrying what they gave me.

Their example offers a practice for our conversations, businesses, and creative work: listen carefully and offer something useful that people can receive without buying, joining, or agreeing.

Read “Never Let Anyone Leave Empty-Handed” on Substack:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/never-let-anyone-leave-empty-handed

Read the companion article, “Gateway People,” on Medium:
https://medium.com//gateway-people-349fe158ae2a?sk=7bfc68f4bb3541827a9da48e5b781344

What did someone give you freely that you’re still carrying? And what could you pass along today? Tell me in the comments.

Find more resources and connect with me on Patreon’s Front Porch:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

Subscribe for future reflections and practical resources. Either way, I hope you leave with something worth carrying.

10/04/2026

You can miss fellowship without being ready to return to church.

Andrea and I have been talking about disillusionment, faith, and what people miss after leaving a religious community. I pastor online, and I miss singing and spending time with people in the same room. What do you miss? What do you never want to repeat? What would you build if you could help shape the gathering?

I am beginning this conversation at Tom’s Front Porch on Patreon. The welcome and first conversation are free; optional paid membership supports additional reflections and tools.

Read the community agreements before participating. You do not need to share a painful history.

Tom’s Front Porch:
https://www.patreon.com/tomsims/posts/i-miss-171433792?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

A Quiet Door Into Care:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/a-quiet-door-into-care

Beyond Woe: The Heart of Jesus for a Wounded Church:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/beyond-woe-the-heart-of-jesus-for

Pastoral Excellence on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomsims

More from Tom:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

What is one good thing you would carry forward from a religious community you left?

Please keep public comments to what you are comfortable sharing publicly.

10/04/2026

First, we start with the question.

How can pastors and congregations care for people who are weary, wounded, alienated, or questioning? A call to listen, examine our leadership, repent of specific wrongs, and make repair visible—with practical questions for clergy and congregational conversation.



https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/repair-church-conversation-pastoral-leaders-need-have-tom-sims-a8utc

10/03/2026

What would a good day in your future look like?

In this video, I introduce Destination Coaching—an invitation to imagine a day filled with joy, purpose, meaningful work, relationships, and rest. Once you can describe where you want to go, you can begin building a practical path toward it.

For coaches and mentors, the task is to help people discover and articulate their own dreams. “I’m not sure” can be the beginning of a fruitful conversation.

Read the Medium article:
https://medium.com//destination-coaching-8bcf99569140?sk=f95aabebf4645a9ef61ebca796008ea1

Explore the guided reflection and coaching questions on Substack:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/destination-coaching-walk-through

More writing, resources, and ways to connect:
https://linktr.ee/tomsims

Share in the comments: What would make you say, at bedtime, “That was a good day”?

Subscribe for more reflections on purpose, leadership, faith, and meaningful living.

10/02/2026

10/01/2026

Do our times shape us—or do we shape our times? Perhaps both. History reminds us that we are influenced by the world around us, yet our choices help shape what happens next. We can step into the flow and choose to be a positive influence.

Read the full reflection: https://medium.com//do-our-times-shape-us-or-do-we-shape-our-times-aa0eafafea13?sk=b531aa8f3195e5ba3b09f82dda376fec

Connect with Tom Sims: https://linktr.ee/tomsims

09/28/2026

Consider John.

John is a gifted and effective leader. But when someone questions him, criticizes a decision, or makes an ambiguous remark, John sometimes interprets it as something more: a personal slight, a threat, or evidence that someone is working against him.

The question is not whether John’s suspicions are always right or wrong. The question is: What choices does John still have about what he does with those thoughts?

None of us has all the information. We cannot see into other people’s minds or know every motive. So we fill in the blanks—and sometimes our first explanation becomes our final conclusion before we have examined the evidence.

In this reflection, I consider leadership, suspicion, assumptions, personal responsibility, civility, and the discipline of asking a simple question:

“What else could explain this?”

Maybe we cannot choose every thought, instinct, or suspicion that enters our minds. But if we can still stop, question, listen, examine, and reconsider, we still have a choice.

My first interpretation does not have to become my final belief.

Read the full article: https://medium.com//you-still-get-to-choose-what-you-believe-e2c4d2b08456?sk=62e3305249c7a6aa164e74a0f877be1d