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10/06/2026

Where do you feel truly at home?

Psalm 84 gives us a sparrow’s nest, a pilgrim’s journey, and a doorway worth choosing over a thousand days elsewhere.

We nest in God. We rest in God. And when the road is difficult, we go from strength to strength.

My latest Bible Chat reflection explores belonging, trust, and the dignity of quiet service. The subscriber section includes a deeper study and questions for personal reflection or group conversation.

What has helped you find strength along the way?

https://tomsims.substack.com/p/psalm-84-at-home-in-god

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

Beyond Woe: The Heart of Jesus for a Wounded Church
Matthew 23:1–39 | Bible Chat with Tom Sims

“I’m burned out on church.” “Too many hypocrites.” “I was hurt there.”

Jesus takes seriously the harm religious leadership can cause. In Matthew 23, he confronts hypocrisy, heavy burdens, and spiritual self-importance, calling us back to the weightier matters: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

Then comes his lament over Jerusalem—the longing to gather its children as a mother hen gathers her young beneath her wings. His searching warnings and compassionate invitation call us to examine our lives, listen to wounded people, and lead with humility and love.

Read the accompanying message, discussion questions, and subscriber deep dive:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/beyond-woe-the-heart-of-jesus-for

More Bible Chat:
https://biblechatonline.com

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

Three questions to consider:
1. Where do our religious words and actions fail to match?
2. Which needs greater attention in your life: justice, mercy, or faithfulness?
3. What would it mean to let Jesus gather you—and change how you lead?

10/04/2026

Justice, mercy, faithfulness—and the longing to gather us under his wings

Matthew 23

Three questions for reflection and conversation

Where have you seen a gap between religious words and religious conduct? What would an honest, helpful response look like?

Which of Jesus’ three weightier matters—justice, mercy, or faithfulness—most needs attention in your life or community right now?

What would it mean for you to be gathered by Jesus, and what would need to change in the way you lead or relate to others?

https://tomsims.substack.com/p/beyond-woe-the-heart-of-jesus-for

https://fb.watch/v/4_NdJ105L/

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.

10/03/2026

When the ground beneath us changes, where do we place our trust?

Psalm 107 describes rivers becoming wilderness and dry ground becoming springs of water. Its closing verses invite us to observe life’s changes and discover the lovingkindness of the Lord.

In this devotional, I reflect on our changing world, my family’s experience during the Loma Prieta earthquake, and these familiar words from H. F. Lyte’s “Abide with Me”:

“Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou, Who changest not, abide with me.”

Our circumstances change. Familiar certainties shake. Yet God remains faithful—and the God who meets us in the wilderness can bring new life to dry ground.

Read the devotional:
https://pastortom.wpcomstaging.com/2026/10/03/when-the-ground-beneath-us-changes/

Scripture: Psalm 107:33–43; Matthew 24:35; Isaiah 40:8.

What helps you trust God when life feels uncertain? Share your reflections in the comments.

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

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Fresno, CA
93727

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+15592135925

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