Build-A-Child at 4141 Ministries

09/04/2026

Read more atr https://tomsims.substack.com/p/what-is-your-end-game?utm_source=youtube

What is your end game?

Before entering a conflict, negotiation, political struggle, or personal disagreement, it helps to know what success should look like. What is the ideal outcome? What can you live with? What must you protect—and what will you do if no agreement is possible?

In this *Wednesday in America* reflection, Tom Sims considers how we can evaluate our own objectives, examine the possible endgames of public leaders, and help people discover what they are really seeking beneath their stated positions.

Read the complete article:
https://tomsims.substack.com/p/what-is-your-end-game

The subscriber section includes a practical three-part End-Game Inventory for personal negotiations, civic discernment, coaching, mediation, leadership, and organizational decision-making. New subscribers can try a paid subscription free for 30 days.

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

09/04/2026

A full Rolodex is not the same as faithful follow-up.

Churches need better ways to remember people, honor commitments, coordinate care, and notice who may be slipping away. The right system can support pastoral ministry—if it protects privacy and keeps people, not data, at the center.

Read: [The Rolodex Was Full. The Ministry Was Not Finished.](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rolodex-full-ministry-finished-tom-sims-d8ebc)

09/02/2026

As the crow flies, the eastern side of the Sierra is right over the mountain from where I live.

But life is not usually lived as the crow flies.

There are mountains to cross, long roads to travel, weight to carry, and terrain that cannot be ignored. We may move more like a snail than a crow—but slow, deliberate progress is still progress.

There is wisdom in perspective, but often greater wisdom in persistence.

Well, I have to go. I have some crawling to do.

Read More: https://medium.com//as-the-snail-crawls-26a94d5a8a3a?sk=1d53093ea54ad7ecc4a7ff94591c547e

09/01/2026

08/31/2026

Most leaders do not lose trust or influence because of one dramatic mistake. More often, it is the gradual accumulation of poor communication, weak listening habits, defensiveness, and strained relationships.

The “boiling frog” story may not be scientifically accurate, but its warning is worth considering: we can adapt to unhealthy patterns until the consequences become painfully clear.

In this short reflection, I share practical steps for growing your people skills, receiving feedback, listening more effectively, and becoming a stronger leader.

Read the full coaching companion—with reflection questions and practical exercises—on Substack:

https://tomsims.substack.com/p/before-the-water-gets-too-hot

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

08/30/2026

In this five-minute reflection from Matthew 20:17–34, Jesus asks his disciples a searching question: “Are you able to drink the cup?”

We live in a world that prizes titles, recognition, influence, and the best seats. Jesus redirects us toward service, compassion, and the kind of greatness that does not need applause.

Watch the reflection, then dive deeper into the full sermon, Bible study, and subscriber group guide at Substack:

https://tomsims.substack.com/p/can-you-drink-the-cup

08/28/2026

The day calls with urgency. It tells us to get up, get going, and keep moving—but where are we going, and why?

This brief reading is an invitation to pause before the demands of the day take over: to wait, listen, gather ourselves before God, and lift up our souls.

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.”
—Psalm 143:8 (ESV)

May you hear God’s steadfast love this morning—and find the way for the next faithful step.

You can find my writing, videos, and ways to connect at

08/24/2026

Psalm 73 begins Book Three of the Psalms with an honest spiritual struggle.

Asaph knows that God is good, yet his feet almost slip when he sees arrogant and oppressive people prospering. Their apparent success makes him wonder whether keeping his heart pure has been worth the trouble.

Then everything changes:

“Until I entered the sanctuary of God…”

The sanctuary does not necessarily change Asaph’s circumstances. It changes his perspective. He sees the temporary nature of worldly power, recognizes the bitterness growing within himself, and discovers that God has never released him.

Asaph nearly loses his foothold, but God never loses hold of Asaph.

The psalm reaches its grand declaration:

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.”

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Psalm 73 leads us from envy to sanctuary, from bitterness to clarity, and from nearly slipping to the confidence of being held by God.

Read the complete reflection, study questions, group discussion guide, and spiritual exercises:

https://tomsims.substack.com/p/psalm-73-until-i-entered-the-sanctuary

Explore more Bible Chat resources:
https://biblechatonline.com

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

Subscribe to the Pastor Tom Sims YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/-tom-sims

08/23/2026

What has you?

In Matthew 19:16–30, a rich young man asks Jesus, “What good thing must I do to have eternal life?” He approaches eternal life as another achievement—something to acquire, possess, and add to everything else he owns.

Jesus meets him where he is, but leads him beyond rule keeping, spiritual accounting, and accumulated merit. He places his finger on the possession that has become possessive and gives the invitation:

Go. Sell. Give. Come. Follow.

The destination is not poverty for poverty’s sake. The destination is discipleship.

The man’s problem is not merely what he lacks. It is what he has—and what has him.

What possesses you? Money? Reputation? Control? Achievement? Resentment? Position? Certainty? Even a carefully maintained religious identity?

Salvation is not another human acquisition. “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Read the complete reflection and access the subscriber Bible study and group discussion guide:

https://tomsims.substack.com/p/what-has-you

Matthew 19:16–30

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