Author Archives: Carl Simmons

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About Carl Simmons

See the About Me page on my site, if you want to know more about ME. Otherwise, hopefully you'll know more about Jesus and some of his followers by reading here. And thanks for stopping by.

Lay Down Your Circumstances

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Carl Simmons

I have to admit: I’ve always been perplexed by people who talk about the “comfort” of the Christian life, especially in terms of it being the primary reason for believing in Christ. To be sure, there’s “comfort and joy” to … Continue reading →

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Lay Down Your Kingdom: a small-group session

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Carl Simmons

To work through this session, it may help read through the devotionals that go with this study, especially the “Lay It Town Today” pieces. You can find them in bits and pieces under the following names: Lay Down Your Independence … Continue reading →

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One Small Step for Man… but a step, nonetheless

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Carl Simmons

We have a new member on the blogroll… and in turn, they have a new contributor. David Showers, whose book Ten Steps to a Closer Walk With God I reviewed recently, has just relaunched his online magazine Extant. And as … Continue reading →

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Lay Down Your Relationships, Part 2

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Carl Simmons

The good news is that loving Jesus above all doesn’t obliterate our love for those here on earth; it transforms it. Remember, “laying it down” is really laying our selves down. If we’re honest, we’ll probably admit that much of … Continue reading →

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Lay Down Your Relationships, part 1

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Carl Simmons

Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday, at the end of Matthew 19: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold … Continue reading →

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Lay Down Your Possessions

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Carl Simmons

Now the rubber starts hitting the road even more violently. Not that it’s easy at all to deal with all the internal stuff we’re been addressing for most of these previous devotionals, but let’s face it: At some point, all … Continue reading →

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Lay Down Your Reputation, part 2

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Carl Simmons

In the first part of this meditation/devotional (found here), we looked at the reputations we try to keep, and how we tend to use them as a way to rely on the love of others rather than the love of … Continue reading →

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It’s the Song, Not the Singer

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Carl Simmons

Let me put my personal prejudice on the table, and then we can all feel free to ignore it: I’m not a fan of Leonard Sweet’s style of writing. Nonetheless, because of the focus of this book, I took a … Continue reading →

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Lay Down Your Strength: the fuller version

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Carl Simmons

Our strength—or rather, our reliance upon it—is still pride. And because of that, it must be broken. Watchman Nee, in his book Changed Into His Likeness, put it this way, “The characteristic of those who truly know God is that … Continue reading →

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It’s a New Day… because it HAS to be.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Carl Simmons

I’ll try to keep this one short but personal. Well, first of all: If you’re reading this, thanks. I hope you’ve found these postings useful, inspirational, or something positive. ‘Cause now, things are gonna change up a bit. Over the … Continue reading →

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