Articles by Danny Sims at Heartlight

So What's the Point of the Bible?

dannysims@altamesa.org (Danny Sims) — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500

So what is the point?

I'd say the point of the Bible is to know God. The scriptures tell God's story and introduce us to Him. Knowing Him is the whole point of life.

By "knowing Him," I do not mean to say the Bible is just information (like you would know your college history text) or casual (like you know the guy three cubicles down and read the e-mails he forwards to you). Really "knowing" the God of the Bible means He will shape your very soul.

I'm grieved by the church culture that's developed where knowing the Bible is about being right, passing judgement, defending a position, memorizing data, supporting a political party, or one of many other imposter functions.

I recall seeing a national newscast where a guy stood in a line of protestors at an abortion clinic. He was yelling while holding a sign with a huge Bible on it along with the words, "You're going to HELL, the Bible tells me so."

"Know the Scriptures in order to know God and He will bless you!" would have been a much better pro-life message. John says his message was "... written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:31 NRS)

Jesus says, "You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, but you refuse to come to me for eternal life." (John 5:39-40)

Micah says the LORD requires us to "See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God." (Micah 6:8 CEV)

If knowing the Bible doesn't help you do that, what's it for?

It [Scripture] is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. (2 Timothy 3:17 NLT)

Danny Sims is the preaching minister at the Altamesa Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, and a longtime Heartlight supporter and friend.

Website: Altamesa Church of Christ

All Along, I Thought I Was Reading to Him

dannysims@altamesa.org (Danny Sims) — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500

He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. ... (Isaiah 40:11 NLT)

My son was two years old. I often read one particular book to him, a child's version of the parable of the lost sheep.

You're familiar with this story, right? It involves a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to look for one who has become lost. As an aside, that is not a logical choice to make, but it is God's story, not mine. God usually tells stories quite differently than most of us would tell them!

As usual, little Elijah was totally absorbed. The story and its accompanying illustrations had drawn him in again. But this time he was emotional. His chin quivered and his lips pouted. His eyes were moist and fixed.

As we finished the part where the shepherd finds the lost sheep, Elijah reached for the picture. The sheep has fallen into a rocky place and clearly has a broken leg. The shepherd is about to bandage the wound.

We looked at that image for a moment. I turned the page but Elijah turned it back. He wanted to look some more. We were quiet for a few moments. Then my son spoke.

"Elijah sheep. Daddy shepherd."

And all along I thought I was reading the story to him.

From Danny Sims blog.

Danny Sims is the preaching minister at the Altamesa Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, and a longtime Heartlight supporter and friend.

Website: Altamesa Church of Christ

What if We Can?

dannysims@altamesa.org (Danny Sims) — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Ten Years Later!
We love Danny Sims. He has written for us from time to time and has been a champion and supporter of Heartlight. He also spoke powerfully at our 5 year anniversary praise seminar. Thanks Danny!

"What if we could reach the entire world?"

What a great question. Let's ask it and see if God doesn't have an answer for us. This e-mail from a Hawaiian teenager, sent to the staff of Heartlight, is a great place to begin:

We are three 19 year old native Hawaiians ... We found your "Today's Verse" and started reading the Bible. We realized that we needed to be baptized, so we took turns baptizing each other in the Pacific Ocean. I guess that makes us a church. Thank you!

Everyone involved with Heartlight loves to hear this kind of life-changing stories. Anyone with a passion for Jesus and a love for people does!

"What if we could reach the entire world?"

Imagine being able to do ministry online through Heartlight as a resource. Some folks have taken that as their calling to follow up with folks in different ways:

I am just rejoicing ... a gal from the Heartlight message board is going to be baptized!!! God led her to Heartlight a few years ago. She always says Heartlight is her church family ... last night she went to church ... God spoke to her there and the Spirit began working on her heart. She decided she needed fellowship with other Christians. Praise Him!!!!! After the service she went and told a friend she needed to be baptized ... She posted her decision on the prayer requests board, then I invited her to chat. We talked about the entire deal and prayed. How cool to have Heartlight Chat right there to minister to her!!!

Now you know why many of us believe Heartlight can be a key tool to touch the world for Jesus!

"What if we could reach the entire world?"

Let's not let age or disability rule out anyone. The web lets us cross those barriers with grace. Let me share another couple of examples:

I have been receiving heartlight devotionals for some time. I really love them! I am visually impaired and use the computer with a screen reader. The material reads just great! Heartlight Magazine is accessible as well.

God bless all of you and your work.

I teach fifth grade ... this past week we had to have our Chapel for our students in our classrooms ... I receive the daily Heartlight emails — they lift up my morning as I get ready for the students to arrive! So, as I tried to decide on material to use in my mini-chapels, one of your articles arrived — it was so perfect that I went back into the archives to find other articles that could have meaning for my young fifth-graders. So, for the entire week, we read through them — they proved to be some of the best discussion-starters I've used, and my students just LOVED the clear illustrations you include with each article. Especially, I saw the "Blind Spot of our Joy” really touch their hearts as some of our students who were "on the fringes” were suddenly being invited to sit with others at lunch and during recess.

To me, those are truly touching examples of God's grace being shared through the web by Heartlight.

"What if we could reach the entire world?"

Just as you're reading this now, who knows how many other people are? Of the hundreds of thousands of folks seeing Heartlight each month, how many of them are like the Hawaiian teens, or the lady on the Heartlight Boards, or person with blindness using a reader for their computer to access spiritual content, or kids in the classroom being touched and changed by a truth they've found for themselves on the web?

"What if we could reach the entire world?"

I'm confident there is not another tool available to churches with the worldwide impact of Heartlight.

Our financial support helps Heartlight provide access 24 hours a day to spiritual stories written by a variety of gifted men and women ... Real life examples of who God is and what he wants for all people, everywhere ... an astounding Bible resource library. Why support Heartlight? One simple conviction ...

"We can reach the entire world?"

Then there's SearchGodsWord.org, a great and comprehensive Bible search and study tool. SearchGodsWord.org has commentaries, original language resources, an incredibly fast Bible search engine, multiple translations, and more. And it's ready for anyone, anywhere with internet access!

"We can reach the entire world?"

Since you're online at this moment you know that available to you right now (just on the front page of Heartlight) are the articles, the search engine, the verse of the day, spiritual cards to e-mail to friends, or even people who aren't friends yet! There's a link to fast and pray for the President, another to receive a fresh spiritual encouragement on your PC desktop each morning, suggestions for Christian books, a place to post messages to people ....

"We can reach the entire world?"

As an occasional contributor for Heartlight, I can tell you this: Each time I write an article for Heartlight, I get e-mails from people all around the world who have been encouraged. Many ask permission to post the article on their own website or print it in their weekly church bulletin. Once I was asked if it could be used at a men's business meeting. Of course you know what I said! And it's because Phil Ware once asked me, "What if we could reach the entire world?"

"What if we can?"

God has an answer for us. Like that Bible verse says, "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus ...." That's the answer, as far as Heartlight is concerned. It's one of those things that people are doing that when done in the name of the Lord, happens to reach the entire world.

Join me in supporting Heartlight. Make it a part of your personal giving or join in giving with your church and make Heartlight a part of your monthly giving for missions. You'll be making an incredible blessing available to people and you get to be blessed by it, too!

Danny Sims is the preaching minister at the Altamesa Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, and a longtime Heartlight supporter and friend.

Website: Altamesa Church of Christ

The Thanksgiving Hooke

dannysims@altamesa.org (Danny Sims) — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0600

There are no Thanksgiving traditions about twelve year old John Hooke. No songs, no poems, no pilgrim lore. Yet of all the long forgotten stories from the original 102 people aboard the Mayflower in 1620, maybe little John's is one we ought to remember.

When John Hooke's father died, his mother signed an apprenticeship agreement with a tailor, Isaac Allerton. This arrangement meant John was under the tutelage of a master who would show him a trade, provide food and clothing, and teach him about religion and faith.

Perhaps the faith and religion lessons were the most difficult. The next year young John sailed with Allerton and his family on the Mayflower. John died that first brutal winter in Plymouth.

Abraham Lincoln wrote in his proclamation of Thanksgiving as a National Holiday in 1863, "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown." How right Mr. Lincoln was, and is. Accustomed to the blessings of this world, it's easy to lose a spirit of thankfulness and lose touch with the spirit of Thanksgiving.

His gift is that he reminds me of how rich I am. When I was John Hooke's age, I was singing, "Over the river and through the woods ..." On Thanksgiving Day, I was eating extra pie, waiting for the Dallas Cowboys' game, warming by the fire, or jumping in a pile of leaves. None of these things are wrong. In fact, that's what is right about Thanksgiving. That's the "Thanksgiving Hooke." It's the peace I've enjoyed for which I must give thanks. It is the bounty of Heaven ... the love of family ... the blessings of a gracious God ... and the gift of a little apprentice boy.

We know of no significant contribution he made to the Mayflower mission. He did not sign the Mayflower Compact. He likely had no choice but to get on board that boat. Yet his gift is that he reminds me of how rich I am. John Hooke gives us perspective and calls us to search our hearts for the same measure of sacrifice and an extra helping of thankfulness.

The Biblical word most like the old English concept of apprentice is "disciple." Here again is the "Thanksgiving Hooke." Will we attach ourselves to a master teacher? Will we go where He goes? Will we sail with Him to another land in faith? Will we be pilgrims? Will we be apprentices of Jesus?

Maybe it's enough today to ask, "Will we be thankful?"

Danny Sims is the preaching minister at the Altamesa Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, and a longtime Heartlight supporter and friend.

Website: Altamesa Church of Christ

Did Jesus Wear Glasses?

dannysims@altamesa.org (Danny Sims) — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0500

My son was wearing his new eyeglasses Sunday.

He sat there beside me, not knowing I surveyed his every move. I looked down upon his face during the Worship Assembly, just as the communion tray passed by. I enjoyed his innocent, slightly freckled complexion and marveled how a recent trip to the barber was already giving way to the ever determined increase of new hair. His cheeks gently moved as his tongue manipulated a loose front tooth from side to side.

As I took of the bread that is to believers the body of Christ, the small hands of my son passed the emblem on to his mother and I wondered about the incarnation. Any Bible Dictionary sets forth how God reveals Himself as human in Jesus. He is the embodiment of the Word, becoming flesh. As the God-Man, He mediates God to humans. As the Man-God, He represents humans to God.

Manifestation, personification, and representation: Incarnation.

A more practical theology fueled my imagination Sunday. I could not quit admiring the shiny gold rims of my son's spectacles. Nor could I escape boyish questions that led me to a deeper communion experience.

Did Jesus wear glasses?

Did He have freckles? Did he look under his bed roll the morning after He lost His first tooth for a coin or two? What chores did his small hands perform for his mother?

Who cut his hair? Was it auburn, almost red in the sunshine but brown at first glance? Did He have wavy locks, or did it come straight down like the Jesus of Hollywood so he could easily wear it long in the later years of His ministry?

Sitting in that pew last Sunday, though the bread of communion passed me by, the Spirit of God did not. A fresh sense of the body of Christ came over me. Jesus really did become flesh and dwell among us. He really was a man, tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin.

The wafer in my mouth and the young boy at my side reminded me of the body of Christ and my place in it.

His body ... given for me.

He enjoyed childhood, endured adolescence, and embraced the cross as a real flesh and blood man. He did this for me and for all little kids everywhere.

And now I live and give my life, my son and family for Him. We're His body today.

I suppose Jesus never wore eyeglasses. I'm told the Chinese invented them years after He walked the streets of Jerusalem. Bifocals didn't come along until Ben Franklin suggested the idea in 1770.

But seeing my son there beside me last Sunday with his tiny new glasses made me realize somehow that Jesus was both fully man and fully divine.

To remember anew how God sees me through the lenses of His love is a priceless gift. I was reminded in communion last Sunday, looking at my son, seeing God's son.

Pray this prayer with me today: Give me more vision to see you Lord. Thank you for Jesus and His servant, saving heart. Make me more like Him and make the church more and more like His body, broken as a gift to the world.

Danny Sims is the preaching minister at the Altamesa Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, and a longtime Heartlight supporter and friend.

Website: Altamesa Church of Christ