April 2025 – The Greatest Story

THE GREATEST STORY

Dear Friend in Christ:

I sincerely pray all is well with you. This will be a significant letter with personal health news, a Gatlinburg Conference update, and also some encouragement from God’s Word as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m truly grateful for your friendship and support, and I ask you to read The Greatest Story prayerfully.

Everything I see and want to say here is viewed in light of the greatest truth I know: “Christ the Lord is Risen today! Hallelujah!” And, “because He lives, I can face tomorrow.” This is the Good News … the Gospel that we proclaim!

God’s Word, the Holy Bible, tells us that God created humankind in His own image. He lovingly put us together, cell-by-cell, with a glorious purpose in mind. But the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, chose to rebel against God’s purpose and His life-giving guidance. Their sin brought separation from their Creator; a marred relationship, confusion, strife, and mortality, not only for them, but for all of their descendants (see Genesis 1-4).

But even in that devastating moment, God promised redemption and restoration for humanity. His Spirit provided gracious guidance through leaders, prophets, and His Holy Word. He raised up His own chosen people in the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through whom the promised redemption would come. Their descendants faced many hardships, sometimes brought on by their own bad behavior. Yet God never forgot His promises to them.

In the fullness of time, a baby was born near Jerusalem, in the little town of Bethlehem. He was of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through His great-great-great-great Grandpa, King David. This baby was the son of Mary, who had been filled with the very Spirit of God Himself, so that she conceived and gave birth to this child named Jesus. He was the fulfillment of God’s promise made long ago in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve. Jesus–Who was fully God and also fully man–carried the promise of redemption, not only for the descendants of Abraham, but for all of humanity.

Though Jesus faced pain and temptation like any other man, He lived a perfect, sinless life. He healed the sick, comforted the poor and oppressed, worked miracles, and showed people Who and what Father God is. He was literally “The Living Word.” This blessed many people, but it also troubled many in power. Kings and rulers feared Him. Religious leaders–who had forgotten God’s promises regarding the Messiah–hated Him and were jealous of the love people had for Him.

And so, though He was completely innocent, He was accused and then sentenced to death in a sham trial. Before being executed via hanging on a cruel Cross, He was tortured and mocked. The wrath and torment of all of humanity’s wickedness was poured out upon Him. They had no idea what they were really doing. But once again, in that dark and horrible moment, Jesus had nothing but love for humanity. He prayed for Father God to forgive them.

Then, in the midst of His excruciating anguish, Jesus found strength and hope to quote the beautiful prophetic words of Psalm 31:5, “Into Your hands I commit my Spirit.” (I would urge you to read all of Psalm 31 to see what Jesus is confessing here as He died on the Cross.) This was not a statement of weary defeat, but of confident victory, knowing that the Father was at that moment defeating sin, death, and Hell for all of eternity.

Many years ago, I heard Evangelist Mahesh Chavda say, “One drop of the blood of Jesus is enough to destroy the entire kingdom of Satan.” Jesus died, not for Himself, but for our sins and for our redemption. But, that’s not the end of the story! On the third day after His death, the Holy Spirit of God came upon Jesus’ lifeless body and raised Him from the dead. Jesus stepped out of that tomb in power and glory. (See Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20.)

May we not only love this story but re-commit ourselves to telling it to the people God has placed in our lives. I love to tell the story!

RESURRECTION LIFE

As Jesus savored the sweet sunshine of that Resurrection dawn, He encountered friends and followers such as Mary Magdalene, Mary (mother of James), and other women, who had come to the tomb to mourn Jesus’ death. He told them to run and tell the other disciples. Jesus eventually appeared to them all and 500 other witnesses. He taught them for weeks about His Kingdom, and promised His Holy Spirit would be with them as their guide, strength, and comfort. He made it clear that His Kingdom was “not of this world” and not found in man’s wisdom or fleshly dominion, but it was instead … as Paul later wrote … “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (see Romans 14:17).

Jesus told them it was time for Him to ascend into Heaven to be with His Father. But He promised He would prepare a place for them in Heaven and would return to gather all Who believed in Him. Then, Jesus gave His followers a “Great Commission,” sending them out into all the world to preach the Gospel, baptize believers, and make disciples for His Kingdom. Jesus ascended, but He did not leave them alone; He did not leave us alone.

Today, we walk in the reality of His Resurrection life every day, believing that “if that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead” dwells in us today, He will give us abundant, overflowing, eternal life (see Romans 8:11).

What I am about to share, I do in faith and confidence in God’s Word and promises, in light of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. For many years, I have battled diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Following a bout with COVID in 2022, my kidney function became dramatically worse and I have been diagnosed with Stage 5 CKD. Apart from supernatural healing, I am facing the likelihood of a kidney transplant, should I be able to acquire one. This month, I will be evaluated by one of our region’s finest kidney hospitals to determine my eligibility for the procedure. I am also facing heart catheterization and arterial stents; this could possibly throw my kidneys into total failure, in which case, dialysis would be required. I am at peace, but my condition and symptoms are serious.

In the midst of this, my dear wife, Susanne–who has faithfully served as our CSM Administrator for decades–has just been diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer. Thank the Lord, we caught it early, but it requires immediate and extensive surgery. We will share more about this in days ahead, and she is already providing updates on her Facebook Page. Her faith has been strong, and she is digging deep into God’s Word and times of prayer and worship. As I write this, both she and I have been undergoing a battery of tests and scans. Nonetheless, we have been reminded of this: “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory Divine!” (Fanny Crosby, 1873).

We ask for prayer for healing, strength, provision, and wisdom in this season. We have faced much intensive spiritual warfare, but we know that “If God is for us, who can stand against us?”(see Romans 8).

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

URGENT GATLINBURG 2025 ANNOUNCEMENT

After prayer and counsel with our CSM Board and our Pastor Robert Grant, we believe the Spirit is leading us to lay our 2025 Gatlinburg Conference upon the altar of the Lord and make room for whatever He wants to do in this new season. For me personally, it has been a very hard and painful decision. I cannot adequately express the love I have for all of you and the joy of gathering together as a spiritual family to celebrate the faithfulness of God among us and to be equipped for the mission ahead. But the Lord is leading us another way for the foreseeable future.

We will be refunding everyone’s registration as quickly as possible and removing registration forms from our website. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. We do not sense this is the end of all of our gatherings and times of fellowship, but we want to hear clearly from the Lord about how to best address the challenges ahead for the Church in America and globally. Please stay in touch with us and with all of your Gatlinburg friends. We remain a spiritual family. Watch our Charles Simpson Ministries Facebook Page and csmpublishing.org website for more information. And, we are about to launch a new Instagram account! Our X Twitter account @CSMinPublishing remains active, as does our CSMPublishing YouTube Channel. We will continue to develop new ministry resources for you in the months ahead. I am presently able to write and speak for churches and groups, within a limited travel range. Call our office for more information at (251) 633-7900.

WE NEED YOU

In the wake of my Dad’s passing and my own curtailed travel, our ministry income has been significantly down over the past 14 months. Nevertheless, our ministry opportunities and needs remain, including our support for other ministries. Would you prayerfully consider giving financial support to the ongoing work of CSM? We are reaching thousands of people with the Gospel–people we have never reached before; we have “broken out of the cocoon” and connected with many who do not yet know Jesus, but who are hungry for His presence and salvation.

What I am saying and doing these days is not simply for our “in-house” friends, but for those “out there” who are weary and scattered, particularly in the younger generations. Loneliness, despair, drug abuse, and other mortal enemies stalk our young people. The call to “Restoring the Generational Bridge” has never been more urgent. Please pray for us as we “step out of the box” and go where we’ve never been. Praise God, He has gone before us and He will make a way where there seems to be no way.

Thank you for allowing me to share my heart with you this month. I never take your time and attention for granted. We love you and thank God for you. We lift you daily in our prayers.

In Jesus,

Stephen Simpson
President