Monthly Archives: July 2011

Church — Lab or Lecture? Intellect or Votech? Academic or Epidemic?

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

Should church be academic or epidemic? Should it be based on the transfer of religious knowledge or on an ongoing contagion of spiritual life spreading like raging fire? Here is a quotation from Paul of Tarsus, the church planter who established … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, change, God, Holy Spirit, house church, lifestyles, mysticism, organic church, Quotations, Quotes, religion, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, academic, academic study, accepting, agreeing to, area, based on, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Biblical doctrines, book of Acts, called, Christian votech, Christians, church, church planter, contagion, contemporary church, creed, daily lives, Dear children, deed, demonstrative, disciples, disciplined, dry intelect, epidemic, established, experiential learning, first Christian churches, follow and obey, followers, formation within, gave, go and make disciples of all nations, godliness has value for all things, Great Commission, hands-on activity, hearts, holy, Holy Spirit, house church, ignored, inflaming, intellect, isn't it time, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John the Beloved, knowledge puffs up, lab, laid-back, lecture, lifestyle, like, listening, live, living love, love builds up, make this change, making disciples, mental adherents, merely, move beyond, Nashville, New Testament, not love with words, nowadays, ongoing, organic church, others, passion for God, passivity, Paul of Tarsus, Paul's words, physical training, practice, quotation, raging fire, read, religious, religious knowledge, reproduce, return, said, seeking, sermons, serve, simple church, some value, spiritual athletes, spiritual formation, spiritual life, spiritual lifestyle, spreading, Sundays, talk, Tennessee, the apostle, The Salvation Army, Thursdays, time of, tongue, train, train yourself to be godly, transfer of, transformation, turned, visit a church, votech, with actions and truth, wrote | 8 Comments

Quotes About How War Is Failure

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here are some quotations about how resorting to the violence of war is failure. Personally, I believer war to be humanity’s greatest failure. So why is war applauded and lauded, glorified and honored by our culture? Is failure something that we should encourage? Shouldn’t … Continue reading →

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Organic Church = God On The Loose

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Steve Simms

There are sometimes awkward moments in unprogrammed, participatory church (also known as organic church or simple church). People sometimes say things and/or do things that are outside of my comfort zone. On a recent Sunday morning at The Salvation Army Berry Street … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, God, Holy Spirit, house church, life, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged are you ready, awkward, Berry Street Worship Center, bit, blow, but, came to, church, close, comfort zone, comfortable, comfy, courage, cut, danger, denying the power, disturb, farthest from God, freedom, fuffle our feathers, gather together, God, having a form of godliness, Him, His way, Holy Spirit, how true, information, Lord, meeting, midst, mind, moments, my, Nashville, on the loose, organic church, outside of my, participatory, power, predictability, rock, shake, sharing, simple church, situations, sometimes, spiritual life, startle, stretch, structure, Sunday morning, take the limits off of, The Salvation Army, thereof, things, throbbing, transformation, unbound, uncomfortable, unprogrammed, visit, where it will, wide open, wind, wondering, words, work, working | 4 Comments

Humanity’s Biggest Failure

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Steve Simms

What is humanity’s greatest failure? It is a failure of understanding, a failure of love, a failure of respect. It is a failing of compassion, a failing of negotiation, a failing of faith. It is trusting in human power rather … Continue reading →

Posted in ancient history, anti-war, human rights, Jesus Christ, nonviolence, peace, Quotations, Quotes, Uncategorized, war | Tagged a better way, afraid, agree, amazing, American generals, antiwar, backed, beliefs, big, blog, bloody, carnage, child, childhood, civilians, claim, collateral damage. hurting, college, compassion, considering, country, courage, cruelly, cruelty, cry, days, deep convictions, despised, destruction, drafted, even, evil, example rings, exercise, failing, failure, faith, famous, folks, follie, folly, fought, freedom of speech, from, go to war, God's might, government sponsored, grieves, group, harm done, hate, hatred, horror, human act, human beings, human history, human suffering, humanity's, humanity's greatest failure, innate, intelligence, intimidated into silence, it is time, Jesus, kill, killed, laying down His life, life, losses, love, love our enemies, making war, mankind, massive, modern, morally wrong, nationaity, national conflicts, negotiation, never made any sense, not enough, on, openly, other side, parents, passivist, people, physical weapons, poems, popular, power, precious, prides itself, property loss, publicly admit, quotations, quotes, races, reason, rejected, relying, resolve, respect, right, right to life, rise up, sacrificial love, say, seeking, sense, shouting, slaughter, small, smart enough, soldiers, sophisticated, spiritual, stories, talk, technologies, television, terrible, terribly, terror, think, tremendous, trusting, turn the other cheek, Twentieth Century, un-American, understanding, unpatriotic, Vietnam War, violence, war, war movies, wife, win, win or lose, you, you lose | 6 Comments

Can A Church Be Full Of The Glory Of God?

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Steve Simms

A popular worship song says: “The splendor of the King; clothed in majesty . . .” It is great to sing about God’s splendor, but how do we bring it forth? There is a simple, but powerful answer to this … Continue reading →

Posted in church history, God, house church, Jesus Christ, music, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, prayer, religion, simple church, What is church? | Tagged among, awe, baton, Berry Street, Bible, blends, bring it, called, chaos, Christ's body, church, clothed in majesty, conductor, contributions, directory, do, do their own thing, experience, expressions, forth, gathered, gifted, giving, glorious, glory of God, God, God's splendor, great, hear, heart-felt, hearts, holy, Holy Spirit, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, indescribable, instructions, leading, leadings, member, men, morning, move, musicians, Nashville, obeys, open, option, orchestra, organic church, people, perform, place, popular, powerful, prayer, presence, responds, revelation, seek, shares, shines, silence, simple, simple church, sing, spiritually hungry, splendor of the King, stand, standing on holy ground, Sunday, symphony, talented, taps, taste and see, testmony, The Salvation Army, verse, women, word of knowledge, worship song | Leave a comment

Top Ten Most Disobeyed New Testament Scriptures

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Steve Simms

What are the top ten most disobeyed New Testament Scriptures? Here is my list of nominations (from the New International Version {NIV}) for the ten most ignored Bible verses: 10) “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will … Continue reading →

Posted in ancient history, anti-war, Bible, books, church history, English literature, history, Holy Spirit, human rights, Jesus Christ, King James Version, kingdom of God, organic church, Quotations, reading, religion, self-esteem, self-image, social justice, Top Ten | Tagged all these things, ambition, back, banquet, Bible, bless those who, blessed, blind, body, brothers, cannot repay, carefully, church, commits, conceit, considers others better than yourselves, crippled, curse you, daily, deny himself, dinner, do good, do not put out, don not invite, done, encouraged, everyone has a, exercise authority, fire, first, first speaker, flee, follow Me, Friends, from, Gentiles, given to you, hate, he must, high, host, humility, hymn, I Corinthians 14:26, If anyone would come after me, immorality, in turn, instructed, instruction revelation, interpretation, Jesus, kingdom, lame, lord it over, love your enemies, Luke 9:23, luncheon, Matthew 6:33, mistreat, most disobeyed, must be your servant, neighbors, New International Version, New Testament, NIV, nominations, of the, officials, Philippians 2:3, poor, pray, prepaid, prophesy, prophets, relatives, resurection, rich, righteous, righteousness, rulers, said, Scriptures, seek, selfish, sexual, sexually, sins, sitting down, slave, speak, Spirit's, stop, strengthening, take up his cross, tongue, two or three, vain, verses, weigh, When you come together, whosoever wants to become great, word, you can all | 4 Comments

Happy Birthday, King James Version

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

In 1611, the Bible was translated into the king’s speech (the king’s English). The King James Version was first published on May 5, 1611. It is a masterpiece of English literature and the best selling book in history. In the … Continue reading →

Posted in American Literature, ancient history, Bible, books, church history, English, English literature, God, history, Jesus Christ, King James Version, new birth, reading | Tagged 1611, 400th, another, archaic, beautiful, believer, best selling book, Bible, birthday, born again, burned in my heart, convinced, daily, day, devoured, editiion, encounter, English Literature, eventually, experience, first, happy, hast, holy, hours, in history, including, indeed, inspired, Jesus Christ, King James Version, KJV, language, life, literally, masterpiece, months, people, personal, preacher, published, reading, red letter, rejected, Scriptures, slow me down, special place, the king's English, the king's speech, Thee, Thou, touched, transforming, translated, translation, translations, Word orf God, years | Leave a comment

Our Exquisite Existence Eclipses Evolution’s Explanations

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Steve Simms

If unaided, material evolution is true, then: Time plus a compacted blob of subatomic particles, produced everything — from human reason and consciousness to the most detailed and complex organisms on earth. However, for me, evolution is an inadequate explanation of … Continue reading →

Posted in big bang, creation, evolution, history, theory of evolution, thinking | Tagged animated, astronomer, atoms, ball, billions of years, blob, bounced, brain, cause, cells, chemical, cimprehension, collections, combination, compacted, complex, conceptionalizes, conclude, consciousness, cosmos, courses, dance on a keyboard, dwarfed, earth, eclipses, eco system, explanation, exploded, explosions, fingers, gasses, glories, how can it be trusted, human reason, ideas, inadequate, information processors, intelligence, interrelated, intricacies existence, life forms, light show, living, masses, massive, material evolution, mathematical formulas, mind, multiply, natural world, nightly, nuclear, observation, organisms, originated, out of this, Periodic Table, physiological, place in space, planets, pondering, process, profundity, program, question, reading, reproduced, rolling down, solution, soulless, speeds, splitting, spontaneously, stars, subatomic particles, time, trace, trajectories, ture, unaided, watches, wonder, world, writing | 2 Comments

Celebrating Real Freedom On The 4th Of July

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Freedom is a wonderful thing to celebrate. However, it is far better to be free than talk about freedom. For example, if government guarantees the freedom of speech, but a person has a habit of speaking in anger, that she/he wants … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, Bible, Fourth of July, freedom, life, lifestyles, recovery, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged 4th of July, ability, addicted, addictions, adult, anger, anxieties, areas, be free, behaviors, bondage, bullied, can't stop using, capacity, celebrate, child, compulsions, control, cravings, defend, desires, dirrected, document, doing, dominated, dysfunctional, emotional, enslave, excessive, family, far better, fears, fighting, for example, forces, fourth, free, freedom, freedom of speech, full of, gallantly, genetic tendencies, glorified, Go and sin no more, gorernment guarantee, government, guarantees, habit, habits, house, justify, live your life, living, love your enemies, man, manipulation, mental, New Testament, no condemnation, overcome, passionately, peace that passes understanding, peer pressure, person, physical, political, prejudice, pride, promises, resisting, self-destructive, speaking, surrendered our freedom, talk, teenager, the world's greatest, thing, thinking, throw around, tormented, tormenting thoughts, under, weapons, what happened, where is, woman, wonderful, word, worries | 4 Comments

Norman Vincent Peale at 93

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Several years ago, Norman Vincent Peale, author of the book, The Power Of Positive Thinking, was scheduled to speak for an association convention in Nashville. He was 93 years old at the time. I knew someone who worked for that … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, change management, lifestyles, Norman Vincent Peale, positive thinking, public speaking, Quotations, Quotes, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, thinking, thoughts | Tagged association, attend, author, bigger, boldness, book, capable, change, chosen area, compare, comparison, convention, conviction, Dr., energy, everybody is better, excited, feel better, feel inferior, forgotten, greater things, hear, high school, inferiority complex, lives, long pause, lose, mind, myself, Nashville, Norman Vincent Peale, not to compare, one-of-a-kind, optimism, original, positive thinking, problem, quotes, realize, remember correctly, scheduled, something, speak, speech, spoke, stories, strength, superior, The Power Of Positive Thinking, think, thought, weakness, winderity, years, yes, younger | 1 Comment

Monthly Archives: July 2011

Church — Lab or Lecture? Intellect or Votech? Academic or Epidemic?

Quotes About How War Is Failure

Can A Church Be Full Of The Glory Of God?

Happy Birthday, King James Version

Our Exquisite Existence Eclipses Evolution’s Explanations

Celebrating Real Freedom On The 4th Of July

Norman Vincent Peale at 93

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Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible

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