Monthly Archives: November 2011

The Claims Of Christmas — Virgin Birth

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Steve Simms

It is easy to overlook some of the remarkable claims of Christmas. One such claim is that a young woman named Mary gave birth to a child without having had sexual intercourse. I have noticed that this amazing claim is … Continue reading →

Posted in blessings, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas Eve, feelings, glory, God, history, impossible odds, joy, kingdom of God, life, miracles, mysticism, non-material reality, proof of God, religion, spiritual, spiritual formation, supernatural, Uncategorized, virgin birth | Tagged a fair question, a supernatural event, allegiance, amazing, amazing claim, artificial insemination, astounded, author, be convinced of its truth, became a human being, before, Bible, blindly accept it, Book of Luke, by a miracle, carefully, cause a baby to be conceived, certainty, Christ, Christian Standard Bible, Christmas, claims, conceive, convinced, created, creating, creating a baby, Creator, deserves, easy to overlook, events, everything, exammined, excuse the pun, explored, eyewitnesses, first, frequent experience, fulfilled among, gave birth to a child, God, good question, handed, heard, high school, how, How can this be, human beings, I didn't believe, I have not been, ignorant, in their time, inpossibility, instructed, intimate with a man, intorduced, investigated, is alive, Jesus Christ, just as, know, literally occured, Luke, making the claim, Many have undertaken, Mary, Mary asked, miracles of Christmas, most Christians, most honorable, myths, named, narrative, New Testament, noticed, original, others, personal relationship, physical, pondered, procreation, pun, read, reject it outright, remarkable claims, reporting, responded to, scientific fact, seemed good, servants of the word, sexual intercourse, since, skeptics, spacetime, supernatural Being, supernatural experience, supernatural means, suppose, testimony, Theophilus, thinking, to believe, to compile, total commitment, virgin, where babies come from, without, womb, world, wrestled with, writers, young woman | 6 Comments

7 Names For 7 Days Around Thanksgiving (& 2 Oxymorons)

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Steve Simms

I don’t know who started naming the days around Thanksgiving Day. However, this new tradition doesn’t seem complete. Friday, Saturday, and Monday have names, but Sunday has been left out. Also, it seems to me like a week’s worth of … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, blog, challenges, change, Cyber Monday, holidays, humor, life, meaning, modern myths, oxymorons, possessions, Reason For The Season, Small Business Saturday, stuff, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Eve, thinking, thoughts, tradition, Uncategorized, values, words | Tagged 7, a week's worth of, an even, around, Black Friday, blog post, but two, complete, contains, Cyber Monday, days, did you notice, Friday, Giving Tuesday, has been left ut, I don't know, it seems to me, Monday, names, naming the days, new tradition, not one, oxymorons, Reason-For-The-Season, Saturday, Small Business Saturday, Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Eve, Thanksgiving Thursday, the intorduction, Tired-And-Worn-Out, Tuesday, who started, yep | 3 Comments

A Name For The Sunday After Thanksgiving (And Words In The Night)

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Steve Simms

Someone is naming all the days after the day set aside to give thanks to God. Let’s see, there’s Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. But what about the Sunday after Thanksgiving Day? I have a name … Continue reading →

Posted in awe, Bible, Black Friday, blog, Catherine Booth, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Cyber Monday, glory, God, gratitude, lifestyles, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, Reason For The Season, religion, Small Business Saturday, soul, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, words | Tagged act like, afrfected, anger, awe, bear it, Bible, Black Friday, body, book, capacity, Catherine booth, Christmas carol, co-founder, computer, Cyber Monday, day, enlarges, eyes, facebook, first thing, found, glory, God, great emotions, green cover, grief, had to be, happen, Holy Night, Holy Spirit, how'd that, human soul, immediately, influence, joy, last night, middle of the night, mind, naming, off the shelf, opened, opens, people fall, perceptions, popped into my mind, post, prostrated, quickens, quotation, quote, read about, Reason For The Season Sunday, remembered, set aside, Shepherds, Shepherds quake at the sight, Silent Night, Small Business Saturday, someone, Sunday, swells, thanksgiving, the days, the newborn Christ, The Salvation Army, thick book, this morning, thought, to give thanks to God, woke up, words | 1 Comment

Christmas Is About Judgment

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here’s a surprise: Christmas is about dealing with judgment. Our sinful thoughts, choices, and behaviors have been judged and we are guilty and condemned men and women. If our condemnation is merely canceled, the result would be chaos and injustice. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazing Grace, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, blessings, change, Christ, Christian history, Christmas, Christmas Eve, feelings, forgiveness, freedom, God, Hell, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, juddgment, life, lifestyles, morality, mysticism, Nashville, religion, repent, salvation, saved, spiritual, spiritual growth, spiritual warfare, supernatural, The Salvation Army, tolerance, Uncategorized, words, worship | Tagged 21st Century, 225 Berry St., 37207, a beautiful package, accetp the greatest gift, actively, all, all humanity, amazed, at the cross, at what happens, authority, behaviors, Berry Street Worship Center, bondage to sin, came, canceled, chaos, choices, Christ, Christmas, Christmas is about, come see, condemnation, condemned men, dealing with judgment, debt, defeated death, Don't, forgiveness, freedom, gather, gathering, grew up, guilty, have been judged, hell, Here's a, his suffering, in His name, individual, injustice, invited, Jesus, judgment, just remember, leadership, man-made program, men and women, merely, Nashville, overlook it, owe a debt, paid, personally, repentance, sinful thoughts, sins, Sundays, surprise, take active control, the babe, the grave, the greatest gift of all, the result would be, The Salvation Army, to take the punishment for, tolerance, turn the meeting over, turning waya from our sins, under His direct, upon Himself, we are guilty, we can nevber pay, when we gather, wrongdoing | 5 Comments

How To Shop For Christ*mas

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

From Black Friday through Christmas Eve, people will be shopping for material things to give to family, friends, and clients on Christmas Day. They will be searching and sorting through stuff, seeking to find just the right gifts. But perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, American, Americans, Black Friday, books, Christmas, Christmas Eve, church, guidance, Henry Poole Was Here, Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, lifestyles, materialism, organic church, Red Kettles, religion, self-help, shopping, simple church, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, stuff, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values | Tagged age, available, be kind, become a super shopper, being transformed, Black Friday, car, carry someone's bags, Christ-filled Christmas, Christ-focused friends, Christmas, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, clients, comformed to this, creating, crowds, detachment, devotional Bible reading, encouraging words, examples, extremely difficult, family, fasting, find and use, find firends, follow, followers of Christ, Friends, Give, give to, Google, hang out, help, help a neighbor, hold doors open, humility, hunt down, inspirational movie, it takes, Jesus, jewel, just the right gifts, let others through, like Jesus, live, living like Jesus, love, make friends, make your shopping, material things, meditation, more like Christ, most Americans, multitudes, obey, organic church, passionate, people, people we spend time with, people who live ajnd love, perhaps, politely move aside, provide transportation, REd Kettles, same effort, searching, seek, seeking, self-denial, serve others, shop, shop for Christmas, shop for ways, shopping, shopping season, shopping skills, sold on, solitude, some steps to shop, sort, sort through your friends, sorting through stuff, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual listening, spiritual reading, spiritual shopping, spiritual warfare, still-born spiritually, superb, The Salvation Army, this year, tools for spiritual growth, various types of prayer, volunteer with a nonprofit, ways to grow spiritually, world, world's standards, you will be amazed, your life will be transformed | 6 Comments

Happy TGTD To You! (Tell God Thanks Day)

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Steve Simms

Happy TGTD! (Tell God Thanks Day) I wish you and your family a peaceful, grateful day today. May you be overcome with joy as you realize God’s blessings on your life and thank Him for all He has done for … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, conscience, East Nashville, freedom, God, gratitude, Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, meaning, popular culture, religion, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, The Salvation Army, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged 21st Century, 9/11, amazing opportunity, aware, being present, best friend, bondage to sin, brothers, Christ, commitment, daughter, death on the cross, deserve, difficult, disease, East Nashville, economic instability, evil, fallen apart, families, follow and obey, forgiveness, freedom, Friends, given, giving up, God's blessing on your life, government, grateful day, Gratitude, great mercy, happy, heart's love, history of the world, humans, hunger, I wish you, injustice, judgment, Lord, love, major terrorist attack, may you, midst, nemphews, nieces, non-traditional church, offer, overcome with joy, painful, parents, peaceful, power to live a life of victory, protecting the United States, reality, realize, rising from the dead, showing, sins, sisters, strength, Tell God Thanks Day, TGTD, thank, thank you, the greatest example of live, The Salvation Army, today, turn, violence, wars, wife, wonderful relationship, world's pain, years of my life, your family | 2 Comments

Is Science Close To Discovering Spiritual Reality? Check Out “Spooky Action”

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Steve Simms

In the past few years scientists have conducted experiments that show that two “entangled,” subatomic particles can communicate almost instantaneously, even if they are separated by huge distances. They have called this phenomenon, “spooky action at a distance.” This communication … Continue reading →

Posted in Albert Einstein, awe, big bang, entangled particles, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, impossible odds, meaning, NASA, non-material reality, Oh my God, proof of God, Quotations, Quotes, religion, Robert Jastrow, science, soul, spiritual, spiritual skills, spooky action, supernatural, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, University of Geneva, values | Tagged a band of, a scientifically proven fact, adds, Albert Einstein, appropriate, asks, astronomers, at least, at work, believe, between, called, certain moment, communicate, communication, conducted experiments, conquer the highest peak, controlled by, conventional, cosmos, creation, discover, discovering, electrons, energy, entangled, entangled particles, even more, every living thing, exploded, faith in the power of reason, for centuries, forces, found, founding director of, from, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, greete4d, happened, has led, have prove, hope, huge distances, in an act, in other words, instantaneously, into being, matter, measured, methods, NASA's, no physical link, nonmaterial, now, now find, on the earth, over the final rick, painted themselves into a corner, particles, pass between, past few years, phenomenon, planet, produced this effect, product, proof, proved, pulls himself, questions, quotation, quote, reality, renounded, researchers, Robert Jastrow, said, scaled the mountain of ignorance, science cannot answer, scientific evidence for, scientists, seeds, seems, show, sitting there, something existing beyond, spacetime, spearated, spiritual reality, spooky, spooky action at a distance, star, story ends like a bad dream, subatomic particles, supernatural forces, surrounds us, Switzerland, the existence of, the physical workd, the speed of light, the world began abruptly, theologians, times, trace, universe, University of Geneva, waves, what, what cause, whatsoever, who | 8 Comments

Black Is Beautiful (Just Ask Retailers About Black Friday)

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Steve Simms

Black is beautiful! “It’s the most wonderful day of the year.” That’s a song retailers might sing about Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving Day when their business begins to turn a profit for the year. It’s an honor to … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, black history, black is beautiful, Black Like Me, black tea, Civil Rights, dishonesty, freedom, God, hate speech, history, lies, multi-racial, Quotations, Quotes, race, racism, repent, Thanksgiving Day, Uncategorized, values | Tagged a black belt, a black tie affair, a gift from God, abused, against God, all men are created equal, amazing treasure, American history, as long as it is black, asked, be in the black, begins to, believing the lie, black, black beauty, Black Friday, black is beautiful, black light, black opal, black people, black skin, black tea, blackboard, brilliant, brilliant colors, business, Can the Ethiopian change his skin, coffee, country, deeply, Ethiopian, financially, for the year, forguve us, free, Give me any color, God, God made it, gold, hearts, Henry Ford, his spots, I'll take mine black, inferior, It's an honor, jusdge, labeled, largely, live, Lord, might sing, misunderstood, most costly, national creed, of course not, oil, open, ordering, outrageous, overlook, person, popular, powers our economy, present day, proclaim, quotation, rejected, remained, repent, retailers, ruined the land, says, see, shines, shinning brightly vast accomplishments, sin, skin clor, song, taught, Texas Tea, Thanksgiving Day, the day after, the lepard, the prophet Jeremiah, the world's most popular tea, thousand of years, today, treated, turn a profit, type of opal, ugly, unappreciated, unnoticed, unvalued, worthless | 6 Comments

Thanksgiving Without Giving Thanks Is Just A Fine Time To Dine On Turkey

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Steve Simms

Thanksgiving Day is here. However, Thanksgiving Day without actually giving thanks is just a fine time to dine on turkey. So, how do you give thanks? What is necessary for thanksgiving? 3 things. 1) Something to give thanks for. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazing Grace, blessings, blog, blog readers, feelings, God, gratitude, life, lifestyles, Oh my God, prayer, religion, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values, words, worship | Tagged 3 things, a fine time, a gift, act of giving thanks, actually, alive, blessing, blog, blog readers, by definition, can give thanks, celebrate, commented, dine on turkey, do you want to, everybody, fast approaching, Give, give thanks to God, giving thinks, God, good to me, Gratitude, helped, how do you give thanks, I choose, if nothing else, in the USA, it isn't earned, it would take, liked, lives are gifts, merely, months, most of all, next breath, originally, others, people, personally, posts, primarily, read, set aside, shared, something, subscribed, thank you, Thank you God, thankfulness, Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, turkey, turkey time, verbally, weeks, what about you, what is necessary, without | 3 Comments

Guts & Glory In Spiritual Growth — Path, Rocks, Thorns, Fertile Ground

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Steve Simms

Spiritual growth is not for sissies. It takes great guts to grow in God. Not everybody has the courage, strength, and endurance to do it. Jesus told a parable about a path, rocks, thorns, and fertile ground that illustrates the … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Bible, criticism, glory, God, guts and glory, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, materialism, meaning, New Testament, parable, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, voice activated, words | Tagged 4 ways, 4:1-20, a seed to be sown, a well-traveled path, about, accept, acquire, allow, alolow the Holy Spirit, alter our thinking, areas, as it is in heaven, begin to grow, behavior, Bible, cannot, changes us, comes, contrary to, courage, criticism, deep roots, desires, distract us from God, don't obey, endurance, enjoy, ever-increasing glory, everybody, fertile ground, fertile soul, get rid of, God speaks, God's glory, God's words, great difficulty, great guts, grow in God, hear, hear my voice, heart, heart's thorns, His kingdom comes, His will is done, hits us, illustrates, in our generation, in our heart, in us, into HIs image, it takes, Jesus, Jesus said, Jesus' own words, land, like, Matthew, modern faith preachers, move towards, much soil, My sheep, not be able to grow, not for sissies, of our daily lives, of our soul, our own desires, path, penetrate, permanently, produce, pull up, read, required to reach, requires, right out of, rips, rocks, seduction of money, skills, soul, speaking, spiritual disciplines, spiritual growth, squeezes it out, strength, take root, Tha'ts glory, the Bible, the courage, the hard ground, the hard places, the Living Word, the New Testament, the seed is money, the seed is the Word of God, the spiritual skills, the stoney areas, the things that capture our attention, the voice of God, the way of growth in God, the written word, thorns, to break up, to human hearts, told a parable, trouble, turn, we must have the guts, What God says, what He says, worries | 3 Comments

Monthly Archives: November 2011

The Claims Of Christmas — Virgin Birth

7 Names For 7 Days Around Thanksgiving (& 2 Oxymorons)

A Name For The Sunday After Thanksgiving (And Words In The Night)

Christmas Is About Judgment

How To Shop For Christ*mas

Happy TGTD To You! (Tell God Thanks Day)

Is Science Close To Discovering Spiritual Reality? Check Out “Spooky Action”

Black Is Beautiful (Just Ask Retailers About Black Friday)

Thanksgiving Without Giving Thanks Is Just A Fine Time To Dine On Turkey

Guts & Glory In Spiritual Growth — Path, Rocks, Thorns, Fertile Ground

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