Author Archives: Steve Simms

About Steve Simms

I like to look and think outside the box. In college I encountered Jesus Christ and I have been passionate about trying to get to know Him better ever since. My wife and I long to see the power and passion of the first Christ-followers come to life in our time. I have written a book about our experiences in non-traditional church, called, "Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible--Ekklesia." If you need encouragement, search for: Elephants Encouraging The Room and/or check out my Amazon author page. Thank you!

Avoiding Hell And Making Heaven Have Never Much Motivated Me

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Steve Simms

Barbara Walters presented a two hour special on ABC called: Heaven — Where Is It? How Do We Get There. However for me, the issue of our response to God is much bigger than Heaven. I tend to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Barbara Walters, Buddhism, Dalai Lama, drugs, feelings, fire insurance, God, Heaven, Hell, Hindu, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, lifestyles, meaning, morals, motivation, salvation, TV, TV network, Uncategorized, Where is it? How do we get there?, Why be a Christian? | Tagged ABC, Barbara Walters, Christianity, heaven, hell, religion, special | 5 Comments

George Barna’s 9 Challenges For American Christians

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Steve Simms

George Barna, founder of the Barna Research Group, issued nine challenges for American Christianity in 2002. Here is a paraphrase of his nine challenges along with how a church in Nashville, Tennessee, The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center, is attempting … Continue reading →

Posted in Barna Research Group, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, challenges, church, East Nashville, evangelicals, Gen Y, George Barna, Holy Spirit, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, race, racism, simple church, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, worship | Tagged 37207, 50-50, allow peop;le to participate, amazing things, American, as led by the Spirit, asking God, attempting, attributed to, Barna Research Group, beliefs, believe, Berry St., Berry Street, Bible, bit, black and white, built-in cost, causes, challenges, changes, Christianity, Christians, church, churches, come, compete, cooperate with, cost, criticize, daily lives, different, do church, each week, eager to learn, encourage, encouraged, ethnic groups, evangelicals, exciting, expression, flow in the Spirit, follow, founder, fresh, Gen Y, George Barna, go, goal, good leaders, Gospel, I Corinthians 14:26, imput, issued, lack of, leadership, multi-racial, musical styles, Nashville, never know, nine, no matter what, non-traditional, not allowed, obey, one person, open, other, outstanding, paraphrase, power, prepared, produces, qualities, race, right in front of our eyes, sale old same old, seek, segregated, seriously, sermons, study, Sunday, Sunday mornings, supernatural, Tennessee, The Salvation Army, theological, to be involved, to meet, to share, to stand on God's word, toning down, uncomfortable, usually, visit, working of God, worship, Worship Center, worship leader, worship meeting, young adults | 1 Comment

AAAAAAAAAAAAA Alive

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Steve Simms

No. My keyboard didn’t get stuck. I just want to emphasize that the fact that you’re alive is a tremendous thing! You are an incredible winner, because you are alive. (I know that you are alive or you wouldn’t be … Continue reading →

Posted in Agatha Christie, awe, feelings, life, Marcus Aurelius, meaning, positive thinking, Quotations, Quotes, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values | Tagged above ground, accomplishments, acutely, Agatha Christie, Alexander the Great, alive, an amazing gift, bigger, billions, blog, breathe, certainly, championship, Cleopatra, conceived, congratulations, dead, desparingly, downright, earth, Elvis Presley, emphasize, enjoy, envy, every day, fame, famous, feel like a loser, formerly, Frederick Douglas, g, gift, going for you, good day, grand thing, great, hear, Henry Ford, hope, human beings, I like living, important, impossible odd, in the morning, incredible, Joan of Ark, John Kenedy, Jr., just think, just to be alive, king, know, leave, lie, life, lived, love, Lucille Ball, Luther, lying feelings, make the most, Marcus Aurelius, Martin, miserable, money, no longer alive, no. keyboard, post, power, powerful, Queen Victoria, quite, quotation, racked with, read, reading, realize, rich people, riches, Ronald Reagan, Sam Walton, since, Sojourner Truth, Solomon, sorrow, still, still here, stuck, than for a dead lion, the fact, There is more hope for a live dog, thing, think, think of what a precious priilege, through it all, ting, today, trade places, tremendous, truth, value, wake up, When you arise, wildly, William the Conqueror, winner, wonderful, you have been given | 5 Comments

Passion For The Christ — Spiritual Fire & Desire

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Steve Simms

Human history is sprinkled with lights — men, women, and children whose hearts were ablaze with passion for the Christ. Many are called “saints” and are remembered in our day. Untold millions of others, however, were unheralded in their day … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, books, Christianity, church, church history, East Nashville, house church, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus freaks, Nashville, National Football League, NFL, organic church, pentecostals, popular culture, Quakers, Quotations, Quotes, religion, saints, simple church, sports, Super Bowl, support group, The Salvation Army, TV ministers | Tagged 100, 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207, ablaze, all over the world, Anabaptists, as fast as they can, banging their chest together, Baptist, based, being done, Berry Street Worship Center, best friends, best selling books, books, burning desire, Catholic, challenge, children, Christ, Christians, church, churches, come, concerts, conference, conferences, consistent, contain, dance, dart out of the door, determined not to show, doctrines, East Nashville, emotionless people, event, every Sunday morning, excitable churches, excitable. dutifully attend, excitedly, experience, expression, extremely bored, faces, filled, flaming, follow, forgotten by history, freaks, freeflowing, frozen in church, good ole American, grown men, had in common, heart-felt, hearts, heretics, high-fives, history, human, I Corinthians 14:26, in our day, in our heart, inspire, interest, Jesus, Jesus Christ, know, leave, lecture about God, light shines brightly, lights, line, listen to, living rooms, meeting, men, Methodist, millions, move, names, Nashville, nod off, obey, on and on, one thing, one way, Orthodox, our day, passion, passionate, passionless, passively, pastors, Pentecostal, people, playing a boys' game, prosperity, pumps them up, Quaker, quench the Spirit, quotation, quotations, regularly, religious fads, religious trinkets, remembered, right-wing politics, rush away, saints, see, seek out, shelves, singers, sitting like a statue, soulds like, spiritual, sprinkled, stadium, stir up the gift, stoic, Sunday morning, Super Bowl.every year, support group, T-shirts, talk to me, Tennessee, the Christ, The Quotable Saints, The Salvation Army, the thing, The Voice of the Saints, through, TN, TV ministers, type, unheralded, very hard to find, watch a ball game, watching, were, what about, when it comes to, women, words, writings, written word, yawn | 7 Comments

American Movies & TV, Get Real! (You Are Out Of Touch With The Real World!)

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

Most American media, although it loves to throw around the phrase reality TV, is almost completely out of touch with the real world. In real world America, most people pray. So when was the last time a popular TV network or movie showed even one person praying? In … Continue reading →

Posted in American media, CBS, Creator, God, lifestyles, NFL, reality TV, sex, sex in marriage, sports, television, TV, TV network, Uncategorized | Tagged a gift, a promotion, afternoon, almost, America, American media, around the globe, billions of people, cares nothing about reality, CBS, completely, Creator, each other, every single day, families, flat screen, Friday, functional, game, God, good first step, have fulfilling sex, have the courage, how is it, husband, I dare you, ignored, kind, kindness, Letters, loves, loving, married people, Monday, most, most people pray, NFL, on the Screen T.G.I.T., ongoing, out of touch with reality, out of touch with the real world, persojn praying, popular TV network, ran, real world, real world America, reality, reality TV, relationship with the living God, represent, respect, sex between a husband and a wife, show real world characters, showed, slip through, television character, Thank God, Thank God its Thursday, the phrase, throw around, Thursday NIght Football, Titans Bengals, treat, Wednesday, when was the last time, wife | 6 Comments

Grace — God’s Righteous Attributes Continually Expressed

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

To “say grace” means to pray over a meal. “Grace” is sometimes a woman’s name. “Amazing Grace” may be the most popular hymn of all time. A popular acrostic says: “Grace — God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” But what does … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Amazing Grace, grace, John Newton, lifestyles, repent, salvation, saved, spiritual, Uncategorized | Tagged acrostic, all time, alternative, Amazing Grace, asking, attributes, based, both, changed, Christian, Christian lifestyle, circles, continually expressed, daily, definition, dominion of sin, earth, earthly life, either-or, final, former, future, genuine grace, given freely, go to Heaven, God, God's Riches At Christ's Expense, grace, guess, heaven, holy, how sweet the sound, involves, Jesus into your heart, John Newton, lifestyle, live a godly, lives, living, mean, means, moral, most common, most popular hymn, much more than that, must not excuse sin, no longer, not earned, obey God, opens the door, possible, power, pray over a meal, prayed, prayer, received, right, righteous, save, say grace, saying, seems, sin, sin doesn't matter, slave trader, song, supernatural, that saved a wretch like me, the question is, unmerited favor, when you die, woman's name, wretch, wretched, wroter | 3 Comments

Down By The Spout Where God’s Glory Pours Out

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

I was in a church once and the pastor was trying to get some of the people sitting in the back rows to come and sit near the front. He told them: “Come down by the spout where the glory … Continue reading →

Posted in awe, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, East Nashville, God, Holy Spirit, house church, life, lifestyles, Nashville, Oh my God, spiritual, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry Street, 37207, allowed to work, awe, back, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, carries, catch the current Holy Spirit's, church, church building, cultivate, degree, denominational affiliation, desires, discovers, eample, East Nashville, encounter, felt, flow, free, front, glory, glory of God, God's glory, God's presence, God's voice, heart, humbly, inner, inner rivers, Isaiah, Jesus said, learn, listen, manifest glory, meeting, meets, midst, most important thing, Nashville, non-traditional, obey, opinions, Out of your innermost being, overwhelmed, pastor, people, pours out, present, prophet, Quench not the Spirit, respond, responsive, rivers of living water, rows, sense, shall flow, spout, Sunday, Sundays, temple, The Salvation Army, thoughts, undone, work | 3 Comments

No Intent To Repent

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Steve Simms

As I was driving recently, four words came through my mind that I had never thought in that order before. The words were: no intent to repent. Those words got me started thinking. If you look about our society, you … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, church, God, life, lifestyles, morality, morals, popular culture, repent, revelation, sin, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values, words | Tagged accomodate the culture, acquired, all sorts of behaviors, any kind, around us, before, Bible, bland, calls, church, comes from, completely, dandy, do not need a thing, driving, engage in, entertainment, environment, every intent, evil, falsely assume, feel, fine, four words, fulfillment, God's character, God's conviction, good, hard, holiness, humans, I am rich, idea, in fact, in our time, just the opposite, justified, leaves, lifestyles, look about, lost, media, mind, naked, never thought, no intent, noble, order, pitiful, poor, publicly justify, push, realize, recently, remorse, repent, Revelation 3:17, sin, sinful behaviors, sinners, society, sorrow, thinking, thousands, through, turning away, waya, wealth, Why, wickedness, within, words, world, wretched, years | 7 Comments

The Best Kind Of Sex

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Steve Simms

Our society ignores the very best kind of sex. You almost never hear about it. TV and movies nowadays picture almost every kind of sex but this. I wonder why? Instead our sex-crazed culture focuses on and promotes casual sex … Continue reading →

Posted in adultery, alternative lifestyle, best kind of sex, casual sex, drugs, marriage, morality, popular culture, sex, sex in marriage, television, Uncategorized, values | Tagged add, aditional, alcohol, American, behaviors, best kind of sex, bonding, boring, casual sex, cheapo, committed, compelled, compulsive, culture, cut, deadly disease, diamond, disrespectful, drugs, emotional pain, emotionally, exciting, experience, faithful, fake, feel, find, focuses, frequently, gadgets, guilt, heart-felt, hinted, honorable, humiliation, hush-hush, ignores, in an attempt, ingredients, loveless, loyal, manipulative, marriage, marriage-based, meaningless, mechanical sex, morally pure, movies, never hear about it, no matter how you, nowadays, out there somewhere, pain, partners, people, perverted, physical, picture, polish, popularly promoted, pornography, promotes, really great sex, risk, secret, self-focused, self-giving, set, sex, sex-crazed, shallow, shame, shown, society, spiritually, television, the real thing, till death do us part, TV, types of sex, uniting, vulgar language, waiting, why settle, wonder | 7 Comments

RAG — Religion, Atheism, Or God?

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Steve Simms

The idea of a Creator causes people to embrace one of three positions: RAG. That is, religion, atheism, or living God? Religion can be defined as acknowledging the existence of God and attempting to placate Him by formal human activity such … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheists, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, church, church history, Creator, East Nashville, freedom, God, history, Holy Spirit, house church, life, lifestyles, meaning, mysticism, organic church, popular culture, religion, simple church, spiritual, The Salvation Army, thinking, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, worship | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry Street, 37207, a place, acknowledging, activity, actual Creator, amazing, and have your being, anyone, atheism, attempting to placate, Berry Street, but denying the power thereof, but hate your brother, can be found in libraries, check it out, close connection, come, couple, Creator, daily live, defined, denial of God, doing in their lives, East Nashville, formal, free, full of, Give, God, God's, good picture, hates his brother, having a form of godliness, he loves God, held, heretics, Him, human, human history, if a man says, if you have never, if you say you love God, In Him you live, kill, led by, liturgy, lived, lives as if, lives beyond, living God, lovers of the living God, met, millions of people, move, Nashville, near, New Testament, nowadays, of all that is, on the internet, one of three, openly, persecute, political power, positions RAG, power, practical atheism, proclaimed atheism, relationship stories, religion, rituals, sermon free church, share stories, show and tell, sincere, society, strongly influenced, Sundays, supernatural presence, the existence of God, the ground of all being, The Salvation Army, the truth is not in you, there is no God, through out, Twentieth Century, Twientieth Century, two kinds, until, used, verball, verses, weekly, what, what God has done, where, Worship Center, you're a hypocrite | 1 Comment

Author Archives: Steve Simms

About Steve Simms

Avoiding Hell And Making Heaven Have Never Much Motivated Me

AAAAAAAAAAAAA Alive

Passion For The Christ — Spiritual Fire & Desire

American Movies & TV, Get Real! (You Are Out Of Touch With The Real World!)

Grace — God’s Righteous Attributes Continually Expressed

Down By The Spout Where God’s Glory Pours Out

No Intent To Repent

The Best Kind Of Sex

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

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