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!

If The Chosen Are Frozen, How Can God’s Fire Rage Through Our World?

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Steve Simms

We live in a world that is fastly fleeing from traditional social and moral constraints. People nowadays uninhibitedly express their feelings and views without regard for what is decent, right, or wholesome, even when they are sober. There is no longer a need to … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Christian history, Christianity, church history, discipling, drunk, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Movement, morality, morals, Nashville, organic church, prayer, religion, simple church, spiritual, What is church? | Tagged 120, 225, 37207, about, agenda, allow, amazing, as ever, attitude, Berry Street, Bible, break, burn, but denying the power thereof, cast aside, celebrating, check, chosen, Christian, church, church age, church attenders, church is in decline, church-service, command, contrary, crucifixion, decent, described, die to self, disciples, drunk, dry, encourage, entertaining, enthusiasm, events, every member, experience, express feelings, expression, fastly, filled, fire, flames, fleeing, flow, follow, formal, formalism, foundation, frozen, function, gathered, God's fire, God's light, group, having a form of godliness, hidden, hiding, history, Holy Spirit, house church, inhibited, Jesus, languages, living, loudly, love, mighty, moral constraints, morally, move of God, movement, Nashville, now, obey, one reason, openly, organic church, organized, original, passion, Paul's, Pentecost, perhaps, power, praising God, praying, presence, publicly, reclaim priesthood of the believer, Reformation, rejoicing, remove, restrained, restraints, right, run, scholars, see, share, show up, simple church, sit, sober, social, society, speak, speaking, spiritual inhbitions, spirituall, spontaneous, start, street, structured, suddenly, Sundays, tear down the wall, theatrical, theory, this out, time, traditional, turn away, turn the world upside down, under a bushel, uninhibited, uninhibitedly, views, wait, we live, wholesome, willing, without regard for, wonders, works, world, years | 1 Comment

If God Died Would It Make Any Difference In Your Church Service Next Sunday?

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Steve Simms

I once heard someone ask: “If God died would it make any difference in your church service next Sunday morning?” That’s a good question. I had to answer “no.” The church I attended would have carried on as usual whether God … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged about, Acts, actual, amazing, analogy, any difference, as usual, ask, attended, Biblical, Body of Christ, book of Acts, carried on, church-service, conducted, control, courage, dependent on, direct, events, fall apart, fine, function, gather, gathering, Give, God died, God is alive, good question, group of people, head, human, I will build My church, implemented, in His name, institution, Jesus, let God, living, living Christ, members, moves, New Testament, organism, organization, pastor, pictures, planned, practical, programmed, ran, read, reality, said, self-sufficient, set up, show up, speaks, structure, structured, Sunday morning, theology, theory, wait, ways, whatever, worship | 2 Comments

My God! I Want To See That Again! “Reborn To Be Wild”

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Steve Simms

When I went to my favorite Borders book store for their going out of business sale, God, as He often does, led me to a book that stirred my heart (Reborn To Be Wild). I left the tracks of my … Continue reading →

Posted in church history, college, college students, crying, fire, God, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, mysticism, Nashville, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, religion, salvation, simple church, spiritual, tears, What is church? | Tagged 10:34, 37207, across, again, alive, amazing, assembling, Berry Street, book, borders, can't, chapter, Christ, closest, come, Dear Lord, die, directly, Ed Underwood, encounters, favorite, fire, first, follow Jesus, following, form, fresh, gatherings, generation, generations, God, God's glory, going out of business, group, heart, hearts, human, hungry, Jesus Movement, last night, lead, leader, leadership, leave, led, living, Lord, love, meeting Jesus, meetings, midst, mightily, mind, move, My God, Nashville, need, now, O God, obey, one more time, passionately, power, powerful, program, programs, pursue, reblazing, Reborn To Be Wild, rekindle, religion, results, ritual, rolled, sale, see, sell the farm, spontaneous, stir up the gift, stirring, structured, Sundays, take, tears, The Salvation Army, time, tracts of my tears, tragedy, Wake us up, weep, when, wife, within you, witness, write | 1 Comment

What The Church Can Learn From YouTube (Live, It’s Sunday Morning!)

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Steve Simms

I found these YouTube statistics online. It has more than 2 billion views per day which is almost twice the prime-time audience of America’s three major broadcast networks combined. More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than all three U.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, broadcast yourself, freedom, God, house church, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, prayer, religion, salvation, simple church, spiritual, The Salvation Army, What is church?, YouTube | Tagged 10:45, 2 billion, 225, 60, ability to, allow, America's, audience, Berry Street, bet, broadcast, broadcast yourself, church, combined, come, communicate, content, control, creativity, days, each, encouragement, everybody, experience, eyeball, found, generate, get across, Give, glad, God, happening, heart, human being, ideas, important, instruction, interest, judgment, learn, listen, live, major, make, message, mornings, Nashville, networks, of, on their, one person, online, opportunity, outdo, per day, perhaps, post, prayers, prime time, produces, recognized, recorded, say, see, share, sing, site, something, song, songs, statistics, Sunday, Tennessee, testimonies, three, to offer, trust, try, twice, U.S., unique perspective, upload, uploaded, use their own, value, value people, videos, views, week, work, world, years, you, Youtube | 8 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From Smartphones

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Steve Simms

Smartphones are everywhere! People love them.! What if the church could learn from smartphones how to create that kind of market saturation and love for Jesus? Here are some things the church can learn from smartphones. * People appreciate and … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, apps, Berry Street Worship Center, change, change management, Christianity, disciple making, discipling, Great Commission, Holy Spirit, house church, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, religion, simple church, smartphone apps, smartphones, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, about, all over the world, allow, amazing, answers, app, appreciate, approach, ask questions, asked, assistance, Berry Street, Biblical, billions, brief, church, come, comfort, communicate, complicated, concpets, connect, create, depend on, direct access, encouragement, everywhere, express, facts, fast changing, feel alive, forgiveness, freedom, get out of the box, gifts of the Spirit, Give, help, Holy Spirit, how to, information, interested in, introduce, Jesus, kind, learn from, learned, love, market saturation, meetings, members, ministry, Nashville, need to, needs, never seen before, new apps, new ways, obtain, obtain, one another, opportunities, participatory, people, person-to-person, personal expression, popular, prayer requests, presented, question, really works, requires, rise to the challenge, saw, Scriptures, search, share, sit and listen, smartphones, something new, spontaneously, suggestions, Sunday morning, teaching, ten, testimonies, The Salvation Army, themselves, TN, tradition, use, visit, willing, with, woman, words of, Worship Center | 3 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From The NFL

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

The NFL generates tremendous excitement and enthusiasm in America, while the church is mostly ignored. The NFL fills stadiums, while a great many churches have almost empty buildings. The NFL even gets people excited about their draft when they pick … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, house church, kingdom of God, life, Nashville, National Football League, NFL, NFL Draft, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, religion, simple church, sports, Super Bowl, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged a song, allow, America, Americans, apathetic, Are you read for some, asking, aspect, attend, attention, back, begin with, boldly, buildings, care, causes, center, centered, cheer, cheeseheads, church ignored, church services, churches, clam up, coaches, commitment, deeply, denying the power thereof, desperately, disrupt, emotional, empty, enthusiasm, essentially, excitement, express, expressed, expressive, fills, final, flameheads, from such turn away, fumble, games, generates, God, grown men, Hail Mary pass, having a form of godliness, inspire, kickoff, learn, life's, liked, loud, love, meaningful, meaningless, men, minister, most, National Football League, needs, NFL, NFL teams, no idea, of Tarsus, on the field, one another, outcome, passionately, passive, pastors, Paul, pews, physical competitions, players, predictable, presenting, program, protocol, quietly, recovery, relationship, repels, returned for a, safety, same, slouch, stadiums, Sundays, talk, terrible towel, touchdown, train, tremendous, unusual, wavers, week, what is going to happen, win games, worked up, yell | 18 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From The Oprah Show

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Steve Simms

The Oprah Show was not just entertainment. It connected with people, encouraged them, challenged them, and made a difference in their lives. Perhaps the 21st Century church could learn a few things from Oprah. * Allow spontaneity. The Oprah Show was … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, biography, change, Christianity, crying, house church, life, lifestyles, meaning, morality, morals, multi-racial, Nashville, Oh my God, Oprah, Oprah Show, organic church, popular culture, race, racism, religion, self-help, simple church, spiritual, tears, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 21st Century, 225 Berry Street, 37207, all races, allow, allowed, audience members, being human, Berry Street, caring, challenged, changed, check out, church, city, clap, congregation, connected, cried, declare, degrading, denies, different, draw viewers, dull, embraced, emotion, emotionless, encouraged, encouraging, entertainment, entire, exciting, expecting, express, fall for anything, features, felt, find a way, flow, focus, followed, freedom, fresh, gatherings, get out of the box, goal Christianity, God's image, greatness, grieved, guests, gushed, hand, harm, heart, hour, human emotion, humanity, ideals, ideas, If you're happy, important part, involved, irrelevant, it is time, Jesus, Jesus Christ, laugh, laughed, learn from, life-changing, like, lived, lives, look the part, made a difference, meetings, mike, mold, most, multi-racial, mutual, name of, Nashville, needs, nod, notify your face, on and on, online, Oprah, Oprah Show, participatory church, passive, passively by, people, places, popular, presentation, programmed, quite, race, raise, read, real-life, rejoiced, religious, respond, rest, reviews, rididly, ritual, sadness, same-ole, segregated, sensationalism, show, showed, sitting, society, someone has said, spectators, spectrum, spontaneity, stand for something, stay awake, struggling, Sundays, take the high road, talk TV, taught, The Salvation Army, things, to happen, trash, unexpected, unfortunately, uplifting, whole, Worship Center | 12 Comments

Is Nashville The Manliest City In America?

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

I’ve heard that Nashville, Tennessee is listed as the manliest city in America (according to Combo the hearty, salty, cheese cracker snack, and Bart Sperling’s Best Places). I live in Music City and so I’m glad to see it at the top … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, alternative lifestyle, boundaries, Christianity, Jesus Christ, life, lifestyles, manliest city, meaning, morality, morals, Nashville, peace, popular culture, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, religion, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, social justice, soul, Uncategorized | Tagged America, answer, Bart Sperling, battle, believes, Best Places, Bless those who curse you, calling, cheese cracker, Combo, commitment, cool, corruption, courage, cravings, crowd, daily lives, deny yourself, desires, devil, earth, easy, emotionalism, eveidence, everyday, female, follow, follow Me, following, forces, forgive, God in the flesh, greatest, guard, hearty, illustrated, Immanuel, immorality, injustice, inner resources, Jesus, lifestyle, listed, lusts, male, man, man up, manilest city, manly, media, modern, Music City, Nashville, obey, obeying, on top of it all, overcome, passive, persecute, practical, preference, quote, read, real man, Real men love Jesus, religious, requires, resist, salty, seduction, sentiment, silent, snack, stand up, surrender, take up your corss, Tennessee, thoughts, tough, truly, truth in love, views, whew, whims | Leave a comment

A Soul Man’s Plane Thoughts While Flying To Colorado

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Steve Simms

While on a plane flying to Colorado Springs, I pondered the meaning of life. These are some of the thoughts that I wrote down high above Missouri and Kansas. I am a being with genuine, non-artificial intelligence. I can think what … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, brain chemistry, brain research, college, college students, consciousness, life, lifestyles, meaning, mind, self-esteem, self-image, soul, spiritual, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged all, anybody, being, blank, bodies, body, brain, carrying, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, communication, computer, cranium, culture, daughter, denial, deny, develop, down, earth suit, electrons, encased, fill in the blank, flying to, forgotten, Friday, gadgets, genuine, gray matter, high above, human consciousness, ideas, incarnated, information processing, intangible, intelligence, Kansas, languish, last, letharty, live, lives, living, machine, material world, me, merely, mind, Missouri, my wife, nature, nect-top, neglected, non-artificial, normal, nurture, on a plane, one, perceives, pondered, produced, programmed, really, self-produced, skull, soul man, souls, statements, the meaning of life, think, thinking, true, what I choose, what's missing, Why, wrote, zipping | Leave a comment

GVAOS — God’s-Voice Activated Operating System (For Church Meetings)

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Steve Simms

Jesus commanded His disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations . . .” So what can activate the nation-changing power of God? Are there any discipled nations in the 21st Century? How can a nation be discipled? Can the traditional … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Christian history, Christianity, church history, disciple making, discipling, Great Commission, house church, morality, morals, Nashville, operationg system, organic church, prayer, religion, revelation, salvation, simple church, spiritual, voice activated, What is church? | Tagged 21st Century, 225 Berry St., 37207, activate, adopted, adopted, aimed, all nations, allow, anti-biblical, Biblical, breaks forth, building, change, church attendance, church services, church-service, command, commanded, contemporary church, controlled, declining, direct, director, discipled, disciples, early christians, embracing, England, everyone has, examples, give up, Go and make, God, God-s-voice, group, His, historical, how, human voice, humanly, hymn, I Corinthians 14:26, inability, ineffectiveness, influence, interpretation, isn't working, Jesus, John 2:5, life-transforming, locations, Mary's, media, methods, mind, modern-day, Nashville, nation-changing, nations, openairs, operating system, ordaining, organized, outdoor, perhaps, position, power, preaching, programmed, programming, promoted, put aside, revelation, rightful, sanctioning, says, society, spiritual movement, start, strengthening, Sunday, Sunday morning, Sunday mornings, syste, talk, Tennessee, the world upsidedown, tongue, traditional, turning, used, views, Wesley, When you come together, Whitefield, word of instruction, working, world | 5 Comments

Author Archives: Steve Simms

About Steve Simms

What The Church Can Learn From The NFL

What The Church Can Learn From The Oprah Show

A Soul Man’s Plane Thoughts While Flying To Colorado

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

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