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!

Every Generation Has A Few Who Flew The Pew To Go And Do

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

What turns a person from a Sunday bench warmer into a spiritual reformer? That’s a good question. Fortunately there are a few individuals in most every generation who are inspired to take the Gospel from the pew to the do. … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Christianity, church history, Holy Spirit, house church, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, mysticism, Nashville, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, recovery, religion, revelation, simple church, spiritual, The Salvation Army, thoughts, What is church? | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry Street, a lot, actually do, application, basic, believers, bench warmer, Berry Street Worship Center, better life, Bible, Bless those who curse you, book, challenging, coach, come place, consider others better than yourself, crew, designed, details, directs, dispensing, do, dynamic, empower, engage, everybody, experience, facts, flow, follow, fortunately, from, generation, get up, gift of the Spirit, Give, Go and sin no more, good question, Gospel, guide, hands-on, heard, help, Holy Spirit, individuals, inside, insight, inspired, instruction manual, instructions, knowledge, learn, lecture, mentor, merely, Nashville, new-lifestyle, not just a hearer, of course, off-duty, part, person, pew, practical, present, quite, rather, read, reformer, say a prayer, Scripture, share, simple, sitting, sitting in the pew, spiritual, steps, Sunday, Sundays, testimony, The Salvation Army, things, TN, train, turns, uncomfortable, very difficult, watching, we have, welcome a doer of the word, Why | 1 Comment

What’s Wrong With Believing These Things?

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

What is wrong with believing that the Universe has a Creator–an intelligent designer–that it didn’t just happen as a result of time, chance, and “natural processes”? Why is the idea of a personal Creator considered “unscientific,” “religious,” “out dated,” or … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-war, creation, Creator, evolution, God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mind, morality, morals, multi-racial, nonviolence, Oh my God, peace, popular culture, prejudice, race, racism, religion, self-image, spiritual, theory of evolution, thinking, thoughts, war | Tagged absolutes, across, act, action, adolescent, ambition, Americans, animal, beliefs, believing, better, birth, blob of tissue, bond, boys, cabin, captialism, chance, chaos, character, color, commitment, compassion, consumption, Creator, crude, cruelty, crumble, damnation, debris, degrees, designer, destructive, difference, direct, disrespect, earth, egg, emancipation, emotions, eternal torment, Europeans, exclusively, exclusivity, experiences, exploring, eye, faithfulness, feces, forest, friendship, Gandhi, generation, glorious design, God, Great Smokey Mountains, grown up, hand, hand-out, happen, heart-felt, history, holy, human, idea, ignorant, immature, instint, intelligent, intimacy, invention, Jesus, Jr., just, killing, language, left-overs, life, limited, love, man, marriage, Mars, Martin Luther King, mean-spirited, method, millions, misery, moral, morality, National Park, natural processes, negative, neighbor, non-violent, offensive, olf-fashioned, out dated, outdated, painful, personal, planet, potential, profanity, prudish, public, reality, references, religious, remains, resources, rich, right, sacrificial, sanctity, self-destruction, selfish, sex, sexual intercourse, skin, slavery, societies, solcial justice, sperm, sprinkled, throw out, time, union, universe, unscientific, urination, violence, war, What is wrong, wilderness, woman, wondering, wrong, years | 3 Comments

Attention: Nashville College Students (& Other Young Adults)

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Steve Simms

Would you like to experience something really out of the box — something non-traditional, creative, innovative, free, spontaneous, exciting, and surprising? Then you need to check out Nashville’s most unique church. This place is different! Power packed! Spirit-led! Multi-racial. A church where people … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, college students, freedom, Holy Spirit, house church, multi-racial, Oh my God, organic church, salvation, simple church, spiritual, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry St., actively, Berry Street Worship Center, change, chapel, check out, church, clock, creative, different, doesn't get any better, doing, enthusiastically, exciting, experience, feel, free, God, in front, innovative, led, lives, meeting, most unique, multi-racial, Nashville, Nashville's, need, non-traditional, of their eyes, one another, open, out of the box, particpate, passionate, people, place, power packed, praise, pray, really, refreshing, see, share, something, Spirit led, spontaneous, Sunday morning, surprising, than, The Salvation Army, this, transform, typical, watches, week, winds down, worship, Would you like | 1 Comment

The College That Changed My Life

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Steve Simms

There is a popular book called Colleges That Change Lives. Somehow the college that changed my life — The University of Tennessee Martin — is not in the book. UTM was 50 miles away from my home and the only … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, change, Christian history, Christianity, church history, college, God, house church, kingdom of God, life, meaning, mysticism, Nashville, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, peace, religion, self-image, simple church, spiritual, What is church? | Tagged 225, Alabama, altar, amazing, Arkansas, around, asking, Baptist, Berry Street, best, Bible, book, called, changed, Christ, Christian, Christianity, church, churches, college, Colleges That Change Lives, community, corny, country, cried, daily, debate, denomination, devotion, difficult, discover, doctrine, Dorm, dozens, Ellington, encouraged, enjoyed, enthusiastic, environment, experience, family, fellow, focused, forever, Friends, full, God, Gospel, graduated, hall, hang out, heart, hooked, human beings, Illinois, Indiana, Jesus, Jesus Freaks, Kentucky, laughed, Lay Witness, leader, leaving, less, level, life, life-long, listened, llking, lobby, longing, loving, manifesting, Martin, meetings, Methodist, Missions, Missiour, Mississippi, morning, most, moved, name, Nashville, Nashville's, normal, official, one another, passion, passionate, pastored, people, popular, power, powerful, praises, prayed, Presbyterian, presence, reading, recapture, reconnect, repenting, satisfied, seminary, shared, sharing, shocked, singing, somehow, spring, stopped, strange, Sunday, Sundays, supported, take turns, Tennessee, testimonies, the, The Salvation Army, things, together, transformed, type, Union City, unique, University of Tennessee, UTM, vibrant, weekend, working, Worship Center, year | 31 Comments

A Slaveholder Lie Still Circulates In 21st Century America

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Steve Simms

Slaveholder propaganda is still circulating in America in the 21st Century, even in the black community. Here are three examples: 1) A few years ago a black man I had never met stopped his beautiful pick-up truck beside me as … Continue reading →

Posted in American, ancient history, Bible, black history, Black Like Me, Christian history, church history, criticism, Egypt, history, negro spirituals, popular culture, prejudice, race, racism, reading, thinking, Uncategorized | Tagged 1619, 21st Century, 250, absolutely, act, African, America, ancient, articulate, attempty, author, backed, beautiful, behavior, believe, Bible, Biblical, black, black and white, black people, blessed, book, brethren, brothers, Canaan, centuries, child, choir, church, circulating, civilization, COGIC, color, community, compelled, complete, concluson, copy, covered, curse, curse of Ham, cursed, debated, descendents, describing, did, directed, distorting, does, drunk, drunkenness, e xposed, Egyptian, enslaved, enslavement, established, evidence, examine, examples, falsehood, father, firend, first, founders, Franklin, gave, Genesis, God, God so loved the world, God's, government, group, guest, guy, Ham, honest, hung-over, implies, imported, in His sight, individual, innocent, intelligent, Japeth, Jesus, John 3:16, justify, lingers, living, man, molested, Natchez, nations, no mention, Noah, Noah's, of servants, official, particular, passage, physically, pick-up truck, prayer, preacher, precious, proclaimed, prominent, propaganda, prosperous, races, read, real estate, realized, red and yellow, sad, said, saw the nakedness, Scott A. Bradley, Scripture, servant, set aside, set the record straight, Shem, situation, slaveholder, slavery, so called, Somali, something, son, stood, street, strong, study, sure, table, taught, Tennessee, tent, total, truth, turned, twisting, western civilization, white, wicked, years, younger, yourself | 8 Comments

The Alternative Lifestyle

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Steve Simms

A true alternative lifestyle does not just change the object of one’s lust from one gender to another; it overcomes the power, control, and addiction of lust. We hear much about alternative lifestyles nowadays. Yet the greatest alternative lifestyle is … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, freedom, God, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, lifestyles, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, prayer walking, revelation, salvation, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged about, accomplished, addiction, against, along, alternative, alternative lifestyles, attendance, based, Berry Street, breakfast, casually, challenge, challenging, change, chapters 5-7, chicken, children, Christ-style, church, coast, com, comfort, commitment, community, compulsions, contribution, control, cost, count the cost, cravings, daily, dare, deliberately, deny, depths, desires, destructive, direct, doctrine, doing, excitement, experience, extremely, flow, following, fully, gender, giving, greatest, group, growth, guaranteed, ham and egg, hear, Him, in spite, inner peace, intimacy, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, life, lifestyle seldom, lifetime, live, love, lust, manifesto, Matthew, meaning, meet, meetings, mentioned, much, Nashville, needy, never, nowadays, obeying, object, ongoing, out, over, overcomes, people, perhaps, persecuted, pig, power, process, provides, purpose, raise money, real world, religious, replied, requires, rewarding, ritual, rivers of living water, said, seek, seeking, self-denial, self-focus, self-fulfillment, self-sacrifice, society, soul, speaks out, strength, Sundays, support group, taught, teachings, The Salvation Army, The Sermon On the Mount, theology, through, together, tolerant, total commitment, tough, type, understanding, very, visit, walking, Worship Center | 5 Comments

Actor, former Senator, Fred Thompson’s Response To My Book

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Steve Simms

I ran into former Senator Fred Thompson in the airport in Washington, DC once. I handed him a copy of my book: Your Sperm Won–Experiencing Your Value As A Championship Human Being. I said: “Senator Thompson, I’d like to give … Continue reading →

Posted in American Literature, biography, books, change, drugs, Fred Thompson, history, life, lifestyles, meaning, mind, recovery, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, speech making, thinking, thoughts | Tagged actors, books, Fred Thompson, quotes, Senator | Leave a comment

Negro Spirituals — A Message We Desperately Need!

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Steve Simms

“Over my head I hear music in the air, There must be a God somewhere.” –Negro spiritual. Those words were written and sung during the most difficult of days, a time of great oppression and evil — a time of bondage, … Continue reading →

Posted in black history, Christian history, church history, education, freedom, God, history, life, lifestyles, meaning, music, mysticism, negro spirituals, Oh my God, prayer, race, racism, religion, revelation, salvation, social justice, spiritual, thoughts, What is church? | Tagged able, African American, awareness, beyond, bondage, breathing, caught up, days, deprivation, despair, different, discover, disrespect, Don't, drudgery, economic, emotions, eternal, even more, evil, express, fear, forefathers, get, God, great, heart, hold on to, hope, hopeless, human beings, I hear, in and out, in order to, in the air, in the midst, injustice, insight, intellect, life, look beyond, man's inhumanity to man, meaning, meaningless, melodies, mind, more than, most difficult, music, mystery, Negro spiritual, nothing, oppression, over my head, pain, personal, perspective, pleasure, pursuit, revelation, rock, security, sense, situation, slaves, someone, somewhere, somewho, strenght, strong, struggles, suffered, suffering, sung, survive, there must be a God, time, told, truths, tune, understanding, unshakable, violence, wake, words, written | 2 Comments

Nashville’s Participatory Church

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center is Nashville’s participatory church. The Sunday morning meetings are conducted more like a support group than a church meeting with each person free to share testimonies, Scriptures, praise reports, insights, gifts of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, house church, kingdom of God, life, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, salvation, simple church, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 20:45, 225, 37207, acrostic, attempts, beautiful, Berry Street, church, church meeting, conducted, each person, encouraging, engaging, exciting, experienced, for yourself, free, gifts of the Spirit, God, hard, insights, love, meetings, morning, Nashville, Nashville's, participatory, praise reports, prayer requests, raw, reaching out, real, Scriptures, share, spiritual, Sunday, support group, testimonies, thanksgiving, The Salvation Army, to describe, tweetable, type, Worship Center, yearning | 18 Comments

A Coach And A Critic

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here’s an original poem called A Coach And A Critic. It was originally published in my book: Your Sperm Won — Experiencing Your Value As A Championship Human Being. A coach and a critic Stood side by side, Watching … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, American, American Literature, books, criticism, education, freedom, life, lifestyles, mind, poem, poetry, popular culture, positive thinking, prejudice, reading, recovery, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, thinking | Tagged book, cannot, championship, choose, coach, contender's, continually, cripple, critic, denied, determne, distract, don't be, every, experiencing, get nailed, heard, Here's, human being, inner, inner coach, inner critic, instead, keep on going, Keep on trying, life, lose, make, nailed, original, originally, outstanding, poem, published, race, replied, run, say, side by side, sperm, stood, stride, value, victory, Victory will come, voice, watching, what it takes, which, win, win or lose, yelled, you, You can do it, you won't make it, you're so bad, your, Your Spern Won, yourself | Leave a comment

Author Archives: Steve Simms

About Steve Simms

What’s Wrong With Believing These Things?

Actor, former Senator, Fred Thompson’s Response To My Book

A Coach And A Critic

These elephants want to inspire you! Search Amazon for: Elephants INspiring The Room.

Email Subscription

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

Top Posts & Pages

Recent Posts

Archives