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!

Wanna Play Quakers And Indians?

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Steve Simms

Would you like to play Quakers and Indians (or to be more politically correct–Friends and Native Americans)? It is a different take on the childhood game of cowboys and Indians. Since Friends practice non-violence, Quakers and Indians requires no pistols, … Continue reading →

Posted in God, history, lifestyles, religion, self-help | Tagged 1775, American history, beloved, benches, bows and arrows, broken English, courageous, cover, cowboys and Indians, culture violence, different, Easton Township, fear, feathers, for the terror by night, frequent, Friends, Friends Meeting House, froze, gands, gathered for worship, Great Spirit, homes, hostilely, Indians, John Wayne, kill, knives, leader, less, Lord, love, mass murders, Native Americans, New York Yearly Meetings, nieghbors, non-resistance, non-violence, old movies, own words, peacefully, pistols, politically correct, promises, psalmist, Quaker Crosscurrents, Quakers, radical, random, read about, Robert Nisbet, Saratoga County, Scriptures, settlements, shake hands, shelter, shoot, silence, spears, spoke, sptrang, stand-off, stare-down, tama hawks, Thou shalt not be afraid, Three Hundred Years of Friends, trust in God, under HIs wings, warpath, white man, windows, wins, worship awkward, worshipping, Zebulon Hoxie | 7 Comments

National Magazine Article About A Non-Traditional Church In Nashville

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Steve Simms

From: Priority Magazine of The Salvation Army What God Is Doing in … Nashville The Berry Street ‘Testimony Church’ by Robert Mitchell The year was 1970 and the Jesus Movement was at its height. Steve Simms, a freshman … Continue reading →

Posted in Creator, God, history, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, religion | Tagged 10:45 am, 225, 37207, Adult Rehabilition Center, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible-based, Christ, comfortable, community, congregation, Corps, country, East Nashville, employment, Facebook page, flag, flooded out, free church, Froot Loops, God's Word, grow spiritually, Holy Spirit, homes, intimate circle, Jesus, Jesus Movement, job, listened, love, microphone, miracles, Nashville, neighborhood, no sermon, officer, open church, participate, pews, prayer, Priority Magazine, professional musicians, pulpit, Robert Mitchell, Salvationists, Scriptures, services, share, style of worship, Sunday, testimonies, testimony church, The Salvation Army, traditional, University of Tennessee, What God is doing, zeal | 12 Comments

The Most Ignored Words In America

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Steve Simms

What are the most ignorned words in America? I nominate “Viewer Discretion Advised.” The content and attitude of most popular American TV programs prove that Americans use little or no discretion in deciding what programs to watch. My dictionary defines … Continue reading →

Posted in lifestyles, popular culture, self-help, Supreme Court, Uncategorized | Tagged ability, America's, attitudes, bedroom, cautious in speech, content, counting their money, crime, crude humor, crude or indecent language, dictionary, discrete, disrespect, drug use, ears, explicit sexual activity, eyes, fear, feed, flood, gleefully, graphic violence, hearts, in America, industry, intrusive, jock-shocking, L, living room, mean words, minds, most ignored words, nasty, negativity, night, perfersion, poison, profanity, programs, protrayal, rating system, responsible decisions, rude, rudeness, S, sickovision, so called, society, spoken, TV programs, V, Viewer Discretion Advised, violence, vulgarity, warn, watch | 11 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From Facebook . . .

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Steve Simms

Overall the church in America is struggling, losing members, shrinking. On the other hand, Facebook is growing by leaps and bounds. So, what can the church learn from Facebook? * People love to connect with other people. They want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Creator, God, lifestyles, organic church, self-help | Tagged Berry Street Worship Center, church, communicate, connect, content, facebook, feelings, freedom of expression, ideas, in America, minister, network, priority, sermon, Sunday morning program, The Salvation Army, thoughts | 25 Comments

9 Reasons I’m Convinced That Jesus Christ Is Alive And Present In Our World

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Steve Simms

I am convinced that Jesus Christ literally came back to life (what is called the resurrection) and walked out of His tomb. I haven’t always believed that. In high school I realized that I had no personal evidence to support a … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Creator, God, history, lifestyles, organic church, religion | Tagged 000 years, 2, accepted, alcoholics, amazing awareness, answer prayers, arrested under Saddam, avid reader, Baghdad, Bible, burns in my heart, came back to life, church history, claim, coincidence, college, cultures, direct, drug addicts, emotional, encounter, financial break throughs, flow of words, freshman year, God, guard, high school, imprisoned, Jerusalem, Jesus Christ, Jesus rose, Jewish, Jordanian border, languages, lead, meet Him, meeting, Messiah, miraculous rescues, Muslim, Nashville, New Testament, no personal eveidence, no program, objective reality, organic church, physical healings, presence, prison, raped, released, resurrected, set free, speaking in tongues, subjective, testimonies, the Holocaust, the resurrection, time periods, to support, tortured, transformed, walked out of His tomb | 89 Comments

Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Septima Clarck, & Miles Horton in Monteagle, TN

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here is a little known fact of American history. Monteagle, Tennessee could be called the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement. Before the Civil Rights Movement began, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks and many other future leaders … Continue reading →

Posted in black history, history, lifestyles, self-help | Tagged a white Tennessean, American hero, American history, back seat, black leadrship, Chattanooga, Civil Rights Movement, column, country road, cradle of the, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, forced to move, forgotten, freer America, future leaders, greatest Americans of all time, greatness, hated, Highlander Folk School, humility, influential, land, liberty and justice for all, little know fact, Martin Luther King Jr., Monteagle, Monteagle Assembly, Monteagle Tennessee, Myles Horton, named for, non-violance, old, on this spot, one lane, persecution, Pete Seeger, private residence, Ralph Abernathy, rang in my heart, Rosa Parks, sang, school home, seized by, street, suffered, the state of, The Tennessean, the vision, trained, training and support Nashville, unknown nowadays, workshops | 24 Comments

Was Jesus Whipped In America?

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Steve Simms

Millions of people around the world have seen the stunning and horrifying images of whipping and torture in the movie The Passion of The Christ produced by Mel Gibson. It is deeply moving to see what Jesus was put through … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, black history, Creator, God, history, lifestyles, organic church, religion | Tagged Absalom Jones, afraid, AME Church, American, American history, around the world, blood, blow, body, bought and sold like animals, cruel, cutting into the flesh, deeply moving, fashionable life, flogged, flogging, founder, Francis Fredric, Frederick Douglas, God, had no legal rights, heart-rending, heavy whip, horrifying images, human being, I find no fault in Him, innocent, instruments of torture, Jerusalem, Jesus, John Fee, lacerated, lashes given to slaves, liberty and justice for all, Lord have mercy on us, masters, millions of people, mistresses, movie, my brothers, overseers, Pilate, poet John Greenleaf Whittier, produced by Mel Gibson, runaway slave, running away, shrieks, slave, slaves, soil, state of nudity, stunning, the Christ, the least of these, The Passion of The christ, tied, to a stake, torture, viciously, whipped, whipping, white kentuckian, you do unto Me | 10 Comments

Lost Words Of Jesus Christ

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here are some lost, ignored, or forgotten words of Jesus Christ: “Unless you repent, you too will all perish,” has been lost to the idea of self-approval. “Watch out for false prophets,” has been lost to the concept that anybody who … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, God, history, lifestyles, organic church | Tagged argument, as we can, be reconciled to your brother, church, controls, do good to those who hate you, dodged, everybody sins, exalts himself will be humbled, false prophets, follow Me, forgotten, get even, get wealthy, gets the glory, Give, Go and sin no more, greatest among you will be your servant, hard nosed competition, human ministers, humbles himself will be exalted, ignored, Jesus Christ, Lead us not into temptation, lost words of Jesus, love your enermies, money, names things after himself, on earth, organizations, perish, picture, pray for those who persecute you, promotes his own name, religious people, repent, reptuation, retaliation, seed technique create personal wealth, self-approval, self-promotion, speak, stay as close, Store up treasures in Heaven, valid, Word of God | 13 Comments

The Best, Least-Known Book In America — The Philokalia

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Steve Simms

You have probably never heard of the book that I consider to be the best, least-known book in America. It is very long — 5 volumes. It was written originally in Greek. A facebook group about this book has a … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Creator, God, history, lifestyles, organic church, religion, self-help | Tagged 000 years, 1, 17th Century, 1th Cenury, 2, 3, 4, 4th Century, 5, Barnes & Noble, being human, best, book, copy, date from, Eastern Orthodox, emotional, English, facebook group, Gree, holy mountain in Greece, in America, love of the beautiful, members, mental, Mount Athos, name, overcome issues, reading, Russia, spiritual battles, step-by-step instructions, tattered, The Philokalia, The Way Of A Pilgrim, translated, two Russian monks, underlined, volume, weeps, writings | 9 Comments

Is God Like Map Quest Or A GPS?

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

Some people think that God is like Map Quest: He gives you directions, a plan, instructions. Then you study them and figure out how to follow them, if you want to. (And/or you go to weekly meetings and listen to someone … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, God, lifestyles, organic church, religion | Tagged Apostle Paul's, As many as are led by the Spirit, Bible, car trip, definitions of a Christian, direct relationship, directions, directly, God, God still speaks, God's written word, GPS, instructions, Interstate 77, Jesus Christ, Map Quest, My sheep hear My voice, now, plan, plug in, purpose, Scripture, speak, spiritual GPS, the Living Word, the sons of God | 2 Comments

Author Archives: Steve Simms

About Steve Simms

Wanna Play Quakers And Indians?

The Most Ignored Words In America

What The Church Can Learn From Facebook . . .

9 Reasons I’m Convinced That Jesus Christ Is Alive And Present In Our World

Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Septima Clarck, & Miles Horton in Monteagle, TN

Was Jesus Whipped In America?

Lost Words Of Jesus Christ

The Best, Least-Known Book In America — The Philokalia

Is God Like Map Quest Or A GPS?

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

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

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