Category Archives: boundaries

The Joy Of Judgment

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Steve Simms

Judgment has gotten a such bad rap. It is almost universally portrayed as a bad thing. Even Jesus’ words; “Judge not, lest you be judged,” are falsely used in an attempt to silence all judgment and to say that every … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, books, boundaries, challenges, disciple making, fear, feelings, God, godly sorrow, guidance, guilt, harmful habit, hearing God, hearing Jesus, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John F. Kennedy, joy, juddgment, judgments, King David, life, lifestyles, morality, morals, Music City, Nashville, New Testament, organic church, Paul of Tarsus, peace, popular culture, prayer, Quotations, quote, Quotes, recovery, religion, right and wrong, right conduct, salvation, sobriety, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual warfare, thoughts, trust, Uncategorized, values, voice of God, wake-up call, words | Tagged godly sorrow, John F. Kennedy, joy of, judge not, judgment, Nashville, Olympics, Paul of Tarsus | 20 Comments

I Disagree! — Dissent On Super Bowl Sunday

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Steve Simms

In contemporary America dissent has been defined as hatred and hushed. On this Super Bowl Sunday, 2012, I lovingly disagree! (If two people agree, or pretend to agree, on everything; at least one of them is intentionally being politically correct.) … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, big bang, boundaries, brain chemistry, casual sex, censorship, challenges, Christianity, Civil Rights, conscience, creation, Creator, criticism, dishonesty, drug commercials, drugs, education, ethics, evidence for God, evil, evolution, fear, feelings, guilt, habit, hate, hate speech, hope, human rights, Judaism, lies, lifestyles, marriage, Mitt Romney, morality, morals, NFL, nonviolence, origin of life, Playoffs, political correctness, recovery, religion, repent, sin, social justice, spiritual warfare, tebow, tebowing, tebowing.com, Tim Tebow, tolerance, TV, Uncategorized, values, war | Tagged a brief reason, a much greater event, a person's a person no matter how small, abandoning self-control, abortions, abuse, American culture, as a word, be true to who, being politically correct, better of, blob of matter, brainwashes, break them, breeds depression, broken hearts, casual sex, children, claim, complexity, compulsions, concerned about the very poor, contemporary America, correct it, crushes, dealing with international conflict, defined, depression, descent, desires, destructive forces, devastates, diseas, disprove, dissent, divorce, drugs, emotional, emotional chaos, enabled, entertainment, eolution, everything, evolution, exercise, existence, faith in God, false, famous general said, fatherless children, fear, feeds dysfunction, friendships, game, good, guilt, hardens the human conscience, harm, harmful ideas, harmless, hatred, have no effect, have the courage, health problems, healthy diet, helt, how he lives his life, hurt by it, hushed, I disagree, idea, If two people agree, in their path, Judeo-Christian, kept quiet, legitimate way, living together, lovingly, Mahatma Gandhi, marriage, Martin Luther Ling, meaningless, mental, misleading, misspelled, Mitt Romney, moral living, morality, much better ways, nonviolent direct action, normal, not to oppose, obeying his cravings, of this one, Okay, one of the greatest eents of the year, one of them intentionally, one person's faith, open, overcome, personal role models, poserful impact, positive, poverty, pre-existing, precision, prenatal killing, pretend, primary answer, produced, proudly, public, really appreciate, recognize, regular exposure to images, reminding me, safety, safety net, see my mistake, self-control, self-destruction, sex, should be ignored, shows how important, single-handedly, societal obstacles, spell check, stirs up anxiety, Super Bowl, sure-fire way to, surrender to compulsions, thanks to, the birth of even one chaid, they have a, Tim Tebow, time, to deal with, tremendous, turning your life over to, unwanted, unwanted children, voiced, vows, wanted, war, War is hell, watching violence, wholesome thinking, without commitment, without fault, wrong | 2 Comments

Many Voices Are Stalking You, Seducing You . . .

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Steve Simms

Life has given us free will, the ability and freedom to make choices (its pro choice). Yet many voices are after you, stalking you, seducing you, competing for your choices. * The loud voice of desire boldly booms the proclamation: … Continue reading →

Posted in Acts 5:29, boundaries, casual sex, children of God, Christianity, conscience, fear, free will, freedom, God, habit, hearing God, Holy Spirit, language, life, lifestyles, mind, modern myths, motivation, phobic, popular culture, religion, Romans 8:14, self-help, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, thinking, thoughts, tradition, Uncategorized, values, voice activated, voice of God, voices, Western religion, words | Tagged Acts 5:29, after you, apathy, be rational, boldly booms, choices, choices don't matter, comfort zone, competing, conscience pleads, debates, desire, disagree, disrespectful, do it, do what I say, do what you wanna do, do what you want, examine outcomes, fear threatens, fight and resist, figure it out, follow, follow and obey God, free will, freedom, God's children, habit, has given, human beings, If it feels good, intellect, ISV, keep doing what' you're doing, life, listen to me, loud voice, make choices, many voices, many voices compete, media, modern, my goal, Peter and the other apostles, popular culture, pro choice, protect yourself, replied, resist obeying, Romans 8:14, run and hide, satisfy yourself, says, sedu8cing you, seducing you, seductively, stalking you, stay in, Sunday, take some time, the ability, the proclamation, the rest of the week, timid voice, traditional, use discernment, use your mind, voice, voice of God, vulgar, we have to choose between, We must obey God rather than, Western religion, what is logical, what is right, what's hot, what's sexy, which ones, who are led by God's spirit, wisely decide which, yawns | 2 Comments

Quotes From Spiritual Athletes Between The 4th & 7th Centuries

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here are some quotations written between the Fourth and Seventh Centuries by some powerful spiritual athletes. They are from an amazing collection of writings — The Philokalia — Volume One. Enjoy the quotes: “When a man has an exact knowledge … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, biography, boundaries, challenges, change, Christianity, church history, education, feelings, fire, freedom, fuel, history, impossible odds, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mind, mystery, mysticism, peace, Philokalia, positive thinking, Quotations, Quotes, religion, saints, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, words | Tagged a blazing fire, Abba Moses, about to enter, accept, admonishing, against, against its will, amending, an amazing collection, Anthony the Great, athletes, attention, base thoughts, centuries, choice, coming, conduct, control, control our desires, correcting, defile, descends into the darkness, Diadochos of Photiki, distractions, drag, effort, enjoy, Evagrios the Solitary, evil thoughts, exact knowledge, exert, expel, expulsion, external sins, eyes, faster it dies down, feed, first, forcibly, fourth, free, free in their character, Give, grows, guard the heart, here are, Hesychios the Priest, his own enemy, impossible, impure thoughts, inflicts damage, intelligence, into, Isaiah the Solitary, John Cassian, John of Karpathos, Journey without direction, king, lazy, less fuel, like, making it, malicious words, man, Mark the Ascetic, mind, more it, Neilos the Ascetic, no longer, not those, on his own, outwardly free, passions, power, powerful, powerful words, quotes, recognize, recognizes, regard, regulating, remain, resentful, rules, ruling, service, Seventh, sin, skill, some, spiritual, spiritual athletes, state, status, struggle, subjects, take the utmost care, the intellect, the nature of thoughts, The Philokalia, then go, through struggle, troubled, troubled by thoughts, troubling, undistrubed, Volume One, wants to see clearly, wasted effort, we can reach, whoever becomes angry, wisdom, within, within the power, writings, written between | 2 Comments

The Joy Of Christ*mas Stopping

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Steve Simms

Does Christmas shopping ever leave you empty? Do you ever feel like Christmas shopping is not enough? That there must be more to the Christmas season than just buying lots of stuff to give away on Christmas Day? Well, there … Continue reading →

Posted in ancient history, boundaries, casual sex, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, conscience, conversion, evangelicals, forgiveness, freedom, grace, guilt, history, holiday, holidays, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, lies, lifestyles, meaning, miracles, morality, morals, mysticism, new birth, non-material reality, peace, prayer, proof of God, Reason For The Season, recovery, religion, repent, revelation, salvation, saved, Savior, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, sex, sin, sobriety, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, stuff, supernatural, support group, Uncategorized, values, Why be a Christian?, words, worship | Tagged a very important aspect, adultery, an angel, attitudes and actions, behaviors, brought to Christ, buying, celebrations, cheating on, Christmas, Christmas Day, Christmas shopping, Christmas stopping, Do you ever feel like, experiencing, fabulous freedom, for He shall save His people, from, from their sins, give away, Go and sin no more, God's great gift, great joy, Have you done your Christmas, It's not too late, Jesus, Jesus gave, Joseph, leave you empty, lots of stuff, met Christ, most ignored, not enough, nowadays, often left out, people's taxes, perhaps it is time, put it to, repent, self-destructive, sleeping around, stopped, stopping, take, teaching, than just, the Christmas season, The Cross, the first, the real Christmas tree, the tax collector, There must be more to, this way, thoughts, to do, well, woman caught in the act, words, wrongful, You shall call his name Jesus, Zacchaeus | 2 Comments

Thinking Through A Tutu Thought About Conscience

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here’s a quotation from Desmond Tutu: “For every act of evil there are a dozen acts of goodness in our world. It is only because we believe that people should be good that we despair when they are not.” Do … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, boundaries, conscience, Desmond Tutu, education, evil, evolution, feelings, guidance, life, lifestyles, materialism, mind, morality, morals, motivation, mysticism, non-material reality, Quotations, Quotes, recovery, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, soul, spiritual, supernatural, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values | Tagged abnoral, acts of evil, acts of goodness, attitudes, back away, bad, behaviors, believe, beyond, character, choose, choosing, compass, conscience, conviction, day to day lives, Desmond Tutu, despair, device, die, direct, directing, do you ever, dozen, evil, evil choices, expect, fitted, For every act of evil, go against, goodness, guidance system, Here's, human beings, idealistic, ignore, influences, intangible, interior, materialistic, materialists, mere physical result, misery, moral principle, morally right, natural selection, non-material, non-material reality, norm, override, people shoud be good, place, points out, preservationist, preserve, principle, programming, prompting, quotation, report, right and wrong, sacrifice, seeks, self, self-destruction, selfish, sensationalize, sense, shocking, societal interests, society, species, suffer, surprised, survival, survivalistic, the media, the survival of the fittest, thoughts, usual, violence, warns, wonder, world | 1 Comment

Modern Myth #11 — Cravings & Compulsions Are Uncontrollable

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

Did Moses come down from the mountain with an 11th Commandment: “Thou cannot resist thy cravings and thy compulsions so do your thang man?” I don’t think that came from Moses, but it is a widespread myth in today’s world. … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, biology, boundaries, brain chemistry, brain research, casual sex, criticism, DNA, drugs, drunk, feelings, freedom, genetic tendency, life, lifestyles, modern myths, morality, morals, myths, popular culture, recovery, rehab, repent, self-esteem, self-image, sin, thoughts, values, words | Tagged 11th Commandment, ability, all the time, animals, behaviors, born this way, brain, can't help himself, compulsons, craving, cravings, dance, denial, desires, do your thang, don't think, drift off, easier, embrace, free will, freely choose, genetic, go with the flow, hear, hists us, however, humans, impulses, in the short-term, independent, instincts, irrational, It's in my genes, just, make wise decisions, man, manipulative, meekly, modern myth, Moses, myth, no choice, not responsible, obey, of course not, our tendencies, overcome, power, prison, resist, self-destrictive, so much, statements, tendency, that's just the way I am, the cliff, the mountain, Thou cannot, Thy, today's, true, tunes, twisted, uncontrollable, uniforms, very hard work, widespread, world | 5 Comments

Modern Myth #8 — Self-Indulgence Satisfies

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Steve Simms

Modern Myth #8 Have you ever noticed that compulsive desires are never satisfied by indulging them – that cravings are not eliminated by giving in to them? For example, if you eat a bite of something sweet that you crave, … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, boundaries, feelings, fire, freedom, fuel, life, lifestyles, meaning, modern myths, morality, morals, myths, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, recovery, repent, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, sin, sobriety, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values, words | Tagged believe, bite, bondage, brings, cease, clammoring, clamors for more, compulsions, compulsive desires, control, crave, cravings, eliminated, encourages, fanned into flames, fed, feeding a desire, feel, feel better, feelings, few weeks, fire, for example, fuels, giving in, happiness, have you ever noticed, hurt, immediately, indulge ourselves, indulging, Leslie Vernick, lifestyle, lonely, myth, not true, obey, psyche, puts it this way, quotation, restrained, results, satisfied, satisfying, sefl-restraint, self, self-demands, self-esteem, self-indulgence, self-indulgent, slaves, society, something sweet, truth, unhappy, unloved, want another, wrongly | 1 Comment

Occupy Till I Come — What The Church Can Learn From Occupy Wall Street

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

In Luke 19:13 of the King James Bible, Jesus says: “Occupy till I come.” Somehow, I don’t think “occupy” means to sit in a pew once a week and passively listen to a sermon. “Occupy” is much more aggressive than … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, boundaries, broadcast yourself, Christianity, criticism, feelings, freedom, greed, kingdom of God, lifestyles, materialism, movement, Music City, Nashville, New York City, Occupy Wall Street, popular culture, possessions, repent, social justice, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, words | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry Street, 37207, a lot, agressive, around the world, believe, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, bold, brainwashed, building, change, Christians, church, clamoring, committed, courageous, culture, day after day, demonstrations, determined, East Nashville, embracing, example, followed, forceful, good example, good first step, greed, have you ever, hearts, heaven, help us, hold, image, instructions, involved, Jesus, King James, land, laying down, learn, lifestyle, listen, live, Luke 19:13, McFerrin Park, mold, mornings, mother country, movement, Nashville, neighborhood, New York City, obeyed, occupiers, occupy, Occupy till I come, Occupy Wall Street, ongoing, others, passion, passively, people, persistence, protesting, rather, repenting, selfish, seriously, sermon, sit in a pew, sitting, society, stand, stand up, streets, strive, Sunday, swept along, teachings, territory, The Salvation Army, to take, trends, Wall Street, week, willingness to sacrifice, within | 2 Comments

Should People Have The Right To Make Other People Say Wrong Is Right?

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Steve Simms

Nobody should have the right to make other people say that wrong is right? Everybody should have the right to believe in right and wrong and to freely express their belief. However, the right to believe in right and wrong has been … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, ancient history, boundaries, C.S. Lewis, Civil Rights, freedom, history, human rights, lifestyles, meaning, morality, morals, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, self-esteem, self-image, Uncategorized, values | Tagged accepted, ancient, appluaded, approved, approving, Babylonians, behaviors, belief, believe, C.S. Lewis, Chinese, common moral standards, compare, conform, conscience, contemporary, cultures, each other, Egyptians, everybody, express, fair, follow, freely express, from, Greeks, Hindus, history, however, human, humanity, in the world, insist, intolerant, is this fair, judgmental, labeled, like, maintain, media, merely, moral standards, morally worng, most, no right, nobody, not satisfied, nowadays, other, own, people, pressure, push, quotation, right and wrong, Romans, say, shared, should, silence, sincerely, society, some years, stand up, standards, storng belief, take the trouble, teaching, tells you, the right, the right to believe, to make, today, under attack, violate, wrong is right, you | 3 Comments

Category Archives: boundaries

The Joy Of Judgment

Many Voices Are Stalking You, Seducing You . . .

Quotes From Spiritual Athletes Between The 4th & 7th Centuries

The Joy Of Christ*mas Stopping

Thinking Through A Tutu Thought About Conscience

Modern Myth #11 — Cravings & Compulsions Are Uncontrollable

Modern Myth #8 — Self-Indulgence Satisfies

Should People Have The Right To Make Other People Say Wrong Is Right?

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