Category Archives: church history

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

News Flash: Planet Earth invaded by its Creator, not with the force of justice and judgment; but with mercy, love, humility. The Creator comes in human flesh, not in a royal palace, but in an animal stable — not with a demonstration of His power and authority, but subject to the circumstances of a Babe born under questionable conditions to a poor mother. Yet 20 centuries later, the world slows down, work stops, families gather on the day set aside to remember that God invasion. One Babe began a movement that continues to our time — a movement that has made millions of men and women better than they would have been without beholding the Christ. Transformed by Jesus, by God in the flesh — made new, set free, personally invaded by the Spirit, now rejoicing, not in stuff, and tinsel, and traditions both religious and secular; but rejoicing in relationship with the Babe, now the Lord, Savior, Master!

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

Posted in awe, blessings, change, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, church history, Creator, glory, God, gratitude, history, holiday, holidays, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, joy, lifestyles, Lord, meaning, miracles, movement, mystery, mysticism, non-material reality, Oh my God, organic church, praise and worship, proof of God, Reason For The Season, religion, revelation, salvation, saved, Savior, self-image, simple church, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, stuff, supernatural, thanksgiving, thinking, thoughts, tradition, Uncategorized, values, virgin birth, Why be a Christian?, words, worship | Tagged 20 centuries, animal shelter, authority, babe, beholding, better than, born, by Jesus, circumstances, comes in human flesh, continues, Creator, day set aside, demonstration, families gather, force, God in the flesh, God invasion, humility, invaded, invaded by the Spirit, judgment, justice, later, Lord, love, made new, master, men and women, mercy, millions of, movement, news flalsh, not in stuff, now rejoicing, our time, personally, planet Earth, poor mother, questionable conditions, relationship with, religious, rember, royal palace, Savior, secular, set free, subject to, the Christ, tinsel, traditions, transformed, work stops, world slows down | 1 Comment

It is almost the time when multitudes around the world, believers and non-believers alike, celebrate the day named for Jesus Christ, in honor of His birth. Rejoice that Christ was born! What a difference He has made in this world! What a difference He has made in the life of millions of people from various cultures and time periods during the past 2,000 years! What a difference Jesus has made in my life! The Christ*mas events are about people experiencing Christ. The shepherds didn’t just hear about Christ, they sought Him out. The same with the wise men. Jesus Christ can still be experienced in the 21st Century! Supernatural events are still happening! “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” So, what about it? Should we have a Christ cameo Christmas? Or A Christ controlled Christmas? A cameo is brief (usually non-speaking) appearance of a well known person in a work of performing art, like a play, a movie, or a TV show. Will Christ make a brief, non-speaking appearance in your Christmas festivities this year? Or will your Christmas activities be totally focused on Him? Or something in between?

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

Posted in blessings, Christian history, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, church history, Creator, freedom, gratitude, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, meaning, movement, Oh my God, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, supernatural, Uncategorized, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged 2000 years, alike, almost, around the world, believers, birth, celebrate the day, Christ was born, cultures, he made, in honor of, in this world, Jesus Christ, millions of people, multitudes, my life, named for, non-believers, rejoice, the life, the past, time, various time periods, what a difference | Leave a comment

William Wilberforce — The Power Of A Bold Believer

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Steve Simms

William Wilberforce (born in 1759) was a member of the British Parliament who stood up and spoke up courageously against the international slave trade and against slavery in the British Empire. His efforts and those of others ended slavery in … Continue reading →

Posted in abolitionists, alternative lifestyle, Amazing Grace, black history, British Empire, British Parliament, champions, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, church history, conscience, courage, evangelicals, grace, guidance, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, lifestyles, morality, nonviolence, Quotations, Quotes, race, reading, religion, repent, slavery, social justice, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual warfare, Uncategorized, values, Why be a Christian?, William Wilberforce, words | Tagged 1859, against slavery, against the international slave trade, always, Amazing Grace, believed, bold, book, born, bring forth the, British Empire, British Parliment, called, check out, Christian, cold copies, confirms, conveying nothing, courageously, dangerous, dull pencil, during, effforts, ended slavery, evil, fail, faint lines traced, faith, faith's force, false wisdom, feel, few, flourish, fruits of the Spirit, God's, good move, good will come, grace, greatest Americans, grows, hide, humility, Jesus Christ, lifetime, lives, living, member, more influenced by, no reason, nominal Christians, nothing like, others, quotes, read about, Real Christianity, reality, received, released, social justice, Spirit of Chirst, spoke up, stood up, the real things, the reality, the world's opinion, Top 10, truly great men and women, trun away from, unless, very tendency, we are not His, William Wilberforce, without it, wonderful book, world's view, wrote | 2 Comments

My Day In Bethlehem (Not Pennsylvania)

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

I could see the ancient, small town of Bethlehem in the distance as I approached the Shepherds Grotto, a small cave where shepherds have sheltered themselves for too many centuries to count. It was in these fields that something happened … Continue reading →

Posted in Bethlehem, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, church, church history, forgiveness, glory, God, Holy Holy Holy, Holy Spirit, impossible odds, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, kingdom of God, language, miracles, mystery, mysticism, new birth, non-material reality, Oh my God, Oh Sinner Man, prayer, proof of God, Reason For The Season, religion, repent, salvation, Savior, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, supernatural, Uncategorized, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged after a few seconds, again and again, amazing event, ancient, ancient stairs, angels appeared, announcing, approached, around the world, babe, basement wall, Bethlehem, celebrated, Christ the Lord, Christmas, Church of the Nativity, close, coming, commercial, don't know, down stairs, enables people to speak languages, encounter, even unto the end of the age, event, everywhere, fields, for some reason, from all over the world, gift of the Holy Spirit, greeted, hearing various languages, heart, holidays, holy place, I am with you always, I don't know, in line, in the distance, in the floor, kissing, kneeling, languages, later, little town of Bethlehem, live, living, Lo, long line, look of amazement, Manger Square, miss, mouth fell open, obviously, often wondered, one sinner who repents, Palestinian boy, Pennsylvania, people, people pausing, physically, ready for, reality of God, regarded, rejoicing, remains, resting there, rush, Savior, saw, see, sheltered, Shepherds, Shepherds Grotto, shows, simple, slowly wandered, small cave, small town, smiling, something happened, speaking in tongues, spiritual stirring, spoken by tourists, stared at, still being remembered, still happen, stopped in his tracks, supernatural events, taking it all in, the acutal spot, the birth place, the holy spot, the human heart, the hush of awe, the important spot, the news, there is rejoicing in Heaven, through hallways, tile star, tiny cave, to locate, to see, to see the sights, too many centuries to count, touched my, touching, tourists, transform individuals, trembled, turned and walked away, understood, used to, village, waiting to enter, walked up, what I said, where Christ was born, which is, wise men, young | 1 Comment

Blind Belief? Or Spiritual Conversion

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Steve Simms

In some Arab countries it is against the law for a person to convert to another religion than the religion of her/his birth and upbringing. However, having been raised in a particular religion is no indication of its truth or … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, American, change, change management, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, church, church history, conscience, conversion, disciple making, English, evangelicals, fire, forgiveness, freedom, glory, God, grace, history, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, Jesus Take The Wheel, John Wesley, joy, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, miracles, movement, mystery, mysticism, non-material reality, Oh my God, praise and worship, prayer, proof of God, recovery, religion, repent, revelation, salvation, saved, self-image, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, supernatural, trust, Uncategorized, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged 1700s, 17th, 18th, a deep work, a heart work, accepting, adhering, adopts, against the law, American Colonies, another religion, Arab, based, been converted, being justified, believer, birth, blind belief, born again, called, centuries, change, childhood, Christ, convert, convinced, countries, deceptions, defined, direct, divine perfection, Dwight L. Moody, encountered, England, entire life, Exemine yourself to see, faith, few, follow, frustrated, goal, God's own likeness, goes thoughout, Gordon D. Fee, greatest human, has to give up, helped spark, His will, Holy Spirit, I came to America, I felt my heart strangely warmed, in the faith, Indians, indication, infect, infection, intorduced, invaded by, Jesus Christ, John wesley, Joseph Alleine, lack of success, Ledyard Cuyler, living, man, members, mighty, mind, multitudes, never, on fire, particular religion, passionate preaching, Paul of Tarsis, perhaps, person, personal, personal transformation, questioning, quotations, raised, realized, receive the Spirit, redeemed, relationship with God, returned home, rish his life, rote rituals, salvation, saved, set in, some, soul, spiritual awakening, spiritual conversion, spiritual illumination, spiritual movement, suggestion, teachings, the living God, the reality of, think, thoughts, truly, truth, trying to convert, upbringing, validity, ways, whether you are, who will convert me?, wish it otherwise, witnessing | 2 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

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

66 Books (That Everybody Needs To Read)

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Steve Simms

There are 66 books that everybody needs to read. These books were written by more than 40 diverse authors — rich people and poor people, intellectuals and uneducated folks. These 66 books were written over a 1,500 year time period. Some of these books … Continue reading →

Posted in Acts, American, American Literature, Bible, books, Christian history, Christianity, church history, criticism, English, English literature, history, kingdom of God, Leviticus, life, lifestyles, meaning, morality, morals, poem, poetry, popular culture, reading, recovery, self-help, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values, words | Tagged 40, 4th Century, 500 years ago, 66 books, a chance read one, Acts, AD, almost, amazing, authors, bad things, be a better man, best selling, biography, bondage, brought together, brutally honest, burn in my heart, call, call a spade a spade, centuries, challenge, change, children, come clean, deeds, depths of, detail, disobeyed, distorted, diverse, English, everybody, exhortations, favorite, fellow humans, first began, fit together, folks, for example, forcibly held, George Washington, godlike, greatest literary influence, having missed out, heart, heroes, history, history books, human history, human lives, I would pick, impacted, innocent men, inspire, intellectuals, it would be a shame, James, John, KJV, known as, learn to read, least favorite, Letters, Leviticus, life, lifted, live right, love, matter, Matthew, millions of people, mirror, my being, needs, new levels, number one best seller, one book, over, over and over, people, poetry, poor, powerfully, put a spin on, radically transform, reading, reread, reveal, rich, right behind, seldom find, serve, shocking, superhuman, terrible cruelty, testified, the best books every written, the fact, the opposite, thinking, this year, Thomas Jefferson, thought, through out history, time period, to die, to read, today, totally honest, tound togethter, translation, translations, uneducated, unit, unlike, vivid, well, Western culture, whipped, why not give, women, work without pay, written, wrongful, year | 19 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From Chris Johnson & The Tennessee Titans’ Running Game

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Steve Simms

Nashville’s Tennessee Titans’ running game has something to teach the church. After a holdout that caused Chris Johnson, the best running back in the National Football League the past three years, to miss all of training camp, the Titans signed him to a $50+ … Continue reading →

Posted in change, change management, Chris Johnson, church history, CJ2K, criticism, history, house church, life, lifestyles, Nashville, National Football League, NFL, operationg system, organic church, popular culture, recovery, simple church, sports, Super Bowl, tailgate party, tailgating, Tennessee Titans, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 000, 100 yards, 2, 2011, 3, 6, abnormal, accepted, accepts, accomplishing, achieve, Acts, afraid, and, back, blame society, book, both, changes, Chris Johnson, Christianity, church, CJ, Cleveland Browns, continually, continues, criticized, declining, denial, described in, determination, don't lower your standards, don't make excuses, everyday, face the fact, failure, forced to conform, free from sin, game, games, get it back, he, holdout, improving, influence, keep striving for improvement, keep working, know, lack of spiritual power, level, little, low performance, maintaining, make adjustments, many years, million dollar contract, miss, mortivated, Nashville's, National Football League, NFL, normal, not getting the job done, not producing success, numbers, often, openly admitted, out of the box, pitiful, players, poor performance, power of God, powerful, practice effort, publicly, read, really bad, refused to accept, rember past success, remember, resisted, running game, said, same, satisfied, season, seasons, see, she, signed, someone, state, strive for improvement, sub-standard, supposed, take personal responsibility, teach, Tennessee Titans, the best running back, the things, three, Titans, to make excueses, tragic, training camp, try, try new ideas, until they get it right, what can the church learn from, work, yards, years, yesterday | 4 Comments

Category Archives: church history

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

My Day In Bethlehem (Not Pennsylvania)

Blind Belief? Or Spiritual Conversion

Passion For The Christ — Spiritual Fire & Desire

66 Books (That Everybody Needs To Read)

What The Church Can Learn From Chris Johnson & The Tennessee Titans’ Running Game

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