Category Archives: humility

The Christmas Drug — The High Hopes Of Holiday Hype

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Steve Simms

Year after year humans have high hopes for the Christmas holidays, but their humongous hopes are often hijacked and held hostage by holiday hype.  The Christmas drug of hyped up holidays just doesn’t seem to be able to live up … Continue reading →

Posted in 24/7/365, Christ, Christianity, Christmas gifts, Christmas shopping, Christmas shopping season, Christmas traditions, contentment, culture, customs, Emmanuel, family gathering, family togetherness, glory days, God, God on the loose, God with us, high hopes, His story, holiday hype, holidays, hope, human psyche, humility, hype, peace, peace of mind, reason, Reason For The Season, seasonal, tradition | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

A Steve Jobs Of Religion? — Come On Church, Innovate!

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Steve Simms

An Eric Weiner quotation from the Op-Ed page of The New York Times, December, 2011: “We need a Steve Jobs of religion. Someone (or ones) who can invent not a new religion but, rather, a new way of being religious. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, Apple Computer, being religious, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, biblical, Biblical concept, Catherine Booth, Christ, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian community, Christian organizations, church, church meetings, church programs, church roles, church services, church structure, creativity, East Nashville, environment, freedom, Holy Spirit, humility, improv, improvisation, insight, interactive, intuitive, Mr. Job's, Music City, non-church, open church, operating system, organic church, participatory church, questions, Quotations, quote, Quotes, religious innovation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, simple church, speak the truth in love, spiritual innovation, straight forward, support group, unencumbered, William Booth | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Thanking God On Thanksgiving Day — 2012

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Steve Simms

Happy Thanksgiving 2102, everybody! (Let’s get started.) *Thank You, Lord for creating me and giving me life. Thank You for this beautiful world you have placed me in. (Sorry we humans have messed it up so much.) Thank You for … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, celebrations, church, comfort, community, compassion, confession of sin, conviction of sin, corps, creation, devotion, freedom, gift of God, God, God calling, God's protection, godly sorrow, guidance, happiness, hearing God, hearing Jesus, heart care, human life, human nature, humility, inner peace, intellect, invisible, inward change, joy, kindness, life, Lord, love, meaning, mind, miracles, move of God, movement, mysticism, Nashville, non-traditional church, opportunity, organic church, participatory church, prayer, prayer without ceasing, presence of Christ, presence of God, purpose, recovery, relevation, religion, religious ceremonies, repent, repentance, revival, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, sin, spirit, Spirit-filled, spiritual, spiritual awakening, spiritual disciplines, spiritual warfare, surrender, surrender to God, thanksgiving, thinking, thoughts, truth, voice of God | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Following The Holy Spirit To Where You Don’t Want To Go

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Steve Simms

Who wants to go where you don’t want to go?  Jesus told His disciple Peter, that Peter would be led “where you do not want to go.” (John 21:18)  Are you willing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, brokenness, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian community, Christian organizations, Christian values, church meetings, church programs, church roles, church structure, comfort, comfort zone, conviction of sin, crucified with Christ, deny yourself, devotion, disapproval, discomfort, faith, faith-based, followers of Christ, friendship, gifts of the Spirit, hearing God, hearing Jesus, Holy Spirit, house church, humility, I Corinthians 14:26, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John 21:18, kingdom of God, lifestyle Christianity, lifestyles, loneliness, move of God, movement, non-church, Peter, preference, presence of Christ, presence of God, priesthood of the believer, Protestant, rejection, religion, religious ceremonies, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, self-denial, selfish desires, simple church, spiritual, spiritual awakening, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual interaction, spiritual warfare, surrender to God, testimony, uncomfortable, where you do not want to go | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Make A Courageous Act Of Spiritual Warfare

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Steve Simms

The Salvation Army Flag is known as the Blood & Fire.  It’s not decor for a corps (a Salvation Army church); it’s for feet to walk a beat on the street praying and testifying to the glory of God. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Blood and Fire, blood of Jesus, burning heart, Christ, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian flag, Christianity, church, church history, corps, courage, evangelism, faith, faith-based, fire, fire of the Holy Spirit, flag, flag pole, followers of Christ, forgiveness, hearing God, hearing Jesus, humility, invasion, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lake Junaluska, ministry, moon, national flags, nonviolence, North Carolina, Olympic athletes, Olympic challenge, Olympic glory, Olympic heroes, Olympic medals, Olympics, prayer, prayer walking, Quotations, quote, Quotes, religion, repent, repentance, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, sin, spiritual athletes, spiritual combat, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual interaction, spiritual walk, spiritual warfare, support group, surrender to God, The Salvation Flag, US Flag | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Are You In A Mess?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Steve Simms

It doesn’t matter what you think or feel or if you live life with a thrill.  What matters is reality.  A life aligned with your own opinions and feelings will wilt and wallow in messy confusion.  A life aligned with … Continue reading →

Posted in adventure, alternative lifestyle, attitude, belief, belief system, Christ, Christian, comfort, compliance, compromise, conscience, contemplation, countryside, deception, deciision making, depression, dishonesty, feelings, happiness, honesty, humility, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Take The Wheel, love, moral principles, moral restraints, morals, obeying orders, off the road, opinion, Quotations, quote, Quotes, repent, repentance, right and wrong, right conduct, surrender, surrender to God, truth, values | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Prayer That’s Not For Wimps

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Steve Simms

Here are two prayers that take great courage.  Most people, when things get desperate in their life, will pray to God for immediate help, however, only the bravest people will pray these two powerful prayers. The first one is a … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, answer to God, anxious thoughts, Bible, Biblical concept, Christian, Christian values, Christianity, commands, conscience, conviction of sin, courage, deeds, denial, God, God calling, God's authority, God-shaped vacuum, godly sorrow, hard-hearted, harmful habit, harmful thinking, hdden sin, hearing God, hearing Jesus, heart care, humility, inner peace, Israel, King David, lifestyle Christianity, lifestyles, moral principles, moral restraints, morality, morals, obedience, offensive, prayer without ceasing, Psalm 139:23, Psalm 141:4, Quotations, quote, Quotes, recovery, Renaissance, repent, right and wrong, right conduct, right living, righteousness, self-destruction, self-will, sin, spiritual awakening, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, thoughts, values, voice of God, wake-up call | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Perhaps It Is Time To Start “Speaking The Truth In Love”

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Steve Simms

Our corrupt culture, built on mountains of denial and the pursuit of personal pleasure, desperately needs to hear and to heed truth.  Yet where are those today, who will like the apostles, lovingly and boldly speak and write the truth? … Continue reading →

Posted in apostles, born again, brokenness, call a spade a spade, compassion, corrupt culture, Ephesians 4:15, humility, immaturity, opinion, Paul of Tarsus, personal pleasure, Quotations, quote, Quotes, sacrifice, salvation, saved, seduction, seduction of self-destruction, self-help, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, subconscious, tradition | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sermon-Free Church Spread Across America In 1857-1858

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Steve Simms

Spirit-led, sermon-free church meetings spread across America in 1857-1858.  Jeremiah Lanphier started a prayer meeting on September 23, 1857 in New York City.  Six men showed up.  In the next few months 10,000 people began meeting daily for prayer in … Continue reading →

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, American, American church, American history, Americans, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, business men, Charles Finney, Christian, Christian community, Christian history, Christian values, church, church history, church structure, conversion, East Nashville, ekklesia, England, good sermon, Great Britain, history, humility, interdenominational, Jeremial Lanphier, lifestyles, missional, move of God, movement, Music City, mysticism, new birth, non-traditional church, normal Christianity, participatory church, prayer, preaching, quote, Quotes, repentance, revelation, revival, salvation, sets the captives free, simple church, spiritual, spiritual awakening, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Meek Means “Mighty By Another Power”

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Steve Simms

Who is meek?  Not the milk toast nor the mouse nor the wimp.  They won’t inherit the earth. Meek does not mean “weak, fearful, or timid.”  It means “being mighty by yielding your life and will to another power.”  Because … Continue reading →

Posted in AA, addiction, addictions, alternative lifestyle, Christian, Christian history, Christianity, faith, faith-based, God, God's government, His story, history, humility, Ida B. Wells, ideal, idealism, inherit the earth, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John W. Miller, kindness, lifestyles, Quotations, quote, recovery, religion, revelation, revival, rivers of living water, self-denial, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, surfer, surrender to God, test pilot, the Grimke sisters, turned the world upsidedown, W.E.B. DuBois, William Booth | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments