Category Archives: lifestyles

Christmas Is About Judgment

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here’s a surprise: Christmas is about dealing with judgment. Our sinful thoughts, choices, and behaviors have been judged and we are guilty and condemned men and women. If our condemnation is merely canceled, the result would be chaos and injustice. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazing Grace, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, blessings, change, Christ, Christian history, Christmas, Christmas Eve, feelings, forgiveness, freedom, God, Hell, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, juddgment, life, lifestyles, morality, mysticism, Nashville, religion, repent, salvation, saved, spiritual, spiritual growth, spiritual warfare, supernatural, The Salvation Army, tolerance, Uncategorized, words, worship | Tagged 21st Century, 225 Berry St., 37207, a beautiful package, accetp the greatest gift, actively, all, all humanity, amazed, at the cross, at what happens, authority, behaviors, Berry Street Worship Center, bondage to sin, came, canceled, chaos, choices, Christ, Christmas, Christmas is about, come see, condemnation, condemned men, dealing with judgment, debt, defeated death, Don't, forgiveness, freedom, gather, gathering, grew up, guilty, have been judged, hell, Here's a, his suffering, in His name, individual, injustice, invited, Jesus, judgment, just remember, leadership, man-made program, men and women, merely, Nashville, overlook it, owe a debt, paid, personally, repentance, sinful thoughts, sins, Sundays, surprise, take active control, the babe, the grave, the greatest gift of all, the result would be, The Salvation Army, to take the punishment for, tolerance, turn the meeting over, turning waya from our sins, under His direct, upon Himself, we are guilty, we can nevber pay, when we gather, wrongdoing | 5 Comments

How To Shop For Christ*mas

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

From Black Friday through Christmas Eve, people will be shopping for material things to give to family, friends, and clients on Christmas Day. They will be searching and sorting through stuff, seeking to find just the right gifts. But perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, American, Americans, Black Friday, books, Christmas, Christmas Eve, church, guidance, Henry Poole Was Here, Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, lifestyles, materialism, organic church, Red Kettles, religion, self-help, shopping, simple church, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, stuff, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values | Tagged age, available, be kind, become a super shopper, being transformed, Black Friday, car, carry someone's bags, Christ-filled Christmas, Christ-focused friends, Christmas, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, clients, comformed to this, creating, crowds, detachment, devotional Bible reading, encouraging words, examples, extremely difficult, family, fasting, find and use, find firends, follow, followers of Christ, Friends, Give, give to, Google, hang out, help, help a neighbor, hold doors open, humility, hunt down, inspirational movie, it takes, Jesus, jewel, just the right gifts, let others through, like Jesus, live, living like Jesus, love, make friends, make your shopping, material things, meditation, more like Christ, most Americans, multitudes, obey, organic church, passionate, people, people we spend time with, people who live ajnd love, perhaps, politely move aside, provide transportation, REd Kettles, same effort, searching, seek, seeking, self-denial, serve others, shop, shop for Christmas, shop for ways, shopping, shopping season, shopping skills, sold on, solitude, some steps to shop, sort, sort through your friends, sorting through stuff, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual listening, spiritual reading, spiritual shopping, spiritual warfare, still-born spiritually, superb, The Salvation Army, this year, tools for spiritual growth, various types of prayer, volunteer with a nonprofit, ways to grow spiritually, world, world's standards, you will be amazed, your life will be transformed | 6 Comments

Thanksgiving Without Giving Thanks Is Just A Fine Time To Dine On Turkey

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Steve Simms

Thanksgiving Day is here. However, Thanksgiving Day without actually giving thanks is just a fine time to dine on turkey. So, how do you give thanks? What is necessary for thanksgiving? 3 things. 1) Something to give thanks for. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazing Grace, blessings, blog, blog readers, feelings, God, gratitude, life, lifestyles, Oh my God, prayer, religion, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values, words, worship | Tagged 3 things, a fine time, a gift, act of giving thanks, actually, alive, blessing, blog, blog readers, by definition, can give thanks, celebrate, commented, dine on turkey, do you want to, everybody, fast approaching, Give, give thanks to God, giving thinks, God, good to me, Gratitude, helped, how do you give thanks, I choose, if nothing else, in the USA, it isn't earned, it would take, liked, lives are gifts, merely, months, most of all, next breath, originally, others, people, personally, posts, primarily, read, set aside, shared, something, subscribed, thank you, Thank you God, thankfulness, Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, turkey, turkey time, verbally, weeks, what about you, what is necessary, without | 3 Comments

Guts & Glory In Spiritual Growth — Path, Rocks, Thorns, Fertile Ground

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Steve Simms

Spiritual growth is not for sissies. It takes great guts to grow in God. Not everybody has the courage, strength, and endurance to do it. Jesus told a parable about a path, rocks, thorns, and fertile ground that illustrates the … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Bible, criticism, glory, God, guts and glory, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, materialism, meaning, New Testament, parable, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, voice activated, words | Tagged 4 ways, 4:1-20, a seed to be sown, a well-traveled path, about, accept, acquire, allow, alolow the Holy Spirit, alter our thinking, areas, as it is in heaven, begin to grow, behavior, Bible, cannot, changes us, comes, contrary to, courage, criticism, deep roots, desires, distract us from God, don't obey, endurance, enjoy, ever-increasing glory, everybody, fertile ground, fertile soul, get rid of, God speaks, God's glory, God's words, great difficulty, great guts, grow in God, hear, hear my voice, heart, heart's thorns, His kingdom comes, His will is done, hits us, illustrates, in our generation, in our heart, in us, into HIs image, it takes, Jesus, Jesus said, Jesus' own words, land, like, Matthew, modern faith preachers, move towards, much soil, My sheep, not be able to grow, not for sissies, of our daily lives, of our soul, our own desires, path, penetrate, permanently, produce, pull up, read, required to reach, requires, right out of, rips, rocks, seduction of money, skills, soul, speaking, spiritual disciplines, spiritual growth, squeezes it out, strength, take root, Tha'ts glory, the Bible, the courage, the hard ground, the hard places, the Living Word, the New Testament, the seed is money, the seed is the Word of God, the spiritual skills, the stoney areas, the things that capture our attention, the voice of God, the way of growth in God, the written word, thorns, to break up, to human hearts, told a parable, trouble, turn, we must have the guts, What God says, what He says, worries | 3 Comments

Dishonesty’s 10 Dirty Downers

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Steve Simms

1) Dishonesty does not change reality. What is, is. What isn’t, isn’t. Calling an elephant a “cow” does not make it one. 2) Dishonesty destroys your view of reality leading to frequent self-deception and denial. A dishonest person confuses his … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, cesorship, conscience, courage, dishonesty, guilt, hate speech, lies, lifestyles, mature language, morals, prejudice, recovery, self-esteem, self-image, sin, thoughts, trust, values | Tagged a known liar, after another, anxiety, be true to yourself, believes, censors, change reality, confuses, conscience, courage, cover-up, cow, cowardice, cracks, deletes, demolishes relationships, denial, destroys view of reality, dishonest person, dishonesty, driven by, elephant, exposure to truth, facing consequences, falls apart, fear, feel the need, guilt, hate speech, honest, how can you, killing trust, lack of courage, Lance Armstorng, liar, lie, lies, lying is wrong, most people, natural results, never-ending, prejudice, remember the details, self-deception, self-esteem, self-respect, shore it up, spews out, treadmill, trust yourself, ultimate censorship, violate our conscience, What is is, what really happened, when you lie | 9 Comments

I Grew Up In Church Without God

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

My parents tell me that when I was a toddler, I used to talk to them about God. They didn’t go to church or have much interest in spiritual things, so they were quite surprised by my interest in God and … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazing Grace, awe, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Boy Scouts, change, Christianity, church, college, college students, East Nashville, feelings, fire, freedom, God, Hindu, Holy Holy Holy, I Corinthians 14:26, Jesus, Jesus freaks, Kumbaya, lifestyles, Nashville, non-material reality, organic church, Presbyterian, religion, revelation, self-image, simple church, spiritual, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, University of Tennessee Martin, What is church?, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged 10:45 am, 225 Berry St., 37207, 41 years ago, a Christian, a million miles away, a real believer in, about God, actual Presence of, agnostic, all-consuming, amazing, an official church member, another thought, Arkansas, attending church, Berry Street Worship Center, Boy Scout, burns in my heart, campfire, childhood years, Christ, Christianity, closer to God, come and see for yourself, Come by here, Communicant's Class, confusing doctrines, congregation, creatively. modeled, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, describes, do church, dynamic relationship, eerie, elementary school, entered, every few monts, experienced, experiencing God, faint sense, felt, focused on, freely, freshman, funny thing, given the freedom, go to church, God's absence, God's awesome presence, high schook, Hindu, Holy Holy Holy, how to connect, hymn, I Corinthians 14:26, If you were born, immeciately, interest in God, invited to start, Jackson, Jesus Freaks, Jonesboro, junior year, know God, knowing God, Kumbaya, listened, living, living God, make me happy, mind, modern, more present, more real, mother, my Lord, Nashville, non-traditional, odd thought, older, parents, participate, passively, people, physical surroundings, popped into my mind, preached, preacher, Presbyterian Church, realized, regularly attending, rejected, relating to God, remember, results, rituals, sensed, series of classes, shouldn't church, shows up, something stirring inside, spiritual condition, spiritual fire, spiritual things, spiritually empty, suddenly exposed, Sunday morning, Sunday sermon, Sundays, support group, surprised, sweet Presence, talk, Tennessee, the Bible, The Salvation Army, The University of Tennessee Martin, think back to, TN, toddler, usher in, verse, Why do you think you are, with Jesus, wonder, wondered, words, you will be blessed | 4 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

Avoiding Hell And Making Heaven Have Never Much Motivated Me

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Steve Simms

Barbara Walters presented a two hour special on ABC called: Heaven — Where Is It? How Do We Get There. However for me, the issue of our response to God is much bigger than Heaven. I tend to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Barbara Walters, Buddhism, Dalai Lama, drugs, feelings, fire insurance, God, Heaven, Hell, Hindu, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, lifestyles, meaning, morals, motivation, salvation, TV, TV network, Uncategorized, Where is it? How do we get there?, Why be a Christian? | Tagged ABC, Barbara Walters, Christianity, heaven, hell, religion, special | 5 Comments

American Movies & TV, Get Real! (You Are Out Of Touch With The Real World!)

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

Most American media, although it loves to throw around the phrase reality TV, is almost completely out of touch with the real world. In real world America, most people pray. So when was the last time a popular TV network or movie showed even one person praying? In … Continue reading →

Posted in American media, CBS, Creator, God, lifestyles, NFL, reality TV, sex, sex in marriage, sports, television, TV, TV network, Uncategorized | Tagged a gift, a promotion, afternoon, almost, America, American media, around the globe, billions of people, cares nothing about reality, CBS, completely, Creator, each other, every single day, families, flat screen, Friday, functional, game, God, good first step, have fulfilling sex, have the courage, how is it, husband, I dare you, ignored, kind, kindness, Letters, loves, loving, married people, Monday, most, most people pray, NFL, on the Screen T.G.I.T., ongoing, out of touch with reality, out of touch with the real world, persojn praying, popular TV network, ran, real world, real world America, reality, reality TV, relationship with the living God, represent, respect, sex between a husband and a wife, show real world characters, showed, slip through, television character, Thank God, Thank God its Thursday, the phrase, throw around, Thursday NIght Football, Titans Bengals, treat, Wednesday, when was the last time, wife | 6 Comments

Grace — God’s Righteous Attributes Continually Expressed

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

To “say grace” means to pray over a meal. “Grace” is sometimes a woman’s name. “Amazing Grace” may be the most popular hymn of all time. A popular acrostic says: “Grace — God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” But what does … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Amazing Grace, grace, John Newton, lifestyles, repent, salvation, saved, spiritual, Uncategorized | Tagged acrostic, all time, alternative, Amazing Grace, asking, attributes, based, both, changed, Christian, Christian lifestyle, circles, continually expressed, daily, definition, dominion of sin, earth, earthly life, either-or, final, former, future, genuine grace, given freely, go to Heaven, God, God's Riches At Christ's Expense, grace, guess, heaven, holy, how sweet the sound, involves, Jesus into your heart, John Newton, lifestyle, live a godly, lives, living, mean, means, moral, most common, most popular hymn, much more than that, must not excuse sin, no longer, not earned, obey God, opens the door, possible, power, pray over a meal, prayed, prayer, received, right, righteous, save, say grace, saying, seems, sin, sin doesn't matter, slave trader, song, supernatural, that saved a wretch like me, the question is, unmerited favor, when you die, woman's name, wretch, wretched, wroter | 3 Comments

Category Archives: lifestyles

Christmas Is About Judgment

How To Shop For Christ*mas

Thanksgiving Without Giving Thanks Is Just A Fine Time To Dine On Turkey

Guts & Glory In Spiritual Growth — Path, Rocks, Thorns, Fertile Ground

Dishonesty’s 10 Dirty Downers

I Grew Up In Church Without God

Thinking Through A Tutu Thought About Conscience

Avoiding Hell And Making Heaven Have Never Much Motivated Me

American Movies & TV, Get Real! (You Are Out Of Touch With The Real World!)

Grace — God’s Righteous Attributes Continually Expressed

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