Category Archives: materialism

No One Searches For Insignificance

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Steve Simms

Would you like for your life to be meaningless? Of course not. And you’re not alone. No one searches for insignificance. It is a universal human desire to find some sense of purpose in life. If we were the mere … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, atheism, Atheists, creationism, Creator, evidence for God, evolution, God, hearing God, materialism, materialistic evolution, non-material reality, proof of God, religion, science, supernatural, textbooks | Tagged evolutionary reason, God, materialistic evolution, meaninglessness, science textbooks, search for significance | 11 Comments

Just How Real Is Jesus?

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Steve Simms

Before the manifestation of matter, when there were no waves or particles; no electrons, protons, or neutrons; no light or sound; no nature or natural laws; Jesus was. Before the stars were scattered across the expanse of space, Jesus was. … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, ancient history, Bible, big bang, Christ, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian history, Christianity, creation, creationism, Creator, dancing with God, dead man walking, death-defeating, disciples, entangled particles, evidence for God, gift of God, glory, God, hearing God, hearing Jesus, His story, history, history of the universe, hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, kingdom of God, life, materialism, mystery, mysticism, natural laws, Oh my God, omnipresent, origin of life, presence of Christ, presence of God, Reason For The Season, religion, resurrection, revelation, Son-shine, spooky action, supernatural, Uncategorized, Why be a Christian? | Tagged big bang, creation, His story, Jesus Christ, natural laws, omnipresent, the Light | 5 Comments

Christmas Is Full Of Mystery — So Is Life

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Steve Simms

Christmas is full of mystery. Mystery is difficult for some people to accept. It is human nature to want to know how things happen. We want to understand — to figure things out. This innate human trait has been good … Continue reading →

Posted in big bang, biology, challenges, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, consciousness, creation, Creator, education, evolution, holidays, impossible odds, materialism, mind, miracles, mystery, mysticism, non-material reality, Oh my God, origin of life, proof of God, Reason For The Season, religion, self-image, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, stuff, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, virgin birth, Why be a Christian? | Tagged admit, agriculture, analytical, attempt to answer, Avenue, believe, beyond the wildest, blob of condensed matter, blow up, blow-out, blows a circuit, by faith, categorize, category, charted, choose, Christmas, comfort, communication, compartmentalized, completely unexplainable, complexity, confronts, crafted, creation, dead end, delcares a Creator, denied, difficult for some people to accept, distant past, Does a person survive death, don't matter, energy, experimentation, explain, explain the origin, exploded, fallacy, figure things out, for example, full of mystery, good for the human race, great advancement in health, has to offer, His mystery, how, How can we improve?, How dose that work, how things happen, human imagination, human knowledge, human nature, human reasoning, human trait, in the real world, inate, increased knowledge, left-brained, life, living, logic, loose ends, made of nothing, mankind, matter, meaning, mysterious Creator, mystery, observation, order, personality, philosophy, physical world, presume, pridefully, purely natural process, question, randomly produced, rational beings, rationality, reality, reasoning, religion, removed, riddle of life's mistery, right back, science, shove, shrouded, solid, somehow, speculation, speed of light, started, stuck with, survives, systematized, technology, the best that, The Big Bang, thinik, thrives, tricked, two choices, unanswerable, understanding, unimaginable complexity, vast body, want to know, want to understand, we don't know, Western world, What does lofe mean, Where did we come from | 6 Comments

You Can’t Buy Christmas

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Steve Simms

So many people are motivated by a myth — trying desperately to purchase a Merry Christmas. Unfortunately, this is a major misconception that we are taught by our popular culture. Truth is — you can’t buy Christmas. You can buy … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, Cyber Monday, greed, joy, lies, life, materialism, meaning, motivation, myths, popular culture, repent, sales, selling, shopping, Small Business Saturday, stuff, thoughts, tradition, Uncategorized, words | Tagged 'em, a major lie, beyond, buy, car, cash or credit, Christmas decorations, Christmas ffeast, clients, decorate, dollars, ebay, every, exciting, expensive gifts, family, find the most, for all to see, Friends, Give, go on, joy, lod, lots of, loved one, many people, members, Merry Christmas, mighty special, misconception, motivated, myth, order, parth, plastic cards, plastic trees, popular culture, pretty packages, purchase piles, spend, still, strings of lights, take, taught, tens of thousands, the best, throw, tidings of great joy, to purchase, to the limit, truth is, trying desperately, unfortunately, unusual, you can't buy Christmas | 2 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

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

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

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

Modern Myth # 3 — Life Is All About Stuff

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Steve Simms

How much is stuff is enough? Our closets, basements, and garages are overflowing with stuff, but still we can’t get enough. So we call a charity to bring a truck and pick up our “old” stuff so that we will … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, American, boundaries, criticism, gods, life, lifestyles, materialism, meaning, modern myths, myths, peace, possessions, Quotations, Quotes, reading, recovery, stuff, Uncategorized | Tagged a wild goose chase, accumulation, achieved, achieving, acquiring, addiction, amazing, Americans, awash, basements, brand new, break, bulging, buy, can't get enough, charity, closets, collect, collects, consume, continue, creates, day, donations, emotional, emotionally, everyone, extremely, face to face, fed, feed on, focus, fulfilling life, fulfillment, garages, grasp for more, great, grows, happiest people, happy, has led you on, hasn't, having food and clothing, help others, helping other people, history, hope, house, how much, how to live, human desire, inner contentment, inner pain, inner victory, insecutities, instead, is enough, joy, landfills, latest fashion, lead, learning to control, let us be content, life, limit, long-term satisfaction, longing for stuff, material things, mental, mentally, more, never be satisfied, new, night, non-fiction books, not satisfied, not the answer, obsession, obvious, old, over-stuffed, overcome, overflowing, Paul of Tarsus, peace, personal, personally give, pick up, processes, quality, quantity, quotations, quote, read, really nice, rent, resources, rewarding life, room for more, satisfaction, should be, society, son't have room, spiritual, storage unit, stuff, the next new thing, them, tons, truck, trying to satisfy, uplifting, why not try, win, wisdom, working to change, writing checks | 2 Comments

Category Archives: materialism

No One Searches For Insignificance

Just How Real Is Jesus?

Christmas Is Full Of Mystery — So Is Life

You Can’t Buy Christmas

How To Shop For Christ*mas

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

Thinking Through A Tutu Thought About Conscience

Modern Myth # 3 — Life Is All About Stuff

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