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Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible
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Category Archives: meaning
Meeting God’s Gathering (Ekklesia) Instead Of Religion’s Church
One night I wandered into a group gathered in a college dorm and heard regular people sincerely telling how Jesus had changed their lives. Later the group joined hands in a large circle, pulled me in, and began to talk … Continue reading
Posted in alternative lifestyle, American church, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christian, Christianity, church, church history, church structure, compassion, conversion, disciple making, disciples, discipling, early church, ekklesia, evidence for God, freedom, gift of God, gifts of the Spirit, God's government, Greek, hearing God, hearing Jesus, history, Holy Spirit, hope, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, improvisation, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, movement, Music City, mystery, mysticism, Nashville, non-material reality, non-traditional church, nones, normal Christianity, order of worship, organic church, outreach ministry, participatory church, peace, praise and worship, prayer, presence of Christ, presence of God, recovery, religion, revelation, right conduct, salvation, simple church, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, stumble upon, testimonies, The Salvation Army, the way we do church, Time magazine, voice of God, What is church?, Why be a Christian?, worship
Tagged Berry Street Worship Center, ekklesia, Holy Spirit, kingdom of God, Nashville, Nones, organic church, The Salvation Army, Time magazine
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Quotes From Spiritual Athletes Between The 4th & 7th Centuries
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
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The Christmas Gift Most Commonly Left Unopened
Every year some Christmas gifts remain unopened. They are lost and/or forgotten in the holiday hustle, buried under discarded wrapping paper, accidentally tossed with the trash. So what is the most commonly unopened Christmas gift? You would think it would … Continue reading
Posted in alternative lifestyle, apologists, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, Christmas gifts, church, conversion, East Nashville, feelings, glory, God, guidance, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, Jesus Take The Wheel, kingdom of God, lifestyles, meaning, miracles, movement, Music City, mystery, mysticism, non-material reality, organic church, proof of God, Reason For The Season, recovery, religion, repent, salvation, saved, Savior, simple church, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, supernatural, support group, Tennessee, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, Why be a Christian?, worship
Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, actual presence, amazing, and/or, Berry Street, birthday, bold moniker, burried, celebration, Christ in you, Christ's presence, Christmas, Christmas gifts, come, conscious awareness, discarded wrapping papper, doing, dubbed, easily misplaced, Every year, everyday people, experience, fades into memory, forgotten, God with us, God's gift, healing, holiday hustle, humans, ignored, Immanuel, ink pens, Jesus Christ one of His names, jewelery, keeps us alive, life-transforming, lost, mayhem, means, miss, misses, much hoopla, Nashville, need help, no matter how small, normal, one of the smaller, open, place, rubble, sessions, show and tell, so real, Sundays, survive the Christmas morning, the hope of glory, the invisible air, the most commonly unopened Christmas gift, The Salvation Army, TN, tossed with the trash, treasured, under tree, unopened, unwrapping, use, valuable, visit, what a shame, Worship Center, you can feel, you would think
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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 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
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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 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
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Let’s Be Fair & Name Every Holiday “Holiday”
There continues to be much effort made attempting to change the name and focus of Christmas. For example, this Christmas season, the governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, decided to change the name of the Christmas tree in the rotunda … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, Halloween, holiday, holidays, Independence Day, Labor Day, meaning, Memorial Day, New Years' Eve, political correctness, Trick or Treating
Tagged a lot easier, attempting to change, be fair, bland, celebrations, change the name, Christmas, Christmas season, Christmas tree, continues, decided, equally, fireworks, fireworks shows, focus, for example, govenor of Rhode Island, gut, Halloween, holiday season, Holiday tree, holidays, Independence Day, Labor Day picnics, Lincoln Chafee, meaning, Memorial Day, much effort, name, New Years' Eve parties, offended, other, political correctness, renamed, state house, Trick or Treating
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Christmas Chatter
Christmas chatter: ‘Tis the season to celebrate Jesus. Happy Christ Day! Merry Jesusmas! “When Christ entered our world, He didn’t come to brighten our Decembers, but to transform our lives.” –Rich Miller Have yourself a Holy Spirit Christmas. What we … Continue reading
Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, East Nashville, feelings, God, holidays, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, lifestyles, Lord, meaning, miracles, Music City, mystery, mysticism, Nashville, popular culture, praise and worship, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, Reason For The Season, self-esteem, shopping, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, worship
Tagged 'Tis the season, a great time, All hail the power of Jesus' name, Alpha, amazing, awesome, becomes more real, begins, Berry Street, Bible, birthday, brighten, celebrate Jesus, chatter, Christ Day, Christ entered our world, Christ will fill, Christmas, Dan Schaeffer, Decembers, diminish, enthusiastically, everlasting Father, every Sunday morning, fact, God's love, Grander, happy, Have yourself a, heard, His presence, holidays, Holy Spirit, imagined, is His, Jesusmas, keep silent, King of Kings, let angels prostrate fall, lives, Lord of Lords, love, love for God, Merry, mighty God, more important, mysterious, Nashville, of the season, old song, Omega, openly, pages of the, part of everyday life, people, power, powerful, Prince of Peace, real, reality, Rich Miller, says, surrender, talk about Jesus, testify, testimonies, the best deal, the best shopping deal, The Salvation Army, transform, turn away, What a friend we have in Jesus, What God is doing, what we talk about, when was the last time, will, wiser, Wonderful Counselor, worked up, Worship Center
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