Category Archives: pentecostals

Was Matthias A Mistake? — The Human Need To Institutionalize Spirituality

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Steve Simms

Was replacing Judas (who had betrayed Jesus) with Matthias a mistake? Was it a very early example of the human desire to institutionalize church? Perhaps. The Book of Acts begins with the resurrected Jesus spending 40 days with the apostles … Continue reading →

Posted in 120 in upper room, Acts, acts of God, Bible, choice, Christ, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian community, Christian history, Christian values, Christianity, church, church history, church meetings, church programs, church roles, church structure, disciples, ekklesia, empty tomb, faith, fire, gift of God, gifts of the Spirit, God's authority, God's government, Gospel, Gospels, Greek word, guidance, hearing God, hearing Jesus, heirarchy, His story, history, Holy Spirit, house church, insight, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus' mother Mary, Judas, kingdom of God, life, lifestyle Christianity, Luke, Matthias, missional, move of God, movement, mysticism, non-church, organic church, Pentecost, pentecostals, presence of Christ, presence of God, quench the Spirit, Quotations, quote, Quotes, religion, revelation, revival, rivers of living water, Scriptures, speaking in tongues, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual awakening, spiritual formation, spiritual warfare, supernatural, The Voice, tongues of fire, tradition, unprogrammed church, voice of God, voices, What is church?, words on fire | Tagged Apostles, book of Acts, early church, Holy Spirit, institutionalization of church, psalms, replacing Judas | 19 Comments

New Years’ Eve Ponderings

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Steve Simms

It is New Years’ Eve of 2011. The New Year, 2012, is arriving tonight. I find myself this morning, yearning for the fire of God, for a great spiritual awakening, for a mighty move of God right here in Nashville, … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christian history, church history, conversion, disciple making, East Nashville, fire, glory, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, kingdom of God, movement, mysticism, New Year, New Years' Eve, non-material reality, Oh my God, pentecostals, praise and worship, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, recovery, religion, repent, revelation, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church?, William Booth | Tagged 2011, 2012, 225 Berry St., 37207, a great move, a mighty move of God, anytime, arriving tonight, beautiful, Berry Street, blessed, blood-bought, bright, bring in the New Year, bring the light, burn up every trace of sin, burning, celebration, claim, cleansing flame, co-founder, deeply, demonstration, Elijah, full of hope, gift, glory in, God of, great spiritual awakening, hear our cry, Holy Ghost, host, I find mysfelf, It goes, it is, life-transforming, live or die, look down, make us fit, may, most powerful, moves my heart, Nashville, New Year, New Years' Eve, now begin, O God, power of God, pray, rewarding, right here, safe, Send the fire, song, Tennessee, the beginning, the fire of God, the promised, the revolution, The Salvation Army, this morning, TN, today, tonight, waiting, way, we need another Pentedost, welcome, what is the, William Booth, Worship Center, wrote, yearning for | 1 Comment

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

How To Regularly Experience The Inner Flow Of The Holy Spirit

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Steve Simms

Jesus promised His followers an inner flow of the Holy Spirit. He said: “Out of your inner most being shall flow rivers of living water.” This is not just theology, theory, or doctrine, but an actual, ongoing experience. Believers have amazing spiritual … Continue reading →

Posted in Anabaptists, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, books, Christian history, Christianity, church history, English literature, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, John Wesley, morality, morals, mysticism, Nashville, organic church, pentecostals, Philokalia, prayer, Quakers, reading, religion, revelation, salvation, simple church, spiritual, Uncategorized | Tagged 225, 37207, acts like Jesus, actual, amazing, Anabaptists, behaviors, believers, Berry Street, Bible, books, Catholic, characer, church, church fathers, come, command, consequences, daily lives, desires, devotionally, do it, doctrine, dutifully, early, encouragement, experience, feared, floow, flow, flow in the Spirit, flow-ers, focusing, follow, followers, free, fruit, gifts, Give, hang out, hearts, Holy Spirit, how, humbly, inner, Jesus, Jesus' mother, keys, lay down, little, live in, llife, love letter, Mary, Methodists, ministry, missionaries, monks, moral, more caught than taught, mystics, Nashville, New Testament, nudging, obey, of the Spirit, one-on-one, ongoing, opinions, Orthocox, out of the box, Out of your inner most being, participatory, Paul, Pentecostals, people, Philokalia, potential, power, practical, prayer, problems, promised, prompted, promptly, Protestant, Quakers, Quench not the Spirit, quit, read, realize, regardless, regularly, releasing, requests, right away, rivers of living water, Scriptures, sense, shall flow, share, show, sin, spend time, Spirit led, Spirit of God, spiritual, spiritual potential, steps, stir, stir up the gift, stirrings, stop, suggestions, Sundays, surrender, tells, testimonies, textbook, that is within you, The Salvation Army, theology, theory, things, thoughts, unaware of, way, Whatever He says to you, words, Worship Center, writings, wrongdoing, wrongful | 18 Comments

Respond To The Spirit Like A Windmill

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Steve Simms

The wind of the Spirit is blowing, but the church is stripped and locked down like the blades of a windmill. It refuses to move in response to the Holy Spirit, preferring the rigidity of religion instead of the roaring … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, freedom, God, Holy Spirit, house church, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, Michigan, mysticism, new birth, organic church, pentecostals, prayer, windmill | Tagged about us, apply, attentive, bird, blades, born of the Spirit, break, city park, clothe, clothed with humility, covered, direct, disobeying, Dutch, face the wind, fear, focus on, frame, graceful, Holland, Holy Spirit, impict, intentionally, Jesus, like the wind, listen to, live, Michigan, move, name De Zwaan, neglect, New Testament, obey, out of the box, powerful, presence, principles, Quench not the Spirit, refuse, reminded, resisting the Spirit, respond, rotated, sales, Scripture, seek, soaring, speak to me, teaching, the Netherlands, the Spirit, The wind blows, tradition, turn, unlocked, walking through the park, what people will think, windmill, Windmill Island, yesterday, yield, you hear its sound | 2 Comments

My Top Five Christian Groups (Churches) Of All Time

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Steve Simms

I am an avid church history reader. However, I don’t much enjoy the politics and religion of the institutional church. Instead I love reading about the living faith of Christians in the past and about spiritural movements when multitudes came to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anabaptists, ancient history, Bible, church history, God, history, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, lifestyles, mysticism, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, pentecostals, Quakers, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 100 years, 12, 1906 Pentecostal experience, affluent, aggressive, Anabaptists, assembly, avid, awesome, back home, bar tunes, beat drums, believed, Bible, billion, boldly, book of Acts, buildings, Christ, Christian movements, Christians, church history, countries, doctrine, drunkards, evangelize, favorite, finanical support, First Century, five, folks, generations, great love, group, healing, history, home, I Corinthians 14, institutional church, invaded, lead a song, lifestyle, lived, living faith, love, marched, meetings, miracles, missionaries, moved, multitudes, name, New Testament, of the, official, on fire, on the streets, one-way ticket, open air, participate, past, Pentecostals, people, politics, poor, power of God, preachers, professional, prostitutes, Quakers, reader, religion, Roman Catholics, Salvationists, sea steamer, silently, Society of Friends, speak, speaking in tongues, spiritual movements, store front, tens of thousands, The Salvation Army, turned the world upside down, words, world, worship | 10 Comments

Category Archives: pentecostals

Was Matthias A Mistake? — The Human Need To Institutionalize Spirituality

New Years’ Eve Ponderings

Passion For The Christ — Spiritual Fire & Desire

Respond To The Spirit Like A Windmill

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Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible

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