Category Archives: recovery

Confronting The Christmas Claims — Conscious Contact With God

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Steve Simms

The original Christmas is full of contact with God. The ordinary becomes the extraordinary as people encounter God’s Presence and power. A physical new star in the heavens becomes a messenger from Heaven, directing wise men hundreds of miles to … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, angels, Angels We Have Heard On High, Bible, Christian history, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, creation, evangelicals, forgiveness, glory, God, grace, gratitude, guidance, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, kingdom of God, Lord, miracles, mysticism, new birth, non-material reality, Oh my God, prayer, proof of God, recovery, revelation, salvation, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, supernatural, tradition, Uncategorized, virgin birth, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged 21st Century, 84, a light for revelation, about Jesus, All who heared it were amazed, angels, Anna, at what the shepherds told them, babe, beautiful, Bethlehem, born, Christ Child, Christmas, Christmas claims, circumcised, confronting, conscious contact, continually, declared, demonstrationg, directing, effort, eight days, Elizabeth, encounter, excitedly, extraordinary, follow, glory, God, God's presence, guided by the Spirit, heart, heaven, heavens, Holy Spirit, hundres of miles, Israel, Jesus, Jesus' mother, John the Baptist, Lord's, lowliest occupations, Mary, messenger, Messiah, motivated, moved by the Spirit, New Testament, not see death, ordinary, original, overcome by, parents, people, physical, power, power of the Spirit, prayed and fasted, prophetic words, resources, revealed, run around, sacririce, Shepherds, signs and wonders, Simeon of Jerusalem, small town, speak, spiritual, star, still shines, stirring, telling everybody, that very moment, the Spirit of God, the Temple, this very day, time, to the Gentiles, treasured, walked up to, widow, wise men, worship, year-old, Zachariah | 6 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

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

Modern Myth #11 — Cravings & Compulsions Are Uncontrollable

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

Did Moses come down from the mountain with an 11th Commandment: “Thou cannot resist thy cravings and thy compulsions so do your thang man?” I don’t think that came from Moses, but it is a widespread myth in today’s world. … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, biology, boundaries, brain chemistry, brain research, casual sex, criticism, DNA, drugs, drunk, feelings, freedom, genetic tendency, life, lifestyles, modern myths, morality, morals, myths, popular culture, recovery, rehab, repent, self-esteem, self-image, sin, thoughts, values, words | Tagged 11th Commandment, ability, all the time, animals, behaviors, born this way, brain, can't help himself, compulsons, craving, cravings, dance, denial, desires, do your thang, don't think, drift off, easier, embrace, free will, freely choose, genetic, go with the flow, hear, hists us, however, humans, impulses, in the short-term, independent, instincts, irrational, It's in my genes, just, make wise decisions, man, manipulative, meekly, modern myth, Moses, myth, no choice, not responsible, obey, of course not, our tendencies, overcome, power, prison, resist, self-destrictive, so much, statements, tendency, that's just the way I am, the cliff, the mountain, Thou cannot, Thy, today's, true, tunes, twisted, uncontrollable, uniforms, very hard work, widespread, world | 5 Comments

66 Books (That Everybody Needs To Read)

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Steve Simms

There are 66 books that everybody needs to read. These books were written by more than 40 diverse authors — rich people and poor people, intellectuals and uneducated folks. These 66 books were written over a 1,500 year time period. Some of these books … Continue reading →

Posted in Acts, American, American Literature, Bible, books, Christian history, Christianity, church history, criticism, English, English literature, history, kingdom of God, Leviticus, life, lifestyles, meaning, morality, morals, poem, poetry, popular culture, reading, recovery, self-help, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values, words | Tagged 40, 4th Century, 500 years ago, 66 books, a chance read one, Acts, AD, almost, amazing, authors, bad things, be a better man, best selling, biography, bondage, brought together, brutally honest, burn in my heart, call, call a spade a spade, centuries, challenge, change, children, come clean, deeds, depths of, detail, disobeyed, distorted, diverse, English, everybody, exhortations, favorite, fellow humans, first began, fit together, folks, for example, forcibly held, George Washington, godlike, greatest literary influence, having missed out, heart, heroes, history, history books, human history, human lives, I would pick, impacted, innocent men, inspire, intellectuals, it would be a shame, James, John, KJV, known as, learn to read, least favorite, Letters, Leviticus, life, lifted, live right, love, matter, Matthew, millions of people, mirror, my being, needs, new levels, number one best seller, one book, over, over and over, people, poetry, poor, powerfully, put a spin on, radically transform, reading, reread, reveal, rich, right behind, seldom find, serve, shocking, superhuman, terrible cruelty, testified, the best books every written, the fact, the opposite, thinking, this year, Thomas Jefferson, thought, through out history, time period, to die, to read, today, totally honest, tound togethter, translation, translations, uneducated, unit, unlike, vivid, well, Western culture, whipped, why not give, women, work without pay, written, wrongful, year | 19 Comments

What Would Your Life Be Like If . . .

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

How would you be today if you had been born to a mother in poverty with several children by different men? What if you had been surrounded by depression, anger, fear, hopelessness, and despair? How would you be if you … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, disciple making, discipling, drugs, drunk, East Nashville, freedom, house church, human rights, Jesus, Jesus Christ, jobs, life, lifestyles, meaning, multi-racial, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, prejudice, race, recovery, rehab, religion, self-esteem, self-image, simple church, social justice, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, words | Tagged 10:45 am, 225 Berry St., 37207, a place, according to, advantages, America, Americans, anger, ask, befriends, Berry Street, better off, better quality of life, born, builds, built, buy, caring relationship, cheat, childhood, children by different men, church, close personal friends, college, community, cross, culture, cuss, demonstrating, depression, despair, desperately need, different, disciplined, doesn't, drugs, economics, encouraging, enviornment, environment, family, fear, few, financially, friend, get drunk, godly man, great advantages, groups of men, growing up, had never known, hand, handed, help, helped, helped along, helping, hopelessness, How would you, however, in the middle of, Jesus Christ, job, kept away, lie, lines, lived n their shoes, living, look down on others, looking for, loved, loving, make a difference, man, mean to others, mentor, millions, money, mother, Nashville, negative, neighbor, not so fortunate, opportunity, paid, parented, people's lives, personal, pobverty, positive example, powerful programming, practical help, profanity, question, raise, redirect their lives, rehab, relationship, relationships, sexual, sin, social status, socially, socio-economic, spearate, steal, struggling financially, stuck, Sundays, surrounded, the love of, The Salvation Army, TN, today, true, use drugs, violence, visit, vital, vulgarity, way to live, woman, Worship Center | 1 Comment

Modern Myth #8 — Self-Indulgence Satisfies

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Steve Simms

Modern Myth #8 Have you ever noticed that compulsive desires are never satisfied by indulging them – that cravings are not eliminated by giving in to them? For example, if you eat a bite of something sweet that you crave, … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, boundaries, feelings, fire, freedom, fuel, life, lifestyles, meaning, modern myths, morality, morals, myths, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, recovery, repent, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, sin, sobriety, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values, words | Tagged believe, bite, bondage, brings, cease, clammoring, clamors for more, compulsions, compulsive desires, control, crave, cravings, eliminated, encourages, fanned into flames, fed, feeding a desire, feel, feel better, feelings, few weeks, fire, for example, fuels, giving in, happiness, have you ever noticed, hurt, immediately, indulge ourselves, indulging, Leslie Vernick, lifestyle, lonely, myth, not true, obey, psyche, puts it this way, quotation, restrained, results, satisfied, satisfying, sefl-restraint, self, self-demands, self-esteem, self-indulgence, self-indulgent, slaves, society, something sweet, truth, unhappy, unloved, want another, wrongly | 1 Comment

Modern Myth #7 — All Lifestyles Are Equal

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Steve Simms

The popular belief that all lifestyles are equal is an obvious myth. Take the lifestyle of alcohol and drug abuse for example. It produces intense emotional pain, broken homes, slavery to compulsion, criminal activity, moral collapse, and jail or prison … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, adultery, alternative lifestyle, casual sex, criticism, drug commercials, drugs, drunk, feelings, freedom, human rights, lifestyles, meaning, morality, morals, myths, popular culture, recovery, repent, self-help, sobriety, values, words | Tagged accept, addict, adultery, alcohol, all lifestyles are equal, ask, behavior, belief, broken homes, change, change your lifestyle, choices, comes to mind, commit, compulsions, criminal activity, daily, drug abuse, emotional pain, equal, every, faithfulness, falsely, far worse, for example, intense, jail, let me ask you, lifestyle, lifestyles, living, making, meaning, meaningless, means, misery, moral collapse, myth, no need, no such thing, obvious, popular, prison, produces, rather, repent, repentance, right living, righteousness, slavery, sobriety, spouse, strive, tell, the way, this, thought, time, whenever, whim, words, work hard, would you, wouldn't it be better, wrongful, yanked | 1 Comment

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

What The Church Can Learn From Chris Johnson & The Tennessee Titans’ Running Game

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Steve Simms

Nashville’s Tennessee Titans’ running game has something to teach the church. After a holdout that caused Chris Johnson, the best running back in the National Football League the past three years, to miss all of training camp, the Titans signed him to a $50+ … Continue reading →

Posted in change, change management, Chris Johnson, church history, CJ2K, criticism, history, house church, life, lifestyles, Nashville, National Football League, NFL, operationg system, organic church, popular culture, recovery, simple church, sports, Super Bowl, tailgate party, tailgating, Tennessee Titans, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 000, 100 yards, 2, 2011, 3, 6, abnormal, accepted, accepts, accomplishing, achieve, Acts, afraid, and, back, blame society, book, both, changes, Chris Johnson, Christianity, church, CJ, Cleveland Browns, continually, continues, criticized, declining, denial, described in, determination, don't lower your standards, don't make excuses, everyday, face the fact, failure, forced to conform, free from sin, game, games, get it back, he, holdout, improving, influence, keep striving for improvement, keep working, know, lack of spiritual power, level, little, low performance, maintaining, make adjustments, many years, million dollar contract, miss, mortivated, Nashville's, National Football League, NFL, normal, not getting the job done, not producing success, numbers, often, openly admitted, out of the box, pitiful, players, poor performance, power of God, powerful, practice effort, publicly, read, really bad, refused to accept, rember past success, remember, resisted, running game, said, same, satisfied, season, seasons, see, she, signed, someone, state, strive for improvement, sub-standard, supposed, take personal responsibility, teach, Tennessee Titans, the best running back, the things, three, Titans, to make excueses, tragic, training camp, try, try new ideas, until they get it right, what can the church learn from, work, yards, years, yesterday | 4 Comments

Category Archives: recovery

Confronting The Christmas Claims — Conscious Contact With God

Dishonesty’s 10 Dirty Downers

Thinking Through A Tutu Thought About Conscience

Modern Myth #11 — Cravings & Compulsions Are Uncontrollable

66 Books (That Everybody Needs To Read)

Modern Myth #8 — Self-Indulgence Satisfies

Modern Myth #7 — All Lifestyles Are Equal

Modern Myth # 3 — Life Is All About Stuff

What The Church Can Learn From Chris Johnson & The Tennessee Titans’ Running Game

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