Category Archives: spectators

Who is a child of God?

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Steve Simms

Avoid spiritual identity theft. The Bible says: “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14.) Go God’s route. Be Spirit-led! To be led by the Spirit as a child of God is … Continue reading →

Posted in children of God, Holy Spirit, participants, spectators, Spirit-led | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Has churchianity become emptianity?

Posted on September 4, 2018 by Steve Simms

Has church become “emptianity,” a passive version of Christianity unable to produce inner peace and lasting transformation? Perhaps church should be like a theme park where people take action and actually do things, not a like a parking lot where … Continue reading →

Posted in character, faith without works, getting high on God, getting high on Jesus, integrity, Jesus, Jesus Christ, mental health, spectatoritis, spectators, Uncategorized, why go to church | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

If you haven’t heard, perhaps your being herded

Posted on August 9, 2018 by Steve Simms

If you haven’t heard Christ’s living words burning in your heart, it’s easy to follow the herd. Are you being herded? When God blazes a new trail in your heart, it often creates a mismatch with religious tradition. Jesus’ way or … Continue reading →

Posted in following Christ, heart, heart care, heart connection, heart strangely warmed, heart-felt, I am the way, Jesus is the way, sin, smoke, smoke and mirrors, spectators, spiritual warfare, tradition, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jesus came to revitalize us; not to ritualize us!

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Steve Simms

Jesus came to revitalize, revolutionize, and radicalize us, not to systematize, traditionalize, and ritualize us. The risen Jesus is radical, but church tries to make Him liturgical. Church programs are a poor substitute for the living presence of Christ and His … Continue reading →

Posted in google, Jesus is the way, liturgy, non-liturgical, Paul of Tarsus, Sigmond Freud, spectators, the way the truth the life, the way we do church, transformation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Religion — a track for God to run on?

Posted on December 30, 2017 by Steve Simms

Church sometimes seems like going to a restaurant to hear a talk about food and then thinking we’ve been fed. Too many Christians have been taught that their primary role in the body of Christ is to sit and listen to … Continue reading →

Posted in body of Christ, frozen, how the body of Christ functions, religious ceremonies, spectators, Uncategorized, unprogrammed, unprogrammed church, unprogrammed meeting | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What usually happens when Christians meet?

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Steve Simms

Here are three ways of doing church: 1) Lecture: Let me tell you what I know. 2) Facilitation: Let me fish out what a few other people know. And 3) Ekklesia: Let’s go beyond what we know & let the risen … Continue reading →

Posted in a new reformation, church order, church program, church programming, liturgy, oratory, order of worship, passivity, priesthood of the believer, pulpit, pulpit ministry, reformation, spectators, Uncategorized, universal priesthood | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Spirit-Led Church–Where Ordinary People Are The Playmakers

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Steve Simms

Go with the best flows! –Life’s a flow show — currents streaming in us and around us — rivers flow, sap flows, blood flows, thoughts flow, emotions flow, time flows, information flows. But not all flows are equal — love … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, fans, organic church, participatory church, playmaker, questions, rivers of living water, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvation Army Nashville, Salvation Army officer, simple church, spectators, Spirit directed, Spirit-led, Spirit-led church, spiritual flow, sports fans | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Is it possible that there are much more effective ways for the church to preach and teach than one-man, weekly lecturing or sermonizing?

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Steve Simms
Posted in church sermons, interactive, interactive church, interactive learning, interactive sermons, lecture, lecture series, motivational sermons, nontraditional preaching, public speaking, pulpit ministry, Q&A, sermon, sermon-free, sermon-hearing, sermons, spectators, speech making, speeches | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Creative Texting Ideas

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Steve Simms

Here’s a great texting idea.  Text this: U R needed to actively participate in chURch. Or this:  When the preacher is the only one allowed to speak out in church, u r left out, so perhaps we should spell one-speaker … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, church, church services, ch__ch, creative texting, participants, participation, participators, participatory church, passivity, preacher, preaching, religiious texting, religion, spectators, texting ideas, texting in church, u r, What's missing in ch__ch? u r | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Release or Re-Leash?

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Steve Simms

Release of the Spirit — or — Re-leash of the Spirit? Have you ever noticed that whenever there is a release of the Holy Spirit, the human tendency is to re-leash Him and get church back under human control and … Continue reading →

Posted in church format, church leader, church meetings, church program, church programs, church roles, church services, church structure, God on a leash, hymn, hymns, I Corinthians 14:26, instruction, interpretation, interpretation of tongues, leash, participants, participators, participatory church, release of the Spirit, relevation, religion, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, simple church, speaking in tongues, spectators, spirit, Spirit's flow, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-prompted, spiritual church, spiritual interaction, spiritual life, spiritual movement, The Salvation Army, theology, tongues | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments