Category Archives: spiritual growth

My Top 12 Blogs For 2011

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here are links to my Top 12 Blogs For 2o11: #1) Did Oprah Read My Book #2) Who’s My #1 Greatest American? William Lloyd Garrison #3) Talk About Expensive Gas #4) Where Did Sojourner Truth Get Her Name? #5) Church … Continue reading →

Posted in American, Americans, Bible, black history, champions, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, church, church history, church structure, history, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, Lord, morality, motivation, movement, mystery, mysticism, Occupy Wall Street, Oh my God, Oprah, organic church, popular culture, praise and worship, prayer, race, racism, religion, repent, self-help, sex, sex in marriage, simple church, sin, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, words, worship | Tagged 1, 3rd, 70 AD, academic, Antioch, book, Christmas, church, claims, did, epidemic, expensive gas, Free Gas, from, get, great missionary, greatest American, history's most important dates, how did, intellect votech, lab, launch, leader, lecture, name, New Testament, Occupy till I come, Occupy Wall Street, one of, Oprah, read, reading, revival, Scriptures, Sojourner Truth, talk about, tank, ten most disobeyed, thank you, the best kind of sex, think, Virgin Birth, what the church can learn, where did, Who's, William J. Seymour, William Lloyd Garrison, work, world-wide | Leave a comment

Quotes From Spiritual Athletes Between The 4th & 7th Centuries

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Steve Simms

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 | 2 Comments

Bringing In The New Year — Party Or Pray?

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Steve Simms

The most popular way to bring in the New Year is to party — to celebrate the mere passing of time (a New Year is coming, the old one is passing away) yahoo! However, many people will admit that New … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, church, courage, East Nashville, God, house church, hung over, Music City, New Year, New Years' Eve, organic church, party, popular culture, praise and worship, prayer, prayer walking, religion, simple church, spiritual, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, support group, Tennessee, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, worship | Tagged 2013, a New Year's coming, bring in the New Year, celebrate, party, prayer | Leave a comment

The Christmas Gift Most Commonly Left Unopened

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Steve Simms

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 | 3 Comments

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 on December 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

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 | 1 Comment

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 on December 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

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 | Leave a comment

Improv Works Well In Comedy — Could It Work In Church?

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Steve Simms

Improv is a shortened version of the word improvisation. It refers to acting or creating in the moment rather than planning one’s words and actions ahead of time. It can be thought of as “on the spur of the moment” … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, church, comedians, comedy, freedom, house church, humor, improv, improvisation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, Nashville, organic church, Quotations, Quotes, religion, simple church, spiritual, spiritual growth, supernatural, The Salvation Army, thoughts, What is church?, words | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, a great concept, a woman, accumulated yearnings, acting, actions, activity, afterwards, ahead of time, all that was shared, amazed, Americans, another person's, at how, because, Berry Street, Bod becomes morre real, built up, can be, church building, come see, comedians, comedy, controlled, could improv work in church, create, creating in the moment, cure what ails you, cures what ails, dreams, each, encouraged, encouraging words, enjoy, exercise, fit together, for yourself, from, gather, gifts of the Spirit, group of people, grow in love, happening, heart, humor, improv, improv in comedy, improvisation, in and through, just a theory, Last Sunday, least likely, lives, Liz Allen, love for Jesus, love it, Mark Batterson, Nashville, off the cuff, on a Sunday morning, on the spur of the moment, one another, one of the places, picture this, planned, planning one's words, pray for one another, presented by one person, probablly, proclaim, put it all together, quotation, rather than, refers to, said, Scriptures, services, short teachings, shortened, showed them, someone says, something, Spirit led, spontaneously interacting, Tennessee, testify, the church, the expression, the most familiar use of, the person of the Holy Spirit, The Salvation Army, the whole group, thought of, to the smallest detail, today, took notes, triggers, version, What God is doing, who has something to share, Why, wisdom of the soul, with each other, word, working, Worship Center, Yehudi Menuhin | 5 Comments

My Day In Bethlehem (Not Pennsylvania)

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

I could see the ancient, small town of Bethlehem in the distance as I approached the Shepherds Grotto, a small cave where shepherds have sheltered themselves for too many centuries to count. It was in these fields that something happened … Continue reading →

Posted in Bethlehem, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, church, church history, forgiveness, glory, God, Holy Holy Holy, Holy Spirit, impossible odds, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, kingdom of God, language, miracles, mystery, mysticism, new birth, non-material reality, Oh my God, Oh Sinner Man, prayer, proof of God, Reason For The Season, religion, repent, salvation, Savior, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, supernatural, Uncategorized, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged after a few seconds, again and again, amazing event, ancient, ancient stairs, angels appeared, announcing, approached, around the world, babe, basement wall, Bethlehem, celebrated, Christ the Lord, Christmas, Church of the Nativity, close, coming, commercial, don't know, down stairs, enables people to speak languages, encounter, even unto the end of the age, event, everywhere, fields, for some reason, from all over the world, gift of the Holy Spirit, greeted, hearing various languages, heart, holidays, holy place, I am with you always, I don't know, in line, in the distance, in the floor, kissing, kneeling, languages, later, little town of Bethlehem, live, living, Lo, long line, look of amazement, Manger Square, miss, mouth fell open, obviously, often wondered, one sinner who repents, Palestinian boy, Pennsylvania, people, people pausing, physically, ready for, reality of God, regarded, rejoicing, remains, resting there, rush, Savior, saw, see, sheltered, Shepherds, Shepherds Grotto, shows, simple, slowly wandered, small cave, small town, smiling, something happened, speaking in tongues, spiritual stirring, spoken by tourists, stared at, still being remembered, still happen, stopped in his tracks, supernatural events, taking it all in, the acutal spot, the birth place, the holy spot, the human heart, the hush of awe, the important spot, the news, there is rejoicing in Heaven, through hallways, tile star, tiny cave, to locate, to see, to see the sights, too many centuries to count, touched my, touching, tourists, transform individuals, trembled, turned and walked away, understood, used to, village, waiting to enter, walked up, what I said, where Christ was born, which is, wise men, young | 1 Comment

The Joy Of Christ*mas Stopping

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Steve Simms

Does Christmas shopping ever leave you empty? Do you ever feel like Christmas shopping is not enough? That there must be more to the Christmas season than just buying lots of stuff to give away on Christmas Day? Well, there … Continue reading →

Posted in ancient history, boundaries, casual sex, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, conscience, conversion, evangelicals, forgiveness, freedom, grace, guilt, history, holiday, holidays, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, lies, lifestyles, meaning, miracles, morality, morals, mysticism, new birth, non-material reality, peace, prayer, proof of God, Reason For The Season, recovery, religion, repent, revelation, salvation, saved, Savior, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, sex, sin, sobriety, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, stuff, supernatural, support group, Uncategorized, values, Why be a Christian?, words, worship | Tagged a very important aspect, adultery, an angel, attitudes and actions, behaviors, brought to Christ, buying, celebrations, cheating on, Christmas, Christmas Day, Christmas shopping, Christmas stopping, Do you ever feel like, experiencing, fabulous freedom, for He shall save His people, from, from their sins, give away, Go and sin no more, God's great gift, great joy, Have you done your Christmas, It's not too late, Jesus, Jesus gave, Joseph, leave you empty, lots of stuff, met Christ, most ignored, not enough, nowadays, often left out, people's taxes, perhaps it is time, put it to, repent, self-destructive, sleeping around, stopped, stopping, take, teaching, than just, the Christmas season, The Cross, the first, the real Christmas tree, the tax collector, There must be more to, this way, thoughts, to do, well, woman caught in the act, words, wrongful, You shall call his name Jesus, Zacchaeus | 2 Comments

Blind Belief? Or Spiritual Conversion

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Steve Simms

In some Arab countries it is against the law for a person to convert to another religion than the religion of her/his birth and upbringing. However, having been raised in a particular religion is no indication of its truth or … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, American, change, change management, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, church, church history, conscience, conversion, disciple making, English, evangelicals, fire, forgiveness, freedom, glory, God, grace, history, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, Jesus Take The Wheel, John Wesley, joy, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, miracles, movement, mystery, mysticism, non-material reality, Oh my God, praise and worship, prayer, proof of God, recovery, religion, repent, revelation, salvation, saved, self-image, soul, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, supernatural, trust, Uncategorized, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged 1700s, 17th, 18th, a deep work, a heart work, accepting, adhering, adopts, against the law, American Colonies, another religion, Arab, based, been converted, being justified, believer, birth, blind belief, born again, called, centuries, change, childhood, Christ, convert, convinced, countries, deceptions, defined, direct, divine perfection, Dwight L. Moody, encountered, England, entire life, Exemine yourself to see, faith, few, follow, frustrated, goal, God's own likeness, goes thoughout, Gordon D. Fee, greatest human, has to give up, helped spark, His will, Holy Spirit, I came to America, I felt my heart strangely warmed, in the faith, Indians, indication, infect, infection, intorduced, invaded by, Jesus Christ, John wesley, Joseph Alleine, lack of success, Ledyard Cuyler, living, man, members, mighty, mind, multitudes, never, on fire, particular religion, passionate preaching, Paul of Tarsis, perhaps, person, personal, personal transformation, questioning, quotations, raised, realized, receive the Spirit, redeemed, relationship with God, returned home, rish his life, rote rituals, salvation, saved, set in, some, soul, spiritual awakening, spiritual conversion, spiritual illumination, spiritual movement, suggestion, teachings, the living God, the reality of, think, thoughts, truly, truth, trying to convert, upbringing, validity, ways, whether you are, who will convert me?, wish it otherwise, witnessing | 2 Comments

Category Archives: spiritual growth

My Top 12 Blogs For 2011

Quotes From Spiritual Athletes Between The 4th & 7th Centuries

Bringing In The New Year — Party Or Pray?

The Christmas Gift Most Commonly Left Unopened

My Day In Bethlehem (Not Pennsylvania)

The Joy Of Christ*mas Stopping

Blind Belief? Or Spiritual Conversion

These elephants want to inspire you! Search Amazon for: Elephants INspiring The Room.

Email Subscription

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

Top Posts & Pages

Recent Posts

Archives