Category Archives: spiritual

Why Is Christmas The Most Celebrated Day Of The Year?

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Why all the fuss and effort to celebrate the Christmas season? You know. The most celebrated day of the year is about the arrival of Jesus Christ on planet Earth. Isn’t it amazing all the time, effort, and money that … Continue reading →

Posted in Americans, awe, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, East Nashville, freedom, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, miracles, mysticism, Nashville, non-material reality, Oh my God, popular culture, praise and worship, Reason For The Season, religion, revelation, Savior, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, The Salvation Army, Why be a Christian? | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207, alive, all the fuss, all the time, amazing, around the world, Berry Street, birth, calls us back, celebrate, Christmas celebrations, Christmas season, come, confined, eager, effort, empowered, Enhance, experience, faithfully serve, freedom, gives, history, hope, human life, hundreds of millions, in our time, individuals, inner passion, inner witness, inside the human heart, inspires, Jesus, Jesus Christ, know, live a life of love, loves us, meaningless existence, mere, money, morality, most celebrated day, moves, Nashville, of the year, people, personally encountered, planet Earth, presence, present reality, random, rebellious, religion, respond, return, ritual, runaway, self-destructive behaviors, self-sacrifice, set free, shows, spent, steps out, stirs, Sundays, testifies, the arrival, the depths of our being, the living Christ, The Salvation Army, there is a God, there is more to life, TN, to believe, tradition, transformation, truths, try to deny, Why, working, Worship Center, you know | 6 Comments

Creatively Changing Christmas Songs To Celebrate Christ More

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Steve Simms

Have you ever noticed that a great many Christmas songs have little or nothing to do with Jesus Christ. Since Christmas is when we celebrate His birthday, I thought it might be good to tweak some Christmas songs and Christmas … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, awe, challenges, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas carols, church, country music, feelings, freedom, glory, God, gratitude, holidays, humor, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, lifestyles, Lord, miracles, Music City, mysticism, Nashville, non-material reality, Oh my God, poem, popular culture, praise and worship, religion, revelation, salvation, saved, Savior, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, thanksgiving, values, virgin birth, Why be a Christian?, words, worship | Tagged a great many, all the way, awesome, Bethelehem, carol, celebrate, celebrate His birthday, changing, Christ, Christmas carols, Christmas songs, Chrsitmas, creatively, cross of Christ, dear, everyday, everywhere I go, forgiving, grandma, Happy Birthday, have you ever noticed, Have yourself a, here are, holy, I saw Mommy, identify, in the rain, is coming to town, it might be good, Jesus Christ, joy, joy to the world, king, knees, last night, little or nothing, Lord, Lord at Your birth, love, love you more, loving Jesus, mercy, mighty one, more about, Music City, oh what fun it is to, receive, rock, some, straight from, tears, the original song, thought, tweak, worship | 3 Comments

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

The Claims Of Christmas — Virgin Birth

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Steve Simms

It is easy to overlook some of the remarkable claims of Christmas. One such claim is that a young woman named Mary gave birth to a child without having had sexual intercourse. I have noticed that this amazing claim is … Continue reading →

Posted in blessings, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas Eve, feelings, glory, God, history, impossible odds, joy, kingdom of God, life, miracles, mysticism, non-material reality, proof of God, religion, spiritual, spiritual formation, supernatural, Uncategorized, virgin birth | Tagged a fair question, a supernatural event, allegiance, amazing, amazing claim, artificial insemination, astounded, author, be convinced of its truth, became a human being, before, Bible, blindly accept it, Book of Luke, by a miracle, carefully, cause a baby to be conceived, certainty, Christ, Christian Standard Bible, Christmas, claims, conceive, convinced, created, creating, creating a baby, Creator, deserves, easy to overlook, events, everything, exammined, excuse the pun, explored, eyewitnesses, first, frequent experience, fulfilled among, gave birth to a child, God, good question, handed, heard, high school, how, How can this be, human beings, I didn't believe, I have not been, ignorant, in their time, inpossibility, instructed, intimate with a man, intorduced, investigated, is alive, Jesus Christ, just as, know, literally occured, Luke, making the claim, Many have undertaken, Mary, Mary asked, miracles of Christmas, most Christians, most honorable, myths, named, narrative, New Testament, noticed, original, others, personal relationship, physical, pondered, procreation, pun, read, reject it outright, remarkable claims, reporting, responded to, scientific fact, seemed good, servants of the word, sexual intercourse, since, skeptics, spacetime, supernatural Being, supernatural experience, supernatural means, suppose, testimony, Theophilus, thinking, to believe, to compile, total commitment, virgin, where babies come from, without, womb, world, wrestled with, writers, young woman | 6 Comments

Christmas Is About Judgment

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here’s a surprise: Christmas is about dealing with judgment. Our sinful thoughts, choices, and behaviors have been judged and we are guilty and condemned men and women. If our condemnation is merely canceled, the result would be chaos and injustice. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazing Grace, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, blessings, change, Christ, Christian history, Christmas, Christmas Eve, feelings, forgiveness, freedom, God, Hell, history, Jesus, Jesus Christ, juddgment, life, lifestyles, morality, mysticism, Nashville, religion, repent, salvation, saved, spiritual, spiritual growth, spiritual warfare, supernatural, The Salvation Army, tolerance, Uncategorized, words, worship | Tagged 21st Century, 225 Berry St., 37207, a beautiful package, accetp the greatest gift, actively, all, all humanity, amazed, at the cross, at what happens, authority, behaviors, Berry Street Worship Center, bondage to sin, came, canceled, chaos, choices, Christ, Christmas, Christmas is about, come see, condemnation, condemned men, dealing with judgment, debt, defeated death, Don't, forgiveness, freedom, gather, gathering, grew up, guilty, have been judged, hell, Here's a, his suffering, in His name, individual, injustice, invited, Jesus, judgment, just remember, leadership, man-made program, men and women, merely, Nashville, overlook it, owe a debt, paid, personally, repentance, sinful thoughts, sins, Sundays, surprise, take active control, the babe, the grave, the greatest gift of all, the result would be, The Salvation Army, to take the punishment for, tolerance, turn the meeting over, turning waya from our sins, under His direct, upon Himself, we are guilty, we can nevber pay, when we gather, wrongdoing | 5 Comments

How To Shop For Christ*mas

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

From Black Friday through Christmas Eve, people will be shopping for material things to give to family, friends, and clients on Christmas Day. They will be searching and sorting through stuff, seeking to find just the right gifts. But perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, American, Americans, Black Friday, books, Christmas, Christmas Eve, church, guidance, Henry Poole Was Here, Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, lifestyles, materialism, organic church, Red Kettles, religion, self-help, shopping, simple church, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, stuff, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values | Tagged age, available, be kind, become a super shopper, being transformed, Black Friday, car, carry someone's bags, Christ-filled Christmas, Christ-focused friends, Christmas, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, clients, comformed to this, creating, crowds, detachment, devotional Bible reading, encouraging words, examples, extremely difficult, family, fasting, find and use, find firends, follow, followers of Christ, Friends, Give, give to, Google, hang out, help, help a neighbor, hold doors open, humility, hunt down, inspirational movie, it takes, Jesus, jewel, just the right gifts, let others through, like Jesus, live, living like Jesus, love, make friends, make your shopping, material things, meditation, more like Christ, most Americans, multitudes, obey, organic church, passionate, people, people we spend time with, people who live ajnd love, perhaps, politely move aside, provide transportation, REd Kettles, same effort, searching, seek, seeking, self-denial, serve others, shop, shop for Christmas, shop for ways, shopping, shopping season, shopping skills, sold on, solitude, some steps to shop, sort, sort through your friends, sorting through stuff, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual listening, spiritual reading, spiritual shopping, spiritual warfare, still-born spiritually, superb, The Salvation Army, this year, tools for spiritual growth, various types of prayer, volunteer with a nonprofit, ways to grow spiritually, world, world's standards, you will be amazed, your life will be transformed | 6 Comments

Is Science Close To Discovering Spiritual Reality? Check Out “Spooky Action”

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Steve Simms

In the past few years scientists have conducted experiments that show that two “entangled,” subatomic particles can communicate almost instantaneously, even if they are separated by huge distances. They have called this phenomenon, “spooky action at a distance.” This communication … Continue reading →

Posted in Albert Einstein, awe, big bang, entangled particles, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, impossible odds, meaning, NASA, non-material reality, Oh my God, proof of God, Quotations, Quotes, religion, Robert Jastrow, science, soul, spiritual, spiritual skills, spooky action, supernatural, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, University of Geneva, values | Tagged a band of, a scientifically proven fact, adds, Albert Einstein, appropriate, asks, astronomers, at least, at work, believe, between, called, certain moment, communicate, communication, conducted experiments, conquer the highest peak, controlled by, conventional, cosmos, creation, discover, discovering, electrons, energy, entangled, entangled particles, even more, every living thing, exploded, faith in the power of reason, for centuries, forces, found, founding director of, from, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, greete4d, happened, has led, have prove, hope, huge distances, in an act, in other words, instantaneously, into being, matter, measured, methods, NASA's, no physical link, nonmaterial, now, now find, on the earth, over the final rick, painted themselves into a corner, particles, pass between, past few years, phenomenon, planet, produced this effect, product, proof, proved, pulls himself, questions, quotation, quote, reality, renounded, researchers, Robert Jastrow, said, scaled the mountain of ignorance, science cannot answer, scientific evidence for, scientists, seeds, seems, show, sitting there, something existing beyond, spacetime, spearated, spiritual reality, spooky, spooky action at a distance, star, story ends like a bad dream, subatomic particles, supernatural forces, surrounds us, Switzerland, the existence of, the physical workd, the speed of light, the world began abruptly, theologians, times, trace, universe, University of Geneva, waves, what, what cause, whatsoever, who | 8 Comments

Guts & Glory In Spiritual Growth — Path, Rocks, Thorns, Fertile Ground

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Steve Simms

Spiritual growth is not for sissies. It takes great guts to grow in God. Not everybody has the courage, strength, and endurance to do it. Jesus told a parable about a path, rocks, thorns, and fertile ground that illustrates the … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Bible, criticism, glory, God, guts and glory, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, materialism, meaning, New Testament, parable, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, voice activated, words | Tagged 4 ways, 4:1-20, a seed to be sown, a well-traveled path, about, accept, acquire, allow, alolow the Holy Spirit, alter our thinking, areas, as it is in heaven, begin to grow, behavior, Bible, cannot, changes us, comes, contrary to, courage, criticism, deep roots, desires, distract us from God, don't obey, endurance, enjoy, ever-increasing glory, everybody, fertile ground, fertile soul, get rid of, God speaks, God's glory, God's words, great difficulty, great guts, grow in God, hear, hear my voice, heart, heart's thorns, His kingdom comes, His will is done, hits us, illustrates, in our generation, in our heart, in us, into HIs image, it takes, Jesus, Jesus said, Jesus' own words, land, like, Matthew, modern faith preachers, move towards, much soil, My sheep, not be able to grow, not for sissies, of our daily lives, of our soul, our own desires, path, penetrate, permanently, produce, pull up, read, required to reach, requires, right out of, rips, rocks, seduction of money, skills, soul, speaking, spiritual disciplines, spiritual growth, squeezes it out, strength, take root, Tha'ts glory, the Bible, the courage, the hard ground, the hard places, the Living Word, the New Testament, the seed is money, the seed is the Word of God, the spiritual skills, the stoney areas, the things that capture our attention, the voice of God, the way of growth in God, the written word, thorns, to break up, to human hearts, told a parable, trouble, turn, we must have the guts, What God says, what He says, worries | 3 Comments

I Grew Up In Church Without God

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

My parents tell me that when I was a toddler, I used to talk to them about God. They didn’t go to church or have much interest in spiritual things, so they were quite surprised by my interest in God and … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazing Grace, awe, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Boy Scouts, change, Christianity, church, college, college students, East Nashville, feelings, fire, freedom, God, Hindu, Holy Holy Holy, I Corinthians 14:26, Jesus, Jesus freaks, Kumbaya, lifestyles, Nashville, non-material reality, organic church, Presbyterian, religion, revelation, self-image, simple church, spiritual, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, University of Tennessee Martin, What is church?, Why be a Christian?, worship | Tagged 10:45 am, 225 Berry St., 37207, 41 years ago, a Christian, a million miles away, a real believer in, about God, actual Presence of, agnostic, all-consuming, amazing, an official church member, another thought, Arkansas, attending church, Berry Street Worship Center, Boy Scout, burns in my heart, campfire, childhood years, Christ, Christianity, closer to God, come and see for yourself, Come by here, Communicant's Class, confusing doctrines, congregation, creatively. modeled, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, describes, do church, dynamic relationship, eerie, elementary school, entered, every few monts, experienced, experiencing God, faint sense, felt, focused on, freely, freshman, funny thing, given the freedom, go to church, God's absence, God's awesome presence, high schook, Hindu, Holy Holy Holy, how to connect, hymn, I Corinthians 14:26, If you were born, immeciately, interest in God, invited to start, Jackson, Jesus Freaks, Jonesboro, junior year, know God, knowing God, Kumbaya, listened, living, living God, make me happy, mind, modern, more present, more real, mother, my Lord, Nashville, non-traditional, odd thought, older, parents, participate, passively, people, physical surroundings, popped into my mind, preached, preacher, Presbyterian Church, realized, regularly attending, rejected, relating to God, remember, results, rituals, sensed, series of classes, shouldn't church, shows up, something stirring inside, spiritual condition, spiritual fire, spiritual things, spiritually empty, suddenly exposed, Sunday morning, Sunday sermon, Sundays, support group, surprised, sweet Presence, talk, Tennessee, the Bible, The Salvation Army, The University of Tennessee Martin, think back to, TN, toddler, usher in, verse, Why do you think you are, with Jesus, wonder, wondered, words, you will be blessed | 4 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

Category Archives: spiritual

Why Is Christmas The Most Celebrated Day Of The Year?

Creatively Changing Christmas Songs To Celebrate Christ More

Confronting The Christmas Claims — Conscious Contact With God

The Claims Of Christmas — Virgin Birth

Christmas Is About Judgment

How To Shop For Christ*mas

Is Science Close To Discovering Spiritual Reality? Check Out “Spooky Action”

Guts & Glory In Spiritual Growth — Path, Rocks, Thorns, Fertile Ground

I Grew Up In Church Without God

Thinking Through A Tutu Thought About Conscience

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

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