Category Archives: The Salvation Army

Life Rocks When Religion Becomes Real (Or, Night At The Theological Museum)

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Steve Simms

In the 2006 movie, Night at the Museum, a night watchman at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History is shocked when the exhibits in the museum come to life. His once boring job suddenly becomes exciting and challenging. It is amazing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian history, Christianity, church history, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mysticism, new birth, Night at the Museum, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, religion, resurrection, revelation, simple church, The Salvation Army, What is church?, William Booth | Tagged 2006 movie, accepting, accumulation, addictions, adherents, alive, amazing, America's, American Museum of Natural History, announced, argued, arguments, as the waters cover the sea, authority, awe, believe, Bible, blandly, blind faith, boring job, bright and morning star, brothers, bursts forth, by droves, celebration, challenging, church, churches, cofounder of, come to life, connects, cravings, crazy, crucifixion, data, demonstrated, demonstrating, don't rock the boat, driven, exciting, exhibits, experience, feel, fill the earth, flamed, foundations, from God, glory of the LORD, God's, having strouble, head, His, Holy Spirit, hope, ignores the heart, in my seat, incarnation, information, Jesus Christ, joyous, jumped off the pages, know so, knowledge, Letters, life, lifeless formes, living, Lord, losing, love letters, majestic, makes, man, mastered, mind, miracles, most of all, museum, need no, New Testament, New York City's, night, Night at the Museum, night watchman, oh, passionately, people, persuade, physical healing, power, presence, proof, proven, pulsating, quotation, rational, rationalized, real, reassure, relationships, religion, resurrection, ritual, said, salvation, secular society, seduction, see, send, sensational, set free, sexy, shaking, shocked, spiritual, spontaneous, spplendor, staying awake, Sunday school, surging, taught, teeming, the Apostles, the difference, the Good News, The Salvation Army, theological, theology, tired, trembling, true, vividly, William Booth, with life, work, writers, written to, yawn | 3 Comments

The Most Unique Church In Nashville

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

This isn’t documented with an official survey or anything, but I think McFerrin Park has Nashville’s most unique church. It is diverse economically, racially, and socially. It has no pulpit and no sermons. It has a different worship leader every … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Holy Spirit, house church, life, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, religion, simple church, Sunday school, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry Street, 37207, a drummer, a need comes up, adults, anytime, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible study, box, brass band, chairs, changed, church, colored cloths, come and see, couch, couple, cross, curious, different, diverse, documented, during the week, each other, economically, every Sunday, every week, front yard, gathering, hanging on it, house church, intentionally, McFerrin Park, mix, most unique, Nashville, Nashville's, national magazines, nights, no pulpit, no sermons, non-traditional, offering, open discussion, open sharing, organic church, participation, pews, plate, play, pray for people, racially, really care about, Salvation Army, sanctuary, simple church, socially, somewhat, spend time together, Sunday, support group, takes the time, tambourines during worship, The Tennessean, Thursday, uniforms, visibly excited, wall, worship leader, written up | 5 Comments

Of Human Bondage — Judgment, Tolerance, Or Salvation?

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Steve Simms

We boast of freedom in a life of limits. As humans we live in the ever present bondage of boundaries. Nothing in our lives is unlimited. We can only climb so high, reach so far, run so fast, think so long, enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, boundaries, church history, history, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, positive thinking, Quotes, religion, salvation, simple church, social justice, The Salvation Army, thinking, What is church?, William Booth | Tagged 000, 18802, 2, a third option, about, acceptance, accepting, accusing words, addictive, amazing, and/or, army, attempting to justify, attitudes, begin, behaviors, being rescued from, being set free, blame, blaming others, boldly, bondage, boundaries, Bramwell Booth, but in deed and in truth, cause and effect, climb so high, consequences, create, crossed out the word, culture, daily, decades, denial, destructive, devasting, discussing, disguise the pain, do, don't know when, dull, duration, East London, efforts, embraces, enjoy, ever preent, expiration date, fast, fatalism, father, flyer, forgotten concept, freedom, get free, guilt, harmful, held hostage, held in bondage, Here I am to save the day, how do we deal with, human thoughts, humans, I am a regular, I was born this way, in an effort, in the mean time, Jesus Christ, judgment, judgmental, jusdge us, life, life choices, life's limits, limits, live, lives, living, long, meet, mighty power, millions, movement, news media, not in words only, nothing at all, nowadays, opening, other parts of England, others, ourselves, pain producing, passively, pen, people, perhaps, perishable products, physical existence, pie-in-the-sky, practical, presence, pretend, price we pay, prison doors, proclaim, proclamation, raging fire, reach so far, read, real freedom, rediscover, religious platitudes, resurrected, run, said, salvation, say, so many ears, social work, spread around the world, surrender, talk, that's just the way I am, the end is coming, The Salvation Army, the things that, the way we live, think, though out, three ways, time, to promote a meeting, tolerance, unlimited, verbally, volunteer, We are a salvation army, We are a volunteer army, we boast, who can say, William, William Booth, working, world, written | 6 Comments

Church — Lab or Lecture? Intellect or Votech? Academic or Epidemic?

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

Should church be academic or epidemic? Should it be based on the transfer of religious knowledge or on an ongoing contagion of spiritual life spreading like raging fire? Here is a quotation from Paul of Tarsus, the church planter who established … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, change, God, Holy Spirit, house church, lifestyles, mysticism, organic church, Quotations, Quotes, religion, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, academic, academic study, accepting, agreeing to, area, based on, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Biblical doctrines, book of Acts, called, Christian votech, Christians, church, church planter, contagion, contemporary church, creed, daily lives, Dear children, deed, demonstrative, disciples, disciplined, dry intelect, epidemic, established, experiential learning, first Christian churches, follow and obey, followers, formation within, gave, go and make disciples of all nations, godliness has value for all things, Great Commission, hands-on activity, hearts, holy, Holy Spirit, house church, ignored, inflaming, intellect, isn't it time, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John the Beloved, knowledge puffs up, lab, laid-back, lecture, lifestyle, like, listening, live, living love, love builds up, make this change, making disciples, mental adherents, merely, move beyond, Nashville, New Testament, not love with words, nowadays, ongoing, organic church, others, passion for God, passivity, Paul of Tarsus, Paul's words, physical training, practice, quotation, raging fire, read, religious, religious knowledge, reproduce, return, said, seeking, sermons, serve, simple church, some value, spiritual athletes, spiritual formation, spiritual life, spiritual lifestyle, spreading, Sundays, talk, Tennessee, the apostle, The Salvation Army, Thursdays, time of, tongue, train, train yourself to be godly, transfer of, transformation, turned, visit a church, votech, with actions and truth, wrote | 8 Comments

Organic Church = God On The Loose

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Steve Simms

There are sometimes awkward moments in unprogrammed, participatory church (also known as organic church or simple church). People sometimes say things and/or do things that are outside of my comfort zone. On a recent Sunday morning at The Salvation Army Berry Street … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, God, Holy Spirit, house church, life, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged are you ready, awkward, Berry Street Worship Center, bit, blow, but, came to, church, close, comfort zone, comfortable, comfy, courage, cut, danger, denying the power, disturb, farthest from God, freedom, fuffle our feathers, gather together, God, having a form of godliness, Him, His way, Holy Spirit, how true, information, Lord, meeting, midst, mind, moments, my, Nashville, on the loose, organic church, outside of my, participatory, power, predictability, rock, shake, sharing, simple church, situations, sometimes, spiritual life, startle, stretch, structure, Sunday morning, take the limits off of, The Salvation Army, thereof, things, throbbing, transformation, unbound, uncomfortable, unprogrammed, visit, where it will, wide open, wind, wondering, words, work, working | 4 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

A Man Made Over By Miracles

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Steve Simms

Keith Easley’s full blooded Cherokee grandmother taught him to love God and she prayed for him always. However, Keith, like most of us, had his own ideas. He wound up addicted to drugs and holding a leadership position in … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, freedom, God, house church, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, mysticism, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, prayer, prayer walking, religion, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged addicted to, amazed, associates, Berry Street Worship Center, bullet, changing people's lives, Cherokee, Christ, church, completely, crying, dependent, died, doctors, dream, drugs, emergency room, experienced, face, five, flat lined, free, freedom in the Spirit, full blooded, gang, go inside, God, God is working, grandmother, head, heart-felt testimonies, ideas, Jesus, Keith Easley, leaderhsip, leave, left, lives, love, message, metal plates, miracle, moment, nothing else, November, offered, position, powerful, prayed, prayer, presence, real, rebulit, received, reconstructive surgery, severe pain, shared, shot, side, sing, soldier, spiritual leader, storng, story, summer, surgeries, The Salvation Army, thought, throat, unable, wife, woke up | 4 Comments

Ask Not How A Preacher Can Minister To You; Ask . . .

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

Ask not how a preacher can minister to you; ask how you can minister to others. Then you will begin to experience the “one anothers” of the New Testament and God’s love will no longer be a theory, but will … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, freedom, God, house church, lifestyles, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, prayer, religion, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 10:45am, 225 Berry Street, 27107, act, action, admonish, ask, ask not, attend, become, begin, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Biblically, brothers, built up, burdens, carry each other's, Christians, church, commands, deeply, each, encourage, everything, experience, gathering, given the opportunity, God's love, God's way, has, hymns, I Cornithians 14:26, ignore, in your midst, intended, interpretation, isn't in the, life, like, longer, love, meet, meeting, minister, more than, Nashville, New Testament, nowadays, obey, one another, one anothers, one to another, ordained, organic church, others, out loud, passively, Paul, perhaps, person, personally, place, power, pray, preach, preacher, professional, psalms, rare, reality, receivers, revelation, same, shall we say, share, sisters, sit back, something, speak to, spiritual songs, submit, suggestion, Sundays, teach, testimony, The Salvation Army, theory, tongue, trained, verse, week after week, What then, When you come together, word of instruction | 2 Comments

Conversion/Salvation/Being Born Again Or Blind Belief?

Posted on May 31, 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/or upbringing. However, having been raised in a particular religion is no indication of its truth or … Continue reading →

Posted in American Literature, Bible, biography, Creator, freedom, God, history, human rights, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, lifestyles, Oh my God, popular culture, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, religion, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 1700s, 18th Century, a direct, accepting without questioning, adhering, adopts, against the law, America, American, another religion, Arab countries, being, belief, believer, birth, blind belief, born again, called, change, childhood, Christ, Colonies, coming into, conversion, deceptions, deep work, defined, devoted, divine perfection, Dwight L. Moody, encountered, England, entire life, Examine yourself, experience, faith, frustrated, give up, goal, goes, Gordon D. Fee, heart work, Holy Spirit, home, human, I came to, I felt my heart strangly warmed, illumination of the soul, Indians, indication, infect, infection, introduced, invaded, Jesus Christ, John wesley, Joseph Alleine, lack of success, likeness, living, living God, man, members, mighty, mind, movement, multitudes, on fire, one of the greatest, otherwise, particular, passionate, Paul of Tarsus, person, personal relationship, personal transformation, personally convinced, preaching, quote, raised, realized, receive, returned, risk his life, rituals, rote, salvation, set in, some, spark, spiritual, spiritual awakening, suggestion, teachings, Theodore Ledyard Cuyler, think, thoughts, throughtout, to convert, truth, trying to convert others, upbringing, validity, ways, who will convert me?, will, wish, with God, witnessing | 1 Comment

Open, Participatory Church In The Early Days Of The Salvation Army

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here are some quotations from one of the most powerful and exciting books I have read in the past few years. The book, Come Join Our Army, by R.G. Moyles was published in 2007 by Crest books. “This book tries to re-create, with … Continue reading →

Posted in American Literature, apologists, English literature, freedom, God, history, house church, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, music, organic church, popular culture, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, religion, The Salvation Army | Tagged accepted, accompanied, active, all, allelujahs, Amen, attendees, attention, attractiveness, awake, body, books, casual, central feature, certain, Christ, church, churches, clapped their hands, clapping, Come Join Our Army, comes, constantly, converts, Corps, crest, cries, daily, dancing in the aisles, deemed, directness, distinctive, early, evidently, exciting, exclamations, expected, experience, eyewitness accounts, feature, feelings, feet, felt, filled, flag waving, follow, force, free, frequent, freshness, from the heart, full, gesticulations, gladness, great, Hallelujah, hallmark, halls, handkerchiefs, help, highly, intensity, intention style, into, intrigued, involvement, joining in, joy, keeping the wheels rolling, life-giving, limits, meeting, meetings, men, monotony, most powerful, movement, night, no, no fear, occuring, officers, other, participation, participatory, participatory worship, partners, past few years, people, period, perpetual, persojnal, personal, power, Praise the Lord, prayer, prayers, privilege, proceedings, quotations, R.G. Moyles, rapidity, re-create, read, received, responsibility, reuqiring, routine, salvation, saved, shared, short, similarities, simplicity, singing, soldiers, sorts, soul, speak, spontaneity, spontaneous, stayed, strength-giving, taking part, testifies, testify, testimonies, testimony, the glory days, the public, tow or three, tries, turn, unabashedly, unavailable, variations, variety, vocalize, volleys, waiting, waved, witness, women, worship | 9 Comments

Category Archives: The Salvation Army

Life Rocks When Religion Becomes Real (Or, Night At The Theological Museum)

Church — Lab or Lecture? Intellect or Votech? Academic or Epidemic?

A Man Made Over By Miracles

Conversion/Salvation/Being Born Again Or Blind Belief?

Open, Participatory Church In The Early Days Of The Salvation Army

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

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