Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Few Quotes From Neil Cole’s “Primal Fire”

A few quotations from Neil Cole’s book, “Primal Fire” “I’ve longed to live the sort of life I read about in the book of Acts.” “I want to be part of an unstoppable Jesus movement in our day–a wildfire of … Continue reading

Posted in God, God's fire, God's voice, hearing God, hearing Jesus, hearing the Holy Spirit, organic church, quotation, quote, Quotes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

National Salvation Army Magazine Promotes Participatory Church

War Cry, the national magazine of The Salvation Army USA features this article on interactive church in the March 2014 issue (page 5). If you would like to go to the article on line, click on the link and thing … Continue reading

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Nashville, Nashville church, one another, one anothering, open church, open forum, open mic, open mike, open sharing, organic church, participatory church, simple church, Uncategorized, USA | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Original Red-Hot Thoughts

Red-hot thoughts frequently run through my mind.  So I post them on my Facebook page,  https://www.facebook.com/steve.simms2 and on this blog.  I think they are from God.  Hope you enjoy these so much that you read dozens of my blog posts.  … Continue reading

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God & Caffeine

–I have never seen caffeine, but I’ve seen how caffeine works in other people and I’ve experienced how caffeine works in me. –I have never seen God, but I’ve seen how God works in other people and I’ve experienced how … Continue reading

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Church: Who’s On First? Christ or Religious Control?

A question for the 21st Century church:  Who’s on first?  Christ or Religious Control? I want Jesus, alive, present, and moving powerfully in and through ordinary people . . . Not a ceremony, or a program, or a tightly controlled … Continue reading

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Church Is Like A Swiss Army Knife

A church service is like a Swiss Army Knife — full of spiritually gifted people.  It can use the same person to speak, week after week, while the others are closed down (pic 1).  Or it can allow everybody to … Continue reading

Posted in How many blads in a Swiss Army Knife?, interactive, interactive church, interactive learning, Nashville, Nashville charity, Nashville church, non-church, non-liturgical, non-traditional church, nonconforming, open church, open forum, open mic, open mike, open sharing, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, simple church, Spirit-led, Spirit-prompted, spiritual giftings, spiritual gifts, spontaneous church, Uncategorized, What is a Swiss Army Knife | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A family gathering isn’t controlled from a podium on a platform with a fixed program that everyone is prescribed to follow. Instead, a family gathering is allowed to flow and develop naturally and spontaneously. –So, if church is a gathering of God’s family, why do we do church so formally and so differently than a normal family gathering?

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2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 40,000 times in 2013. If it were a … Continue reading

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Church is not for sponges; it’s for sparks!

You are not simply a sponge, supposed to sit in a “service” and silently soak up a preacher’s ideas. You are someone who has spiritual insight to share.  Church is not for sponges, it’s for sparks! Our desire at The … Continue reading

Posted in Arkansas, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, church fire, church format, church leadership, church meetings, church program, church programs, church services, church structure, Little Rock, Music City, Nashville charity, Nashville church, Nashville tourist attractions, order of worship, organic church, simple church, sparks, sponges, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Different Worship Leader Every Sunday

At The Salvation Army Berry Street we have a different worship leader every week.  Over the past 5 1/2 years we have had about 50 different people/groups lead worship for us.  Why? 1) It keeps one person from being exalted … Continue reading

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, body of Christ, church format, church meetings, church program, church programs, church services, church structure, Nashville, Nashville charity, Nashville church, praise, praise and worship, praising God, religion, religious ceremonies, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Uncategorized, worship, worship center, worship gathering, worship leader, worship styles | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments