Category Archives: What is church?

Negro Spirituals — A Message We Desperately Need!

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Steve Simms

“Over my head I hear music in the air, There must be a God somewhere.” –Negro spiritual. Those words were written and sung during the most difficult of days, a time of great oppression and evil — a time of bondage, … Continue reading →

Posted in black history, Christian history, church history, education, freedom, God, history, life, lifestyles, meaning, music, mysticism, negro spirituals, Oh my God, prayer, race, racism, religion, revelation, salvation, social justice, spiritual, thoughts, What is church? | Tagged able, African American, awareness, beyond, bondage, breathing, caught up, days, deprivation, despair, different, discover, disrespect, Don't, drudgery, economic, emotions, eternal, even more, evil, express, fear, forefathers, get, God, great, heart, hold on to, hope, hopeless, human beings, I hear, in and out, in order to, in the air, in the midst, injustice, insight, intellect, life, look beyond, man's inhumanity to man, meaning, meaningless, melodies, mind, more than, most difficult, music, mystery, Negro spiritual, nothing, oppression, over my head, pain, personal, perspective, pleasure, pursuit, revelation, rock, security, sense, situation, slaves, someone, somewhere, somewho, strenght, strong, struggles, suffered, suffering, sung, survive, there must be a God, time, told, truths, tune, understanding, unshakable, violence, wake, words, written | 2 Comments

Nashville’s Participatory Church

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center is Nashville’s participatory church. The Sunday morning meetings are conducted more like a support group than a church meeting with each person free to share testimonies, Scriptures, praise reports, insights, gifts of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, house church, kingdom of God, life, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, salvation, simple church, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 20:45, 225, 37207, acrostic, attempts, beautiful, Berry Street, church, church meeting, conducted, each person, encouraging, engaging, exciting, experienced, for yourself, free, gifts of the Spirit, God, hard, insights, love, meetings, morning, Nashville, Nashville's, participatory, praise reports, prayer requests, raw, reaching out, real, Scriptures, share, spiritual, Sunday, support group, testimonies, thanksgiving, The Salvation Army, to describe, tweetable, type, Worship Center, yearning | 18 Comments

Can A Sunday Church Meeting Be Like A Family Gathering? It’s Happening In Nashville!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Steve Simms

Church is family, brothers and sisters in Christ sharing a kinship of the heart. Nobody ever asks the question: “Where do you go to family?” Family is not a place; it is relationships. So with church. Who are you joined … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, church history, God, Holy Spirit, house church, kingdom of God, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, religion, simple church, spiritual, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry Street, 37207, action, amazing, Berry Street, brothers, building, called out ones, church, colored, congratulated, cross, denomination, ekklesia, English, everybody, experience, family, family of God, free, function, gathering, glass, God, Gree, group, heart, heart-to-heart, I Corinthians 14:26, imagine, in Christ, insights, institution, interact, joined, kinship, listened, living, matriarch, meeting, members, Nashville, new, New Testament, of course, organization, other than, patriarch, people old ways, pews, place, powerfully, praise, prayer, pulpit, question, rare, relationships, relationships lifestyle, religious, reports, requests, rows, sanctuary, Scriptures, sharing, silently, sisters, society, speak, spiritually, steeple, strong, Sunday mornings, talk, tend, Tennessee, testifying, testimonies, The Salvation Army, Thursdays, top, translated, we've always done it that way, weekly, where do you go, Why, windows, word, Worship Center | 5 Comments

Is This Guy A Modern Day Prophet Or What?

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Browsing through McKay Used Bookstore in Nashville recently, I found a book full of powerful prophetic statements by a present day United Methodist minister, Carlyle Fielding Stewart III. The book was published by Abingdon Press in 2001. It is called: … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian history, Christianity, church history, God, history, house church, organic church, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, religion, revelation, salvation, simple church, spiritual, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged Abingdon, absent, accomodate, affairs, approach, back, basic, believe it or not, Biblical, Body of Christ, book, bring, browsing, business, business-as-usual, bwegin, called, Carlyle Fielding Stewart, case, change, Christ, Christianity, church, churches, claiming, climate, congregations, constitute, continue, converted, cult, cultivate, culture, daily, decline, denominations, die, diligent, discouraged, distinction, doing, ecclesiology, Empowerment Church, evangelical, exercise, failed, faith, favor, flexing, flourishes, forms, forsaken, found, foundation, frequently, from, full of, general, God, God's authority, Gospel, government, great, guy, heritage, ho-hum, holiness, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, humbly, impede, insecure, instances, institution, institutional, inviting, invoke, Jesus, lapsed, leaders, leading, lethargy, life, little, mainline, matter-of-fact, McKay, mind of Christ, minister, ministry, mission, modern, modern times, movement, much, muscles, name of, Nashville, needs, not, numperous, occur, Old Testament, open air, opinion, organized, ostensibly, outlook, participating, particular, pastors, people, perilous, potential, power politics, powerful, preacher, presence, present day, press, presuppose, principlles, progress, prophet, prophetic, prosper, Protestant, published, qualified, quotations, reality, reference, relationship, religion, result, retain, rot, run, saving, scandal, secular, selfish, serving, soulds, spirit, spirit-filled, spirituality, statements, steady, stifle, stopped, submi9tting, teach, teachings, think, today, tragedy, true, unafraid, unapologetically, underlying, United Methodism, United Methodist, used bookstore, vitality, way, will, win souls, witness | 11 Comments

A Call — Add Fuel To A Spiritual Fire In Nashville, Tennessee

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Even a spiritual fire needs fuel. When a spiritual fire starts it needs a steady supply of fuel to keep burning and to keep growing. There is a spiritual fire in Nashville – hearts ablaze with excitement about Jesus. People … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, fire, freedom, fuel, God, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, prayer, religion, revelation, salvation, simple church, spiritual, What is church? | Tagged 10:45am, 1916, 1st Street, 225, 37207, ablaze, about, awakening, being, being a part, believers, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, blow, burning, by, call, carried, Christ, city, come, deliverance, destroyed, disciple, disciples, East, encourage, excitement, fire, for yourself, fuel, Give, gloriously, God, grow, growing, harvest, healing, hearts, help, high, His, historical, homes, hungry, in, Jesus, laborers, lead, life-transforming, lives, living, location, Lord, marker, marks, mature, Nashville, needs, new, North, part, passionately, people, please, pray, producing, salvation, see it, send, spirit, spiritual, spread, stadium, started, starts, steady supply, Sundays, testifying, The Salvation Army, this, through out, Titans, to keep, together, we can, winds, with | 6 Comments

A Spot In Nashville Where You Can Feel God

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Steve Simms

‎””What do you think of God,” the teacher asked. After a pause, the young pupil replied, ‘He’s not a think, he’s a feel.’” ~Paul Frost A God you can powerfully feel will fill your faith with holy fire and excitement … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, God, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, mysticism, Nashville, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, religion, revelation, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry Street, 37207, a place, allow, amazing, Berry Street Worship Center, beyond my ability, blind eyes see, broken, changed, church, depression, describe, direct, each, East Nashville, experience, feel God, folks, freely, gather, group of people, guide, hearts, Holy Spirit, humble, in front of your eyes, let God work, lives, mightily, morning, move, Nashville, opened, oppression, really, room full, service, should, spiritually, Sunday, Sundays, The Salvation Army, there, truly, visit, What happens, you | 5 Comments

Talk (or TV Commercials) About Pain Medication Won’t Ease Your Pain

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Steve Simms

There is so much talk about medication nowadays, especially in TV commercials. Paid actors and spokespersons boast of the results of the pill they’re promoting. (Then the voice over announcer quietly sneaks in the side-effects, but that’s another story.) However, … Continue reading →

Posted in drug commercials, drugs, God, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, mysticism, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, peace, prayer, Quotations, reading, recovery, religion, revelation, salvation, self-help, What is church? | Tagged 24/7/365, actors, all you who are, another story, best pain reliever, boast, body, Come unto Me, deep down, ease your pain, hearing, heart, help, high on, hurting, I will give you rest, instead, J-E-S-U-S, Jesus, known to main, medication, merely, New Testament, no need, not on earthly, nowadays, obey, on things above, open up, paid, Paul of Tarsus, pill, pop, popping, promoting, puff, put it, quitely, reading, receive, results, sermons, Set your minds, shoot up, side-effects, singing, smoke, sneaks, snort, soul, spell relief, spokespersons, studying, surrender, take in, talk, through your whole system, to be effective, TV commericals, voice over announcer, weary and heavy laden | 4 Comments

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

Christianity — Costly Calling? Or Creed, Chain-Of-Command, Culture, Corporation?

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Steve Simms

Some people nowadays are asking, What is Christianity? What is church? Good questions! If you seriously read the Book of Acts, the Biblical record of the early church’s experience and impact, it is obvious that our present day presentations of … Continue reading →

Posted in American, ancient history, change, Christian history, Christianity, church history, history, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, lifestyles, meaning, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, religion, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged accumulate, against, Americans, appearance, book, book of Acts, business plans, calling, cash flow, celebrated, chan-of-command, change the world's culture, changed in the process, chapters, Christendom, Christianaity, church, church history, cohesive, conforming, corporation, correct, cost it all, costly, creed, crusades, culture, cultures, death, deed more than creed, described type, developed, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, divine right of kings, early believers, Europeans, far afield, focused, follow and obey, follow Christ, force, form, from there to here, generation, give their lives, good questions, grass-roots movement, Greeks, heart-felt, heavy-handed, hierachy, history, how-d, human structure, humility, illegal, impact, in this world, inquisitions, intellect, it's time, Jesus, like a product, live like, make Jesus our Lord, many countries, marketing religion, model for church, moeny, my take, nowadays, originated, paid the price, passed through, passion, paster as CEO, paupers, perhaps, persecution, philosophy, Pope, popular, positional authority, present day, presentations, promote, prosperty, protect, quick rin through, read, really, rejection, restricted, revelation, Romans, service, society set the rules, sought, Spirit led, spiritual life, spread, squeeze, statement of beliefs, strangers and pilgrims, systematized, the Biblical record, The Cost Of Discipleship, the original, thinking, thought, today, various, vital, Western Christianity, what is Christianity?, What is church?, whatever happens | 4 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

Category Archives: What is church?

Is This Guy A Modern Day Prophet Or What?

A Call — Add Fuel To A Spiritual Fire In Nashville, Tennessee

Talk (or TV Commercials) About Pain Medication Won’t Ease Your Pain

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

Christianity — Costly Calling? Or Creed, Chain-Of-Command, Culture, Corporation?

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

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