When to hear a talk / when to take action

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Steve Simms

People stuck outside on a freezing night don’t listen to a talk about fire. They gather around and receive it’s warmth.

Thirsty people don’t listen to a talk about water. They drink it.

People whose gas gage is on empty don’t listen to a talk about fuel grades. They fill their tank.

When people are sweaty and dirty, they don’t listen to a talk about hygiene. They take a bath or a shower.

When people are sleepy, they don’t listen to a talk about sleeping techniques. They get some shut eye.

When people’s clothes are piled up and dirty, they don’t listen to a talk about washing machines. They do the laundry.

When people feel a great need for Jesus to help them, they don’t go hear a sermon. They cry out to Him with all their heart.

For many people, Christianity consists of 52 (or fewer) premixed religious talks per year. Too often those premixed talks (sermons) are substituted for Spirit-led action. For practical ways to draw near to the living Jesus, google: Beyond Church Ekklesia.

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Beyond life’s buzz

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Steve Simms

Too much buzz and life becomes a fuzz . . .

Like trying to see through a jar of honey.

Now is busy
With the buzz
Of activities and desires,
Thoughts and feelings.
Peace is beyond
The buzz.

Between the lines,
Beyond the words,
So much insight
Waits for us
To perceive it.

An open heart
Can perceive
Beyond the boundaries
Of mind
And senses.

I like the word beyond.
It means there’s more
Than I perceive or feel.
It gives hope.

Freedom is beyond
The bonds that bind you.
It’s not a compromise
With them.

If your mind
Isn’t blown by God,
You’re probably
Avoiding Him.

There is so much beyond
My comprehension, 
That is outside of
My tiny dot of perception.
I don't have enough information
To fully evaluate anything.

Atheism declares
That God can't exist,
But I don't think
That He pays
Much attention to it.
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Imaginary friend or the living Jesus?

Posted on May 9, 2021 by Steve Simms 
People talking about 
Their personal interactions
With an imaginary friend
Wouldn't be on the same page.
People talking about 
Their personal interactions
With the living Jesus
Almost always are.

Some people follow
Their own feelings or desires,
But that's not what Jesus requires.
"Follow Me."
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The body of Christ needs no church name

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Steve Simms

The body of Christ
Isn’t recognized
By the name of a church
But by supernatural love.

Anybody can
Talk to Jesus,
Anywhere and anytime.
You don’t need
A preacher
Or a church
To pray.

There’s only one
Group of Christians,
The body of Christ,
Scattered thru the world.

Grace:
The body of Christ
Isn’t contained
In a place
A church,
A nation,
Or a race.

Churches too often
Fence Christians
Into groups
And keep them
Divided.

Christ-followers
Belong to Jesus.
They’re members
Of His body.

Members of the body of Christ
Are everywhere,
But too often
We don’t “discern” them.

There’s no division
In the body of Christ,
But there is within
And between churches.

Separating parts
Of the body of Christ
Into organizations
Quenches the Spirit.

The body of Christ
Is divided by
Religious organizations
But assembled
By Jesus.

The more Christians
Focus on and follow Jesus
The more they come together
In unity.

When true Christ-followers
Meet each other,
They sense
An immediate
Connection.

Jesus calls people
To follow Him,
Not to follow organizations,
Or churches,
Or leaders.

The body of Christ
Has been dissected
By many thousands
Of religious organizations.

Christ’s body
Isn’t divided by religious walls.
All who belong to Jesus
Belong to one another.

Jesus is the shepherd.
All who hear His voice
And follow Him
Are the sheep.

Jesus said, “Repent,”
Not, “Keep doing things
The way you’ve
Always done them.”

Jesus said,
“I am the way.”
He never said,
“Church is the way.”

Jesus said,”
“I am the good shepherd.”
He never said,
“A pastor is your shepherd.”

Jesus said,
“Come unto Me.”
He never said,
“Go to church.”

When churches
Support injustice,
They don’t represent
The body of Christ.

Members of 
The body of Christ 
Are called to be 
Led by the Spirit, 
Not by their own desires.
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Compulsions are a paradox, that talk freedom but lead to bondage.

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Steve Simms

Compulsions push and pull,
Coerce and compel.
Then they try to tell you
All is well.

Compulsions say
There’s noting wrong
With going along.
Then they unleash guilt
When you do.

Compulsive behaviors are not free choices. They are an act of surrender to inner coercion. If you let compulsions make you do things you don’t want to do, then you’re in bondage to them.

It’s not enough to “Just say no,” to compulsions. Say no, resist, persist in resistance, get help, get up every time you give in.

Compulsions are a paradox, that talk freedom but lead to bondage. Compulsion and self-control don’t coexist. One eliminates the other. The Bible says self-control is the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Biblical freedom is the ability to say no to your desires, feelings, and habits. Freedom of speech isn’t in the Bible. Instead we’re told to rejoice when we’re persecuted.

The living Jesus makes inner compulsions noncompulsory. That’s true freedom! The Bible says that Jesus lives inside His followers. To hang out with Jesus we need to look and listen within.

A Christ-follower by definition is someone who is led by the living Jesus. To follow Jesus you need to let Him personally lead you. Follow and obey Him, not compulsions. That’s real freedom!

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Without discipleship it’s easy to shipwreck

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Steve Simms

Jesus called for disciples:
Not for supporters or members,
Or fans or church attenders.

Christian events and programs
Don’t change the way I am,
But the living Jesus does.

Discipleship is the opposite of sidelined Christians — bench sitting spectators, watching a professional perform. Church tends to turn Christians into classroom-style students. Discipleship makes them practitioners who obey the living Jesus.

Jesus didn’t call for an audience; He called for disciples. Discipleship is an obedient lifestyle, not a stylish life. The indwelling Jesus will swell your heart with His glory and love, if you let Him.

Discipleship isn’t an option for Christians. It’s what being a Christ-follower is all about. Discipleship without self-discipline is a shipwreck.

Jesus is never absent from His followers, (He said, “I am with you always,”), but we can be absent minded and unware of His presence. Jesus isn’t a distant Savior waiting to usher you into Heaven. He’s the present, living Lord, calling you to follow and obey Him no

Jesus calls you to nothing less, than to bring your life into full obedience to Him. “Follow Me.” Grace means that a relationship with Jesus isn’t earned by your effort. It doesn’t mean that it is effortless. The idea of a part-time Christian isn’t a biblical concept.

The Bible says that Christ-followers “have the mind of Christ,” but if we don’t obey Him, we’re out of our mind! When we’re not following and obeying the living Jesus, we’re resisting Him. It’s easy to spend more time ignoring the living Jesus than obeying Him.

Religion is often an attempt to put the living Jesus back into His grave clothes. Every time you ignore the voice of the living Jesus, it gets easier to ignore Him the next time.

Church attendance isn’t the primary way to make and maintain contact with God. The living Jesus is. Biblical Christianity isn’t entertaining and shallow. It’s training and spiritual battle. Read the book of Acts.

“They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” However, if we hate, bully, insult, and demonstrate unkindness in other ways, they probably won’t.

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The world’s most famous execution

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Steve Simms

The world’s most famous execution, conducted by Rome, got out of human hands, changed the world, and is still healing human lives. The cross of Jesus emotionally undoes open human hearts and then fills them with forgiveness, restoration, and healing. Of the estimated 10,000+ people that the Romans crucified, crucifixion was outlawed in 337 to honor one — Jesus Christ.

Jesus on the cross is the demonstration that God’s costly forgiveness does what human merit can never accomplish. He turned a horribly cruel method of execution into a heart-transforming demonstration of love and mercy.

Every time we ignore the living Jesus, we choose to trust our merit rather than His mercy. The living Jesus can bridge the inner gap between your desire to be good and your inability to consistently be so.

Jesus didn’t die to be the figurehead of various religious organizations, but to be the living Head of all who dare to follow Him. Churches too often see Jesus as a consultant to the pastor rather than as the King of the congregation.

The Bible Pharisees saw Jesus’ crucifixion as the termination of a threat to their power. Instead it was the generation of supernatural life

When Christianity tries to detour around the cross, it loses its power. Trying to hide from our need for God’s mercy, depletes us (like a device without a charger).

If you’re unaware of the seriousness of your sin, you can’t truly understand grace. Like a flower standing in the destruction of a tornado, Jesus, hanging on the cross, shouts out hope!

Christianity is about reaching out to your enemies with love. That’s what Jesus did on the cross. We’re called to follow Him.

Thinking about Jesus on the cross reminds us of the horror of human cruelty and can soften the hardest heart. Here’s some ignored history: People Jesus died for were abused for the color of their God-given skin and the cross was made a symbol of hate.

Whoever insults, wrongs, or abuses a human being, insults, wrongs, or abuses the image of God. Bullying and/or cruelty to any human is anti-Christian and works against Jesus sacrifice on the cross.

The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus makes me marvel at the mystery of what happened in history and how He changes my heart. I’ve found the cross of Jesus and His living presence, to be the anecdote for the disfunction and evil within me.

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Cross eyes — looking at Jesus there

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Steve Simms

Pondering Jesus
Hanging unjustly on the cross,
Releases an upheaval
Of inner light.

Jesus shocks and shakes up
The psyche of those
Who read the Gospels
With an open heart.

Our sense of alienation
Can be erased
By a full embrace
Of Christ on the cross.

A crucifix
Pondered deeply
Can connect you
With God’s fix
To purify
Your inner mix.

You don’t merit,
Earn or deserve life,
Yet here you are,
Alive and reading this.

Nobody earns
Life’s perfect grade.
You can’t live by merit
And not need mercy.

Human cruelty
Is often concealed,
But as Jesus hung
On the cross
It was revealed.

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Is your mind like a refrigerator?

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Steve Simms

Our mind is like a refrigerator. When we open the door a light comes on, yet we’re not brave enough to discover all that’s inside.

Say yes
To feelings
That give hope
But to those
That make it
Hard to cope,
Say nope.

Notice your thoughts and feelings. Observe their sources. Some are self-generated, but if you don’t want a particular thought or feeling, that’s a good indication that you’re not the source of it.

People aren’t feelings, thoughts, desires, words, and actions. They’re observers of those things and choosers of which ones to accept.

If we don’t monitor, observe, and control our thoughts, feelings, and desires, they’ll be a tangled mess. If we allow our mind and emotions to run on autopilot, we’ll be ever unaware of what’s driving our behavior. Instead, we can observe our internal environment and alter it so that our feelings and desires work to empower us not to enslave us.

Inner fog, both mental and emotional, often keeps us blind to what’s really going on inside and around us. Inner observation (mindfulness) helps us become aware of what’s happening inside of us and to discover ways to improve it. If we don’t like what is streaming in our mind and emotions, we can persistently work to change it.

The fact that you exist is amazing. You’re free to appreciate that you’re alive and to enjoy the wonder of it all. In a world full of wonder and amazement, preoccupation with self-protection is a big distraction.

Theology tries to analyze and evaluate God with the human mind. Worship observes and adores Him with the heart. If you will begin to frequently observe and obey your conscience, you’ll soon begin to recognize the voice of God.

Understanding music theory is no substitute for enjoying a song. Understanding theology is no substitute for enjoying Jesus!

Silent prayer
Is being aware
That when
You look within,
God’s speaking in there
Somewhere.

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Mind lectures or heart lessons?

Posted on May 2, 2021 by Steve Simms

There’s a lesson there.
Life is teaching everywhere.
Breathe in wisdom like the air.

Information shared from the mind reaches a mind. A message shared from the heart reaches a heart.

It good to learn how to spel. It’s better to learn how to break every spell that is holding you in bondage. Life’s greatest lessons aren’t learned by a mind that listens to lecturers, but by a heart that listens to life.

When the heart is touched, your ability to remember will soar. When it’s not, memorizing is a dull chore. School grades you by how well you remember. Life grades you by how well you live.

When you want to learn, lessons are fun. When you don’t, they’re a pain. Information can be memorized with the mind, but when the heart jumps in, learning comes alive.

Preaching should awaken people to the thrill of following the living Jesus, not make them forever dependent on hearing a preacher. A church service tends to be a reduction of Christianity from a lived experience to rules and instruction.

Training people to be led by the living Jesus produces a different kind of Christianity than continually lecturing about Him. Spoon feeding Christians with sermons can’t compare with the power of training them to personally follow and obey the living Jesus.

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