When it comes to the Holy Spirit, always choose ALLOW

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Steve Simms

Jesus is here now (live and in person) but often church acts like He’s long gone. If you’re a Christian, don’t act like Jesus is dead. Instead let His presence continually transform and inspire you. Sometimes it feels like church takes the risen Jesus and entombs Him in protocol, formalism, and lecture. The Holy Spirit doesn’t need to be controlled or monitored in a church service by a pastor. 

Sermonize me and I forget. Involve me in actively hearing and obeying the risen Jesus and I’m transformed. However, church services seem to see ordinary Christians as incapable, spiritual infants who only sit and listen to a professional preacher.

If protocol, programs, and pastors require Christians to quench the Spirit, a monotone monotony sets in. However, when the risen Jesus comes in, boredom goes out. Many people hear a weekly sermon talk, however, few let the risen Jesus direct their daily walk.

A sermon informs the mind. The living Jesus transforms the heart. Interactive participation turns information into application. Christians need to meet to listen to one another and actually do the Word together.

Church tends to lecture people about Jesus like He is dead, instead of celebrating, demonstrating, and obeying His living presence. A Christian who just attends church once a week, but doesn’t stay close to the risen Jesus, will be spiritually weak.

TED allows lots of people to give a talk. A church usually only lets one.
A meeting of the body of Christ is full of spiritual gifts and much wisdom. It seems such a waste to only let one person speak. When it comes to the Holy Spirit, always choose ALLOW.

People joke about boring sermons. I take them seriously. I believe that God wants more sharing in church than one-man sermons.

Christianity isn’t an enterprise — its an inner prize — the pearl of great price! Many people minister in their own name by putting it on “their ministry,” but shouldn’t ministry be done “in the name of Jesus”?

Christians can gather as an audience. (Church may be the only educational institution in the world that requires a lifetime of hearing weekly lectures.) They can also meet as a body of believers to minister to one another as led by the Spirit. In a “doer” church service, people are free to actually do the New Testament “one anothers,” not just be hearers only.

To make sermon-hearing the focus of Christian worship is to miss the point of the resurrection of Jesus! Church services make people “hearers only’ but the Bible says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” I want to find a doer church service where everyday people are allowed to listen to the resurrected Jesus and then do what He tells them to!

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What do you get if you cross political debate with procrastination? An argument that is just waiting to happen.

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Steve Simms
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Life is improvable — humorize

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Steve Simms

Life’s improvable! Make your day better by noticing the humor around you and playfully enjoying it. Improv today. Stress, sadness, discouragement — what we have here is a failure to appreciate the humor in everyday life. Humorize!

When I’m struggling in life, I try to see funny in my circumstances. By finding something to laugh about, I feel so much better! Since there is no need to make sense of humor, you can just relax and enjoy it. 

Whenever you find a little humor in difficult circumstances you will win some joy and relief. Find some and see for yourself. Humor is the least expensive medicine. It only costs you a moment to laugh. 

It just makes common sense that life is easier with a good sense of humor. We all have craziness in our life, but if we learn to regularly have a healthy laugh at it, it won’t stress us out so much. If you won’t laugh at yourself, you may need to find someone who will.

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For Black History Month 2019, get “Off the RACE Track”

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Steve Simms

For Black History Month 2019 — Get Off the RACE Track @ https://amzn.to/2BeL0YE

We like to believe that we’re hungry for the truth, but we frequently don’t like how it tastes and refuse to consume it. If history saw the victims of American slavery as fully human then slaveholders would be seen as tyrants.

Off the RACE Track takes a much-needed, out-of-the-box approach to race in America. It explores skin color as an asset to be appreciated rather than as an attempt to excuse injustice. It focuses on color-appreciation rather than on color-accusation — color-joy, not color-judgment.

By presenting a creative overview of the history of African-Americans from the first slaves trafficked to Jamestown, Virginia in 1611 until the present day, Off the RACE Track exposes many details and events involving America’s history of racial injustice. However, it does so with compassion, honesty, and hope. It also gives many practical ways to cross the color-line with love, understanding, and healing.

Off the RACE Track also gives many examples of heroic Americans who through out our history courageously spoke up for equality and boldly worked against racism — including the “Top 10 Greatest Americans of All Time based on the concept of ‘liberty and justice for all.'” Hopefully, it can help us all to get off the track of America’s racial treadmill. 

The first African-American National Commander of The Salvation Army USA says this:  “The racial divide in America is real and it is deep. Steve Simms begins his exploration of the problem with three questions. He then takes the reader on his personal journey into lives and circumstances that too few would even dare imagine going. He is intentional about finding answers–no matter the risks. But he cannot question without engaging experiences that would otherwise be unknown and thus unappreciated. This is a rare account of a man who literally takes action on his belief in the worth of others. Interested in discovering what you can do to address the problem? Then you must read Steve’s story!”  –Commissioner Israel L. Gaither, Retired National Commander, The Salvation Army, USA

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Fast food Christianity or “new wine” tasting

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Steve Simms

Church should be a “new wine” tasting. “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” The Holy Spirit releases inner “rivers of living water,” “new wine,” & “fire” — God intoxication! When you’re inspired you feel prompted to proclaim “Wow!” and tell people about it, yet church says, “Be quiet & listen.”

The purpose of preaching is to introduce people to the risen Jesus, not to make them dependent on a weekly sermon. Christ told His followers: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” Churches tell Christians: “Show up for Sunday service.” When dialogue died in Christian worship meetings, monologue took over. 

Here’s an alternative definition of “replacement theology” — let the preacher do it. When church replaced Christ-led spirituality with human mentality, it exchanged relationship for religion. The mentality of ignoring Christ-prompted spirituality has paralyzed the church. “Fast food” Christianity seems to have been substituted for deeply heart-felt faith and radical discipleship.

To make Christianity about hearing a weekly talk is like making Sunday dinner about watching a weekly cooking show. To make hearing a Sunday sermon the focus of Christianity is like making med school the focus of health care.

An architect who only listens to talks about architecture will never build anything. A Christian who only listens to talks will…

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Don’t make people earn your kindness

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Steve Simms

Don’t make people win your kindness. Give them a bye. Be kind to everyone.

We humans are harder to work with than Alexa and other devices. We often just don’t do what we’re told. We like to believe that we’re hungry for the truth, but we frequently don’t like how it tastes and refuse to consume it.

If you feel the need to argue, argue with the anger, insecurity, disappointment, frustration, and sin that is within your own heart.
To argue with someone who refuses to even consider your point of view is a frustrating waste of time, going nowhere. If you argue with an insulter, he/she will insult you even more.

Don’t write people off because of what they look like. They’re far more complicated than that! It’s easy to be wrong about people, to misjudge them based on a physical characteristic or on something they say or do or believe. There’s something good about every person. Sometimes it is very hard to find, but search for it anyway. 

If your logic is solid, you can be kind when you state your position to those who disagree with you. If you won’t be nice to people who disagree with you, your friends and family better watch out cause their time is coming. When you’re sharing the joy of wholesome, uplifting humor with someone, getting along is easy.

As the pinnacle of God’s creation, people need to be loved, respected, and encouraged to live in His presence. If you’re frustrated with human politics, seek the kingdom of God instead. It’s awesome! Jesus wants to lead us beyond human hierarchy and into His monarchy–the kingdom of God!

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Telling the truth about lying

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Steve Simms

Truth is you might wanna watch our new Crazy Bible Stuff video about lying . . . (AND DON’T SAY YOU DID IF YOU DON’T LOL.)

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Abortion, New York, & the Wall

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Steve Simms

Graphic pictures of the hidden brutality of abortion would make even a New Yorker squirmish. Perhaps prenatal killing is a tragedy to be avoided and not a “right” to be celebrated.

Some people want a wall to keep illegal aliens out of America. Others want abortion to keep their own children out. In America, killing soon-to-be-born family members is often called “family planning.”

Prenatal life in America is “at risk.” It’s dangerous to be alive and unborn in the USA. 

Historically Americans have been cruel to their own children. Many slaveholders enslaved theirs and abortion kills them. For centuries it was legal to abuse African-Americans. Now legal abuse has shifted to the unborn. (The US Supreme Court has supported both forms of human abuse.)

The victims of past American slavery and the victims of present-day abortion are dehumanized to justify their abuse. If history saw the victims of American slavery as fully human then slaveholders would be seen as tyrants, not as heroes.

To encourage and/or support the destruction of one form of human life is to devalue and disrespect all human life. Apologizing, grieving, and repenting for abortion seems much more appropriate than celebrating it.

Prenatal deaths should be mourned, not celebrated. When the right to avoid personal inconvenience is made greater than the right to life something is really wrong.

Thinking about America’s ongoing prenatal killings sometimes causes me to lose sleep. “Thumbs up, thumbs down,” to live or die–sounds more like the Roman Empire than “liberty & justice for all.”

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What ever happened to the concept of “I respectfully disagree”?

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Steve Simms

Demanding that people agree with you is unreasonable and can only produce insincere compliance. Instead be kind to everyone. Anybody can insult, mock, and be unkind, but it takes amazing courage to cross color, ethnic, and political lines with ongoing love. 

Villainizing people who disagree with you is a sign of insecurity, plus it diminishes the chance of finding common ground. Why has public life in America become a “survival of the fittest” “dog eat dog” world? The news and social media are full of politicians and ordinary people who are acting like they think they are WWF wrestlers and the people who make the meanest insults are the winners. Can we Make America Kinder Again?

There are unlimited ways to be kind to people. Perhaps we all could find one today. Between the opposite extremes of fighting and faking agreement, there is “speaking the truth in love.” If we don’t love people enough to be kind to them, they won’t believe that we love them at all.

Insults hurt people. Compliments sooth their wounds. It’s much better to ease people’s pain than to cause it. Besides that, it’s so much more fun to encourage and appreciate people than it is to verbally attack them.

People are amazing carriers of the image of God. No matter what they look like or believe, they’re fun to get to know. Don’t box up your thinking and put it in storage. A boxed up mind’s a terrible mental waste.

Here’s a shocking fact: People who disagree can respect each other and find ways to work together. If people would begin to compliment the people they disagree with instead of insulting them, the world would be a better place. 

Mean words matter. Stop the public abuse of people you disagree with. Speak the truth with kindness and compassion.

Martin Luther King, Jr. trained people to demand justice without resorting to insults and disrespect. His way of love overcame much racial injustice.

Perhaps having a talk with Jesus might be more effective than just hearting a talk about Jesus. Shouldn’t people being passionately on fire for Jesus be the norm in Christian churches? Perhaps passion for Christ is more effectively caught by Christians ministering to one another than taught by a professional.

 Guilt is an internal warning system that shows you when your thoughts and/or behaviors are messed up. Whenever you feel guilty, don’t blame others. Instead look at your own life and stop doing what is causing your guilt. Don’t insult others because of your guilt.

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The worst place to build a wall

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Steve Simms

The worst place to build a wall is in your heart. It’s easy to focus on arguing with people and miss seeing their creativity, their uniqueness, and their inner beauty. It’s okay to disagree with people but there is no reason to be unkind to them

The heavens declare the glory of God, but humans are actually made in His image. To neglect to see the image of God in the people you encounter is to confuse the extraordinary with the ordinary. 

Human approval isn’t an accurate measure of ethical behavior. Do what’s right, not what’s popular. True love doesn’t just passively approve of people’s and organizations’ behaviors. It challenges them to be better than they are.

When we rationalize and excuse mistreating human life in any stage or of any race, we embrace injustice. Prenatal capital punishment executes the innocent. Here’s a poem I wrote:

Prenatal care is unfair.
Some get care.
Others they tear
In pieces beyond repair.

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