Can a church service abound with preachers & teachers?

Posted on August 10, 2017 by Steve Simms

We can preach and teach or we can cultivate an atmosphere where preachers and teachers abound. Let’s make disciples and let church services overflow with preachers and teachers.

Jesus said it’s foolish to hear His words but not do them. (Matthew 7:26) To understand the Bible we need to experience it, not just learn things about it.

In all that we do, let’s cultivate connection and communication with Christ. Christian growth takes off when people are listened to and allowed to share insights in meetings.

Worship is to gaze at the risen Jesus & to engage in humble interaction with Him. When Christians experience that their active sharing is needed in a worship gathering, their perspective of church is transformed.

When Christians meet for worship, with open, cooperative communication; the Holy Spirit moves into the leadership role. It’s powerful when Christ-followers come together and make themselves vulnerable! Allowing the Holy Spirit to express Himself through anybody present, opens the door for miracles!

When worship reaches beyond the script & connects with the Spirit, awe moves in! It’s difficult to worship without awe! (“Everyone was filled with awe.” -Acts 2:43) To experience awe is to worship!

Watching a Jesus bug
Walking on water
I’m reminded that
God can do anything,
If we don’t quench
The Holy Spirit!

Posted in Acts 2, Acts 2:43, awe, awe of God, Christian leadership, church leadership, cost of discipleship, disciples, filled with awe, how to be a disciple, leaders, leadership, making disciples, Quench not the Spirit, servant leadership, spiritual leaders, Uncategorized, walking on water | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

95 Theses 4 Reformation #4: Train people to implement what they believe by obeying the risen Jesus.

Posted on August 9, 2017 by Steve Simms
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95 Theses 4 Reformation #3 (& other thoughts)

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Steve Simms

95 Theses 4 Reformation #3: Let people interrupt as led by the Spirit, according to 1 Corinthians 14:30-31.

Here are a few more thoughts to inspire reformation:

Open sharing in church can help reach people who want interactive community, mutual support, & participation. Since a lot of people are wiser & know more than any one person does, why don’t we let a lot of people share in church?

Has religious form & structure eclipsed (at least partially) the risen Jesus? Perhaps keeping a worship meeting under tight human control “protects” us from God’s unexpected. Don’t let Jesus be eclipsed in your life.

In the Gospels, religious people had a harder time with Jesus & His teaching than nonreligious people did. With about 34,000+ Christian denominations, I’ve only heard of one that meets for worship according to 1 Corinthians 14:26. (Quakers) Why?

What’s wrong with Christians meeting for worship, as equals, without always exalting one person above all the others? Is it logical to believe that one man in a church understands God better than everybody else?

As menorahs hold many candles, not just one; so when the body of Christ meets for worship, we can let many lights shine, not just one preacher. “I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man . . . The seven lampstands are the seven ekklesias.” (Revelation 1:12, 13, & 20) See http://amzn.to/2ugGh7j.

Support groups do it! So why don’t churches?
(Let everyday people share from the heart according to 1 Corinthians 14:26.) God says: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Not just preachers.

Some people don’t believe in miracles, unaware that they are surrounded by them.

Posted in Bible, Christian Denominations, Christian support group, church, God, Let the redeemed of the Lord, miracles, revelation, support groups, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

95 Theses 4 Reformation #2: Let people in church listen to Jesus & then do whatever He tells them to.

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Steve Simms

Counting down my personal 95 Theses for Reformation Day 2017. Read more @ http://amzn.to/2uylYgY

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95 Theses for Reformation #1:

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Steve Simms

95 Theses 4 Reformation #1:

Keep people’s attention focused on the living, resurrected Jesus.

I’m celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation:
–On October 31, 1517 a guy named Martin Luther posted “95 Theses” on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany which was the catalyst for many changes in church around the world.
–Beginning today, August 6, 2017 and going through October 31, 2017, I will post my 95 Theses over the next 87 days. I will post one per day until the final 8 days and on those days I will post two per day. (The number 8 represents new beginnings.) I pray that there will be new beginnings — a new reformation — that will transform church into the Greek New Testament concept of ekklesia.
–To read all my 95 Theses, check out my book, “Beyond Church” @ http://amzn.to/2fjupKS. The Salvation Army USA’s “War Cry” magazine calls it “Groundbreaking.”

martin luther reformation

Posted in 1517, 2017, a new reformation, anniversary, celebration, Germany, Protestant Reformation, Protestant Reformers, Salvation Army, Uncategorized, War Cry, Wittenberg Door | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Since sin still seduces in the 21st Century

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Steve Simms

To keep your mind
Caught up in sin
Is to slowly
Decay within.

Posted in all have sinned, confess your sins, confession of sin, everyone who sins is a slave, freedom from sin, Go and sin no more, grace greater than all my sin, have mercy on me a sinner, hdden sin, how to deal with sin, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Questioning Christ-followers — are we family?

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Steve Simms

When Christians meet & practice encouraging each other, their confidence grows and soon they’re encouraging folks everywhere they go. I love it when a group of people lets the Holy Spirit flow like music & carry them in His current. Let the Holy Spirit be your inner fire — soul stirring music that never fades!

Christians are called to meet as family–a group of people who share spiritual kinship & who genuinely care about one another. The family of God is about heart-felt relationships, caring interaction, & mutual support. When the body of Christ functions as a caring community that meets to compassionately listen to one another, lives are changed.

Family time in the body of Christ: hanging our with one another in the Holy Spirit as brothers & sisters in Christ. In the genuine body of Christ friends (and even strangers) become family.

Hanging out with Christ-follows who are hearing & obeying the Holy Spirit is my favorite place to be. The family of God is like beautiful music. There are high notes & low notes, but it’s always a heart-warming melody. Kinship with other Christians isn’t a doctrine to be taught, but a blessing to share. It’s when people love you, even when you don’t feel so lovable. Hearts connect.

Perhaps we should stop giving people a piece of our mind and begin to give them a piece of our heart. Let’s be a safe place for people’s hearts to unfold.

Christ-followers are called to engage in spiritual combat together — to fight for one another, not against each other. Then they become a band of sisters and brothers!

When we ignore the Holy Spirit & the Bible the family of God tends to become dysfunctional. We need to gather and together experience the Higher Power behind the universe to be the Creator who came in the flesh as Jesus Christ to restore us to Him, actively working in our midst.

Jesus calls gatherings of His followers “lampstands.” Let’s let His light shine. (See Revelation 1:20.) He challenges us to gather and listen to the Spirit together. (“Hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.” Rev. 2:11 WEB) Let’s obey Him and do what He’s saying in that Bible verse.

A Christ-follower is someone who consistently does what Jesus said to do. A Christ-follower is always being trained to think, to act, & to be more like Jesus.

I believe the Bible & read it daily because the words burn in my heart & it works deep inside me, continually transforming my life. When I began to daily read the Bible it broke down the barricades around my heart.

God has inspiring music for the souls who will listen to Him. The things that can’t be expressed in words have to be heard directly from the living God.

To analyze the Bible is like trying to work a Rubik’s Cube. To open your heart to it is like eating your favorite ice cream. To approach the Bible as an analytical conquest, is to miss its wonder, bewilderment, & awe!

To analyze Scripture is one thing; to absorb it is another! The Bible’s God’s playlist. Don’t just read it. Keep its music playing in your soul. Reading the Bible like a love letter will unbind your heart.

Some people think they need to “fix” the Bible. I prefer to let the Bible fix me! If you will consistently read the Bible with an open heart, Jesus will set you free from the tyranny of your thoughts.

God wants people to follow Jesus with so much joy, love, & enthusiasm that no one can ignore their commitment to Him! You can’t dance with God if you won’t tune in to His music in your soul.

Without a solid foundation built on the living, resurrected Jesus Christ, it’s easy to crumble into hopelessness. Don’t do that. Don’t rust out. Wear out burning for Jesus!

Learn more about how we can be family. Click this link to go “Beyond Church.”

 

Posted in band of brothers, Bible, dysfunctional family, family time, Higher Power, Holy Spirit, spiritual combat, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A lens to bring life into focus.

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Steve Simms

Don’t get so focused on “loving yourself” that you neglect to show love to others. Seeking self-fulfillment produces continual frustration. Surrendering to the risen Jesus releases a soothing flow of inner peace.

You can see life much more clearly through the lens of Christ than you can through the lens of self. The lens of modern media distorts human vision, but the lens of the Bible, read with an open heart, clears things up.

The Bible is the lens that will bring your life into focus; but only if you regularly look at life through it. Whatever you continually allow in your mind will be gradually reproduced in your emotions and in your life. The darkness in your life will disappear if you will begin to daily read the Bible with your heart open to the risen Jesus.

Your life will function much more effectively if you listen to & obey the inner unction of the Holy Spirit. By ignoring God’s holy unction of inner compunction we stay stuck in various forms of dysfunction. Jesus won’t leave us, but we humans sure do leave Jesus! Jesus is proactive! He paid the penalty for your wrongs before you were even born! Don’t reject His forgiveness.

Life works much better when we strive to think & act like Jesus, instead of assuming that Jesus thinks & acts like us. Humbly reading the Bible daily will train you to hear the risen Jesus in its pages & His voice in your heart.

You can find much more joy & inner peace by following the Bible than you can by following your own feelings, desires, & opinions. The words that you think, say, & write, reflect the condition of your heart.

 

Don’t buy the idea that the Bible is in conflict with Jesus. Fact is, Jesus used the Scriptures to show who He is!

The Bible is how God texts human beings. Daily read the Bible & God will begin to text you with words that vibrate in your soul. Daily reading the Bible transformed me from a doubter to a believer. Now everyday when I read the Bible, it stirs my heart to love Jesus even more.

While writing this, I just flipped open the Bible and began to read where it opened. It touched me so powerfully that I cried.

Don’t believe anyone who tells you that you can’t understand the Bible by yourself. You don’t need someone to tell you what the Bible says. You can read it yourself! I’ve always preferred reading the Bible instead of reading books about the Bible or theology.

Life’s not about your net worth. It’s about finding your place in God’s network. Life’s not about the square footage of your house. It’s about the quality of love that you share.

It’s life-changing to see members of the body of Christ come together & each one listen to & obey Jesus as the living Head.

Every time we choose what’s wrong rather than what’s right, we reject God and distort our vision. To live life on our on terms is to be out of focus with God.

God by grace offers to forgive & set us free from our rebellion against Him. He doesn’t applaud it.

Posted in frustration, love yourself, self-focus, self-fulfillment, spiritual growth, spiritual insight, texting, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scaramucci words!

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Steve Simms

New White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci threw a profanity-filled temper tantrum at New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza. He published it. Although I’m not going to read Anthony’s vulgar rant, the news reports about it helped inspire these thoughts.

You can’t fly by flapping around with fowl, earthy words. People won’t help you get off the ground if you verbally give them the bird.

There’s nothing “colorful” about profanity. It’s dark, shady, & dismal. A cuss word is a one-word temper tantrum (an immature outburst usually associated with children).

Why aren’t cuss words considered to be hate speech? They’re sure not loving. Blasting a conversation with vulgar verbal bombs is disruptive & dominating.

Cussing is the language of anger, insult, & frustration; not the language of love, serenity, and happiness. Most words known as “adult language” are really adolescent words.

Profanity is designed to insult, intimidate, & disrespect. Is that what you want to do?

To keep your mind pure (as the Bible instructs) it helps to avoid exposure to profanity. (Philippians 4:8)

Here’s a simple way to make your life better: Replace discouraging words with encouraging ones.

Posted in adult language, bad words, behaving badly, colorful language, cursing, cussing, f-bomb, fowl language, is cussing judging?, potty mouth, Quotes, temper tantrum, Uncategorized, vulgarity | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cage free eggs or a cage free life?

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Steve Simms

Some people prefer cage free eggs more than a cage free life. If you’re stumbling over the past, you’re in a cage & going backwards.

cage free eggs

Life becomes a mess when we begin to say yes to the wrong impulses. When we ignore God’s boundaries we go bounding headlong into bondage.

Two ways to go through life: with good sense or with nonsense. What you try to grab with your paws often doesn’t last; what you pause & let God give you does!

To think we are wise, yet make unwise choices, leaves us otherwise. Education teaches us what to know, but not how to enjoy what we know.

Surrounded by God, but unaware of His presence, people think & act like they’re alone & unaccountable for their thoughts & actions. But God’s always aware of them.

To live a self-centered life in this beautiful world is to miss out on the marvelous. The person who is full of himself has crowded out God. Christ calls us to follow Him. So why do we try to get Him to follow us?

Denial attempts to make the obvious obscure. We try to take one day at a time. God sees it all at once.

Solid faith isn’t built on what you are going to do; but on what Christ has already done! A good sermon teaches people how to follow Jesus. Discipleship shows people how to follow & trust in Jesus.

If you follow Christ, you’ll leave your comfort zone behind. To be gifted but unwilling to use your gifts is the same as being giftless.

Jesus is the way. Should we substitute our plan, our program for Him and His word?

The Bible is how God texts you. Daily read the Bible & God will begin to text you with words that vibrate in your soul.

Those who distort the Bible should at least read it first. The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible & is revealed through it. But don’t debate me; read the Bible & experience the Spirit yourself.

The Bible: it works if you work it! You don’t have to understand the Bible to obey it. You have to obey it to understand it.

The Bible is a Book full of living words that burn inside those who read it with an open heart. Daily reading the Bible transformed me from a doubter to a believer.

The Bible helps us discern the Spirit. The Spirit teaches us the Bible. We need both! Christianity is built on objective truths, not on human feelings & opinions.

If someone is trying to get you to decide between Jesus & the Bible, run. Hold to both.

Why is the Bible illegal in 52 countries? Because it is incredibly powerful! Read it daily & see for yourself.

When the Holy Spirit works a room, people’s faces & hearts are set aglow. I love to see Jesus working in & through a group of His people ministering to one another.

Life’s not about the square footage of your house; it’s about the quality of love that you share. Life’s not about your net worth. It’s about finding your place in God’s network. Learn more about God’s network @ this link.

Posted in Bible reading, comfort zone, cost of discipleship, discipleship, faith in action, faith in God, faith walk, it works if you work it, Jesus is the way, one day at a time, texting, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment