Church programs or ekklesia fire?

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Steve Simms

God's fire cross William Booth

Question: What would happen if church meetings were built on people stepping out in faith and sharing from their heart — instead of being built on people passively watching a highly programmed presentation?
Answer: God’s fire would fall and His Spirit would take control of the meeting transforming lives.

The body of Christ is a “royal priesthood.” Every Christ-follower is a priest, called to serve God and to minister to people. There are no spectators (whose only job is to sit quietly and listen) in the body of Christ. Church as usual sets people up to be spectators, however, Christ wants to fire people up to be passionate participants who actively speak out in worship meetings and spiritual warriors who release God’s love and purity in their day to day lives.

If you see a church
Beginning to obey
1 Corinthians 14:26;
You will soon see
An ekklesia aflame for God! (What’s an ekklesia?)

It’s time to trade our programs for God’s fire!
“Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
To burn up every trace of sin,
To bring the light and glory in,
The revolution now begin,
Send the fire today!”
–William Booth

Experience ekklesia and God’s fire every Sunday morning at The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville 37207 on Sunday mornings at 10:45.

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, body of Christ, church bulletin, church programs, ekklesia, holiness, lyrics, priest, purity, royal priesthood, Salvation Army, song, spiritual warfare, Uncategorized, universal priesthood, worship | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Does American religion deny the freedom of speech?

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Steve Simms

Does religion restrict the freedom of speech?
–The First Amendment to the American Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech.
–So given such freedom, why do American churches almost universally follow a form or religion that only allows one person the freedom to talk about religion during worship meetings and denies the freedom of speech to everyone else present in the meeting?
(This is an especially important question considering that the Bible, in 1 Corinthians 14:26, teaches that everyone present in a worship meeting has a right to speak out.)

Religion is a circuit breaker that shuts off the power of the living Christ and attempts to replace the dazzling spotlight of Jesus’ presence with a dim candle of church programs and a monologue of religious platitudes

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, church, form of godliness, freedom of conscience, having a form of godliness but denying the power, house church, organic chruch, simple church, testimonies, Uncategorized, unprogrammed church, unprogrammed meeting, worship | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Seeking self-satisfaction is an endless whirlpool of “me, my, and mine” — a downward spiral, swirling with discouragement, depression, and despair. The search for self-fulfillment is a misery making myth that sucks the life out of people, throwing them into a raging stream of self-sedation and mindless medication. The only rescue is the recovery of self-denial — passionately following a cause that is greater than self — losing yourself in serving others.

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Steve Simms
Posted in despair, discouragement, finding yourself, me my mine, self-control, self-denial, self-destruction, self-destructive behaviors, self-discovery, self-esteem, self-focus, self-forgiveness, self-fulfillment, self-hate, self-help, self-image, self-importance, self-improvement, self-indulgence, self-interest, self-justification, self-mastery, self-promotion, self-respect, self-restraint, self-sacrifice, self-surrender, self-worth, selfish desires, selfishness, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Letting church cruise on Christ-contol

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Steve Simms

Across the USA church is in decline. Perhaps it is time to set church on Christ-control and let Jesus freely cruise trough the meeting. There’s nothing like a Christ-led gathering when we put aside human agendas and control and simply let the living, resurrected Jesus lead us!

The New Testament calls church on Christ-control by the Greek word ekklesia. Ekklesia was the town meeting of ancient Greek city-states. It was an open forum where anyone could speak. Jesus adopted this idea when he said “I will build My ekklesia.” Paul instructed the early Christ-followers to gather based on the concept of ekklesia when he wrote: “When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has another language, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build each other up.” –1 Corinthians 14:26 in the World English Bible (Learn more about ekklesia @ this link.)

ekklesia Son shining

If you are in Nashville, come and see the Son shine in the ekklesia that meets @ The Salvation Army Berry Street every Sunday morning @ 10:45 — 225 Berry St., Nashville, TN 37207.

Posted in alternative church, alternative to church, Christ control, church meetings, church services, churching, contemporary church, ekklesia, Greek city-states, house church, House of Prayer, how to do church, open church, open forum, praise and worship, Salvation Army, Salvation Army Corps, simple church, town meeting, Uncategorized, When you come together, worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sharing What The Spirit Says

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Steve Simms
Simple people sharing
What the Spirit says
Makes church ekklesia again —
A forum for Him;
A support group
For one another.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”
More @http://amzn.to/2bgu3SU.

Make Church Ekklesia

Will religion let ekklesia out of the bag?
There’s no place like ekklesia.
Ekklesia lets the Son shine.
Ekklesia makes the heart grow fonder.
Ekklesia speaks louder than words.
Ekklesia is the spice of life.
In ekklesia there is strength.
The proof of ekklesia is in the sharing
You can’t experience ekklesia without breaking a few traditions.

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, Beyond Church, Bible one anothers, he that has ears, he who has ears to hear, hearing God, hearing the Holy Spirit, house church, How many one anothers are in the, Let the redeemed of the Lord, nontraditional, one anothering, one anothers, promptings, simple church, Spirit-promptings, Uncategorized, what the Spirit says | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rockin’ with Matthew 16 in Jesus’ Town Meeting (Pebble vs. Foundational Rock)

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Steve Simms

Like a symphony conductor, Jesus wants to release the music of His presence and power in and through groups of people who gather in His name. He explained that to His disciples in Matthew 16. However, our understand of Jesus’ explanation has been influenced  by the way the King James Bible translators chose to use safe, religious language to bring the Greek into English and because most translators since then have used the King James as a model to guide their translation. However, here’s an alternative reading that can rock us out of the KJV “church” boat.

The King James version leads us to believe that Jesus built a structure or an organization. I woke up during the night thinking about the words that KJV uses; “I will build.” When I woke up the next morning, I looked up the Greek  word translated “I will build” and was amazed to see that it can mean either build as in “build a building” or build up as in “edify, train, or lead.” This alternative version causes us to think that Jesus is building up and training a group of people. What do you think Jesus had in mind? Here’s the alternate version:

“Jesus asked: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Pebble answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Fortunate are you, Simon son of Jonah, for human nature and reasoning didn’t show that to you but my Father in Heaven. And I tell you that you are Pebble, and on this massive, foundational rock (of supernatural revelation) I will personally build up, train, and conduct My town meeting (ekklesia — the city council of Greek city-states).”

Here’s another option:

“Jesus asked: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Stone answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Fortunate are you, Simon son of Jonah, for human nature and reasoning didn’t show that to you but My Father in Heaven. And I tell you that you are a small building stone and on this huge foundation rock of Divine revelation, I will assemble, direct, and mature My open forum.”

To learn more about ekklesia go to this link.

contemporary Christ

Posted in Bible, King James Version, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Inner peace doesn’t come with fanfare. It quietly creeps into the soul like an inchworm.

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Steve Simms

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” -Colossians 3:15

Posted in celebrate recovery, Christ, Christ-centered recovery, Christian recovery, Colossians, fanfare, fruit of the Spirit, how to grow spiritually, peace of God, peace of mind, recovery groups, rejoice, soul, soul food, soul searching, spiritual awakening, spiritual disciplines, spiritual goals, spiritual growth, spiritual healing, spiritual health, spiritual hunger, spiritual insight, spiritual life, spiritual maturity, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Doping with performance enhancing words

Posted on August 14, 2016 by Steve Simms

Doping With Performance Enhancing Words

If you dope with the wrong words
You’ll be duped into darkness;
But if you dope with the right words
You will delight in bright light.
If you shoot up downer words
And they seep into your brain,
You’ll cause deep mental drain
And intense inner pain — 
It’s insane!
But if you pop positive word pills
You’ll fill yourself with uplifting thrills
Try it and see how it feels!
Monitor your media;
Avoid the negative;
Think on, watch, and read good things.
Choose to use profound words
And to dump the profane ones.
Stop the self-destructive rants;
Give up your negative trance.
Use words to enhance
Not to entomb.
–I woke this morning with the first few lines of this poem running through my mind. As I was writing it, I browsed through Facebook and saw a link to this:
“10,000 metres Olympic gold medallist Almaz Ayana has defended herself from allegations of drug use by saying, ‘My doping is Jesus.’ The Ethiopian athlete won an extraordinary 10,000 in a stunning world record time. Ayana smashed a 23-year-old world record to win the greatest-ever women’s 10,000 meters . . . Ayana had barely completed her victory lap before the questions started, and in her news conference she denied using performance enhancing drugs. ‘My doping is my training, my doping is Jesus. I am crystal clear,’ she said through an interpreter.”
Jesus license plate
–What’s in your doping?
Here’s a great word for performance enhancing doping — ekklesia!
Posted in addiction, addictions, celebrate recovery, drug abuse, drug addiction, drug commercials, drug culture, drug epidemic, drug rehab, drugs, facebook, media, media circus, mental health, Olympic athletes, Olympic events, Olympic glory, Olympic medals, Olympic spirit, overcoming addiction, persuasion of media, poem, power of words, recovery, recovery groups, recreational drugs, say no to drugs, social media, training, Uncategorized, words on fire | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There’s no room for bullying in democracy (or church)

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Steve Simms

Want to go beyond the bullying and 1-man control that can be common in church?

There’s no room for bullying in democracy or in church!
–Modern democracy depends on decisions developed by deliberation, diplomacy, and consensus; not on the dictatorship of one person or one party. There is no place for 1-person control or bullying in democracy.
–The very concepts of Congress and Parliament were based on the ancient Greek city council, Ekklesia, which was a participative, interactive assembly made up of equals.
–When Jesus spoke of His followers meeting in His name, He called it ekklesia. (Unfortunately, Jesus’ word “ekklesia” was replaced in most English language Bibles with the word “church.”)

Church seems to bore people. The struggle is real! Time to try ekklesia! Check out this handbook for ekklesia: http://amzn.to/2aKaz3v.

ekklesia

Jesus’ekklesia is:
* an atmosphere of love and caring
* a demonstration of the presence and power of Jesus
* a life-enriching support group
* a place to experience genuine community

Experience ekklesia at The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center in Nashville, TN, every Sunday morning @ 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207.

 

Posted in alternative church, American values, ancient Greeks, back to church, Berry Street, church, community, control, control in church, controlling pastors, dictatorship, ekklesia, English, government, Greek city-states, Greek history, Greek New Testament, house church, I will build my church, love, making church more participatory, Nashville, On this rock I will build My church, organic chruch, participatory church, participatory culture, recovery groups, Salvation Army, simple church, support group, Uncategorized, worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Weakly Reader makes me strong!

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Steve Simms

When I was in elementary school we were regularly given a publication called “Weekly Reader.” Did you get that when you were in school?

However, as an adult I have learned to depend on another publication — “Weakly Reader.” It is a collection of writings by various authors who openly show and admit their faults, failings, and weaknesses. Why do they do that? Because it’s healing to open up. One of the authors of the “Weakly Reader” says: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed.”

Another writer says: “Where I am weak, I am strong.” That sounds like an oxymoron. But hey, it’s one of the main principles of the “Weakly Reader.” When I feel like I can handle things by myself, I only access my own strength. However, when I feel weak, and realize that I can’t make it by myself; then I humbly access the power of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ.

The “Weakly Reader” continually reveals my weaknesses to me and challenges me to lay them down and instead of trusting in my own strength or resources, to trust in the presence of Jesus working in and through me. That makes all the difference!

Another name for the “Weakly Reader” is the Bible. Weak people read it daily, like their life depends on it. Strong people feel little or no need to daily read the Bible. As for me, I don’t do very well, unless I read at least a little bit every day.

weekly reader

Posted in Bible reading, challenge, challenges, Christianity, confess your sins, confession, elementary school, healing, pray for one another, reading, self-surrender, spiritual growth, spiritual healing, spiritual health, spiritual reading, spirituality, surrender, surrender to God, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment