Should Church Meetings Be Choreographed?

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Steve Simms

We think of surrendering to the Holy Spirit as an individual thing, but perhaps it is also something that we need to do when we meet together as a church. Perhaps we need to yield our program and our agenda to the Spirit and let Him personally direct the meeting according to His plan and program instead of ours.

If a group of people can spontaneously move to music on a dance floor without a choreographer telling them what to do, then, perhaps, a group of Christ-followers can move together with the Spirit without a professional on a platform telling them what to do. There is a time for choreographed dancing, but there is also a time for spontaneous dancing. There is a time for choreographed church meetings, but there should also be a time for spontaneous, Spirit-directed meetings without human control.

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy.” Acts 2;17.  Do our church meetings allow for the fulfillment of this Scripture? Are men and women allowed to speak out in your church as they are prompted by the Holy Spirit? Or are they compelled by program, custom, and tradition to stay seated and keep quiet?

When you see the living Jesus in the faces, actions, and words of other people, His presence becomes contagious, creating a chain reaction as people begin to spontaneously obey the New Testament “one another” commands like: “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Spirit-led, participatory church creates an environment where everyday people are free to let Jesus flow through their faces, actions, and words.

While visiting with my mother-in-law recently, she handed me a pamphlet and said, “You might want to look at this.” (She’s never done that before.) I flipped it open and the first thing I saw was this:  “The Holy Spirit today is on the outside of the church, and through individuals here and there, He is addressing the church and calling the church to repentance…The church today has rejected the Divine leadership of the Holy Spirit and substituted so-called scholarship for leadership.” –L.R. Shelton

Perhaps now is the time to set aside our own choreography and “scholarship” and instead allow the Holy Spirit, Himself, to personally lead and direct church meetings.

Posted in church leader, church leadership, church program, church programs, church roles, house church, how to do church, how to get involved in church, open church, order of worship, organic church, scholarship, simple church, worship, worship gathering, worship innovation, worship service, worship styles | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Beyond Spectatorship To Discipleship

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Steve Simms

Every Christ-follower is called to preach. Every believer is a minister ordained by God. The clergy/laity concept is not in the New Testament. Instead all believers are expected to minister to one another, to openly testify about their faith, and to preach the good news about the living Jesus Christ. The Protestant Reformers called this concept “the priesthood of the believer.” The early Salvation Army leaders took it a step farther and expected every member to be a soldier for Christ, led by the Spirit and actively engaged in the salvation war! The 21st Century church needs nothing less than the passionate participation of every believer in active ministry — devoted to discipleship, not stuck in spectatorship!

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“‘Beyond spectatorship to discipleship!’ The Salvation war requires total mobilization, belief and commitment. Building for God’s Kingdom is the responsibility of all who know Jesus as Savior, living as salt and light just where we are.” –General André Cox (International leader of The Salvation Army)

Who does the Bible say can speak in a church meeting? Anybody. “For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.” –Paul of Tarsus (1 Corinthians 14:31)

When you see the living Jesus in the faces, actions, and words of other people, His presence becomes contagious, creating a chain reaction as people begin to spontaneously obey the New Testament “one another” commands like: “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Spirit-led, participatory church creates an environment where everyday people are free to let Jesus flow through their faces, actions, and words.

Rerouting! Rerouting! Rerouting!  What if God is trying to reroute church meetings in fresh, new ways?

For five hundred years there has basically been only one, right way of doing church. Regardless of denomination or doctrine, church has almost universally contained a central, one-man sermon. There have been very few exceptions to this “correct way of doing church” during the past 5 centuries since the Protestant Reformers made the sermon central, and the few have been persecuted. In fact, if there is no sermon, many people will dogmatically say that there is no church.

However, when we read the Bible, we see another way of doing church, very clearly presented: “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.” Church comes alive when members TEAM with one another: Together Engage in Anointed Ministry!

A surfer is not someone who listens to lectures about surfing, but someone who rides the waves.  A Christ-follower is not someone who sits and hears sermons, but someone who flows with the Spirit.  “For as many as are led by the Spirit, these are the children of God.” –Romans 8:14. (Come and flow with the Spirit with us at The Salvation Army Berry Street, where everyday people show and tell what God has done.)

Posted in André Cox, called to preach, calling, clergy, clergy/laity, clericalism, layman, laymen, laymen preaching, laywomen, ministers, ministry, ordaination, ordained, priest, priesthood of the believer, Protestant, Protestant Reformation, quotation, Quotations, quote, salvation war, universal priesthood | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Right Way To Have Church

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Steve Simms

Is there only one, correct way of doing church?  Sometimes it seems so.

For five hundred years there has basically been only one, right way of doing church. Regardless of denomination or doctrine, church has almost universally contained a central, one-man sermon. There have been very few exceptions to this “correct way of doing church” during the past 5 centuries since the Protestant Reformers made the sermon central, and the few have been persecuted. In fact, if there is no sermon, many people will dogmatically say that there is no church.

However, before the Protestant Reformation, there was another, almost universal way of doing church.  This “correct way of doing church” involved having the Eucharist (the Lord’s Supper, communion) as the central aspect of church with a short homily (sermon) off to the side.

However, if we read the Bible, we see another way of doing church, very clearly presented: “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.”

I like this quote:  “Being a fresh expression of church is just as valid as being a more inherited model of church.” –Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the Methodist Church (UK) and board chairman of the Fresh Expressions movement.

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, 1 Corinthians:14, Bible, biblical, Biblical concept, church history, communion, denominations, doctrine, doctrines, Fresh Expressions movement, homiletics, homily, house church, Lord's supper, Martyn Atkins, Methodism, Methodist church, open church, organic church, participation in church, participatory church, preacher, preaching, preaching the Word, Protestant, pulpit, pulpit ministry, sacrament, sacraments, sermon-hearing, sermons, the right way to do church, UK, ways of doing church, worship, worship gathering, worship service | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Have We Silenced God’s Lambs (Keeping Them Silent With Preaching)?

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Steve Simms

Have we silenced God’s lambs with a gag rule for church?  Perhaps.

I believe that many people have powerful messages from God burning in their heart, but they are too intimidated to share them because:

1) They are never given the opportunity to preach or teach..
2) They have been taught that they are unqualified because the only people they ever see preach are professional preachers.
3) They have been taught that it would be rebellious and/or presumtuous for them to preach or teach in a church.

Therefore many people with mighty words from God remain quiet and their message dies with them.  But not everywhere! At The Salvation Army Berry Street in Nashville, Tennessee, regular people are permitted to share, one after the other, what God has put on their heart and they do so powerfully! Come see:  Sundays @ 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207.

Posted in lay preaching, laymen preaching, multi-voiced church, Music City, Nashville, Nashville charity, participation, participation in church, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Nashville, shared sermon, speaking up, Who can preach? | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Worship Wars — Make Room For Sermon-Free Church

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Steve Simms

Is There Room For Sermon-Free Church?  (Of course there is.)

Worship wars, a popular name for disagreements in church about how to conduct the Sunday service, have been going on for years. But there is no need to argue. There is plenty of room for diverse styles of church meetings. (Some churches even have both contemporary and traditional services.). However, the style of church that has most impacted my life, sermon-free church, is very rare.

In sermon-free church, instead of the same man preaching week after week, everyday people are free, as led by the Spirit, to show and tell what God has done. (My first encounter with the living, resurrected Jesus was in a sermon-free church meeting.) If your church would like to add a sermon-free church service to what you are already doing (traditional and/or contemporary) I’d be glad to help.

Here are a few blogs about sermon free church:

Benjamin Franklin & Sermon-Free Church:  https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/benjamin-franklin-sermon-free-church/

Soren Kierkegaard Promoted Sermon-Free Church:  https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/soren-kierkegaard-promoted-sermon-free-participatory-church/

The Christmas Candle (a Max Lucado movie) Confirms The Concept of Sermon-Free Church:  https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/the-christmas-candle-confirms-the-concept-of-sermon-free-church/

Frustrated With Preaching?  Try Sermon-Free Church:  https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/frustrated-with-preaching-try-sermon-free-church/

Sermon-Free Church Rocked The Early Methodists:  https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/sermon-free-church-rocked-the-early-methodists/

Sermon-Free Church Spread Across America In 1857-1858:  https://stevesimms.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/sermon-free-church-spread-across-america-in-1857-1858/

Posted in answer to worship wars, Ben Franklin, contemporary vs. traditional, do away with the sermon, Kierkegaard, Layman's Prayer Revival, Laymen's prayer revival, laymen's prayer revival of 1857, Methodism, Methodist class meeting, Methodists, preacher, preaching, Søren Kierkegaard, see a sermon, sermon, sermon-free, sermon-hearing, sermons, sharing | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Did modern innovations in churches create worship wars?

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Steve Simms

Church innovation has become widespread & refreshing! Guess what is my favorite church innovation.

Over the past generation or two, the way of having church in our society has changed a lot as we have seen new ideas creatively introduced in many churches: Pews were replaced by theater style chairs. Traditional hymns by praise songs and choruses. Song books by Powerpoint slides.

This process has been called worship wars.  Worship wars can be defined as conflict in church about how to conduct the Sunday service, usually between contemporary innovations and more traditional ways of doing church.

In many churches passive lip syncing has been replaced by passionate singing with raised hands. Dressing up has been replaced by casual dress. Short drama productions have been inserted in many Sunday services, as well as YouTube clips. Worship dancing has been a creative innovation. In some churches a live preacher has been replaced by a giant TV screen picturing a preacher from another location. Some churches even let people get into small groups and pray with one another during the worship service.

However, the most exciting innovation to me, goes by several names: simple church, organic church, participatory church, etc. It is based on the Bible verse, 1 Corinthians 14:26, and replaces the traditional, one-man sermon with open sharing and participation as directed by the Holy Spirit.  Why?  Because we live in a participatory/interactive age.  To actively engage the upcoming generation, church needs to be participatory.

To quote Bob Rognlien:  “When you use the mediums of communication of 100 years ago, or even 40 years ago, our people are unmoved.  We are speaking a cultural language that our people do not understand.  We must seek more effective ways to engage the mind in worship.”  –from the book Experiential Worship.

Posted in Bob Rognlien, changes in worship, church meetings, church program, church seating, church services, church speakers, competition, conflict, contemporary Christian music, contemporary church, contemporary society, controversy, debate, definition, experiential worship, house church, how to do church, hymn, hymns, innovation, lip syncing, open church, open sharing, organic church, participatory church, participatory culture, participatory sermons, pew, Power Point, powerpoint, quotation, Quotations, quote, raising hands, simple church, worship, worship dancing, worship drama, worship gathering, worship innovation, worship leader, YouTube | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Karaoke Spoken From The Heart (Lay Witness Missions)

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Steve Simms

Before people in the USA sang karaoke, they spoke it spontaneously, from the heart as they told how the living, resurrected Jesus Christ had changed their life.  It was called Lay Witness Missions.  This spoken karaoke began in United Methodist Church in the late 1950s and spread into other churches.

I was fortunate to be a part of numerous Lay Witness Missions during the early 1970s.  Here’s how they worked:

A team of lay people (no preachers were allowed on the team) would be invited by a church to come and spend a weekend with them.  We would stay in the homes of church members.

The team, led by a coordinator, would lead meetings for the church on Friday night, Saturday morning, Saturday night, and Sunday morning.  However, these meetings contained no preaching.  Instead, members of the visiting team would share spoken karaoke — spontaneous, heart-felt words about how they came to personally know and follow the living Jesus.  Their true life stories were always deeply moving to everyone present.

We would also break into small groups and let people share what God was doing in their heart.  (During these small groups, some people would realize that they had never personally experienced Jesus.)  Through out the weekend there were many opportunities for team members to get to know the church members and to share Christ one-on-one with them.

Then on Sunday morning an altar call would be given and almost everybody present would be deeply moved and on their knees, responding to the awesome presence of Jesus.  Many people were encountering the living Christ for the very first time and others were renewing their relationship with Him.

My experiences going on Lay Witness Missions greatly impacted my life and vividly demonstrated to me the power of ordinary people showing and telling what God has done in their lives.  However, my life moved on and I lost contact with the Lay Witness Movement.  Yet, I had been infected with a burning desire to see God work through the testimonies of everyday people.

I became a pastor and tried to develop a Lay-Witness-Mission-style church, but my denomination resisted me and rejected the idea.  So I stepped down and I moved around the country for years, searching  for a church like a Lay Witness Mission, but I never could find one.  However, I never lost the burning desire to experience again a move of God like that.

Then in 2008, The Salvation Army asked my wife and me to start a “non-traditional” church for them in Nashville.  I shared my vision with them about a Lay-Witness-Mission-style church where instead of a Sunday sermon, everyday people could show and tell what God has done for them.  To my surprise, they gave us the go ahead.

So in March of 2008, we started The Salvation Army Berry Street and we have a Lay Witness Mission every Sunday morning.  If you are in Nashville, come experience it for yourself on Sundays at 10:45 am., 225 Berry St., 37207.

Lay witness

Here’s a brief history of how the Lay Witness Movement began:

In the late 1950s, as Ben Johnson, a Methodist pastor, was preaching, he felt led to ask several people to come to the mic and share their experience with the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. Here’s how Frank Billman describes it: ” It was a God-inspired moment. Those chosen to share were anointed and the congregation was electrified. Hearing lay people talk about what God was doing in their lives stirred the church. Johnson was led by the Spirit to not preach after that; he just gave an altar call. The people rushed forward to kneel and the altar service lasted more than an hour. It was the witness of laypeople rather than the preacher’s sermon that stirred them.” (This was the beginning of the Lay Witness Movement in the United Methodist Church.)

Ben Johnson says a Lay Witness Mission is “laymen sharing with fellow laymen the reality of Christ in their life.”

Posted in a shout out, Ben Johnson, can I get a witness, Christian history, church history, church meetings, church program, church programs, church services, evangelism, evangelistic meetings, Frank Billman, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lay evangelist, lay speakers, lay testimonies, lay witness coordinator, lay witness movement, lay witness team, layman, laymen, laywomen, Methodism, Methodist class meeting, Methodist revivalists, Methodists, Music City, Nashville, Nashville church, non-traditional church, open church, open forum, open mic, open mike, open sharing, religious karaoke, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, sharing, sharing Christ, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-led church, spiritual experiences, spiritual karaoke, spoken karaoke, team, testimonies, testimonies in church, testimony, witness, witnesses, witnessing, worship, worship service | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Let Jesus Lead Us! (Quotes About The Need For Organic/Participatory Church)

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Steve Simms

“How can you have a dead service with a living Christ?” –Leonard Ravenhill

“What did first-century believers do in their worship meetings? Paul gives a description in 1 Corinthians 14:26: ‘When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.’ Every believer had a part to play, each according to the way that God had gifted them.”
–Michael Morrison

“The Spirit is the worship leader who enables us to be led by Christ in worship. The Spirit as the worship leader orchestrates gatherings of the community. Spirit-led worship will also have an appropriate openness to the new and unplanned. The Spirit blows where he wills and gives gifts to whomever he wishes.” –Robin Parry

“Oxford Group meetings were an intense spiritual training. There was complete informality and you could say what you liked. Absolute standards of honesty and unselfishness were applied.” –Garth Lean (The Oxford Group was a participatory church style movement in the mid 20th Century.)

“Worship becomes a one-size-fits-all environment. The result is that we provide a rather bland and inoffensive diet of middle of the road music and safe spirituality. Variety in what we have to offer is severely limited by the tastes and prejudices of those who attend. Extremes are tempered because one of the key values is that we do not offend anyone who comes to church regularly. One size fits all is made into a virtue. . . Everything about regular Sunday worship is designed to make us feel that even if we don’t like it, we should still attend because it is good for us. As with cough medicine, we endure the bad taste because we are told that it is doing us good.” –Pete Ward (from the book “Liquid Church”)

“Culture changes, but the church doesn’t change it’s methodology, so it becomes irrelevant.” –Mark Batterson

“When we come together corporately, our gatherings, or meetings, should be unpredictable, like the wind. ‘What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.’ 1.Cor.14:26. . . Every week God has things to say to His people. We no longer suffer canned services, canned preaching, or canned worship. It becomes exciting. Miracles begin to happen, signs and wonders are present, people are ministering and activated. They are no longer passive, just observing, but involved and activated.” –David Walters

“In the West, many people are leaving the church, yet they are not abandoning their faith in Christianity. They simply do not belong to the solid church. Recently, the number of Christians in Korea has been in decline. Yet it is not because people are uninterested in spiritual experience, but because contemporary churches fail to provide the appropriate spiritual motive to inspire them.” –Sun Chae Hwang

“People want a real and profound experience of God . . . church has made the mistake of underestimating the desire for authentic spiritual expression. In an attempt to connect with people and be relevant it has played down some of the more challenging and extreme aspects of the Christian life.” –Pete Ward (from the book “Liquid Church”)

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, David Walters, experiencing God, experiential worship, experimental church, Garth Lean, house church, Korea, Liquid Church, living Christ, Mark Batterson, Michael Morrison, open church, open forum, open mic, open mike, open sharing, Oxford Group, participation, participation in church, participatory church, participatory culture, Pete Ward, quotation, Quotations, quote, Robin Parry, spiritual prompting, spiritual training, spirituality, Sun Chae Hwang, worship, worship gathering, worship service | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Kingdom-Come, King-God-Ruled Meetings

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Steve Simms

Through out the night I was thinking about “the Kingdom of God.” A kingdom is where a king rules, so the Kingdom of God is where God, Himself rules. God’s rule doesn’t happen much on Earth, because of man’s rebellion. In our efforts for personal freedom, we have overthrown God’s rule and chosen to follow our own will–to rule our own life. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

Jesus frequently proclaimed: “The Kingdom of God (God’s rule) is at hand (right here with us),” because He was the Eternal King in the flesh and because the Holy Spirit was soon to be released across the Earth.  Still, I have a choice. I can choose my will (self-rule) and resist God’s will (His rule/Kingdom), or I can surrender to God’s will (God’s rule/Kingdom) and resist (die to) my own will (my rule).

When two or three people who are seeking first God’s rule (see Matthew 6:33) gather together, Jesus is present with them (see Matthew 18:20) As they surrender their rule and begin to follow and obey the living Jesus, the Kingdom (rule) of God comes into the meeting and it is no longer directed by human control or agendas, but by the living Jesus, Himself.

Dear Jesus, when we meet in Your name, may we not resist Your will by controlling things and keeping the meeting within our comfort zone. Instead, may we all do what Your mother said: “Whatever He says to you, do it,” regardless of our comfort level. .

So, what is the Kingdom of God?  Romans 14:17 defines it: “For the kingdom of God (the direct rule of God) is not food and drink (religious rules and/or control); but righteousness (inner surrender to God’s will), and peace (the absence of conflict and contention and resisting God’s will), and joy in the Holy Spirit (inner rivers of ‘living water’).”

“Rome crucified Jesus because of His claim to be king. The charge was posted over His head, after all. What is often overlooked, however, is that it is precisely because of their allegiance to that king—Jesus—that Rome persecuted His followers. Jesus’ followers did not stop with recognizing Him as divine; they had the audacity to claim He was their actual sovereign. In short, while the Jews preserved their religion by shouting, ‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the early Christians sealed their fate by unabashedly declaring, ‘We have no king but Jesus!’” ―Christopher Gorton

king Jesus or king self

Posted in Christopher Gorton, church, Matthew 18:20, Matthew 6:33, order of worship, organic church, quotation, Quotations, quote, Quotes, religious tradition, righteousness, Roman Empire, Roman history, Romans 14:17, seek ye first, simple church, the Kingdom of God is at hand, Whatever He says to you | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Intuitional Living (Quotes About Intuition)

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Steve Simms

Intuition is an important tool for human beings to learn to use in their lives.  Albert Einstein said:  ““I believe in intuitions and inspirations.”  Madeleine L’Engle put it this way:  “Don’t try to comprehend with your mind. Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition.”

The living, resurrected Jesus Christ wants to release His Spirit-led intuition in your heart. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” –Jeremiah 33:3

Perhaps church meetings should be based on Spirit-led intuitional promptings rather than on man-led institutional programs.  I like this quote:  “When we come together corporately, our gatherings, or meetings, should be unpredictable, like the wind. ‘What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.’ 1.Cor.14:26. . . Every week God has things to say to His people. We no longer suffer canned services, canned preaching, or canned worship. It becomes exciting. Miracles begin to happen, signs and wonders are present, people are ministering and activated. They are no longer passive, just observing, but involved and activated.” –David Walters

Here are a few more quotations about intuition:

“Intuition is seeing with the soul.” –Dean Koontz 

“Our bodies have five senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. But not to be overlooked are the senses of our souls: intuition, peace, foresight, trust, empathy. The differences between people lie in their use of these senses; most people don’t know anything about the inner senses while a few people rely on them just as they rely on their physical senses, and in fact probably even more.”  –C. Joybell C.

“Intuition is a sense of knowing how to act spontaneously, without needing to know why.”  –Sylvia Clare

“We all have an inner voice, our personal whisper . . . feel and sense it with an open heart.”  –C.J. Heck

”Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.”  –Mother Teresa

“Trusting our intuition often saves us from disaster.”  –Anne Wilson Schaef

 

 

Posted in Anne Wilson Schaef, C. Joybell C., C.J. Heck, Dean Koontz, hearing God, hearing Jesus, hearing the Holy Spirit, heart-felt, inner coach, inner hearing, inner peace, innovation, innovators, Jesus, Jesus Christ, listening prayer, listening skills, listening to God, Madeleine L'Engle, miracles, miraculous, My sheep hear My voice, new age, prompted by the Spirit, prompting of the Spirit, promptings, quotation, Quotations, quote, soul, Spirit-led, spiritual hearing, spiritual innovation, spiritual listening, voice of God, voices | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment