Accidental Complexity?

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Steve Simms

Did time and chance alone produce the incredible complexity of human life?
* Psychological complexity;
* Mental/intellectual complexity;
* Body complexity;
* Organ complexity;
* Cellular complexity;
* Chemical complexity;
* Atom complexity;
* Sub-atomic complexity;
* All working together in harmony;
* All enshrouded in spiritual complexity.

Posted in atoms, cells, cellular, complexity of life, creationism, Creator, development of life, emotions, evolution of life, evolutionary process, human body, human life, human nature, human organs, human psyche, humanity, living organisms, mind, organs, source of life, spirituality, subatomic, thinking | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Simple church is a group of people passionately pursuing God, each person hearing and obeying the living, resurrected Jesus Christ and fulfilling the New Testament “one another” commands.

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Steve Simms
Posted in house church, Jesus, Jesus Christ, non-church, non-traditional church, organic church, real presence, religion, resurrection | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

To ignore belief in God is to choose to be ignorant of one of the most important factors of human history.

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Steve Simms
Posted in agnostic, agnosticism, atheism, belief, belief system, faith, faith in God, faith-based, God, spiritual, spiritual discovery, spirituality, study of God | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Years of studying church history have shown me that during times of great spiritual awakening, church meetings are more about experiencing and obeying a Presence, than about sitting and listening to a program.

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Steve Simms
Posted in Christ, Christ in you, Christ's presence, church, church program, church programs, God's presence, great awakening, history, move of God, movement, non-church, non-liturgical, normal Christianity, open church, open forum, open mic, open mike, open sharing, participatory church, simple church, spiritual awakening, spiritual church, spiritual experience, spiritual gifts, spiritual movement, spiritual transformation, spiritual worship, spirituality, When you come together | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bold (Transformational) Words From John The Baptist

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Steve Simms

John, God’s greatest prophet, led the way for the living Jesus Christ by telling groups of people to:  “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.”

Perhaps the 21st Century church could obey John and make room for the living, resurrected Jesus to personally move among us and direct us.  Perhaps we could set aside human control, programs, agendas, and formats and “make straight paths” for Jesus, Himself, to personally and directly lead church meetings.

Here are some other words from John the Baptist, quoted from the New International Version.  John also taught:

“Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.”  Perhaps we should all be on equal ground before God and do away with church titles, offices, rank, authoritarianism, and positional power.  Perhaps people considered lowly should be allowed to speak in church as well as people holding official positions and everybody have an equal opportunity to be used by God.

“He must become greater; I must become less.”  Perhaps all believers should seek to get out of Christ’s way and to allow Him to use and speak through other people as much as we want Him to use and speak through us.

“For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God and gives the Spirit without limit.”  There is no limit to what the living resurrected Jesus Christ will do in our midst, if we will simply get out of His way and allow Him to personally direct our meetings.

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  When Christians meet the living Christ should be the center of our attention and not any other person, program, or teaching.

John also gave us a warning against trusting in our religions traditions:  “And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.  The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.“

Will John the Baptist’s ideas work in the 21st Century?  Yes, indeed.  To experience a contemporary church that is seeking to implement John’s teaching, visit The Salvation Army Berry Street in Nashville, Tennessee on Sundays at 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207.

Posted in 21st Century, Behold the Lamb of God, Bible, biblical, Christ, every mountain made low, Every valley shall be filled in, Father Abraham, forerunner, greatest prophet, He must increase, heirarchy, Holy Spirit, house church, I must decrease, Jesus, Jesus Christ, make straight paths, New International Version, New Testament, New Testament quote, organic church, out of stones God can raise up children of Abraham, Prepare the way of the Lord, quotation, Quotations, quote, religious tradition, simple church, sins, spirit, takes away the sins of the world, the ax is at the root of the trees | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Do Preplanned Church Programs “Ruin It” For People

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Steve Simms

If you tell people the storyline and outcome of a movie before they see it, many people will say that you have ruined it for them. They don’t want to know what happens in a movie before they see it. They want to be surprised!

If someone’s had to power to accurately fill out the March Madness brackets, many people would feel like they had ruined the NCAA Championship Basketball Tournament.  People don’t want the results of sporting events to be known beforehand.  They like the excitement of having to wait and see.

So why do many churches give people the details of the Sunday morning storyline when they walk in the building? Perhaps knowing what is going to happen Sunday after Sunday ruins it for people. Maybe church would be more effective if it were spontaneous and unplanned.

Experience unprogrammed church in Nashville at The Salvation Army Berry Street — Sundays at 10:45 am., 225 Berry Street, 37207.

Posted in brackets, champions, church leadership, church meetings, movie, movies, Music City, Nashville, Nashville church, NCAA championship, predicting the NCAA tournament, ruin it, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, service, simple church, sporting event, sports, unprogrammed church, wait and see, why go to church, worship, worship gathering, worship service, worship styles | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Beyond Leadership To Overseership

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Steve Simms
The Bible refers to overseers in the body of Christ but never calls them leaders. “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach . . .” –1 Timothy 2:3. There are big differences between overseers and leaders. Overseers observe and keep order like basketball officials. Leaders direct people like basketball coaches. Overseers seek to keep Jesus in control of a meeting of the body of Christ. Leaders direct the meeting themselves. Leadership says: “I need your attention!”  Overseership says: “Behold the Lamb of God!” Leadership is a human being organizing and/or directing other human beings. Overseership is a human being lovingly watching over a group of people being led by the living Christ, so that no individual (including himself) usurps Christ’s authority among them. Leadership directs people.  Overseership helps people be directed by the promptings of the Holy Spirit in their heart.  Leadership exercises authority from center stage.  Overseership guides from the side as people focus on, follow, and obey the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. Leadership makes decisions.  Overseership monitors with spiritual discernment.  A basketball coach is an example of leadership.  A basketball official is an example of overseership. Overseership sees over and beyond religion, ritual, sermons, and human effort and creates an atmosphere where Jesus is free to actively work among and direct His people.  The goal of overseership is to not quench the Spirit.  When the Holy Spirit is quenched, God’s power is shut down. And we are left to rely on human religion, human effort, human programs, and human presentations.  That’s why the New Testament commands us to: “Quench not the Spirit.” Human organizations need human leadership.  The Body of Christ desperately needs overseership that facilitates the direct leadership of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. (The word for overseers is translated bishops in some New Testament translations.)
Posted in basketball, basketball officials, bishops, Christ followers, Christianity, church format, church leader, church leadership, church meetings, church organizational chart, church overseers, church program, church programs, church roles, church structure, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit flow, leading others, New Testament, organic church, overseers, oversight, prompting of the Spirit, Quench not the Spirit, quench the Spirit | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

National Salvation Army Magazine Promotes Participatory Church

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Steve Simms

War Cry, the national magazine of The Salvation Army USA features this article on interactive church in the March 2014 issue (page 5).

If you would like to go to the article on line, click on the link and thing scroll to page 5:  http://www.warcrymag.com/issues/2014_March/

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Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Nashville, Nashville church, one another, one anothering, open church, open forum, open mic, open mike, open sharing, organic church, participatory church, simple church, Uncategorized, USA | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

St. Patrick’s Supernatural Vision And Radical Obedience

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Steve Simms

1 person’s courageous obedience to a spiritual vision can change the world!  A runaway slave named Patrick who was living in England saw a vision 1 day. This is how he describes it:

“I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: ‘The Voice of the Irish.’ As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea . . . and they cried out, as with one voice: ‘We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.”

Patrick obeyed and went back to Ireland (where he had been a slave) and in response to Patrick’s obedience, a supernatural Jesus movement broke out that transformed multitudes in Ireland from paganism into dynamic Christ-followers. Today (St. Patrick’s Day) Patrick’s life is celebrated around the world.

I have to passionately follow the vision that burns in my heart! Do you have a burning vision? If not, will you seek God for one? If you do have a burning vision, will you follow and obey what God has told you to do — no matter what the cost? I have recently written a book about the vision God has given me. It’s called Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible–Ekklesia. It’s available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback at this link.

Here’s are examples of Patrick’s passion from his own words:

“I pray to God to give me perseverance and to deign that I be a faithful witness to Him to the end of my life for my God.”

“Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.”

patrick_shamrock_0

St. Patrick was consumed with passion for the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. Let’s be like Patrick and go all out for Jesus–excited, bold, unashamed, out of the closet, into the streets, telling His story everywhere, filling the internet with our witness!

Posted in demonstrations of the Spirit, dreams and visions, evangelism, Patrick of Ireland, radical, radical Christianity, radical obedience, Spirit-led, spiritual awakening, spiritual gifts, spiritual hunger, spiritual movement, spiritual warfare, spirituality, St. Paddy's Day, visions | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Testimony Church Lets The Spirit Thunder!

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Steve Simms

Testimony Church

We each one speak about
What we’ve seen and heard
Our experience
With the living Word,
Showing and telling
God’s great wonders
Our lives are changed
As the Spirit thunders!
“I’m with you now
Not just in the past
My Presence is real
It’s the thing that lasts.
Open your eyes,
See me in each other
In the testimony of a
Sister or brother.”
So we each speak up
And the enemy defy,
We overcome
As we testify!
I’ve been healed
By the blood of the Lamb,
Delivered by
The great I AM!
Tell it church,
Tell it when you’re meeting,
We’re not here
To take up seating!
Open your mouth
And God will fill it;
God works in us
And people need to hear it.

Posted in give a witness, lyrics, simple church, song, Spirit-led, support group, testifying, testimonies, testimonies in church | Tagged , , | 3 Comments