Dezoc And Roll With The Rock

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Steve Simms

Many people refuse God because they can’t see Him and they rob themselves of life’s most amazing experiences!

What would it look like
If God ran loose
Flowing filter-free
From heart to heart?

Perhaps church isn’t really
People in pews
Listening to one man’s views;
But everybody obeying
The Spirit’s cues,
Walking out the Gospel
With their shoes.

GRACE gives you the power to:
G — Get
R — Right
A — And obey
C — Christ
E — Everyday

Society’s surging secularism has shoved sincere love for God into the closet. Christ-followers come out! It’s time to openly show and tell what God has done.

Dezoc with the Rock of Ages at The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center in Nashville, TN
(Dezoc [dee-zock] means to “step out in faith” or “to leave your zoc (zone of comfort).” To walk on the water, Peter had to dezoc with Christ.)

Posted in alternative church, experiencing God, experiential worship, getiting out of the boat, Nashville, open church, open forum, open mic, open mike, open sharing, order of worship, Salvation Army, walking on water | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Clipboard Jesus is Coming to Nashville!

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Steve Simms

Church meetings have traditionally kept the living, resurrected Jesus on the sidelines, like a backup quarterback, holding a clipboard for the preacher who programs and runs the meeting.

In the news: Clipboard Jesus is coming to Nashville this summer. His name is Charlie Whitehurst and he has just been signed as the new backup quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. He got his nickname because as a backup, he walks around the sidelines with a clipboard and because people think that he looks like Jesus. So we wait and see . . . clipboard Jesus

—Will Charlie Clipboard Jesus Whitehurst get a chance to get in the game for Nashville’s Titans?
–Will the living, resurrected Jesus Christ get a chance to take over some Nashville church meetings?

When asked recently about his nickname, Whitehurst said:  “I don’t necessarily endorse that, I certainly don’t like the clipboard part. The Jesus part, I don’t know if I can live up to that, either. Can any of us? It’s something I heard a few years ago. I’ve tried my best not to perpetuate the thing down the road at all. But I guess there are worse things that can be said about you.”

We want Jesus off the sidelines and running the meeting at The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center, where regular people show and tell what God has done, as led by the living Jesus:  Sundays at 10:45 am., 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207.

Charlie "Clipboard Jesus" Whitehurst

Charlie “Clipboard Jesus” Whitehurst

Posted in backup quarterback, Clipboard Jesus, football, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Nashville church, Nashville events, Nashville news, NFL free agency, nickname, quotation, quote, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, sidelines | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God Is Really With You Guys (1 Corinthians 14:25-26)

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Steve Simms

God Really Is With You Guys! (1 Corinthians 14:25-26)

Who is this group of people?
I hear them sharing from their heart.
Their unrehearsed words move me,
I feel my sin and shame depart.

Chorus

God is really here in this place!
As people share my heart fills with grace.
And I see His beauty on each face,
His glory in the human race.

The words they speak are prophetic,
Pouring fresh, light into my eyes;
Holy Spirit led declarations,
Setting me free from unholy ties.

No one person controls the meeting,
But everyone’s free to participate;
They speak aloud, as the Spirit leads,
Obeying God, they don’t hesitate.

The secrets of my are made known,
And I’m sorry for the wrongs I’ve done,
So I fall down and worship Jesus,
Overcome by His love, I’m undone!

 

Posted in open church, open forum, open mike, open sharing, organic church | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Just Like A Body — 1 Corinthians 12

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Steve Simms

Just Like A Body — 1 Corinthians 12

by Steve & Ernie Simms

Just like a body
Is made of many parts
The body of Christ
Is made of many hearts;
And when hearts open,
The Spirit starts to flow;
As we all obey,
The gifts begin to show.

(Chorus)
Wisdom and faith,
Insight and healing
Flow from the people
God’s love revealing.
Signs and wonders
To our hearts appealing,
Miracles are
More than a feeling!

So we follow Him
Learning to go His way.
We grow together
As we worship and pray,
Flowing as one,
Each indispensable,
Making our God
So Comprehensible.

 

Posted in church format, church meetings, church services, participation in church, participatory church, simple church | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Original Red-Hot Thoughts

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Steve Simms

Red-hot thoughts frequently run through my mind.  So I post them on my Facebook page,  https://www.facebook.com/steve.simms2 and on this blog.  I think they are from God.  Hope you enjoy these so much that you read dozens of my blog posts.  Thank you, Steve Simms.

Faith forces fears to flee.

The human heart has hearing problems . . .  Sometimes it’s deaf to God.

A cold, dark world needs God’s fire!  Perhaps believers should regularly gather and passionately burn for God with one another so that they then can then go and burn for God apart.

Christ is not words spoken from a platform . . . He’s the living God present and active among His people.

In 1517 the Bible was taken out of the hands of professionals and given to regular people. Perhaps, as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, God now wants to take church meetings out of the hands of professionals and give them to regular people.

A direct, ongoing connection with the living, resurrected Jesus fills a person with such glory and power that she/he has no need to distract, entertain, eat, or medicate her/his pain away. If we want an exciting, satisfying life, what we desperately need is continual contact with the living Christ.

If you touch the Presence of Christ, Light floods your heart and it begins to blaze with spiritual fire!

Nowadays people like to change and mark their bodies (ie. with tattoos).
However, Christ wants to change and mark their souls (with His Presence).

2 Ways 2 Do Church
1) Methodical monologue;
2) Spirit-prompted dialogue.
You’ve tried #1. So why not experience #2 at The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville 37207 on Sundays @ 10:45?

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God & Caffeine

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Steve Simms

–I have never seen caffeine, but I’ve seen how caffeine works in other people and I’ve experienced how caffeine works in me.

–I have never seen God, but I’ve seen how God works in other people and I’ve experienced how God works in me.

It’s good to go decaf (to be decaffeinated).  However, it’s tragic to go deChrist (to be deChristinated).

Many people refuse God because they can’t see Him and they rob themselves of life’s most amazing experiences!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Church: Who’s On First? Christ or Religious Control?

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Steve Simms

A question for the 21st Century church:  Who’s on first?  Christ or Religious Control?

I want Jesus, alive, present, and moving powerfully in and through ordinary people . . . Not a ceremony, or a program, or a tightly controlled religious event!

It’s nice when a church service honors Christ’s memory . . .
But it’s life-changing when a church service actually demonstrates Christ’s living

If you touch the Presence of Christ, Light floods your heart and it begins to blaze with spiritual fire!

It’s beautiful when a group of people allows the living, resurrected Jesus to gather them into His presence and personally direct them in spiritual harmony, like a conductor leading an orchestra.

“I will build My church.”  –Jesus
“Christ is the Head of the church.”  –Paul of Tarsus
–If the living, resurrected Jesus Christ is not allowed to control a gathered group of Christ-followers, what will He be allowed to control?  (Perhaps Jesus should be allowed to control church meetings.)

“What would church look like if we stopped taking control and let the Holy Spirit lead?  –Francis Chan

If you touch the Presence of Christ, Light floods your heart and it begins to blaze with spiritual fire!  Touch His hem at The Salvation Army Berry Street, where regular people show and tell what God has done:  225 Berry St., Nashville, Tennessee 37207 on Sundays at 10:45 am.

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Nashville — Time’s “Red-Hot Town”

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Steve Simms

Time magazine has named Nashville: “The South’s Red-Hot Town” in its upcoming March 17 issue.
–“Red-hot men and women are those who have hungered and thirsted for God and have found Him. They have burst into flame. Holy fire kindles in every soul that lives with Him.” –Samuel Logan Brengle
—Nashville, Time magazine’s right! It’s time to get red-hot for God!

“I will build My church.”  –Jesus

“Christ is the Head of the church.”  –Paul of Tarsus

If the living, resurrected Jesus Christ is not allowed to control a gathered group of Christ-followers, what will He be allowed to control?  (Perhaps Jesus should be allowed to control church meetings.)

Nashville needs windy church to blow God’s Bible Belt embers into red-hot, blazing flames!
–Church should be windy with the Holy Spirit freely blowing through the meeting–releasing spiritual gifts and prompting people to speak out for God.
“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” We are asking God’s wind to blow through everyone at The Salvation Army Berry Street, where regular people show and tell what God has done!  Sundays @ 10:45 am., 225 Berry St., 37207.

“It takes fire to kindle fire, and it takes love to kindle love. Cold logic will not make anyone love Jesus.” –Samuel Logan Brengle

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, God, God's fire, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Music City, Nashville charity, Nashville church, Nashville news, Nashville times, Nashville tourist attractions, quotation, quote, Quotes, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvation Army Nashville, Samuel Logan Brengle, spirit fire, spiritual fire, The South's Red-Hot Town | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Talking About Jesus Like He’s Not In The Room

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Steve Simms

This was inspired by Kim Walker with Jesus Culture lyrics to You Won’t Relent:  “I don’t want to talk about You like You’re not in the room.  I want to look right at You, I want to sing right to You.”

When we talk about Jesus like He’s not in the room:

1)  We shut ourselves off from His living presence;
2)  We depend on man-made programs rather than on His power;
3)  We are content to hear one man speak about Him rather than directly hearing His voice;
4)  We focus on facts about Jesus and forget to fervently seek His face.
5)  We act like He is a mere historical figure, dead and gone.
6)  We choose human control rather than Christ’s control.
7)  We make church commemorative & ceremonial rather than a contagious celebration of the living Christ.

“You ought never to forget God’s presence, as most men do.  –Alphonsus Liguori

When hearts open in honest sharing, the living Jesus Christ manifests in meetings.
When hearts close, church meetings must be maintained by man’s methods.

Posted in Alphonsus Liguori, Christ, Christ in you, Christ in you the hope of glory, Christ's presence, Christ-centered, Christian community, Church of Christ, church programs, church services, church structure, hearing God, hearing Jesus, historical Jesus, I don't want to talk about You like You're not in the room, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus is alive, Jesus rose, live and unrehearsed, live church, living words, lyrics, open church, open sharing, organic church, presence of Christ, presence of God, quotation, quote, Quotes, real presence, religious ceremonies, resurrection of Jesus, seek God's face, simple church, spiritual combat, spiritual flow, spiritual power, spiritual presence, spiritual reality, testifying, testimonies, testimonies in church, testimony, voice of God | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Too Many Surge Protectors Have Made Church Boring!

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Steve Simms

Perhaps our contemporary church services have too many surge protectors that prevent the current of the Holy Spirit from breaking out in the meeting.

thWhen everything that happens in a church service is planned and controlled by a man, that doesn’t allow any opportunity  for the living, resurrected Jesus to surge through the meeting.  So He often gets ignored.

When Jesus is allowed to freely surge through a church meeting, things happen that cannot be explained by the actions of men.  It becomes obvious to everyone present that the living, resurrected Jesus Christ is surging in the room.

Decaffeinated coffee just doesn’t have the surge that caffeinated coffee has.  And deChristinated church just doesn’t have the surge that Christinated church.

Perhaps it is time for church to remove the surge protectors (Holy Spirit quenchers) and give the Spirit free rein and control when we gather in His name!

We also have surge protectors in our hearts.  If we would remove them, we would see God do incredible things!

Posted in Christianity, Christianity with Power, decaff, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit flow, how to do church, led by the Spirit, Spirit of Truth, Spirit surfing, Spirit's flow, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-led interaction, Spirit-prompted, spiritual, spiritual church, spiritual flow, spiritual innovation, spiritual power | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments