When any form of human life is: 1) widely considered to be insignificant; 2) uncared for; and 3) considered to belong to another person; human rights go out the window. This happened with people held in legal slavery in the 18th & 19th Centuries and with pre-natal human life in the 20th & 21st Centuries.

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Steve Simms
Posted in 20th Century, 21st Century, disregard for human rights, ethics, justice, moral restraints, morality, morals, prenatal | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

4 Days With The Monks @ The Abbey Of Gethsemani

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Steve Simms

Words I wrote last night in a monastery:
I’m sitting in a monk’s room (I think they call it a cell,) that’s been mine for my 4 night visit to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. There’s no TV, no internet, and no entertainment; just time to pause and listen to God. And, oh yeah, worship with the monks. Yet somehow I’m content, peaceful, relaxed. It’s great to be in a place where the beliefs and values that I hold dear are not being continually trampled and violated — where I’m not having to constantly guard my eyes, my ears, and my mind. Tomorrow I leave the real world of humble spirituality and hunger for God and return to the mythical muck of mindless sensuality and constant consumerism. But I go as a spiritual warrior, determined to stay real and honest and full of God’s presence, in a world that will one day pass away.

Posted in Kentucky, Kentucky tourism, monasticism, religion, religious ceremonies, religious relic, religious tradition, spiritual, spiritual formation, Trappist | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Use Words! Talk About Religion! Testify!

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Steve Simms

Church is not carefully crafted and controlled ceremonies.  It is a symphony of spontaneous, heart-felt testimonies.  It’s not what we’ve planned, learned, and memorized; but what we have seen and heard!

Unfortunately, the work of the living God in human hearts is often hidden in religious ceremonies.  The lamp is put under a bushel basket.  However, Spirit-led, spoken testimony puts the lamp back on the lamp stand.

Speaking about and living out go hand-in-hand.  In no area but religion are people expected to silently live out, but not talk about their beliefs, experiences, and opinions.

This often repeated gag rule, “preach without words,” and “don’t talk about religion,” severely  restricts the contagious power of the Holy Spirit.  It’s absolutely necessary to use words to clearly show and tell what God is doing in your life!

The remedy:  “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”  “Shout it from the housetops.”  “What I tell you in secret, that proclaim openly.”

To become vibrant and contagious, interior spiritual experience must become exterior in both words and deeds.

The I Am Second movement is encouraging people to testify and then releasing videos of their salvation stories.  Churches should do the same.  This happens every Sunday at The Salvation Army Street Worship Center.  It has been called “The Testimony Church.”  Every Sunday morning ordinary people show and tell what God has done.  Experience it for yourself:  10:45 am., 225 Berry Street, Nashville, TN, 37207.

Christ challenges complacency and compromise; yet the contemporary church often cultivates complacency and compromise.  What’s up with that?

Posted in If necessary use words, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, living out the Gospel, power, preach without words, preaching, preaching the Word, prompted by the Spirit, religion, religious ceremonies, religious information, religious talks, religious tradition, ritual, salvation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, shout it from the housetops, speaking out, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual awakening, spiritual church, spiritual flow, spiritual formation, story, testimonies, testimony, TN, What I tell you in secret | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Catholic Priest Endorses Spirit-Led Participatory Church Meetings

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Steve Simms

I was recently reading a book by a Catholic priest, Father David Knight, and to my surprise he make a bold statement endorsing Spirit-led, participatory church like we do at The Salvation Army Berry Street in Nashville, Tennessee.  Here’s the quote:

“Saint Paul describes the liturgy as a communal enterprise, something the whole community has a hand in creating:  “When you assemble, one has a psalm, another an instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.”

This is from the book Reaching Jesus and was published by St. Anthony Messenger Press in 1998.

Here are two more quotations from the book:

“The spiritual words God speaks in our hearts take flesh when we speak them with our lips.”  (You need the opportunity to share what God is saying to you and doing in your life!)

“No Christian has to become a prophet; we were all made prophets — consecrated and empowered to be prophets.  But what we are and what we actually do are frequently out of step with each other.  We do not become fully what we are until our doing matches our being.”

At Berry Street we have discovered that everyday believers are both prophetic and eloquent when they share from their heart as led by the Holy Spirit.  Come and see for yourself:  Sundays @ 10:45 am., 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207.

Posted in Christianity, church, church format, church history, church leader, church meetings, church program, church programs, church roles, church services, church structure | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Day After Easter

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Steve Simms

The living, resurrected Jesus Christ,
Doesn’t just go away
The day after Easter;
He’s here to stay
Every moment
Of every day.
So don’t be blind
And close your mind,
Pretending that He’s gone
And that you’re alone,
With a heart of stone.
Listen, follow, and obey.
Do whatever He may say.
That’s they way to pray,
Because Jesus is alive today!

Posted in Christ, Christ followers, Christ in you, Christ in you the hope of glory, Christ-centered, Christian, Easter, God calling, hearing God, hearing Jesus, presence of Christ, presence of God, Resurrection Day, resurrection of Jesus, Spirit-filled, spiritual, spiritual adventure, spiritual experience, spiritual fire, spiritual formation, spiritual life, spirituality | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Alternative Names For Easter

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Steve Simms

Alternative Names For Easter . . .

He’s Back! Day
Death Defeated Day
Jesus Is Alive Sunday
Dead Man Walking Day
Who Moved The Stone? Sunday
The Risen One Day
Life Restored Day
Third Day Sunday
Empty Tomb Day
Return to Life Day
Come Alive Sunday
Dead Man Risen Day
Resurrection Day

who moved the stone

Posted in dead man walking, death, death-defeating, empty tomb, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus is alive, Jesus is Lord, power, powerful, powerhouse, relevation, religion, Resurrection Day, spiritual, spiritual formation, spiritual life, spiritual power, spirituality, stone rolled away, third day, who moved the stone | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Body of Jesus Christ Has Been Found!

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Steve Simms

After the cruelty of the cross,
Christ’s body was found,
Walking by the sea,
Eating, talking, teaching,
Fully alive;
Seen by 500 people at one time.
I believe the report of those simple people,
Much more than the attempts 2,000 years later,
To make mere myth out of the serious testimony
Of honest women and men
Who met magnificent mystery and miracle.

Posted in Christ, Christianity, dead man walking, He rose, Jesus, Jesus Christ | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Amazing Grace

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Steve Simms

Grace sets us free.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Good Friday’s Not For Good People

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Steve Simms

Good people don’t need a Good Friday Savior. They’re okay on their own. Bad people need a Good Friday Savior. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

If nothing is morally wrong, if nothing is a sin, then why do we need the forgiveness offered by Good Friday?
If sin still exists, what’s wrong with stating that fact, and encouraging those caught in sin’s bondage to seek to be forgiven and to be set free from their sins?

Posted in Christ, Christianity, cross, crucifixion, deliverance, die to self, forgiveness, freedom, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus prayer, Jesus rose, living, mercy, moral, moral failure, moral failures, moral foundations, moral principles, moral restraints, morality, repent, repentance, salvation, Savior, sin, sinner, sins | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Society says: “Go along, agree with wrong, and belong!”

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Steve Simms

Society says:  “Go along, agree with wrong, and belong!”

God says:  “Fight with all your might to do right and gain insight, and you will soar to the height of spiritual delight.”

Posted in confession of sin, confused, conpulsions, conscience, moral failure, moral failures, moral foundations, moral laws, moral principles, moral restraints, morals, right conduct, right from wrong, right living, sins | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments