The Simple Path To Peace (And Joy And Success) In Life

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Steve Simms

The Simple Path To Peace (And Joy And Success) In Life —

Flip the switch of repentance and faith.

Connect with your Creator.

Let His spiritual life flow through and control you daily.

Posted in 'Tis The Gift To Be Simple, alternative lifestyle, Creator, daily, faith-based, flip the swithch, hearing God, hearing Jesus, life, lifestyle Christianity, lifestyles, listening, marvel, ministry, miracles, move of God, mystery, mysticism, obedience, Oh my God, presence of Christ, presence of God, put off the old man, religion, repent, repentance, revelation, revival, revolution, rivers of living water, salvation, security, self-denial, self-help, simplicity, soul, soul food, spirit, Spirit-led, spiritual athletes, spiritual awakening, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual walk, spiritual warfare, still small voice, submission, surrender, surrender to God, truth, voice of God | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

What Saved My Infant Daughter’s Life?

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Steve Simms

I woke up very grateful this morning, remembering when my infant daughter was saved from my carelessness and absent-mindedness.  I lifted her and her car seat out of the back seat of our car and set her down on the pavement.  Then I turned away to get something out of the front seat.

I slammed the front door and then slammed the back door.  However, the back door only moved a couple of feet and then suddenly stopped.  The corner of the door was right at my daughter’s temple.

There was nothing around that could have stopped that door.  I closed it hard and it should have slammed into my daughter’s head.  There was nothing stuck in the door.  I believe that it was stopped by something (or someone) supernatural.  God saved her either through a direct action or an angel.  What a mighty loving and active God!

Years before that, God (or an angel) suddenly stopped me (as if I had run into an invisible wall) and kept me from running in front of a speeding car.  The fact that my daughter and I are alive is a great testimony that God’s protection is real!  Thank You, Jesus, from the bottom of my heart!

 

 

 

Posted in absent-mindedness, angels watching over you, carelessness, Christ, Christ-centered, Christian, gratitude, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus is Lord, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual walk, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Let Jesus Run The Sunday Church Service

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Steve Simms

Come to Berry Street and see
The Holy Spirit set free,
No program, no plan led by man;
Why should we run things when God can?
We gather as “two or more”
Then let Jesus have the floor;
And He opens Heaven’s door.
–Sundays @ 10:45, 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207.

One Sunday At Berry Street

Tapan Saha was raised a Hindu. He became a Christmas Bell Ringer for The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center in Nashville, TN and then began attending on Sundays. Tapan says: “After attending Berry Street Worship Center for awhile, I started changing. I could feel the Holy Spirit embracing me. I am now a Christian with the sole intent to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of my life.’

“It is always precious when God demonstrates His willingness to speak to and through what society regards as ‘the least of these.’ He loves to bypass the flashy, the important, and the impressive in favor of the children, the disabled, and the poor (Luke 10:21). Those with ears to hear the Lord through the little ones are in for a kingdom feast.” –Brad Jersak

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christ, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian community, Christian organizations, Christian values, church, church meetings, church programs, church roles, church structure, corps, denominations, disciple making, disciples, East Nashville, followers of Christ, freedom, gifts of the Spirit, guidance, hearing God, hearing Jesus, Heaven's door, Holy Spirit, house church, improv, improvisation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, move of God, movement, Music City, non-church, non-traditional church, participatory church, relevation, religion, revival, revolution, salvation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, simple church, soldiers, Spirit-led, spiritual awakening, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual warfare, surrender, surrender to God, testimonies, testimony, two or more, voice of God | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Christmas Season Job Opportunity In Nashville

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Steve Simms

Have fun and make money for you and your family while helping a non-profit raise funds.  Be a Salvation Army Christmas season bell ringer.

Work 8 hour shifts between Thanksgiving & Christmas Day at retail stores in Hermitage, Donelson, and on South Nolensville Road in Nashville, smiling, bell ringing, and greeting customers.

We need friendly people who can transport themselves to their assigned store, enjoy meeting people, can stand 8 hours a day/5 days a week in the weather, and are available between the hours of 11:00 am and 9:00 pm.

Pay is $7.50 per hour.  (We also need volunteers for 2 hour shifts for one day a week.)

Apply in person at The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., (corner of Berry & Meridian streets), Nashville, TN 37207 — Monday, Oct. 8, Tuesday, Oct. 9, or Wednesday Oct. 10, between 9:30 am. and 2:00 pm.

Or email:  Steve_Simms@uss.salvationarmy.org

Or phone:  Sgt. Steve Simms at 615-405-4013 or Sgt. Ernie Simms at 615-405-4147.

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, charity, Christmas, Christmas Eve, compassion, East Nashville, employment, faith-based, Hermitage, Music City, Nolensville Road, retail stores, Salvation Army Corps, thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are You Tired Of Watching Decadence In Movies & On TV?

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Steve Simms

Are you tired of movies and TV shows showing people acting out anger and angst, disrespect and disdain?  Are you fed up with watching people lying, cheating, deceiving, stealing, fighting, and killing?  Have you had enough of being brainwashed by characters jumping into bed with anybody who moves?  Are you put out with vulgarity, profanity, and total disrespect for morality?   I am!

Personally, I have no stomach to be numbed by such nonsense.  I want to be lifted up by light, not dumbed down by darkness.  I take seriously, those most ignored words on TV — Viewer Discretion Advised!  I strive to say no way to any shows that are going to entice badness in me.  How about you?

If you want to lighten your load, then leave off the mental and emotional garbage.  Here’s how:

Turn it off.  Listen to and obey your conscience (the sense of moral discretion in you).  Cast out the cable.  Shut down the satellite.  Respond to the warnings on movies and TV and stay with the PG and G.

Read uplifting books.  Seek out upstanding people on social media.  Search the internet for inspiration.  Write a positive, heart-felt blog.  Find and view the few TV shows and/or movies that challenge you to be a better person.

I saw two amazingly inspiring movies in the past week:  Unconditional and Won’t Back Down. 

Posted in anger, angst, attitude, brainwashed, brainwashing, casual sex, cheating, compromise, conscience, contemporary society, corrupt culture, cyber space, deception, decision-making, denial, dishonesty, disrespect, electronic media, encouragement, entertainment, environment, harmful thinking, indecency, insight, inspiration, lifestyles, mature language, moral principles, moral restraints, morality, morality-phobic, morals, movies, popular culture, pull of evil, reality TV, right and wrong, right conduct, right living, seduction, seduction of self-destruction, sex, shame, society, thinking, TV network, Unconditional, values, Won't Back Down | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

“That Flag Into This Neighborhood”

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Steve Simms

“That Flag Into This Neighborhood”

A group was prayer walking down a drug infested street in East Nashville when a tough looking man demanded: “What flag is that?” I told him that it stood for the blood of Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit.  His mouth fell open and he said:  “For you to bring that flag into this neighborhood, you gotta be from God.

Then he said:  “If I had grown up under a flag like that my life would have been different!”

Do you want your faith to do more than just take you to Heaven?  Do you want it to make a practical difference in the world around you?

Come and visit The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., in Nashville on Sunday mornings at 10:45 and see bold, practical Christianity in action as everyday people show and tell what God is doing in and through their lives.

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Blood and Fire, blood of Jesus, bold statements, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian community, Christian flag, Christian history, Christian organizations, Christian values, church, church history, East Nashville, evangelism, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, lifestyle Christianity, lifestyles, meaning, movement, Music City, Nashville, non-church, organic church, prayer, prayer walking, prayer without ceasing, religion, salvation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, self-denial, simple church, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual athletes, spiritual combat, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual walk, spiritual warfare, The Salvation Army, The Salvation Flag | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Following The Holy Spirit To Where You Don’t Want To Go

Posted on September 29, 2012 by Steve Simms

Who wants to go where you don’t want to go?  Jesus told His disciple Peter, that Peter would be led “where you do not want to go.” (John 21:18)  Are you willing to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into circumstances, places, and behaviors where you don’t want to go?  Jesus put it another way:  “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.”

Anybody can follow self and/or  follow the Lord down the path of personal preference.  That requires no courage, no faith.  But will you obediently follow the Lord when He leads you in the direction of discomfort, humility, loneliness, rejection by friends, brokenness?  Will you follow the Spirit into friendship with people you wouldn’t choose as friends?  Will you follow God into a church that makes you feel uncomfortable because it challenges the way you like church to be?

The past 4 1/2 years I have been privileged to meet on Sundays with a group of courageous people who are willing to be led where they don’t want to go.  They wait on the Lord and then (according to 1 Corinthians 14:26) do what He says, even if it makes them feel uncomfortable.  They pray out loud, even if they don’t want to.  They weep, even when it is embarrassing.  They speak out and share God-given wisdom with the group, even when they are scared.  They share testimonies when they feel timid.  They openly confess sin when they really want to keep it hidden.  They lovingly embrace people who they may not find appealing.

It is truly amazing what happens when people put obedience to the Spirit above their personal preferences and comfort zone.  God shows up with tangible power!

Come and see for yourself.  This group meets on Sunday mornings at 10:45 at The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207.  Come on, step out and follow the Spirit to where you don’t want to go.  (You’ll be glad that you did!)

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, brokenness, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian community, Christian organizations, Christian values, church meetings, church programs, church roles, church structure, comfort, comfort zone, conviction of sin, crucified with Christ, deny yourself, devotion, disapproval, discomfort, faith, faith-based, followers of Christ, friendship, gifts of the Spirit, hearing God, hearing Jesus, Holy Spirit, house church, humility, I Corinthians 14:26, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John 21:18, kingdom of God, lifestyle Christianity, lifestyles, loneliness, move of God, movement, non-church, Peter, preference, presence of Christ, presence of God, priesthood of the believer, Protestant, rejection, religion, religious ceremonies, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, self-denial, selfish desires, simple church, spiritual, spiritual awakening, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual interaction, spiritual warfare, surrender to God, testimony, uncomfortable, where you do not want to go | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Have You Ever Been To Church?

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Steve Simms

Church is more than a structured meeting.

Church is spiritual life flowing through a room –

Something you and everyone present can feel.

 

Church is electricity in the air,

An inner tingling,

A sense of awe.

A keen awareness

Of the real presence

Of the living God,

Shared with a group

Of Christ-followers.

 

Church is more than

A human controlled meeting.

Church is led by the living Jesus Christ,

Present in the room,

Directing His followers,

One has a psalm,

One has a hymn,

One has a revelation,

And on and on,

Christ leads people to actively

Share from their heart.

Real and raw,

Open and honest,

Anointed and powerful –

Life-changing words come forth.

 

Have you been to church?

Experience church at

The Salvation Army Berry Street,

Sunday mornings at 10:45,

225 Berry Street, Nashville, 37207.

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian organizations, Christian values, church meetings, church programs, church roles, church structure, denominations, disciple making, disciples, electricity, faith, faith-based, fire of the Holy Spirit, followers of Christ, gifts of the Spirit, God experiment, God's authority, God's government, Holy Spirit, house church, hymn, improv, improvisation, interactive, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, ministry, non-church, non-church movement, non-traditional church, open church, participatory church, people of God, praise and worship, prayer, presence of Christ, presence of God, psalm, relational church, relevation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Spirit-led, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual interaction, The Salvation Army, worship | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s Not Hard To Have Fun

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Steve Simms

I have never had a difficult time having fun.  I don’t need expensive concerts, costly sporting events, fancy restaurants, lively parties, alcohol, drugs, or other outward things to make me enjoy my life.  I just do — enjoy it.  Although I am a serious person, I enjoy being silly.

My wife and I just returned from a short, but incredibly fun, getaway with a Kiwi friend couple (Nicky and Grant from New Zealand).  We spent three nights in a small cabin near the top of Town Mountain in Asheville, North Carolina.  (I can’t resist this opportunity to be like Rick Steves on PBS.)

We drove through Cherokee and then over Newfound Gap in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  Nicky snapped this picture as we first entered the park:

A friendly elk.

An elk greets us as we enter the Great Smoky Mountain National Park from Cherokee, NC.

Then we went to Dollywood and enjoyed some shows and rides, including lunch at Miss Lillian’s:

My wife, Ernie, and I are “flapping our wings” for Miss Lillian, the chicken lady at Dollywood.

The next day we visited Biltmore.  Someone said that I should lean over and do the pose from the movie Titanic.  So I did:

Doing the Titanic pose at Biltmore.

Someone had told us about the Red Rocker Inn in Black Mountain, North Carolina, so we headed off and found it.  The food was so good that it will knock you off your rocker.

Ernie and me enjoying ourselves after an amazing meal at the Red Rocker Inn.

I hope you have an enjoyable day.

Posted in adventure, alcohol, blessings, celebrations, Cherokee, choice, comedians, comedy, current condition, elk, entertainment, environment, free spirit, freedom, fun, happy, holiday, holidays, improv, improvisation, inner peace, joy, Kiwi, life, lifestyles, New Zealand, Newfound Gap, North Carolina, party, partying, PBS, philosophy, positive thinking, Rick Steves, show and tell, sporting event, sports, Town Mountain | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Evangeline Booth, The Salvation Army, & Spiritual Fire

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Steve Simms

Evangeline believed that The Salvation Army represented an aggressive style of Christianity.  However, over the years, some of the early Army boldness has been lost.  Perhaps it is time to bring it back.  Here’s one step you can take to help bring back the boldness and fire of the glory days of The Salvation Army:  Visit the Facebook page — Prayer Walking With The Salvation Army Flag

Here are some quotes from Evangeline Booth, an early leader in The Salvation Army and the daughter of William & Catherine Booth, co-founders of the Army:

‘Hardship, unbelief, suffering and poverty have not stopped our soldiery from rendering their service to God and man.  The Salvation Army is a great empire, an empire without frontier, made up of a tangle of races, tongues, and colors, such as never before in all history gathered together under one flag.”  –Evangeline Booth

“Be an enemy – a fighting enemy of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Be an aggressor; carry the war into the enemy’s camp. Be a fighter, a soldier, a man or woman who has the fire of war against sin in blood and bone.” –Evangeline Booth

“Herein is discovered one of the secrets of The Salvation Army’s power in the world uneducated, untrained people have become mighty servants of God because they not only consecrated all their strength and talents to be divinely quickened, but exercised them at full stretch for the Kingdom. Unsuspected reserves of ability and character have been set loose.” –Evangeline Booth

“The soldier of Christ is never too young and never too old to volunteer for service under the flag of the Gospel. His youth and his experience are alike needed in the elaborate and powerfully equipped corps to which they are assigned.” –Evangeline Booth

If you live in Nashville, Tennessee and would like to experience an example of the glory days of The Salvation Army, come visit:  The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207 on Sunday mornings @ 10:45.

 

Posted in alternative lifestyle, army, attitude, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Catherine Booth, challenges, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, Christian community, Christian flag, Christian history, Christian organizations, Christian values, church history, church roles, courage, denominations, East Nashville, Evangeline Booth, fire, fire of the Holy Spirit, followers of Christ, God calling, hearing God, hearing Jesus, history, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lifestyle Christianity, lifestyles, missional, move of God, movement, Music City, organic church, quote, Quotes, salvation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual combat, spiritual formation, spiritual warfare, The Salvation Army, The Salvation Flag, William Booth | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments