Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement

It’s Time For A God-ward Gaze

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

Some people stare at problems and are defeated by despair. Other people set their eyes on pleasure and are overcome by destructive desires. I want to gaze at God and glimpse His glory.

Moses did. “To quote the writer of Hebrews; “By faith he (Moses) left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.” That writer also says: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.”

John the Baptist passionately proclaimed an invitation that still rings out in the 21st Century: “Behold the Lamb of God!” Many reading this lived during the Jesus Movement when multitudes saw the living, invisible Jesus. A song we sang goes: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

Yet many don’t see the greatest Light of all, because their supposed lights are too bright in their eyes and their heads are filled with fantasies.

When people are allowed to openly share what God is doing in their lives, sparks of excitement begin to spread in the church and people begin to get hungry for God. They develop spiritual vision. They start to get closer to Him, change the way the have been living, and become spiritually strong. You can see it happening right in front of your eyes.

If you live in the Nashville, Tennessee area and would like help with a God-ward gaze, come and visit The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center, where people are allowed to share and testify. It is an amazing thing to see. Sundays at 10:45, 225 Berry Street, Nashville, 37207.

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, consciousness, God, house church, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mysticism, Nashville, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, proof of God, Quotations, Quotes, recovery, religion, salvation, simple church, soul, spiritual, The Salvation Army, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, What is church?, worship | Tagged 10:45, 21st Century, 225 Berry Street, 37207, allowed, amazing, anger, area, Baptist, because, Behold the Lamb of God, Berry Street Worship Center, by faith, change, church, defeated, despair, destructive desires, develop, doing, don't see, during, excitement, fantasies, fearing, fix our eyes on Jesus, gaze, get closer, glimpse, glory, God, God-ward, greatest Light of all, heads are filled, Hebrews, help, Him who is invisible, hungry for God, in the light of His glory and grace, in their eyes, invisible, invititation, Jesus, Jesus Movement, John the Baptist, king's, left Egypt, let us, live, lived, lives, living, look full in His wonderful face, many, Moses, multitudes, Nashville, of our faith, openly, overcome, passionately, people, perfector, persevered, pleasure, problems, proclaimed, quote, reading, right in front of your eyes, rings out, sang, saw, set their eyes on, share, some, song, sparks, spiritual vision, spiritually storng, spread, stare at, Sundays, supposed, Tennessee, testify, the author and, The Salvation Army, the things of eart, the way, thing to see, too bright, Turn your eyes upon Jesus, visit, was, will grow strangely dim, with, writer | 3 Comments

Top 10 Ways God Demonstrates His Reality

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Steve Simms

God is not a theory but a demonstrable reality. This is not just my thinking. Paul of Tarsus said; “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on man’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” (I Corinthians 2:4) God is demonstrated in various ways:

1) God demonstrates Himself through miracles and answered prayer. I have personally seen far too many miracles and answered prayers to be coincidental. If you pray and honestly observe the results, I think you, too, will be convinced by God’s demonstration of His power and love. Here’s a link to a news story about a medical doctor in Cleveland, Ohio who prays for sick people and sees many amazing miracles happen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFlxmWHZCnc

2) God demonstrates Himself through the unlikely happenings in day-to-day life. We’ve all experienced what are commonly known as coincidences — for example, when you are thinking about someone and right at that moment, he/she calls or texts you. If you observe your life, you will notice that amazing and unusual things happen for you, way beyond any statistical likelihood. For 40 years, I have been on God’s reading program. Almost every time I go to a book store, I stumble upon a book that deeply moves me and transforms my thinking.

3) God demonstrates Himself through the witness of the Spirit. The Old Testament puts it this way: “Be still and know that I am God.” When get still and quiet, God talks to them. There is an inner witness and awareness of His awesome reality!

4) God demonstrates Himself through the act of praying. When I begin to pray spontaneously, something stirs in my heart. Words rise up from deep within me and flow off my tongue. Sometimes when I pray for a stranger, I feel an amazing love for her/him. I don’t even know the person, so I know that the love is not from me. It is a demonstration of the reality of God.

5) God demonstrates Himself through the example of godly people. I know and have known people who live in such a way that leaves me no doubt that the supernatural power of God is flowing through them.

6) God demonstrates Himself through the natural world. We are surrounded by miracles — living organisms so complex that the brightest human intellects cannot completely comprehend how they function. No human can fully account for the marvels of life on this planet from a purely materialistic point of view.

7) God demonstrates Himself through lives transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the past two thousand years, billions of human beings have been changed and set free by the blood of Jesus. In spite of being from various, unrelated cultures and nations around the world, the amazing similarity of their stories demonstrate that their transformation was not just a subjective experience, but an encounter with the living God.

8) God demonstrates Himself through the Bible. Reading the New Testament has revealed the reality of God to multitudes!

9) God demonstrates Himself through dreams, visions, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. A woman I know was tortured in Saddam Hussein’s prison for 9 months. In desperation this Muslim woman cried out for God to show himself to her. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jesus Christ standing in front of her. The next morning she was miraculously released.

10) God demonstrates Himself through actively leading a church meeting. When a church gathers without a human leader in control, God will personally lead the meeting by inspiring those present to share testimonies, Scriptures, prayers, gifts of the Spirit, encouragement, teaching, etc. An open meeting which would naturally lead to chaos, instead comes together in beautiful ways, demonstrating the leadership of God’s Spirit.

If you would like to see God demonstrate Himself to a group of people, there is a church in Nashville that gathers like this weekly — The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center — Sundays at 10:45, 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207.

NO WAY!

Why not let God demonstrate Himself to you?

Posted in God winks, I Corinthians 2:4, miracles, prayer | Tagged experiencing God, God's Not Dead, Is God dead, proof of God, Time magazine | 4 Comments

Nashville’s Flood, Fire, & Ferocious Winds

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Steve Simms

Nashville has had a flood and it brought out the best in people. It was so exciting to see so many people volunteer their time and give their money to help their friends, neighbors, and even strangers.

After the Nashville flood, this Scripture (I Corinthians 15:46) came to my mind: “The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.” So I began to pray, “Lord, Nashville has had a natural flood, now send a spiritual flood of Your Spirit over our city.”

I prayer walk in East Nashville with a flag that stands for the blood of Jesus and the fire of the Holy Spirit. While prayer walking on First Street one day I saw a historical marker that describes a fire that hit Nashville in 1914 (if I remember correctly) It started on First Street and the wind spread it across East Nashville. It completely destroyed more than 3,000 homes.

I began to pray: “Lord, we’ve had the fire in Nashville, now send the fire of Your Holy Spirit, and let it impact all the people in 3,000 East Nashville homes in a positive way, for You and Your glory, as much as that fire impacted people in a harmful way.

We’ve also had storms. East Nashville has had many trees knocked down and several homes damaged by ferocious wind in the past year or so. “Lord, we’ve had the spiritual wind, now send the ‘mighty rushing wind’ of the Holy Spirit, that sounded out on the day of Pentecost, through East Nashville!”

The Holy Spirit is moving. A group of people gather weekly to pray for God’s spiritual outpouring on Nashville, to proclaim and testify, and to minister to and encourage one another. It is an amazing experience.

Come see for yourself: Sundays at 10:45, 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207 — The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center.

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, change, disasters, East Nashville, fire, fuel, Holy Spirit, kingdom of God, meaning, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, prayer, prayer walking, spiritual, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207, after that, amazing, began, Berry Street Worship Center, blood of Jesus, brought out, came to, city, come see, damaged, day of, destroyed, East Nashville, encourage, exciting, experience, ferocious, fire of, first, First Street, flag, flood, Friends, gather, Give, God's, group, harmful, help, historical marker, Holy Spirit, homes, I Corinthians, impacted, knocked down, Lord, mighty rushing wind, mind, minister, money, moving, Nashville, Nashville flood, natural, neighbors, one day, out, outporuing, Pentecost, positive, pray, prayer walk, proclaim, Scripture, sounded, spirit, spiritual, spread, stands for, storms, strangers, Sundays, testify, the best in people, The Salvation Army, time, trees, volunteer, way, weekly, winds | Leave a comment

A Forgotten American Folk Song’s Powerful Message

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Steve Simms

I live in Nashville, Music City; however, we don’t hear songs like this old American folk song in Nashville or on MTV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtlxoRAAHVU

Our culture has changed and the message of this song is no longer heard (or even tolerated). The name of the song is O Sinner Man. You don’t hear the word sinner used in America any more (except possibly in the most ultra-conservative churches).

I used to work as a chaplain/counselor in an alcohol and drug rehab center. As I would interview men new to the program, they would tell me the story about how they managed to create such misery in their life. After listening their tales of self-destruction and crime, I would ask a simple question: “So what kind of person are you?”

I interviewed more than 1,400 men. Not one ever told me: “I am a sinner.” In fact, 90% of them would answer: “I’m a good person.”

Why? Perhaps it is like a man who has been lost in the woods on the darkest night of the year. He is filthy. Yet when he looks at his hands and his clothes, he sees no dirt; so he falsely believes that he is clean.

As the first rays of light come over the horizon, he notices that he is a wee bit dirty. As the sun comes up, he begins to see that he is quite dirty. Finally, in the bright, noonday sun he sees that he is filthy.

Oh, so it is with us sinner men and sinner women. When we are in spiritual darkness and very far from God, we think we are good people. When we see the first bit of spiritual light, we know that we are a little dirty. However in the brightness of God’s glory, we see ourselves like hymn writer John Newton: a wretch like me.

How much of God’s light do you see? Here’s a hint: The more light you have, the more you will know that you are a sinner.

Here are a few quotations:

“The nearer we live to God, the more sensitive we become to the presence of sin. Increasing light means increasing self-judgment.” –Peter K. Nelson

“We see the dirt in our hearts all the more as we move toward the light of God.” –Tim Chester

“One of the surprises of the Christian life is that as you grow more holy in life and practice, you also grow in your awareness of your own sin and depravity.” –Michael McKinley

“The holier a man is, the more he is aware of his sinfullness.” –C.S. Lewis

“O, wretched man that I am.” –Paul of Tarsus

And an ancient, Jesus prayer, used by Orthodox monks since the early days of Christianity: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Posted in addiction, boundaries, change, Christianity, criticism, discipling, drugs, education, forgiveness, freedom, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mind, morality, morals, MTV, music, Music City, mysticism, Nashville, negro spirituals, Oh Sinner Man, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, recovery, self-image, sin, soul, spiritual, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged 90%, a wretch like me, alcohol, America, American folk song, ancient, answer, aware, awareness, begins to see, believes, bit, brightness, C.S. Lewis, center, changed, chaplain, Christian, churches, clean, clotes, counselor, create, crime, culture, darkest night of the year, depravity, dirt, dirty, don't hear, drug, early days, fact, falsely, filthy, finally, first rays of light, God, God's glory, God's light, good people, good person, grow, hands, have mercy on me, hearts, hint, holier, holy, hymn, I am, I am a sinner, I'm a, increasing, interview, interviewed, Jesus Christ, Jesus prayer, John Newton, know, life, link, listening, live, living, looks, Lord, lost, managed, men, Michael McKinley, misery, monkx, more, more sensitive, nearer, new, noonday sun, notices, O, of the, Oh Sinner Man, old, Orthodox, over the horizon, perhaps, person, Peter K. Nelson, practice, presence, program, quite, rehab, rright, see ourselves, sees, self-destruction, self-judgment, simple question, sinfulness, sinner, son, spiritual darkness, story, sun comes up, surprises, tale, tell, think, Tim Chester, told, toward, ultra-conservative, used by, very far from God, watch, wee bit, what kind, Why, women, woods, word, work, wretched, writer, you, Youtube | 5 Comments

Is The Denial Of God Anti-Intellectual?

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here is my definition of anti-intellectual: opposing or indifferent to an intellectual approach; basing an opinion on personal presuppositions and/or emotion, rather than on reason.

The rejection of the idea of God is based on an unproven, irrational presupposition — the view that nothing exists but the material world, matter and energy. However, those who deny God don’t live their lives as if the material world is all there is. Instead they embrace many non-material realities. They seek justice. They demand human rights. They express love. They speak up for ethics and morality. They act like they have free will and demand choice. They think and reason. All of these behaviors belie their presupposed belief that there is nothing beyond material existence and show them to be anti-intellectual.

When rationality encounters an effect, it seeks the cause. However, rejecting God embraces the irrational concept that there was an event without a cause, in other words, nothing produced something.

Much atheism is based on emotion rather than reason. I recently read part of a book that blatantly attacks belief in God (The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins). It is by a man who presents himself as an intellectual and a scientist, so I was expecting his book to be filled with reasoning and scientific ideas. However, I was shocked. His arguments against God are not based primarily on science and reason but on personal opinion, emotion, and his disapproval of religion and religious behavior.

For example, he uses the fact that religious organizations have supported the killing of innocent human beings, as an argument to deny God. This is anti-intellectual. The behavior of self-proclaimed religious people has nothing to do with the existence of God. Besides that, this author is inconsistent in his arguments (which is also anti-intellectual). He ignores the fact that in the 20th Century, atheistic governments killed an estimated 20 million people (which is probably far more people than have ever been killed in the name of religion).

This author also misquotes a John Adams letter to Thomas Jefferson. The letter reads: “Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, ‘This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion at all!!!‘ But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion, this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean hell.” In this quote, Adams is saying that religion is important and necessary. However, Dawkins puts only the words in parenthesis in his book and dishonestly writes that Adams was against religion. So why does he feel the need to be anti-intellectual in order to argue against God?

Intellectuals throughout history, from ancient Greek philosophers to many present day scientists, have recognized that honest logic leads to some kind of creator. It is anti-intellectual not to acknowledge that fact.

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The Most Dangerous Spiritual Condition

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Steve Simms

Perhaps the most dangerous spiritual condition is to sincerely believe that you are saved (right with God) when you are not. Let me give you an example.

Suppose I ship you all the tickets you need to a great event that you really want to attend, let’s say to the game when your favorite NFL team plays their most exciting opponent this fall. You email me and enthusiastically thank me. Then you put your tickets in a safe place.

Now, I have a question for you. Will you be trying to get tickets for that game? No, because in your mind, you have no more need for tickets and therefore no desire for them.

Now let’s suppose that you show up at the stadium gate and they run your tickets through their machine. Then you hear the ticket-taker say: “I’m sorry, but these are not real tickets.”

You are shocked and angry. You’ve been had. You were given a gift of counterfeit tickets and that gift satisfied you and made you unconcerned about getting into the big game.

So it is spiritually. If you are overconfident about being saved and believe you have unconditional tickets for Heaven, you won’t be seeking salvation, because people don’t seek what they believe they have obtained. But what if you die and find out that your salvation is counterfeit? It will be too little, too late. And that is a very sad condition.

Paul asks this question: “Have you believed in vain?” He also commands us to: “Examine yourself whether you be in the faith.”

Salvation is a lifetime process of seeking God, dying to self, and having Christ formed in you. It is extremely dangerous to be satisfied with our spiritual condition.

Paul wrote: “Forgetting what is behind, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

So are you saved? Here are some questions to think about: Is there a spiritual fire burning in your heart that won’t go out? Are you continually hungering and thirsting after righteousness and more of God? When you do wrongful things, are you deeply convicted and do you quickly turn away from them? Are you a “new creature” and have old things “passed away” and all things “become new?”

It is dangerous to be spiritually satisfied and to be overconfident about your relationship with God. One more Bible quotation: “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” Perhaps we all need to be continually and passionately pursuing God!

Posted in disciple making, kingdom of God, National Football League, NFL, organic church, positive thinking, Quotations, Quotes, religion, revelation, salvation, saved, simple church, soul, spiritual, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged after righteousness, all things, angry, asks, attend, because, become new, been had, being saved, believe, Bible, burning, Christ formed, Christ Jesus, commands, condition, convicted, counterfeit, dangerous, deeply, die, dying to self, emal, enthusiastically, Examine yourself, example, expremely dangers=ous, faith, fall, favorite, Forgetting what is behind, game, gate, getting into, Give, given a gift, great event, Have you believed in vain?, hear, heaven, high calling, hungering, I press toward the mark, I'm sorry, in your, in your heart, lest he fall, let him who thinks he stands, let's say, lifetime process, machine, mind, more of God, most dangerous, most exciting, new creature, NFL team, no desire, no more need, not real, now, obtained, old things, opponent, overconfident, passed away, Paul, perhaps, plays, prize, qill, question, quickly, relationship with God, right with God, run your tickets, sad, safe place, salvation, satisfied, saved, say, seeking, seeking God, ship, shocked, show up, sincerely believe, spiritual, spiritual condition, spiritual fire, spiritually, stadium, suppose, take heed, thank, think, thirsting, ticket-taker, tickets, too late, too little, trying, turn away, unconcerned, unconditional, want, whether you be in the faith, won't go out, wrongful things | 5 Comments

When Somebody’s Done You Wrong — 3 Responses

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

Have you ever found yourself singing “A Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”?

If so, you have three options:

1. You can choose to get her/him back and even the score — retaliate! The problem with that choice is, like Gandhi said: “An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world will be blind.” If you get him back, he will probably get you back, and the cycle of revenge will go on and on.

2. You can choose to resent, hate or hold on to bad feelings toward her. Meanwhile the person who did you wrong is going about her merry way, unaware of the bitterness and misery that you are putting yourself through. Someone has said: “Resentment is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.” That doesn’t sound very effective.

3. Or you can choose to forgive and bless the person who did you wrong. That is the method that Jesus taught. He said: “Pray for those who persecute you.” Try it. It works wonders.

All you need to do is to ask God to bless the person who did you wrong. You don’t need to “feel like” doing it or even to want to do it. You simply obey and bless whether you feel like it or not. Just do it. Say something like this: “Dear God, I ask you to bless (put the person’s name here) and bless his/her family. Give him/her good health and meet all his/her financial needs. Fill his/her life with good things. Amen.”

If you will obey Jesus and begin to bless those who have done you wrong, you will begin to be freed from any bitterness, hatred and unforgiveness in your heart. This is not just a religious concept. It really works.

A few years ago I prayed an individual prayer of blessing for every person I could think of who has ever done me wrong. It was wonderful. A batch of bitterness left my heart that I had forgotten was there. It feels so good not to have bad feelings toward anybody.

Why not try this for yourself? Experiment and see what happens. What do you have to lose? Right now, before you move on, go ahead and say a prayer of blessing for someone who has done you wrong.

Check out my new book, Beyond Church — An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible — Ekklesia; available at Amazon.

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Posted in alternative lifestyle, anti-war, forgiveness, freedom, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, morality, music, nonviolence, prayer, recovery, religion, resentment, revelation, self-help, spiritual, thinking, What is church? | Tagged ago, Amen, An eye for an eye, ask, back, bad feelings, batch, before, begin, bitterness, bless, bruning down, choice, choose, concept, cycle, dear, did you wrong, effective, even the score, experiment, family, feel like, feels, few, financial needs, forgive, forgotten, found yourself, freed, Gandhi, get, get rid, go ahead, God, good health, good things, gt him back, hate, hatred, heart, hold on, house, individual prayer of blessing, Jesus, just do it. say, merry way, method, misery, name, need, obey, options, person, Pray for those, prayed, putting yourself, rat, really works, religious, resent, resentment, retaliate, revenge, say, see what happens, singing, Somebody Done Somebody Wrong, something, song, taught, the whole world, three, try, try it, unaware, unforgiveness, very, want, what do you have to lose? move on, who persecute you, will be blind, wonderful, wonders, works, years | 15 Comments

Jesus (And The Thoughts He Brings To My Mind)

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Steve Simms

I wrote down “Jesus.” Now I am going to write what comes from my heart.

I love Jesus. He is more real to me than the air I breathe. He sustains me, strengthens me, comforts me, challenges me, inspires me, talks to me. He jumps off the pages of the Bible and dances in my heart. I am completely captivated by Him.

Jesus, His presence flows through my being, washing and refreshing, bringing hope and joy, peace and endurance. Yet I want more, but not more stuff or more knowledge. I want more of Jesus.

Ever since the day, that as a college freshman, I first encountered Jesus; I’ve hungered for more of Jesus. I’ve poured over the Gospel accounts of the things He did and I long to see Him do them again in our time — with the same authority and power. I’ve devoured accounts of how Jesus has worked through men and women, from the frist Christians and through the past 20 centuries; and my heart cries out for Him to manifest His mighty miracles in our midst.

I love You, Jesus! O, dear, Jesus! You are awesome. Sweet, Jesus, there’s no one like You! You are glorious, clothed in splendor — the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Alpha and Omega. Dear, Jesus. Have Your way. Have Your way in me! Have Your way in this generation. Come and move among us in power, conviction, and revelation. Open our eyes, dear Jesus, to see You, high and lifted up, above every name under heaven!

Turn us around, Jesus. Turn us to You with passion and abandon.

Jesus is not just a name, He is the name! Not just a word, but the Word! Not ritual, liturgy, or church service; but the lion of the tribe of Judah! Not just a historical religious figure, but a living and present Person! Not just a man, but Immanuel — God with us! Not just theology or theory, but life, itself!

Jesus, O Jesus! Thank You, Jesus! My heart is captivated by You!

Posted in Christian history, Christianity, church history, college, college students, Easter, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus Movement, Jesus Take The Wheel, meaning, mysticism, Oh my God, peace, praise and worship, prayer, religion, salvation, soul, spiritual, Uncategorized | Tagged 20 centuries, abandon, above every name under heaven, again, air I breathe, Alpha and Omega, authority, awesome, bringing hope, captivated, church-service, clothed, college freshman, comes from, completely, conviction, dances, dear, devoured, did, down, encountered Jesus, endurance, ever since the day, everlasting Father, first, first Christians, flows, generation, glorious, God with us, Gospel accounts, have your way, heart, heart cries, high and lifted up, historical, hungered, I want more, Immanuel, in my heart, in our time, itself, Jesus, joy, jumps off the pages, knowledge, life, lion of the tribe of Judah, liturgy, living, long, love, manifest, men and women, midst, mighty God, mighty miracles, more, more of Jesus, more stuff, move, name, open our eyes, passion, peace, person, poured over, power, presence, present, read, real, refreshing, religious figure, revelation, ritual, same, splendor, sweet, talks, thank you, the word, theology, theory, through being, to see, turn us around, washing, word, worked, write, wrote | Leave a comment

What The Church Can Learn From Country Music, Yall

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Steve Simms

I’m from Nashville, Music City — home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Mother Church of Country Music and home of the CMA Awards. Here are some things that the church can learn from Country Music:

* Let people tell their stories. Country songs tell heart-felt stories. People love other people’s stories. They are touched and moved by them. The church has a tradition of storytelling. It is called testifying — letting people share what God has done in their lives. Perhaps it is time for the church to revive the act of testifying by letting people share on Sunday mornings their stories of how Jesus is working in them. (Click here for an example of a testimony church.)

* Be real, honest, heart-felt, and genuine. Country comes from the heart. There is no pretence. It is what it is. People need a place that is open and honest, where they can let down their guard. Perhaps the church should be that place.

* Be creative. Country music lyrics are some of the most creative in the music industry. They are inspiring, funny, and out of the box. (Drop Kick Me Jesus Through The Goal Posts Of Life; I Been Roped And Thrown By Jesus In The Holy Ghost Corral; If Love Were Oil, I’d Be A Quart Low; Your The Reason The Kinds Are Ugly, Lil Darlin’; etc.) Perhaps the church could use a dose of innovation to help reach the coming generations.

* Jesus, Take The Wheel. Carrie Underwood had a number one country song that said it all. It is the tale of a young woman seeking help from Jesus as her car is about to crash. She ultimately lets Jesus take control of her car and her life. Perhaps the church should give Jesus the wheel and let Him actually run the church, Himself. Perhaps we should allow Jesus to directly control the Sunday services. Like an old hymn says: Have Thine Own Way, Lord.

Posted in BNA, church, CMA, CMA Awards, Country Music Association, Jesus Take The Wheel, Music City | Tagged Carrie Underwood, CMA Awards, CMA Festival, Country Music, Funny country songs, Nashville | 8 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From Sports Tailgating

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

Millions of people love to gather in stadium parking lots for pre-game tailgating parties. According to the American Tailgaters Association (more than 300,000 members), between 20 – 50 million Americans tailgated in a stadium parking lot in 2006.

Here is a quotation I found about tailgating: “We wanted to make the games an awesome experience. So a group of us decided that tailgating was the way to go.” –Patrick Cunningham If we want to make church an “awesome experience” perhaps we can learn from tailgating.

* Shared anticipation is a thrilling thing. Tailgaters get together to share excitement and enthusiasm with one another. They are uninhibited in their passion. What if church members gathered and openly shared their love for God with the same level of excitement as a tailgate party? Would that be awesome?

* Tailgaters seldom have planned programs. They don’t meet with an agenda. Instead they just let their gathering flow as they freely interact with and enjoy one another. Perhaps a church meeting that let people freely minister to one another would create a similar excitement to tailgating.

* Tailgaters embrace strangers. With heart-felt friendliness, they interact with unknown passers-by, draw them into their group, and even share their food with them. What if the church did that?

Last Sunday morning before an open discussion Bible study, I was suddenly amazed. The Bible study didn’t start until 9:30. However, at 9:00, nine of us were seated, eating breakfast snacks, and enthusiastically enjoying each other’s company. Then it hit me and I said to everyone: “We’re tailgating and we’re having as much fun as they do before ballgames!” Everyone laughed and went on enjoying their pre-church tailgate party.

Would you like to tailgate with us? When my wife and I arrive at The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center at 8:00am, there are usually already people waiting for us, even though Bible study doesn’t start until 9:30 and church until 10:45. It’s exciting. Come and see for yourself: 225 Berry Street, Nashville, 37207.

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, college, house church, life, lifestyles, Nashville, National Football League, NFL, organic church, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, religion, simple church, sports, Super Bowl, tailgate party, tailgating, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 2006, 37207, agenda, amazed, American Tailgters Association, Americans, anticipation, arrive, awesome, ballgames, befor, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Bible study, breakfast, church, church meeting, come, company, create, decided, draw, each other's, eating, embrace strangers, enjoy, enjoying, enthusiasm, excitement, experience, flow, food, freely, friendliness, from, games, gather, gathering, get together, God, group, heart-felt, interact, into, it hit me, last, laughed, learn, let, level, love, meet, members, millions, minister, morning, Nashville, one another, open discussion, openly shared, passers-by, passion, people, people waiting, planned, pre-church, pre-game, programs, quotation, said, same, see, seldom, share, shared, sililar, snaks, stadium parking lots, start, suddenly, Sunday, tailgate party, tailgated, tailgating, tailgating parties, The Salvation Army, the way to go, thing, thrilling, uninhibited, unknown, What if, wife | 5 Comments

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