Tag Archives: culture

Don’t rock with the culture; roll with God’s Spirit!

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Steve Simms

Don’t rock with the culture; roll with God’s Spirit!

Posted in Christ followers, Christian, contemporary society, controversial, corrupt culture, having a form of godliness | Tagged commitment, culture, Holy Spirit, no compromise, rock and roll | Leave a comment

Are You A Sold-Out Copycat?

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Steve Simms

Copycating contemporary culture — shouldn’t we take a higher view than monkey see, monkey do? Rather than taking rides on society’s hot and trendy tides, shouldn’t Christ’s followers be on His side and go against the tide? According to Jesus, … Continue reading →

Posted in against the tide, American, American church, Christ followers, Christ-centered, Christian, compromised, conscience, contemporary, contemporary society, controversial, controversy, countercultural, courage, cultural taboos, culture, current condition, current events, darkness, dishonesty, disrespect, Do not be conformed to this world, Do not conform, feelings, followers, followers of Christ, godly sorrow, hypocrisy, monkey see monkey do, personal pleasure, persuasion of media, philosophy, politics and religion, post-Christianity, pride, profanity, promiscuity, Quotations, quote, real world, renewing your mind, right and wrong, right living, righteousness, self-destruction, self-focus, selfish desires, society, sold out, spiritual transformation, television, temptation, values | Tagged Bible, challenge, Christianity, copycat, culture, quotes, religion | 1 Comment

Are Sermons Effective?

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Steve Simms

Have you ever tested the effectiveness of sermons? I did. I was a brand new pastor in my first church — Mayfield Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Mayfield, Kentucky. After finishing three years of seminary, I had been preaching for about … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christ, Christianity, church, Cumberland Presybterian Church, East Nashville, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, kingdom of God, lifestyles, movement, mystery, mysticism, Nashville, organic church, praise and worship, religion, sermons, simple church, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, worship | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, AA, afternoon, alcoholics, Alcoholics Anonymous, American, American Christianity, an oral test, Berry Street Worship Center, better caught than taught, brand new, called, captured by, Christianity, church meeting, church setting, congregation, considered, continued, creating, culture, Cumberland Presbyterian, decided, doctrines, effectiveness of sermons, evening, everyone has a, experience, exploded, facts, fads, first church, following, follows trends, functions, grow, help people change, hot to hold, house church, however, hymn, ineffective, influencing, interpretation, job description, Kentucky, lecture, less than, lifestyles, like, little happens, little power, Mayfield, meetings, membership, message, mind, much more, Nashville, noble, nobody, none, one simple and easy question, open participation, openly, organic church, overwhelming, passively, pastor, Paul of Tarsus, Paul's instructions, poems, preach, preaching, prepared in a, professional, questions, requires more than, response, revelation, right, shocked, simple church, simple questions, sit and listen, society, society's, something more than, sometimes, started, Sunday morning, test, the basic point, the main topic, The Salvation Army, three years of seminary, TN, to build, to reach people, tongue, treating, try, type, virtuous, visit, weekly, When you come together, word of instruction | 26 Comments

The Best Kind Of Sex

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Steve Simms

Our society ignores the very best kind of sex. You almost never hear about it. TV and movies nowadays picture almost every kind of sex but this. I wonder why? Instead our sex-crazed culture focuses on and promotes casual sex … Continue reading →

Posted in adultery, alternative lifestyle, best kind of sex, casual sex, drugs, marriage, morality, popular culture, sex, sex in marriage, television, Uncategorized, values | Tagged add, aditional, alcohol, American, behaviors, best kind of sex, bonding, boring, casual sex, cheapo, committed, compelled, compulsive, culture, cut, deadly disease, diamond, disrespectful, drugs, emotional pain, emotionally, exciting, experience, faithful, fake, feel, find, focuses, frequently, gadgets, guilt, heart-felt, hinted, honorable, humiliation, hush-hush, ignores, in an attempt, ingredients, loveless, loyal, manipulative, marriage, marriage-based, meaningless, mechanical sex, morally pure, movies, never hear about it, no matter how you, nowadays, out there somewhere, pain, partners, people, perverted, physical, picture, polish, popularly promoted, pornography, promotes, really great sex, risk, secret, self-focused, self-giving, set, sex, sex-crazed, shallow, shame, shown, society, spiritually, television, the real thing, till death do us part, TV, types of sex, uniting, vulgar language, waiting, why settle, wonder | 7 Comments

What Would Your Life Be Like If . . .

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

How would you be today if you had been born to a mother in poverty with several children by different men? What if you had been surrounded by depression, anger, fear, hopelessness, and despair? How would you be if you … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, disciple making, discipling, drugs, drunk, East Nashville, freedom, house church, human rights, Jesus, Jesus Christ, jobs, life, lifestyles, meaning, multi-racial, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, prejudice, race, recovery, rehab, religion, self-esteem, self-image, simple church, social justice, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, words | Tagged 10:45 am, 225 Berry St., 37207, a place, according to, advantages, America, Americans, anger, ask, befriends, Berry Street, better off, better quality of life, born, builds, built, buy, caring relationship, cheat, childhood, children by different men, church, close personal friends, college, community, cross, culture, cuss, demonstrating, depression, despair, desperately need, different, disciplined, doesn't, drugs, economics, encouraging, enviornment, environment, family, fear, few, financially, friend, get drunk, godly man, great advantages, groups of men, growing up, had never known, hand, handed, help, helped, helped along, helping, hopelessness, How would you, however, in the middle of, Jesus Christ, job, kept away, lie, lines, lived n their shoes, living, look down on others, looking for, loved, loving, make a difference, man, mean to others, mentor, millions, money, mother, Nashville, negative, neighbor, not so fortunate, opportunity, paid, parented, people's lives, personal, pobverty, positive example, powerful programming, practical help, profanity, question, raise, redirect their lives, rehab, relationship, relationships, sexual, sin, social status, socially, socio-economic, spearate, steal, struggling financially, stuck, Sundays, surrounded, the love of, The Salvation Army, TN, today, true, use drugs, violence, visit, vital, vulgarity, way to live, woman, Worship Center | 1 Comment

Occupy Till I Come — What The Church Can Learn From Occupy Wall Street

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

In Luke 19:13 of the King James Bible, Jesus says: “Occupy till I come.” Somehow, I don’t think “occupy” means to sit in a pew once a week and passively listen to a sermon. “Occupy” is much more aggressive than … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, boundaries, broadcast yourself, Christianity, criticism, feelings, freedom, greed, kingdom of God, lifestyles, materialism, movement, Music City, Nashville, New York City, Occupy Wall Street, popular culture, possessions, repent, social justice, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, words | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry Street, 37207, a lot, agressive, around the world, believe, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, bold, brainwashed, building, change, Christians, church, clamoring, committed, courageous, culture, day after day, demonstrations, determined, East Nashville, embracing, example, followed, forceful, good example, good first step, greed, have you ever, hearts, heaven, help us, hold, image, instructions, involved, Jesus, King James, land, laying down, learn, lifestyle, listen, live, Luke 19:13, McFerrin Park, mold, mornings, mother country, movement, Nashville, neighborhood, New York City, obeyed, occupiers, occupy, Occupy till I come, Occupy Wall Street, ongoing, others, passion, passively, people, persistence, protesting, rather, repenting, selfish, seriously, sermon, sit in a pew, sitting, society, stand, stand up, streets, strive, Sunday, swept along, teachings, territory, The Salvation Army, to take, trends, Wall Street, week, willingness to sacrifice, within | 2 Comments

An Alter Call

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Steve Simms

Perhaps we need an alter call. Maybe it is time to change and make some alterations. * Alter the way you think. Most people never think much about their thought choices. They tend to just go with whatever thoughts come … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, change, change management, church, house church, life, lifestyles, meaning, organic church, popular culture, simple church, television, thinking, thoughts, What is church?, words | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207, Acts, alter, alterations, anxiety, ball of fire, behaviors, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, book of, call, called, change, choices, choose, church, come to, commercial, con visit, conversations, create, culture, day, depression, described, do, do church, emotions, fear, frustration, great impact, guilt, harmful, hear, how, how to have church, how you live, however, human, I Corinthians 14:26, important, improve, impulses, invited, it is, life, lifestyle, make, make an effort, make your life better, making, mind, most, Nashville, need some help, negative, New Testament, not good, not the best way, obey, Observer, pain, passive, people, perhaps, place, present, problem many, quality, quality of life, rather, responding, say, self-inflected, song lyrics, spectator, Sundays, tells, text messages, the opium of the people, the original, The Salvation Army, the way, think, thought, thoughts, time, turned the world upside down, TV show, verse, weak, whatever, whims, words, worry, worse | Leave a comment

Modern Myth #4 — Do Whatever Feels Good To You

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

A great myth in our society tells people to do whatever feels good to them. This idea has risen to the level of a god in our culture. However, are feelings always a good guide for behavior? Feelings are frequently … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, boundaries, criticism, drugs, drunk, feelings, freedom, gods, life, lifestyles, morality, morals, myths, self-esteem, self-image, sin, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged a god, ability to ignore, acto out, all day long, always, avoid, behavior, big, birthday, capable of driving, compay, compulions, conscience, cravings, culture, didn't care, do it, DUI, everyone forgot your birthday, experience, fair, false ideas, fat lie, feelings, feels good, felt, fired, for example, frequently, future, genetic tendencies, get caught, go to jail, good guide, great, Happy Birthday, have you ever, honest, however, human beings, idea, If it feels good, lead, lie, like, logic, lose their license, measures of reality, misleading, moral, much better, myth, no matter how, no one cares, no one seemed to remember, obeying, one example, opened a door, others, our, people, people do whatever, presenting, produce positive consequences, produces pain, right to steal, risen to the level, room full, seek, self-destruction, self-produced misery, society, surprise birthday party, tells, them, told you, truth, unlike animals, whims, wisdom, wise, yelled | 4 Comments

Modern Myth #2 — Casual Sex

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Like the ancients, we moderns have our myths and our gods. Modern Myth #2 is the “casual” sex myth. It says: Random sex with various partners is a meaningless recreational activity with no significant consequences and should be encouraged and approved … Continue reading →

Posted in American, boundaries, casual sex, gods, life, lifestyles, morality, morals, myths, popular culture, self-image, sex, sin, television, Uncategorized | Tagged abandoned children, act, activity, Acts, addiction, alcohol, altar, ancients, anything, approved, betrayed, bill boards, blindly, bondage, bought into, breaks the heart, call, captured, casual sex, cheapo, college professors, coming out of the closet, commitment, compulsions, consequences, cravings, create, culture, deep, desires, drug use, dying, emotional bond, encouraged, experience, experiences, following, get set free, God's, government, guilt, habitual, harped, health, health care costs, health clubs, health departments, human, human being, hurting, increases, intense, intimitate, killing, life, like the, lives, magazines, meaningless, medical doctors, moderns, movies, music, myths, newspapers, no, parental example, partners, person, pervasive, playing, pleasure, poverty, power, profound, promoted, public health problems, random, recreational, regard, Russian roulette, scientists, self-destructive behaviros, Senate, sexually transmitted disease, shackin' up, significant, sikovision, slaver, slavery, society, suffer, surrender, toy, using, various, White House, worship | 10 Comments

Modern Myth # 1 — Life Produced Itself

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Steve Simms

As ancient and tribal societies have had their myths and their gods, even so, our modern society has its myths and its gods. Our contemporary gods my not be thought of in human form like the Greek and Roman gods, … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, creation, evolution, gods, life, modern myths, myths, origin of life, proof of God, science, theory of evolution | Tagged #!, agree, allowed, American, ancient, as fact, baptized, believe, blogs, cannot, come into existence, considered, contemporary, create, created, culture, difficult to imagine, Don't, evolved, far fetched, forbidden, God's, Greek, highly, human beings, human form, idea, impact, in reality, intelligent society, itself, lab, matter, modern society, moderns, most favorable conditions, myths, non-living, official faith, one-celled life form, only, origin of life, other, possible, post, powerfully, presented, public schools, Roman, science, scientific proof, self-produced, series, societies, supposed, theory, thought, tribal, unintelligent, unscientific, where is the proof? none, widely accepted, without proof | 7 Comments

Tag Archives: culture

Don’t rock with the culture; roll with God’s Spirit!

Are You A Sold-Out Copycat?

Are Sermons Effective?

The Best Kind Of Sex

An Alter Call

Modern Myth #4 — Do Whatever Feels Good To You

Modern Myth #2 — Casual Sex

Modern Myth # 1 — Life Produced Itself

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