Tag Archives: freedom

What The Church Can Learn From Smartphones

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Steve Simms

Smartphones are everywhere! People love them.! What if the church could learn from smartphones how to create that kind of market saturation and love for Jesus? Here are some things the church can learn from smartphones. * People appreciate and … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, apps, Berry Street Worship Center, change, change management, Christianity, disciple making, discipling, Great Commission, Holy Spirit, house church, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, religion, simple church, smartphone apps, smartphones, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, about, all over the world, allow, amazing, answers, app, appreciate, approach, ask questions, asked, assistance, Berry Street, Biblical, billions, brief, church, come, comfort, communicate, complicated, concpets, connect, create, depend on, direct access, encouragement, everywhere, express, facts, fast changing, feel alive, forgiveness, freedom, get out of the box, gifts of the Spirit, Give, help, Holy Spirit, how to, information, interested in, introduce, Jesus, kind, learn from, learned, love, market saturation, meetings, members, ministry, Nashville, need to, needs, never seen before, new apps, new ways, obtain, obtain, one another, opportunities, participatory, people, person-to-person, personal expression, popular, prayer requests, presented, question, really works, requires, rise to the challenge, saw, Scriptures, search, share, sit and listen, smartphones, something new, spontaneously, suggestions, Sunday morning, teaching, ten, testimonies, The Salvation Army, themselves, TN, tradition, use, visit, willing, with, woman, words of, Worship Center | 3 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From The Oprah Show

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Steve Simms

The Oprah Show was not just entertainment. It connected with people, encouraged them, challenged them, and made a difference in their lives. Perhaps the 21st Century church could learn a few things from Oprah. * Allow spontaneity. The Oprah Show was … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, biography, change, Christianity, crying, house church, life, lifestyles, meaning, morality, morals, multi-racial, Nashville, Oh my God, Oprah, Oprah Show, organic church, popular culture, race, racism, religion, self-help, simple church, spiritual, tears, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 21st Century, 225 Berry Street, 37207, all races, allow, allowed, audience members, being human, Berry Street, caring, challenged, changed, check out, church, city, clap, congregation, connected, cried, declare, degrading, denies, different, draw viewers, dull, embraced, emotion, emotionless, encouraged, encouraging, entertainment, entire, exciting, expecting, express, fall for anything, features, felt, find a way, flow, focus, followed, freedom, fresh, gatherings, get out of the box, goal Christianity, God's image, greatness, grieved, guests, gushed, hand, harm, heart, hour, human emotion, humanity, ideals, ideas, If you're happy, important part, involved, irrelevant, it is time, Jesus, Jesus Christ, laugh, laughed, learn from, life-changing, like, lived, lives, look the part, made a difference, meetings, mike, mold, most, multi-racial, mutual, name of, Nashville, needs, nod, notify your face, on and on, online, Oprah, Oprah Show, participatory church, passive, passively by, people, places, popular, presentation, programmed, quite, race, raise, read, real-life, rejoiced, religious, respond, rest, reviews, rididly, ritual, sadness, same-ole, segregated, sensationalism, show, showed, sitting, society, someone has said, spectators, spectrum, spontaneity, stand for something, stay awake, struggling, Sundays, take the high road, talk TV, taught, The Salvation Army, things, to happen, trash, unexpected, unfortunately, uplifting, whole, Worship Center | 12 Comments

Dietrich Bonhoeffer — Words From Prision

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Steve Simms

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and later executed (in 1944) by Nazi Germany. While in prison, he wrote many letters that were smuggled out. Here are some quotations from those letters: “It is only when one submits to God’s law that one … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Christian history, Christianity, church history, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, freedom, God, history, human rights, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, meaning, mysticism, new birth, Quotations, Quotes, reading, religion, revelation, social justice, spiritual, thinking | Tagged 1944, a dash, above all things, absolute, all things are possible, alone, always, at hand, away from the pat, based on, being, being satisfied, beyond, certain, certanity, Christ, church, claims, danger, destruction, develop, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, distress, eludes, entirely, executed, existence, exixts, experience, falsehood, fear, feel, follow, formula, freedom, Germany, God, God's law, govern, grace, great, hope, hostility, human, human life, humor, important, impossible, imprisoned, infinitely, invincible, invisible, Jesus, kingdom of God, leade, learn, Letters, life, light, live close to God, lives, living, longings, make up, man, manifestations, mediocrity, mind, must, Nazi, nearest, never, new life, nothing, others, part of, participation, passions, Pauline, people, plan, power, presence, prison, purpose, pursue, quotations, reality, relation, remote, seek, senses, seriousness, shape, share, smooth, smuggled, soul, spolit, strength, submits, things, times, todday, with God, words, world, wrote | 3 Comments

Of Human Bondage — Judgment, Tolerance, Or Salvation?

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Steve Simms

We boast of freedom in a life of limits. As humans we live in the ever present bondage of boundaries. Nothing in our lives is unlimited. We can only climb so high, reach so far, run so fast, think so long, enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, boundaries, church history, history, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, positive thinking, Quotes, religion, salvation, simple church, social justice, The Salvation Army, thinking, What is church?, William Booth | Tagged 000, 18802, 2, a third option, about, acceptance, accepting, accusing words, addictive, amazing, and/or, army, attempting to justify, attitudes, begin, behaviors, being rescued from, being set free, blame, blaming others, boldly, bondage, boundaries, Bramwell Booth, but in deed and in truth, cause and effect, climb so high, consequences, create, crossed out the word, culture, daily, decades, denial, destructive, devasting, discussing, disguise the pain, do, don't know when, dull, duration, East London, efforts, embraces, enjoy, ever preent, expiration date, fast, fatalism, father, flyer, forgotten concept, freedom, get free, guilt, harmful, held hostage, held in bondage, Here I am to save the day, how do we deal with, human thoughts, humans, I am a regular, I was born this way, in an effort, in the mean time, Jesus Christ, judgment, judgmental, jusdge us, life, life choices, life's limits, limits, live, lives, living, long, meet, mighty power, millions, movement, news media, not in words only, nothing at all, nowadays, opening, other parts of England, others, ourselves, pain producing, passively, pen, people, perhaps, perishable products, physical existence, pie-in-the-sky, practical, presence, pretend, price we pay, prison doors, proclaim, proclamation, raging fire, reach so far, read, real freedom, rediscover, religious platitudes, resurrected, run, said, salvation, say, so many ears, social work, spread around the world, surrender, talk, that's just the way I am, the end is coming, The Salvation Army, the things that, the way we live, think, though out, three ways, time, to promote a meeting, tolerance, unlimited, verbally, volunteer, We are a salvation army, We are a volunteer army, we boast, who can say, William, William Booth, working, world, written | 6 Comments

Organic Church = God On The Loose

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Steve Simms

There are sometimes awkward moments in unprogrammed, participatory church (also known as organic church or simple church). People sometimes say things and/or do things that are outside of my comfort zone. On a recent Sunday morning at The Salvation Army Berry Street … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, God, Holy Spirit, house church, life, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged are you ready, awkward, Berry Street Worship Center, bit, blow, but, came to, church, close, comfort zone, comfortable, comfy, courage, cut, danger, denying the power, disturb, farthest from God, freedom, fuffle our feathers, gather together, God, having a form of godliness, Him, His way, Holy Spirit, how true, information, Lord, meeting, midst, mind, moments, my, Nashville, on the loose, organic church, outside of my, participatory, power, predictability, rock, shake, sharing, simple church, situations, sometimes, spiritual life, startle, stretch, structure, Sunday morning, take the limits off of, The Salvation Army, thereof, things, throbbing, transformation, unbound, uncomfortable, unprogrammed, visit, where it will, wide open, wind, wondering, words, work, working | 4 Comments

Celebrating Real Freedom On The 4th Of July

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Freedom is a wonderful thing to celebrate. However, it is far better to be free than talk about freedom. For example, if government guarantees the freedom of speech, but a person has a habit of speaking in anger, that she/he wants … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, Bible, Fourth of July, freedom, life, lifestyles, recovery, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged 4th of July, ability, addicted, addictions, adult, anger, anxieties, areas, be free, behaviors, bondage, bullied, can't stop using, capacity, celebrate, child, compulsions, control, cravings, defend, desires, dirrected, document, doing, dominated, dysfunctional, emotional, enslave, excessive, family, far better, fears, fighting, for example, forces, fourth, free, freedom, freedom of speech, full of, gallantly, genetic tendencies, glorified, Go and sin no more, gorernment guarantee, government, guarantees, habit, habits, house, justify, live your life, living, love your enemies, man, manipulation, mental, New Testament, no condemnation, overcome, passionately, peace that passes understanding, peer pressure, person, physical, political, prejudice, pride, promises, resisting, self-destructive, speaking, surrendered our freedom, talk, teenager, the world's greatest, thing, thinking, throw around, tormented, tormenting thoughts, under, weapons, what happened, where is, woman, wonderful, word, worries | 4 Comments

More Original Organic Church Thoughts

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

Organic church is a term used to describe church that is based on spiritual life, personal relationships, heart-felt love, Spirit-led worship, and open participation, rather than on institutional structure or man-led meetings. It is also known as simple church and/or house … Continue reading →

Posted in church history, freedom, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, mysticism, organic church, public speaking, religion, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged active role, based on, beautiful, believers, body of believers, builds, caring, Christians, church, comments, community, completely, conjecture, constantly seeking, creates, family, field, flooding, free, freedom, Friends, give people, heart-felt, Holy Spirit, honest, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, ignored, institutional structure, kindergarten, lecture, love, makes God real, man-led, meet in a house, meetings, minister, ministry, more effective, most recent, New Testament, one another, open, opportunity, organic church, original, originally, others, participation, perhaps, personal relationships, posted, professional, program, publicly, rare, rather than, religious, rivers, seek, service, sharing, show and tell, simple church, souls, spectators, spilling, Spirit-led worship, spiritual growth, spiritual life, spoke, stirred, superfulous, taught, term, the Spirit, theological, time, tweets, used to describe, verse, watch, what God has done, what to do, written | 3 Comments

Warning: Use Self-Directed Censorship

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

John Locke was an English philosopher and political theorist. His ideas about freedom greatly influenced America’s founding fathers and are reflected in the Declaration of Independence. Yet, Locke believed in a kind of censorship, a self-directed control of what we … Continue reading →

Posted in criticism, English, English literature, freedom, history, lifestyles, popular culture, public speaking, Quotations, Quotes, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, Uncategorized | Tagged abused, America's, among, another, background, bad books, bad thoughts, begets, best things, both, can be, can't afford, causing, censorship, character, consequences, consumed, control, control information, current, dangerous, Declaration of Independence, desire, desires, devour, discipline, diseases, distance from truth, English, fatherless children, filled, fills, financial crisis, flooded, food, founding fathers, free spending, freedom, going backwards, greatly, harm, harmful, head, hear, heartbreak, homes, ideas, ignorant, images, imagination, in our society, individuals, influenced, internet, Jhon Baptist de la Salle, John Locke, killed in the womb, kind, media, millions, mind, misery, morally wrong, mortgages, movies, much, need, notions, nowadays, obesity epidemic, out of control, passes, perfectly, philosopher, pictures, point, poison, political theorist, quotation, quoted, Ralph Waldo Emerson, read, reading, reflected, ruin, runaway, said, same, saying, see, self-censorship, self-directed, self-harming, self-inflected, sex, society, spread, standing still, stir up, sums up, sweep, texting, today's, tools, TV, unjust, use, video games, viewer discretion, warning, well used, won;'t, words, worst, writing, wrong | 2 Comments

Freedom Riders And Church Diversity

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Steve Simms

I watched a two-hour documentary on PBS about the Freedom Riders, a group of young people (mostly college students) both black and white (committed to non-violence), who rode public busses together into the Deep South (in 1961) to challenge state segregation laws that … Continue reading →

Posted in abolitionists, Bible, biography, black history, Civil Rights, Creator, freedom, God, history, house church, human rights, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, prejudice, Quotations, Quotes, racism, religion, self-help, social justice, Supreme Court, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 1961, Alabama, America, angry, Anniston, assistant, Attorne General, beat, Bible, Biblical, Birming jail, Birmingham, black and white, bus terminal, bus terminals, busses, challenge, choking, church, church diversity, churches, Civil Rights Movement, class, coach, college students, commitment, committed, country, courage, cross racial lines, cultural, DC, Deep South, Diane Nashv, diversity, documentary, end segregation, ethnicity, every kindred and every tribe, explode, federal government, fire bomb, Fisk University, freedom, freedom riders, God, group, hate-filled, heaven, heroism, idea, interstate commerce, into, Jackson, John Seigenthaler, kick, last will and testament, leadership, left, local police, Lord, Mississippi, mixed, movie, moving, multi-culturial, multi-racial, multiethnic, Nashville, New Orleans, non-violence, notorious, PBS, protect, public busses, race, racial reconciliation, required, Return of the Titans, Robert Kennedy, rode, ruled unconstitutional, school, segregation laws, state, states, Supreme Court, surrounded, team, tears, town, Trevecca Nazarene University, two-hour, US, victory, violence, Washington, white mob, worst prison | 1 Comment

Quotes From Quobna Ottobah Cugoano

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Steve Simms

Quobna Ottobah Cugoano was kidnapped by slave traders when he was 13 years-old in Africa in the late 1700s and taken to England. (His slave name was John Stuart.) After experiencing much cruelty and suffering, he finally got his freedom and learned to … Continue reading →

Posted in abolitionists, Bible, biography, black history, Creator, English literature, freedom, God, history, human rights, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, prejudice, Quotations, Quotes, race, religion, self-help, social justice, Uncategorized | Tagged 13, 1700s, able therein, Africa, all, all men, barbarous, battles, besetting sins, book, by, Christianity, Christians, commerce human species, conveyed, crimes, cruel, cruelty, d, devoted, displayed, divine, enslavers, enslaving, evil temper, experiencing, fellow creatures, fight, followers, freedom, good will to, goodness, Great Brittain, greatest villians in, heart, holders, honesty, horror, humanity, humbly, in 1787, in his, inhabitants, Jesus Christ, John Stuart, justice, kidnapped, late, learned, lost, love, man, manner, many, meekness, men, murdering, name, nature, New Testament, old, peace, perverseness, procurers, published, QOC, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, quotations, read, robbing, sensibility, slave, slavery, soldiers, state of innocence, stealing, submitted, suffering, system of love, thinking, Thoughts and Sentiments on the evil, traders, traffic, treasure, unbelief, wicked, wonderful, world, write, years-old | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: freedom

What The Church Can Learn From The Oprah Show

Celebrating Real Freedom On The 4th Of July

Warning: Use Self-Directed Censorship

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