Tag Archives: life

The College That Changed My Life

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Steve Simms

There is a popular book called Colleges That Change Lives. Somehow the college that changed my life — The University of Tennessee Martin — is not in the book. UTM was 50 miles away from my home and the only … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, change, Christian history, Christianity, church history, college, God, house church, kingdom of God, life, meaning, mysticism, Nashville, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, peace, religion, self-image, simple church, spiritual, What is church? | Tagged 225, Alabama, altar, amazing, Arkansas, around, asking, Baptist, Berry Street, best, Bible, book, called, changed, Christ, Christian, Christianity, church, churches, college, Colleges That Change Lives, community, corny, country, cried, daily, debate, denomination, devotion, difficult, discover, doctrine, Dorm, dozens, Ellington, encouraged, enjoyed, enthusiastic, environment, experience, family, fellow, focused, forever, Friends, full, God, Gospel, graduated, hall, hang out, heart, hooked, human beings, Illinois, Indiana, Jesus, Jesus Freaks, Kentucky, laughed, Lay Witness, leader, leaving, less, level, life, life-long, listened, llking, lobby, longing, loving, manifesting, Martin, meetings, Methodist, Missions, Missiour, Mississippi, morning, most, moved, name, Nashville, Nashville's, normal, official, one another, passion, passionate, pastored, people, popular, power, powerful, praises, prayed, Presbyterian, presence, reading, recapture, reconnect, repenting, satisfied, seminary, shared, sharing, shocked, singing, somehow, spring, stopped, strange, Sunday, Sundays, supported, take turns, Tennessee, testimonies, the, The Salvation Army, things, together, transformed, type, Union City, unique, University of Tennessee, UTM, vibrant, weekend, working, Worship Center, year | 31 Comments

The Alternative Lifestyle

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Steve Simms

A true alternative lifestyle does not just change the object of one’s lust from one gender to another; it overcomes the power, control, and addiction of lust. We hear much about alternative lifestyles nowadays. Yet the greatest alternative lifestyle is … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, freedom, God, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, lifestyles, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, prayer walking, revelation, salvation, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged about, accomplished, addiction, against, along, alternative, alternative lifestyles, attendance, based, Berry Street, breakfast, casually, challenge, challenging, change, chapters 5-7, chicken, children, Christ-style, church, coast, com, comfort, commitment, community, compulsions, contribution, control, cost, count the cost, cravings, daily, dare, deliberately, deny, depths, desires, destructive, direct, doctrine, doing, excitement, experience, extremely, flow, following, fully, gender, giving, greatest, group, growth, guaranteed, ham and egg, hear, Him, in spite, inner peace, intimacy, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, life, lifestyle seldom, lifetime, live, love, lust, manifesto, Matthew, meaning, meet, meetings, mentioned, much, Nashville, needy, never, nowadays, obeying, object, ongoing, out, over, overcomes, people, perhaps, persecuted, pig, power, process, provides, purpose, raise money, real world, religious, replied, requires, rewarding, ritual, rivers of living water, said, seek, seeking, self-denial, self-focus, self-fulfillment, self-sacrifice, society, soul, speaks out, strength, Sundays, support group, taught, teachings, The Salvation Army, The Sermon On the Mount, theology, through, together, tolerant, total commitment, tough, type, understanding, very, visit, walking, Worship Center | 5 Comments

Negro Spirituals — A Message We Desperately Need!

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Steve Simms

“Over my head I hear music in the air, There must be a God somewhere.” –Negro spiritual. Those words were written and sung during the most difficult of days, a time of great oppression and evil — a time of bondage, … Continue reading →

Posted in black history, Christian history, church history, education, freedom, God, history, life, lifestyles, meaning, music, mysticism, negro spirituals, Oh my God, prayer, race, racism, religion, revelation, salvation, social justice, spiritual, thoughts, What is church? | Tagged able, African American, awareness, beyond, bondage, breathing, caught up, days, deprivation, despair, different, discover, disrespect, Don't, drudgery, economic, emotions, eternal, even more, evil, express, fear, forefathers, get, God, great, heart, hold on to, hope, hopeless, human beings, I hear, in and out, in order to, in the air, in the midst, injustice, insight, intellect, life, look beyond, man's inhumanity to man, meaning, meaningless, melodies, mind, more than, most difficult, music, mystery, Negro spiritual, nothing, oppression, over my head, pain, personal, perspective, pleasure, pursuit, revelation, rock, security, sense, situation, slaves, someone, somewhere, somewho, strenght, strong, struggles, suffered, suffering, sung, survive, there must be a God, time, told, truths, tune, understanding, unshakable, violence, wake, words, written | 2 Comments

A Coach And A Critic

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here’s an original poem called A Coach And A Critic. It was originally published in my book: Your Sperm Won — Experiencing Your Value As A Championship Human Being. A coach and a critic Stood side by side, Watching … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, American, American Literature, books, criticism, education, freedom, life, lifestyles, mind, poem, poetry, popular culture, positive thinking, prejudice, reading, recovery, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, thinking | Tagged book, cannot, championship, choose, coach, contender's, continually, cripple, critic, denied, determne, distract, don't be, every, experiencing, get nailed, heard, Here's, human being, inner, inner coach, inner critic, instead, keep on going, Keep on trying, life, lose, make, nailed, original, originally, outstanding, poem, published, race, replied, run, say, side by side, sperm, stood, stride, value, victory, Victory will come, voice, watching, what it takes, which, win, win or lose, yelled, you, You can do it, you won't make it, you're so bad, your, Your Spern Won, yourself | Leave a comment

Playing The Keyboard In Your Mind

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Steve Simms

Life is like a piano. A concert pianist comes into the great hall of life and plays Bach, Brahams, and Rachmanioff and there is tumultuous applause and a standing ovation. After the concert one of the members of the clean-up … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, books, life, lifestyles, meaning, mind, music, peace, popular culture, positive thinking, recovery, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, selling, thinking, Uncategorized | Tagged amazing, analogy, anxiety, applause, attitudes, Bach, beauty, Bible, bland leading the bland, books, Brahams, cds, chaos, clean-up crew, concert, contented, determines, difference, discord, dvds, effort, emit, emotional, emotions, exquisite, fault, feelings, folks, for years, good news, good or bad, grace, great, hall, happenings, happy, harmony, how we play, instrument, joy, keyboard, learn, learning, lessions, lessons, life, life is like, limbo, lovely, make beautiful music, mayhem, melody, members, mental, mentor, middle, mind, miserable, misery, more effectively, motivational, noise, others, ourselves, peace, peck, personal growth, pianist, piano, played, plays, positive, positive thinking, pound, produce, produced, producing, profoundly, put forth, Rachmanioff, randomly, sadness, same, seconds, self-help, seminars, situations, skill, sounds, sour, standing ovation, Steinway, stop, style, taking, tapes, the way, thoughts, time, tumultous, upbeat, walks, well, Yamaha, yell | 14 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

1-10 Spirituality Or Carnality Scale — Where Are You?

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

Where are you on this scale of 1-10 between spirituality and carnality? Instructions: Pick the statement that best describes you. If you are torn between two or more choices, split the difference and take the average between them. — Spirituality … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, boundaries, change, criticism, God, life, lifestyles, popular culture, recovery, religion, salvation, sex, spiritual, thinking, thoughts, Top Ten, Uncategorized | Tagged 1-10, a lot, almost, and/or, attending, behaviors, best describes you, between, bewteen, business, carnal, choices, choos to, close, close to God, closer, concerned, control, cravings, desire, desires, distracted, effort, entertained, entire, everything, feel, first priority, focus, follow, frequently, Friends, fulfil, fully, getting, given over, God, Him, important, impulses, interested, justify, know God better, life, lifestyle, limit, little or no, look at, make excuses, meeting, more, need, never seem, obey, of time, once in a while, others, passionately, pick the statement, possible, read, religious, restrain, satisfied, scale, seek, short comings, spend, spirituality, split the difference, stay out of, strong, sustained, take, tell, that, the average, things, to get, torn, trying, two or more, ungodly, very, want, watch, weak, Where are you, whims, you do, yourself | Leave a comment

Is This Guy A Modern Day Prophet Or What?

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Steve Simms

Browsing through McKay Used Bookstore in Nashville recently, I found a book full of powerful prophetic statements by a present day United Methodist minister, Carlyle Fielding Stewart III. The book was published by Abingdon Press in 2001. It is called: … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian history, Christianity, church history, God, history, house church, organic church, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, religion, revelation, salvation, simple church, spiritual, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged Abingdon, absent, accomodate, affairs, approach, back, basic, believe it or not, Biblical, Body of Christ, book, bring, browsing, business, business-as-usual, bwegin, called, Carlyle Fielding Stewart, case, change, Christ, Christianity, church, churches, claiming, climate, congregations, constitute, continue, converted, cult, cultivate, culture, daily, decline, denominations, die, diligent, discouraged, distinction, doing, ecclesiology, Empowerment Church, evangelical, exercise, failed, faith, favor, flexing, flourishes, forms, forsaken, found, foundation, frequently, from, full of, general, God, God's authority, Gospel, government, great, guy, heritage, ho-hum, holiness, Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, humbly, impede, insecure, instances, institution, institutional, inviting, invoke, Jesus, lapsed, leaders, leading, lethargy, life, little, mainline, matter-of-fact, McKay, mind of Christ, minister, ministry, mission, modern, modern times, movement, much, muscles, name of, Nashville, needs, not, numperous, occur, Old Testament, open air, opinion, organized, ostensibly, outlook, participating, particular, pastors, people, perilous, potential, power politics, powerful, preacher, presence, present day, press, presuppose, principlles, progress, prophet, prophetic, prosper, Protestant, published, qualified, quotations, reality, reference, relationship, religion, result, retain, rot, run, saving, scandal, secular, selfish, serving, soulds, spirit, spirit-filled, spirituality, statements, steady, stifle, stopped, submi9tting, teach, teachings, think, today, tragedy, true, unafraid, unapologetically, underlying, United Methodism, United Methodist, used bookstore, vitality, way, will, win souls, witness | 11 Comments

Life Rocks When Religion Becomes Real (Or, Night At The Theological Museum)

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Steve Simms

In the 2006 movie, Night at the Museum, a night watchman at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History is shocked when the exhibits in the museum come to life. His once boring job suddenly becomes exciting and challenging. It is amazing the … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian history, Christianity, church history, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mysticism, new birth, Night at the Museum, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, religion, resurrection, revelation, simple church, The Salvation Army, What is church?, William Booth | Tagged 2006 movie, accepting, accumulation, addictions, adherents, alive, amazing, America's, American Museum of Natural History, announced, argued, arguments, as the waters cover the sea, authority, awe, believe, Bible, blandly, blind faith, boring job, bright and morning star, brothers, bursts forth, by droves, celebration, challenging, church, churches, cofounder of, come to life, connects, cravings, crazy, crucifixion, data, demonstrated, demonstrating, don't rock the boat, driven, exciting, exhibits, experience, feel, fill the earth, flamed, foundations, from God, glory of the LORD, God's, having strouble, head, His, Holy Spirit, hope, ignores the heart, in my seat, incarnation, information, Jesus Christ, joyous, jumped off the pages, know so, knowledge, Letters, life, lifeless formes, living, Lord, losing, love letters, majestic, makes, man, mastered, mind, miracles, most of all, museum, need no, New Testament, New York City's, night, Night at the Museum, night watchman, oh, passionately, people, persuade, physical healing, power, presence, proof, proven, pulsating, quotation, rational, rationalized, real, reassure, relationships, religion, resurrection, ritual, said, salvation, secular society, seduction, see, send, sensational, set free, sexy, shaking, shocked, spiritual, spontaneous, spplendor, staying awake, Sunday school, surging, taught, teeming, the Apostles, the difference, the Good News, The Salvation Army, theological, theology, tired, trembling, true, vividly, William Booth, with life, work, writers, written to, yawn | 3 Comments

The Best (Non-Biblical) Quotation In The World

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Steve Simms

I love and collect quotations. I have more than 20,000 quotations from hundreds of books that I have read. So when I am asked what is my favorite quotation, I have never known what to say. All 20,000+ have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Holy Spirit, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, mysticism, Oh my God, organic church, Quotations, Quotes, religion, revelation, scholasticism, simple church, Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas | Tagged academic, All I have written, alone, analysis, and, approach to life, approaches, asked, best, books, brilliant, but my Father in Heaven, Christianity, church, collect, compared to what has been, composition, Dominican, end, endorsed, enjoy, enjoying, exited, experience, explain everything, explained, favorite quotation, First Century, flavor, flesh and blood, generation, genuine, goal, God, great minds, hasn;'t revealed this to you, hundreds, I will build my, ice cream, identified, in comparison, inconsequencial, intellectualism, intellecutal, Jesus Christ, life, lifetime, lingt, logically, love, main work, many volumes, mere, Messiah, millions poeple, mind, molecular, monk, need, never wrote again, non-biblical, Peter, power, powerful, pray, pursuit, quotations, quote, read, revealed, rock, rocks, room, said, savor, savored, scholasticism, seems so much like dung, statement, strongly influenced, sum, Summa Theologica, supernatural, surpassed, tasting, theological perspective, theology, think, Thirteenth Century, Thomaqs Aquinas, to me, to me, total, upon this rock, weeks, Western thought, world, writer, You are Peter | 1 Comment

Tag Archives: life

A Coach And A Critic

Playing The Keyboard In Your Mind

1-10 Spirituality Or Carnality Scale — Where Are You?

Is This Guy A Modern Day Prophet Or What?

Life Rocks When Religion Becomes Real (Or, Night At The Theological Museum)

The Best (Non-Biblical) Quotation In The World

These elephants want to inspire you! Search Amazon for: Elephants INspiring The Room.

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Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible

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