Tag Archives: Paul of Tarsus

Drenched With God / Soaked With HIs Presence

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Steve Simms

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you . . .” As I read those words yesterday morning, the picture of a man drenched with water popped into my mind. I’ve always thought about the Holy Spirit … Continue reading →

Posted in Acts, acts of God, Bible, Christian, Christian history, Christianity, church history, early church, evidence for God, General Linda Bond, gifts of the Spirit, glory, God, having a form of godliness, hearing God, hearing Jesus, history, Holy Spirit, kingdom of God, movement, mystery, mysticism, New Testament, normal Christianity, Oh my God, organic church, powerhouse, presence of Christ, presence of God, quench the Spirit, religion, revelation, sermons, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, supernatural, The Salvation Army, tradition, voice of God, What is church? | Tagged book of Acts, dangers of smoking, General Linda Bond, having a form of godliness, Holy Spirit, New Testament, Paul of Tarsus, The Salvation Army, Western Christianity | 17 Comments

The Joy Of Judgment

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Steve Simms

Judgment has gotten a such bad rap. It is almost universally portrayed as a bad thing. Even Jesus’ words; “Judge not, lest you be judged,” are falsely used in an attempt to silence all judgment and to say that every … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, books, boundaries, challenges, disciple making, fear, feelings, God, godly sorrow, guidance, guilt, harmful habit, hearing God, hearing Jesus, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John F. Kennedy, joy, juddgment, judgments, King David, life, lifestyles, morality, morals, Music City, Nashville, New Testament, organic church, Paul of Tarsus, peace, popular culture, prayer, Quotations, quote, Quotes, recovery, religion, right and wrong, right conduct, salvation, sobriety, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual warfare, thoughts, trust, Uncategorized, values, voice of God, wake-up call, words | Tagged godly sorrow, John F. Kennedy, joy of, judge not, judgment, Nashville, Olympics, Paul of Tarsus | 20 Comments

Incarnation Is Not A Flower (But God With Us)

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Steve Simms

Incarnation is not a flower, but like a flower it is beautiful and glorious — the life of God animating physical matter. Describing Jesus Christ, John the Beloved said: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christ, Christian history, Christianity, church, church structure, East Nashville, glory, God, guidance, Holy Spirit, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John the Beloved, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, mystery, mysticism, Nashville, non-material reality, organic church, Paul of Tarsus, religion, revelation, simple church, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, worship | Tagged 10:45, 225 Berry, 37207, about, about you, actually, allow, allowing Christ, and Him crucified, animating, beautiful, became a human, being, believers in Christ, Berry Street, best learned in, Christ in you, come, community, control, daily lives, demonstrate, describing, direct, don't resist, dwelt among us, eloquence, except, flower, follow, functions, gathering, give up, glorious, God's instructions, how do you, human wisdom, I came to you in weakness, I Corinthians 14:26, I was resloved, in my Name, in the midst of them, incarnation, incarnational, instructed, Jesus Christ, John the Beloved, listen, message, might not rest on, move, move beyond, Nashville, no matter what other peopole may think, not enough to talk, not with wise, obedience, obey, on God's power, Paul of Tarsus, perhaps it is time, persuasive words, physical matter, physiology, preaching, proclaimed, puppet, puppeteer, put it this way, Quench not the Spirit, send a messenger, so that your faith, Sunday mornings, supposed, surrender, talk, teaching, the hope of glory, the life of God, the living Christ, The Salvation Army, the Spirit's power, the testimony, the way, the Word became flesh, thembling, theology, there am I, thoughts and actions, TN, to know nothing, unconfortable, understnad, visit, walk, When I came to you, when two or more gather, with a demonstration, with great fear, word, Worship Center | 2 Comments

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

Modern Myth # 3 — Life Is All About Stuff

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Steve Simms

How much is stuff is enough? Our closets, basements, and garages are overflowing with stuff, but still we can’t get enough. So we call a charity to bring a truck and pick up our “old” stuff so that we will … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, American, boundaries, criticism, gods, life, lifestyles, materialism, meaning, modern myths, myths, peace, possessions, Quotations, Quotes, reading, recovery, stuff, Uncategorized | Tagged a wild goose chase, accumulation, achieved, achieving, acquiring, addiction, amazing, Americans, awash, basements, brand new, break, bulging, buy, can't get enough, charity, closets, collect, collects, consume, continue, creates, day, donations, emotional, emotionally, everyone, extremely, face to face, fed, feed on, focus, fulfilling life, fulfillment, garages, grasp for more, great, grows, happiest people, happy, has led you on, hasn't, having food and clothing, help others, helping other people, history, hope, house, how much, how to live, human desire, inner contentment, inner pain, inner victory, insecutities, instead, is enough, joy, landfills, latest fashion, lead, learning to control, let us be content, life, limit, long-term satisfaction, longing for stuff, material things, mental, mentally, more, never be satisfied, new, night, non-fiction books, not satisfied, not the answer, obsession, obvious, old, over-stuffed, overcome, overflowing, Paul of Tarsus, peace, personal, personally give, pick up, processes, quality, quantity, quotations, quote, read, really nice, rent, resources, rewarding life, room for more, satisfaction, should be, society, son't have room, spiritual, storage unit, stuff, the next new thing, them, tons, truck, trying to satisfy, uplifting, why not try, win, wisdom, working to change, writing checks | 2 Comments

Talk (or TV Commercials) About Pain Medication Won’t Ease Your Pain

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Steve Simms

There is so much talk about medication nowadays, especially in TV commercials. Paid actors and spokespersons boast of the results of the pill they’re promoting. (Then the voice over announcer quietly sneaks in the side-effects, but that’s another story.) However, … Continue reading →

Posted in drug commercials, drugs, God, Holy Spirit, house church, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, mysticism, new birth, Oh my God, organic church, peace, prayer, Quotations, reading, recovery, religion, revelation, salvation, self-help, What is church? | Tagged 24/7/365, actors, all you who are, another story, best pain reliever, boast, body, Come unto Me, deep down, ease your pain, hearing, heart, help, high on, hurting, I will give you rest, instead, J-E-S-U-S, Jesus, known to main, medication, merely, New Testament, no need, not on earthly, nowadays, obey, on things above, open up, paid, Paul of Tarsus, pill, pop, popping, promoting, puff, put it, quitely, reading, receive, results, sermons, Set your minds, shoot up, side-effects, singing, smoke, sneaks, snort, soul, spell relief, spokespersons, studying, surrender, take in, talk, through your whole system, to be effective, TV commericals, voice over announcer, weary and heavy laden | 4 Comments

Church — Lab or Lecture? Intellect or Votech? Academic or Epidemic?

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

Should church be academic or epidemic? Should it be based on the transfer of religious knowledge or on an ongoing contagion of spiritual life spreading like raging fire? Here is a quotation from Paul of Tarsus, the church planter who established … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, change, God, Holy Spirit, house church, lifestyles, mysticism, organic church, Quotations, Quotes, religion, simple church, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry St., 37207, academic, academic study, accepting, agreeing to, area, based on, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Biblical doctrines, book of Acts, called, Christian votech, Christians, church, church planter, contagion, contemporary church, creed, daily lives, Dear children, deed, demonstrative, disciples, disciplined, dry intelect, epidemic, established, experiential learning, first Christian churches, follow and obey, followers, formation within, gave, go and make disciples of all nations, godliness has value for all things, Great Commission, hands-on activity, hearts, holy, Holy Spirit, house church, ignored, inflaming, intellect, isn't it time, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John the Beloved, knowledge puffs up, lab, laid-back, lecture, lifestyle, like, listening, live, living love, love builds up, make this change, making disciples, mental adherents, merely, move beyond, Nashville, New Testament, not love with words, nowadays, ongoing, organic church, others, passion for God, passivity, Paul of Tarsus, Paul's words, physical training, practice, quotation, raging fire, read, religious, religious knowledge, reproduce, return, said, seeking, sermons, serve, simple church, some value, spiritual athletes, spiritual formation, spiritual life, spiritual lifestyle, spreading, Sundays, talk, Tennessee, the apostle, The Salvation Army, Thursdays, time of, tongue, train, train yourself to be godly, transfer of, transformation, turned, visit a church, votech, with actions and truth, wrote | 8 Comments

Didn’t You Know You’ve Got to Cry Sometime?

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Steve Simms

Diana Ross sings a song that asks this question: “Didn’t you know you have to cry sometime?” However, a popular myth in our day says: “Strong people don’t cry,” or “Real men don’t cry.” Why, then, do they have tear ducts? The … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, biography, books, crying, history, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, music, mysticism, Oh my God, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, religion, self-esteem, self-help, self-image, tears, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged . outlet, a sign, admission, analysis, ancient, anguish of heart, appearance, asks, Babylonian captivity, believed, broken heart, brokenness, By the rivers of Babylon, calamity, calm, caring, collected, comfort, communicate, compassion, concern, condition, cool, crying, day, deeply felt, Diana Ross, Didn't you know, discover, distress, disturbing, don't cry, dreadfully, dut ourselves, embarrassment, emotion, endure, enemmies, examples, exceptions, experience, far from, far more, fast, fellow, for instance, for the most part, freely, frequently, genuine, great, grief, groaning, guard, heard, heart-felt, Hebrews, hold back, human connections, human resources, human spirit, humans, humility, I eat ashes as my food, I flood my bed, ignored, image, indicative, inner reality, intellectual understanding, Jeremiah, Jerusalem, Jewish, Jews, King David, know how, let, life, man's man, mere, mingle my drink, more effectively, moved beyond, myth, Nehemiah, never stopped, New Testaments, next time, night, nowadays, off, old, our day, pain, passionate, Paul of Tarsus, people, perhaps, popular, popular song, profund, publicly, question, quotation, quoted, Real men don't cry, relief, remain, remember, reveal, said, say again, scorn, shed, sign of weakness, significant, sings, society, someone, song, strong, tear ducts, tears, the cross of Christ, the myth, the weeping prophet, touch, tough men, truth, warning, warrior, we could use some, we sat and wept when we remembered Zion, weep with those who weep, Why, without, words, worn out, you have to cry sometime | 1 Comment

Conversion/Salvation/Being Born Again Or Blind Belief?

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Steve Simms

In some Arab countries it is against the law for a person to convert to another religion than the religion of her/his birth and/or upbringing. However, having been raised in a particular religion is no indication of its truth or … Continue reading →

Posted in American Literature, Bible, biography, Creator, freedom, God, history, human rights, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, lifestyles, Oh my God, popular culture, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, religion, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 1700s, 18th Century, a direct, accepting without questioning, adhering, adopts, against the law, America, American, another religion, Arab countries, being, belief, believer, birth, blind belief, born again, called, change, childhood, Christ, Colonies, coming into, conversion, deceptions, deep work, defined, devoted, divine perfection, Dwight L. Moody, encountered, England, entire life, Examine yourself, experience, faith, frustrated, give up, goal, goes, Gordon D. Fee, heart work, Holy Spirit, home, human, I came to, I felt my heart strangly warmed, illumination of the soul, Indians, indication, infect, infection, introduced, invaded, Jesus Christ, John wesley, Joseph Alleine, lack of success, likeness, living, living God, man, members, mighty, mind, movement, multitudes, on fire, one of the greatest, otherwise, particular, passionate, Paul of Tarsus, person, personal relationship, personal transformation, personally convinced, preaching, quote, raised, realized, receive, returned, risk his life, rituals, rote, salvation, set in, some, spark, spiritual, spiritual awakening, suggestion, teachings, Theodore Ledyard Cuyler, think, thoughts, throughtout, to convert, truth, trying to convert others, upbringing, validity, ways, who will convert me?, will, wish, with God, witnessing | 1 Comment

Observations From Reading Quotation Books

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Steve Simms

“Most collectors collect tangibles. As a quotation collector, I collect wisdom, life, invisible beauty, souls alive in ink . . . I swim across a sea of quotes, splashing in the words and riding the waves of wisdom. ” ~Terri Guillemets … Continue reading →

Posted in American Literature, Bible, black history, English literature, history, lifestyles, popular culture, public speaking, Quotations, Quotes, religion, self-help, Shakespeare, speech making, Uncategorized | Tagged African Americans, Africans, alive in ink, Arabs, Asians, beauty, Bible, blank, books, children, collect, collected quotations, collectors, compensation, Daniel, David, dozens, drivel, English, Ester, foricbly, get to it, hand written, hardback, Hispanics, horribly wicked, Hosea, ignored, inspiration, invisible, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Beloved, language, learning how to read, life, life-long bondage, lot, Luke, made people work, majoirty, Matthew, men, mockery, Moses, Native Americans, neglected, nonsense, Obadiah, observed, original works, Paul of Tarsus, people groups, prevented people from marrying, professed, quotation, quote books, quotes, reading, Ruth, Rzekiel, sold people, Solomon, souls, South Americans, tangibles, Terri Guillemets, thousands, wade through, whipped on their bare back, white, wisdom, without any pay, women, world, world's, write, years | 3 Comments

Tag Archives: Paul of Tarsus

Drenched With God / Soaked With HIs Presence

The Joy Of Judgment

Incarnation Is Not A Flower (But God With Us)

Are Sermons Effective?

Modern Myth # 3 — Life Is All About Stuff

Talk (or TV Commercials) About Pain Medication Won’t Ease Your Pain

Church — Lab or Lecture? Intellect or Votech? Academic or Epidemic?

Didn’t You Know You’ve Got to Cry Sometime?

Conversion/Salvation/Being Born Again Or Blind Belief?

Observations From Reading Quotation Books

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

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