Tag Archives: reality

Myth Lab — Modern Myth #5 — Race

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Steve Simms

The concept of race was developed in the Western world during the 17th Century as an attempt to justify the terrible crimes that were being committed against Africans. The nominally Christian West needed a way to ease their conscience for … Continue reading →

Posted in black history, feelings, history, human rights, lifestyles, mind, morality, myths, popular culture, prejudice, race, racism, self-esteem, self-image, social justice, Uncategorized | Tagged . ease, 17th Century, Africa, Africans, all bleed red, allows, approach, asked, Atlantic, attempty, blue, brown, c rimes, category, characteristics, Christian, committed, concept, conscience, continue, convenience store, dark complexion, descendents, developed, different, East Asians, embracce, erase, Europeans, eye color, eye slant, eyed, fill out a form, folks, forced-labor, forcibly, holding, however, human, human cpatives, human race, I'm not like them, in our time, inferior, Jesus, kinky hair, l define, last night, life-long bondage, look down on, marginalize, Middle Passage, news reporters, nominally, other, parable, peopl, personally, Pharisee, race, reality, refer, say, shade, shared humanity, skin color, skin tone, slanted, society, spearate, terrible, Thank God, think, through, to justify, torturous, truth, West, Western world, writing down | 2 Comments

If God Died Would It Make Any Difference In Your Church Service Next Sunday?

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Steve Simms

I once heard someone ask: “If God died would it make any difference in your church service next Sunday morning?” That’s a good question. I had to answer “no.” The church I attended would have carried on as usual whether God … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged about, Acts, actual, amazing, analogy, any difference, as usual, ask, attended, Biblical, Body of Christ, book of Acts, carried on, church-service, conducted, control, courage, dependent on, direct, events, fall apart, fine, function, gather, gathering, Give, God died, God is alive, good question, group of people, head, human, I will build My church, implemented, in His name, institution, Jesus, let God, living, living Christ, members, moves, New Testament, organism, organization, pastor, pictures, planned, practical, programmed, ran, read, reality, said, self-sufficient, set up, show up, speaks, structure, structured, Sunday morning, theology, theory, wait, ways, whatever, worship | 2 Comments

What’s Wrong With Believing These Things?

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

What is wrong with believing that the Universe has a Creator–an intelligent designer–that it didn’t just happen as a result of time, chance, and “natural processes”? Why is the idea of a personal Creator considered “unscientific,” “religious,” “out dated,” or … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-war, creation, Creator, evolution, God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mind, morality, morals, multi-racial, nonviolence, Oh my God, peace, popular culture, prejudice, race, racism, religion, self-image, spiritual, theory of evolution, thinking, thoughts, war | Tagged absolutes, across, act, action, adolescent, ambition, Americans, animal, beliefs, believing, better, birth, blob of tissue, bond, boys, cabin, captialism, chance, chaos, character, color, commitment, compassion, consumption, Creator, crude, cruelty, crumble, damnation, debris, degrees, designer, destructive, difference, direct, disrespect, earth, egg, emancipation, emotions, eternal torment, Europeans, exclusively, exclusivity, experiences, exploring, eye, faithfulness, feces, forest, friendship, Gandhi, generation, glorious design, God, Great Smokey Mountains, grown up, hand, hand-out, happen, heart-felt, history, holy, human, idea, ignorant, immature, instint, intelligent, intimacy, invention, Jesus, Jr., just, killing, language, left-overs, life, limited, love, man, marriage, Mars, Martin Luther King, mean-spirited, method, millions, misery, moral, morality, National Park, natural processes, negative, neighbor, non-violent, offensive, olf-fashioned, out dated, outdated, painful, personal, planet, potential, profanity, prudish, public, reality, references, religious, remains, resources, rich, right, sacrificial, sanctity, self-destruction, selfish, sex, sexual intercourse, skin, slavery, societies, solcial justice, sperm, sprinkled, throw out, time, union, universe, unscientific, urination, violence, war, What is wrong, wilderness, woman, wondering, wrong, years | 3 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

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 Beyond Stuff (Rocks, Trees, TVs, & Living Bodies) — Another Dimension

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Steve Simms

It’s easy to get stuffy in a world where everything (including us) is made of stuff. Our bodies are made of cells that are made of molecules that are made of atoms that are made of sub-atomic particles. It’s all stuff … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheists, consciousness, creation, Creator, DNA, God, kingdom of God, life, meaning, mind, mysticism, Oh my God, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, recovery, religion, revelation, salvation, self-image, The Brain That Changes Itself, thinking, Uncategorized | Tagged accessible, another, as it is in heaven, at the strangest, atoms, attempt, away, back to dust, beyond, bodies, book, by surprise, called, calling, cells, choose, comes, communication, conveyed, conviction, deep cries, deeply, demonstrations, described, destiny, die, dimension, disciples, distractions, disturb, DNA, drawing, drink, drown out, encoded, encompassed, everrything, explain, feel, first, full of, guide, heart, humans, identified, ignore, immaterial, impacts, inhabits, intelligence, intelligent, it is up to, It's easy to, Jesus, kingdom come, kingdom of God, life after death, living creatures, made of, makes up, matter, matters, message, molecules, moves, non-life, non-material, now, observation, on earth, page, part, particles, physical, pleading, pray, printed, produced, purpose, quite, quote, reality, realm, resist, rule, seek, sense, speaks, spirit, stay, stuck, stuff, stuffy, sub-atomic, taught, times, ultimate, universe, unto deep, uses, will be don, within you, world | 2 Comments

A Computer Is More Like A Potato Sorter Than A Human Mind

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Steve Simms

Many people believe that a computer is like a human mind. However, in reality it is much more like a potato sorter than a mind. A popular world view is that material reality is all that exists. If something cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, big bang, brain chemistry, brain research, consciousness, creation, evolution, life, meaning, mind, Oh my God, popular culture, thinking, thoughts | Tagged act, appears, assignment of meaning, brain, chance, claim, command, comprehends, computer, conscious thinking, difference, distinguish, electronically, encounter, evolution, examine, exchange, exists, flow, flow of electrons, function, God, human data processing, human mind, installed, intelligent, intelligent being, know, knowledge, Letters, many people believe, material reality, meaning, meaningful, meaningless, mechanically, mere, molecules, non-material, patterns, person, physical world, physiological process, popular, potato sorter, programmed, proven, randomly, read, realities, reality, receives, receiving a flow, receiving meaning, recording, set up, significant, source, stores patterns, symbolize, the very idea, time, turn the handle, water, water faucet, working, world view, written symbols, You are a winner | 1 Comment

Things That Stir My Soul

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Steve Simms

Here are some things that stir my soul to sense the spiritual reality that surrounds us — that create a sense of awe in my heart. These things motivate me, inspire me, and help me be aware of the reality … Continue reading →

Posted in apologists, Bible, biography, books, Civil Rights, Creator, God, history, life, lifestyles, music, mysticism, organic church, prayer, Quotations, Quotes, self-help, social justice, Uncategorized | Tagged Amazing Grace, aware, awe, beauty, Bible, biographies, books, breakthroughs, Brother Sun, children, Christian, classics, collecting, common, concerns, conserns, create, creativity, etc., experience, expressing, favorite, flowers, focusing on, Gandhi, getting, God, growth, heart, help, helping somebody, hills, His, his/her, history, holding a baby, Holy Spirit, in my heart, inspirational, inspire, interacting, It's A Wonderful Life, Jr., Les Miserables, lives, manifest, Martin Luther King, meeting, message, mind, motivate, move, movies, music, nature, needs, observing, ocean, of others, openly, partcipating, passionately, people, personal, Philokalia, presence, publicly, quotations, quotes, rainbow, reading, reality, revivals, sense, share, Shenandoah, Sister Moon, small, social justice, songs, speeches, spiritual, spirituality, squirrels, stary sky, stir my soul, stories, story, sunset, surrounded by, surrounds us, take over, the, The Arthur Blessett Story, The Cross, things, To Dream The Impossible Cream, uplifting, watching, What God is doing, William Wilberforce, within me, woods, worship, writing | 2 Comments

Ask Not How A Preacher Can Minister To You; Ask . . .

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

Ask not how a preacher can minister to you; ask how you can minister to others. Then you will begin to experience the “one anothers” of the New Testament and God’s love will no longer be a theory, but will … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, freedom, God, house church, lifestyles, mysticism, Nashville, Oh my God, organic church, prayer, religion, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 10:45am, 225 Berry Street, 27107, act, action, admonish, ask, ask not, attend, become, begin, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, Biblically, brothers, built up, burdens, carry each other's, Christians, church, commands, deeply, each, encourage, everything, experience, gathering, given the opportunity, God's love, God's way, has, hymns, I Cornithians 14:26, ignore, in your midst, intended, interpretation, isn't in the, life, like, longer, love, meet, meeting, minister, more than, Nashville, New Testament, nowadays, obey, one another, one anothers, one to another, ordained, organic church, others, out loud, passively, Paul, perhaps, person, personally, place, power, pray, preach, preacher, professional, psalms, rare, reality, receivers, revelation, same, shall we say, share, sisters, sit back, something, speak to, spiritual songs, submit, suggestion, Sundays, teach, testimony, The Salvation Army, theory, tongue, trained, verse, week after week, What then, When you come together, word of instruction | 2 Comments

A More Evolved American Declaration Of Idependence

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Steve Simms

The American Declaration Of Independence presents some noble sounding ideas: self-evident truths; “all men are created equal;” we have a Creator; rights are an inalienable, non-material reality. However, if people who were further along in the evolutionary process had written it, American history might be different. The … Continue reading →

Posted in abolitionists, American Literature, apologists, black history, Creator, evolution, freedom, God, history, human rights, lifestyles, Quotations, Quotes, self-help, social justice, The Declaration of Independence, Uncategorized | Tagged alienation, all men are created equal, American, American history, chance, Creator, decare, Declaration of Independence, different, endowed, energy, evolution, evolutionary process, evolved, existence, further along, high sounding, how, however, humans, ideas, inalienable, intelect, liberty, life, like, material, materlistic, matter, meaningless, mechanisms, mental concepts, movements, mythology, myths, naturally selected, noble, non-material, nothing, our fortunes, our lives, people, protection, random, random processes, read, reality, relative, resulted, rights, scientific, self-deceptive, self-evident, sounding, sufficient, the human species, the pursuit of happiness, theory, this, time, to preserve, truths, uncertainty, understand, unequally, We hold these, we mutually pledge to each other, with a strong reliance on, written | Leave a comment

Tag Archives: reality

What’s Wrong With Believing These Things?

Is This Guy A Modern Day Prophet Or What?

Life Beyond Stuff (Rocks, Trees, TVs, & Living Bodies) — Another Dimension

A Computer Is More Like A Potato Sorter Than A Human Mind

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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