Tag Archives: churches

Top 10 Ways To Quench The Holy Spirit

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Steve Simms

“Quench not the Spirit” is one of the most disobeyed scriptures in the New Testament. So how do we quench the Spirit. Here are the Top Ten ways. 10) We teach people that God isn’t speaking to human beings nowadays. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, C.T. Studd, Christianity, conscience, grace, hearing God, hearing Jesus, Holy Spirit, kingdom of God, lifestyles, mystery, mysticism, Oh my God, organic church, quench the Spirit, Quotations, quote, Quotes, religion, simple church, sin, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, supernatural, tradition, Uncategorized | Tagged allowed to initiate, anything, because of grace it doesnt' matter, believe, believers, C.T. Studd, care more about what other people think about us, Christians, church, churches, doing anything that we consider, expected, force poeple to, freely, from, gives us, God isn't speaking, has so bound, Here's a, Holy Spirit, how do we, How little chance the, ignore the guidance, in red tape, in the meeting, in the New Testament, induldge our desires, intentionally disobey the direct commands of Scripture, later, missionary societies, no one but the preacher, nost disobeyed scriptures, nowadays, obey God or not, our conscience, our heart gets so hard, pretend that we are better Christians than we really are, pride, programming church meetings, Quench not the Spirit, quote, Scripture, someone on the program, teach people, the Top Ten ways, they practically ask, to be humbling, to human beings, to sit in a corner, to the point, Top 10, we let our pride, we no longer hear, we tell the HOly Spirit, we will do, what God is saying to us, what God thinks about us, when we are older, while they do the work themselves | 15 Comments

Which Church Organizational Structure Is From God?

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Steve Simms

As far as I know, all the thousands of denominations and independent churches around the world claim that their organizational structure is from God. (At least, I’ve never heard of a church saying: “Our church’s organizational chart is man-made.”) Here … Continue reading →

Posted in apostolic succession, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, CEO pastor, church, church structure, congregational, Nashville, organic church, Presbyterian, simple church, Tennessee, The Salvation Army, What is church? | Tagged 100, a part of the same, action The Salvation Army, actively working, amazed, animates, apostolic succession, around the world, as far as I know, authority, Berry Street, bishop, body, by nerves, by the laying on of hands, causes, centers, CEO, Christian, church saying, churches, claim, come, congregational, congregations, continuous line, corporation, decisions, denominations, directly connected, disciples, each other, ecclesia, elected representatives, exercise, flowing through, for example, free, from God, from person to person, function, function together, functioning, give up on the idea, glory of God, going back to the first apostles, group, head of the church, hierarchy, Holy Spirit, human body, human direction, human organization, ignore, in the hands, independent churches, Jesus, Jesus Christ, keeps us together, life of God, made by vote, major decisions, majority rule, man-made, meaning, meeting, members, Nashville, never heard of, New Testament, of the body, one, one man, ordained, organization, organizational, organizational chart, organizational structure, organizational structures, passed down, pastor, Person in authority, positional authority, positions, Presbyterian, presbyters, presbytery, present, programming, rarity, reading, scattered here and there, Scriptures, see, seeks, Spirit-led church, spiritual, spiritual authority, spiritual descendants, style of church, Sunday, support, system, Tennessee, the Apostles, the Biblical, the Gentles lord it over, thousands of denominations, titles, told His, various members, voice of, voting, Worship Center | 6 Comments

George Barna’s 9 Challenges For American Christians

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Steve Simms

George Barna, founder of the Barna Research Group, issued nine challenges for American Christianity in 2002. Here is a paraphrase of his nine challenges along with how a church in Nashville, Tennessee, The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center, is attempting … Continue reading →

Posted in Barna Research Group, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Bible, challenges, church, East Nashville, evangelicals, Gen Y, George Barna, Holy Spirit, house church, I Corinthians 14:26, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, race, racism, simple church, supernatural, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, worship | Tagged 37207, 50-50, allow peop;le to participate, amazing things, American, as led by the Spirit, asking God, attempting, attributed to, Barna Research Group, beliefs, believe, Berry St., Berry Street, Bible, bit, black and white, built-in cost, causes, challenges, changes, Christianity, Christians, church, churches, come, compete, cooperate with, cost, criticize, daily lives, different, do church, each week, eager to learn, encourage, encouraged, ethnic groups, evangelicals, exciting, expression, flow in the Spirit, follow, founder, fresh, Gen Y, George Barna, go, goal, good leaders, Gospel, I Corinthians 14:26, imput, issued, lack of, leadership, multi-racial, musical styles, Nashville, never know, nine, no matter what, non-traditional, not allowed, obey, one person, open, other, outstanding, paraphrase, power, prepared, produces, qualities, race, right in front of our eyes, sale old same old, seek, segregated, seriously, sermons, study, Sunday, Sunday mornings, supernatural, Tennessee, The Salvation Army, theological, to be involved, to meet, to share, to stand on God's word, toning down, uncomfortable, usually, visit, working of God, worship, Worship Center, worship leader, worship meeting, young adults | 1 Comment

Passion For The Christ — Spiritual Fire & Desire

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Steve Simms

Human history is sprinkled with lights — men, women, and children whose hearts were ablaze with passion for the Christ. Many are called “saints” and are remembered in our day. Untold millions of others, however, were unheralded in their day … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, books, Christianity, church, church history, East Nashville, house church, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus freaks, Nashville, National Football League, NFL, organic church, pentecostals, popular culture, Quakers, Quotations, Quotes, religion, saints, simple church, sports, Super Bowl, support group, The Salvation Army, TV ministers | Tagged 100, 10:45, 225 Berry St., 37207, ablaze, all over the world, Anabaptists, as fast as they can, banging their chest together, Baptist, based, being done, Berry Street Worship Center, best friends, best selling books, books, burning desire, Catholic, challenge, children, Christ, Christians, church, churches, come, concerts, conference, conferences, consistent, contain, dance, dart out of the door, determined not to show, doctrines, East Nashville, emotionless people, event, every Sunday morning, excitable churches, excitable. dutifully attend, excitedly, experience, expression, extremely bored, faces, filled, flaming, follow, forgotten by history, freaks, freeflowing, frozen in church, good ole American, grown men, had in common, heart-felt, hearts, heretics, high-fives, history, human, I Corinthians 14:26, in our day, in our heart, inspire, interest, Jesus, Jesus Christ, know, leave, lecture about God, light shines brightly, lights, line, listen to, living rooms, meeting, men, Methodist, millions, move, names, Nashville, nod off, obey, on and on, one thing, one way, Orthodox, our day, passion, passionate, passionless, passively, pastors, Pentecostal, people, playing a boys' game, prosperity, pumps them up, Quaker, quench the Spirit, quotation, quotations, regularly, religious fads, religious trinkets, remembered, right-wing politics, rush away, saints, see, seek out, shelves, singers, sitting like a statue, soulds like, spiritual, sprinkled, stadium, stir up the gift, stoic, Sunday morning, Super Bowl.every year, support group, T-shirts, talk to me, Tennessee, the Christ, The Quotable Saints, The Salvation Army, the thing, The Voice of the Saints, through, TN, TV ministers, type, unheralded, very hard to find, watch a ball game, watching, were, what about, when it comes to, women, words, writings, written word, yawn | 7 Comments

A Forgotten American Folk Song’s Powerful Message

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Steve Simms

I live in Nashville, Music City; however, we don’t hear songs like this old American folk song in Nashville or on MTV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtlxoRAAHVU Our culture has changed and the message of this song is no longer heard (or even tolerated). … Continue reading →

Posted in addiction, boundaries, change, Christianity, criticism, discipling, drugs, education, forgiveness, freedom, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, mind, morality, morals, MTV, music, Music City, mysticism, Nashville, negro spirituals, Oh Sinner Man, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, recovery, self-image, sin, soul, spiritual, thinking, thoughts, Uncategorized | Tagged 90%, a wretch like me, alcohol, America, American folk song, ancient, answer, aware, awareness, begins to see, believes, bit, brightness, C.S. Lewis, center, changed, chaplain, Christian, churches, clean, clotes, counselor, create, crime, culture, darkest night of the year, depravity, dirt, dirty, don't hear, drug, early days, fact, falsely, filthy, finally, first rays of light, God, God's glory, God's light, good people, good person, grow, hands, have mercy on me, hearts, hint, holier, holy, hymn, I am, I am a sinner, I'm a, increasing, interview, interviewed, Jesus Christ, Jesus prayer, John Newton, know, life, link, listening, live, living, looks, Lord, lost, managed, men, Michael McKinley, misery, monkx, more, more sensitive, nearer, new, noonday sun, notices, O, of the, Oh Sinner Man, old, Orthodox, over the horizon, perhaps, person, Peter K. Nelson, practice, presence, program, quite, rehab, rright, see ourselves, sees, self-destruction, self-judgment, simple question, sinfulness, sinner, son, spiritual darkness, story, sun comes up, surprises, tale, tell, think, Tim Chester, told, toward, ultra-conservative, used by, very far from God, watch, wee bit, what kind, Why, women, woods, word, work, wretched, writer, you, Youtube | 5 Comments

What The Church Can Learn From The NFL

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Steve Simms

The NFL generates tremendous excitement and enthusiasm in America, while the church is mostly ignored. The NFL fills stadiums, while a great many churches have almost empty buildings. The NFL even gets people excited about their draft when they pick … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, house church, kingdom of God, life, Nashville, National Football League, NFL, NFL Draft, Oh my God, organic church, popular culture, religion, simple church, sports, Super Bowl, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged a song, allow, America, Americans, apathetic, Are you read for some, asking, aspect, attend, attention, back, begin with, boldly, buildings, care, causes, center, centered, cheer, cheeseheads, church ignored, church services, churches, clam up, coaches, commitment, deeply, denying the power thereof, desperately, disrupt, emotional, empty, enthusiasm, essentially, excitement, express, expressed, expressive, fills, final, flameheads, from such turn away, fumble, games, generates, God, grown men, Hail Mary pass, having a form of godliness, inspire, kickoff, learn, life's, liked, loud, love, meaningful, meaningless, men, minister, most, National Football League, needs, NFL, NFL teams, no idea, of Tarsus, on the field, one another, outcome, passionately, passive, pastors, Paul, pews, physical competitions, players, predictable, presenting, program, protocol, quietly, recovery, relationship, repels, returned for a, safety, same, slouch, stadiums, Sundays, talk, terrible towel, touchdown, train, tremendous, unusual, wavers, week, what is going to happen, win games, worked up, yell | 10 Comments

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 | 13 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 | 10 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 lifestyles, religion, organic church, Jesus Christ, popular culture, Quotations, Quotes, resurrection, The Salvation Army, Oh my God, What is church?, prayer, mysticism, kingdom of God, new birth, life, church history, Holy Spirit, simple church, meaning, William Booth, Christianity, Christian history, revelation, Night at the Museum | Tagged life, church, living, Holy Spirit, mind, America's, New Testament, Lord, churches, power, ritual, real, Bible, experience, authority, people, man, presence, Jesus Christ, religion, trembling, Letters, work, taught, The Salvation Army, brothers, set free, night, miracles, believe, resurrection, exciting, knowledge, hope, amazing, God's, cravings, theology, said, awe, adherents, His, quotation, relationships, true, demonstrated, Sunday school, spiritual, information, feel, see, makes, spontaneous, salvation, head, don't rock the boat, passionately, connects, theological, addictions, accepting, proven, William Booth, arguments, 2006 movie, Night at the Museum, night watchman, New York City's, American Museum of Natural History, shocked, exhibits, museum, come to life, boring job, challenging, the difference, data, lifeless formes, tired, ignores the heart, accumulation, having strouble, staying awake, in my seat, crucifixion, incarnation, physical healing, most of all, yawn, flamed, jumped off the pages, the Apostles, announced, the Good News, written to, love letters, from God, crazy, teeming, with life, vividly, writers, blind faith, blandly, know so, cofounder of, alive, persuade, need no, proof, rational, reassure, rationalized, argued, bursts forth, driven, losing, by droves, sexy, sensational, seduction, secular society, joyous, celebration, majestic, spplendor, mastered, pulsating, shaking, foundations, demonstrating, bright and morning star, glory of the LORD, fill the earth, as the waters cover the sea, oh, send, surging | 3 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

Tag Archives: churches

Top 10 Ways To Quench The Holy Spirit

Passion For The Christ — Spiritual Fire & Desire

A Forgotten American Folk Song’s Powerful Message

What The Church Can Learn From The NFL

Is This Guy A Modern Day Prophet Or What?

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

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