Tag Archives: family

You Can’t Buy Christmas

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Steve Simms

So many people are motivated by a myth — trying desperately to purchase a Merry Christmas. Unfortunately, this is a major misconception that we are taught by our popular culture. Truth is — you can’t buy Christmas. You can buy … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Christmas, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve, Cyber Monday, greed, joy, lies, life, materialism, meaning, motivation, myths, popular culture, repent, sales, selling, shopping, Small Business Saturday, stuff, thoughts, tradition, Uncategorized, words | Tagged 'em, a major lie, beyond, buy, car, cash or credit, Christmas decorations, Christmas ffeast, clients, decorate, dollars, ebay, every, exciting, expensive gifts, family, find the most, for all to see, Friends, Give, go on, joy, lod, lots of, loved one, many people, members, Merry Christmas, mighty special, misconception, motivated, myth, order, parth, plastic cards, plastic trees, popular culture, pretty packages, purchase piles, spend, still, strings of lights, take, taught, tens of thousands, the best, throw, tidings of great joy, to purchase, to the limit, truth is, trying desperately, unfortunately, unusual, you can't buy Christmas | 2 Comments

How To Shop For Christ*mas

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Steve Simms

From Black Friday through Christmas Eve, people will be shopping for material things to give to family, friends, and clients on Christmas Day. They will be searching and sorting through stuff, seeking to find just the right gifts. But perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, American, Americans, Black Friday, books, Christmas, Christmas Eve, church, guidance, Henry Poole Was Here, Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, lifestyles, materialism, organic church, Red Kettles, religion, self-help, shopping, simple church, spiritual, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual skills, spiritual warfare, stuff, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values | Tagged age, available, be kind, become a super shopper, being transformed, Black Friday, car, carry someone's bags, Christ-filled Christmas, Christ-focused friends, Christmas, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, clients, comformed to this, creating, crowds, detachment, devotional Bible reading, encouraging words, examples, extremely difficult, family, fasting, find and use, find firends, follow, followers of Christ, Friends, Give, give to, Google, hang out, help, help a neighbor, hold doors open, humility, hunt down, inspirational movie, it takes, Jesus, jewel, just the right gifts, let others through, like Jesus, live, living like Jesus, love, make friends, make your shopping, material things, meditation, more like Christ, most Americans, multitudes, obey, organic church, passionate, people, people we spend time with, people who live ajnd love, perhaps, politely move aside, provide transportation, REd Kettles, same effort, searching, seek, seeking, self-denial, serve others, shop, shop for Christmas, shop for ways, shopping, shopping season, shopping skills, sold on, solitude, some steps to shop, sort, sort through your friends, sorting through stuff, spiritual disciplines, spiritual formation, spiritual growth, spiritual listening, spiritual reading, spiritual shopping, spiritual warfare, still-born spiritually, superb, The Salvation Army, this year, tools for spiritual growth, various types of prayer, volunteer with a nonprofit, ways to grow spiritually, world, world's standards, you will be amazed, your life will be transformed | 5 Comments

What Would Your Life Be Like If . . .

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

How would you be today if you had been born to a mother in poverty with several children by different men? What if you had been surrounded by depression, anger, fear, hopelessness, and despair? How would you be if you … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, disciple making, discipling, drugs, drunk, East Nashville, freedom, house church, human rights, Jesus, Jesus Christ, jobs, life, lifestyles, meaning, multi-racial, Nashville, organic church, popular culture, prejudice, race, recovery, rehab, religion, self-esteem, self-image, simple church, social justice, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, values, What is church?, words | Tagged 10:45 am, 225 Berry St., 37207, a place, according to, advantages, America, Americans, anger, ask, befriends, Berry Street, better off, better quality of life, born, builds, built, buy, caring relationship, cheat, childhood, children by different men, church, close personal friends, college, community, cross, culture, cuss, demonstrating, depression, despair, desperately need, different, disciplined, doesn't, drugs, economics, encouraging, enviornment, environment, family, fear, few, financially, friend, get drunk, godly man, great advantages, groups of men, growing up, had never known, hand, handed, help, helped, helped along, helping, hopelessness, How would you, however, in the middle of, Jesus Christ, job, kept away, lie, lines, lived n their shoes, living, look down on others, looking for, loved, loving, make a difference, man, mean to others, mentor, millions, money, mother, Nashville, negative, neighbor, not so fortunate, opportunity, paid, parented, people's lives, personal, pobverty, positive example, powerful programming, practical help, profanity, question, raise, redirect their lives, rehab, relationship, relationships, sexual, sin, social status, socially, socio-economic, spearate, steal, struggling financially, stuck, Sundays, surrounded, the love of, The Salvation Army, TN, today, true, use drugs, violence, visit, vital, vulgarity, way to live, woman, Worship Center | 1 Comment

When Somebody’s Done You Wrong — 3 Responses

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Steve Simms

Have you ever found yourself singing “A Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”? If so, you have three options: 1. You can choose to get her/him back and even the score — retaliate! The problem with that choice is, like Gandhi … Continue reading →

Posted in alternative lifestyle, anti-war, forgiveness, freedom, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kingdom of God, life, lifestyles, meaning, morality, music, nonviolence, prayer, recovery, religion, resentment, revelation, self-help, spiritual, thinking, What is church? | Tagged ago, Amen, An eye for an eye, ask, back, bad feelings, batch, before, begin, bitterness, bless, bruning down, choice, choose, concept, cycle, dear, did you wrong, effective, even the score, experiment, family, feel like, feels, few, financial needs, forgive, forgotten, found yourself, freed, Gandhi, get, get rid, go ahead, God, good health, good things, gt him back, hate, hatred, heart, hold on, house, individual prayer of blessing, Jesus, just do it. say, merry way, method, misery, name, need, obey, options, person, Pray for those, prayed, putting yourself, rat, really works, religious, resent, resentment, retaliate, revenge, say, see what happens, singing, Somebody Done Somebody Wrong, something, song, taught, the whole world, three, try, try it, unaware, unforgiveness, very, want, what do you have to lose? move on, who persecute you, will be blind, wonderful, wonders, works, years | 6 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

Can A Sunday Church Meeting Be Like A Family Gathering? It’s Happening In Nashville!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Steve Simms

Church is family, brothers and sisters in Christ sharing a kinship of the heart. Nobody ever asks the question: “Where do you go to family?” Family is not a place; it is relationships. So with church. Who are you joined … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street Worship Center, Christianity, church history, God, Holy Spirit, house church, kingdom of God, lifestyles, Nashville, organic church, religion, simple church, spiritual, The Salvation Army, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged 225 Berry Street, 37207, action, amazing, Berry Street, brothers, building, called out ones, church, colored, congratulated, cross, denomination, ekklesia, English, everybody, experience, family, family of God, free, function, gathering, glass, God, Gree, group, heart, heart-to-heart, I Corinthians 14:26, imagine, in Christ, insights, institution, interact, joined, kinship, listened, living, matriarch, meeting, members, Nashville, new, New Testament, of course, organization, other than, patriarch, people old ways, pews, place, powerfully, praise, prayer, pulpit, question, rare, relationships, relationships lifestyle, religious, reports, requests, rows, sanctuary, Scriptures, sharing, silently, sisters, society, speak, spiritually, steeple, strong, Sunday mornings, talk, tend, Tennessee, testifying, testimonies, The Salvation Army, Thursdays, top, translated, we've always done it that way, weekly, where do you go, Why, windows, word, Worship Center | 5 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 | 2 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 | 2 Comments

Are You An Emulator Or An Impactor?

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Steve Simms

An emulator conforms to the thoughts ideas and opinions around him. He tries to blend in with his environment (often subconsciously rather than intentionally). It is easy to be an emulator, just go with the flow. Don’t rock the boat. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, history, lifestyles, religion, self-help, popular culture, ancient history, freedom, criticism, self-esteem, self-image, change, thoughts, thinking | Tagged modern, morality, society, family, thoughts, television, others, history, equal, people, righteousness, religion, principles, behaviors, accepted, ideas, gleefully, Friends, neighbors, environment, influences, nowadays, passive, vulgar, speaks, desire, sex, position, belief system, lie, popular, intentionally, disagree, criticism, reject, vast, majority, easy, follow, constantly, boldly, few, avoid, being, influenced, head, movies, challenges, around, brainwashed, emulator, conforms, opinions, blend, subconsciously, go with the flow, don't rock the boat, chill out, don't ask questions, driven by, to be accepted, approved, applauded, fears, rejection, being left out, being called, judgmental, her, the truth in love, stating, attempting, to convince, point of view, solid, on a mission, to convey, insights, no matter what, social cost, missionary, fnfluencing, not a, mission field, bombarded with, newspapers, billboards, radio, junk mail, blogs, spam, email, coworkers, embrace, self-destrucdtive, trends, lovingly, persuasively, pursue, purity, holiness, cheat, lust, abort, babies, greedy, get high, engage, cheapo, applaud, sinful, gamble, compromise, ollk, pornography, insult, cuss, on and on, criticized, concept of, not judging, in no way, implies, pretend, faultless, Society's never lets up, pushy, cultur, neutral, pulled, parade, perversion, world's cultures, different direction, marching, mass media, messages, emulators, abound, impactors, you, & | 3 Comments

I Was Misled by Sunday School

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Steve Simms

When I was a child my family seldom went to church. Once, however, when I was in the third or fourth grade, we visited a Presbyterian church a few times. One Sunday, when I was attending Sunday school there, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, biography, Creator, God, history, Jesus Christ, lifestyles, religion, resurrection, self-esteem, Sunday school, Uncategorized, What is church? | Tagged acknowledged, actigve, answer, apathetic, began attending, Bible, blackboards, book, boring, challenged, challenges, child, Christ, Christianity, class, classrooms, college, cool, daily lives, deceiving, Dr., dull, encountered, encounters, enthusiastically, erased, experienced, false, family, freshman, G. Scott Sparrow, Geroge Washington Abraham Lincoln, getting grunk, grade, high school, historical figure, history, I am with you always, implication, in love, in the present, Jesus Christ, Jesus is alive, kids, know, late, less, manner, meet, message, misleading, night, parents, partying, person, person from history, politely, Presbyterian, present, psychotherapists. testimonies, read, regularly, relevance, religious, responses, sad, shattered, solicit, spiritual, statement, stories, Sunday school, supported, talk, talked, teacher, true, two thousand years ago, uninterested, walked, walked the earty, went to church, Western world | 1 Comment

Tag Archives: family

You Can’t Buy Christmas

How To Shop For Christ*mas

When Somebody’s Done You Wrong — 3 Responses

Celebrating Real Freedom On The 4th Of July

I Was Misled by Sunday School

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