Steve Simms's Blog, page 171

The myth that modern society “follows the science”

We can’t “follow the science” and follow our feelings, desires, and opinions at the same time. When we, humans don’t like something, we tend to default to our opinions about it instead of pursuing the truth about it. Since our feelings, desires, and opinions are sometimes wrong, neglecting to fact check them, frequently leads us into denying the science.

Redefining words to make them fit our feelings, desires, and opinions isn’t “following the science.” Here’s an odd use of words that seems to ignore science. Stopping reproduction by taking a prenatal life is called “reproductive health.” In a society that denies basic biology, the phrase “follow the science” is meaningless.

When we learn from our mistakes, we get closer to scientific truth. When we deny them we drift into darkness. If we followed the science, we wouldn’t be trashing our planet. If we followed reason, logic, and science, we’d be nicer to each other.

Ask, "What's going on in me?"And look within, rationally.Objective, detached observationOf your inner self(Not driven by yourDesires, feelings, and opinions)Can help set you freeFrom inner tyranny.

You consist of both physical body parts and immaterial consciousness, ideas, emotions, and rationality. Everything in your house that looks like it was designed, probably was; the same for things in nature.

Subatomic physics has shown that there are particles that don’t obey natural laws. Doesn’t that make them supernatural?

You can hide your guilt from other people, but that is denial, not science. Guilt can’t be explained away. Denying it won’t make it disappear. Only asking for and receiving forgiveness can dispense with it.

If you ask the unknown Designer to speak to you and then begin to listen, you’ll notice healing thoughts that don’t come from you. Examine those thoughts to see if they match reality.

You can’t save up time for the future, but you can spend it wisely today. Thank you for taking the time to consider these ideas.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28716" />Photo by Chokniti Khongchum on Pexels.com

Optimize what beautifies your life

Negative emotions are optional. You have the opportunity to opt out of them by optimizing your optimism. A profound purpose produces passion and persistence. Do you have a compelling reason to live joyfully?

Think of something positive and helpful that you rarely do. Then do it consistently for a week and notice how it improves your life.

The more I pursue kindness, the more happiness happens in my life. People almost always respond positively to heart-felt kindness. Try it and see.

Take the time and make the effort to install helpful habits into your life. Uninstall negative and/or harmful habits.

To optimize your optimism, get your hopes up. Train yourself to expect good things in your life. The fear of disappointment and/or failure causes many people to minimize their hope and surrender to negativity without a fight.

If you want a better life, always strive to express the best of yourself and to overcome the worst. Repeat thoughts and behaviors that make your life better. Resist the ones that make your life worse.

Put your mind on thoughts that optimize your attitude. Target your thinking. Discover and continually spotlight thoughts that produce peace and joy.

Be a hope connoisseur. Consume positive, uplifting media, not negative, degrading media. An undefended mind is continually victimized by marauder thoughts that sneak in by stealth to torment and pillage it.

Without self-mastery, you’ll frequently feel like a jigsaw puzzle poured out of the box, completely unassembled. Courage is the willingness to take positive action when you feel afraid.

Keep your eyes on what beautifies. When we count our blessings, we always make the list too short. The kind of person that you become in life is more important than the money and things that you’re able to accumulate.

The myth that nothing produced everything makes life meaningless. To be pure, Christianity shouldn’t be mixed with anything that distracts people from the living Jesus. God’s plan for me is better than mine. Having people sit thru sermons isn’t the optimal way to help them optimize a Spirit-led lifestyle. See. Romans 8:14.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28701" />Photo by Peace Alberto Iteriteka on Pexels.com

Bible “overseers” are supposed to be like officials in football

I believe the Bible shows that Christian leaders should monitor and give humble oversight to worship gatherings, not dominate or control them. When Christians meet without the freedom to say and/or do what Jesus tells the to, the Spirit will be quenched.

I love it when Christ-followers gather and wait for Jesus to speak to people and prompt them to say and/or do what He says. To say that a Christian gathering can’t be led by the living Jesus (without human control) is to express doubt in His resurrection.

When Christians meet, they should be free to hear and obey the living Jesus. Any elders (mature Christians) present should observe the meeting, overseeing it and offering humble, loving correction if anything is said or done that disrupts the Holy Spirit’s leadership.

The Bible sees Christian leaders as plural, working as equals in a Spirit-led team, not as individuals. It calls them “episkopos” (overseers), meaning “those who look intently.” Their job is not to control a Christian gathering with human authority, but to observe and monitor it, (like officials in football observe and monitor a game). In a worship gathering, the goal of Christian overseers is to focus people’s attention on the living Jesus, not on themselves, as they closely watch in case they need to humbly correct anything that begins to shut down the Holy Spirit’s control of the meeting.

Powerless forms of godliness are lullabies that continually lull Christians into spiritual sleep. Christ in you is the present day “hope of glory,” not a done deal to be kept tucked away in the back of your heart until you die. If you believe you’ve maxed out your relationship with God, you won’t grow any closer to Him.

Christianity, without ongoing awareness of the presence of the living Jesus, is incomplete. An incomplete view of Christianity causes us to settle for less than God has for us. There’s much more than we perceive. God’s grace is complete, but my humility has plenty of room to grow. See: James 4:6.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28691" />Photo by David Morris on Pexels.com

It’s time to move beyond skin color to joyful heart connection!

No matter the colorOf the chinI love to see kind facesRadiating love from within!History's big color-lieThat's far too slow to dieSays, "The darker the skin, The less valuable Is the person within." It's time we fully realizeThat what matters liesUnder the skinAnd in the heart!Seeing color of skinIsn't a sin,But evaluating peopleBy their skinIs. If history's tax on tea
And today's mask on me
Are called tyranny,
What about slavery?

A particular skin color doesn’t define beauty or character and the ability to speak English doesn’t define intelligence. Skin color is a superficial difference that history cruelly and falsely declared to be super important.

The ridiculous idea, that the color of the skin can somehow make a person less than fully human, has produced massive pain and injustice. The color-based victims of slavery and Jim Crow, for the most part, have been kept out of history. We know almost nothing about their lives.

It’s time to move beyond skin color to joyful heart connection! Search for: Off the RACE Track book.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28675" />Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Experiencing God’s circuitry (wired for glory)

When “Christ in you”
Connects with
Christ in me,
We experience
God’s circuitry.

An incomplete inner connection
Between you and God
Produces a short-circuited life.

No matter how long you preach to loose lightbulbs, without a live connection they’ll stay dark. The body of Christ begins to flow together when Christians allow Jesus to assemble His circuitry and connect them heart to heart. When there’s no radiance of Jesus’ light in our hearts, Christians assemble to sit in the darkness.

Our human, internal circuitry is wired to connect heart to heart with God and with people. Otherwise, we’ll flip an inner circuit breaker. If you’re inwardly disconnected from God, you need inner rewiring, not just an inspiring religious talk.

Attending a religious meeting isn’t a cure for the human longing for belonging. Staying connected to the living Jesus is.

It’s easy to get caught up in Christian sermons, programs, and meetings and fail to notice when Jesus has no active role in them. When you feel wounded or unhappy, a possible cause could be a lack of direct connection with the living God.

To see the gathered body of Christ as a platform and an audience is to overlook the importance of the presence of the risen Jesus. When Christians congregate merely to spectate and not to fully participate with the living Jesus, we negate His presence. When church truly welcomes the living God, it will become holy, loving, and creative like He is.

Need help with rewiring? Experience The Joy of Early Christianity.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28663" />Photo by Miguel u00c1. Padriu00f1u00e1n on Pexels.com

Prayer-orities for your sound system

“Prayer-oritize” your life. “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Make staying connected with “Christ in you” your number one “prayer-ority.” If listening to Jesus isn’t a top “prayer-ority” for you, you might think that He’s not speaking to you.

Where can a Christ-follower hang out with the living Jesus? “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” If Christ is in you, like the Bible says He is, you should experience His presence everywhere you go.

Learning to hear and obey Jesus is more important than learning more information about Him. Jesus wants to speak to you internally. Listen to His inner voice with the ears of your heart. The sound system that Christians should be depending on is the sound of Jesus’ voice!

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28653" />Photo by Gaby Tenda on Pexels.com

Jesus on the inside is shocking!

Christ in you should be like an electric current continually flowing from within you. If you were trained to make and maintain direct connection with “Christ in you,” you’d overflow with His presence!

If you’re not aware of Jesus doing anything inside you, He may not be in you.

To be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14) is to let the risen Jesus control your thoughts, feelings, desires, words, and actions. If Christ is in you, He isn’t stealth. He’s alive, vibrant, and revolutionizing!

Biblical Christianity is more than to show up for a religious show. It’s a continual showdown with any sin that remains in your life. If you have no intimate, inner interaction with the living Jesus, is Christ really in you?

Jesus left His tomb empty so that He can live inside of you. Roll away any heart of stone and let Him take control within you now! Improve your live stream. Let the living Jesus flow more effectively thru you!

All Christian activity should directly connect people with the living, resurrected Jesus. Most people won’t tolerate a bad phone connection, but many Christians are just fine with a poor connection to the risen Jesus.

When “Christ in you”
Is shut down,
You won’t even
Know He’s around.

When Christ is in you,
Like your foot in your shoe,
He can direct you
In all you do.

If you ignore
“Christ in you,”
You’ll be unaware
Of what He can do.

Let Christ in you
Be loud and clear.
Then you’ll feel no need
To fear.

When Christ in you
Is immobilized,
Christianity is
Minimized.

Spiritual life dries
And often dies
If rivers of living water
Don’t rise
From within.

Get rid of gloom.
Make more room
For Christ to live
In you.

Without Jesus
Actively
Living within,
Christianity
Becomes very thin.

Jesus is unique.
If you get a peek
Of His glory,
No religious technique
Can satisfy you.

There’s more to Jesus
Than history,
Methodology
And theology.
Try continual
Doxology.

If a Christian method
Doesn’t connect people
With the living Jesus,
It’s dead.

When Christianity becomes passivianity:
Sit, sit, sit,
Listen & forget.
Do it over & over . . .

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28646" />Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Zombie heart or living heart?

To be alive on the outside but dead on the inside is to be an inner zombie. It reveals a need to be born from within. Let your heart come alive!

Hearts, passionate about Jesus, radiate like red hot lava, but when the passion dies, they harden into stone. “Stir up the gift within you.”

When inner life is like a freeway traffic jam, shut down by plans, programs, habits, and addictions, the Spirit is quenched. For the fruit of the Spirit to grow in abundance requires that we let the Holy Spirit freely flow both within us and among us.

Creating an environment where joy can freely flow from human hearts (innocent, Spirit-led joy), is one of my great delights. Demonstrating the joy, love, and peace of the living Jesus is much more effective than theologizing about Him.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28632" />Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

33 3ff3ctiv3 ways to innovat3 & improv3 your lif3

33 effective ways to innovate and improve your life:

1) Cultivate a better attitude.

2) Rotate your schedule.

3) Renovate your thinking.

4) Investigate something positive.

5) Meditate on good things.

6) Activate your goals.

7) Facilitate a new friendship.

8) Motivate yourself to dream.

9) Regulate your desires.

10) Deflate your ego.

11) Allocate time to help other people.

12) Separate from negativity.

13) Replicate the happiness you see in other people.

14) Advocate self-improvement.

15) Elevate your level of hope.

16) Incorporate uplifting ideas into your daily lifestyle.

17) Emulate people who inspire you to be better.

18) Propagate positivity.

19) Celebrate life.

20) Demonstrate kindness.

21) Concentrate on the things that encourage you.

22) Contemplate the good things that are in your life.

23) Eliminate unkindness from your life.

24) Mandate to yourself that you remove any mask that is on your heart.

25) Participate is some new, positive and uplifting activities.

26) Invigorate the people around you.

27) Anticipate good things coming your way.

28) Communicate with compassion.

29) Educate yourself in practical ways to make your life better.

30) Liberate yourself from harmful thoughts and habits.

31) Rehabilitate your broken dreams.

32) Congratulate and encourage people everyday.

33) Commemorate the many good things in your life.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28626" />Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Attendee-ship or discipleship

Much that Christians
Call discipleship
Simply says,
“Come be
A church attendee
Like me.”

Atendee-ship sinks. Discipleship sails through even the worst storms.

Christian discipleship launches Christ-like spiritual heroes. Christian attendee-ship sinks people into spiritual purposelessness. The mask that blocks spiritual growth is the one people wear over their heart. If mega churches produced mega discipleship, God’s love would fill the world!

Churches measure their success by their ability to create regular attendees, not by how many people they train to daily obey Jesus. Jesus doesn’t want a fan club that hears talks about Him, but a training camp that creates athletes who win spiritual victories.

Programmed Christianity is like programmed friendship–routine and shallow. Surely God is worthy of more from you than Sunday church attendance.

Church is a religious meeting that requires nothing from its attendees–no action, learning, commitment, courage, or sacrifice. No matter how good your attendance at church, church will never graduate you and freely release you into God’s spiritual workforce.

Church is a difficult place to fit into if you’re passionate about daily following and obeying the risen Jesus. Most sermons, instead of trying to directly connect people to the living Jesus, attempt to tell people what to think.

In the Bible, Jesus called disciples, not attendees. He never said, “Come and attend my service.”

Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” He didn’t say, “Have perfect attendance in church.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-28615" />Photo by Josh Sorenson on Pexels.com