Steve Simms's Blog, page 244

Deinstutionalizing the faith

The New Testament’s about a supernatural movement led by the risen Jesus, not an institution. When Christianity is biblically and spiritually revitalized it tends to deinstitutionalize. Now is the time to deinstitutionalize — to invest more time in Spirit-led relationships than in religious meetings & institutions.

The Bible never limits the Good News of Jesus to sermons. It calls all Christ-followers to live it and share it everywhere. For early Christians, their faith wasn’t one of many compartments in their life. Following Jesus was their all-consuming passion.

True Christ-followers have no private life. Their entire life belongs to Jesus. Jesus wants to permeate every aspect of your daily life, not just be a religious compartment that you reserve for church.

Too many people treat their Christianity like a thumb drive. They only run when it’s convenient or culturally acceptable. The status quo doesn’t want you to go with the Holy Spirit’s flow. Flow with the Spirit anyway!

Spirit-led prayer is more powerful than politics. It’s motivated by love and surrender to God, not by competition and control.

Church requires nothing from people but attendance and money. Christ calls people to a lifestyle of surrender and obedience to Him. If sermons made people Christ-like, church would be full of people with godly character, holy lifestyles, and hearts overflowing with love.

It took centuries for all-consuming, early Christianity to change into church (a mere weekly attendance at a religious meeting). Many people like Jesus, but true Christianity calls us to live like Jesus by surrendering our will, heart, and obedience to Him. Old Jesus Freaks, now is the time to return to your original passion for Christ.

Go beyond the religious status quo. Dare to deinstitutionalize your faith! Instead of trying to figure out who you are, try getting to know who Jesus is and fall in love with Him! Search for: Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible–Ekklesia.

Why all the talk about race?

WHY?
WHY is race such a big deal?
WHY the accusations of “racism”?

An experience at America’s “lynching memorial”

In Off the RACE Track I wrote about my wife and I gathering a few people to pray and ask for God’s forgiveness around the stump of the Rutherford County lynching tree (where blacks were hanged by white mobs) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It’s now on the grounds of The Salvation Army. This week I was visiting the “lynching memorial” (The National Memorial for Peace and Justice) in Montgomery, AL where they have a large metal marker for each American county where lynchings were committed (more than 800). As I entered the Memorial, almost the first one I saw was the Rutherford County Tennessee marker. Right in front of me were the names of some of the people lynched there and the dates

Search for: Off the RACE Track book. Thank you.

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The National Memorial For Peace And Justice

Roll call of the silenced,
Thousands hung by the neck,
Strangling their voices in death,
Here in America.
Now their names cry out,
From hundreds of metal beams
Hanging overhead in hushed quiet,
“We were murdered by mobs
To silence others with horror,
And ‘keep them in their place,’
Just because we were black.”
A slow walk through
Stuns the soul, speechless.
(On a hill overlooking
Montgomery, Alabama.)

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Going beyond misperception is the key to kindness

Misperception produces deception. Humble reception of truth gives clear perception.

To overcome violence in society we must silence hostility and replace it with a culture of kindness and respect for all human life.

Both accusations and denials of racism miss the point. America needs healing for its foundations that were built on racial hierarchy.

Who’s a racist? Perhaps it’s time to humbly admit that we’ve all made at least one race-based evaluation or comment in our life.

Disrespecting prenatal human life undermines and erodes the very concept of “rights.” Prenatal violence (though done in secret and unreported by media) is still violence.

To segregate the unborn from the rest of humanity by declaring them less than human is unjust. The voiceless in the womb are defenseless and die a violent death at the decision of another.

Unleashing God’s creativity is fun

Christ-followers should be flowing in creativity because they have the Creator living in them. “Quench not the Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit doesn’t just want you to share what you’ve read and copied. He wants to speak something fresh to you. Listen.

Church is built around a pastor, Christian conferences around speakers, but the kingdom of God is built around Jesus.

Church programs can easily be distractions that turn people from their mission and drain their energy. Learn how go beyond church as usual. Search for my book: Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible–Ekklesia.

Faith is fun. Follow Jesus (do what He tells you and go where He leads you) and see for yourself.

Inciting hostility prepares the way for violence

Insight appreciates diversity. It doesn’t incite hate or violence. To incite hostility is to prepare the way for violence.

Bullying and negotiating are not the same thing. Bullying coerces. Negotiating collaborates.

Words motivate. They can be used to inspire kindness or to incite hate or violence — to connect or to disconnect. If hostile words captivate your mind, they will hold you hostage to anger and offense.

Self-focus suffocates joy. Kindness cultivates it.

When a society encourages hostility, hostility will frequently manifest in violence. It’s hard to be violent when you’re filled with love, joy, compassion, hope, mercy, and peace. Too many people are running on empty.

America’s racial wounds won’t be healed by stirring up racism or by throwing the word around. There is no logical reason to believe any skin color is inferior to or superior than any other. Search: Off the RACE Track book.

To dim your conscience is to disable God’s inner warning lights.

Grace is supernatural, not superficial (beyond talk-based religion)

Grace gives people supernatural strength to live a holy life, not superficial excuses to live an unholy life. Faith without activation is dead. To walk with Christ we have to go beyond a talk-based religion. Don’t just be a cheerleader or fan for Christian ministers. Be a playmaker for Jesus.

People who are weary of being religious spectators need opportunities to actively interact in church. Jesus said, “Come, follow Me,” not, “Come, be part of a religious audience.” God never intended for pastors or Christian speakers to take the place of the Holy Spirit.

Church trains people to be part of a passive audience. The body of Christ trains people to be active, Spirit-led team members. When the gathered body of Christ is working correctly, all the members listen directly to and then obey Jesus, the Head.

Jesus calls us to let Him propel us, living inside as our inner energizer and guide. Direct encounter and interaction with the risen Jesus is much more powerful than hearing another talk about Him. Christianity is so much more than being an audience member for a religious lecture. Christians are invited to have an ongoing audience with the King of Kings, not to just be an audience for a Sunday lecture

Hearing another sermon by the same man, week after week, seems more like the redundant life than the abundant life. Jesus wants to raise up, train, and lead a spiritual army, not entertain an audience.

When Christians have church as if Christ isn’t really present with them, they contradict His promise to be present. A Sunday talk should never replace the active, directive, convicting presence of the living Jesus.

Church is sermon centered. Ekklesia is Jesus centered. When churches keep people silent, they never know the amazing testimonies they miss out on. It doesn’t matter how many sermons you’ve heard preached if you haven’t been reached by the presence and power of Jesus Christ.

Churches have doors, but in the kingdom of God, Jesus is the door. Churches have a steeple, but in the kingdom of God, Jesus lives in ordinary people. The kingdom of God is built on voluntary, heart-felt surrender and submission to the risen Jesus, not on coercion and control. Church needs to energize, equip, and empower people, not ensnare them in religious control.

Christian conferences feature well-known speakers, however, they could feature Jesus and let Him speak through anybody present. Christians too often are attracted to speakers based on their fame or eloquence rather than on their godliness. Why depend on religious speakers when you can listen to Jesus yourself by reading the Bible daily & paying attention to His voice?

For more: search for: Beyond Church–An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible–Ekklesia.

When racism is gone, America’s slave plantations will be seen to be as horrific as Auschwitz. Search: Off the RACE Track book.

Peace thoughts about reducing violence

Active shooters are shot full of seething, engrossed with evil, and driven by demons. However, a climate of courageous and compassionate kindness can curtail violence. Humans are attracted to violence, watching it for entertainment, playing violent games, threatening it, boasting of it, doing it.

When a culture continually undermines people’s conscience and progressively promotes permissiveness, violence will be a big problem. Stop the postnatal and prenatal carnage. It’s time to respect the image of God in all human life.

Violence is cruelty, sometimes done for a cause, sometimes on evil impulse. It blasts bodies, hardens hearts, and molests minds. Most people think they are better people than the people that they advocate violence against.

Violence is the ultimate attempt to impose your will on others. A win-lose mentality that wants its way no matter what, opens the door to violence.

Easily taking offense obstructs your vision of what is really going on, causing you to misjudge people and situations. Insults are “fake power” thrown around by those who are trying to keep their opponents from seeing their inner insecurities. Ignore them!

Unkind words can provoke violence. Verbal punches can trigger physical punches and sadly, sometimes shots ring out.

If you feel like you have to insult the people who disagree with you, then you must be afraid of them and their beliefs. People who are frequently unkind to other people haven’t learned how to appreciate life and its many blessings. Truth can hurt people and needs to be spoken with compassion and love — not used as a weapon to get your way.

To attack human life (in any stage) is to attack the image of God. Life is the bequest of God, but any fool can take it away.

If you won’t respect all people, at least respect the image of God that they are made in.

Christianity teaches that all humans are created in God’s image. Thus Christians insult their own faith when they insult or bully people.