Steve Simms's Blog, page 248

War? Thinking it through . . .

If a famous American general can say, “War is hell,” the rest of us should be able to also look at war in an honest, non-nationalistic way. Here are a few of my original thoughts about war.

If you think about it without nationalistic pride, war seems to cause far more death, destruction, pain, and evil, than it prevents.

War is countless cruelties committed for a country’s cause.

In war people set aside their conscience to obey the orders of a person who out ranks them.

War is more kill than thrill — more gory than glory.

Evil is in all human beings. Perhaps, the best way to fight it is for each individual to start within.

It’s easy to see evil in other people and other nations. It’s much harder to see evil in ourselves and our nation

Exciting insights about “church” (reading Ephesians 5 & 6 as written to a group, not just to an individual)

Ephesians 5 says that the assembly of Christ-followers (church) “submits to Christ” as “the head.” I believe that Christ wants to literally, personally head-up every Christian gathering by inwardly promopting individuals to say & do what He tells them to. However religious tradition has set church meetings up so that open, Spirit prompted sharing is almost universally not allowed in church meetings.

Also, Ephesians 5 states that a gathering of Christ-followers should be “glorious.” Colossians 1 says, “Christ in you (y’all) the hope of glory.” Put them together: For a Christian gathering to be glorious, Christ in the people must be released so that He can be seen through what they say and do (since He is “the hope of glory”). Therefore, if the people present are kept silent & immobile by tradition & authority, the hope of glory within the people is constrained and “quenched.”

Ephesians 5 says that Christ (not a preacher) feeds and cares for the assembly of His followers (church). It also says that Christ-followers are members of Christ’s body and that Christ and a group of His followers can function as “one flesh. It calls this “a profound mystery.” As Christ (the hope of glory) animates various ones of His followers in a meeting, by internally prompting them, they speak and act as a glorious puppet show with Christ as the literal puppeteer.

Ephesians 6 warns Christ-followers that they must be strong in God’s “power” (the inward flow of His energy, not their own strength) and stand against the devil’s (disruptive) schemes. It then gives the “full armor of God” that Christ-followers need in order to “stand firm:” truth (honesty and openness with one another), righteousness (right living), feet fitted with readiness (the willingness to step-out and obey Christ’s unprogrammed, inner promptings), the good news of peace (the absence of control, conflict, and strife), faith (trust and courage to quench the devil’s flaming arrows, which are tormenting inner thoughts that resist and/or distract from obeying Christ’s promptings), and praying in the Spirit (prayer that freely flows out of people’s hearts as they yield to the risen Jesus).

For more search for my book: Beyond Church: An Invitation to Experience the Lost Word of the Bible–Ekklesia.

Life was never meant to be adrift in meaninglessness.

Life was never meant
To be adrift
In meaninglessness.

Too often,
The modern mind
Demystifies life,
Muffling its meaning
With methods.

The concept of meaning, the desire for meaning, where would that come from if life has no meaning?

Pure rationality can’t prove that life has any meaning, but a heart full of love finds meaning everywhere it looks.

Outcomes are usually different when choices are made by convenience rather than by conscience.

Life is always meaningful — even in the womb. Prenatal care demonstrates love and compassion for a developing child.

Words without meaning are sounds. Life without meaning is noise. Be cause-focused, because everybody needs a righteous cause.

If people accuse you of judging them, their conscience has probably gotten there ahead of you.

Conscience is the human GPS, but too often we find Waze to avoid it. However, to refuse to be a biological puppet, controlled by organic desires, is to engage in a fight for character and meaning.

One of the best ways to “fight” for justice is to choose to align your behavior with your conscience.

If your conscience doesn’t approve of and applaud what you do, why should I? When your conscience approves of your behavior, you don’t need or demand other people’s approval. However, a guilty conscience often feels a need to demand approval and applause from others in an attempt to remove its shame.

Life goes better when you follow the Waze of your conscience instead of the ways of your unchecked desires.

The modern idea of “rights:” The “right” to act out my desires, ignore (or destroy) the consequences, and have society’s full approval.

Possessions can be possessive and hoard your heart in their meaningless orbit.

Nature isn’t natural, but created and designed with super attention to the minutest detail. DNA says “supernatural.”

Pride is a way of seeing only what you want to see.

If you find your life meaning less and less to you, daily following the risen Jesus Christ can make it mean more and more! People thrive in an environment where they are individually free to listen to and obey the risen Jesus, together.

To decode your life,
Listen to your conscience,
And to Christ’s inner voice.

Could PGA mean “Pastor’s Gathered Audience”?

To be a golfer you have to actually golf. To be a Christ-follower you have to actually follow Him. Too many church attendees hear sermon after sermon but never take a shot at actually hearing and obeying Jesus.

Golf lessons aren’t lectures but demonstrations, hands on interaction, and supervised practice. Maybe church could learn from golf.

It often seems to me that there is much more awe and astonishment on the PGA tour than there is in most church services. Perhaps instead of Professional Golfers’ Association, PGA means Pastor’s Gathered Audience.

The Bible’s like a 9 iron. It will help you chip out of life’s sand traps, but only if you take it out of the bag and use it. Hearing t alks about all the clubs in a golf bag won’t help you unless begin to use them. (Same for hearing sermons.)

A golf course isn’t a study about golf, but a place for experiencing golf. Perhaps we need a Christ course. Teeing up to play a round of golf is far more exciting than hearing a golf lecture. Let’s tee up for Jesus and go 18 holes with Him!

Beyond Race-Schism

People don’t like to talk about racism, so I made up another word we can use — race-schism. I define it as: The belief (whether conscious or unconscious) that people are different because of skin color.

I recently wrote a book about race in America. Much of the response to it has shown me that even today, society expects people not to express their grief and pain over America’s racist past. Race schism is still producing deep color-based divisions in society.

For some fresh, creative insights on how we can get beyond race-schism, go to this link: https://amzn.to/2NaIYRv

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Too much me-ing will make life seem meaningless

Meaninglessness happens when nothing becomes the focus of your life. Too much me-ing makes life seem meaningless. We all need a higher purpose than me-ing (focusing on me).

Believing some things are morally wrong isn’t judging. It’s paying attention to your conscience. Equal rights but not equal approval. Respect rights, but don’t approve of things against your conscience. I have the right to my lifestyle, but I don’t have the right to demand your approval.

Boredom comes from the failure to enjoy. Guilt comes from enjoying the wrong things. If you feel like you “can’t say no” to something, at least don’t say “yes” to it without checking with your conscience first.

Nature’s patterns are not meaningless, but purposeful, functional, and inspirational. Look-see. Life is God’s kaleidoscope, continuously creating countless, charming collages and captivating appreciative hearts. Too much explaination can melt away the meaning of life’s mysteries.

Happiness won’t make you successful, famous, rich, or problem-free, but it will make you feel good and enjoy your life. Some people need a compelling reason to give up their unhappiness, but never can seem to find one. Spontaneous laughter allows the human heart to freely celebrate its hidden joys.

Pessimism and negativity are symptoms of appreciation deficit disorder. If we would just give up our misery, many of our addictions would fade away. All problems aren’t created equal, why give them equal stress? Discernment is important. Entertainment too often becomes inner stain-ment, staining our heart & mind with negativity and dysfunction.

To truly hear is to let your heart be touched by what someone says. If you try to make up reality, you’ll sink down into lies. However, when people feel safely loved enough to share their deeply felt secrets, relationships soar to new heights.

When meaning is missing, life morphs into a mess. Logic can never lift a sense of meaningless off your back, but intuition, inspiration, and the risen Jesus can! One reason that I love reading the Bible is that it inspires me to believe that life is always significant and filled with purpose.

Pride boasts of superiority; humility embraces equality. Perhaps the world needs a Humility Month and Humility Parades.

Would Americans say, “It’s in the past, forget about it,” if . . .

Would American’s say, “It’s in the past, forget about it,” if . . .

. . . If another country had claimed for centuries that the Bible teaches that all Americans are cursed by God and then used that claim as an excuse to constantly treat Americans as inferior to other human beings?

. . . If another country had trafficked millions of Americans for 2 1/2 centuries?

. . . If another country had maintained a policy of putting signs in businesses and public facilities, refusing to serve Americans?

. . . If another country had freely allowed mobs to lynch more than 4,000 Americans without due process, trial, or conviction, over a 90 year period?

. . . If another country had repeatedly claimed that they had God-given, “states rights” to abuse, mistreat, and segregate Americans?

. . . If another country had refused to allow Americans to testify in court, even in their own defense?

. . . If another country had published numerous books claiming that there is scientific proof that Americans are mentally inferior to other nationalities?

. . . If another country had made terrorism against Americans acceptable and frequently refused to prosecute or even discourage such terrorism?

. . . If another country had systematically brutalized Americans with unspeakable crimes, horrors, and human rights violations?

. . . If another country had finally made all these things illegal and insisted that Americans now have equal rights (even though they had never apologized and Americans were still disproportionally subject to fines and incarceration)?

American history shows that America did all these things to other Americans. Yet for many Americans in the 21st century, their attitude is: “It’s in the past, forget about it.”

For more insights, check out my book: Off the RACE Track–From Color-Blind to Color-Kind @ https://amzn.to/2J1Lm7R

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Vision, grace, & heavenly citizenship go way beyond church

When God gives you a vision others don’t understand, don’t give up. Keep pursuing it. How? The living Jesus is my wine!

I’ve never understood why Christians are afraid to let the Spirit directly lead a church service instead of following a program. Christ-followers need to experience God and be in awe of Him. If church doesn’t facilitate that, it is falling short.

Jesus didn’t die and rise again so we can follow a program, but so we can follow Him! Jesus never said: “Every week listen to a Christian talk.” He said: “My sheep hear My voice.”

The most important citizenship question: Are you a citizen of Heaven? If not, get supernaturalized.

Legalism promotes godliness as a costume. Grace creates godliness as fountains of Christ’s power and presence flowing from within.

Grace energizes people to live a godly lifestyle, even when they are surrounded by ungodliness. Paul of Tarsus and his grace message: “Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning.”

Jesus is the living, internal engine who propels conscience into consciousness, sensitivity, and godly living. It’s much more powerful to see someone actually experiencing Christ than it is to just hear a talk about Him.

As people saw the first Christians experiencing Christ, they were in awe. Hiding our experiences with Christ hinders revival and holds back spiritual awakening.

Society needs a place where people are encouraged and free to speak from the heart with humble, child like honesty. Why not church? God’s spiritual order comes into view when church stops organizing things and lets the Holy Spirit lead.

Most church services are full of people with God-sightings and miracles. Let them share them! Sermons are poor substitutes for inner perception and personal experience with God.

Encouragement matters.
Everybody needs it.
Everybody can give it.
Encourage someone today.

“Not a racist bone in my body,” but lots of racist skeletons, in our institutions, still like to dance in the closet.”

Another take on what Joe Biden said about working with segregationists: “Not a racist bone in my body,” but lots of racist skeletons, in our institutions, still like to dance in the closet.”

For a fresh perspectives of race in America, get my book, Off the RACE Track, in Kindle for FREE today & Saturday (6/22/2019) @ https://amzn.to/2FpiRQG. (Available in both paperback & kindle.)

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Off the RACE Track book

Off the RACE Track–From Color Blind to Color Kind is available in paperback and Kindle.

Tell your friends / share / thanks!
https://amzn.to/2WRCATQ

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