Steve Simms's Blog, page 283

Counting my 95 Theses for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation

Look out Luther!

95 Theses on the way to Reformation Day (Oct. 31) #35:

Give the greatest honor to the people who look to you like the lowliest.

Here’s #34 of my 95 Theses:

When you meet for worship, do the stuff they did in the book of Acts.

Not Luther’s But My 95 Theses #33:

Let the living Jesus do whatever He wants to

in church, even if we’re uncomfortable with it.

Christ’s presence outshines religion

Some people think that God only works through religion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus is the Way, however, sometimes religion can block His way.   Religious programming can unintentionally crowd the presence of Christ out of church.

In church we used to sing; “He walks with me and He talks with me,” but then we would listen to a preacher rather than Jesus. I’ve always thought that church has too much talk about theology and too little interaction with Jesus. I learned a secret that many people never learn: Jesus can work in ordinary people without the use of religion.

A presentation about Christ can never compare to being overcome by His presence! We can never understand the presence of God unless we practice & experience it. You don’t need rituals or ceremonies or a program to come into Christ’s presence — just stillness & surrender.

Religion is very predictable. However, when you read the Bible, you see Jesus always saying & doing the unexpected. Sometimes religious ceremonies, programs, protocol, and tradition, can block our view of the living, resurrected Jesus.

People can be bored with a religious program, but it’s impossible to be bored in the presence of the risen Jesus. To sit in church, unaware of and unmoved by the actual presence of Christ is to miss the whole point.

Revival happens when we set aside human control & surrender a meeting completely to the risen Jesus. If we will begin to come together regularly to showcase Christ’s presence, we’ll be never be the same.

In the Bible, Jesus often broke religious rules & traditions. Do you think He supports & follows all of them now?

God’s not looking for a audience, but for people who will reflect Christ’s radiance. It’s hard to grow spiritually unless you follow Jesus outside of your comfort zone.

Although Jesus is now invisible and present as the Holy Spirit, He is an incredible organizer & meeting planner who can run an amazing worship meeting! Perhaps Jesus, like a piano player, would like the freedom to play whatever keys He wants in a Christian gathering.

I think the resurrected Jesus would like to be given a spot on church programs so He can speak for Himself. So let’s gather around the living Jesus and then let Him personally lead us. Awe, a deep & overwhelming inner stirring, always happens when we become aware of the presence of Jesus.

If Jesus is alive and can speak to people, as the Bible says, why not meet and let people hear Jesus & then say and/or do what He says? Testimonies of how people met the risen Jesus have been more powerful to me than all the religious services I’ve ever attended. However, if everyday people are kept silent in church, we miss the opportunity to hear how powerfully Jesus is at work in them.

Jesus is working powerfully in ordinary people, but unfortunately, church seldom lets them share what He is doing! The secret life, of Jesus working in everyday people, needs to be made public.

When people are encouraged to hear directly from Jesus & to publicly share what they hear; they begin to grow by leaps & bounds. Often little children will openly talk about what God is doing; but adults learn to keep quiet about it.

People grow stronger spiritually by doing the Bible than by just hearing about it. Are you growing spiritually? Is your passion for and obedience to the living Jesus stronger today than it was a year ago?

Jesus is about victorious reality–inner peace, joyousness, freedom from guilt & bondage! It’s good to preach about Jesus. It’s even better to demonstrate the reality of His presence.

You can understand the Bible by yourself. Read it with an open heart & see. Let the Bible lead you to the living Jesus. It was never intended to replace the presence of Christ in your life.

If Jesus is the Head of the church, how can a pastor be? Two heads wouldn’t work very well.

Movin’ beyond mountains of sermons

Do you ever take the time to ask, “Who or what am I following?”

A lot of people talk about Christianity. What’s rare is to follow the risen Jesus wherever He leads. If you’re not looking for the living Jesus, you may walk right past Him.

At some place in history, church started following sermons by professional preachers and shut down open sharing based on 1 Corinthians 14:26. But can you find even one Scripture that says a worship meeting should be focused on a sermon?

Sermons are fine, but why should every church service be required to have one? Can’t the risen Jesus work without a sermon? So why is having a one-man sermon considered to be the only acceptable way to have a worship meeting? There are plenty of churches for people who like to hear sermons; but where can people go who like open sharing & testimonies?

Sermons keep people silent & sedentary. Open sharing sets them free to obey the Spirit! Perhaps, the best “sermons” come form ordinary people sharing as they are prompted by the living Jesus.

When the same person preaches every week, he is seen as out ranking everybody else & equality before Christ is disrupted. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that one person in a church is a pastor or preacher and the rest are not. Where Christ is the Head, there’s no room for human authoritarianism.

In the New Testament preaching was for unbelievers. Now it’s almost exclusively for Christians. What happened?

“All hands on deck!” Every Christ-follower needs to be openly speaking out about Jesus and living a godly life! Don’t wait for institutional permission. If you’re a follower of His, Jesus has already given you permission to share the Gospel!

Humans cannot make God fit into an hour program. So why try?

You don’t need formality and a program to relate to a friend. Jesus wants to be your friend. Amazing possibilities open up when a group of people meets with Jesus without a program.

We can follow dreams, instincts, feelings, bliss, people, organizations, etc. However, we are called to follow the risen Jesus!

You don’t have to click on “unfollow” to walk away from Jesus. Just follow you’re own feelings and soon you’ll be off track.

Don’t follow your heart if your heart isn’t following the living, resurrected Jesus. Following the risen Christ takes passion, persistence, & self-denial & sometimes results in persecution.

You can’t follow Jesus if you’re wearing Son-block. Listen to advice, but follow the resurrected Jesus! If you keep on trailing the risen Jesus, you’ll wind up in amazing places!

If your faith doesn’t frighten you a little bit, it’s probably not big enough. Moving mountains can be scary. To learn more about how to move beyond the mountain of traditional church, click here.

 

The Steps of The Beatitudes

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” 

We came to realize that without the risen Jesus we can do nothing, and we humbly surrendered our lives to His control.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

We were so sorry for the wrongs we’ve done that we began to turn away from them and to ask for God’s forgiveness, which began to free us from our guilt and shame.

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

We began to allow Jesus to lead us as we followed Him day by day and experienced many of His blessings in our lives.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

The more we followed Jesus, the more we wanted to get closer to Him and to obey Him in all of our ways. We were filled with peace, joy, and love.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” 

We began to forgive and to pray for everyone who had in any way wronged us in our lives, and to no longer carry hurt, resentment, or bitterness.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Our hearts began to want only Jesus and He made God became more and more real to us.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

We began to make peace within our hearts and with all people, to the best of our ability.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

We realized that to be criticized or abused, unjustly, because of doing the right thing, is a compliment that shows we are learning to follow and obey the risen Jesus.

–Click this link to learn how church can meet like a support group.

My own 95 Theses #31 & #32

My 95 Theses #31:

Train people to follow the Holy Spirit instead of their own feelings or opinions.

95 Theses #32

Get out of a rut. Don’t follow same routine in church every Sunday.

Being in awe as you watch Jesus working

A church where one man does all the ministry is like a one-tooth comb. “Christ in you–the hope of glory.” Not one man in a pulpit. To make Christianity methodical is to rob it of its mystery, wonder, & awe!

Worship is to be in awe. Thus “order of worship” is an oxymoron because you can’t order awe! Humans cannot make God fit into an hour program. So why try?

People didn’t hear a lecture during the recent eclipse, but watched in awe. Perhaps church should be about watching Jesus move among us.

Jesus is closer to you than you think & you don’t need a preacher or a church to reach out to Him! Open up to His presence now. There’s no need to go through a professional or an “expert” to get to the risen Jesus!

If you’re not thrilled about Jesus, perhaps you’ve never encountered Him. I knew a preacher who was boring when he preached, but if he drifted off Christianity & on to college football, he was fired up. He seemed to have his wires crossed and to be thrilled about the wrong things.

If you haven’t experienced the exuberance of the risen Jesus working inside you, you’ve missed life’s most amazing experience!

When Christians begin to meet to all actively engage in spiritual warfare light will break through darkness. Unfortunately, humans have taken the most exciting thing on earth (Christianity), and made it methodical & mundane.

Since Jesus rose from the dead for us, surely we can get off our seats, take action, & speak up for Him. Its not enough to try to follow the rules. Let the living Jesus rule in you! If you’re not thrilled about Jesus, perhaps you’ve never encountered Him.

If denominations won’t provide “Dones” an alternative to the traditional church format, who will?

95 Theses for Today #29 & #30

95 Theses #29: “Speak the truth in love” — let everything that people share in a meeting be shared with both love & truth.

95 Theses For Today #30: Forgive everyone. There’s no room for bitterness

in Christ’s ekklesia!

Religious demands or changed hearts?

Heaven’s open to all who follow Jesus. Perhaps the mic in church could be too. Christ did urge me to look beyond the clergy. (Acts 17:11)

Pharisees make religious demands. The living Jesus changes human hearts! Religious rules and information without inner inspiration always fall short of genuine transformation.

Heart-felt worship in a circle lets us see human faces shining with Jesus.  In rows we just see the backs of people’s heads. After a support group that met in a circle at a church, someone said, “Put the chairs back in rows for the Sunday school class.”

Jesus frequently said, “Follow Me!” Never once, “Follow a program.” One person perpetually presenting at a podium on a platform makes everybody else passive.

We need more preaching–ordinary people passionately proclaiming the presence & power of the resurrected Jesus! When ordinary Christians begin to tap the treasure

of Christ within, we’ll “turn the world upside down!”

I don’t like the word “lay” in “laity.” Ordinary Christians aren’t called to lay down, but to rise up, proclaim and reveal Jesus!

Most of us don’t need another talk about religious information. We need inspiration, transformation, & spiritual formation!

Why do many people think it odd to allow the risen Jesus to lead a meeting without a program or human leader? How can we believe Jesus is the Lord of all, if we don’t believe He can lead a worship meeting, without a program or human leader?

Jesus is the Way — the living, resurrected Guide who is infinitely more reliable than any worship program or format! When you have a living Guide, you don’t need to follow a programmed format!

“Quench not the Spirit.” If we’re not quenching the Spirit, our relationship with God will look something like the book of Acts.

More powerful than a locomotive; more awesome than a total eclipse; it’s Jesus’ ekklesia! Church makes faith academic. Ekklesia makes it epidemic — a spiritual contagion that freely spreads from heart to heart! Church fills minds with religious information; ekklesia sets hearts ablaze with passion for Jesus.

Once when leading a formal church service I got frustrated, tore up the bulletin & said, “Let’s let the Spirit lead.” He did! While working on this blog post I felt prompted to pick a random book off my bookshelf. It happened to be by Catherine Booth. I randomly opened it & saw this:  “I have a great deal more authority for such a lively, gushing, spontaneous, and what you call disorderly service, as our Salvation Army services sometimes are, in the fourteenth chapter of First Corinthians, than you can find for yours.” (See 1 Corinthians 14:26.)

And one final thought for football season:  Listening to and obeying Jesus with a group of people is more exciting than football!

Open sharing & Scripture

My 95 Theses #28

Open sharing isn’t a license to contradict Scripture but an opportunity to align with it

as the Spirit prompts.

My 95 Theses #27

95 Theses #27:

Show God’s love to everyone who comes into a worship gathering.