Steve Simms's Blog, page 284

Jesus ain’t a program; He is Lord!

Christians usually meet to be passively instructed. Perhaps we could also meet to exercise our faith & spiritual gifts, with one another. Where there is no caring interaction there is no sense of community.

(A church in Smyrna experienced life-changing community together. That is such a rare thing that someone made a movie about it, All Saints. The body of Christ is called to be family; not formality.)

Perhaps “elder” is not a church office, but a mature believer who has followed & obeyed the risen Jesus for many years. Perhaps the Ephesians “five-fold ministries” are not ranked religious offices, but spiritual functions that God can use any Christian in.

The gifts of the Spirit aren’t grandiose badges of honor. Instead they often operate in humble people who don’t even realize that God is using them.

Artificial plants look real but they’re not. People can do that too. Ekklesia lets people be real. Ekklesisa is a group of Christ-followers gathered to listen to and be directly led by the living Jesus. Church meets classroom style, but ekklesia meets support group style.

Where there is no heart-to-heart communication and no spiritual connection; there is no sense of community. Ekklesia includes heart-felt caring, equality in Christ, honest communication, mutual valuing, and surrender to the risen Jesus. You can’t understand ekklesia until you experience it with a group of people.

Imposing a program on a group of people replaces spontaneity with control; intimacy with formality; and interaction; with passivity. A program is a show to watch. Worship needs to be much more than a program.

Watching a religious program is nice, however, experiencing the risen Jesus prompting a group of people, is much more powerful! Jesus is not someone to schedule & program for an hour on Sundays. He’s the One to let schedule & program you 24/7/365!

God doesn’t need a preacher or anybody else to program a church service. He’s an amazing Programmer all by Himself! Learn more about how Jesus can actively program a church service, all by Himself @ this link.

Man alive! Jesus is manna live — the living bread of life who has come from Heaven!

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#26 of my 95 Theses

My 95 Theses #26:

Tear down the socioeconomic walls. Let rich & poor & in between worship together in the same gathering.

95 Theses #25 — Be multiracial!

My 95 Theses #25:

Be multiracial.

There’s no excuse for churches to be some of the most segregated organizations around. when every church can look like Heaven and have people from various races and ethnicities loving one another through Christ!

Luther’s 95 vs. my 95 — #24

My 95 Theses #24:

If we stop church when we’re ready to end it, we may miss out on something beautiful God still wants to do.

Wanted: Tender Hearts & God’s Superstar

Wanted: Tender hearts willing to be led by the Holy Spirit. Contact God to apply. When tender hearts meet & surrender control to God’s Superstar (Jesus) ekklesia begins to take place.

Dare to ask God to make your heart tender to the Holy Spirit’s leading & conviction. God, give me a tender heart that refuses to take offense, so I can speak truth in love.

Tenderness triumphs by trusting God. In a world full of bitterness; try a little tenderness & forgiveness.

Don’t keep the Lord confined in your heart. Let Him flow out wherever you go.

We can’t program the fruit of the Spirit. We can only let it flow from deep within us.

Galatians 5:22

What can make the Gospel come alive? Everyday people sharing how the risen Christ is working in their lives!

Here’s the formula:  Support-group-style vulnerability + the risen Jesus = amazing glimpses of Heaven.

Conventional wisdom: God directs a preacher who directs a church service. A biblical alternative: God, Himself, directs a church service.

Christ alone is the Head of His body. No pastor can fulfill that role. Let’s take the human “bottle top” off of church so that God’s people aren’t bottled up. Let the risen Jesus be the Head instead!

I’m ordained & have an M.Div. so no one’s particularly impressed that I can lead a church service. However, if I let Jesus lead it, people are astonished!

Church needs to be led by & focused on God’s Superstar — the living, resurrected Jesus! It’s fairly easy to follow directions and programs. It’s difficult to follow Jesus!

Climb up onto the Vista Rock — the living, resurrected Jesus — and take in the amazing views He wants to show you!

Seeing Jesus,

Trying to be like Him,

Knowing I can’t,

Having Him

Living through me.

Taking down statues or putting them up?

As debate and conflict rages over statues of Confederate leaders and soldiers, some are crying, “Take them down!” while others are shouting “Keep ’em up!”

So how about a compromise. How about leaving the statues up, but also putting up an even larger, heroic statue of runaway slaves, beside every statue of a slaveholder or defender of slaveholders, in America?

Perhaps we should get even bolder and give every town a heroic statue of runaway slaves. Why? Because runaway slaves are some of the most courageous (and ignored) heroes in American (not just black) history!

I may even be related to a runaway slave named William Simms. Read his amazing story here.

The Jesus-Serenity Prayer

The Jesus-Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity that comes from the risen Jesus Christ, the courage to daily follow and obey Him, and the wisdom to make a difference.

Serenity is nice. Jesus-serenity is astounding!

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The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation is Oct. 31

My 95 Theses #21:

When someone feels prompted by God to speak up in church, let the person speaking graciously step aside.

“If a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.” –1 Corinthians 14:30-31

95 Theses #21: On the way to Reformation Day

My 95 Theses #21:

Honor, listen to, & embrace the lowly & the humble. “Consider others better than yourself.”

The joy of uncertainty

We must be careful not to present Christianity so well that people feel like they don’t need to implement it for themselves. It’s easy to see Christianity like a school subject; a class you go to occasionally & then immediately go back to your real life.

When we turn Christianity into a tidy system & remove all uncertainty, we lose our sense of amazement, wonder, & awe! I like to look at church and think what else could it be.

Crowding your mind with facts, like stuffing a closet, can make it unusable. Perhaps we should decide what’s worth holding on to.

When your mind’s uncertain, that an opportunity to seek truth with your heart! Certainty requires no faith. Uncertainty requires great faith! Faith is to trust God in the middle of uncertainty, hurt, & disappointment.

Certainty convinces us that we have everything under control. But do we really? Without some uncertainty, it’s easy to think we know it all.

Uncertainty is fertilizer for great spiritual growth. (It’s hard to grow if you think you’ve already got it together.)

Christ lives in His followers. So why don’t we open up more, be vulnerable, & let Him

be seen in us?  There must be numerous different ways Christians can meet for church. So why do we all use almost the identical Sunday format?

The Bible says we can “quench” & “grieve” the Holy Spirit. Let’s don’t do that!

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will teach people. Perhaps we should let Him be the teacher in church.

The Bible says “after beginning by means of the Spirit” we can “finish by means of the flesh.” Let’s stay obedient to the Spirit!

The Bible says; “Let us keep in step with the Spirit.” It doesn’t tell us to keep in step with a program.

The Bible says that we can be “in the Spirit.” That means we can also be out of the Spirit and in the flesh.

The Bible says that we can “please the flesh” or “please the Spirit.” It says that our faith should not “rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”

The Bible says: “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit but considers them foolishness.” It also says we can “live by the Spirit.” I’m so glad that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.”

The Bible says the Spirit “calls out Abba, Father” in our heart. Can you hear that intimate cry? (Abba means “Daddy.”)