Steve Simms's Blog, page 69

Look again at how you picture life

Daily writing promptIs your life today what you pictured a year ago?View all responses

Years ago, I pictured my life as being a Jesus Freak and giving my all to follow and obey Him. I can say that I’ve experienced far more of the miracles and joy of Jesus than I could have ever imagined. (Jesus is the ultimate life enhancer!) I hope younger people radically encounter and obey the living Jesus. I don’t want to be the last Jesus Freak.

Once there were millions of people so openly excited about Christ that they were called Jesus Freaks. You saw them everywhere: in stores, in parks, at sporting events, in colleges, on the streets, in high schools. Over the years their numbers have dwindled. Many were toned down by churches. Others turned away from Jesus. Some have already been promoted to glory. But there are still a few of us around praising and following Jesus everyday with all of our heart! O Lord, please renew our numbers in the generations behind us! Raise up millions of Christ-followers who will let the Holy Spirit empower them to get and keep the trash out of their heart and life.

Look again!

Do you recall
The most famous
Birth of all?
Jesus the living God
Was born in human flesh.
Now He reigns as Lord of all!
Hear and obey His call
Throughout the day.
You’ll no longer find Him
As a babe in a manger,
But if you’ll look
With the eyes of your heart,
You can see Him living and working
In someone you consider to be a stranger.
Let the people of God assemble heart-to-heart,
In the life-changing, radical love of Jesus
As His Spirit-led ekklesia,
Not in routine religion.

Break out of
Religious routine.
Look and experience
The unseen Jesus.
Taste and see
What can’t be seen
With the human eye.
Open your heart to receive,
And to ever perceive
The reality
Of the risen Christ.

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Timing matters

Daily writing promptWhat skills or lessons have you learned recently?View all responses

My time and the right time rarely match. I want to know and to have the things that I want, right now, not later. I don’t want to wait. But right now is not the right time for everything. Somethings are better when they age. They are more fully appreciated when they require the patience of waiting and hoping and trusting through many delays.

I’ve worked for, waited for, and hoped for some things for many years. I still have unfilled dreams. I used to be disappointed by that fact, but now I’m learning to rejoice that I still have much to live for. Even if I don’t experience all I’ve longed for in my life, hoping keeps me looking forward with excitement, not looking back in discouragement or looking around in worry.

I’m learning to surrender my timing to God. I wrote this poem this very morning before I saw this writing prompt:

Chronos to Kiros

The Bible demonstrates
That abandoned dreams,
Disappointments left behind
In chronological time,
Are sometimes resurrected
When least expected
So they can be fulfilled
In God’s opportune time.
Let Joseph, Esther, David,
Hannah, Zechariah,
Moses, and Ruth
Reveal this hope-filled truth
And encourage you.

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Why do Christians settle for spectatorship instead of discipleship?

Spectator religion
Over and done
In an hour or two,
So little to do.
Just sit on a chair
Or an antique pew
And let a preacher
Run it all for you.

I believe that Jesus wants to build a spiritual army that follows His Sprit and overflows with His presence, not an audience for a preacher’s sermons. Christianity needs more demonstrations of the presence, power, and character of the risen Jesus and less of the institutionalism that lulls us to sleep. (The body of Christ is supposed to make disciples, not onlookers, observers, viewers, watchers, admirers, attendees, audience members, bystanders, or showgoers.)

Christian spectators watch and watch Sunday after Sunday with nothing to do but pay the preacher and come back next Sunday to sit through another service that’s almost precisely the same. Church is too often an audience of spectators stuck in the same ‘ole same ‘ole. Perhaps we need a shake up so we can wake up!

Spectator religion needs a celebrity on a platform who will give people something to look at during church services. When professional preachers and professional worship leaders are paid to study and practice all week so they can produce a professional performance on Sunday mornings, everyday people are pushed into the position of being politely passive spectators. Perhaps it would be better if we turned our eyes upon Jesus.

The focus of Christianity shouldn’t be about being a member of a religious organization. It should be about being led by the Holy Spirit. (See Romans 8:14.) Church attendance is a poor substitute for discipleship.

Christians like to set up rules, structures, organizations, and human leaders because that’s easier than being led by the Spirit. Refuse to let the wide road of spectator religion keep you from the narrow road of being personally led by the risen Jesus as He speaks to you through His still, small voice in your conscience and in the Bible.

Disciples are dedicated and devoted to doing what the risen Jesus says. They are disciplined and determined to daily follow and obey His will, not their own. Disciples want to know Jesus better and better and to let Him daily transform them into His own image.

Disciples are not made by lectures, a curriculum, or a scripted program. They’re not satisfied to just hear religious talks. Disciples learn to be led by God’s Spirit as they day-by-day surrender to and obey the presence of Christ living and working inside their heart. They are trained, equipped, and empowered to let the risen Jesus live in and work through them throughout the day. Be one!

Audience Christianity ambles aimlessly about. Discipleship demonstrates the presence, power, and love of the living Jesus. Let’s avoid Christ-less Christianity! According to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the world is filled with Christ-less Christianity. He said: “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” Preaching should invite people to become disciples of the living Jesus, not make them ever dependent on a preacher. Jesus said to go and make disciples, but church has gone and made spectators. (A spectator is not a disciple!)

To barricade your heart is to abandon discipleship! Discipleship chips away our human pride. That’s why it is so rare. A self-enclosed heart always resists Christian discipleship.

Church makes Sunday morning spectators, however, Jesus said to make disciples. It’s time to for Christ-followers to demonstrate the presence and reality of the risen Jesus, not just to listen to a preacher describe Him.

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I hope people say they see Jesus in me.

Daily writing promptTell us one thing you hope people say about you.View all responses

I hope and I pray that people see Christ living in and through me throughout each day. I do my best to make that happen by seeking to listen to and obey the risen Jesus with all my heart. I try to avoid the pitfalls of the Pharisees and the deconstructionists.

Christianity’s not all about the Bible, we also need the living Jesus. It’s also not about ignoring the Bible because reading the Bible with an open heart keeps us focused on the omnipresent Jesus.

I don’t want to be a Pharisee who makes the Bible a religious rule book to boast about, or a deconstructionist who picks the Bible apart. I seek to follow the risen Jesus and the Bible helps keep me on track.

Yesterday I got attacked by both sides. A fundamentalist kept insulting my belief that the risen Jesus can communicate with us and personally lead us throughout the day. Then a deconstructionist criticized me for focusing too much on the Bible. But I just kept reading the Bible and listening to Jesus! The Book (Christ in the Bible) and the brotherhood of believers (Christ in His gathered people) keep me focused on the present-day presence of the Beautiful One!

False prophets distract people from the presence of the risen Jesus and from the testimonies about Him in the Bible. They disagree with what the true prophets said about Jesus in the Bible. Have you heard directly from the risen Jesus lately? If not, why not?

Go and see the Prince of Peace for yourself. Even shepherds knew that it’s not enough to simply hear about Jesus. They went searching for Him until they found Him in the least likely place. After they experienced the presence of the living Jesus, they were overcome with joy and began to go and talk about Him everywhere. Their passionate, heart-felt words amazed people! Shouldn’t we act like the shepherds today and go and make disciples, instead of merely hearing a talk about Jesus and then going away and forgetting about what we heard?

When I read the Bible, it burns in my heart and makes me want to go and see and experience the things that the Lord has told me about in His Book. I’m not content to read about “peace on earth and good will to men.” I want to see Jesus brighten up my own heart. I want to be contagious with the light of God’s peace and good will and to spread it far and wide in this dark world.

Let’s do more than sing and hear talks about Jesus! Let’s get back to the heart of worship and bring Him more than a song. Try not to have a Christ-less life. Surrender your heart and future to the presence of the living Jesus! (And by the way, have yourself a holy, fired-up Christmas full of Pentecostal power.)

We live in a fallen world between light and darkness, between God’s living water and dry places. Look to hope not to despair. My picture illustrates this point.

My first day to experience “ekklesia”

Daily writing promptTell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc. View all responses

One day I walked into a group of about 60 people who were sharing testimonies about how Jesus Christ had changed their life. I had been to church plenty of times, but I had never been to a meeting like that before. As they shared with humility, passion, and zeal something instantly happened inside of me and I’ve never been the same. I’ve been walking and talking with the risen Jesus Christ ever since!

Now I trumpet this thought: Spirit-prompted child-like innocence will break the hardened clay pots that surround our heart. Gather with a few Christ-followers and give it a try.

God’s unconventional strategy is hidden by our use of the word church and our neglect of the meaning of the New Testament Greek word that church replaced. Church means: A building where people gather for sermons and ceremonies, a religious organization, or the organization’s members that gather in the building.

The Greek word ekklesia, however, has a completely different meaning. It is the proper name of the participatory town hall meeting in ancient Greek cities where any citizen could share what was on his heart. That’s the unconventional strategy that Jesus revealed when He, referring to the rock of direct, personal revelation from God, said: “I will build My ekklesia.” Christ’s unconventional strategy is to invite people to gather in His presence and to say and do whatever He prompts them to as they are led by His Spirit (See Matthew 16, Romans 8:14 and 1 Corinthians 14:26.)

Watching the Light of Christ shinning in and through ordinary people will produce awe and wonder. It will transform even the gloom and doom of deep darkness into joy and delight. Gather with some Christ-followers as each person present listens to the living Jesus and then shares and does what Jesus tells them to. Let the risen Jesus reveal His passionate and caring zeal for you by opening your heart and blasting away the burdens that bar you from receiving His Light and rejoicing in His love.

The art of opening your heart and being vulnerable is more caught than taught. To pass it on to others we have to model it for them by embracing the courage and humility to honestly reveal our heart in front of them. Then we need to encourage them and to be kindly receptive as we humbly hear people when they dare to share from their heart.

Jesus isn’t a teaching or a slogan. He’s a real person. We need to show people how to interact with and obey the living Jesus, not just to listen to religious information about Him.

Jesus said that He will be present when we gather in His name. If we open our heart, He will make us aware of His presence and will lead us by His Spirit. When people are actively worshipping Jesus from their heart, I can see radiant beams shinning from their face. When they open their heart to God and to each other it makes them hungry to read, absorb, and live the Bible.

The risen supernatural Jesus is hard to explain with human logic. Perhaps you could ask Him your questions and listen to His still small voice in your heart. His supernatural presence isn’t imaginary or magic. He’s truly risen from the dead and is now omnipresent.

Some people say that they never see a miracle. Every day I experience more miracles than I can count!

Pharisees focus on
Religious information
And impressing people
With their rule keeping,
Rather than discipleship
And heart transformation.

Ignoring the
Supernatural mystery
Of Christianity
Is spiritual insanity.

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Cold hearts need to be warmed

God’s living word
Is a roaring fire
To ever ignite
And brightly blaze
In broken human hearts,
Not a religious talk
About doing right
Or a creed to recite
Once a week.

Always remember
To fan the embers
And feed the fire
So God’s flame
Can flourish
In your heart.

Studying about God
Without experiencing
Heart-felt revelation
Won’t remove
The contamination
Within you.

Read the Bible
And hear it
While being
Sensitive
To God’s Spirit.

The greatest wealth
Is mental health.
It can’t be bought
But must be sought,
Filtered, refined
And brought
Out of the mine
And messy mire
Of the mind.

Think, say, and do
What produces
Love, joy, and peace
Inside of you.

How about a warm fire for your cold heart? Let your conscience and the Bible keep you sane in this crazy world. Jesus offers sanity to humanity, but it’s not a popular offer. He is real, alive, and knowable. He’s not just a religious story to be told. Spontaneous, stress-free, Christ-inspired playfulness and innocent, child-like silliness are aids to sanity that humans too quickly abandon.

The body of Christ is shattered into pieces, thousands of independent religious organizations all calling themselves church while disagreeing with each other, but Jesus wants all His followers to see themselves as one body united and being led and directed by His Spirit. See John 17:20-23. When Christ-followers gather and let Jesus be the active, controlling Leader, Lord, and King of the assembly the kingdom of God is revealed.

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Something keeps me speaking

Daily writing promptHave you ever performed on stage or given a speech?View all responses

I grew up very shy, uncomfortable interacting with people and afraid to speak in front of a group of people. I only had two friends in high school, a popular girl I had a crush on and dated quite a bit, but I was always nervous when I was around her and a guy who was frequently reaching out to me and inviting me to hang out with him. One of my classes required us to make a speech every six weeks and that was terrifying and tormenting.

Then in my freshman year of college I attended a Spirit-led Christian group on campus, and something immediately changed inside of me. I suddenly saw the 60 or so people present as welcoming, not threatening. From that moment on they were close friends and because of Jesus Christ we opened our hearts to each other.

The incredible change in my heart and life became a fire inside of me that made me want to tell other people about Jesus. I still felt afraid, but Christ in me gave me the courage to speak up and talk about Him on campus and in churches. I became very comfortable speaking to groups of people and even went to seminary and became a preacher. I loved preaching and feeling the presence of Jesus flowing from my heart to a group of people, but I was discouraged that few people opened their heart back to me. I eventually stepped aside from the religious pulpit and became a full-time motivational speaker for 12 years, until voice problems caused me to quit.

But even with a quirky sounding voice, the fire in me kept me speaking. I began to blog about Jesus and post about Him on social media. I wrote several books based on spiritual insights. I went to inner city neighborhoods and shared Jesus with discouraged people on the streets. Then as a result of something my wife did, I was hired to be the chaplain at a Salvation Army men’s rehab. There I gave speeches 5 times a week (with my quirky voice) and continually counseled men individually.

I discovered that I was deeply touched by hearing the men’s stories of brokenness and despair and I loved to see how my heart-felt listening could soothe and even heal their pain. After 5 1/2 years as the chaplain, The Salvation Army asked my wife and me if we would like to start a non-traditional church with them.

We jumped at the idea. For the next ten years we had sermon-free church. We would worship by inviting people to passionately sing to Jesus and then we would open the meeting for anyone present to speak as they felt-prompted by the Holy Spirit. Ordinary people made short heart-felt speeches about Jesus. They prayed out loud. They read Bible verses to the group. They encouraged one another. They celebrated joys and comforted each other’s pain. They were eloquent!

This was not the way Salvation Army churches functioned, but they allowed us to do this for 10 amazing years. Eventually a leader was sent to oversee their work in Nashville, and he disapproved of the way we did church and made us stop. My wife and I had no alternative but to leave and to continue to proclaim Jesus and to empower and release other people to do so.

Most of my “speaking” is now online. I have a series of videos on YouTube, but mostly I write. I wake up early every morning with fresh thoughts about Jesus in my mind, post them on Facebook and turn them into a blog. I can’t stop speaking about the glorious wonders of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ.

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People who like Jesus testimony parties

Daily writing promptWhat is something others do that sparks your admiration?View all responses

I look up to people who like to testify about what Jesus is doing. I would love to hang out more with people who love to talk about what they have seen and experienced Jesus doing in themselves and with other people.

Therefore, I’m hosting a Christmas Jesus testimony party on Zoom at 7:00 pm. Central Time (USA) on Monday, December 18. If you would like to come send me a message at stsimms@live.com and I will send you the link.

So what is a Jesus testimony party? Christians need regular testimony times: Times when they can hear what Jesus is doing and has done in ordinary people’s lives and share what He’s doing and has done in theirs. A Jesus testimony party is a gathering that gives people the freedom and opportunity to testify about Jesus.

Modern Christianity suffers from a testimony famine. Few people are telling what Jesus is doing and has done in their life. People who have seen and experienced Jesus working need to testify and not keep quiet. Silencing Christ’s witnesses quenches His Spirit.

A Jesus testimony party will get you excited about what Jesus is doing and has done in other people’s heart and life. Try it and see. Without Jesus testimony parties Christians lose sight of what Jesus is doing in people’s hearts and lives today. See Revelation 12:11. A Jesus testimony party often releases the power of God. (The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10.) A Jesus testimony party helps people overcome the things that try to hold them down. See Revelation 12:11. A Jesus testimony party let’s “the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Psalm 107:2.

A Jesus testimony party makes the joy of the Lord contagious. The best Jesus testimony parties let everybody present testify as Jesus prompts them and asks them to be sure that they allow plenty of time for everyone else to testify. If you’re new at having a Jesus testimony party, it can be helpful to use a timer so that no one person uses too much time.

If you can’t come to mine, you can have a Jesus testimony party. Get a group of people together (in person or on Zoom) and let everybody testify about what Jesus has done and is doing.

Have yourself a merry, Jesus testimony party full of Spirit-led cheer. Do it throughout the year.

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I admire people who open their heart.

Daily writing promptWhat is something others do that sparks your admiration?View all responses

I admire people who sincerely open their heart and publicly, yet humbly, show and tell others about their love for Jesus. When people who love Jesus begin to say so and to show so, the people around them will begin to see so and to know so. That’s a powerful way to make people aware of the presence and reality of the risen Jesus.

Jesus is never a no-show. We only think so because we overlook His presence. I admire people who allow the living Jesus to be the active and literal Head of their daily life.

I admire people who are openly Christ-reliant, those who come together to depend on the preeminence of His presence and the leading of His Spirit working in, through, and among them in all that they say and do.

Notice what the Lord
Has placed on your heart.
If you want to be
Led by the Spirit
That’s the place to start.

A heart that’s open
To God’s presence
And speaking openly
Opens the way
For people to hear
What the risen Jesus has to say.
Christianity needs that today!

If you want to know
How to grow
Closer to God,
Pay attention to what
Christ is doing in you
And go
With His inner flow.

It’s time for Christians to open up and be vulnerable so people can see the reality of the risen Jesus actively living and working in His followers. Begin today.

For more information about how to open your heart to Jesus and to people, read the bestselling book of all time. It’s full of OI — Official Intelligence. I find the Bible to be God’s official intelligence that matches my heart with the healing words that I need and helps me to connect with the risen Jesus and with other people.

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Doin’ Christmas Right!

Millions are numbered
Among the numb
And need some
Healing hope
That will last
And blast past
The knotted rope
Of their inner
Emptiness.

Doing Christmas
Without letting Christ
Live in you
And continually
Make you new
Misses the point.
Christmas gifts
And Advent candles
Can never out do
The gift of Christ
Ever living in you.

O come, O come
Emmanuel
And set hearts
That are numb
Free from glum
So they can hum
With the joy
Of your presence.

Lord, let me see
And live the victory
Of Your gift that
Infinitely surpasses
Human economy
And produces more awe
Than astronomy:
Jesus Christ living
Inside of me.

When people are
Numbed by apathy
They let thoughts destroy
Their capacity
For heart-felt joy.

To be upward bound
With Jesus Christ
You can’t keep
Numbing down
Your heart
And quenching
His Spirit.

Don’t let life annoy
And beat your heart
Like a drum
Until it wipes you out,
And makes you numb.
Find God’s rhythm
Of inner joy!

Going numb
Is not the way
To overcome
A painful day.

Humans are gifted by God. Life itself is a gift. The gift of God the Son to whosoever will trust in and rely on Jesus is offered to all. That’s the greatest gift of all. Let Jesus thaw the numbness in your heart.

Christmas is about the Creator becoming a human baby: Emmanuel, “God with us.” Jesus Christ is the genuine Christmas gift. Don’t let holiday distractions keep you from His presence.

What a gift! I love feeling a direct heart connection with the Creator who became a man as Jesus Christ and having a conscious awareness that He is always with me, living inside me, and lovingly communicating with me.

You can’t use the word Christmas without referring to Christ. Merry Christmas!

During famines of joy human hearts become numb. Let the living Jesus revive your hopes! O that church would become a place where people could come and hear what Emmanuel has done and is now doing in everyday people.

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