A clarion call has been made to gather the saints for a grassroots effort across the state of Tennessee. We will serve those in authority from the Courthouse to the White House. We will serve through intercession for and interaction with governmental leaders in order to impact our cities, our state and nation. We will not only minister to those in the high place, but also those in the forgotten place. We will discern the heartbeat of cities and communities from mayors and city and county officials to determine how we can best serve those in authority. May we rise up rather than fall back in this hour and walk through the gates of government to serve with the heart and mind of Christ.
The power of prayer is an incredible thing. At Philanthropy, we know that prayer is something important – but let us attempt to explain how much the Lord blesses us every day. About a year ago, Philanthropy started The Prayer Wall based on a story of a personal battle with cancer, and a mission set on our hearts from one of our customers. A random interaction turned into a very important day for all of us.
The following article, containing dozens of spiritual quotes by our United States Presidents, is taken from Ed Moore's book, Prayer Force One: Across America. It is presented here in order to preserve the foundations of our nation's spiritual heritage. You may order Ed Moore's book by clicking on the book at the right.
Welcome to The Belonging! We are a Church that loves God and loves people. We are passionate about seeing people encounter God through worship, and experience the freedom that comes through knowing Jesus. Whoever you are, and wherever you come from, you are welcome!
Each year, students gather around their school's flag pole for SYATP - the Global Day of Student Prayer. This year, SYATP is on September 25 and we want to show the power of prayer in the Nashville community.We can make anything look good these days. It’s amazing what we can be led to believe if we have enough theatre put in front of us. Practically anything can be turned into, let’s say a....fairy tale.
We are currently in a historical political time, and in my opinion, political national conventions can be a bit theatrical on both sides. Each side tends to give their candidate a hero persona so we will buy into their side and vote for them. They make beautifully scripted speeches about them. They give out colorful banners & signs for us to wave for them. They show heartfelt video clips about them and play powerful songs. They make campaign promise after promise. Then for the grand finale, they drop thousands of red, white and blue balloons on us and confetti! Then the fireworks begin. And we go away thinking, wow what a candidate! Almost too good to be true……
And then the conventions are over and we’re back in the real world with real life issues that have to be really dealt with. That’s the political world, but I’d like to talk to you about our everyday world and how a ‘fairy tale’ narrative is presented to us so much of the time. Yes, this world has a way of dangling a carrot in front of us to get us to buy into something or buy something, whether it is an ideal or a product. Just think about the ads we see over and over again. Most of the time, they show perfect people in perfect situations. These people are trying to persuade us to buy into or buy something. They may promise that their product will make us happier, healthier, wiser....and they are, in a way, shaping our identity in some way or the other at the same time.
A couple of examples…
A life of partying may be fun for a while, but down the road, in the real world. . .
A life that of immoral acts may feel good for a while, but down the road, in the real world. . .
I’m sure Moses had a life that looked good in Egypt.. . but Moses didn’t buy into that lifestyle. No, Moses chose God. He chose real over fake. And we all have to make that choice in life over and over again. . .real or fake.
Moses left Egypt and decided to follow God; decided to listen to God; decided to obey God, and he brought a lot of people with him along the way, and so do we.
In, what is known as, the hall of faith chapter (Hebrews 11) the first verse goes like this:
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
People of faith are listed in this chapter. Moses is in that list:
By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard life with God’s people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah’s camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king’s blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going. (The Message Bible)
If we want to go down a road that is real verses a road that is fake or phony, we should choose God too.
The one choice we can make that can help guarantee that we will consistently go down roads, or make decisions that are real in life, is to decide to follow Christ. When we decide to follow Him, we can find out about all the real promises. . .the promises of God. When we begin to identify with Christ, our lives will have a sure path. And even though all the promises seem to be too good to be true, they are true because God does not lie.
Via letter, Peter warned some saints about false narratives being given by false prophets and teachers. Here are some of the things these false leaders had in common:
- They made bad choices
- They denied the Lord
- They spoke against truth
- They used people for gain
- They used bad language
- They were morally unclean
- They despised rules
- They were audacious
- They spoke evil of things they didn’t understand
- They were rebellious
- They could not stop sinning
- They were persuasive
- They were unstable
- They were narcissistic
Peter said these false leaders may look good, but they would eventually lead them down a road leading to nowhere; leading to no good.
Peter referred to these false instructors as...
....wells without water, clouds carried with a tempest...
Jesus began many statements with the phrase..
Verily, verily I say unto you.
This is basically beginning a statement with. . .
This is true; amen; so be it.
Here is one of those statements:
Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working. Matthew 5:17-18 The Message Bible
He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. John 6:47
Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. John 8:34
Not only are we promised eternal life in the hereafter, but abundant life in the here and now
. . .real life!
I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. John 10:10 The Message Bible
So say amen/yes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, pray a prayer of faith and acknowledge and confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. . .
because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation. Romans 10:9-10 Amplified Bible
What Christ promises all that believe on Him are real and true and He doesn’t present them in an ambiguous manner either, as let’s say, politicians sometimes do. He is straight forward and He tells us upfront the sacrifice, the patience, the faith involved in obtaining them.
Read the New Testament and see the many promises of God given to all that believe on Christ and these are not like ‘campaign promises’, these are real.