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!
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.
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.
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.Heavenly Comfort
Many of us are in search of a. . .comforter; something to ease our pain; help us relax; make us feel better; make it go away!
Some turn to comfort food; some turn to comfort drink; some turn to comfort substances. Some turn to work, some turn to play. Whatever we turn to, if we turn to anyone or anything instead of or before God, it is not real comfort, because real comfort works from the inside out, not the other way around. And when the resources for comfort comes from God, it will last.
For instance, when a substance runs out or wears off, and they will run out and wear off, the pain will come again, we just held it off a little longer.
For instance, it is painful to feel like we are inferior. It is painful to think we are worthless. It is painful to think nobody loves us. This kind of pain needs spiritual help! When we run to these temporary fixes long enough, they become habits that have the potential of getting a strong hold on us.
The solution starts with realizing that, God’s idea of comfort is a whole lot different than our ‘ideas’ of comfort, and when we tend to lean to the flesh for our solace, God wants us to lean to Him, to His Spirit. He wants to have a, strong hold on us, through the pain.
How do we do that?
Most Christians know that, when Jesus Christ left the world to go to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to help believers live their lives in a more victorious manner.
Here’s a Scripture,
Jesus told his followers before He went back to heaven. . .
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. . . the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither …John 14:16-27 KJV
Christians have been given a heavenly Teacher; a heavenly Counselor from their Savior; the Holy Spirit. He reveals to a believer who they REALLY are in Christ! He helps us feel better about ourselves in a good way!
For instance, a person that tells themselves they are inferior all the time may feel they just don’t know what they need to know, do what they need to do, in a certain situation or life in general, and when they lean to the flesh to make that bad feeling about themselves go away, they haven’t done a thing to help with the problem, they have just postponed the inevitable solution. . .the inevitable solution being, learn who they REALLY are in Jesus!
When we lean to the Holy Spirit, He teaches us who we REALLY are in Jesus, and then He helps us never let go of that! He keeps reminding us! If we forget and the flesh leanings start tugging at us, run to Jesus!
The Holy Spirit may also lead us to a resource or to a person to help us gain the knowledge we need at the time. That bag of cookies or that six pack is just a diversion and doesn’t help one bit!
Yes, faith should be the substance we run to. Faith in God. Faith comes by hearing God. We hear God when we read God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit instructs us, leads us in the truth of who we are in Jesus that is found in that Word! There is great comfort in KNOWING TRUTH, KNOWING JESUS!
Read the entire chapter of Romans 8, but here is a prayer taken from its content.
Father, help us no longer run to the flesh for our comfort or help, but run to You! May we no longer lean to the flesh when we’re feeling bad about ourselves, but rather focus on You, wherein lies our true life and peace! Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit to help us; lead us; WIN in life. Help us remember that You are for us, and that there is no distress, or trial, or persecution, or trouble that can separate us from Your unending, unfailing love for us, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! We win in life because we are. . .in LOVE! From now on, the Word of God will be our comfort food and we will get high knowing we are so very loved by You, and all the wonderful things that goes with that love! Amen