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.
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 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.Fears, Failures and Faults, oh my!
This blog title may have you thinking about Dorothy and her friends walking into the forest crying, “Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!”
Sometimes I think, Christians walk about in this world crying, “Fears, failures and faults, oh my!”
Even though Christians are the Church of Jesus Christ, loved immensely by Jesus Christ, and have been washed clean by Him, to be presented without spot, wrinkle or blemish to God, we all know Christians are not perfect. . .here. And nobody knows that better than a Christian!
A few examples. . .
Ephesians 5:26-27
For instance, Christians may be afraid to speak up for Christ for fear of harassment or intimidation.
2 Timothy 3:12
And even though a Christian is charged to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and to love their neighbor as themselves, we know they can fail at this sometimes.
Matthew 22:37-39
And Christians can have faults too, but they are commanded to confess them to one another and then pray for one another for healing.
James 5:16
Now to the main point of this blog. . .
If you are a Christian, envision yourself walking down the ‘yellow brick road of life’ and suddenly, a fear, failure or fault jumps out at you. Let’s say someone has offended you and you fail to walk in love. You experience resentment. You may resist it immediately, or stew on it for a bit, but eventually, because you know resentment is not right, you pray to God to help you and He does and you win in it, not because you’re so strong, but because God, Who lives within you, is so strong.
. . .but have you ever then, found yourself thinking?
“I can’t wait until the day when I reach that ‘emerald city’ and never have to walk through all these fears, failures and faults anymore!”
Well, that day is not in our future, that day is in our today. . .every day. Now, I know that fears, failures and faults can be scary, but the good news is, we have a defense against them. . .the love of God, and every time we let love win, we win. For you see, there is an enemy of Love always out there waiting to pounce on and destroy the effects Love can have on this world. The enemy does not want people to win, he wants people to fail. . .he wants people to fall, just like he has fallen. The enemy of God hates all.
God, that created all things, is love and it is God’s love that keeps people from falling.
A Christian is someone that has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, so God’s love is not ‘somewhere out there’ but God’s love is living within their hearts; always there for them.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:1-5
So, we stay ready for these ‘heart attacks’ by staying spiritually fit. . . by daily;
- loving God, loving ourselves and loving others
- keeping our eyes on Jesus by denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Him
- exhorting others
- fighting the good fight of faith
- forgiving and being forgiven
- walking by faith, not by feelings
- having patience in the work our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done, is doing and will continue to do in us, in the sight of God and our Father
- praying, praying, and more praying
And Jesus Christ gave us a prayer to pray. It is a daily prayer. Why do I say it is a daily prayer? Because within the very prayer are the words. . .give us this day our daily bread.
Here’s the prayer:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18