Why Did Jesus Ascend into Heaven?
Belonging House Fellowship
Simon Sinek once said that great leaders lead from their "why." I once worked for an art company that gave the staff random directions but never told us what we were doing or why we were doing it. And I recall the directions were always in bits, one task at a time. It was very frustrating, and the end goal always suffered because the staff did not know why they were doing it. Eventually I quit. A lot of people think God is like this. That everything is on a need to know basis, and that we are given directions to obey. And if you miss it, well it sucks to be you. Back to being an unhappy...
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The Holy Spirit Manifests
Belonging House Fellowship
The Father Speaks. The Son does, the Holy Spirit manifests. And so the Father calls a new creation. He sends his Son. And what does the Son do? The son only does what He sees the Father doing. The Father initiates, and the Son administrates. The Son carries out the word of the Father. And so the Son becomes sin for us. The son empties himself and becomes a servant. The Son becomes the word made flesh. The son conquers death and rises from the dead. But these things are limited by the physical reality that Jesus is one person. The Father has spoken, the Son has done his...
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You are Character in God's Story
Belonging House Fellowship
This week we share a long form conversation with a member of the Belonging House Community, LaChé Heron. You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com You can support us at https://www.zeffy.com/donation-form/raise-up-an-army-of-artists You can view Belonging House Books here:
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The Lamb Will Be Your Shepherd.
Belonging House Fellowship
You are not a sinner. Sin is not what defines you. Sin is nothing more than static on your new identity, because Holies do not live in sin. And as you hear the Shepherds voice, and you present your body to the Shepherd, you are more and more transformed into the real you. Jesus tells you who you are. Jesus reminds you of his love. Jesus encourages you to become more and more your true identity in Christ. And everything that sticks to you, with the static cling of sin, will fall away. You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com Christ John Otto writes at...
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Heaven is in You.
Belonging House Fellowship
Revelation This Kingdom is not one of outward appearances, but a kingdom of internal realities. As Jesus said, his body was the temple, and it would be destroyed, and on the third day it would be raised up. On the cross the veil of his temple was torn, his heart was pierced, and out of that temple of his body flowed blood and water. That water, was the Holy Spirit. To be a Christian is to be a little Christ, a temple of the Holy Spirit. You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com...
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Receive the Holy Spirit
Belonging House Fellowship
Jesus Christ did not come to start a religion, but rather, he came to establish his Kingdom. And on this eighth day of Easter, we look at the second half of John 20, and what Jesus did first after his victory over death. He gave the ability to forgive sin in the power of the Holy Spirit. You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com You can support us at buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto You can view Belonging House Books here:
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Easter Sunday: Jesus did it all for Love.
Belonging House Fellowship
Follow the Love in John's gospel. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com You can support us at buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto You can view Belonging House Books here:
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What Did Jesus Write?
Belonging House Fellowship
Today we have one of the gospel readings that has captured the imaginations of millions of people. This wild story, where a woman is in the act of adultery, and dragged into the temple precincts, and they are about to stone her. And of course, this episode is a test to see what Jesus will do. They are trying to provoke him so that they have a pretext to claim he is a false prophet, so that they can stone him along with the woman. Lots of people have talked about the obvious facts. No one commits adultery alone. Where is the other party? Was he the married one? And why were all...
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I will Arise and Go to My Father
Belonging House Fellowship
This Sunday is about repentance. As it says in Hosea: Come, let us return to the Lord who has stricken us, and he will heal us, and on the third day he will raise us up. You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com You can support us at buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto You can view Belonging House Books here:
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Don't Be Deeply Weird
Belonging House Fellowship
We have to be reminded continually that Jesus Christ did not come to start a religion but rather he came to establish a Kingdom. Our religious grids sometimes keep us from the Kingdom. At the same time, a lot of people think that the Body of Christ is a jelly-fish. All that matters is my relationship with Jesus and everything else is up for grabs. Have you noticed that jellyfish never build anything? The Kingdom as it says in Revelation is taking the world from a wild garden to a city. And cities and kingdoms have order. We see this in Leviticus. There is a very clear order about God's plan...
info_outlineLegend tells us that Joseph of Arimathea
a tin merchant,
came to Glastonbury,
and put his staff in the ground
and it sprouted.
This tree blooms twice a year
in the spring
and on Christmas.
And this tree, the Glastonbury Thorn,
is the root of Christianity in Britain.
And by the way,
this tree,
genetically linked to the eastern mediterranean,
survives through cuttings
and still blooms at Christmas.
In the undercroft of the York Minster
is a tile from the first century,
and that tile is inscribed with the monogram of Christ,
the Chi-Rho.
So we have two bits of evidence
that Christianity has been in Britain for two-thousand years.
And it is the tree from which Belonging House springs.
Belonging House International is a community of artists and creative people called to build Jesus a throne in the earth. In other words, we make disciples who will disciple the nations in the world of creativity.
You can get our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.substack.com
Christ John Otto writes at https://christjohnotto.substack.com
You can support us at buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
You can view Belonging House Books here: https://bookshop.org/shop/belonginghouse
We have a community for those who have made the Belonging House Commitment on Mighty Network. https://belonging-house.mn.co