Avsnitt
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Christ John Otto is the founder of Belonging House. We are called to raise up an army of artists who will build Jesus a throne in the earth.
You can find him at
https://x.com/ChristJohnOtto
https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
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Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 2:22-32
It's hard to believe, but Christmas was forty days ago.
This year, the end of the Christmas cycle, The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple falls on a Sunday.
We have been talking about how the Kingdom of God is a symbolic Kingdom, and how this relates to the sacramental principle, and the means of grace:
God uses physical things and actions to communicate his Presence, Person, and Power.
Today we are going to look at the presentation of Jesus
and in order to discover how to encounter the Holy Spirit when God is moving.
People miss what God is doing,
because they are looking at the wrong things.
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Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
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Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
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When we talk about the means of grace,
after the sacraments
is the word of God.
And the reading and proclamation of the word
is a sacrament.
It is an act that releases the power and grace of God.
And so this week,
we are given two readings where we actually see this happen,
under the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah
and Jesus in the Synagogue.
This week I want to look at this passage in Luke from a slightly different angle,
and talk about two things:
the ancient pathway that never gets old;
the way the church has encouraged us to read scripture.
And the slippery slope,
liberal theology
and the authority of scripture.
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Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
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It is a bit shocking
that God would use the most common of all elements
to be the sign of birth into the Kingdom.
And throughout scripture
water will be linked to the Holy Spirit.
Water is the sign of creation,
rebirth of the world,
the river of life from the Temple,
rivers of living water out of our bellies,
washing,
cleansing,
and blessing.
And yes,
Paul says water is a symbol of death and resurrection,
but that reference is an outlier.
Water is more often about life
and birth.
Jesus is the living water.
Water is the most powerful solvent on earth.
All things can dissolve in water.
Water can become steam and drive engines.
Water can freeze and become ice.
Water can move mountains
through erosion.
Up here in New England we have seen whole rock formations
collapse because ice got in,
expanded and split the rock.
Water can evaporate and become clouds.
Water can come down as snow.
Water is the most powerful force on earth
Everything can be changed by water,
but nothing changes water.
Just like the Holy Spirit.
Belonging House is an international fellowship of artists and creative people.
Check out our Friday email at https://belonginghouse.org
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The Kingdom of God is a symbolic kingdom.
Symbols are God’s primary language.
This is why
if you focus too much on the Bible as a written word
you miss so much.
And this is why
Christianity has produced so much visual art,
and why this art is full of language and messages
that we can read.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
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Matthew 2:1-10
This isn't about stars and kings
and Christmas gifts.
This is about the Kingdom of God,
and
Matthew is showing us
that outsiders,
pagans,
who are paying attention,
recognize that the Kingdom of God
is being manifested on earth,
and those who are supposed to know
miss it.
He is pointing out what Jesus would say later on:
beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod.
Politics is not the Kingdom,
and neither is religion.
The Kingdom is about food.
It is about being fed by the good Shepherd,
and he is bringing bread for the life of the world.
He is bread
for the life of the world.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
#magi #epiphany
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Turn in your Bible to Luke 2:15-21.
The Christmas readings often stop at verse 20.
And because this story is in Christmas specials
sandwiched between Rudolph and ads for Coca-Cola,
we think that this story,
the one with shepherds and angels
is fantastical.
These angels are for many of us,
just like Santa's elves at the North Pole.
Even "evangelicals" have been so influenced
by liberal theology
that they have accepted that
this is in the mythical category.
Classical,
Catholic and Orthodox
Christianity
teaches us that these angels are not mythical
and that at any moment you might have an encounter
with an angel.
Hebrews reminds us to welcome the stranger,
because you might be meet an "angel unawares."
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
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The Messiah is coming,
and you are not ready.
Get ready.
We are back to the central theme of scripture:
God is a Father looking for bride for his son.
The bride is faithless,
so the son lays down his life to redeem her,
and then we all sit down at the Father's table
forever.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
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God is saying today,
take the lid off.
There are no limitations.
With God all things are possible.
There is something in you
that only you can do.
God has given you unique abilities,
callings,
giftings,
and experiences.
There will never be another you.
It's okay to celebrate that and embrace that.
And when you do,
when you discover that embrace,
you can experience and walk in
the flow of God for your life.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
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Jeremiah is being given a promise:
the house of David,
which seems to be at a very low point,
is going to produce a Branch.
Isaiah tells us a
branch will come from the stump of Jesse.
And Zechariah also gives us this image
of a righteous branch.
In the ancient world,
and especially among royalty,
the idea of a branch
always refers to a royal line.
This is the Kingly line.
This is the Messianic promise
God made to David in II Samuel 7:
You will not build me a house,
but I will build you a house,
and someone will sit on your throne
forever.
We are looking back,
and we are looking forward.
Jeremiah
in a hopeless situation
is promised that a Branch will come forth,
and by this branch,
We will know the LORD is our righteousness.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
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Jim Leach, the "Rustic Mystic" shares insights on waiting with God from Isaiah 40.
Belonging House is an international fellowship of Christian artists called to build a throne for Jesus in the earth.
Jim Leach is co-leader of the Spirit Wind Center in Stonington, Connecticut. You can find out more at https://spiritwindcenter.org
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://missionofbezalel.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
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If you have spent any time among
conservative types of churches,
this topic can become a real turnoff,
because there is a cottage industry
around the rapture
and end-times prophecy.
And honestly,
it seems like the second coming takes
a back seat to the tribulation,
and the whole thing is completely
disconnected from reality.
Let's go back to our main thesis:
Jesus Christ did not come to start a religion,
he came to establish a Kingdom.
The whole Bible
from beginning to end
is about this Kingdom.
It is not about religion.
And when you try to understand the second coming
from a religious grid,
things get weird.
And it is really important for artists and creative people.
Because if you try to fit your life
into the religious grid,
you produce bad art.
If you are an artist for the Kingdom
there is a lot of freedom.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://missionofbezalel.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
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I Kings 17:9-16
If you have one take away today,
it is this:
We are characters in God's story,
God is not a character in our story.
When you get this right,
your thinking will begin to change.
The second important takeaway is this:
you have to let go and release
if you are going to receive.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://christjohnotto.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
My new book is Artists at a Shift in Time. https:// tinyurl.com/3etazb6s
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Matthew 5:1-9
The Kingdom is always advancing.
This teaching is the heart of all that Jesus said.
Go low,
let the Holy Spirit fill you.
Let your inner life determine your creative output.
And as you do,
the blessing of God,
the enlargement of the Kingdom
is going to manifest in you.
And yes,
that is going to result in resistance,
but that resistance is the proof you are going in the right direction.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://missionofbezalel.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
My new book is Artists at a Shift in Time.
beatitudes blessing -
Jesus Christ, as it says in Galatians 3:13-14,
became a curse for us on the cross.
He took upon himself our curses.
And when he did,
he made a way for us to be free.
The process of getting free from a curse,
because Jesus did the hard part,
is relatively simple.
Christ John Otto writes at https://Belonginghouse.org and https://missionofbezalel.substack.com
If this encourages you, support my work at https://buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto
Or become a Patron at https://patreon.com/belonginghousemedia?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
My new book is Artists at a Shift in Time. The audio book comes out November 1.
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And finally,
all spiritual warfare
comes back down to basic discipleship.
Listen to the Lord and do what he tells you.
Pray.
Know your Bible.
Receive the Eucharist weekly.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And be normal.
Satan loves weird Christians
who don't do these things and run from one trend to another.
The slow steady walk with Jesus
has so much power
that Satan will do anything to keep you from it.
Belonging House is an international fellowship of artists and creative people, who since 2006, have been raising up an army of artists who will build Jesus a throne in the earth.
You can receive Christ (rhymes with "wrist") John Otto's Friday email at https://belonginghouse.org
If these messages encourage you, share them with your friends.
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One of the topics that comes up in our community is the subject of spiritual warfare. It is very clear when you walk into the world of the arts that there is a spiritual battle going on for the cultures of the world. So for the next three weeks I am going to talk about spiritual warfare. This week will be a foundation, next week will be about the nature of witchcraft, and the last week will be on blessing and cursing.
Each week Christ John Otto teaches at Beth Charashim, the House of Artisans, on Zoom. His most recent book is Artists at a Shift in Time (ISBN 979-8987409916), available wherever books are sold. https://bookshop.org/shop/christjohnotto You can find his Friday email at https://belonginghouse.org He writes longer essays at https://missionofbezalel.substack.com You can be part of the provision flow at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto #belonginghouse #spiritualwarfare
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A special message for the start of the new Hebrew calendar year. Christ John Otto shares insights on God's prophetic rhythm, and the a teaching on II Kings 9, and the death of Jezebel
You can find out more at belonginghouse.org
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You cannot preach deny yourself, and leave an empty hole. And you cannot preach sanctity without the Power of the Holy Spirit. It's sham theology. We all have needs. If you don't fill the void with the Holy Spirit, you will go after money, sex, and power. That's a cheap imitation of Provision, Wholeness, and Anointing. And it costs a lot to get those things. His most recent book is Artists at a Shift in Time (ISBN 979-8987409916), available wherever books are sold. https://bookshop.org/shop/christjohnotto You can find his Friday email at https://christjohnotto.substack.com He writes longer essays at https://missionofbezalel.substack.com You can be part of the provision flow at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/christjohnotto #fivefoldministry #creative #belonginghouse #artists #faith
- Visa fler
