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

We have a community for those who have made the Belonging House Commitment on Mighty Network. https://belonging-house.mn.co

From the beginning,

I have tried to model a basic ethic of hospitality,

and model the "Golden Rule."

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Put other people first.

Oddly,

some of you have seen this in action,

when we have had a few bad apples in our own mix.

Folks have interpreted my kindness to the ungrateful

as weakness,

and sometimes folks try to take advantage of me.

These situations do not change reality.

In the Kingdom

reality is

Take up your cross and follow Jesus

to his death, and your death.

You become a disciple when you do this.

And when you choose to be a disciple,

you begin to become a master copy of the Icon of the Father,

Jesus Christ.

And we are promised,

that if we share in his suffering

we will share in his glory.

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

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

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

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.

-----

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

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

_________________

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.

_____

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

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

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

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

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