For more information on the Franklin TN chapter of the New Canaan Society, go here: https://newcanaansociety.org/franklin/

How often have you prayed, "God, I'll go where you send me"? How often have you meant it?

Jon Petersen's story starts with missionary parents in Tokyo, but he describes himself as a product of the Jesus Revolution in California where he began church planting among counter-culture youth in the 1970s. Since then God has led him and his family to serve prostitutes, drug addicts, and Satanists in Amsterdam, then to evangelism, church planting, and prayer ministry in Russian Siberia, Eastern and Western Europe, and finally back here to the United States.

For the last 7 years he's been following God's call to minister to cities. Today, through City Table and Greenhouse Training, Jon equips church, business, and government leaders to bring transformation to their communities.

For more information on the Franklin TN chapter of the New Canaan Society, go here: https://newcanaansociety.org/franklin/

Steve Cummings, founder of Bringing Kingdom, has a passion for helping men fully realize their true identity as beloved sons and live out of it daily. He’s been doing it for over 30 years, and as an extension of this passion, he’s also helping to restart the Atlanta chapter of NCS.

Steve spent 16 years as a radio producer for such programs as “Breakpoint” with Chuck Colson and “Insight for Living” with Chuck Swindoll. Currently he’s employed with Redeemer City to City, which was co-founded by Tim Keller. He and his wife Julia are the hosts of The Parent Pivot Podcast, which helps parents of adult children pivot from parenting to partnering.

Most of us have struggled with a sense of purpose at one point or another.

How do you reconcile the ugly parts of yourself with the work of the Holy Spirit?

This week we're joined by George Tolbert, who will share about the need for God to heal the three parts of our soul: the sanctimonious, the straying, and the suffering.

Come hear his story about how God is continually doing this in his own life, and the joy and satisfaction it's created.

We are living longer than our grandparents. Are you ready for the gift of being older? “Late adulthood” said a recent article in Atlantic Monthly, “is a time when the potential for grandparenting, mentoring, and volunteering peaks. It can be a time when zero-sum goals such as social competition and personal ambition yield to positive-sum pursuits such as building community and nurturing relationships.” Are you ready for it? Sounds good to me! What are the opportunities, pleasures, challenges, and heartbreaks of growing older? Charles McGowan, who is in his mid-80s and a dear friend of many of us, will be with us Thursday to give a glimpse of what’s ahead. Charles is a retired Senior Pastor of churches in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee -- most recently at Christ Presbyterian Church. After retiring from the pastorate, he founded McGowan Global Institute with a mission of helping churches thrive. Ten years ago Charles and Neil Anderson told us what it was like being primary caregiver for their wives. Alice McGowan began her life in heaven nearly seven years ago. Whether “late adulthood” is years off, just around the corner, or if you are in it now, you will enjoy and benefit this Thursday from the wisdom and experience of a Nashville treasure, Charles McGowan.

If Jesus were to introduce you to a group of His friends, what would Jesus say about you?

Jamie Winship will be with us this Thursday to encourage each of us to listen to God telling us about our identity, about being the person God created YOU to be.

An Uber driver once said to Jamie, “Does God talk to you? Does he say, ‘This is the identity I have for you’? Because if God does that, it would be pretty amazing. If God told us our identity, we would know what to do with our lives.”

Jamie Winship is the author of the best-seller, Living Fearless. He was a Metro Police Officer in Washington DC and then spent more than 20 years in the Middle East working to diffuse terrorist organizations.

“In the one year I have been talking with people through Hope4America,” said Jay Frank, “I have personally responded to 395 prayer requests. Of those, 274 people have prayed to receive Christ. It is such a humbling experience.”

May our hearts be broken with the things that break the heart of God. This week some guy -- perhaps even in Middle Tennessee -- booked a flight to Cambodia to have sex with children. And the scam call you received yesterday may have come from a building in Myanmar with 100,000 scammers, who themselves have been trafficked and beaten if they don’t produce. I’ll admit sex tourism is not pleasant to talk about. It’s not on the top of my list for breakfast conversation. But human trafficking is not just a problem in Cambodia and Mexico. It has been reported in all 41 counties of Middle Tennessee. Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, generating one quarter trillion dollars a year. Numerous Christian organizations work to fight human trafficking. One of them – Atlas Free – is a network of 40 organizations in 25 countries working to end human trafficking. Jonathan Stone from Atlas Free will be with us this Thursday to tell us how he went from being a church planter and pastor to jumping in with both feet to help this cause. It’s a story worth hearing.

What is the Middle Tennessee New Canaan Society and why does it need newleadership? Mason Rutledge, president of the national organization, will be with us on Thursday.

Ray Mullican is a 62 year-old Franklin boy. You may know him from Brentwood Academy, from Christ Community Church, or from sitting next to him at Puckett’s. His story is not unique, but it is his to share this Thursday.