Belonging House Fellowship

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...

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 p...

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://...

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...

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 enco...

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 directio...

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...

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 f...

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...

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

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 Sh...

You don't climb your way up in the Kingdom. That's the world's thinking. The Kingdom is built on the foundation of a Lamb who was slain. The law of the universe is the law of death and resurrection. You choose to die to something, and the greatest death is to your pride. And when you choose this, the resurrection life of Jesus the power of the Holy Spirit, cannot resist. The Holy Spirit loves the...

I once found the best description of discipleship, in all places, on Wikipedia. A disciple in the ancient world was a person who followed a master teacher and tried in every way to become like them, in dress, in speech, and in learning. As I put it a few years ago, A disciple is a master copy of the original. Jesus is the Icon of the Father, and a disciple is a copy of the Icon. A disciple is a wa...

This week Christ John Otto teaches from Isaiah 35:4-7. The phrase "Fear not" or it's variants "be not afraid" "do not be afraid' appears well over five hundred times in the Bible. "Be of good courage" appears 56 times. "Be strong and courageous" appears 49 times. His most recent book is Artists at a Shift in Time (ISBN 979-8987409916), available wherever books are sold. https://bookshop.org/shop/c...

You don't have to stop being artistic if you want to function as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher. God uses artistic people to release his glory in the earth. When we talk about the Five-fold ministry, the personality and unique qualities of the artist are going to manifest in particular ways. His most recent book is Artists at a Shift in Time (ISBN 979-8987409916), available wh...

Of all the stories and miracles in the New Testament, there is only one that is repeated in all the gospels. There is only one miracle that Jesus stopped and explained. And there is only one miracle that is referenced again and again throughout the early church fathers. And this miracle is the feeding of the five thousand. And now, we are coming to the climax of this discussion. And if you read Gr...

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published In this week's reading, Jesus draws a connection between seeing him as the one who is revealing the Father, and seeing him as the bread of life. And most important of all, He connects eating the bread seeing him and receiving eternal life. You cannot receive eternal life unless you see correctly. Seeing correctly, and eternal...

Of all the stories and miracles in the New Testament, there is only one that is repeated in all the gospels. There is only one miracle that Jesus stopped and explained. And there is only one miracle that is referenced again and again throughout the early church fathers. And this miracle is the feeding of the five thousand. This week we continue with an encounter in a synagogue about signs and brea...

Of all the stories and miracles in the New Testament, there is only one   that is repeated in all the gospels. There is only one miracle that Jesus stopped and explained. And there is only one miracle   that is referenced again and again   throughout the early church fathers. And this miracle   is the feeding of the five thousand. Christ John Otto leads a community of Artists and Creative People c...

Christ John Otto leads a community of Artists and Creative People called Belonging House. 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 pro...

The Evangelist serves a very important job, they expand and send out "tendrils" of growth in the body. They are the reproductive system, they cause the body to increase. They are the feet the go to new people and places. And they are the ones who get the message out. Christ John Otto leads a community of Artists and Creative People called Belonging House. His most recent book is Artists at a Shift...

In the Kingdom, everything is always personal. This is why a lot of theology is a mirage. When you bring it back to Jesus, and the Incarnation, and the fact that the Five-fold ministry is about the Incarnation, and that artistic apostles and prophets are Incarnations of Jesus, it is all very clear. If you reject a prophet and an apostle you are rejecting Jesus. Christ John Otto leads a community o...

Prophets are called, tested, refined, and then released. Christ John Otto leads a community of Artists and Creative People called Belonging House. 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:/...

The gift of prophecy is going to come from the Comforter, Advocate, and Giver of life. The New Covenant is about life. New Covenant Prophecy is a gift of life, not judgement and death. And Paul says this in I Corinthians 14. Prophecy first is for upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation. The gift of prophecy is going make people feel stronger, strengthened to go in the right direction, and be he...

Paul says that the five-fold gifts are for the Body. And what is the Body? It is the physical presence of the spiritual reality of Jesus in the earth. It is not a group of people who have embraced some doctrine, it is the embodiment of Jesus in the earth. You and everyone else are supposed to be the body of Jesus on earth. This is Incarnational reality: As it says in Colossians: This is the myster...