New Canaan Society Franklin Podcast

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.”   Hope4America uses social media ads to help people struggling with fear, anxiety, anger, loneliness, addiction, PTSD, and more. Those who click on an ad are directed to a page where they find hope for their struggles and a presentation of the Gospel. Those who next submit a prayer request are referred to a partner like Jay Frank.   This amazing ministry is headquartered in Brentwood. And this Thursday Jacques Aebli and Tom McCoy will tell us how Hope4America started, what it does, and how you can become involved.   Be sure to invite your friends who have a passion to help others find Christ. Jay Frank said, “I have to tell you Hope4America has been the most rewarding mission that I have ever been involved in. My spiritual life, my prayer life, and my relationships with others have been greatly enhanced.”

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.   NCS started as an east-coast group of guys who got together in the family room of Jim Lane's house in New Canaan, Connecticut, where they could share what was happening in their lives. They began to bond with each other and started other groups in Fairfield, Connecticut, Manhattan (where B.J. Weber was involved), Bergen County, New Jersey, and even Winston-Salem, North Carolina.   For several years B.J. urged Wes Yoder to start an NCS chapter in Franklin and in 2011 some brothers from Winston-Salem sponsored a lunch here to encourage us. Marty Wheeler, who was at the lunch, approached Andy Marshall to see if we could have the breakfast at Puckett's. Andy had been praying that God would use his restaurants for God's glory and we've been meeting at Puckett's ever since.   The early New Canaan Society groups had a New York flavor. The Manhattan chapter used to meet at Rockefeller Center, for instance. Our Middle Tennessee chapter has its own down-home flavor. But the goal is still the same: one guy telling another, “This is what I want to share with you from my own life.”

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.   Loss, grief, anger, rage, shame . . . depression. What happens when God turns out to not be who you thought He was? What happens when you do all the right things so that people will like you and so that God will be your genie in a bottle, but it stops working?   Ray was a faithful believer, a college athlete, an engineer with a beautiful new wife. He did his thing “for God” and God came through for him in incredible ways . . . or so it seemed. Then a series of losses including two failed business and practical bankruptcy brought grief . . . and shame . .  that led to rage-based depression, all while Ray got a Masters in Biblical Counseling and served as an elder at Christ Community Church. Ultimately, however, Ray sat in his car, praying and crying, “God I'm not going to kill myself, but I would appreciate it if you would give me a heart attack and let me die.”   Then God took away Ray's 9-year-old daughter, Erin, who died in a car accident. God's shocking, almost audible words to Ray's heart were unexpected.   Ray surrendered to a good God, not understanding everything. He soon came to mentor and deeply love the 17-year-old young man who had caused Erin's death. Ray now has an extraordinary job -- to follow Jesus and invest in others.

Dan Pitts, owner of True Artist Management, and Paige Pitts, founder of New Hope Academy, will be with us this Thursday.   Dan was a typical white kid who, Wes says, “knew next to nothing about racial injustice until he started working with Toby Mac and DC Talk and learned about the challenges that come with racial prejudice.” At the same time, Paige became deeply convinced that God calls His people to care about justice and righteousness. And since access to educational opportunities is a key indicator of racial inequality, she founded New Hope Academy 28 years ago in Franklin as a school of excellence that is both ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.   Williamson County is the 22nd richest county out of the 3,144 counties in America. It's easy for us to ignore the fact that some of us live in house trailers; a few still have outhouses; there is homelessness in our county. It's easy for us to ignore that God calls His people to care about justice and righteousness.

This Thursday Mark Montgomery, Williamson County Director for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, will share his story, including the opportunities he has had to be a coach of coaches.   Mark, a father of four, is from South Mississippi and attended Southern Miss on a football scholarship. Coaches are in a unique situation because athletes look up to them for guidance not just in sports but in other areas of life. Mark will tell us how he uses his experiences in teaching and coaching to encourage other coaches to reach young people in classrooms, on the fields, and courts.

Are you doing what God created you to do? Can you identify your spiritual gifting and do you understand God's purpose for your life?   This Thursday Andy Reese will ask two simple questions that will help you find your spiritual gift. This is not something just for 20-year-olds. Better understanding your spiritual gift later in life can help your gift to mature and strengthen and can be rewarding to you and a blessing to others.    Andy Reese has spoken twice at our NCS breakfast, but that was 12 years ago. He is a rainwater management engineer who also founded Freedom Prayer, a ministry that provides a biblical model of prayer counseling. He has four children, five grandchildren, is a retired military officer, writer, and serial entrepreneur.

Pastor Marvin Young, one of our own, has offered to share part of his fascinating story.  He's a big, passionate man with big, creative ideas who serves the one true God who, in so many ways, is bigger than we can comprehend.   What is Marvin passionate about? Food (he can talk about pork rinds and Creole seasonings), mentoring kids (he's starting a youth program in Franklin like the one he started in Ohio that helps young people become entrepreneurs), prayer (One Heart Ministries, of which he is pastor, has held Sunday evening Prayer on the Square, and Marvin leads a prayer walk every Friday morning at 6:30).   Marvin prays for unity, healing, and revival.  He and his brother were musicians with Starvin' Artist Entertainment.  He renovates houses.  And Marvin was a narcotics agent who switched sides.  He met Jesus in what he calls “Bible Camp” (Federal Prison).   Enjoy hearing part of his amazing story and testimony here and be sure to meet him on a future Thursday the next time you see him sit by the window at NCS.

This Thursday bring some new or good used shoes to NCS breakfast – as many children's shoes, men's shoes, women's shoes as you can donate so we can send them  to the Congo.   And meet Emmanuel Ntibonera who will tell us his story and why he is collecting shoes.   Emmanuel was born in eastern Congo (then called Zaire) near Rwanda. His first seven years were peaceful. Then rebels terrorized his town and his family fled. “As my bare feet carried me, my eyes and ears absorbed horrors I'll never forget. Limp bodies painted with dry blood on the side of the road. Women's screams turned my stomach. Children were looking for their parents, tears streaming down their faces. Through the madness, Dad warned us, over and over as we fled, ‘Don't look back.'”   Eventually the Ntibonera family all received refugee status and came to the U.S. where Emmanuel went to Liberty University and built his own life. One day he returned to his homeland and what he discovered there – disease, extreme poverty, deficient infrastructure, and a spirit of hopelessness – changed his life forever. He has taken more than 125,000 pairs of shoes to people in Congo, giving children confidence, pride in their well-being, and safety from foot infection.   Emmanuel is on the staff of Exile International, a Nashville organization serving child soldiers and children orphaned by war in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.   Brothers, I encourage you to hear Emmanuel's story this Thursday. His experiences are unlike those of most of us. But through it all, his family had faith like that of George Müller. They believed God would provide . . . and He did. They experienced miracles.

Why does God allow me to suffer?   We know that God is all powerful and that he loves us. And yet we suffer.   Gary Witherall can talk about suffering. In 2000 he and his wife, Bonnie, moved to Lebanon, began serving the church there, and learned Arabic. Bonnie worked in a Christian prenatal clinic and fell in love with the women she served. Life became more difficult after September 11, 2001. While Gary and Bonnie wept at the loss of American life, their neighbors celebrated it with joy. A year later when Bonnie went to the clinic, a man shot and killed her. The terrorist was never captured.

People in Nashville are feeling loneliness, burn-out, depression, and fear at a higher rate than most U.S. cities. We're a traumatized city.   Eleven years ago Nashville was declared (by The NY Times) to be the “It City.” Since then we've attracted amazing restaurants, sports fans, huge companies (think of Oracle's world headquarters), and bachelorettes in droves.     We're also a “Christian” city, a religiously divided city, and a racially divided and unaware city.   Are you confused about what's going on and where we're going? Two years ago the Operation Andrew Group (OAG) partnered with the Barna Group to research the State of Nashville. This Thursday Adam Buzard from OAG will reveal what they learned about Nashville, the church, and maybe even what's next.

Chances are you know a musician who would like to meet Michael and Celeste Guido.   Michael and Celeste were married in 1986 and have been walking alongside artists and entertainers ever since – encouraging and challenging them in their journeys of faith. The Guido's passion is to see lives changed by the love of God.   In a video on the PR Ministries website, musicians said Michael was “a bit of a legend,” “a mentor,” “he modeled for me how to walk a life of obedience to Jesus.”   Michael and Celeste travel on the road with musicians, welcome musicians into their home, strengthen their marriages, walk alongside in financial difficulties and family tragedies, model for them how to follow Jesus. They are with musicians in prayer, in Bible study, and in worship. Michael and Celeste's ministry is one of Pursuing Relationships (PR Ministries).   They have ministered to Michael W. Smith, Toby Mac, Jars of Clay, Stryper, and other Christian groups. And have also shepherded heavy metal musicians like Brian Welch and Dave Mustaine.   You want stories? Michael and Celeste will be with us this Thursday, May 16, to tell stories of God's work in the lives of artists, musicians, and entertainers.

“Parkinson's Disease is a gift,” said Michael J. Fox. “It's a gift that keeps taking because it's really opened me up to more compassion.” Another person with Parkinson's explained, “Stories can connect with people in a way that facts and scientific reports can't.”   This Thursday you can hear the stories of three people with Parkinson's, and the founder of Bridges for Parkinson's.   The three with Parkinson's are . . .             Wes Yoder – owner of Ambassador Speakers Bureau and Literary Agency, Wes started and is director of Middle Tennessee New Canaan Society . . . and your friend.             Joel Anderson – one of the best graphic artists I know. He is probably best known around here for his Spirit of Nashville posters and best known nationally for his National Parks posters, books, calendars, and gifts.             Bob Gurich – a Christian marriage and family counselor from Spring Hill. You may know Bob because he has been a regular with us at Puckett's.   And Colleen Bridges, an amazing personal trainer who eight years ago began Rock Steady Boxing to help those with Parkinson's maintain strength, balance, and endurance.   Chances are you won't get Parkinson's. One percent of people over 60 get it; most are men. But you do have friends with Parkinson's Disease. You owe it to yourself and them to hear these stories. And to hear Rich Gootee's song about living with Parkinson's, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDtbvzIVkEg. Rich, a Nashville singer-songwriter with Parkinson's, works out at Rock Steady Boxing.  

Andy Andrews is a gifted storyteller and author. His The Traveler's Gift, The Noticer, and How Do You Kill 11 Million People were all NY Times bestsellers. His The Bottom of the Pool was named by Forbes as “One of the Seven Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read.”    When Andy was 19, both his parents died – his mother from cancer; his father from an auto accident. Andy was homeless and hung out in a library reading more than 200 biographies of great men and women and came to realize there are seven decisions that determine a person's success. Andy has shared what he learned with 20 million readers of his 26 books and, according to a NY Times reporter, “has quietly become one of the most influential people in America.”   Last month he delivered a course on Critical Thinking to the U.S. Naval War College. Listening to Andy were the Commanding Major Generals of the Army, Air Force, Space Force, Marines, Coast Guard and military heads of 16 U.S. allied countries.

“Derek Young, a former executive at Dollar General and Cracker Barrel, was hands down the most popular keynoter and executive coach we used when I was working with Tennessee State government,” said Bucky Rosenbaum, one of the brothers on our Franklin NCS leadership team. “An experienced stand-up comedian and solid Christian, Derek would be comfortable talking to a room full of CEOs or to the guys at Puckett's.” When Bucky tells you something, you can take it to the bank. This Thursday you'll have a chance to see for yourself when Derek joins us at breakfast at Puckett's. A native of St. Louis and a lifelong Cardinals baseball fan, Derek Young is a corporate consultant and a community advocate in Nashville by his involvement with March of Dimes, Nashville Symphony, and Nashville Chamber of Commerce.

Palm Sunday -- the beginning of Passion Week when we celebrate Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem – is this coming Sunday. Most of us don't think about the fact that the roots of Passion Week go all the way back to Genesis. This Thursday Matt Davis will show us the Passion Week through Jewish eyes, linking it to the Old Testament. Matt explains, . . .    “It's like a two-act play. The Jewish people showed up for the first act of a play and left at intermission. The Christians showed up at intermission and watched the second act of the same play. The two groups passed each other in the lobby during intermission and never saw each other again.”   Matt Davis, a Messianic Jew who leads a ministry called The Jewish Road, will put it all together for us, bridging the gap between the Old Testament and the New. He promises that you've never heard the story told this way.

If you enjoy golf, you will want to join us this Thursday to meet Scott Lehman.   And if you are not a golfer, you will still be glad you came this Thursday to Puckett's to meet Scott Lehman.   Scott is founder and president of In His Grip Golf (www.inhisgripgolf.com/), a ministry that builds communities of men who enjoy golf and want to deepen their relationship with Jesus. Think of it as a group of guys just like us at NCS that meets on a golf course instead of at Puckett's.   Scott has been an avid golfer all his life. In 1997 he was a spectator for the first time at the Masters; when he got home his wife, Leslie, told him their marriage was over. The very short version is that they both dedicated their lives to Christ and have now been married 28 years.

You probably know Don best for his book Blue Like Jazz: Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, which was made into a movie and named one of the 20 best books of the decade. But that was twenty years ago.   Since then Don has helped people understand the importance of their story and wrote another best-selling book, Building a StoryBrand; Clarify Your Message so Customers will Listen.   This Thursday Don will tell us his story – from the time of self-discovery in Blue Like Jazzto realizing the importance of our stories and how great leaders invite people into a story.  

No snow this Thursday and high in the low 50s. It sounds like a perfect morning for NCS breakfast at Puckett's. Mika Edmondson, lead pastor at Koinonia Church in Nashville -- who was scheduled to be with us on January 18 -- will join us this Thursday. Mika was founding pastor of New City Fellowship, an Orthodox Presbyterian congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was called to Nashville a few years ago.

We're all busy. Life is chaotic. Many of us navigate through tough times thinking we're stressed from work and family, but some of us actually have something else gnawing away at a little corner of our brain that keeps us off balance. Something from deep in the past. It can affect us in ways we can't acknowledge or anticipate.    For Steve Gilreath -- who is one of us at Middle Tennessee NCS -- dark memories of the past stayed buried for 39 years. The emergence of the memories was a difficult one. What could God's plan be in a situation like this?    Steve is a producer and director, storyteller, and author. He's spent time with two presidents (without causing an international incident!) and has been a leader in the men's ministry and an Elder at Christ Community Church, leader with Young Life in inner-city Chicago, and is currently the Executive Director of On Demand Platforms for K-LOVE.  

What does it mean to follow Jesus with the explicit purpose of becoming the best version of yourself possible?   Josh Graves -- who, by the way, is the preaching and teaching minister at Otter Creek Church – has given this quite a bit of thought and will share those thoughts with us on Thursday morning. He says he wants to be with like-minded men who want to follow Jesus.   Josh's most recent book, The Simple Secret, has a wonderful subtitle: “Choosing Love in a Culture of Hostility.” “According to Jesus,” says Josh, “the purpose of our existence is to love and be loved. . . . The secret of life, it turns out, is no secret at all.”

You've probably read at least one of Henry Cloud's books. Boundaries (which he wrote with John Townsend) has helped more than 4 million people learn when to say yes and when to know how to say no. He's written books on leadership, integrity, and his most recent is on Trust – “When to Give It, When to Withhold It, How to Earn It, and How to Fix it When it Gets Broken.”   Dr. Cloud is a psychologist from Southern California where he and John Townsend directed the Minirth-Meier Clinic for many years. And like one or two others from California, Henry Cloud is thinking about moving to Middle Tennessee. So this Thursday let's be sure to give him a warm Middle-Tennessee welcome, y'all.

Have you ever felt as if the dreams you had for yourself would never be fulfilled? Perhaps you felt your life was spiraling out of control. Most of us have felt that way at one time or another.   Our God is a God of new beginnings. He said, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts. . . . Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the Lord your God, who does these miracles for you (Joel 2:25-26).   This Thursday Tom Moucka will tell us his story of God's restoring love and the second chance God gave him.   You may know Tom (he is one of us). You may remember him because he told us about the Samson Society last August after Nate Larkin told his story. (Tom is president of the Samson Society).   I knew Tom a number of years ago when he felt his life was spiraling out of control. This Thursday is a day I've been praying for . . . when Tom can praise the Lord who has done these miracles for him.

Lance Villio, Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, will be with us at Puckett's for breakfast. Previously Lance was executive director of I am Second, video taping the stories of people who have overcome struggles by putting Jesus Christ first.   A little history -- In the 1990s faith-based groups had to have a secular affiliate before they could receive federal funding. Yet faith-based groups did a better job than government agencies at helping those with addictions and homelessness, with child welfare, and with other issues. In the 2000 presidential campaign, both major party candidates called for federal partnerships with faith-based organizations and George W. Bush (#43) issued a series of executive orders requiring equal treatment for religious organizations seeking federal funds to subsidize social programs. This let states open similar programs.   In Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee created in his first term an office that would work with faith-based groups. He said we are all called to feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisoned, care for our neighbors, and provide healing to those who are suffering.   Lance Villio has been directing that office and will tell us about its work, what the opportunities and challenges are for a believer working in politics, and what we can do to help these organizations.

It sounds like a county music song or a story of a politician's early years.   Byron Williamson grew up with his mom in a shack with no electricity or indoor plumbing in a small north Texas farming village.   A few years later Byron became a book publisher and in 2021 the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association presented him with The Chair's Award for Lifetime Achievement.   Byron has headed Worthy Publishing, Word Publishing, Thomas Nelson books, and Integrity Publishers. He's published books by Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Billy Graham, Max Lucado, John MacArthur, and Frank Peretti. He worked with Sarah Young to create Jesus Calling, which has sold more than 45 million copies.   As far as we're concerned, though, Byron's claim to fame is that he's usually at the table near the buffet line at Puckett's on the first and third Thursdays. And this coming Thursday he will tell us how God led him every step of the way, although the path was not always straight or anticipated.

At 5:30 one morning the doorbell rang at Brad Ketch's home on his 5-acre estate just outside Portland, Oregon. “I need help,” said a Latino teenager. “My friends stopped the car, hit me on the head, took all my stuff, and threw me in your bushes. Can you drive me home? It's about three miles from here.” “My friend and I are going to the gym and driving right by your house,” said Brad. “He's picking me up in a few minutes. We'll help you out.” Brad's friend pulled up in his Mercedes and was silently appalled at the dirty teenager sliding into his back seat. Brad Ketch had no frame of reference for this kid's life. At Renaldo's apartment was a car up on blocks, a Little Mermaid sheet in the living-room window where curtains ought to be, and a dirty, torn screen door. The parking lot was next to a strip club, an hourly motel where people cooked meth, and the hub of a narcotics business. “I could not get Renaldo out of my mind,” said Brad. “What should I do?” When he mentioned it to his wife, she said, “Maybe we should just do what Mother Teresa said when rich people came to volunteer in Calcutta: ‘Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely, in your own homes, your own families, in your workplaces and schools. You can find Calcutta all over the world if you have eyes to see.'”

“There were days I thought about how to end my alcoholic step dad's life,” said Matt Blount. “He had physically beat me and one time even ripped my hair out. “When I look back now I can see where God had plans for my life, even though I did not know it at the time. When I had a child of my own I started to seek God because somehow I knew I was not going to be able to be a dad without the Lord.” Slowly God revealed to Matthew how He would use the abuse and suffering of Matt's youth to serve kids. And last year God released him from the walls of self-protection he had built around himself and freed him to serve the needs of 150 children in Uganda through a ministry that operates a school and orphanage. There's more to the story. Be sure to come this Thursday to meet Matt if you don't already know him. “I hope my story will inspire you to see God's work in your life,” said Matthew, “particularly in the area where you may have believed that He was far from you.”

Joe Battaglia is one of the more recent Yankees from the New York City area to move to Franklin and join us at NCS. He has been part of the Bergen County, NJ, New Canaan Society for many years, and he's been thoroughly vetted and released to live in Tennessee. Although he's from NYC, Joe is friendly and outgoing.   Joe started the first local Christian magazine in the New York area in 1973, was general manager of WWDJ, a Christian radio station there, and founded Renaissance Communications, “a media company whose mission is to provide media platforms for gifted communicators of biblical truth.” He has also been on the board of Gospel Music Association.   When I talked to Joe about how God has led him, he said, “Yes, I have had a number of interesting things happen . . . and people I've met. Yet, I never talk about people I know, but the God I know and how I've seen Him work providentially and what I've learned through all that.”

“Today is the Best Day of My Life” has been the life theme of Kevin Burns ever since he landed on Death Row more than 30 years ago.   Kevin Burns is one of the pastors at Franklin Community Church and the “in-residence” pastor of Riverbend Maximum Security Correctional Facility's The Church of Life – the only church on a death row anywhere in the United States. Kevin Burns will be with us, via cell phone, in this podcast along with Franklin Community Church's senior pastor, Kevin Riggs.     In 1992 Kevin was caught in a gun fight in Memphis in which two people were killed. Three people, including Kevin, were convicted of felony murder, although Kevin did not actually kill anyone. The other two, who did commit the murders and were convicted, are now out on parole. Kevin is still awaiting his execution. His case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which in April refused to review it in spite of the strong objections of Justices Sotomayor, Jackson, and Kagan.   A year after Kevin's arrest, God called him to become a believer. “God has the ability to change people,” he says. “There is that opportunity for salvation, for reconciliation, for God to restore lives.”   It's not often that we have a speaker at our little breakfast group that is featured in a national television story the same month they are at NCS. We'll provide more details about an upcoming ABC News story about the inconsistences of felony murder convictions in the United States that features Kevin Burns.

More than thirty years ago a publisher asked a little-known preacher in western Canada to write a book on how to experience God. The preacher had been challenging his listeners to ask, “What does God want to do through me?” because, he said, “God uses ordinary people to do extra-ordinary things.”   Like many busy preachers, Henry Blackaby did not have time to write a book. And so Claude King helped him write Experiencing God, a book that has been used since 1990 to transform lives, revive churches, heal marriages, and start ministries. For instance, Paul Van Woudenberg, who told us two months ago about Connect South Central Tennessee, is one person whose life was changed by Experiencing God.   In this presentation, Claude King, who wrote Experiencing God with Henry Blackaby and was Discipleship Specialist for Lifeway and is co-founder of Final Command Ministries, tells us how he learned that his own plans led nowhere. But when he joined God in where God was working, God used him to be a blessing to others. From New Mexico to Africa, from prisons to executive offices, the message of Experiencing God has been transformative and Claude has been in the middle of where God is working.

What does it mean to live a good life? What is true happiness? What are the habits, practices, and dispositions that facilitate human flourishing? You can find the answers – or at least listen to people who have wrestled with the questions -- on “No Small Endeavor,”the theological variety show that used to be called “Tokens.”   Or you can explore the answers at the NCS breakfast this Thursday when “No Small Endeavor” host Lee Camp will join us.   Lee is an Alabamian by birth, a Tennessean by choice, and has sojourned joyfully in Indiana, Texas, and Nairobi. He likes to think of himself as a radical conservative, or an orthodox liberal; loves teaching college and seminary students at Lipscomb University; delights in flying sailplanes; finds dark chocolate covered almonds with turbinado sea salt to be one of the finest confections of the human species; and gives great thanks for his lovely wife Laura, his three sons, and an abundance of family and friends. Besides teaching full-time and hosting “No Small Endeavor,” Lee has authored three books.   We do not expect either Brother Preacher or the Most Outstanding Horeb Mountain Boys to be with us. If you listen to the “Tokens Show,” that will make sense. If you don't listen to the “Tokens Show,” it's not worth explaining.

Today, we're going to talk about making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children.   There are 8,500 children in the foster care program in Tennessee. The children who are not with one of Tennessee's 4,000 foster families have to be housed by the Tennessee Department of Children's Services. In Tennessee there are 400 children waiting for adoption. Those are the statistics and there is a lot we can do to support these vulnerable kids.   This Thursday Paul van Woudenberg will tell his story of how God called him and Rebecca to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable children – first by supporting children overseas, then by adopting and hosting children themselves, and finally by forming Connect South Central Tennessee -- a non-profit organization that encourages churches to support their local Department of Children's Services office and showing God's love to vulnerable children and the adults who care for them.   Paul's Linked-in profile says he is a husband, father, and passionate advocate for vulnerable children. The benefit is not one way. Paul says, “I believe God is going to use these kids to wake up the church in Middle Tennessee.”

Did you know that our group is one of 45 chapters of the New Canaan Society? It's named after the town in Connecticut where 28 years ago three men started meeting in the family room of Jim Lane's house. After twenty years with Goldman Sachs, Jim had realized his life needed to be re-focused through friendship with brothers who wanted to “live pure, speak truth, right wrong, and worship the king” – to quote the NCS motto.   This Thursday, June 1, Tom Cole will be with us. Tom had a leadership role in the Manhattan chapter since it was formed in 2008 and served on the Board of Directors of New Canaan Society for the last 11 years.   Tom recently retired from a 37-year career on Wall Street where, during the last twenty years, he financed leveraged buyouts for the world's largest private equity firms. The first thing he did in retirement was to write The Narrow Gate. After suffering two heart attacks and becoming keenly aware that every day is a gift, he wanted to document life lessons for his family.    Tom will talk about some of these important lessons which he has learned from his own mistakes and adversity.

You probably know Michael Card as a musician who has written “El Shaddai,” “Love Crucified Arose,” and Emmanuel.” But his goal in life was not to be a musician, but to follow Christ and teach the Bible. He believes we can know and be known by God and can enrich our lives by asking questions, having meaningful discussion with one another, and acknowledging Christ as the center of our life together.

As the son of a Pentecostal preacher, Nate Larkin spent his childhood in storefront missions, camp meetings, and youth rallies. But after just five years in the pastorate, Nate quit because of an addiction to pornography and commercial sex and a private despair about his moral failures and the fear of public exposure.   After years of praying, fasting, and repenting in private, Nate finally found help for his sex addiction in the authentic friendship and safety of a 12-step recovery group. The 12-step group accomplished what solitary prayer and fasting could not do. He learned that the Christian life was designed by God as a team sport!   Nearly 20 years ago Nate and a few other Christian men began meeting in groups called The Samson Society where they had a safe place to take their real selves and say real truth about things they had kept hidden. Since then more than 450 Samson Society groups have started in North America and nearly 10,000 men have participated.   One way to think about it is that “Sound of Freedom” – this summer's hit movie about child sex trafficking – tells a story about combating the supply side of an evil, while the Samson Society deals with the demand side of the same evil in men's hearts.    In part, the growth has been due to the leadership of Tom Moucka, who has been president of the Samson Society for the last six years.   Nate was the second speaker we had at our NCS breakfasts a dozen years ago and Tom is frequently with us at Puckett's. Both Nate and Tom will be with us this Thursday, August 3, to share their stories and what God has been doing in their lives and through the Samson Society.

In February, 2020, Hank Erwin told us at NCS that his sons – Andrew and Jon, who had created Woodlawn, I Can Only Imagine, and other movies – were going to open a movie studio in Franklin. They did and a few months ago Kingdom Story Company released the hugely successful film Jesus Revolution.   In this podcast, Hank tells us about plans to bring Greg Laurie and a Harvest Crusade to Nashville in the summer of 2024.   Hank will bring two of his friends with him – Hope Hines, former sports director at WTVF, and Darrell Waltrip. Both are on the leadership team for Nashville's Harvest Crusade.

Our community is struggling with unfamiliar emotions. Three weeks ago we experienced the devastating shooting at Covenant School, and that experience will be with us for weeks, months, and for some a lifetime. We are collectively left with more questions than answers and many of us are still experiencing grief.   In this podcast, Anita Pringle, Clinical Director and a grief and trauma therapist at the Refuge Center in Franklin, will give us some insight into how to care for our own grief and how to love on the people who are hurting. She will share some thoughts on how to explain things to children in your life and when it is best to say nothing. Sometimes it's best to listen and be aware.   Anita will talk with us for ten minutes or so and then give you a chance to ask her whatever is on your heart.   Our prayer is that this content will be one small step in helping us to heal.

In this podcast, you will hear a remarkable story of redemption, of how God brought together two men whose faith carried each of them through both personal and family persecution.    Ulises (Uli) Reyes, was born in Venezuela, immigrated to U.S. through Cuba as young child, and grew up on the streets of East Los Angeles. Today, he owns a successful beauty salon in downtown Franklin and helps an NGO that supports children in Nicaragua.    Alvardo (Al) Rivas, grew up as an orphan in Nicaragua and went to Los Angeles as young man. Through Young Life, Al felt God's call to support orphans like himself in his home country, and so returned to Nicaragua to work with NGOs supporting children. However, he was forced to flee his country, leaving his wife and child, and sought political asylum in the U.S. Al is here in Franklin, awaiting trial to decide if he will be granted political asylum and permitted to stay. His story includes having to go underground to get out of Nicaragua, spending days in an enclosed container with 150 other people, many of whom died, and finally arriving in the United States.    This is an emotional, very real story of how God cared for Uli and Al, brought them together, and how their friendship is impacting their own lives especially their walk with God.

If you are concerned about what seems to be a shrinking influence of Christ on our culture, this podcast will be an encouragement.   It's true that Pew research reports that only 63% of Americans say they are Christians – down from 75% ten years ago. And Barna research reports that Generation Z is the least Christian generation in American history with only 4% of today's teenagers holding a biblical worldview.   If you think the church is on the ropes because of what you're seeing in the U.S. and Western Europe, you will be blown away by what the Holy Spirit is doing in other parts of the world – Africa, for instance.   This Thursday we will hear from Larry Warren, founder of Leadership International, and Jeremy Johnson, vice president of Oasis International, a book and Bible publisher in Africa. You'll hear amazing stories of a hunger for the Word of God unlike anything in the U.S. and the tremendous opportunities to satisfy that hunger.   “How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of those in China, the Middle East, Latin America, and more.” (adaptation of Hebrews 11:32). Join us on Thursday to be encouraged by a few amazing stories of the work of the Holy Spirit in Africa.

Morgan comes from a family who has served Nashville well. His great grandfather founded the National Life and Accident Insurance Company, his mother helped establish Vanderbilt's Children's Hospital, his father has written 28 books on Nashville's history, and his parents were key to the restoration of the Belle Meade Farm.   Morgan has been president and CEO of Siloam Health, a faith-based, volunteer-supported clinic for people with no health insurance and limited resources, primarily immigrants. Siloam serves people from 70 nations who speak 50 languages. Morgan has also received an MA in marketplace theology from Regent College.   Siloam does not just meet the physical needs of the people it serves. It provides a place where they can feel safe and loved. It's called whole-person medicine.   This month Morgan is stepping down from his position at Siloam to become an associate professor at the Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont, a school that in April, 2024 will begin training medical providers to treat patients as human beings and not just broken bodies.

Buddy got his start playing with country superstar Jerry Reed's band. He has played at a Billy Graham crusade before 250,000 people in Central Park, NY, and ten years later played the “William Tell Overture” on harmonica at Carnegie Hall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoauBe465qQ). Buddy feels equally at home playing with Jeff Taylor at Station Inn or reading a book by Reinhold Niebuhr in the back of a tour bus. And as a songwriter, he is best known for having written – with Mark Lowry – the Christmas classic, “Mary, Did You Know.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! . . . Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! . . . There will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. . . . You will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. . . . Then the King will say . . . , ‘Come, you blessed of My father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Jesus speaks passionately in Matthew 23, 24, and 25.   Last March Chip Arnold, a Nashville actor who has played Paul, Jesus, and King Saul as well as Willy Loman (in “Death of a Salesman”), Henrik Ibsen, Henry Potter (in “It's a Wonderful Life”), and many others, presented The Sermon on the Mount to us at NCS.   This Thursday Chip will present Jesus's powerful words in three chapters at the end of Matthew. Chip says, “The words I memorized and speak are true. Most important, the words reveal the One who was and is the true source of power and life. I am not the same man.”     By the way, if you want to hear Chip's presentation of the Sermon on the Mount, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X6LL8ZMghs&t=11s

John Chisum, founder of Nashville Christian Songwriters, says that in spite of a successful career as music business executive and songwriter . . .   “At age 58 my life fell apart. I found myself struggling to connect with God, myself, my loved ones, and with meaningful ministry and work. It all just came to a grinding halt. I was hitting rock bottom in almost every area of my life. I fell into a darkness I had never known before.   “That was the toughest year of my life, but little did I know that it was all a set up for something much bigger: a new me that was much braver, much bolder, much more fearless and internally successful than ever before.   “I want to share what I've learned these last few years. I want to share how changing my perspective on faith, God, and myself has allowed me to flourish like never before.”

Chandler Means and his wife have been foster parents to more than 30 children over the last 16 years. Some of those have been from horrific backgrounds and Chandler and his wife have experienced heartache, joy, frustration, and celebration. He is now executive director of Agape, an organization in Nashville that strengthens children and families. For this breakfast we invited brothers to share their stories with us. Paul Aldrich and Denny Brownlee (part of our leadership team) led us in a few songs and then Chandler told us about his experiences as a foster father.

Last summer my wife, Lois, heard a radio interview with Barbara Miller Juliani, who told about growing up in a Christian family, rejecting her parents' Christianity, and joyfully reconciling with her parents and with the Lord. Lois bought the book that Barbara wrote with her father – Come Back, Barbara. When I realized that Barbara's father was Jack Miller – professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, founder of World Harvest Mission (now Serge), and a mentor of Scotty Smith -- I reached out to Scotty because I had heard him talk about Jack Miller in reverential tones for nearly as long as I had known Scotty.   One of Jack Miller's sons said the story “is not just the story of a prodigal daughter, but also of a father who was acting like the elder son. Dad's willingness to first take the beam out of his eye transformed him into the kind of dad a prodigal would want to return to.”   Jack Miller died 26 years ago and cannot be with us in person. Scotty will be Jack's stand-in to tell us the story of a father's pursuit of a prodigal daughter.

Jeff Allen combines clean and hilarious humor with inspiration.   He's performed for American troops, twice at the National Prayer Breakfast, starred in specials on Comedy Central, and been featured on Bill Gaither's Homecoming Tours.   And although “Jeff is a class act and true gentleman,” (according to the CEO of BlueCreek Investment Partners), he's going to be with us this Thursday, December 15. If you know anyone who is a class act and a true gentleman – unlike the rest of us -- invite them to join us.

Have you heard this story before?   A real estate appraiser in Austin quits his job and moves to Nashville to pursue his career as a songwriter. He supports himself by parking cars and working in a warehouse.   Remember that your next valet parking attendant may become another Allen Shamblin. Allen has written hit songs for Randy Travis, Bonnie Raitt, Miranda Lambert, and others and is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.   At one point, however, Allen was at what he thought was the end of his career. He had writer's block and the words just would not come to the page. Feeling useless and frustrated he turned to God and . . . well, you will have to wait for the rest of the story when Allen Shamblin joins us this Thursday at Puckett's.

Rob Touchstone, our speaker this Thursday, is passionate about helping students at Lipscomb (where he just founded the Center for Vocational Discovery) discover who they are and what they are living for and how their vocation fits into God's plan for their lives.   Young people wrestle with this. Then they settle into their vocation and many of us — men especially — find our identity in our jobs. That seems to serve us well until . . . our job ends. Mostly through retirement.   So perhaps Rob's experience helping young people discover who they are and what they are living for will be of benefit to a few older men who are once again asking, “who am I and what am I living for?” Come on Thursday when Rob tells his own story and how he found the answer in Christ Jesus.   There's a lot more to Rob's story than just the Center for Vocational Discovery . . . more than I can include here.

Casey Beathard seemed to lead a charmed life.   His father was an NFL general manager and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Casey was a high school football star and then played in college. He moved to Nashville where he was named Songwriter of the Year in 2004 and 2008. One son is a quarterback with the Jacksonville Jaguars and another is a recording artist with Dot Records. No problems, right?   Then a third son was fatally stabbed one night outside the Dogwood Bar and Grill on Division Street in Nashville. Through it all, Casey is on fire for the Lord. His son's tragic death has opened doors and hearts for the Lord.