Belonging House Fellowship

Christ John Otto
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Christ John Otto is the founder of Belonging House, an international fellowship of artists and creative people. Beth Charashim, the House of Artisans, is our Sunday online worshipping congregation. We are a community called to raise up an army of artists who will build Jesus a throne in the earth. Each week Christ John Otto teaches on the Big Ideas relevant to being a disciple of Jesus who is also a culture shaper.

  1. 1d ago

    I Will Go Low: Humility, Servanthood, and Trusting God to Raise You Up (Twelve I Wills)

    I will go low and become a servant and trust God to raise me up. Of all the Twelve I Wills, this is the one that sets Belonging House apart. Everyone else is promoting bigger, faster, harder. When Christ John Otto moved to Greater Boston in 2008, he asked God what He wanted him to do. The answer was two words: "Go low." Volunteering for the worst jobs and taking the lowest seat in the room taught him how pride blinds us to people and to God. In this teaching he looks at one of the spiritual laws of the universe from James 4:6: God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. What we cover p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Producers and promoters: the two kinds of artists, and why promoters eventually run out of material p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Being mistaken for the janitor by national ministry leaders, and what the way we treat janitors, secretaries, and waiters says about us p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Why Job isn't really about suffering: his friends' religious pride, God's song of Leviathan, and Job praying for the friends who wounded him p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Jesus emptying Himself and taking the form of a servant, and God exalting Him above every name p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Three practical steps: treat your work as a service and an offering, trust the process the way Joseph did, and be honest about your strengths and weaknesses p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Why poverty is not humility, wealth is not pride, and going low doesn't mean doing second-rate work or playing to lose p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Responding to someone who copied his work: forgiving, walking in quiet confidence, and becoming a writer who is harder to copy p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The hidden people of Herrnhut and Rees Howells: small, unnamed prayer meetings that changed history Scripture and references James 4:6 · Job 19:25–26, 41–42 · Luke 16:31 · Philippians 2:5–11 · Genesis 37–41 · Romans 5:3–5 · Herrnhut and the Moravian prayer meeting · Rees Howells · Seth Godin · Graham Cooke These Twelve I Wills are not rules. They are a lifestyle and a culture. Listen to the Lord and do what He tells you Our message is the ministry. So don't just listen to this teaching. Do it. This week, choose the lowest seat once a day. Take the job no one wants, serve someone who can't do anything for you, or let another person go first. Before you start, ask the Lord, "How do you want me to serve today?" Do that for seven days, and trust Him to do the lifting. Come under the roof Belonging House is a movement of artists and creative people, now reaching thirty-eight nations, learning to listen to God together. We are not trying to survive the storm. We are the storm. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The Friday email is the thread that holds us together. Sign up at belonging.house and you get the full archive, your very own private library. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Make the Belonging House Commitment, the Twelve I Wills, and you're welcome to join our Mighty Network community. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Pray with us daily at 7am ET / midday UK, and gather with the House of Artisans each week at 1:00 ET: Belonging House on Zoom. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Real Mail: original artwork in your mailbox every month, crafted with Human Intelligence. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> We are a 501(c)(3) through the Missionary Church International. Give to Belonging House here. Follow and pass it on Follow Belonging House Fellowship wherever you listen so each week's teaching comes to you, and leave a rating or review if your app allows it. It's how another artist finds us. Then send this to one creative person who is tired of the climb. We aren't recruiting. We're raising up, one person at a time. People like us do things like this. Fear not God can be trusted

    I Will Go Low: Humility, Servanthood, and Trusting God to Raise You Up (Twelve I Wills)

  2. Sep 28

    I Will Pursue Excellence: Growing in Your Craft as a Christian Artist

    I will pursue excellence in my craft and continually grow and learn. That's the next of the Twelve I Wills, and it comes down to two words: don't settle. Excellence is not perfection. It is refusing to settle for less than the best. Christ John Otto starts with a morning of prayer in the Massachusetts State House, and the lesson he took from it: no one sets out to become a crooked politician. You start out a hobbit, pick up the ring of power, and become Gollum. It happens one small compromise at a time. The same thing happens to churches, ministries, and artists. And the road to excellence begins in the same place: the small things. What we cover p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Why settling for the good means missing the best, and how short-term decisions have long-term consequences p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> "There is no authority for the sellout": lessons from the State House and the ordination process p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> 1 John and the spirit that "dissolves Jesus" drip by drip, through strategy instead of prayer and not offending the big donors p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Daniel and the ham sandwich: refusing the small compromise makes the golden idol and the lion's den easier to face p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> "Life is made of little things": Dr. Ellsworth Kalas, Father Andrew Mepham, and treating every movement as worship p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Why prophetic art faded, and why artists must learn to draw, write, and play before they start selling p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Sears, Amazon, and what happens when you stop growing p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Practical craft disciplines for visual artists, writers, and musicians, and why you shouldn't lean on online tools p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Kaizen: small daily improvements that add up, and the freedom to make little mistakes instead of big ones p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Why fear of failure is the fastest road to compromise, and why you can only steer a moving car Scripture and references Daniel 1, 3, and 6 · 1 John 4:3 · Kaizen · Dr. Ellsworth Kalas (Asbury Theological Seminary) · Myron Barnstone · Alex Tsavaras I will not settle for the spirit of the age. I will not bow down to the idol you have made. Listen to the Lord and do what He tells you Our message is the ministry. So don't just listen to this teaching. Do it. This week, choose one small thing to improve. Take five minutes a day to practice the basics of your craft, and five minutes of silence to listen to God. Do that for seven days. Excellence isn't perfection. It's the daily yes, one little change at a time. Listen to the Lord and do what He tells you Our message is the ministry. So don't just listen to this teaching. Do it. This week, find a quiet place and turn everything off. Take your notebook and the daily Gospel reading. Read it three times: with your head, with your heart, with your hands. Then ask Him what's on His agenda today. Do that for seven days. Most people who actually do this start hearing from God in less than a month. Seven days is enough to know something has moved. Your inner life determines your creative output, and this is where the inner life begins. Come under the roof Belonging House is a movement of artists and creative people, now reaching thirty-eight nations, learning to listen to God together. We are not trying to survive the storm. We are the storm. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The Friday email is the thread that holds us together. Sign up at belonging.house and you get the full archive, your very own private library. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Make the Belonging House Commitment, the Twelve I Wills, and you're welcome to join our Mighty Network community. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Pray with us daily at 7am ET / midday UK, and gather with the House of Artisans each week at 1:00 ET: Belonging House on Zoom. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Real Mail: original artwork in your mailbox every month, crafted with Human Intelligence. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> We are a 501(c)(3) through the Missionary Church International. Give to Belonging House here. Follow and pass it on Follow Belonging House Fellowship so each week's teaching comes to you, and leave a short review. It's how another artist finds us. Then send this to one creative person who has told you God doesn't speak to them. We aren't recruiting. We're raising up, one person at a time. People like us do things like this. Fear not God can be trusted.

    I Will Pursue Excellence: Growing in Your Craft as a Christian Artist

  3. Sep 20

    How to Hear God's Voice: A Simple Daily Listening Practice for Artists

    Listen to the Lord and do what he tells you. That single instruction is the heart of the Twelve I Wills, and it's where we move from spiritual values into practical ones — because artists and creative people work in the real world, with real things. In this episode I share two conversations from the same week — a stranger in a Greenwich Village coffee shop and a close friend whose job is being reshaped by AI — who both arrived at the same conclusion: as the digital world expands, the real becomes more important. In a time of unprecedented challenge, the only way to navigate is to learn to hear God's voice and act on it. Not listen and obey like a pet dog, but hear and follow as someone called to rule, reign, and partner with God. What we cover Three things that mimic listening to God: fifteen-minute devotionals that change nothing, Bible study that replaces relationship with the Author, and chasing conferences, books, and ministries for a word from God Why religious ideas can quietly protect diseased thoughts and beliefs, and how pride shuts down your ability to hear Listening to God as Teshuvah — returning to God's thoughts and God's ways instead of laying our perceptions over Scripture A simple daily practice: turn off the noise, settle your soul, keep a notebook, and start with the Gospel reading A simplified Lectio Divina: read the passage three times — listening with your head, your heart, and your hands The questions that reshape a day: What's on your agenda today? Who do you want to be for me? Who do you want me to be? How are you praying for me? Why this should take less than thirty minutes, and why the morning conversation is meant to continue all day long Scripture and references Isaiah 55 · 1 Corinthians 2 (the mind of Christ) · John 5:39–40 · John 10 (the Good Shepherd) · Hebrews 7:25 · Lectio Divina · Teshuvah     *:first-child]:mt-0 [&_>*:last-child]:mb-0" data-renderer="lm"> Listen to the Lord and do what He tells you Our message is the ministry. So don't just listen to this teaching — do it. This week, find a quiet place and turn everything off. Take your notebook and the daily Gospel reading. Read it three times: with your head, with your heart, with your hands. Then ask Him what's on His agenda today. Do that for seven days. Most people who actually do this start hearing from God in less than a month. Seven days is enough to know something has moved. Your inner life determines your creative output, and this is where the inner life begins. Come under the roof Belonging House is a movement of artists and creative people, now reaching thirty-eight nations, learning to listen to God together. We are not trying to survive the storm. We are the storm. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The Friday email — the thread that holds us together. Sign up at belonging.house and you get the full archive, your very own private library. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Make the Belonging House Commitment — the Twelve I Wills — and you're welcome to join our Mighty Network community. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Pray with us daily at 7am ET / midday UK, and gather with the House of Artisans each week at 1:00 ET: Belonging House on Zoom. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Real Mail — original artwork in your mailbox every month, crafted with Human Intelligence. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> We are a 501(c)(3) through the Missionary Church International. Give to Belonging House here   Follow and pass it on Follow Belonging House Fellowship so each week's teaching comes to you, and leave a short review. It's how another artist finds us. Then send this to one creative person who has told you God doesn't speak to them. We aren't recruiting. We're raising up, one person at a time. People like us do things like this. Fear not. God can be trusted.

    How to Hear God's Voice: A Simple Daily Listening Practice for Artists

  4. Sep 14

    I will Saturate, plus a bonus prophetic word for Rosh Hashanah

    This week Christ John Otto shares the prophetic word for 5787 on forgiveness and releasing loss to God.  He then prays for healing.   The teaching continues with our series on the Twelve I wills: I will saturate myself in the Bible, and let its story become my story. Christ John Otto teaches that Scripture isn't a rulebook of prooftexts, but the record of people who met God and wrote it down. He names the four "I wills" that come before the Bible — faith in Jesus, the Spirit, the Eucharist, relationship — then makes the case for saturating yourself in Scripture through the daily lectionary until you recognize God's voice everywhere else. God is not a character in your story, Otto says — you are a character in his. For artists and creative people learning to hear that voice for themselves. *:first-child]:mt-0 [&_>*:last-child]:mb-0" data-renderer="lm"> Come under the roof Belonging House is a movement of artists and creative people, now reaching thirty-eight nations, learning to listen to God together. We are not trying to survive the storm. We are the storm. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The Friday email — the thread that holds us together. Sign up at belonging.house and you get the full archive, your very own private library. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Make the Belonging House Commitment — the Twelve I Wills — and you're welcome to join our Mighty Network community. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Pray with us daily at 7am ET / midday UK, and gather with the House of Artisans each week at 1:00 ET: Belonging House on Zoom. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Real Mail — original artwork in your mailbox every month, crafted with Human Intelligence. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> We are a 501(c)(3) through the Missionary Church International. Give to Belonging House here. Follow and pass it on Follow Belonging House Fellowship in Apple Podcasts so each week's teaching comes to you, and leave a short review — it's how another artist finds us. Then send this to one creative person who has told you God doesn't speak to them. We aren't recruiting. We're raising up, one person at a time. People like us do things like this. Fear not. God can be trusted.

    I will Saturate, plus a bonus prophetic word for Rosh Hashanah

  5. Sep 8

    I Will Stay In Relationship

    Christ John Otto continues the Twelve I Wills series with a teaching on staying in relationship — the hardest one yet. He teaches from Ezekiel's call to warn the wandering, Paul's word in Romans to love one another, and Jesus in Matthew 18 on confronting sin and forgiveness. Otto admits he "herds cats" and would rather be alone with a book, but growth only comes through a fire team, not solitude. Love covers a multitude of sins. This teaching is for artists, creative people, and anyone tempted to flee when relationship gets hard. *:first-child]:mt-0 [&_>*:last-child]:mb-0" data-renderer="lm"> Come under the roof Belonging House is a movement of artists and creative people, now reaching thirty-eight nations, learning to listen to God together. We are not trying to survive the storm. We are the storm. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The Friday email — the thread that holds us together. Sign up at belonging.house and you get the full archive, your very own private library. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Make the Belonging House Commitment — the Twelve I Wills — and you're welcome to join our Mighty Network community. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Pray with us daily at 7am ET / midday UK, and gather with the House of Artisans each week at 1:00 ET: Belonging House on Zoom. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Real Mail — original artwork in your mailbox every month, crafted with Human Intelligence. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> We are a 501(c)(3) through the Missionary Church International. Give to Belonging House here. Follow and pass it on Follow Belonging House Fellowship in Apple Podcasts so each week's teaching comes to you, and leave a short review — it's how another artist finds us. Then send this to one creative person who has told you God doesn't speak to them. We aren't recruiting. We're raising up, one person at a time. People like us do things like this. Fear not. God can be trusted.

    I Will Stay In Relationship

  6. Sep 1

    The Twelve I Wills: I will attend to the Breaking of the Bread

    Christ John Otto teaches from Acts 2:42 on the next I Will: I will attend to the breaking of the bread and the prayers. He traces the phrase from the road to Emmaus — where the disciples know Jesus the moment he breaks the bread — to the first church in Acts and Justin Martyr's account of Sunday worship a century later. It always means the Eucharist, never just a meal. This teaching is for artists and creative people: Belonging House isn't a religious club. It's an apostolic mission to disciple the people who shape culture. *:first-child]:mt-0 [&_>*:last-child]:mb-0" data-renderer="lm"> Come under the roof Belonging House is a movement of artists and creative people, now reaching thirty-eight nations, learning to listen to God together. We are not trying to survive the storm. We are the storm. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The Friday email — the thread that holds us together. Sign up at belonging.house and you get the full archive, your very own private library. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Make the Belonging House Commitment — the Twelve I Wills — and you're welcome to join our Mighty Network community. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Pray with us daily at 7am ET / midday UK, and gather with the House of Artisans each week at 1:00 ET: Belonging House on Zoom. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Real Mail — original artwork in your mailbox every month, crafted with Human Intelligence. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> We are a 501(c)(3) through the Missionary Church International. Give to Belonging House here. Follow and pass it on Follow Belonging House Fellowship in Apple Podcasts so each week's teaching comes to you, and leave a short review — it's how another artist finds us. Then send this to one creative person who has told you God doesn't speak to them. We aren't recruiting. We're raising up, one person at a time. People like us do things like this. Fear not. God can be trusted.

    The Twelve I Wills: I will attend to the Breaking of the Bread

  7. Aug 23

    The Twelve I Wills: I Will Surrender

    This week Christ John Otto teaches from Isaiah's prophecy of the Key of David and Mary's fiat — "Let it be to me according to your word."   Surrender, not conventional strategy, unlocks the impossible.  He unpacks why knowing what God promised isn't enough — you have to surrender to God to get there, one step at a time.  For teaching is for artists, creative people, and anyone sitting on an unfulfilled promise. *:first-child]:mt-0 [&_>*:last-child]:mb-0" data-renderer="lm"> Come under the roof Belonging House is a movement of artists and creative people, now reaching thirty-eight nations, learning to listen to God together. We are not trying to survive the storm. We are the storm. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The Friday email — the thread that holds us together. Sign up at belonging.house and you get the full archive, your very own private library. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Make the Belonging House Commitment — the Twelve I Wills — and you're welcome to join our Mighty Network community. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Pray with us daily at 7am ET / midday UK, and gather with the House of Artisans each week at 1:00 ET: Belonging House on Zoom. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Real Mail — original artwork in your mailbox every month, crafted with Human Intelligence. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> We are a 501(c)(3) through the Missionary Church International. Give to Belonging House here. Follow and pass it on Follow Belonging House Fellowship in Apple Podcasts so each week's teaching comes to you, and leave a short review — it's how another artist finds us. Then send this to one creative person who has told you God doesn't speak to them. We aren't recruiting. We're raising up, one person at a time. People like us do things like this. Fear not. God can be trusted.

    The Twelve I Wills: I Will Surrender

  8. Aug 18

    The Twelve I Wills: I Will Believe

    Blessed is she who believed that the word of the Lord would be fulfilled.   In this opening message of a new series on the Twelve I Wills of Belonging House, Christ John Otto unpacks the Greek word *pisteuo* — believe.  This is the simple, non-burdensome command at the heart of the New Testament: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and love other people. Tracing the contrast between Zechariah's unbelief at the altar and Mary's belief at the annunciation in Luke 1, he shares his own decades-long story of learning to believe and what it costs to move from religious performance to genuine faith.    *:first-child]:mt-0 [&_>*:last-child]:mb-0" data-renderer="lm"> Come under the roof Belonging House is a movement of artists and creative people, now reaching thirty-eight nations, learning to listen to God together. We are not trying to survive the storm. We are the storm. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> The Friday email — the thread that holds us together. Sign up at belonging.house and you get the full archive, your very own private library. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Make the Belonging House Commitment — the Twelve I Wills — and you're welcome to join our Mighty Network community. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Pray with us daily at 7am ET / midday UK, and gather with the House of Artisans each week at 1:00 ET: Belonging House on Zoom. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> Real Mail — original artwork in your mailbox every month, crafted with Human Intelligence. p]:pt-0 [&>p]:mb-2 [&>p]:my-0"> We are a 501(c)(3) through the Missionary Church International. Give to Belonging House here. Follow and pass it on Follow Belonging House Fellowship in Apple Podcasts so each week's teaching comes to you, and leave a short review — it's how another artist finds us. Then send this to one creative person who has told you God doesn't speak to them. We aren't recruiting. We're raising up, one person at a time. People like us do things like this. Fear not. God can be trusted.

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About

Christ John Otto is the founder of Belonging House, an international fellowship of artists and creative people. Beth Charashim, the House of Artisans, is our Sunday online worshipping congregation. We are a community called to raise up an army of artists who will build Jesus a throne in the earth. Each week Christ John Otto teaches on the Big Ideas relevant to being a disciple of Jesus who is also a culture shaper.

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