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.If you're like me, you have had seasons where you feel directionless, needing clarity about how to connect your daily activities to some important goal. For some of us it doesn't hit too hard until after retirement.This Thursday Hal Hadden will be joining us to talk about this. As the founder of Christian Leadership Concepts (now called Christ Led Communities), he has a lot of experience helping people with finding a deeper purpose that provides meaning in their life.

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.” 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.