Advertise on podcast: New Canaan Society Franklin Podcast

For more information on the Franklin, TN chapter of the New Canaan Society, go here: https://newcanaansociety.org/franklin/ There’s a tension in the Christian life that’s easy to miss: we tend to think of freedom as the ability to do what we want. Scripture often points us in the opposite direction. This week we’re hearing from one of our own, Jeff Valdes. For more than three decades Jeff has built a career as a commercial real estate broker while simultaneously doing something seemingly unrelated on the side: traveling the world teaching pastors and church leaders how to read and understand the Bible. Jeff is the founder of The Berean Way, an author, international speaker, and lifelong student of Scripture. His deep cultural background fuels a passion for God’s truth and for helping others better understand His Word. But this week isn’t a Bible lesson. Jeff is going to share his own testimony and what he has learned about the relationship between obedience, freedom, and the love of God. His story challenges an assumption many of us carry: that obedience is primarily about restriction. What if, instead, obedience is one of the ways God leads us into freedom?

For more information on the Franklin, TN chapter of the New Canaan Society, go here: https://newcanaansociety.org/franklin/ Have you ever wondered why, even after a vacation, you still feel tired? I know I’ve felt that. This week we have the privilege of hearing from Curtis “CZ” Zackery. Curtis is a city pastor, author, and founder of Find Rest, a ministry dedicated to helping people discover the kind of rest that can’t be found in a vacation, a slower schedule, or another achievement. Let’s be honest: we know how to work hard. Many of us don’t know how to truly rest. His message is rooted in a simple but often overlooked truth: our deepest rest isn’t found in doing less, but in abiding more deeply in Christ. If you’ve ever felt worn down, distracted, or like you’re running on empty, maybe the thing you need most isn’t another day off. Maybe it’s a different kind of rest.

For more information on the Franklin, TN chapter of the New Canaan Society, go here: https://newcanaansociety.org/franklin/ Scott has served in influential churches in both New York City and Nashville and is the author of several widely read books on faith, leadership, and spiritual formation. He’s known for bringing theological depth together with honesty about the pressures men face—ambition, success, failure, identity, and grace. He has helped many navigate what it means to follow Christ with conviction and humility in a complicated cultural moment, and today he's working with the Sycamore Community to continue that work.

For more information on the Franklin, TN chapter of the New Canaan Society, go here: https://newcanaansociety.org/franklin/ L. Gregory Jones (he goes by Greg) is currently the President of Belmont University, with the vision to be "the leading Christ-centered university in the world, radically championing the pursuit of life abundant for all people." He's overseen a lot of growth there and continues to strengthen the University's role in creating positive change both locally and globally. He has a long track record of leadership at both Baylor University and Duke University, including serving as the Dean of Duke Divinity School. He's also authored a number of books on Christian living and theology.

For more information on the Franklin, TN chapter of the New Canaan Society, go here: https://newcanaansociety.org/franklin/ Have you ever felt like you knew what life with God was all about? Have you ever been surprised by His voice disrupting everything you thought you knew—inviting you deeper? Bryan Josey went from playing football at Vanderbilt to leading in his community, including serving as chairman of the board for FCA in Rutherford County. After decades of leadership, 29 years of marriage, and two grown sons, Bryan’s story—and his walk with God—are still developing. It’s a powerful reminder that faith and purpose don’t stop when life feels successful or comfortable. Bryan is passionate about men’s ministry, so come ready to be encouraged, challenged, and connected with other men chasing the same thing—a life that matters.

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.