Pursuing God with Gene Appel

The Sabbath was never meant to be a burden. Jesus said it was created for our good. The fourth commandment has two instructions buried in it: take time off, and begin worshipping. Not one or the other. Both. Tony Campolo put it simply: we leak. You fill up, burn through it by midweek, and by Friday, you're running on empty. God knows that because He made you. And His solution is a weekly rhythm of rest and worship built right into the design of human life. It's like a tune-up, an oil change, a full tank, every seven days. The wagon trains that mocked the Harrison family for stopping to rest on Sundays didn't arrive first. The Harrisons did, and their animals were in far better condition when they got there. Stopping isn't falling behind. It's how you stay in it for the long haul.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

By Friday afternoon, a lot of us are emotional messes. We just can't see it. Everyone around us can, but we're too depleted to notice. The warning signs are there, though: irritability, impatience, self-pity, loss of perspective, and a vulnerability to temptation. When you're physically tired, your body sends signals, and you want to sleep. But emotional depletion is harder to detect and harder to admit. Dallas Willard pointed out that Jesus was busy but never in a hurry. He took strategic breaks, slipped away to the mountains, and leaned into the rhythm of rest. Dallas's prescription for spiritual growth was simple: ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the enemy of peace, love, joy, and passion. So, when was the last time you truly rested? Not caught up. Not powered through. Actually rested.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

God worked six days creating the world, and on the seventh, He stopped. Not because He was exhausted. God doesn't get tired. He stopped to enjoy what He had made. And if God rested even though He didn't need to, it tells us there is more value in rest than just recovering from physical exertion. Moses says in Exodus 31 that God was refreshed. The literal translation suggests He refreshed Himself. And we are called to imitate that. Here's what trips most of us up, though: we treat rest like a reward for finishing everything on the list. But it's a command, not a prize for productivity. The universe keeps spinning even if you stop. You are not essential, just significant. And there is real freedom in knowing the difference. So is there a day in your week you can genuinely call a rest day, not a catch-up day, not an errand day, but a day of actual renewal?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

We laugh about being too busy, like it makes us important. We brag about not having a day off in three weeks. We cram our vacations so full that we come home needing to rest. And somewhere along the way, we started believing that the busier we are, the more honorable we are. But God knew from the very beginning that we couldn't run on all eight cylinders seven days a week and still be productive. That's why He built a recharge day into the design. Think about your phone at 5% battery. It still functions like normal right up until it doesn't. And sometimes we play chicken with it anyway because plugging it in feels like a hassle. That's exactly how most of us treat rest. We push until we have nothing left to give. So if you're someone who feels guilty when you stop, the fourth commandment has something important to say to you today.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Most of us have an owner's manual tucked somewhere in the glove compartment. It tells us when to change the oil, rotate the tires, and run the inspections that keep the vehicle running well over the long haul. We follow it because we know what happens when we don't. Here's the thing: the Bible is God's owner's manual for His creation. And the fourth commandment is essentially His maintenance schedule for your life. Take time off. It sounds simple on the surface, but there's a depth to it that speaks directly into the rhythms of modern life. The commandment actually addresses two extremes, too much work and too little, and the Bible has something honest to say to both. So which extreme are you more prone to? Because that's where this week's conversation begins.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Paul writes in Ephesians 5 to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. He's not just talking about productivity. He's saying the battle for your time is a battle for your heart and soul. Every moment is an opportunity, and once it passes it can never be repeated. There's a story of someone who crossed paths with a woman who had just found out her neighbor died alone, unnoticed for days. He offered a few polite words and moved on to the next thing. The next day Colossians 4:5 showed up in his reading: make the most of every opportunity. It cut deep. So here's the question worth carrying into your weekend. Is there a relationship you've been meaning to invest in? A conversation you've been postponing? A step of faith you keep putting off? Later has a way of never arriving. Now is what we actually have.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Jesus taught multitudes, had dinner with all kinds of people, talked with the poor, the blind, beggars, and tax collectors. And yet we never read that He rushed anywhere. What was His secret? He arose early and slipped away to a place of solitude to pray. Over and over again. Without that daily discipline, we live an unexamined life, busy but not reflective. Paul puts it bluntly in Ephesians 5: “Wake up.” The easiest thing in the world is to drift through life with no discipline. You can have a perfectly good plan written on a perfectly good calendar and still ignore it. Discipline is what moves you from knowing what you should do to actually doing it today. It's not glamorous. But it's the difference between a life that feels reactive and scattered and one that feels intentional and full.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Most people trying to get a handle on their time will sit down, number their priorities one through six, put God first, family second, career third, and call it a plan. But a numbered list doesn't help you navigate the real trade-offs of a real day. Nobody walks up to you with your spouse in one hand and a business contract in the other asking you to choose. Life is full of smaller decisions than that. Paul says in Ephesians 5 to start by understanding what the Lord's will actually is. And here's a thought worth sitting with: God never asks more of us in a given day than we are capable of doing. If you're constantly frustrated for lack of time, maybe you're trying to do more than He's actually asking. The goal isn't to dominate in one area of life. It's to do well across all of them.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Paul says in Ephesians 5 to be very careful how you live. That word careful implies thought, planning, and advanced decision-making. But most of us are falling into one of four traps that quietly steal our time without us noticing. Procrastination convinces us there's always tomorrow, until suddenly there isn't. Laziness shows up not just as inactivity but as great initiative with no follow-through. Workaholism locks us onto career achievement like a fighter pilot with target fixation, oblivious to everything we're losing in our peripheral vision. And having no plan at all leaves us with a long list of things we always meant to do but never got around to. Real change starts with an honest assessment. So which of these four patterns do you most recognize in yourself?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Thirty years ago, social scientists predicted that technology would automate enough of life that we'd be searching for ways to fill our free time. Then came microwaves, dishwashers, cell phones, laptops, voicemail, and AI. And yet here we are, more pressed for time than ever. The apostle Paul had his own crushing demands, planting churches, writing letters, traveling, being imprisoned, and in Ephesians 5 he cuts straight to it: be careful how you live, making the most of every opportunity. He makes clear that people fall into one of two categories, those who invest their time wisely and those who spend it foolishly. That's a helpful diagnostic. Before anything can change, you have to honestly assess which category you're operating in most of the time. So where is your time actually going? Not where you wish it was going. Where is it actually going?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Naomi came home empty, asked to be called bitter, and couldn't see past her loss. But God was writing something she couldn't have imagined. Ruth married Boaz, had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David. And if you trace that line forward, you eventually arrive in Bethlehem, and the Christmas story, and Jesus. Boaz was a picture of what the Bible calls a guardian redeemer, someone who comes from the right family, with the right resources, out of love, to pay a price to bring someone back from loss into belonging. Jesus is the ultimate guardian redeemer. What Boaz did for Ruth points directly to what Jesus does for all of us. This is a beautiful reminder, don't give up on God too soon. A death on a cross became an empty tomb and a new beginning for everyone. Nobody saw that coming either.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Ruth went out to find a field to work in. As it turned out, she ended up in the field of a wealthy relative named Boaz, who went out of his way to protect her, provide for her, and eventually redeem everything she and Naomi had lost. Just so happened. What a coincidence. In the Bible, whenever you read language like that, pay attention, because God is usually up to something. Boaz was under no legal obligation to do any of what he did. He stepped in out of pure grace, paid the price, and brought two women from emptiness into fullness and from bitterness into belonging. Sound familiar? Sometimes what looks like a dead end is actually a setup for something you couldn't have arranged yourself. So think about a situation in your life right now that feels stuck or hopeless. Could God already be working in ways you can't fully see yet?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Naomi left Bethlehem full and came back empty. Her husband was gone. Both sons were gone. And when people who knew her tried to greet her by name, she stopped them. Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. Bitter. Because that's what she was. She felt like God hadn't held up His end of the deal. Maybe that sounds familiar. Maybe what you hoped for, what you felt like God was going to deliver, just hasn't materialized. Gerald Sittser lost three generations in one car accident and wrote this: The experience of loss does not have to be the defining moment of your story. The defining moment can be your response to it. We don't get to choose the roles we play, but we do get to choose how we play them. So if you're carrying something painful today, is it possible that God is still writing something in your story that you can't quite see yet?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Deborah was a woman leading in a man's world. Gideon was a farmer from the lowest tribe who went into battle with 300 men against 135,000. Samson was the strongest man alive, but he couldn't resist the wrong woman. Remarkable, flawed, and wildly unlikely. And yet God used every one of them. The thread running through all three stories is the same: God doesn't need your credentials, your confidence, or your perfect track record. He needs someone who will turn to Him and trust Him even when the odds don't make sense. That's it. So where are you playing it too safe today? Where are you waiting until you feel more ready or more qualified? Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

After Joshua's generation passed, something went wrong. The next generation grew up without the story. They didn't know what God had done, and within one generation, Israel was back in idolatry and bondage. That cycle repeated itself 13 times over 330 years, and only 110 of those years were lived in peace with God. Sin, slavery, repentance, rescue, repeat. Like Groundhog Day. And here's what makes it so heartbreaking: God kept showing up. He kept raising up leaders. He kept delivering His people. But the cycle couldn't be broken from the inside. It took someone from outside it entirely, sinless and unstained, to finally end it for good. That's Jesus walking into Jerusalem on a donkey, knowing exactly what week it was. So before you go into your day, ask yourself honestly: Is there an area of your life where you keep returning to the same patterns?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

The enemy has five words too. "You'll never be good enough." "Your gift is not needed." "You'll always be that woman." Simple, devastating sentences that people carry for years, sometimes decades, that strip the strength right out of their stories. But God has five words of His own. He said them to Joshua before the most impossible assignment of his life. Jesus said them to His disciples before He ascended. They were the last words He wanted lingering in the air after He was gone. And they are just as true for you today: I will be with you. Not good luck, you've got what it takes. Not figure it out and report back. I will be with you. Whatever wall is still standing, whatever fear is still present, whatever you're walking into next week, that promise hasn't changed.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

The first generation of Israelites stood at the edge of the Promised Land, looked at the giants, looked at themselves, and decided the math didn't work. They all died in the wilderness. Joshua's generation wasn't stronger. The walls weren't shorter. What changed was their focus. They stopped looking at who they were and started looking at who God is. Isaiah asks it this way: Who holds the oceans in the hollow of His hand? More than two-thirds of the earth's surface, in some places seven miles deep, and God holds it like a splash. That's who goes before you into whatever you're facing. So the question is never "am I big enough for this?" The question is "how big is my God?" The wall doesn't get smaller. But when you fix your eyes on who God actually is, it starts to look a lot different by comparison.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Before a single step was taken around Jericho, God told Joshua something remarkable. Not "I will deliver Jericho." He said "I have delivered Jericho." Past tense. The walls were still standing, the army was still inside, and God was already speaking of it as done. That is who God is. He sees the end from the beginning and He is not stressed about your situation even when you are. The battle plan made no human sense: march, blow a trumpet, say nothing. And yet on day seven, the walls didn't just breach, they collapsed. So completely that the only explanation left was God. So what wall are you circling right now? What are you doing in obedience day after day that isn't producing visible results yet? Don't stop. Don't give up before day seven.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Rahab was a prostitute living inside the walls of Jericho. And when Joshua needed his city taken down, God's first move was to use her. She hid the spies, misdirected the soldiers, and made a way where there was no way. But her story doesn't end there. In the New Testament she's listed in the Hall of Faith alongside Abraham, Moses, and Joshua. And in Matthew chapter 1, she shows up in the genealogy of Jesus. It doesn't matter what the first chapter of your story looks like. God can end it in a way that has nothing to do with how it began. So think about someone you've written off today, yourself included. Someone whose past seems to disqualify them. Because God has a long history of choosing exactly those people for exactly the moments that matter most.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

After the death of Moses. Don't blow past those five words. For forty years he had been their leader, their anchor, the one who stood before Pharaoh, parted the Red Sea, and brought water from a rock. And now he was gone, and Israel was standing at the edge of the Promised Land without him. Joshua had to step into those shoes with no roadmap and no guarantee, just a God who said move forward. And he did. That's the thing about courage. It isn't the absence of fear. It's taking one step forward in spite of it. So think about the fear that's most present in your life right now. The real kind. The one that sits in the back of your mind all day or wakes you up at 3 a.m. What would it look like to take just one step forward today?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

An eleven-day trip became forty years. And yet the pillar of cloud never disappeared. The manna never stopped. The sandals never wore out.  Here's what the desert was actually doing: separating a people from the only culture they had ever known, slowly and patiently forming them into a people who could be trusted with what came next.  God is never in a hurry. And the waiting is always doing something. So wherever you are today, here is what's true: God has not lost track of you. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Forty years passed, and almost nothing changed. A brand new generation, the same complaints, word for word. That's what repetitive sin patterns do. They don't just affect you; they get handed down through families, communities, and generations if they're never interrupted. And here's the hard truth: you can spend forty years in the wilderness and come out the other side doing exactly what you went in doing if the heart hasn't actually been transformed. Time and good intentions aren't enough. What's the record you keep playing that's keeping you stuck? Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Israel was genuinely close to the Promised Land. The spies came back with an incredible report: a fertile land, oversized grapes, and everything God had promised. But ten of the twelve couldn't get past the giants, and fear started doing what fear always does. It exaggerated the obstacle, minimized what God had already done, and called it a realistic assessment. However, Caleb and Joshua saw the same giants and came to a completely different conclusion, not because they had better information, but because they had a bigger God. Is there something God has been leading you toward that fear is keeping you from stepping into?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

An eleven-day trip turned into forty years. And one of the biggest reasons why is that Israel couldn't stop complaining. God was providing manna every morning, leading them with a pillar of fire, and they were romanticizing life as slaves in Egypt. That's what whining does. It rewrites history, edits out the suffering, and makes the place God delivered you from sound better than the place He's taking you. And it's contagious. It spreads through families, workplaces, and churches the same way it spread through Israel's camp. Here's the thing: whining is the exact opposite of worship. You can't do both at the same time. So what are you currently complaining about that God has actually already been faithful in?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

There was a perfectly good road from Egypt to Canaan. A direct route. A few weeks of walking, and Israel could have been home. But God took them south, deep into the desert, for an entire year. Not because He was lost, but because He was more concerned with who they were becoming than how fast they arrived. That pattern shows up everywhere in Scripture. Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David. The roundabout way isn't the exception in God's story. It's practically the rule. So if you're living in the space between where you started and where you want to be, the question worth asking isn't, "When do I get out of here?" But the real question to ask is, "What is God doing in me here?"Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Most of us know we haven't kept all ten. And that's actually the point. The Ten Commandments were designed to show us who we really are and how desperately we need grace. Think about how you use a mirror in the morning.  The mirror just shows you the truth. The commandments hold up a reflection, not a ladder to climb. And when you look honestly, they don't lead to condemnation. They lead you straight to Jesus, the one who fulfilled what we cannot and offers forgiveness freely to anyone who asks. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

The Hebrew word for glory literally means weight or heaviness. It is God's full reality pressing into the world, and it is what filled the tabernacle so completely that even Moses couldn't enter. When was the last time you were genuinely struck by who God is, not what He's done for you, but just who He is? Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Even after the golden calf, even after the rebellion, God's response wasn't to pull back. It was to draw closer. He gave Moses detailed instructions for building the tabernacle, a portable sanctuary right in the middle of the Israelites' camp, because He wanted to dwell among His people, not just visit from a distance. Every piece of furniture, every curtain, every offering pointed to the same thing: a holy God who desires relationship. But the tabernacle was always a shadow of something greater. When Jesus came, John tells us He literally "tabernacled" among us. And when He died, the curtain separating people from God's presence was torn open from top to bottom. You don't need a priest to go in for you once a year anymore. Through Jesus, you can approach God with confidence anytime. And through His Spirit, God doesn't just dwell among you. He lives in you. So here's the question worth carrying into your day: are you actually living like that's true?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

It only took forty days. Forty days since the mountain shook, since they heard God's voice, since they trembled at His presence and begged Moses to speak for them because they were too afraid. And now they're melting down their gold and building something they can see, touch, and control. The golden calf wasn't just an act of rebellion. It was what happens when impatience wins. When we can't trust God's timing, we start filling the gap with something else. Money, success, relationships, comfort, habits. We don't always bow down to idols made of gold, but we all have something that quietly takes God's place when the waiting gets hard. So here's the question worth sitting with today: what have you been building while you wait?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

God didn't climb Mount Sinai to make life harder; He went there to move in. When He gave the Ten Commandments amid thunder, lightning, and smoke, it wasn't a power play. It was a covenant. The first four commandments shape how we relate to God; the next six shape how we treat each other. And when Israel responded with one voice, "Everything the Lord has said, we will do," it was a moment of total surrender to a God who simply wanted to live among His people. But that raises a question worth sitting with today: Are there rooms in your life with the door still locked? God's commands aren't guardrails meant to cage you — they're the care of a Father protecting what matters most.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

After delivering His people from slavery, parting the Red Sea, and providing daily bread in the wilderness, God gathered Israel at Mount Sinai and gave them the Ten Commandments, not as a burden, but as a blessing. These commands weren't meant to restrict freedom but to protect it, like guardrails on a dangerous road. They reveal what life looks like when love for God and love for others shape every choice. The law was never a ladder to earn God's approval; it's a mirror that shows our need for grace and a guide that helps us flourish. So the real question is, how do we see God's commandments? As control… or as care from a Father who wants to protect what matters most?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Fresh off the miracle at the Red Sea, the Israelites quickly traded celebration for complaining when the wilderness exposed their hunger, thirst, and fear. Yet again and again, God responded not with anger, but with provision, turning bitter water sweet, raining down manna from heaven, sending quail at dusk, and bringing water from a rock. Through every need, He was teaching them a deeper lesson: trust Me one day at a time. The wilderness wasn't just about survival; it was about dependence. And the same invitation stands today. Where are you tempted to grumble instead of trust? What if the very area you complain about most is the place God is inviting you to rely on Him daily?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Just days after their miraculous escape from Egypt, the Israelites found themselves trapped with Pharaoh's army closing in behind them and the Red Sea blocking their path ahead. Fear replaced celebration, and freedom suddenly felt fragile. But in that impossible moment, God revealed once again who He is: the One who fights for His people and makes a way where there is no way. As the waters parted and they walked through on dry ground, God didn't offer a partial rescue; He delivered them completely. This dramatic scene reminds us that when we feel surrounded and stuck, the same God still works in ways we cannot see. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

When Moses stood before Pharaoh and declared, “Let my people go,” it set off more than a political showdown—it revealed a spiritual battle over who truly holds power. Through the ten plagues, God wasn't just punishing Egypt; He was exposing the emptiness of false gods and declaring His authority over creation, life, and death. And in the final plague, He provided a way of rescue through the blood of a spotless lamb, establishing Passover as a lasting sign of deliverance. That moment points forward to an even greater rescue, reminding us that freedom isn't earned, it's received. The question is not simply whether we believe the story, but whether we've personally stepped into the freedom it offers.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

No season of waiting, setback, or suffering is wasted in God's hands. The story of Joseph reminds us that even what feels like a delay is often divine preparation. The pit wasn't the end. The prison wasn't permanent. And the promotion didn't come a moment too soon. When God rewrites a life, He uses every chapter, every disappointment, every injustice, every unseen tear, to position us for a purpose bigger than we imagined. So today, consider this: where might God be preparing you right now for something you can't yet see?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

 After 22 years of betrayal, slavery, prison, and waiting, Joseph finally sees how every painful chapter fits into a bigger plan. When his brothers, the very ones who sold him, stand before him in fear, Joseph doesn't choose revenge. He chooses perspective. What they meant for harm, God meant for good. In one powerful moment of forgiveness, the upper story becomes clear: God had been positioning Joseph to save lives, preserve a family, and protect the future of His promise. This final scene reminds us that even our deepest wounds are not wasted when placed in God's hands.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

After two long years of being forgotten in prison, everything changes for Joseph in a single day. When Pharaoh's troubling dreams leave Egypt's wisest men speechless, Joseph is suddenly summoned from the dungeon. Instead of promoting himself, he humbly points to God as the source of wisdom and insight. In one breathtaking turn, the prisoner becomes the second most powerful man in Egypt. Joseph's story reminds us that no season of waiting is wasted, and when God moves, He can change everything in a moment. His timing may feel slow, but it is always precise—and perfectly aligned with a purpose bigger than we can see.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Joseph's journey takes him even deeper into adversity as he sits in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Betrayed by his brothers, falsely accused, and now seemingly forgotten, he has every reason to grow bitter and give up. Yet even in the darkest place of his life, Scripture quietly reminds us that the Lord was with him. While doors seem closed and promises go unfulfilled, God is still working behind the scenes, shaping character and preparing purpose. Joseph's prison season teaches us that waiting is not wasted and that feeling forgotten does not mean being forsaken.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Joseph's story takes another sharp turn as betrayal gives way to temptation. Rising from slave to trusted servant in Potiphar's house, everything seems to stabilize—until he's pressured to compromise his integrity. In a moment where disappointment could have justified disobedience, Joseph chooses honor over impulse, faithfulness over feeling. Even when doing the right thing lands him in prison instead of promotion, he refuses to sin against God. This part of the story reminds us that adversity often tests not just our endurance, but our character. When life feels unfair, will you still choose obedience?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

One of the most powerful stories in Scripture is the story of Joseph, a young man whose life unraveled almost overnight. Betrayed by his brothers, stripped of his status, and sold into slavery at just seventeen, Joseph's dreams seemed shattered before they ever had a chance to unfold. Yet behind the dysfunction, jealousy, and injustice, God was writing a bigger story. If you've ever felt blindsided by disappointment, betrayal, or a future that looks nothing like you imagined, Joseph's journey reminds us that adversity is never the end of the story. Even when the lower story feels chaotic, God is still working in the upper story.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is a weekday podcast designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

As we wrap up this week in the Old Testament Challenge, we arrive at the most intense moment in Abraham's journey, a test that feels almost unthinkable. After waiting decades for the promised son, Abraham is asked to place Isaac on the altar and trust God beyond logic, emotion, and instinct. This episode explores what it means to surrender the very thing you love most, to trust God when obedience feels costly, and to see how this mountaintop moment foreshadows a greater sacrifice still to come. What is the “Isaac” in your life that God may be asking you to place in His hands?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Faith is not just stepping out when God says go, it is staying put when God seems slow. Abraham and Sarah received an extraordinary promise, descendants as numerous as the stars, yet year after year passed with no child. Waiting exposed their doubts, their impatience, and their temptation to take control. When they tried to “help” God, it created consequences that rippled through history. But even after delays and detours, God proved faithful. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

What do you do when God asks you to move forward and you don't have all the details? In this episode of Pursuing God, Gene looks at the life of Abraham and unpacks what real faith looks like. It's not about having a clear roadmap or guaranteed outcomes. It's about trusting God enough to take the next step, even when you can't see the whole journey. If you've ever felt stuck between comfort and obedience, this conversation will challenge and encourage you to step out when God says, “Go.”Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Why Abraham? Today we look at the surprising beginning of God's nation-building plan and the pattern we see throughout the Bible: God chooses the weak and the unlikely to accomplish His purposes. If you've ever felt too old, too broken, or too ordinary to be used by God, this conversation is for you.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Today we're looking at God's covenant with Abraham and the three promises that set His rescue plan in motion — land, nation, and blessing. From Abraham to Jesus, we see a promise-keeping God at work. What promises are you holding onto today?Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

From the very first pages of Scripture, God reveals that brokenness is never the end of the story. After sin enters the world, God covers Adam and Eve's shame through the sacrifice of an innocent life, offering an early picture of redemption that points directly to Jesus. This moment in Genesis foreshadows the cross, where Christ would ultimately bear our guilt and restore what sin had broken. As we close the first week of the Old Testament Challenge, we're reminded that God's plan to redeem the world was never an afterthought. No matter how broken life feels, God is already at work, offering forgiveness, hope, and new life through Jesus.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Genesis 3 reveals the moment God's good creation fractures through deception, disobedience, and sin. By tracing Satan's tactics from the garden to the brokenness we still experience today, we see how guilt, shame, fractured relationships, and a broken world entered the story. Yet even in judgment, hope remains. Through Noah's story, Scripture reminds us that God still seeks, shows favor, and offers redemption, pointing us to hope that persists even when everything seems shattered.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

What does it mean to be made in the image of God? God calls creation good, but humanity very good, revealing that people are intentional image bearers created for a relationship with Him and with one another. Through the story of Adam and Eve, we see God's design for community, purpose, and trust, along with the ongoing question of who defines good and evil in our lives. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

What does it mean to be made in the image of God? God calls creation good, but humanity very good, revealing that people are intentional image bearers created for a relationship with Him and with one another. Through the story of Adam and Eve, we see God's design for community, purpose, and trust, along with the ongoing question of who defines good and evil in our lives. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Creation begins with one foundational truth: God is the starting point of everything. Week 1 of The Old Testament Challenge starts with Genesis 1 and the powerful reality behind the Bible's opening words, “In the beginning, God.” Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.

Discover how expressing your uniqueness with passion and extending love with devotion helps people move from attending church to truly belonging. Learn why meaningful connection, small groups, and intentional relationships are essential to building a spiritual family.Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside's conviction that God's grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God's presence and activity in your life.