Pursuing God with Gene Appel

Everyone leaves a legacy, whether we realize it or not. The question is, what kind of legacy are we writing every day? As we begin this special replay series, we'll explore why living a meaningful life starts long before the end of it. Discover how Scripture invites us to focus on what truly lasts and how the choices we make today shape how we'll be remembered tomorrow. What do you want your life to be known for?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 more people who are pursuing God and building true community, the more compassion we are going to unleash into a broken world. Today we want to share a vision for Eastside Christian Church, a hope that one day it can be said of us, just as it was said of the early church, that there were no needy persons among us. That kind of vision starts small, with how we choose to see and care for the people right around us.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 had a way of noticing people who were often overlooked or forgotten, because He always looked at them through eyes of love. Today we want to explore what it means to see the people around us the same way, especially the ones we tend to walk past without a second thought. It is a shift in how we pay attention, not just what we see, but who we choose to really look at.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.

Sometimes we get so busy, even at church, that we become blind to the needs of the people right around us. We walk past hurting people every day without ever really seeing them. Today we want to pray this simple prayer together: "God, put someone in our path today, and help us to see them with Jesus' eyes." It is a prayer that can change how we move through an ordinary day, if we are willing to slow down long enough to notice.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 all need corrective lenses to see clearly, at least spiritually speaking. God wants to help us see others the way He sees them, and that is when we can truly become His hands and feet in the world. Today we look at Galatians 5:13 and its call to "serve one another in love." This week is an invitation to do something intentional with that verse, not just read it, but live it out in how we treat the people around us.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.

Is our vision getting better or worse for the needs of those around us? Together we'll explore the book of Acts, where we read about the founding of the early church. There were "no needy persons among them," because they saw people the way Jesus sees them. That kind of vision doesn't happen by accident, it starts with how we choose to see the people right in front of us.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 more people who are pursuing God and building true community, the more compassion we are going to unleash into a broken world. Today we want to share a vision for Eastside Christian Church, a hope that one day it can be said of us, just as it was said of the early church, that there were no needy persons among us. That kind of vision starts small, with how we choose to see and care for the people right around us.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.

How did the Israelites handle the many obstacles they faced in the wilderness? Hebrews 11:30 tells us, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell." Today I want to share why navigating change means learning to live by faith, moment by moment, instead of waiting until we feel ready.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 all go through seasons where we wander, even spiritually. And just like the Israelites, sometimes we build our own golden calves to chase after instead of holding onto what's true and steady. Today I want to challenge us, wherever we're at right now, to align or realign our lives with the God who made us.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.

Time and again, the Israelites missed out on joy, no matter how much God provided, they kept slipping back into a posture of ungratefulness. Today you'll be reminded of what Scripture says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Gratitude isn't just a nice idea; it's a choice we make even when life doesn't look the way we hoped.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 do we struggle with change? Why do we glamorize the past, remembering it as so much better than it actually was? Today, I want to walk through three factors that contribute to our resistance to change, and how understanding them can help us move forward with more freedom instead of getting stuck looking back.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.

Psychologists tell us that too much life change at once can push us into overload, and that can show up in all kinds of emotional and physical ways. We'll explore the wisdom we can find in the Israelites' forty-year journey through the wilderness, a story that shows us how to navigate change with confidence and a real sense of God's presence with us. Because no matter where life takes you, He will be with 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.

Most of us try to fix our lives the same way, by working harder, pushing more, and trying again. But what if the problem was never your effort? I've come to believe that real purpose was never something we could grind our way into. It shows up when we stop gripping the wheel and hand the keys of our lives over to God. That means letting Jesus not only forgive us, but fill us with His Spirit and lead us into the purpose we were made for. You don't become who you were created to be by trying harder. You become it by finally letting go. So what are you still holding onto?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.

If you could only get one thing right in your entire life, what would it be? Solomon spent years chasing wealth, pleasure, and accomplishment before he landed on his answer, and it fit into just three words: remember your Creator. Everything else he poured himself into eventually faded, but that one truth held. Today, we're talking about why this is the foundation the rest of life gets built on. Get this one thing right, and so much of the rest falls into place. So have you settled it 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.

I've watched people build impressive lives out of everything they can see and touch, and still feel hollow at the end of the day. Solomon knew that feeling. After chasing every pleasure and possession the world had to offer, he landed on one blunt conclusion: it's all meaningless. What he finally discovered is that real purpose is never found in the things right in front of us. We keep asking the visible to give us what only the unseen can. So where are you still expecting it to be enough?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.

If you could afford anything you wanted, would you finally feel content? Solomon could, and what he discovered surprised even him. He was a king with more wealth, power, and pleasure than anyone in history, and he still walked away restless. Today, we're looking at why finding a path in life and discovering your real purpose are two very different things. The one thing all his money could never buy turned out to be the thing he needed most. So what are you hoping your next paycheck or promotion will finally fix?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.

Have you ever stopped in the middle of a packed week and wondered if any of it actually matters? I've been there, and so was Solomon, the wisest and richest man who ever lived. He denied himself nothing this world had to offer, yet he still came up empty. This week we're learning from his search what really separates a life that's simply busy from one that's truly meaningful. A full calendar isn't the same as a full life. So which one are you building?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.

All week, we've walked through four ways to love the people in our lives the way God loves us: understanding, acceptance, discipline, and love. But here's the honest truth I want to close with. None of it can be sustained on willpower alone. You've probably already tried that and found its limits. Jesus said in John 15, "Apart from me you can do nothing," and He meant it. This kind of love isn't something you power through by trying harder. It's fruit, and fruit comes from staying connected, not striving. So if you've read through these principles and thought, "I've been getting this wrong," that's not condemnation. It's an invitation.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's a difference between loving someone and being loving toward them. The love can be real, but if it isn't expressed in a language the other person actually hears, they can still feel unseen. The trouble is we tend to show love the way we understand it, not the way they receive it. Psalm 145 says God is rich in love and loving toward all He has made, and we become more like Him when people can actually feel the love we have for them. So try one of three things today: physical affection, a warm presence that words can't replace. Positive affirmation, especially when someone has failed. Or focused attention, your full, undistracted presence. Don't wait for the right moment. Make the moment.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.

In any relationship where you have real influence, love sometimes means saying the hard thing. But there's a difference between correcting someone and punishing them. Punishing is about the past, making someone pay for what they did. Correcting is about the future, helping them grow. Psalm 145 reminds me that God upholds those who fall and lifts up those who are bowed down, and that's the heart behind doing this well. So speak truth calmly, not in anger. Say it quickly, before resentment builds. And do it sparingly, trusting you don't have to fix every single thing. The question to sit with today: when you correct the people you love, are you focused on making them hurt, or helping them grow?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 people closest to us often get the least unconditional acceptance from us. We hold our highest expectations for the ones we love most, and pull back when they fall short. But that's not how God treats me. Psalm 145 reminds me He's gracious and compassionate, meeting us where we are. Accepting someone doesn't mean approving of everything they do. You can speak hard truth while still making it clear they belong in your life. So ask yourself today: when the people closest to you make a real mistake, do they come to you, or do they hide it?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.

If you ask people what they most want from the people closest to them, it usually comes down to one thing: to be understood. Not fixed, not corrected, not molded into someone else's image, just truly seen for who they are. This week we're drawing from Psalm 145, one of the richest portraits of God in all of Scripture, to explore what it means to love someone well. God knows exactly how each of us is formed, and He relates to us accordingly. When we take the time to understand the people we love, watching them, asking questions, listening without rushing to fix, we free them to grow in the direction they were actually designed to go. So here's the question worth sitting with today: who in your life needs to feel understood, and what would it take for you to really see 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.

Tomorrow you're going to write a new chapter in your story, and the only real question is what kind of pen you'll be holding. All week in Exodus 14, we watched two million people stuck between the Red Sea and an army, caught in the cycle of fear, sarcasm, and worst-case thinking. But I've decided to throw in with Moses and plant my flag with the fear-not, stand-firm, expect-God's-help crowd. When I look back at everything God has already pulled off, parting waters and raising the dead throughout history, I can't find a single reason to believe He won't show up for me now. So what's the Red Sea in front of you, and which pen are you going to pick up?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 my back is against the wall and I'm out of options, what I really believe about God gets exposed. The Israelites found that out fast, pinned between the Red Sea and an army with nowhere to run. But notice what God told them in Exodus 14:15: quit crying out, quit circling the problem, and move. He didn't take them around the thing they feared. He took them through it. And that's usually where the miracle is, on the other side of the one step we keep refusing to take. So what's the thing you've been too afraid to step toward, and what would it look like to expect God's help and move 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.

When fear takes over, it has a way of making me forget what's actually true. The Israelites felt it the moment they were trapped between the Red Sea and an army closing in, and I've felt it myself, lying awake at night wondering if I'd misread God on the biggest decision of my life. But in Exodus 14:13, Moses laid out a better plan: fear not, and stand firm. I can let go of my fear because I have a God who will never let go of me. So, where have you been circling in fear, and what would it look like to stand firm 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.

Be honest: do you make better or worse decisions when you're afraid? Yesterday, we named three things that show up when our backs are against the wall: fear, sarcasm, and worst-case thinking. Today, we slow down and look at how they feed each other into a cycle that never takes us anywhere. Jesus put it plainly in Matthew 6:27, asking who of us can add a single hour to our life by worrying. So what would it look like to name the pattern the moment it starts?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 are we gonna do now? That's the question a lot of us are asking as financial pressure and uncertainty keep piling up. This week we're looking at the Israelites trapped at the edge of the Red Sea in Exodus 14, a moment where fear, sarcasm, and worst-case thinking took over. Here's what I keep coming back to: fear and faith are both about what we can't yet see. So when the pressure hits, which one will we let lead?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.

Loving others compassionately is the natural overflow of loving God completely and seeing yourself clearly. And one of the most tangible expressions of that love is what you do with your money. Spending wisely, saving consistently, and giving generously aren't just financial habits. They're a living sermon about what you actually believe. When the people watching your life see all three working together, they learn something no class can teach. What financial habit do you want to build, not just for your own sake, but for theirs?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 you can love your neighbor well, you have to love yourself accurately. That means holding two things in tension: understanding how uniquely made you are, and understanding how ordinary you are. When you affirm the people in your life for who they actually are, you free them from searching for acceptance in the wrong places. And when you help them see their ordinariness honestly, you open the door to the grace they actually need. Who in your life needs to hear both truths from 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.

The most powerful legacy you can leave isn't a speech or a lesson. It's a life. When the people around you see faith woven into ordinary moments, generosity practiced consistently, and God treated as genuinely central, they're learning something no conversation could fully teach. Today we explore what it looks like to leave a legacy of loving God completely, not just by saying it, but by living it in ways the people watching your life can't miss. What is your life actually teaching them right now?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 are carrying patterns we didn't choose, financial anxiety, broken trust, wounds we never named, inherited from the people who raised us. And if we don't deal with them honestly, we don't break them. We pass them on. Today we look at two myths that keep generational patterns alive and what Scripture says about the slow, intentional work of healing. Breaking a cycle isn't a dramatic moment. It's a decision to stop pretending and start dealing. What wound have you been waiting to heal?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.

Legacy isn't something you plan at the end of your life. You're building it right now, through the values you hold, the patterns you model, and the example you set for the people coming behind you. The way you handle money, faith, and relationships is already shaping the next generation, whether you're aware of it or not. Before you can change what you're passing down, you have to understand what you received. What patterns are you carrying forward, and which ones do you want to interrupt?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.

At some point, more stops satisfying. The most content wealthy people aren't chasing the next car, the next home, or the next milestone. They've reached a different conclusion: that affluence is something to steward, not accumulate, and that generosity does more for your peace than any purchase ever could. Today, we close out the week on financial worry with Paul's challenge to all of us, regardless of income. Is Jesus the central value of your life, or is something else still running the show?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 turns out some of the most content people aren't the most comfortable ones. Those living with humble means often develop something the affluent struggle to find: a genuine dependence on God, a willingness to lean on community, and a heart that stays soft toward others in need. In Philippians 4, Paul says he learned contentment in every situation, and today we explore what that actually looks like through the lives of real people. What if having less is what finally teaches you to trust more?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.

Contentment isn't a personality trait, it's something you learn. In Philippians 4, Paul writes from prison with a peace that has nothing to do with his circumstances, because he discovered that financial security isn't underwritten by your bank account. It's underwritten by God's. When Jesus moves to the center of your life, the grip of money worry begins to loosen. What would it look like to stop letting your finances determine your peace?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.

Whether you're barely getting by or financially comfortable, money worries have a way of finding you. The poor fear not having enough. The wealthy fear losing what they have. And those in the middle are often just one paycheck away from the edge. Today, we look at why financial anxiety isn't really about a dollar amount and what Jesus said in Matthew 6 that cuts through the pressure at every income level. If worry hasn't left yet, maybe the solution isn't more money.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.

Financial stress doesn't just drain your bank account, it drains your relationships, your sleep, and your peace of mind. Whether you're carrying debt, facing job uncertainty, or just struggling to keep up, worry has a way of consuming what it promises to protect. Today we look at what Jesus actually said about financial anxiety, and why the answer isn't a better budget, it's a better foundation. What if the real cost of financial stress is something money can never repay?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.

Solomon identified five financial traps that quietly keep people stuck. Impulsiveness, buying something you don't need because the deal seemed too good to pass up. Stubbornness, refusing to follow a plan because pride gets in the way. Laziness, skipping responsibility and hoping things work out anyway. Self-indulgence, spending everything on yourself until there's nothing left. And craftiness, chasing get-rich-quick schemes instead of doing the steady work. The answer to why you never seem to have enough almost always comes down to management, not income. Generally, it isn't that you don't have enough. It's what you do have that hasn't been handled well. God wants to bless and multiply what you have, but He can't multiply what you aren't managing faithfully. It all comes down to consistency with what's already in your 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.

Income goes up and spending rises to meet it. Nicer restaurants, newer cars, better vacations, upgraded everything. None of it is wrong in isolation. But when the love of comfort quietly becomes the organizing principle of your finances, you end up with a life that looks successful from the outside and feels precarious from the inside. Solomon warned about this in Proverbs: whoever loves pleasure will become poor. He wasn't warning against enjoyment. He was warning against making enjoyment the point of money. Enjoyment is a gift. It makes a terrible master. Most of us don't actually need more income. We need to be honest about the difference between a need, a want, and a desire. So here's a practical challenge: look at last month's bank statement and label each major category. Need, want, or desire. You don't have to change everything today. Just see it clearly.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 want to be generous. They see a need, feel the pull, and wish they could do something. But the money isn't there when the moment arrives. Not because their hearts are closed but because their margins are too thin. Savings changes that. When a friend hits a crisis, when someone in your church loses a job and needs help with rent, the person with reserves can respond. They can say yes when God prompts them to give instead of "I wish I could." Saving isn't just self-protection. At its best it is preparation for generosity. Proverbs puts it simply: a wise person saves for the future but a foolish person spends whatever they get. So identify even five percent of your monthly income you could redirect into savings before you spend anything else. Make it a decision that's already been made before temptation arrives.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.

Flocks don't disappear all at once. One sheep wanders. Another gets sick. The pasture gets overgrazed. And if the shepherd isn't paying attention, he looks up one day, and the herd is half what it used to be, with no single moment he can point to when it went wrong. That is exactly how financial erosion works. It's rarely one catastrophic decision. It's the slow bleed of unexamined spending and the quiet assumption that things are probably okay. Proverbs says know the condition of your flocks. Know your income. Know your real expenses. Know your debts. Because a lack of planning isn't bad luck. It's a decision. When we fail to plan, we are essentially deciding to be surprised. And being surprised financially is expensive. So here's the honest question: do you actually know what you 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.

In 1923, some of the wealthiest men in the world gathered in a Chicago hotel, collectively controlling more than the entire US Treasury. Twenty-seven years later, two had died penniless, two had been imprisoned, and three had taken their own lives. They knew how to make money. None of them ever had enough to make them happy. That tells us the question "why don't I have enough?" goes much deeper than "I don't make enough." Jesus said to be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves. Shrewdness is clear-eyed, intentional thinking about money. Innocence is the guardrail that keeps shrewdness from becoming greed. Together they produce the kind of financial faithfulness Jesus was pointing toward. So before anything else, here's the honest question: do you actually know where your money is 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.

Romans 8:28 says God works all things together for good for those who have been called according to His purpose. We reach for the comfort of that first part and skip past the foundation of it. The calling isn't incidental to the promise. It's what makes the promise possible. You were foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. Five links, no gaps. And your calling sits right in the middle of a plan that was already ancient before your first breath. There will be seasons when you can't feel it, when circumstances make it seem impossible, when you wonder if you misheard. But your calling is not contingent on your consistency. It is held in place by the faithfulness of the One who issued it. You may waver. The call does not. So what is one concrete step you will take this week in response to what God has been stirring in 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.

Moses had his doubts. Isaiah felt completely unworthy standing in the presence of God. Gideon couldn't believe the call was for him. And yet God used every one of them. Because the call was never a question of whether the project could be done. It was a question of whether their faith would let God do it through them. Doubts and hesitation are normal. But too often they become a smoke screen. We don't want to say no to God, but the uncertainty keeps us from saying yes. Here's what Isaiah discovered though: when he laid his doubts before the Lord, God did the cleansing. He doesn't need you to be perfect. He needs you to be willing. Commitment costs something. But what it costs is always less than what it returns.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.

Gideon couldn't believe the call was for him. His tribe was the weakest. He was the least in his family. And God didn't argue with any of that. He didn't say you're wrong, you're actually quite capable. He simply said I will be with you. The issue was never Gideon's résumé. It was God's presence. That is the consistent logic of calling throughout Scripture. He doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called. And the equipment He provides is Himself. Most of us quietly assume the call is for somebody else, our neighbor, our Sunday school teacher, the more qualified person in the room. But the need you keep noticing might be coming to your attention for a reason. The call is not asking you to be ready. It's asking you to be willing.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.

Elijah had just called down fire from heaven. And then he collapsed under a broom tree and told God he had nothing left. God's response wasn't a rebuke. He let him sleep, sent an angel to feed him, and said the journey is too much for you. And when God finally spoke, it wasn't in the earthquake or the fire. It was in the still small voice. The wilderness stripped away the noise. The exhaustion stripped away self-sufficiency. God had to get Elijah quiet before He could get Elijah moving again. That pattern hasn't changed. The people most ready to hear God's call are rarely the ones standing on the mountain in triumph. They're often the ones sitting in the dust, depleted, wondering if any of it matters. So here's the honest question: have you put yourself in a position where you can actually hear Him?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.

Ephesians 2:10 says we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to do. That word handiwork in the original Greek is poiema, the root of our word poem. A masterpiece. You are not an accident. You are not a rough draft. Built into the very design of who you are is a purpose God prepared before you ever took your first breath. So if you've been feeling that restlessness, that sense that there's something more you're supposed to be doing, don't dismiss it. That may be your original design waking up. God's call isn't just for young people figuring out their next step. It's for parents, retirees, single adults, and everyone in between who senses that God isn't finished with them yet. The question was never whether He has something for you. The question is whether you're paying attention.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.

On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and quoted the prophet Joel: in the last days God will pour out His Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Of all the texts he could have chosen, he chose that one. And when the Holy Spirit came, women were in that room and filled with the Spirit alongside the men. The early church gave roles based on gifts, not gender. Priscilla taught men at a seminary level. Lydia launched the first church in Philippi. The four daughters of Philip preached and prophesied. Sin had disrupted what God originally designed. But Jesus came to restore it. Galatians 3 puts it plainly: there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. So women, God knit you together with gifts and talents this world and this church desperately need. Be all who God made you to be.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.

Some men carry an arrogance about women that is simply wrong. Others leave all the spiritual work to the women in their lives and call it fine. And many women have spent years carrying false messages that labeled them small, insignificant, and second-class. None of it lines up with Jesus. He was the most powerful man who ever lived, and he used that power to lift women up, not hold them down. That's the standard. So here's a word for the men: treat your female colleagues, your wife, your daughters, the way Jesus treated women. Spiritual work is men's work too. And here's a word for the women: you don't need to shrink. God made you, gifted you, and loves you. He wants you to be a dangerous tool for good in this world. Don't buy the lie that says otherwise. Be who God made you to be.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.

Rabbis in Jesus' day taught that it was better to burn the Torah than teach it to a woman. Jewish men prayed, thanking God they hadn't been made a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. A devout rabbi wouldn't even speak to a woman in public. And into that world steps Jesus. He speaks with a Samaritan woman at a well. He travels with women. He counts them among his closest friends. And then at the single most important moment in all of human history, when the greatest announcement ever made needed a messenger, he chose women. In a culture where women couldn't even serve as witnesses in a legal proceeding, Jesus trusted them to be the first eyewitnesses of the resurrection and the first to carry the news that he was alive. As Dorothy Sayers wrote, it is no wonder women were first at the cradle and last at the cross. They had never known a man like this.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 sin entered the world and corrupted everything, God made something clear. He created human beings in His own image, male and female, blessed them both, and told them both to fill the earth and rule over creation together. Not the man over the woman. Both of them over creation. Co-regents. And that word helper used to describe the woman? It's used throughout the Old Testament to refer to God himself. Helper doesn't mean assistant. It means someone without whom you cannot do what you were made to do. The ruling of one man over one woman wasn't God's design. It was the result of the fall. Marriage was never meant to be a duo but a trio: God, husband, and wife, ruling over creation together as one. So how does knowing that men and women were made equally in the image of God, designed from the very beginning for a shared life and shared purpose, change the way you see yourself and the people around 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.