Pursuing God with Gene Appel

Once again, Joseph sets another example for us to follow. When the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, Matthew 1:24-25 (NLT) says, “When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.”  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build commun...

The Bible says love covers a multitude of sins. Love enabled Joseph to do the gracious thing when faced with Mary’s seeming unfaithfulness. A good man like Joseph handles betrayal with grace….and doesn’t carry a load of resentment and bitterness for the rest of his life.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture...

Joseph made a commitment to honor God with His sexuality. Unfortunately, it’s a rare man who says to the woman that he loves and plans to marry someday, “When it comes to sexual involvement, let’s wait.”  That’s an extraordinary decision for a couple to make. The Christmas story reminds us that this is still a very big deal to God. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, b...

What kind of man would God choose to raise His only son? The Bible tells us Joseph was a good man and a righteous man. He made the commitment to love, honor, and cherish Mary till death do them part. He understood that marriage, in God’s eyes, involved making a lifelong commitment. This is one of several reasons Joseph is a good example for us to follow. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to...

You are Jesus’ most valuable possession. We know that because He gave His life for you.  If you are ready to receive Him as the Forgiver and Leader of your life, these are the treasures that Jesus will be giving to you this Christmas: The gift of joy, because stuff will leave you empty. The gift of peace, because life is hard. The gift of forever, because it all goes back in the box, except your s...

Jesus came to save your soul...forever. The angel said to the shepherds on the hillside, “Don’t be afraid! Today Your Savior was born.” (Luke 2:10-11 NCV) That’s why Jesus came, and that’s why God sent His son who lived, taught, and died for the forgiveness of our sins and was resurrected to be the one gift that lasts forever because the only thing in this universe that’s not going back into the b...

When we hurt, Jesus understands. Because He knows and understands our grief, sorrows, heartaches, and pain, we can experience His Peace. He entered our world at Christmastime to deliver the Peace that passes understanding to us, and the world is completely unable to deliver the peace that only God can give. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unlea...

With Christmas approaching, I want to ask you to slow down and let this baby in a manger bring you the gift of joy—deep joy, abiding joy, that no amount of stuff can ever bring. This gift of God’s son, this gift too wonderful for words, came to bring you joy, no matter how much or little we have right now. This baby in a manger, this indescribable gift, this Savior, Christ the Lord, came to bring...

There is no greater purpose, there is nothing more significant you can do, than mark another life with the truth of Jesus. Because you’ll have a part in a life being changed for all eternity. There’s nothing more significant than helping a person walking in darkness find the light of Jesus Christ and leading them to eternal life. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, bui...

If you want to find significance in your life, you’ve got to slow down and bow in worship before the child that God has given. Friends...you want to do something significant with your life? Slow down this Christmas and worship the Savior God has given us. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Ea...

God spoke to the Shepherds using the voices of His Holy Angels. When the angels left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They weren’t all talk, they immediately got moving! You don’t find purpose in your life by merely acknowledging what God is saying. You have to move beyond that and OBEY...

Ever since Luke’s Gospel revealed how angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, the shepherds have played a significant role in the Christmas story. They recognized God was speaking to them through the message the Angels gave them. When they realized it was God who was speaking to them...they immediately responded. Will you do the same? Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help...

God has a plan, and  one of the gifts from God lying under our Christmas tree is a gift of significance. When you feel like your life doesn’t matter, Jesus came to bring us purpose. The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, b...

Today Gene reminds us that only when we’re prepared to die is when we’re really prepared to live. Jesus offers us the hope of eternity in Heaven. Whatever hell is like, it’s clear that Jesus used the absolute worst terms available to describe it as a place of death, outer darkness, a bottomless pit, a fire that is not quenched—forever! Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue Go...

After you die, you immediately wake up in eternity. All of us, including me and you, will have to stand before the Holy Creator God of the universe and give an account for our lives. Does that frighten you? Gene reminds us today that Jesus can replace your fear of death with the HOPE of everlasting life.  The Good News of Great Joy announced by the angel can become your personal Good News of Great...

Today Gene reminds us to remember that when Jesus was born, the angel announced, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’” (vv. 10-11 NIV) Jesus is Savior, Christ, and Lord. Her baby would be the forgiver of sins; the leader of our lives, and the deliverer from death. Pur...

Imagine the shock of the shepherds in the field tending their sheep where all is calm, all is dark....and then BOOM, there is a brilliant light, and an angel sent from the glorious, holy throne of God. Of course, they were terrified. But the angel said, “Do not be afraid....I bring you good news.” We don’t have to be afraid because of the hope Jesus brings us. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is desig...

There is one very powerful sign of God’s great love, it’s a blood-stained Roman cross. The all-powerful God who created this massive universe, not only entered the world very small as a helpless infant, but as a full-grown man, He allowed himself to be nailed to that cross and to suffer excruciating pain for your sin and mine. Don’t miss this sign that you matter to God! Pursuing God with Gene App...

God still sends signs but we’re not very good at reading them. We miss His signs because we don’t connect the signs to what God is trying to show us in terms of the spiritual brokenness of our souls. Today Gene challenges us to recognize our need of the Savior who came to give us second chances and fresh starts. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and...

In today’s episode, Gene reminds us that God came into the world the way He did because He loved us.  Even though we are merely a speck on a speck on a speck on a speck in terms of the size of the universe, we mattered to God so much that He came on a rescue mission for us! That’s why Christmas exists. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash co...

The story of Jesus begins with a sign…and it begins long before Jesus ever came. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, a prophet named Isaiah wrote, “Therefore THE LORD HIMSELF WILL GIVE YOU A SIGN: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Gene challenges us today not to miss the sign of the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Pursuin...

Today Gene answers the question, Could God bring peace, in spite of my circumstances? The answer is - YES! No matter how difficult or dark your Christmas season might be, Messiah Jesus is available to come to your rescue. No matter how much turmoil you may feel in your relational world, you can draw close to Jesus as your PRINCE OF PEACE. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue...

Jesus being called Everlasting Father in Isaiah is a reference to the fact that the Messiah Jesus will provide for us in the way a good Father provides for his kids. It doesn’t mean He gives us everything we want or ask for. Jesus is not some celestial Santa Clause in the sky whose job it is to fulfill whatever is on our wish list. Instead, good fathers provide what their children need. Pursuing G...

The most fundamental principle about getting help for your blue Christmas is that you need to turn your worry into prayer. Gene reminds us today that Jesus is our wonderful counselor, our Mighty God who is able to unleash His mighty power into our world. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eas...

In today’s episode Gene challenges us with this statement: Many of us feel the way we feel right now and are in the situations we find ourselves in because we didn’t listen to God! He also challenges us to talk with Jesus, our Wonderful Counselor, about what is making this season blue. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounde...