Pursuing God with Gene Appel

What’s one lesson you’ve learned that came from a season of brokenness? In today’s episode, Gene shares his own personal story and reminds us that even when we lose everything that’s important to us, we still have Jesus Christ. Regardless of what you are going through — He is working and He is more than enough. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and u...

When we’ve been wounded, it’s easy to hold on to hurts that develop into the self-destructive diseases of bitterness, resentment, and hate. In today’s episode, Gene encourages us to practice forgiveness and experience the freedom and healing available to us through Jesus. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture...

Once we’ve been hurt relationally, our first impulse is to pull back so we can’t be hurt ever again. Love by it’s very nature is a risk, but by withdrawing from love we risk even more. In today’s episode, Gene encourages us to find and value our relationships — especially when we are going through trials and need them most Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build comm...

EVERYBODY’S wounded. And when we’re going through a time of intense pain or woundedness — physically, emotionally, relationally, spiritually — we need a God who is greater than our hurt. We need a God who HEALS.  In this week’s podcast series, Gene shares lessons he learned from his own personal story of pain and healing. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build commu...

Are you ready to pray one of the most courageous prayers you can ever pray? To conclude this week’s series, Gene shares several pieces of wisdom about “second conversion” experiences including his own personal story of when God used crisis to change his life’s mission. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture an...

Sometimes God rocks your world through a church service. And sometimes He uses crises in our lives, when we are completely broken, to not only heal us but to transform us more than we knew possible. We never know when He is going to move, but when He does we need to be ready. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scrip...

 It was like a second conversion for Peter as he follows God’s leading to share the message of Jesus’ love with people he wouldn’t have even eaten with a few days earlier. It’s through this experience that he realizes in Acts 10:34 (GNT) “that God treats everyone on the same basis.”  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded...

The Bible indicates that God quite possibly wants to do more in our lives than just our initial conversion. In today’s devotion, Gene shares a story from Acts 10 when God transforms the apostle Peter’s heart for people who are different from 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...

Once we’ve said yes to Jesus, there is an ongoing sanctifying work that He does to keep changing and molding us. This week, Gene teaches that throughout our lives, if we’ll let Him, God will continue to rock our world in some transformative ways -- many times when we least expect it. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded...

"When am I ready to be baptized? And how much do I need to do, know or still learn?" In today's episode, Gene answers a few common questions about baptism and reminds us that Jesus defeated death on the cross so that we could be cleansed by His power and transformed by His grace. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion...

People who sincerely believe in Jesus demonstrate their sincerity by heading in a new direction — and it transforms their lives. By His forgiveness and mercy, He can SET YOU FREE to let go of your guilt, failures, sins, and past. In today’s episode, Gene encourages us to listen if God is speaking and to obey His promptings in our lives. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue G...

What does it really mean to BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus? You can believe INTELLECTUALLY that Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior of the world, but that won’t save you. James 2:9 says, “Even the DEMONS believe that and shudder.” 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 G...

We all carry GUILT from our past and need a Savior to set us FREE. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) In today’s episode, Gene encourages us to take a step towards finding true freedom from the chains that have us bound. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture an...

“…But what he didn’t know is that before he went to bed that night, he would come to believe in Jesus, turn from his sin, and be baptized — and it would CHANGE EVERYTHING.” In this week’s podcast series, Gene unpacks this amazing story from Acts 16. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside...

What is the greatest danger of studying the Bible? And what's the point of reading it if you're not going to be TRANSFORMED by it? In today's episode, Gene shares a few tools to use as we read and study the Bible in this new year. 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 c...

How can we read and study the Bible more effectively? One of the reasons we don't read the Bible more often is that we're intimidated by it. In today's episode, Gene shares tools that can help us better understand the life-changing power of His Word. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and sh...

The Bible gives us values for protecting our lives. Implementing the values of God’s perfect law doesn’t take away your freedom — it sets you free.  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 a...

Where do you find guidance when life doesn't go the way you hoped it would? Psalm 119:105, says "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path." In today's episode, Gene shares this promise of God's that comes when we study His word. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and...

What if you could start off this new year with a greater understanding of the Bible and its purpose in YOUR life? In this week's podcast series, Gene shares tools to equip and inspire us to read more of this Holy book and experience the power it has to offer in each of our lives. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded...

Anything worthwhile in life takes PERSEVERANCE but it’s always easier to QUIT than to PERSEVERE. Paul says in Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ 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 t...

“Great leaders are great eliminators.” With so many options and choices, it’s hard to stay focused on our priorities. What we get distracted by isn't necessarily bad, but many times it's ultimately not what's most important.  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 convic...

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.

To get to where you want to GO, you have to first assess where you ARE. It’s never too late to set goals. Even the most successful follower of Jesus, who wrote most of the New Testament and single-handedly spread Christianity through the Roman empire, said at the end of his life, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect.....I do not consider myself yet to have...

We all know the power goals can have in our lives—spiritually, relationally, professionally, financially, and physically. Yet studies indicate 95% of us have never written down carefully crafted goals around the things we say REALLY MATTER. In this week’s podcast series, Gene uses the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3 to learn principles that have the potential to change our lives as we b...

  There is nothing greater you can do this Christmas 2021 than follow in the footsteps of the shepherds and mark another life by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Luke 2:17-18 says, “After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished.” Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed...