Pursuing God with Gene Appel

There are many different ways to be a light. In today’s devotional, Gene reminds us that serving others can be a powerful way to point people to Jesus. What is something you can do to shine a light in the darkness this week? 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...

For many of us, the thought of sharing our faith with others is terrifying. We want to be a light but feel incapable. When feelings of doubt creep in, remember that you don’t have to be someone you’re not to be a light.  You simply need to 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...

“No one is beyond hope.” Ezekiel 36:26 says “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.  I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” In today’s devotional, Gene encourages us to keep praying for loved ones that are far from God. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and...

When was the last time you took a risk to share your faith with someone that needed the love of Jesus? In today’s devotional, Gene encourages us to ask God to help us risk more -- because each spiritual conversation we have could be the beginning of God igniting a flame in someone’s heart. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Gro...

Throughout His ministry, we see an underlying urgency in the way Jesus related to lost people. Where did that urgency come from? How can we keep it at the forefront of our hearts and minds? Pray “God, help me to have the clarity of what the eternal stakes are for people I know and love. Help me to be bold. Help me to be a light. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, buil...

Have you “stock-piled” the amazing grace you’ve found in Jesus? 2 Kings 7:9 says, “Then they said to each other, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.” Continue praying, “God, show me how to be a light.” Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shape...

As you consider being a light to others, you may be thinking, “I have the heart to be a light, but I just don't have the time." In today’s episode, Gene encourages us to find strategic ways to lead spiritual conversations and build relationships with those around us that need Jesus. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion....

Jesus said in Matthew 5:14 that you are the light of the world! When you consistently ask God to show you how to be a light, over time, He will lead you in ways that are consistent with who He made you to be. Who are five people in your life that need the light of Jesus? Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture...

If we’re being honest, most of us feel incapable of living the counter-cultural, against the flow, kind of life Jesus calls us to. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Over these next 21 days, Gene encourages us to join him in praying one simple prayer in the midst of these days that can feel so dark...

It seems like we have been living in a time of darkness, and people are divided. If you want to see dark, just look at the images people are posting on social media. This darkness can only be cast out by light. In today's episode, we'll start the conversation about what it means to be a light in a dark world.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build communi...

There are many examples in the Bible where peoples’ prayers changed circumstances. Our prayers CAN make a difference, even when we are in over our head. But what about when your prayers aren’t answered the way you had 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...

Developing “pray-ers” don’t give up on prayer just because they aren’t getting an answer. Even when it feels like He is silent, Gene shares in today’s episode that there’s one thing we will always receive from God through prayer.  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...

Jesus saw people who were often forgotten or marginalized because He always looked through eyes of love. In today’s episode, Gene encourages us to see those around us with the eyes of 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...

 Sometimes we get so busy, even at church, that we can become blind to the needs of those around us. In today’s devotion, Gene invites us to pray this prayer:  “God, put someone in our path today and help us to see them with Jesus’ eyes.” 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 convicti...

Why do we find ourselves, at times, going through all the spiritual motions yet feeling stuck in our relationship with God? In today’s devotion, Gene shares insight from Proverbs 11:25 to encourage us to learn to give our lives away. Because “Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Ground...

“What is it that keeps you from walking free?” We all need a power greater than ourselves to break strongholds that have a grip on our lives. In today’s episode, guest Mike Breaux reminds us of the freedom that is found through living completely surrendered lives.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and sh...

You can study a book carefully, and never be changed by it. James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” In today’s devotion, Gene encourages us to apply God’s word to our lives and in our daily actions. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Ea...

When life isn’t going smoothly, it’s easy to assume that we’ve missed God’s guidance -- that being led by the Spirit is about God leading us to the outcome we desire. Gene focuses his teaching today on “clarifying the goal”, because the Spirit’s guidance is not about personal success, but about personal transformation. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build communit...

How did the Israelites handle the many obstacles they faced in the wilderness? Hebrews 11:30 says, “By FAITH the walls of Jericho fell...” In today’s devotion, Gene shares that when you’re navigating change, you’ve got to live by faith -- moment by moment. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by E...

Why do we struggle with change?  Why do we glamorize the past? So often we remember the past as better than it really was. In today's devotion, Gene teaches on three factors that contribute to our resistance to change. 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 g...

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 of us are unsure about ourselves at times -- reaching for the opinions of others and for inner confidence, only to be let down. In today’s episode, guest Jake Barker reminds us of the freedom that is found when we embrace what God says about where our identity truly lies. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scrip...

It’s impossible to find purpose without handing over the keys of your life to God. It’s realizing, “I need Jesus Christ in my life not only to save me from my sin, but to live in God’s meaning and purpose for my life, indwelt with God’s Spirit.” 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...

Jesus says in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  In today’s episode, guest Carl Kuhl encourages us to take a leap of faith by practicing generosity in the church. 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, ea...

There are a couple habits that frequently happen to many followers of Jesus without us even realizing it. Thankfully, by God’s grace, we can throw off whatever it is that hinders us and find grace for the sin that has us entangled so easily. 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 convi...