Pursuing God with Gene Appel

Circumstances will seldom be as you dreamed. Paul finally gets to Rome to begin his ministry there, and he’s immediately saddled with restrictions that weren’t part of his dream. Even when God inspires a vision in you, you need to be FLEXIBLE when things go differently than you expected. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Groun...

Are you open to God inspired visions for your own life? Paul had a dream of doing something significant for God long before you get to Acts 28. As you study the book of Acts you find four stages in Paul’s journey that are pretty consistent with the spiritual development we all go through. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grou...

How did Paul go from an ATTACKER of Christians to one of the great ADVOCATES of Christianity? Acts 28:31 says, “Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” This week, Gene shares lessons from Acts 28 about boldly persevering in times of uncertainty. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash...

Based on your own experiences, you might view the church as a community, a club, or merely a custom. The Church of Jesus is MEANT to be a place where imperfect people, who desperately need God, belong, grow and take part in advancing the most important cause in the world. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture...

How would you describe your connection with God? What about how you view the Bible? And Christianity? In today’s devotion, Gene encourages us to examine these questions in our own lives -- to gauge where we are at on our own spiritual journeys.  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 Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” In today’s devotion, Gene reminds us that Christianity is not a part-time faith and explores what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and...

From the book of Joshua to Judges, and in the course of just one generation, God’s chosen people go from a place of commitment to complacency. We see this complacency creep into the church and even into our own lives. We may not notice when our commitment begins to crumble -- often it is subtle.   Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compass...

God calls us all to be fully devoted followers of Jesus but it’s easy to waver between a place of commitment and compromise. This week, Gene challenges us to think about where we are at spiritually as we begin 2021 and where we’d like 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 conv...

  It takes humility to admit our need for God but we always have a choice. Will you let fear overcome you or are you ready to call on the God of angel armies to be at your side? We can choose to trust Him to get us through ANY trial. 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 th...

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 devotion 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...

One time or another we’ve all been disappointed pray-ers who felt like God can’t hear us. And sometimes when we pray we feel nothing. Gene encourages listeners in today’s devotion to pray without ceasing. God’s timing is different than ours but He is always working upstream, preparing and maturing us for the right time! Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build communi...

What do you do when times are hard and you find yourself in a situation where you’re in over your head? This week, Gene shares insights to improve our prayer lives. Romans 12:12 says “When trials come, endure them patiently: steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer.” Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and...

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...

The story of Jonah is the story of a God who pursues, rescues, and redeems. Maybe God is saying to you at the start of this new year, “Get ready. I’ve got an assignment for you that I’ve prepared you for, transformed you for, through this storm. Now be faithful to your mission.” Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Sc...

Sometimes we look back on mistakes that we’ve made and believe we’ve set ourselves off course from God’s plan for the rest of our lives. Thankfully, our God is NOT that way and He is a God of the second chance. 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 e...

“Tough times never leave you where they find you.” If we think about it honestly, we rarely change directions until a painful experience gets our attention. Many times God uses adversity in our lives to help us turn around and follow 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 convicti...

Many times God uses storms to get our attention -- to get us to take an honest look at ourselves. What might God be trying to say to you in the midst of the obstacles you are currently facing? “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.” Proverbs 20:30 (GN) Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in...

We are all hopeful for a new beginning,  a fresh start from the adversity faced in 2020. As we begin this new year, there is no doubt that God wants to speak to each of us in unique and powerful ways — are you ready to listen and obey? 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...

What if this Christmas, you prayed the two words that transformed your life for eternity? You don’t need a religion, you need a relationship with the God who loves you. How quickly your world could 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 grace is for everyo...

 For many, this is going to be a hard Christmas after a hard year. All of us have lost something in 2020. BUT, in our grief, there is a comfort only God can bring! “He is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit.” (Psalm 34:18) Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Ea...

How quickly the world changed for Joseph and Mary that first Christmas 2,000 years ago. And still today our lives can change in the blink of an eye. What if you were just two words away from your life being transformed? 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...

Everything changed that night the Savior of the world was born in Bethlehem -- and lives are continually transformed by this baby born in a manger. This Christmas, whatever it is that you are facing, Gene invites you to join him in praying these simple words: “God, change me.” Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scri...

Imagine how suddenly life changed for Mary and Joseph when they received word that they would be raising the Son of God! This week, in the midst of an ever-changing world,  Gene explores two-word prayers that unleash the power of God in your life. Fortunately, Christmas means that YOUR world can change too.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unle...

No race worth running comes without great effort -- and sometimes it can be painful. Our spiritual journey is no different. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 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...

When Christ’s church is united, it is unstoppable. Yet churches are notorious for losing focus from their purpose and the race they are running. In a year full of so much divisiveness, let’s not forget the mission we are on...together. 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...