The Average Pursuit

What If Church Is More Than a Weekly Gathering? What if the church feels smaller to us because we have forgotten the size of the story it belongs to? In this episode, Jonathan continues the question from the previous conversation: What if there’s more to church than what we’re currently experiencing? Rather than starting with attendance, programs, music, preaching, or preferences, this episode ste...

What if there’s more to church than what we’re currently experiencing? In this episode, Jonathan explores a question that has been stirring in his heart: What if church is meant to be more than a weekly gathering? What if it’s a glimpse of something greater - a foretaste of the Kingdom of God and the world to come? Together we’ll examine Scripture, wrestle with the decline of church participation,...

Recorded from Raleigh during chaplaincy training with the NC State Highway Patrol. In Luke 10:38–42, Martha is busy, sincere, and missing the one thing. We sit with her tension and ask why the same thing happens to us — why we can be loud, faithful, and still distracted from the only voice that matters. A story from the SHP training floor becomes the picture: one instructor giving clear orders, an...

A show for the average believer, pursuing Christ faithfully, in ordinary life. Hosted by Jon — a bi-vocational pastor who lives most of his week the same way you do: working a job, raising a family, showing up for people, trying to follow Jesus in the unglamorous middle of it all. This isn’t a podcast about platform Christianity or performance spirituality. It’s about formation over performance, f...

After months of silence, The Average Pursuit is back. This episode isn’t a comeback announcement. It’s a re-entry - honest, unhurried, and grounded in the one thing the silence kept teaching: that waiting on God is not the opposite of pursuing Him. It’s part of how the pursuit gets shaped. Jon opens the season with a brief word about where he’s been, a reading of Psalm 62, and a clear picture of w...

In this episode, Jonathan Sheppard explores the critical moment in a believer's life when faith transitions from mere belief to active movement. He emphasizes the dangers of remaining stagnant on the 'shore' of faith, where comfort and safety can lead to delayed obedience and a slow fading of conviction. Through the lens of Joshua 3, he challenges listeners to identify their own 'r...

In this conversation, Jonathan Sheppard explores the theme of spiritual refinement through the metaphor of fire, as introduced by John the Baptist. He discusses the process of exposing impurities, entering the fire of trials, and emerging transformed. The conversation emphasizes the importance of authenticity in faith, the transformative power of Jesus, and the invitation to surrender to God for t...

In this conversation, Jonathan Sheppard explores the theme of spiritual refinement through the metaphor of fire, as introduced by John the Baptist. He discusses the process of exposing impurities, entering the fire of trials, and emerging transformed. The conversation emphasizes the importance of authenticity in faith, the transformative power of Jesus, and the invitation to surrender to God for t...

As we step into a new year, this episode is a pause — not a pivot. The Average Pursuit is continuing with weekly episodes, but we’re also adding new tools designed to help listeners move from inspiration to lived faithfulness. In this episode, Jonathan explains: What is not changing about the podcast Why inspiration alone often isn’t enough for real formation How the new website and discipleship t...

In this episode, Jonathan takes us beneath the surface of spiritual life to explore why so many believers feel tired, unstable, or inconsistent in their walk with Christ. We live in a culture obsessed with visible results—busyness, productivity, output—and without realizing it, we bring those same pressures into our faith. But Jesus isn’t asking us to perform. He’s asking us to abide. Through pers...

The Average Pursuit is a podcast for people who want to follow Jesus with intention in the middle of real life. In a world that pulls us in a hundred directions, this podcast helps you slow down, cut through the noise, and pursue the things that actually matter. Each week, Jonathan Sheppard—minister, author, and honest guide for the everyday disciple—shares biblical truth, practical wisdom, and th...

This week’s episode builds directly on Sunday’s sermon, “Emerging Refined,” where we stepped into Stage 3 of the refining process. In the sermon, we explored how God uses fire—not to destroy us, but to reveal, remove, and transform. In this episode, Jonathan takes the message further by confronting one of the most destructive misunderstandings in modern Christianity: We expect God to deliver a lif...

In this raw and urgent episode, Jonathan delivers a bold warning for every believer standing at the edge of obedience: quitters die in the desert. Drawing from the story of Israel in Numbers 13–14 and the courage of Caleb and Joshua, this episode confronts the dangerous habit of shrinking back when God calls us forward. Jonathan exposes the lies fear tells, the slow death of spiritual complacency,...

This week on The Average Pursuit, Jonathan takes listeners deeper into Sunday’s sermon on Jesus in the Wilderness (Matthew 4). Most Christians are losing the battle against temptation — not because they’re weak, but because their souls are starving. In this episode, we explore why temptation is a battle of truth vs. lies, why Jesus used Scripture — not willpower — to overcome the enemy, and why yo...

We hate waiting because it reminds us we’re not in control — but what if waiting is exactly where God does His deepest work? In this honest, soul-level conversation, Jonathan explores the beauty, frustration, and purpose of divine delay. 🕊️ “Waiting isn’t wasted time — it’s where God refines your trust.” Refined: A 12-Week Journey This episode is part of the Refined journey — a devotional written...

In this raw and honest episode, Jonathan takes us deep into the heart of what it really means to follow God when there’s no clear path forward. Drawing from the stories of Jonah, the Israelites in the wilderness, and Jesus’ own time in the desert, this episode challenges the illusion that faith requires clarity — and shows that the truest form of trust is surrender. If you’ve ever felt stuck, scar...

You can’t be refined by what you refuse to release. In this week’s episode, Jonathan Sheppard unpacks one of the hardest truths of the Christian life — that the idols we protect are often the very things destroying our obedience, peace, and purpose. Building on Sunday’s message from Luke 18 and the story of the Rich Young Ruler , this episode is a radical call to abandon every false god of comfort...

Hey friends, welcome back! You probably noticed that this week’s episode released on Wednesday instead of Monday — that’s the new day for The Average Pursuit ! This episode dives deep into one of the hardest truths: respect for God without trust in God is rebellion dressed in worship. We talk about what it means to move beyond performance-based faith into surrendered obedience — where reverence be...

Series: Refined – Week 2 Host: Jonathan Sheppard | The Average Pursuit We’ve all done it — treated God like a vending machine. We insert our prayers, press the right buttons, and wait for our blessings to drop. But what happens when what we prayed for doesn’t fall out? In this honest, heart-level episode, Jonathan Sheppard confronts the mindset that turns faith into a transaction and calls us back...

In the opening episode of Refined , Jonathan confronts one of the most dangerous deceptions facing the modern church — cultural Christianity . With honesty and conviction, he challenges listeners to move beyond words, performance, and religious habits into a life of authentic obedience to Christ. Jesus’ words — “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…” — expose...

What do you do when you keep showing up, keep praying, keep serving… but no one seems to notice? You’re faithful in the small things, but the spotlight never shines your way. You’re holding on, but discouragement whispers, “Does this even matter?” That’s the raw question we’re wrestling with in this episode of The Average Pursuit. Because let’s be honest — whether in the Appalachian mountains or a...

What do you do when you believe Jesus has already won the victory… but your life still feels like one defeat after another? You know the verses, you’ve sung the songs, you’ve heard the sermons. But when temptation returns, anxiety lingers, or relationships keep unraveling, it’s easy to wonder: “If Christ is victorious, why do I still feel like I’m losing?” That’s the raw question we’re diving into...

What do you do when life feels dry, stuck, or restless—even though you know Jesus promises living water? When you read the Word, show up to church, and try to do the right things, but deep down you sense something isn’t flowing? That’s the raw question we’re diving into in this episode of The Average Pursuit . Because let’s be honest: in the Appalachian mountains—and everywhere else—it’s not unusu...

What do you do when your faith feels more like a Sunday performance than a Monday reality? When you say the right words, show up at the right times, but deep down you know your steps don’t match the talk? That’s the raw question we’re diving into in this episode of The Average Pursuit . Because let’s be honest: in the Appalachian mountains—and in church culture everywhere—it’s easy to impersonate...

If you stripped away the Sunday version of yourself—the church clothes, the polite small talk, the highlight reel—would your life still look different? That’s the raw question we’re asking in this episode of The Average Pursuit. Because let’s be honest: the pressure to blend in is everywhere. And if we’re not careful, our faith becomes a surface-level identity instead of a Spirit-shaped reality. I...