In this Episode, Pastor Wayne & Dallas sit down with Upstate Church's Student Director, Brandon Shiley, to discuss how the students at Upstate Church are taking on the Great Commission to reach the Upstate. They also discuss how gender identity has had a pervasive influence in today's culture, including today's youth. Pastor Wayne emphasizes that while society struggles to define basic concepts like male and female, Christians must stand on God's clear design of two genders while showing love to those struggling with these issues. The episode highlights that all sin, including gender confusion, stems from rejecting God's definitions in favor of our own preferences. The pastor stresses the importance of speaking both truths: that God created male and female, and that Jesus is the only way to salvation, approaching these conversations with love rather than condemnation.

Pastor Josh Powell, candidate for Southern Baptist Convention president, shares his journey from a Southern Baptist pastor's son to leading churches through revitalization. He emphasizes his consistent commitment to the gospel and his thankfulness for being Southern Baptist. Powell discusses the need for unity of purpose around the Great Commission while addressing current denominational challenges. He advocates for transparency, trustee training, and bringing contentious issues to the messengers for resolution rather than allowing division to distract from the mission of reaching the nations.

This episode focuses on viewing work as worship to God, challenging the cultural mindset that sees work as merely a burden to endure until retirement. Drawing from Genesis 1-2, the pastors explain that work existed before sin entered the world, making it a blessing and calling from God rather than a curse. The discussion covers three key outcomes: working for God's mission (not as consumers but as kingdom workers), working as God's stewards (managing the responsibilities He's given us), and working for God's pleasure (which includes both excellence and proper rest through Sabbath). The pastors stress that our identity should come from Christ's work on the cross, not from our occupational achievements, while still maintaining that we should work with excellence as representatives of Christ in every sphere of life.

This week's episode focuses on the sanctity of human life, primarily examining Psalm 139, where David describes how God forms each person in the womb with intentional care. The pastor emphasized that this is fundamentally a biblical issue about the value God places on all human life, not merely a political stance. The message highlighted that human value is received from God as our Creator, not achieved through our actions or circumstances. The episode addresses abortion while maintaining that Christians should be 'pro-life' in the fullest sense - valuing all human life from conception to natural death, including the elderly, disabled, and those we disagree with politically.

This episode addresses spiritual apathy and slothfulness as foundational issues Christians must overcome before engaging culture. Drawing from Romans 12, the pastors explain that slothfulness means 'shrinking backwards' due to unpreparedness, leading Christians to either isolate from cultural conversations or escalate into aggressive fighting. The episode emphasizes that apathy isn't just laziness, but caring about things God cares little about while neglecting what matters most to Him. This episode challenges believers to be fervent in spirit, prepared to engage culture with both grace and truth, and warns that spiritual apathy leads to wasted lives and missed blessings from God.

This episode is the start of a new season based on our new series called 'Culture Wars'. The series is about addressing the cultural chaos, confusion, and uncertainty of our times. The pastors emphasize that Christians are constantly being discipled by culture through technology and media, which shapes our worldview more than God's word. Rather than withdrawing from culture or warring against it, Christians are called to walk as witnesses in culture. The message focuses on Romans 12:1-2, calling believers to present themselves as living sacrifices and be transformed by the renewing of their minds. Before addressing cultural issues, Christians must first pursue personal holiness and surrender their rights at the altar of Christ. The series aims to help people understand the times we live in and engage culture from a biblical worldview rather than being conformed to worldly thinking.

This podcast episode features Pastor Wayne Bray, Dallas Wilson, and new Greenville campus pastor Hayden Crompton discussing the soft launch of Upstate Church's Greenville campus and their ministry philosophy. The conversation centers around 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, where Paul emphasizes preaching Christ crucified rather than impressive speech or wisdom. The pastors explain how this passage shapes their approach to ministry - prioritizing the message of Jesus over the messenger delivering it. They discuss the importance of decentralizing personality in ministry, rotating preachers across campuses, and building a team-based approach rather than focusing on individual pastors. The episode also covers the strategic importance of planting a church in downtown Greenville and how their ministry philosophy helps with both mission advancement and pastoral sanctification.

This episode focuses on the importance of obedience to God's calling, even when it leads to unexpected and uncomfortable places. Using the example of Will Bray's calling to plant a church in Arizona, the message emphasizes that following Jesus means being willing to leave security and comfort behind when God calls us to something different. The sermon highlights that God is always calling believers to something, and our job is to be close enough to Him through prayer and Scripture to hear His voice. True security is found in obedience to God, not in our circumstances, and delayed obedience is disobedience.

In this bonus episode of the Charge On Podcast, Dallas and Pastor Wayne share the incredible story behind the Haywood campus roof collapse — how God’s providence protected the church, how the team responded overnight, and what’s next for both Haywood and Five Forks. Hear updates on construction, insurance, and how God continues to grow His church through every challenge.

In this episode, Pastor Wayne Bray unpacks the heart of the Great Commission—reminding us it’s not optional but essential to the church’s identity. He challenges believers to live missionally right where they are, focusing on two key arenas: the family and the workplace. Pastor Bray highlights the family as the foundation of Christian mission, calling men to lead spiritually by loving and treasuring their wives amid a culture where the nuclear family is rapidly eroding. He also redefines the workplace as a mission field, urging Christians to see their true business as winning people to Jesus. This episode invites every believer to embrace their everyday calling as faithful missionaries in ordinary life.