Heaven Here Now Podcast

One of the concepts that is foundational to the idea of Heaven Here Now, is that Heaven starts in the Heart. This is why the ancient wisdom says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" (Proverbs 4:23) and why Jesus said, "the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). In today's episode we sit down with therapist and author, Connie Jones to talk about how vital the environment of "the heart" (our minds and emotions) is for experiencing Heaven Here Now.   

In this week's episode, we discover a kindred spirit with former pastor and current non-profit founder Frank Mercer. Frank led Rolling Hills Baptist Church in Fayetteville, GA for over a decade. The church thrived under his leadership, but instead of following the normal trajectory of growth which usually leads to bigger buildings (and budgets), Frank and his leadership team sensed God leading them down a different path. One that resulted in them selling their facility and investing in local ministry, including his current non-profit that provides spiritual and emotional support for first responders (http://4ourheroes.org/). His story is powerful and you won't want to miss it!

What will the Next 50 Years look like for Christianity in America? In this week's episode, we welcome back Shelby Barker to discuss the recent Pew Recent Center on the continued decline of Christianity and the rise of "the Nones". Each of us shares our unique take on what the story behind this decline is, and how pastors and ministry leaders can shift to reach the next generation.

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/

This week we take a trip into the Supernatural with Nate Harkness, International Director of Worldwide Discipleship. In this episode, we talk about hearing the voice of God and how Heaven Here Now often looks like the supernatural showing up in our midst.

This week, we sit down with one of our good friends Phil Fincher. He's a campus pastors at Compassion Christian Church and a local legend of compassion and love in his day to day life. Phil shares his experience of growing up being the kid who didn't belong and coming to Jesus from the outside looking in. Amazingly, this gives him a heart for the outside and the outcast that shines through in his ministry and family today.

In this week's episode, we sit down with our good friend Melanie Reeves. Melanie is the Director of RiverLife, a local non-profit based out of Newnan, GA that does wonderful work and is one of our closest partners. After a tornado devastated many homes in Newnan in 2021, RiverLife emerged as one of the most trusted local non-profits for helping meet physical needs and providing volunteer opportunities. In our conversation, Melanie shares some of the original vision for RiverLife and her heart for helping provide a place of refuge and healing for helpers who are exhausted and in need of a place to recharge.

This week, we sat down with Pete Cocco, creator of PerMission Inc. (https://wehavepermission.com). In our conversation, Pete shares some simple criteria for what the fundamental elements of church are, and gives us a really helpful tool (Discovery Bible Study https://discoverapp.org/discovery-bible-study) that anyone can use to help get started in the process of bringing Heaven Here Now.

In this week's episode, we talk to Jachin Dukes about his journey through different seasons with the church. Jake has served in a variety of leadership roles in churches and had a season where he left, but ultimately felt the call to come back and use his gifts to serve. If you've ever had mixed feelings about being a part of a church and still have questions or doubts about how it is supposed to work, this is a great conversation for you to be a part of. Hope you enjoy it!

“I feel like the church could do so much more.”

On this week’s episode of the Heaven Here Now podcast, we talk with self-described atheist, Karlye Ramer.  Karlye talks about her experience growing up in the church and the roadblocks she faced. She also talks about the vast difference between what the church says versus what we’re actually doing. Whether she identifies as a Jesus follower or not, Karlye's heart to love her community, her neighbors, and the least of these looks so much like Jesus. For some people, our lives are the only Bible they’ll ever read. We hope this episode makes you pause and lights a fire to put your faith in action.

On today's episode, we chat with Rick Harper, Campus Minister at Georgia Tech Campus Christian Fellowship, about the role that authentic community plays in creating Heaven Here Now. For many people, Christian community can feel like a place where you have to have to hide your faults and where your belonging is connected to your behavior. But our great hope for heaven, is that we can find a safe place where we are loved and accepted exactly as we are. In our conversation, we look at how a radically different type of community can be created when we're willing to drop all of the labels and baggage that we carry, and embrace an identity as a beloved child of God.