Pursuing God with Dave and Gene

One of the things you notice about Jesus is that there was always an underlying urgency in how He related to lost people. Jesus taught that Hell is real and real people go there for eternity. The reality of hell was a major theme in Jesus’ teaching ministry.  Again and again, He would break down and weep over a given evangelistic situation. Jesus understood like no one ever has that hell is real. And His love for people led Him to an urgency that’s just laced all throughout the gospels. Today Gene reminds us that we can each be a light that God can use to reduce the population of hell by increasing the population of heaven.

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.

In today’s episode, Gene tells the story in 2 Kings about Samaria being under siege. God moved on some lepers to go to the enemy camp, and caused the enemy to run away. The lepers found abundant food and riches. Instead of keeping it all for themselves, they said, “This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.” How often do we keep the good news of the Gospel to ourselves? Gene challenges us to be the light by sharing our good news with others.

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.

In today’s episode, Gene gives us a couple of ways we can be a light that aren’t going to take 1 more second of your time. He shows us how to turn mundane errands into adventurous evangelistic opportunities. He also shows us how we can use our work and hobby relationships to shine the light of the gospel to our communities.

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.

During our home stretch in these 21 days of prayer, I'm asking you to pray just one prayer. I’m asking you to pray:  God, show me how to be a light. In today’s episode, Gene takes a look at Matthew, also known as Levi, the former tax collector. When he leaves everything to follow Jesus, he throws a party so all his friends and associates can see what Jesus did for him. Matthew was the light to his friends.

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.

Today Gene reminds us of an old saying: “What God expects, God enables.” God wants us to be a light in our families, our communities, and our world. There’s no doubt that as we look around at all the challenging dark circumstances in our world, it’s a prayer that has never been more needed. The prayer is this: 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 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.

The Bible teaches that God is searching throughout the Earth, looking for Christians who want to be used by him. Gene reminds us today that when you pray the ‘use me’ prayer, you’re praying, “God, I am making myself available for you to touch a life through me; to meet a need through me; to heal a hurt through me; to strengthen a church through me…I am making my life available for you to work through me.” 

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.

When we pray a prayer that includes the words ‘lead me,’ we can’t possibly see where God will lead us. But when we’re willing to be led, He will take us into places and situations that will exceed anything you could have planned for ourselves. Today Gene challenges us to pray, like King David, “Lord lead me.”

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.

In today’s episode, Gene reminds us that sometimes God wants to take us out of our comfort zone.  When we’re no longer content with the status quo, sometimes we need to pray, “Lord, stretch me.”

Listen to Psalm 66:10, “For you, Oh God, tested us, you refined us like silver.”What’s he saying? “God, you stretched us…you put us through fires that refined us like silver, by turning up the heat and removing the impurities. By stretching us, you got the very best out of us.” God is looking for a new generation of Christ followers, who won’t play it safe, who aren’t playing Churchianity, but who instead are fully devoted to Him and regularly pray prayers that stretch.

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 throughout the pages of the Bible, people are faced with patterns that they need to knock down and break, and it all really begins when you pray the “break me” prayer. In today’s episode, Gene reminds us that  if you’re unwilling to pray the “break me” prayer…God WILL find another way to break you. Hebrews 12 says God disciplines those that He loves. And in order to get your attention and to break the thing that needs to be broken. Sooner or later, if you mean business about following the Savior who gave His life for you, you’re going to have to pray a “break me” prayer”...and God will.  

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.

Sometimes we have to be brave and swim into the deep end of the pool by praying dangerous prayers. “Search me” is one of those prayers.  This is the kind of prayer that says, “God, aim your searchlight into the inner recesses of my soul, my heart, and my mind and expose whatever’s down there inside of me that ought not to be there. Gene challenges us in today’s episode to pray that 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 God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.