Thirty years ago, social scientists predicted that technology would automate enough of life that we'd be searching for ways to fill our free time. Then came microwaves, dishwashers, cell phones, laptops, voicemail, and AI. And yet here we are, more pressed for time than ever. The apostle Paul had his own crushing demands, planting churches, writing letters, traveling, being imprisoned, and in Ephesians 5 he cuts straight to it: be careful how you live, making the most of every opportunity. He makes clear that people fall into one of two categories, those who invest their time wisely and those who spend it foolishly. That's a helpful diagnostic. Before anything can change, you have to honestly assess which category you're operating in most of the time. So where is your time actually going? Not where you wish it was going. Where is it actually going?

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.

Naomi came home empty, asked to be called bitter, and couldn't see past her loss. But God was writing something she couldn't have imagined. Ruth married Boaz, had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David. And if you trace that line forward, you eventually arrive in Bethlehem, and the Christmas story, and Jesus. Boaz was a picture of what the Bible calls a guardian redeemer, someone who comes from the right family, with the right resources, out of love, to pay a price to bring someone back from loss into belonging. Jesus is the ultimate guardian redeemer. What Boaz did for Ruth points directly to what Jesus does for all of us. This is a beautiful reminder, don't give up on God too soon. A death on a cross became an empty tomb and a new beginning for everyone. Nobody saw that coming either.

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.

Ruth went out to find a field to work in. As it turned out, she ended up in the field of a wealthy relative named Boaz, who went out of his way to protect her, provide for her, and eventually redeem everything she and Naomi had lost. Just so happened. What a coincidence. In the Bible, whenever you read language like that, pay attention, because God is usually up to something. Boaz was under no legal obligation to do any of what he did. He stepped in out of pure grace, paid the price, and brought two women from emptiness into fullness and from bitterness into belonging. Sound familiar? Sometimes what looks like a dead end is actually a setup for something you couldn't have arranged yourself. So think about a situation in your life right now that feels stuck or hopeless. Could God already be working in ways you can't fully see yet?

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.

Naomi left Bethlehem full and came back empty. Her husband was gone. Both sons were gone. And when people who knew her tried to greet her by name, she stopped them. Don't call me Naomi. Call me Mara. Bitter. Because that's what she was. She felt like God hadn't held up His end of the deal. Maybe that sounds familiar. Maybe what you hoped for, what you felt like God was going to deliver, just hasn't materialized. Gerald Sittser lost three generations in one car accident and wrote this: The experience of loss does not have to be the defining moment of your story. The defining moment can be your response to it. We don't get to choose the roles we play, but we do get to choose how we play them. So if you're carrying something painful today, is it possible that God is still writing something in your story that you can't quite see yet?

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.

Deborah was a woman leading in a man's world. Gideon was a farmer from the lowest tribe who went into battle with 300 men against 135,000. Samson was the strongest man alive, but he couldn't resist the wrong woman. Remarkable, flawed, and wildly unlikely. And yet God used every one of them. The thread running through all three stories is the same: God doesn't need your credentials, your confidence, or your perfect track record. He needs someone who will turn to Him and trust Him even when the odds don't make sense. That's it. So where are you playing it too safe today? Where are you waiting until you feel more ready or more qualified? 

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.

After Joshua's generation passed, something went wrong. The next generation grew up without the story. They didn't know what God had done, and within one generation, Israel was back in idolatry and bondage. That cycle repeated itself 13 times over 330 years, and only 110 of those years were lived in peace with God. Sin, slavery, repentance, rescue, repeat. Like Groundhog Day. And here's what makes it so heartbreaking: God kept showing up. He kept raising up leaders. He kept delivering His people. But the cycle couldn't be broken from the inside. It took someone from outside it entirely, sinless and unstained, to finally end it for good. That's Jesus walking into Jerusalem on a donkey, knowing exactly what week it was. So before you go into your day, ask yourself honestly: Is there an area of your life where you keep returning to the same patterns?

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 enemy has five words too. "You'll never be good enough." "Your gift is not needed." "You'll always be that woman." Simple, devastating sentences that people carry for years, sometimes decades, that strip the strength right out of their stories. But God has five words of His own. He said them to Joshua before the most impossible assignment of his life. Jesus said them to His disciples before He ascended. They were the last words He wanted lingering in the air after He was gone. And they are just as true for you today: I will be with you. Not good luck, you've got what it takes. Not figure it out and report back. I will be with you. Whatever wall is still standing, whatever fear is still present, whatever you're walking into next week, that promise hasn't changed.

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 first generation of Israelites stood at the edge of the Promised Land, looked at the giants, looked at themselves, and decided the math didn't work. They all died in the wilderness. Joshua's generation wasn't stronger. The walls weren't shorter. What changed was their focus. They stopped looking at who they were and started looking at who God is. Isaiah asks it this way: Who holds the oceans in the hollow of His hand? More than two-thirds of the earth's surface, in some places seven miles deep, and God holds it like a splash. That's who goes before you into whatever you're facing. So the question is never "am I big enough for this?" The question is "how big is my God?" The wall doesn't get smaller. But when you fix your eyes on who God actually is, it starts to look a lot different by comparison.

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.

Before a single step was taken around Jericho, God told Joshua something remarkable. Not "I will deliver Jericho." He said "I have delivered Jericho." Past tense. The walls were still standing, the army was still inside, and God was already speaking of it as done. That is who God is. He sees the end from the beginning and He is not stressed about your situation even when you are. The battle plan made no human sense: march, blow a trumpet, say nothing. And yet on day seven, the walls didn't just breach, they collapsed. So completely that the only explanation left was God. So what wall are you circling right now? What are you doing in obedience day after day that isn't producing visible results yet? Don't stop. Don't give up before day seven.

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.

Rahab was a prostitute living inside the walls of Jericho. And when Joshua needed his city taken down, God's first move was to use her. She hid the spies, misdirected the soldiers, and made a way where there was no way. But her story doesn't end there. In the New Testament she's listed in the Hall of Faith alongside Abraham, Moses, and Joshua. And in Matthew chapter 1, she shows up in the genealogy of Jesus. It doesn't matter what the first chapter of your story looks like. God can end it in a way that has nothing to do with how it began. So think about someone you've written off today, yourself included. Someone whose past seems to disqualify them. Because God has a long history of choosing exactly those people for exactly the moments that matter most.

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.