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Pursuing God with Gene Appel
Gene Appel is the senior pastor of Eastside Christian Church, a multi-site church based in Anaheim, California. Since 2008, Gene has led Eastside into multiple seasons of rapid growth and as a result, Eastside has been consistently named among the 100 fastest growing churches in America. Gene’s recipe for success is simple: Pursue God, Build Community, and Unleash Compassion. Eastside’s explosive growth is rooted in a deep conviction that God’s heart and God’s grace is for everyone, resulting in a radically inclusive community of God-conscious “servant leaders” who serve both locally and globally. Join Gene Monday - Friday as he walks you through practical biblical teachings that will foster a deeper connection and awareness of God’s activity and presence in your life. No matter where you are at with your walk with God, this podcast is for everyone.
Episodes
1297 episodes
Episode 1274: What Relationships Are Worth Building?
When John Fawcett loaded his possessions onto a moving cart to leave the small congregation he had served for seven years, he began his goodbyes. And then it was too much. He unloaded the cart and stayed. He never left. He died there fifty-f...
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Episode 1273: How Real Concern for Others Becomes a Way of Life
Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. Most of us would nod along quickly, but very few of us have actually built our lives around it. The word blessed here doesn't just mean happy. It means deeply satisfied, living in the fu...
Episode 1272: We Shouldn't Need a Crisis to Bring Us Together
Four donkeys shared a pasture but kept to their own corners, eyeing each other with suspicion. Then the weather turned foul. Cold, wind-driven rain with nowhere to shelter except with each other. By morning, all four were huddled together. I...
Episode 1271: Take One Step Today Toward Actually Knowing Someone
Paul said to the Ephesian elders: "You know how I lived when I was with you." That statement only works if you've actually spent real time together. Over three years, they had come to know him as a servant, a teacher, an evangelist, and a sa...
Episode 1270: You're Going to Spend Eternity With These People So You Might as Well Start Now
The person sitting next to you at church this weekend is someone you'll be spending eternity with. That new believer who doesn't know anybody yet needs you to reach out. And that Christian you've had a sharp disagreement with, the one you've...
Episode 1269: What Happens When You Finally Stop Trying to Figure It Out Alone
Powerless is not a terrible place to end up. It's actually the beginning of something. The Bible teaches that by admitting weakness you access strength you never had before. Not your strength. God's. When you finally release your white-knuck...
Episode 1268: Why Willpower Was Never Going to Be Enough
The road to recovery always starts with the same admission: I am powerless. That's not a defeat statement. It's the most liberating sentence you may ever say. Here's what makes it so hard though: we settle the biggest question of existence w...
Episode 1267: I Can Stop Anytime I Want and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves
"I can handle it. I can stop the spending, the drinking, the gambling, let go of the hurt, any time I want." What we're really saying is: I'm quite capable of being God myself. And that's actually humanity's oldest problem. It goes all the w...
Episode 1266: The Courage It Takes to Stop Saying You're Fine
David committed adultery, had the woman's husband murdered, and told himself he was doing just fine. It took a friend named Nathan, someone more committed to truth-telling than to keeping the peace, to say: you've sinned and you don't even k...
Episode 1265: What the Twelve Steps and the Bible Have in Common
The twelve steps come right out of Scripture. The Bible is the original recovery manual. And the steps to recovery are always the same regardless of what you need recovery from. So here's the honest question: what has you in a straitjacket? ...
Episode 1264: The Surprising Question Jesus Asks
A man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. And before healing him, Jesus asked him something that seems almost strange: do you want to get well? It's as if Jesus was highlighting the man's own responsibility in the matter. He had to c...
Episode 1263: The Most Underused Resource in Conflict Resolution
Most of us have never been given practical tools for handling conflict well. Start with prayer, designate a time and place for a talk, not a debate. If you feel stuck, seek advice from someone who has the kind of relationships yo...
Episode 1262: Why You Have to Put Your Own Oxygen Mask on First
Why You Have to Put Your Own Oxygen Mask on First | Pursuing God With Gene AppelEvery flight starts with the same instruction before takeoff: put your own oxygen mask on before helping others. Your relationship with God is the ...
Episode 1261: Four Common Conflict Styles and What They All Get Wrong
Most of us handle conflict the way we were taught, even when what we were taught wasn't healthy. There are four styles that show up again and again. The Eskimo, where nobody talks about the tension and everyone just waits for it to thaw. The...
Episode 1260: Conflict Is Not a Matter of If, It's a Matter of When
Every significant relationship in your life will face a moment of conflict. Marriage, family, friendships. It is not a question of if but when. And without practiced emergency procedures, things spiral fast. Most of us revert to the only con...
Episode 1259: Why Stopping Every Seven Days Is Actually a Gift Not a Rule
The Sabbath was never meant to be a burden. Jesus said it was created for our good. The fourth commandment has two instructions buried in it: take time off, and begin worshipping. Not one or the other. Both. Tony Campolo put it simply: we le...
Episode 1258: What Irritability and Impatience Are Actually Telling You
By Friday afternoon, a lot of us are emotional messes. We just can't see it. Everyone around us can, but we're too depleted to notice. The warning signs are there, though: irritability, impatience, self-pity, loss of perspective, and a vulne...
Episode 1257: Why Did God Rest Even Though He Wasn't Tired?
God worked six days creating the world, and on the seventh, He stopped. Not because He was exhausted. God doesn't get tired. He stopped to enjoy what He had made. And if God rested even though He didn't need to, it tells us there is more val...
Episode 1256: You Were Made With a Battery That Has to Be Recharged
We laugh about being too busy, like it makes us important. We brag about not having a day off in three weeks. We cram our vacations so full that we come home needing to rest. And somewhere along the way, we started believing that the busier ...
Episode 1255: The Owner's Manual You've Been Ignoring
Most of us have an owner's manual tucked somewhere in the glove compartment. It tells us when to change the oil, rotate the tires, and run the inspections that keep the vehicle running well over the long haul. We follow it because we know wh...
Episode 1254: Later Has a Way of Never Arriving
Paul writes in Ephesians 5 to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. He's not just talking about productivity. He's saying the battle for your time is a battle for your heart and soul. Every moment is an opportunity, a...
Episode 1253: How Jesus Managed His Time and What We Can Learn From It
Jesus taught multitudes, had dinner with all kinds of people, talked with the poor, the blind, beggars, and tax collectors. And yet we never read that He rushed anywhere. What was His secret? He arose early and slipped away to a place of sol...
Episode 1252: Why a Priority List Won't Actually Fix Your Time Problem
Most people trying to get a handle on their time will sit down, number their priorities one through six, put God first, family second, career third, and call it a plan. But a numbered list doesn't help you navigate the real trade-offs of a r...
Episode 1251: If You Fail to Plan You're Planning to Fail
Paul says in Ephesians 5 to be very careful how you live. That word careful implies thought, planning, and advanced decision-making. But most of us are falling into one of four traps that quietly steal our time without us noticing. Procrasti...
Episode 1250: Why the Technological Revolution Didn't Give Us More Time
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 ar...