Renew Podcast

In this special bonus episode, EJ is joined by Natasha Stogdill to talk about their thoughts after reading John Mark Comer's book, "Live No Lies." Natasha is our Kids Pastor at Genesis Church at full of love, laughter, and wisdom. She brings some great insight during the book review all about spiritual health and warfare against what the Early Church referred to as the 3 enemies of the soul: Satan, the Flesh, & the World

In this episode, EJ is joined by Luke Furr for a conversation about the way of Jesus. What does it mean to follow Jesus? What does it mean to be molded into Christlikeness? And what does this mean for how we do church? We're talking all about what it means to be a disciple and make disciples. Luke is a US missionary serving college students and one of the senior leaders on staff with Chi Alpha at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. He also happens to be our Worship Pastor here at Genesis Church. Luke is a deep well of wisdom, especially when it comes to making disciples.

In this episode, EJ is joined by Nick Pridemore as they talk about the importance of walking in unity, generosity, and love a followers of Jesus. We live in an outrage culture where disunity, anger, and hostility have all seem to become normal reactions. And sadly, this culture has begun to leak into the Church. But the Church is not supposed to be shaped by our culture, but instead transform the culture. Christians are supposed to come together to be an alternative society to the world around them; a community of unity, generosity, and love, despite our differences. This is at the center of discipleship as we learn to follow and practice the way of Jesus.

In this episode, EJ talks about the second of the two main questions that come up when we challenge the popular misconceptions of what God is like. And that second question is: “…But what about judgment?” If Jesus forgave humanity of all sin at the cross and dealt with the power of sin and death—once and for—in his death and resurrection, then what do we do with the judgment of God? Doesn’t this picture of forgiving Jesus contradict the wrathful God of the Old Testament? This is a big question. And people have been wrestling with it for centuries. And we’re not giving answers to the problem. But we do have some thoughts that can help us untangle the mess and start to think about God and to read the Bible in a healthier, more consistent way.

In this episode, EJ addresses the first of two main questions that come up when we talk about what God is like, when we confront the distorted views of God, and when we claim that Jesus is the exact representation of God. This first question is: “…But what about sin?” How do we understand sin—especially in light of the finished work of Jesus through his death and resurrection? Is sin still a problem? Does sin matter at all anymore? How do we recognize what sin is and what it is not? We’re talking about all of that and more on this episode of the Renew Podcast

In this episode, EJ talks about the misrepresentation of God as a Buffet God: a God who allows anything and everything because he's forgiven all humanity of sin. This view of God says, "anything goes" and tries to call it "freedom in Christ." But is this what having freedom in Christ actually means? Does God care about sin or having moral standards, even if he has covered all sin in his grace? Or is there something deeper and more meaningful about holiness and righteousness than what you can and cannot do as a Christian?

In this episode, EJ introduces the distorted image of God called, "Boogeyman God." This misunderstanding of God uses fear and the threat of death as a means to get obedience and worship from people. But does this really align with the God that Jesus came to reveal? Jesus says that he is the Resurrection and the Life. Does fear, terror, and threats have any part of the nature of God?

EJ talks about the view of God as a “Patriot God”—one who champions the cause of America and who chooses sides in the partisan culture wars of our day. In this current election year, we hear candidates on both sides of the political aisle claiming to be on God’s side. But does God choose sides? Is using God’s name to support our political views right or wrong? And what happens when discipleship to the Way of Jesus and national politics are blended together?

EJ & Darcie talk about the popularized view of God as some kind of a harsh, task-master in the sky and how this contradicts the revelation of God that we have in Jesus

EJ talks about how we can know what God is like by looking at the Bible and seeing how God slowly revealed himself over time, culminating in the full revelation of God in the person of Jesus. But then what do we do with all of the other ideas of God? How do we read the Old Testament and the parts that may or may not look like Jesus? This is what this series is all about.