Unfinished People

If this life is only the dress rehearsal, what will the show be like? We believe in a future life with Jesus in a physical and spiritual Kingdom that will absolutely be more than anything we could ever think or imagine. So what will it be like? What will we be doing? How does one spend an endless amount of time? We dig into Scripture and talk about our future home and the New Creation on this week's episode of Unfinished People.

You may have heard someone say their experience was "a living Hell" or "Hell on earth." It's a word (and place) that has found its way into our everyday vocabulary, but do we really understand it? Should the thought of going there (or not) motivate us? What does the Bible say about it, and how did Jesus talk about it? It's Hell Week on Unfinished People. We're talking fire and burning, outer darkness, and why Jesus wants to keep you from it.

Eternal life. Heaven & Hell. The Good Place or the Bad Place? These crucial matters affect all of us, but do we understand them well? How have we understood them, and how do they motivate us? Are we motivated by the fear of going "down there," or are we compelled by the love of Jesus? This is part one of several unfinished conversations on the afterlife... or is it the now and afterlife? Come find out on this week's episode of Unfinished People.

In our final Gospel Conversation, we talk about the impact the Gospel of Jesus should be having in our churches, and we are asking big questions. What is his plan, and how does it run contrary to our plans? How do broken and bruised pastors move past false desires and hopes that have been formed through worldly ways? What might it look like to be led by the Spirit and dream with our hearts wide open to His Kingdom? What would happen if we asked God what he wanted to do and didn't just continue with business as usual? We're stepping off the beach and wading into the deep on today’s episode of Unfinished People.

Misunderstanding what Jesus came to do wasn't uncommon in the stories of the New Testament. Some of our favorite characters said and did some of the most bizarre things in response to Jesus' Gospel. (Ahem... Peter, we're talking about you, brother.) But this is also what gives us great hope because we have said and done similar things. And yet Jesus is still coming after us. The Spirit is still revealing Jesus. He is faithful to continue until we get it.In today's episode, we discuss how we are beginning to get it. We dig into our own personal experience of the Gospel. And... it's been amazing. He's amazing. We hope and pray that Jesus is doing the same in you.15 year old Emma Kok sings "Voila." (Song Chad referenced)

Over the last few episodes, we've uncovered our shallow understanding of the Gospel and found an amazing, deep well of treasure in the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and eventual return of Jesus. Now, all we have to do is tell people about it.  But how do we do that well? How do we know that we've delivered the good news? Is it a one-time thing, or does it require more from us? How do we live this Kingdom of God thing and allow it to shape our every move? How can we incarnate His truth into the lives of others? That's a lot of questions and, hopefully, some answers in today's episode of Unfinished People. 

We continue our conversation on the Gospel. What is it? What does it do? What are some of the false gospels that draw us every day? It's easy to get confused or to take shortcuts. Maybe you were drawn by the grace and love of Jesus, but when it comes to making it in this world, you would rather do some of your own saving. The disciples knew all about this tendency. We talk about Peter's big moment when he took up the sword as Jesus was about to let the sword of Rome consume him. But if we dig into Scripture and allow the Spirit to mess with us, there is a beautiful path forward. Our own hearts have been lit up by Jesus as we are discovering the breadth and depth of the Gospel. It transcends our Western thinking categories and blows our pithy understanding of power and kingdom out of the water. We pray it will do the same for you.

On today's episode, we begin a series called Gospel Conversations. Sounds simple, right? Not in the least. We thought we knew what that word... Gospel... meant. Nope. Our understanding was so shallow, reductionistic. We've been swimming in the kiddie pool when we could have been sailing a vast ocean of grace.But that's ok. It's part of being unfinished... even as pastors. It's the truth that Jesus is always working on us. And friends... he's really good at it. We frame today's Gospel Conversation with the first time the Gospel is ever mentioned in the Bible. And surprise... it's not the New Testament. Are you ready for this? It's in the first few pages of the Bible. A couple of naked humans are cowering behind some fig leaves and they hear the Gospel.

In this episode, we talk about the amazing reality of a God who actually wants to be friends with us. Jesus even said this: I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends. Abraham was called God's friend. But we don't just wanna just throw some Bible at you. We want to continue to be honest about the struggle, the incomplete nature, that straddling walk between this world and another. And... since Jesus is calling us friends, wouldn't it be nice to know how to enjoy this invisible friendship? We dig in on Episode 003 of Unfinished People. Thanks for joining us. 

We jump right into the deep end this week as we give you an inside look at what happens when pastors feel like quitting. We discuss our experience in an obscure prison in Rome that floored us both. Standing in the place where Paul “finished” his race for Jesus left us with big questions about true success in the Kingdom of God. The answers couldn’t have been more surprising.  Come along as we marvel at the beauty of reaching the end of ourselves and discovering a path straight to the heart of Jesus.  Mamertine Prison - WikipediaMammertine Prison