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Welcome to the Unfinished People podcast. I'm Chad Ellenburg and my co-host is Brandon Zieske. We are both pastors who love and follow Jesus. And we are both very aware of how unfinished we are. Each week, we will talk about the struggle and the beauty of living and breathing in these unfinished vessels. The apostle Paul describes this as carrying around the Treasure of Jesus in mere "jars of clay." Don't we know it. At the coronation of Jesus on the cross, when he punched death in the mouth ...
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Digital Discipleship Stinks (Part 2) - Episode 027
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When it comes to following Jesus the digital world presents an endless library of opportunities to listen, read, interact, watch, create, and connect. Brandon and Chad are joyful participants, but we are also assessing our hearts and have discovered mixed results. Are we going deep? Are our relationships made meaningful through our tweets, posts, s…
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We feel like something has happened to us. We are more easily distracted. Our pursuit of Jesus and the ability to hear his voice has been short-circuited by the wonderful digital world around us. Don't get us wrong... we love technology and the ability to grow and learn through hundreds of resources online. But another side of us senses that someth…
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Hello again! Yes, we are back. After a much needed break over the last few months, we have lots to catch up on and talk about. Let's get right into it and talk about dealing with difficult things in life and how we are processing and trusting Jesus through them... or, in some cases, we are working on trusting him. We also talk a little about the wa…
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Brandon and Chad have one individual whom we would say has faithfully been our pastor over the last 10+ years and we are thrilled to have him as a guest on the podcast today. His name is Joe McConkey and he has just "finished" his career as a pastor in local church ministry and we have lots of questions! We talk about transformation and growth, wha…
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Of all the "fails" in the Bible, there are some that stand out more than others. Today we tread into the deep waters of Peter's denial of Jesus. How Jesus responds with love and grace is astonishing. He is relentless in his pursuit. So what does it look like to get back up from failure and choose to keep loving Him well? If you are needing some enc…
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My Kingdom is not of this world - Part 2.
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Today, we dive back into thinking about our citizenship in Heaven versus our exile in the current kingdoms of this world. We freely admit that we are in process here. We are absolutely committed to listening to Jesus (especially this election year!) and doing what He says. But it's going to be a difficult year. What might it look like for you to be…
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This week, Brandon and Chad are thrilled to be joined by Sammy Gondola, Daniel Olson, and Karl Hanson. They are dear friends and pastors, who help us unpack friendship, adversity, unmet expectations in relationships, how vital it is to push through the desert place of friendship, the blessing of being spurred on and sharpened by others, and more. T…
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My Kingdom is not of this world - Episode 020
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"Are you a King?" Pilate's question to a beaten and bloody Messiah hung uncomfortably in the air. Under incredible pressure and facing a brutal, oppressive government, Jesus responded with absolute calm and complete control. (By the way, have you ever wondered why we have a record of this conversation?) The sovereign creator of the world did not ne…
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Have you ever prayed an earnest prayer? - Episode 19
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This week, we continue our theme of the difficulty and beauty of prayer. Is there such a thing as a deeper level of prayer, an earnestness, or a place of travail (rare word alert)not achieved by human capacity but fueled by the holy Spirit? We also dive into the importance and frustration of repetitive prayer. If God already knows, what is He up to…
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Prayer isn't supposed to be this difficult. - Episode 018
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If there's one thing we have struggled through, it is our journey with prayer. The desire to be close to Jesus, hear his voice, and speak as a friend keeps us coming back, but it hasn't been easy. If you relate and are hungry for more in your prayer life, come listen in to our conversation this week on Unfinished People.…
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How Jesus Makes Things New in 2024 - Episode 017
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How does an eternal God unbound by time and space help those of us who feel that clock ticking every day? Some of us love the new year and resolve to do something better this year or to make some significant changes. Others dislike the idea of making any promises because we all know we will probably break them anyway. We talk this week about Jesus …
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In our final episode of 2023, we talk about one of the most pervasive issues in our world: Loneliness. The Surgeon General considers it priority number one and says it's as deadly as smoking. What does Jesus, the friend who sticks closer than a brother, have to say about it? And how does our place in the community of God give us hope? Come and list…
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This week, we do another flyby to check in on each other. It's easy to answer the question "How are you?" with "Fine." But if we are to step into the things God has for us, we need to go to a level of authenticity and candidness that might just be uncomfortable. This show will remind you that we are definitely unfinished, but it will also (hopefull…
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Admitting to doubt is a crucial first step, but what next? How does Jesus help us move through our doubts to a deeper relationship with Him? We won't say we have it all figured out. It's why we call it Unfinished People. But we have grown through some of our doubts, and we sense the Lord pulling us close on those that are more current. Listen in as…
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If you have ever struggled with doubt, you are in good company. We have and continue to wrestle with doubt. But is that necessarily a bad thing? In our own "unfinished" way, we explore this ever-present reality and talk about how Jesus is the one to bring your doubt. We don't hide from ours in this episode. You just might be surprised to hear that …
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Eternity is coming... So what? (Episode 012)
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Why should we care about eternity and how does it relate to the lives we live now? In our final episode of this series on eternal life, we talk quite a bit about the here and now. For example: What are we still doing here if we already know Jesus? If getting saved is all about going to Heaven, why wait? Should we care about the world we inhabit and…
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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…
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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 P…
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"Eternity sure sounds like a long time." (Episode 009)
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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 afte…
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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 l…
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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 Jesu…
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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 thi…
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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 abo…
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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 unfin…
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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…
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Episode 002 - An encounter with Jesus inside a Roman prison.
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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…
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Welcome to our very first episode. We introduce the idea of being unfinished followers of Jesus in a very broken world. How can we represent Jesus well in these jars of clay? We make the case for authenticity and a clear view of a heart that is led by Jesus.By Brandon Zieske & Chad Ellenburg
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Hey there, Welcome to the Unfinished People podcast. I'm Chad Ellenburg and my co-host is Brandon Zieske. We are both pastors who love and follow Jesus. And we are both very aware of how unfinished we are. Each week, we will talk about the struggle and the beauty of living and breathing in these unfinished vessels. The apostle Paul describes this a…
…
continue reading
