Welcome to the Heaven Here Now Podcast where some former pastors and their friends talk about the radical shift that happens in life when we stop viewing heaven as something that we can only experience some day, far away, and begin to explore the possibility that heaven is something that we have the power and responsibility to create and sustain here and now. In a world where problems seem to grow bigger and more complex everyday, we love to focus on the individuals, organizations and ideas that can help us empower people to lead in love on a local level and bring about real change.
One of the concepts that is foundational to the idea of Heaven Here Now, is that Heaven starts in the Heart. This is why the ancient wisdom says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" (Proverbs 4:23) and why Jesus said, "the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). In today's episode we sit down with therapist and author, Connie Jones to talk about how vital the environment of "the heart" (our minds and emotions) is for experiencing Heaven Here Now.
2 Oct 2022
Episode 16 - Frank Mercer - 4Heroes
In this week's episode, we discover a kindred spirit with former pastor and current non-profit founder Frank Mercer. Frank led Rolling Hills Baptist Church in Fayetteville, GA for over a decade. The church thrived under his leadership, but instead of following the normal trajectory of growth which usually leads to bigger buildings (and budgets), Frank and his leadership team sensed God leading them down a different path. One that resulted in them selling their facility and investing in local ministry, including his current non-profit that provides spiritual and emotional support for first responders (http://4ourheroes.org/ (http://4ourheroes.org/?fbclid=IwAR2aXkdatdrSLR_x9WwxuDx7M1QFD9_PQcTogLx7DaVHCHlRFZFTSXNpQ20)). His story is powerful and you won't want to miss it!
25 Sept 2022
Episode 15 - Shelby Barker - Rise of the Nones
What will the Next 50 Years look like for Christianity in America? In this week's episode, we welcome back Shelby Barker to discuss the recent Pew Recent Center on the continued decline of Christianity and the rise of "the Nones". Each of us shares our unique take on what the story behind this decline is, and how pastors and ministry leaders can shift to reach the next generation.
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/
18 Sept 2022
Episode 14 - Nate Harkness - Supernatural
This week we take a trip into the Supernatural with Nate Harkness, International Director of Worldwide Discipleship. In this episode, we talk about hearing the voice of God and how Heaven Here Now often looks like the supernatural showing up in our midst.
11 Sept 2022
Episode 13 - Phil Fincher - Compassion
This week, we sit down with one of our good friends Phil Fincher. He's a campus pastors at Compassion Christian Church and a local legend of compassion and love in his day to day life. Phil shares his experience of growing up being the kid who didn't belong and coming to Jesus from the outside looking in. Amazingly, this gives him a heart for the outside and the outcast that shines through in his ministry and family today.
4 Sept 2022
Episode 12 - Melanie Reeves - Burnout
In this week's episode, we sit down with our good friend Melanie Reeves. Melanie is the Director of RiverLife, a local non-profit based out of Newnan, GA that does wonderful work and is one of our closest partners. After a tornado devastated many homes in Newnan in 2021, RiverLife emerged as one of the most trusted local non-profits for helping meet physical needs and providing volunteer opportunities. In our conversation, Melanie shares some of the original vision for RiverLife and her heart for helping provide a place of refuge and healing for helpers who are exhausted and in need of a place to recharge.
28 Aug 2022
Episode 11 - Pete Cocco - What is Church?
This week, we sat down with Pete Cocco, creator of PerMission Inc. (https://wehavepermission.com). In our conversation, Pete shares some simple criteria for what the fundamental elements of church are, and gives us a really helpful tool (Discovery Bible Study https://discoverapp.org/discovery-bible-study) that anyone can use to help get started in the process of bringing Heaven Here Now.
21 Aug 2022
Episode 10 - Jake Dukes - Rechurching
In this week's episode, we talk to Jachin Dukes about his journey through different seasons with the church. Jake has served in a variety of leadership roles in churches and had a season where he left, but ultimately felt the call to come back and use his gifts to serve. If you've ever had mixed feelings about being a part of a church and still have questions or doubts about how it is supposed to work, this is a great conversation for you to be a part of. Hope you enjoy it!
14 Aug 2022
Episode 9 - Karlye Ramer - Dechurching
“I feel like the church could do so much more.”
On this week’s episode of the Heaven Here Now podcast, we talk with self-described atheist, Karlye Ramer. Karlye talks about her experience growing up in the church and the roadblocks she faced. She also talks about the vast difference between what the church says versus what we’re actually doing. Whether she identifies as a Jesus follower or not, Karlye's heart to love her community, her neighbors, and the least of these looks so much like Jesus. For some people, our lives are the only Bible they’ll ever read. We hope this episode makes you pause and lights a fire to put your faith in action.
7 Aug 2022
Episode 8 - Rick Harper - GA Tech CCF
On today's episode, we chat with Rick Harper, Campus Minister at Georgia Tech Campus Christian Fellowship, about the role that authentic community plays in creating Heaven Here Now. For many people, Christian community can feel like a place where you have to have to hide your faults and where your belonging is connected to your behavior. But our great hope for heaven, is that we can find a safe place where we are loved and accepted exactly as we are. In our conversation, we look at how a radically different type of community can be created when we're willing to drop all of the labels and baggage that we carry, and embrace an identity as a beloved child of God.
31 Jul 2022
Episode 7 - Zach Lambert - Restore Austin
How can Jesus Followers speak up for the voiceless, speak out against injustice and speak truth into our world's most pressing issues without adding to the noise of an increasingly divisive and graceless culture? Today on the podcast we talk with Zach Lambert, Lead Pastor of Restore Austin about navigating the tensions and challenges that can emerge for Jesus Followers as we attempt to walk out our faith in our specific American Culture in 2022. As a young church leader in a very politically, ethnically, and culturally diverse area of the US, we really enjoyed hearing Zach's perspective and are delighted to share our conversation. You can find out more about Zach and Restore Austin here:
https://twitter.com/ZachWLambert (https://twitter.com/ZachWLambert)
https://www.instagram.com/zachwlambert/ (https://www.instagram.com/zachwlambert/)
https://www.facebook.com/zachwlambert (https://www.facebook.com/zachwlambert)
https://www.restoreaustin.org (https://www.restoreaustin.org/)
https://www.tiktok.com/@restoreatx (https://www.tiktok.com/@restoreatx)
24 Jul 2022
Episode 6 - Debbie - The Women at the Well
This week we talk to a local treasure, Debbie Gronner who is an author and the founder of The Women at the Well. Debbie shares her story about how from the outside looking in she had the "perfect Peachtree City life" but inside she was broken and hurting, much like the woman that Jesus met at the Well in John 4. Now God uses her regularly to encourage, inspire and empower local women to believe that God can use them to bring Heaven Here Now. To learn more about The Women at the Well go to https://womenatthewell.us/home
17 Jul 2022
Episode 5 - Karhma Novak - i58 Mission
This week on the Heaven Here Now Podcast, we talk to Karhma Novak about the fire God set in her heart for her local community of Senoia, GA. Karhma is treasure to this community. She holds the title of executive director of The I-58 Mission (https://thei58mission.org) but as you listen, you’ll realize she didn’t need that title to start her journey. Karhma has so much encouragement, wisdom and joy to share with us all!
10 Jul 2022
Episode 4 - Empowerment
In this episode, Katie and Jesse talk about an idea that is fundamental to a vision for Heaven Here Now, which is Empowerment. We both share our experiences with navigating the process of empowerment and how our ideas and expectations around it have changed. The big shift that we discuss is how you view your access to power... whether you see that as connected to a position of authority or leadership, or to something deeper and more personal.
3 Jul 2022
Episode 3 - Freedom
On this episode, we explore how the idea of Freedom is connected to the concept of Heaven. Heaven is supposed to be a place of ultimate freedom, where anything is possible and where we're finally free from death and pain. So the question is, if that's so, what does it take to begin to experience more of that here and now? Together, we unpack the idea of how greater freedom always requires some type of sacrifice in order to obtain and discuss our own personal challenges in sacrificing our comfort for something greater.
26 Jun 2022
Episode 2 - Good Faith/Bad Faith Communication
In this episode, we explore the idea that Heaven Here Now can first and foremost be created or destroyed in how we communicate with one another. Shelby and Jesse look at the differences and distinctions between Good Fatih and Bad Faith Communication based on this article from The Consilience Project https://consilienceproject.org/endgames-of-bad-communication/ and discuss how to begin to have conversations that don't end in division and disconnection.
19 Jun 2022
Episode 1 - Origins
In this first episode, former pastors, Jesse Dukes and Shelby Barker explore the origins of the idea of Heaven Here Now, and discuss their experiences of working in churches that operated primarily from a "Not Hell, There, Then" paradigm. They then explore how each of these shifts from "Not Hell to Heaven" from "There to Here" and from "Then to Now" can impact the faith, life and focus of any person of hope.
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