The Refining Fire: A Journey to Authenticity

Four words stopped me in the middle of an ordinary week and wouldn’t let go. Not “what am I doing” as in the schedule — I know the schedule, you know yours too. It’s the question underneath it: what am I doing it for?This episode isn’t me on a hill talking down to anybody. This week the word of God found me out, and what follows is less lecture, more surgery — with me on the table first. Built around “The Perfect Love of Jesus” and centered on Matthew 3:17, where the Father calls Jesus “beloved” and “well pleased” before he’d done a single day of public ministry — we dig into the difference between performing for God’s love and simply overflowing from it. Because two people can do the exact same thing for entirely different reasons, and busyness will never tell you which one you are.This is The Average Pursuit — ordinary believers pursuing Christ in

What If Church Is More Than a Weekly Gathering?What if the church feels smaller to us because we have forgotten the size of the story it belongs to?In this episode, Jonathan continues the question from the previous conversation: What if there’s more to church than what we’re currently experiencing?Rather than starting with attendance, programs, music, preaching, or preferences, this episode steps back and traces one of the major themes running through Scripture: God’s desire to dwell with His people.From Eden to the tabernacle, from the temple to Jesus, from the Spirit-filled church to the promise of the new creation, Scripture tells one unified story: God comes near. God makes Himself known. God forms a people for His presence.And if that is true, then maybe church is far more than a weekly service.Maybe the gathering of God’s people is meant to be a glimpse — imperfect, ordinary, sometimes messy, but still real — of the world to come.Jonathan explores:Why church often feels smaller than Scripture describes itHow Eden shows us life as it was meant to be: humanity with GodWhy the tabernacle and temple were about more than buildingsHow Jesus fulfills the dwelling place of God among His peopleWhy the church is described as a temple and dwelling place of the SpiritHow the gathered church gives a foretaste of the new creationWhy consumer Christianity shrinks our understanding of churchGenesis 3:8 — Humanity hides from the presence of God.Exodus 25:8 — “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.”John 1:14 — “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”1 Corinthians 3:16–17 — The church is God’s temple.Ephesians 2:19–22 — Believers are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.Revelation 21:3 — “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.”The Bible begins with God dwelling with humanity in the garden and ends with God dwelling with His people forever in the new creation.So maybe the gathered church is not just a service to attend.Maybe it is a signpost.A foretaste.A glimpse of the Kingdom that is coming.Have I been thinking of church mainly as a service, or as a people being formed by God?Where have I slipped into consumer thinking about the church?What would change if I saw the gathered church as a glimpse of the world to come?How can I come prepared to give, encourage, participate, and be formed — not just receive?This conversation is not meant to wrap everything up neatly. It is meant to open the door for deeper reflection.What if there is more happening when the church gathers than what we have trained ourselves to see?Continue the discussion in the comments, with your family, with your church, or around the dinner table with friends.This is The Average Pursuit.Pursue something greater.

What if there’s more to church than what we’re currently experiencing?In this episode, Jonathan explores a question that has been stirring in his heart: What if church is meant to be more than a weekly gathering? What if it’s a glimpse of something greater - a foretaste of the Kingdom of God and the world to come?Together we’ll examine Scripture, wrestle with the decline of church participation, and consider whether we’ve forgotten something essential about what happens when God’s people gather.We don’t have it all figured out, and that’s intentional. Rather than arriving at a neat conclusion, Jonathan leaves this conversation open-ended as an invitation to learn together.Continue the discussion in the comments, on Facebook, with your family, or around the dinner table with friends.What if there’s more to church than what we’re currently experiencing?

Recorded from Raleigh during chaplaincy training with the NC State Highway Patrol.In Luke 10:38–42, Martha is busy, sincere, and missing the one thing. We sit with her tension and ask why the same thing happens to us — why we can be loud, faithful, and still distracted from the only voice that matters.A story from the SHP training floor becomes the picture: one instructor giving clear orders, another knocking things off the table. We hear both. We only obey one.This episode is about the quiet, off-platform shaping no one applauds — formation over performance, faithfulness over flash.

A show for the average believer, pursuing Christ faithfully, in ordinary life.Hosted by Jon — a bi-vocational pastor who lives most of his week the same way you do: working a job, raising a family, showing up for people, trying to follow Jesus in the unglamorous middle of it all. This isn’t a podcast about platform Christianity or performance spirituality. It’s about formation over performance, faithfulness over flash, and the slow, unimpressive work of pursuing Christ in a life that nobody’s going to make a documentary about.If you’re tired of Christian content that feels like it was made for someone louder, busier, or further along than you — this is the show for you. New episodes weekly. Part of Pursuit Media.

After months of silence, The Average Pursuit is back.This episode isn’t a comeback announcement. It’s a re-entry - honest, unhurried, and grounded in the one thing the silence kept teaching: that waiting on God is not the opposite of pursuing Him. It’s part of how the pursuit gets shaped.Jon opens the season with a brief word about where he’s been, a reading of Psalm 62, and a clear picture of what The Average Pursuit is now - a show for ordinary believers pursuing Christ faithfully in ordinary lives. No performance. No platform-chasing. Just the quiet, steady work of formation.There’s also more coming than just this show. Jon hints at what’s being built around The Average Pursuit, with the full story to follow soon.New episodes weekly. The next one drops in just a few days.“For God alone my soul waits in silence.” Psalm 62:1

In this episode, Jonathan Sheppard explores the critical moment in a believer's life when faith transitions from mere belief to active movement. He emphasizes the dangers of remaining stagnant on the 'shore' of faith, where comfort and safety can lead to delayed obedience and a slow fading of conviction. Through the lens of Joshua 3, he challenges listeners to identify their own 'river'—the call to action that God has placed in their lives—and encourages them to step forward in faith, despite the uncertainties that may lie ahead.Learn more by visiting us online HERE

In this conversation, Jonathan Sheppard explores the theme of spiritual refinement through the metaphor of fire, as introduced by John the Baptist. He discusses the process of exposing impurities, entering the fire of trials, and emerging transformed. The conversation emphasizes the importance of authenticity in faith, the transformative power of Jesus, and the invitation to surrender to God for true renewal.

In this conversation, Jonathan Sheppard explores the theme of spiritual refinement through the metaphor of fire, as introduced by John the Baptist. He discusses the process of exposing impurities, entering the fire of trials, and emerging transformed. The conversation emphasizes the importance of authenticity in faith, the transformative power of Jesus, and the invitation to surrender to God for true renewal.

As we step into a new year, this episode is a pause — not a pivot.The Average Pursuit is continuing with weekly episodes, but we’re also adding new tools designed to help listeners move from inspiration to lived faithfulness.In this episode, Jonathan explains:What is not changing about the podcastWhy inspiration alone often isn’t enough for real formationHow the new website and discipleship tracks are meant to serve — not replace — Scripture, church, or communityWhy structure can help when it leads outward into obedienceWhat success actually looks like for this ministryThis is not an announcement about scale or growth.It’s a statement of intent.If these resources ever become a substitute for obedience in your real life, they’ve missed the point.Weekly episodes continue next week.Grace and peace.Visit our new website www.theaveragepursuit.com