In February, pastor Devin led a seminar called Singleness is for Everyone here at High Point going over what the bible teaches about singleness. We’ll be posting the recordings as a series of three episodes throughout the month of March to help bring light to this topic and seek to encourage and educate all Christians with these Biblical truths. This episode is from session 1 of the seminar, where Devin talked about how the New Testament actually shifts our understanding of sexuality from Eden's...
Mar 13, 2025•34 min•Ep. 378
In this episode, pastor Nic sits down with Bishop Stubbs to share the story of the fruitful cross-cultural church partnership between High Point Church and End Time Ministries International. They talk about how High Point Church purchased and renovated the Monona Oaks building, which End Time Ministries now uses for worship and community outreach. Bishop Stubbs candidly discusses the challenges of urban ministry—serving a congregation where 65% receive public assistance, lacking administrative s...
Mar 06, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 378
In this episode, Pastor Nic is joined by his brother, Stanford, and his daughter, Rachel, as they discuss developing their own Rule of Life based on the sermon series we went through in the fall of 2024. The core idea of this episode is how to establish sustainable spiritual practices while accounting for different life stages and circumstances. They emphasize thatwhile morning routines and consistent Bible study are ideal, these practices must be adaptable to different situations, whether it's ...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 377
This episode of the Engage and Equip podcast comes from the recording of the February 2nd, 2025 Engage & Equip: LIVE event that we held at High Point. This recording includes the main session talk delivered by Pastor Nic, as well as the small group breakout session, also led by Nic. Engage & Equip: LIVE is an event held around quarterly at High Point to engage leaders in our various ministries and equip them to do the work of the saints, helping to build up God's Kingdom. For more information ab...
Feb 20, 2025•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 376
This week, Pastor Nic is joined by Than Christopoulos from the YouTube channel Exploring Reality. They discuss the historical reliability of the New Testament resurrection narratives and broader issues of faith, doubt, and biblical interpretation. The discussion focuses particularly on how to understand apparent discrepancies between the Gospel accounts while maintaining their historical reliability. Than, who was formerly an atheist before becoming a Christian apologist, explains his approach t...
Feb 13, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 375
This episode of E&E is a conversation between Pastor Nic Gibson and historian Tracy McKenzie about McKenzie's book "We the Fallen People," which explores a critical transformation in American political thought regarding human nature. The core argument is that the American founders designed the Constitution based on a realistic, biblically-aligned view that humans are inherently self-interested and fallen, requiring checks and balances on power. However, by the 1830s, particularly during the Jack...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 374
In this episode of the Engage and Equip podcast, we're joined by Sawyer Henderson and Pastor Nic as they discuss Nic's sermon about communion from the Advent sermon series, focusing particularly on differing theological views and practical application. The core discussion centers around the tension between Protestant and Catholic understandings of communion, especially regarding transubstantiation - the Catholic belief that the bread and wine literally become Christ's body and blood. Pastor Nic ...
Jan 30, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 373
In this episode, Pastor Nic is joined by Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, a renowned education professor and Christian believer, discuss Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its intersection with faith and education. The conversation aims to provide a clear, nuanced explanation of CRT's main tenets while exploring how Christians might engage with these ideas constructively. Dr. Ladson-Billings, as both a scholar and a long-time church member, offers unique insights into how CRT can be understood as an anal...
Jan 20, 2025•2 hr 45 min•Ep. 372
In this episode, Pastor Nic has a conversation with Ron Greer focusing on race, faith, and discipleship in America. Ron Greer shares his firsthand experience growing up in Milwaukee during the late 1960s and witnessing the breakdown of black families and communities, which he attributes to a "perfect storm" of factors including government welfare programs, the sexual revolution, radical political movements, and the withdrawal of churches from community engagement. Rather than supporting current ...
Jan 20, 2025•2 hr 28 min•Ep. 371
In this episode, Pastor Nic is joined by pastors Adam Mabry and Mike Woodruff as they discuss key challenges and opportunities facing the Christian church in contemporary culture. The central focus is on identifying fundamental beliefs Christians must maintain despite cultural pressure to abandon them, and how to respond pastorally to current societal trends. The pastors highlight several core issues: the importance of maintaining belief in physical embodiment against modern Gnostic tendencies t...
Jan 16, 2025•59 min•Ep. 370
We meet again for another "Ask Me Anything" session with Pastor Nic Gibson. Throughout this episode, he addresses several questions asked during our AMA portion of a previous Sunday service. The overarching theme centers on understanding how to balance seemingly contradictory aspects of Christian faith and practice. It revolves around how God's commands and ways, while sometimes appearing burdensome or ill-fitting (illustrated through the metaphor of a scuba diving suit), are actually designed f...
Jan 09, 2025•58 min•Ep. 369
This episode is a conversation between the Gibson brothers, one a pastor and the other an engineer with theological training, discussing how to make decisions about pursuing vocational ministry versus other careers. The core message is that loving Jesus intensely doesn't automatically mean someone should become a pastor, and there's no requirement for a mystical "calling" to enter ministry. They emphasize that both ministry and secular work are valuable pursuits, with secular work fulfilling the...
Jan 02, 2025•53 min•Ep. 368
In this episode, Pastor Nic sat down to answer some of YOUR questions that were asked during one of our Sunday services. This was recorded during our recent Rule of Life series, and is a helpful resource to those looking to fully implement your own Rule of Life. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at highpointchurch.org/podcast Music: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong ( https://midwestcollective.bandc...
Dec 26, 2024•54 min•Ep. 367
In this episode, Pastor Nic sits down with Jill Reasa, director of High Point Church's Oaks ministry, and talks about the ethics of information sharing within a church community. They explore how church leaders should handle sensitive personal information, focusing on balancing the need for appropriate disclosure with maintaining confidentiality and discretion. The conversation covers various aspects of pastoral care, including when and how to share information up the church's leadership hierarc...
Dec 19, 2024•2 hr 35 min•Ep. 366
This episode of the Engage and Equip podcast discusses the history, growth, and impact of Impact Christian Schools (ICS), a network of Christian schools in Wisconsin that emerged from High Point Church in Madison. The conversation between Nic Gibson, a pastor at High Point, and Chuck Moore, the executive director of ICS, reveals how the organization evolved from managing two schools to becoming a significant force in Christian education across Wisconsin, now working with 14 schools. The discussi...
Dec 09, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 365
Join us for a weekend's worth of recordings from the 2024 Leaders' Retreat. This podcast has 7 separate recordings put together into one, and much of the content revolves around Crossroads church, the building we have officially voted to plant a church in, and how to join together as the Body of Christ to do ministry for God's Kingdom here in Madison! Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at [highpointchurch.org/podcast]...
Dec 05, 2024•3 hr 40 min•Ep. 364
In this episode, Pastor Nic interviews Adam Mabry, author of "The Art of Rest," who shares his journey from being a task-driven pastor to discovering the vital importance of rest in Christian life. Despite being naturally inclined toward constant activity, Mabry came to write about rest after experiencing his own crisis with burnout. The conversation explores how rest is fundamentally woven into creation itself, serving multiple essential purposes: it helps believers remember God's sovereignty, ...
Nov 25, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 363
In this episode, Pastor Nic goes deeper into the concept of spiritual ferocity in Christian faith and personal transformation. At its core, the discussion explores how genuine spiritual growth requires an aggressive stance against both worldliness and indwelling sin, while paradoxically enabling gentleness and peace in the believer's life. Nic explains that spiritual ferocity operates in three ways: as brutality against sin, tenacity in faith, and ferocity in love. He emphasizes that this isn't ...
Nov 21, 2024•2 hr 33 min•Ep. 362
In this episode of the Engage the Equip podcast, Pastor Nic interviews Mike Woodruff about his book "How Do You Know," which explores reasons to trust and read the Bible. They discuss the Bible's unique historical significance, including its unparalleled sales figures and manuscript evidence, its internal consistency, and its historical accuracy confirmed through archaeology. Woodruff addresses common skepticisms and explains how the Bible's reliability has been repeatedly validated over time. T...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 361
Join us for a conversation between Pastor Nic and Mike Woodruff where they discuss multiple topics from Mike Woodruff's podcast: "Beneath the Headlines". In this fast-paced discussion, Nic and Mike go over several topics about things happening to our culture, the danger in declining masculinity, and the church's role in challenging the cultural shift. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at [highpointchurch.org/podcast]...
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 360
Guy Conn of Fox River Church in Waukesha joins Pastor Nic to discuss his experience in running a multi-site church. As High Point gears up to decide whether or not we will accept the Crossroads campus, Guy brings an important perspective on what it takes to do multi-site church work, and how High Point should look realistically at the adoption of another church building. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at [highpoin...
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 359
In this AMA, or Ask Me Anything, Nic addresses questions asked by listeners that came in at the beginning of the Rule of Life sermon series that's been taking place at High Point. Rule of Life is a sermon series directed at measuring various aspects of our life, evaluating what needs to be cut out, and at the end determining what set of disciplines we want to live by in order to center our life around Christ. For more Rule of Life content, check out our website at www.highpointchurch.org/ruleofl...
Oct 13, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 358
The staff team went through the Rule of Life process over the spring and summer in preparation for this series. Quite a bit has changed, but you can still use this as a further resource to understand the background behind the sermon each week and read all the things Nic wishes he could include on a Sunday morning here: https://account-media.s3.amazonaws.com/21096/uploaded/r/0e18544378_1727285555_rule-of-life-in-the-making.pdf In this episode of Engage & Equip, Pastor Nic reads through week five ...
Oct 03, 2024•49 min•Ep. 357
On September 16, 2024 we gathered for another Engage & Equip: LIVE where Pastor Nic dove into what is a Rule of Life and how we can approach this in our various volunteering roles. Take a listen to this encouraging, informative, and fairly entertaining edition of Engage & Equip! Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at [highpointchurch.org/podcast](http://highpointchurch.org/podcast) Music: HOME—We're Finally Landing, No...
Sep 19, 2024•40 min•Ep. 356
In this episode, Pastor Nic sits down with Liz Reasa, a member of the Adult Christian Education committee at High Point, to discuss a class that A.C.E. is doing alongside the Rule of Life sermon series. For more information about Rule of Life, visit highpointchurch.org/ruleoflife. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at [highpointchurch.org/podcast](http://highpointchurch.org/podcast) Music: HOME—We're Finally Landing, ...
Sep 12, 2024•26 min•Ep. 355
This podcast, hosted by Pastor Nic, our Senior Pastor, and Niccole, our Director of Worship and Arts, explores the challenges of modern Christian ministry, emphasizing the importance of maintaining unity without compromising core beliefs, and addresses how to navigate partnerships and conflicts within the church. Their conversation touches on practical aspects of ministry, such as handling controversies and making decisions about church partnerships, while striving to remain true to biblical pri...
Aug 01, 2024•2 hr 41 min•Ep. 354
Join us as Pastor Nic chats with Pastor Adam Mabry, the head pastor at Aletheia Church in Boston, MA. Their conversation explores six stages: Recognition of God, Life of Discipleship, Productive Life, The Journey Inward, The Journey Outward, and Life of Love. They discuss how these stages manifest in Christian life, particularly focusing on the challenges believers face when hitting "the wall" in their spiritual journey. They offer insights on navigating difficult periods of faith, the importanc...
Jul 11, 2024•59 min•Ep. 353
Check out the latest episode of the Engage and Equip podcast where Pastor Nic answers some of YOUR AMA questions from a Sunday service this past April. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at [highpointchurch.org/podcast](http://highpointchurch.org/podcast) Music: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong ([https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)](https://music.midwestcollective.us/track...
Jun 20, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 352
Check out the latest episode of the Engage and Equip podcast where Pastor Nic interviews Mike Woodruff, the lead pastor at Christ Church north of Chicago. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at [highpointchurch.org/podcast](http://highpointchurch.org/podcast) Music: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong ([https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)](https://music.midwestcollective.us/tr...
Jun 07, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 351
Check out the latest episode of the Engage and Equip podcast where Pastor Nic answers some questions about our cooperation with End Time Ministries. Engage & Equip is a resource designed to help form substantive disciples for the local church. Find more episodes at [highpointchurch.org/podcast](http://highpointchurch.org/podcast) Music: HOME—We're Finally Landing, Nosebleed, If I'm Wrong ([https://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night)](https://music.midwestcollective.us/track/we...
May 30, 2024•32 min•Ep. 350
