All of us will attend (at one point or another) the “school of hard knocks.” What is the school of hard knocks, you ask? It's the twists & turns of life – the hardship, adversity, difficulty, loss, tragedy, and suffering that life sometimes throws AT us. And here's the thing: winning and achievement do not teach you what kind of human being you should be. Being the most beautiful girl in town or being the boy who can throw a ball the farthest do not teach you what kind of human being you sho...
Jul 20, 2025•27 min
One of the more fascinating things about God - the transdimensional being who made all of created reality, like our entire universe - is that he doesn't force a relationship with the people he made in his image. God doesn't MAKE anyone "walk in the way of Jesus." Instead, God invites. And our response to that invitation is the first mark of a disciple - someone who is (actively) following Jesus. Disiples follow. Jesus leads. But it's not a "one-and-done" thing - it's really a string of decisions...
Jul 13, 2025•31 min
God is actively involved in our lives, and God speaks to us through our desires. It's NOT our fleeting wants - things like that "doo-hickey" we see at Sam's Club and think to ourselves, “Oh, I want that.” But it's the deep, core desires of our heart. In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case for why our truest desires reflect God’s desires in us and for us - and that God speaks to us through our deepest longings.
Jun 22, 2025•30 min
If you live with other people, there's always ONE job no one wants to do. Maybe it's cleaning the bathrooms or folding laundry or picking up dog poop. But there's always SOMETHING everyone avoids. Not so with Jesus. There was a job to do - and he did it. In fact, he didn't even blink an eye. It didn't faze him one bit. One of the more profound ways we can live like Jesus is by NOTICING the needs around us. It will require a little humility and service - but it's one big way we LIVE LIKE JESUS.
Jun 05, 2025•8 min
We have different "windows" of our life. There's the window that we see and know - and that others see and know. We post about it on social media. It's "us" (our love for Star Wars, etc.). And then there's the window that only our spouse or children see - but no one else does. To others, it's hidden (or secret). There's also a window of our lives that others see with clarity - but we don't recognize. Our husband or wife, our parents, our closest friends or co-workers KNOW this about us - but we'...
May 25, 2025•26 min
God parted the Red Sea. Jesus fed the 5,000. Big stuff. Big miracles. Clear and unmistakable. But even though God can and does do "big stuff" from time to time, he actually PREFERS to come to us in disguise - in a way we don't immediately recognize. You could almost say that there is something delightfully playful about God and the way he speaks to us. It's wry. It's coy. And it means we need to be patient with ourselves (and our ability to hear and discern his voice). In this message, Max Vande...
May 18, 2025•26 min
Pharisees. Got to love 'em, right? They were absolutely CONVINCED that they had God all figured out. They just knew exactly what God loved and what God hated, what God would (or wouldn't) do in a particular set of circumstances, and what everyone else should and shouldn't do. But when God in the flesh (Jesus) shows up on the scene - the Pharisees aren't congratulated. They're challenged. How could they get so many important things wrong? In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks how to hear God's ...
May 11, 2025•27 min
God is a God who initaties. He makes the first move. He takes the first step. And that's really, really good news, considering the mess we've made of relationships and the world He made. May's virtue focus at Generations is INITIATIVE: seeing what needs to be done and doing it. And when we take initiative, we're reflecting God's nature and character to the world around us.
May 05, 2025•10 min
When we Americans hear the word PROPHET, we tend to think of a fortune teller or someone who can predict the future. But predicting the future is only a SMALL part of what prophecy is in both the Old and New Testaments. Much of what prophets did, particularly in the Old Testament, is speak on God's behalf to remind God's people of the covenant (and the promises) they made with God. Some people want to believe that prophecy died out in the first century of the church. Since we have the Bible, the...
Apr 27, 2025•27 min
Have you ever felt like God was speaking to you? Saying something? Prompting you to do or NOT do something? How did you KNOW it was God? All of us are born with a natural capacity to hear God's voice - but learning to distinguish God's voice from our own - or from other voices in our head is also a SKILL we learn to develop over time. Why? Because learning to hear God's voice is the most important thing you'll ever learn to do. Period. Full stop.
Apr 21, 2025•29 min
You fall in love. You're captivated. You date, court, propose, and marry. You're IN love. Everything is passionate and real and authentic and natural. But over time, things change. Life happens. And some married people find that their love hasn't been sustained, hasn't deepened. Instead of being in love with their spouse, they're indifference - or worse, find that they've grown to resent or hate them. What's TRUE of married couples is TRUE of all of us when it comes to our relationship with God....
Apr 13, 2025•30 min
We Americans think that (the sin of) gluttony is simply eating too much. And we think the results of that speak for themselves in larger bodies and higher fat indexes. But we're missing a LOT of what gluttony is (really all) about. In fact, gluttony can have to do with food rules (those foods are bad and these foods are good), picky eating, and so much more. So if gluttony isn't simply eating too much food, what is it? And why do so many of us turn to food for comfort and help when we're experie...
Mar 24, 2025•30 min
There's always some politician or someone at the office who is simply lusting after power. And then there's that moment when someone blurts out: “I’m lusting after some dark chocolate right now.” Lust. Lusting. We use that phrase to describe wanting something. So is lust just a longing or hankering for something? And why would THAT be a sin? And if sex is something good and a gift from God - how is LUST different from good sex (the kind experienced in a loving marriage between a husband and a wi...
Mar 16, 2025•26 min
Did you grow up with at least one brother or sister? Can you recall a time when you got so angry with them that you could SPIT FIRE? Of course, you can! There's nothing like an annoying little brother or sister or stuck-up older brother or sister to bring out the fire in you! Unfortunately for us Americans, we are living in a "wrathogenic environment," one in which our social media algorithms are designed to feed us content that makes us MAD and ANGRY and fuming at someone or something. In this ...
Mar 10, 2025•32 min
Cooperation is working together to do more than you can do alone. And God LOVES to put people together who are very DIFFERENT from each other to accomplish His purposes.
Mar 05, 2025•11 min
Know someone who makes more money than you do? Go to school with someone who’s smarter? More attractive? Better at sports? If you’re single, do you know anyone with a husband or wife totally "in love?" If you feel stuck in a marriage, do you know anyone who’s single and care-free? Have you struggled with infertility and know someone who’s having kids, one after another? Do you have kids, but know someone who has passive, compliant ones? Know anyone who has more square footage than you? Maybe eve...
Feb 23, 2025•32 min
When a pastor is wearing a $2,000 sweater or a $4,000 pair of shoes in an Instagram post, there's a problem. Most folks would say that pastor is crossing a line. But what's true of pastors is true of everyone else. There's a line between a need and a want. There's a line between what's reasonable and what's excessive or extravagant. And that line is virtually impossible for us to see when it comes to our lives and our decisions. In this message, Max Vanderpool tackles the sin of greed and why we...
Feb 17, 2025•31 min
We do NOT like arrogant or conceited people. People who think they're smarter than us, faster than us, better than us. In fact, deep inside of us is a cheer section that gets activated when arrogant people FAIL or fall on their face. Pride is like that. It just "smells bad" and never looks good on you. But what if it's possible that WE have a little more pride going on (under the hood) than we realize? And what if it's the case that pride is EASY to see in others but nearly impossible to detect ...
Feb 10, 2025•26 min
The way we talk about sin today is not helpful. A calorie-packed dessert is something truly sinful. But the way we USED to talk about sin (back in the 1970s and 1980s) isn't particularly helpful, either. Lots of people who needed Jesus steered clear of church, because they felt condemned enough already. So how do we talk about sin in way that makes sense to us (as Americans living in the 21st century) but that also reflects the reality of sin we read about in Scripture? In this message, Max Vand...
Jan 26, 2025•29 min
Two men would be called the same thing: "King of the Jews." One man was given the title by the Roman Senate for his ruthless and victorious military campaigns. The other man was given the title as he was crucified by Roman authorities. By bringing Herod & Jesus together at the SAME time in history, God shows (once again) that He uses people who appear to be weak to triumph over those who appear to be strong. Herod the Great seemed unstoppable, but as it turns out, he was no match for (even b...
Dec 23, 2024•25 min
The typical teenager has a room full of stuff. And that room is a METAPHOR for life. What will they keep? What will they toss? What will they make space for? The Barbie collection they started at age six? The Nintendo games they no longer play? And what's true of bedrooms and garages is also true of calendars and relationships. Every yes is (also) a no - because you do not have unlimited time or unlimited space (for everyone and everything).
Dec 15, 2024•23 min
We live with a lot of fear. And we're afraid - to do things we know we are called to do or created to do - so we shrink back. We defer. We wait. But what would it look like if we KNEW we were loved - if we were NOT afraid? In this message, Brian Hull revisits the encounter Mary had with an angel - and how it put her on a path to trust and risk and NOT be afraid.
Dec 08, 2024•23 min
You cannot simultaneous be grateful AND anxious. You cannot simultaneously be grateful AND resentful. Our brains simply cannot experience BOTH gratitude AND either of those other emotions. So maybe there's something to the fact that PRACTICED gratitude invites joy into our lives. Maybe there's a reason we're called to be a grateful people. Maybe, just maybe, the holiest people you know are also the most GRATEFUL people you know. It's more than just a coicidence. It's the way God made things.
Nov 25, 2024•24 min
High school graduation. College. Military service. Career launch. Marriage. Children. Empty Nest. Retirement. Divorce. Health issues. Our lives are FILLED with BIG transitions. Some of them are planned and anticipated, and some of them are a surprise - because we never saw it coming. And when we find ourselves in those moments, we become incredibly reflective - looking back at what's happened in our life - and looking forward and wondering what's GOING to happen. Those transitions - those season...
Nov 17, 2024•26 min
In the Bible, you encounter stories about Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, David, Esther, Mary, Peter, John the Baptist, Paul, Cornelius. These people certainly had faith - a LOT of it. And, when you're reading or hearing these stories, you might be tempted to think: “I’m not like that. I could never have that kind of faith.” Maybe so. Maybe you're NO Moses or NO Esther. But did these people really accomplish anything because they had lots of faith? Is that how faith works? In this message, ...
Nov 10, 2024•29 min
Hidden sin rarely stays hidden. Many, many famous American pastors have discovered this truth in all its complexities and sorrow. Hidden sin rarely stays hidden. And that's precisly what a man named Achan learned in the Book of Joshua (found in the Old Testament). Achan secretly took some silver and gold left on a battlefield after the battle was over. No one saw him do it. And, for a while, it seemed as though Achan would get to keep what he took without consequence. But Achan learned that hidd...
Oct 27, 2024•29 min
Your biggest enemy is never who you think it is. It's nearly NEVER your ex-husband, ex-wife, mother-in-law, mom or dad, other kid in band, or the girl whose Instagram account gets so much more traction than yours. Nope. It almost NEVER is. Your biggest enemy is nearly always in your head (thinking) or in your heart (feelings) - and may, in fact, be the devil, himself. In this message, Max Vanderpool teaches on the fall of Jericho (when the walls came tumbling down) and what we can learn about Go...
Oct 20, 2024•24 min
Our lives are filled with symbols...from the unassuming golden arches of McDonalds to the family Christmas tree that's put up each year. Symbols are used and matter, because of their potential to evoke powerful memories and emotions. Take, for example, the first time the family Christmas tree is put up - after "mom" or "dad" or a child has died. All of a sudden, this simple object of Christmas becomes an avenue for renewed grief and grieving. It's no longer just a family tree - but a reminder of...
Oct 13, 2024•22 min
There are a lot of choices that we need to make in life. Some of those choices can help us grow and shape us positively. Others can pull us in different directions, leaving us struggling to figure out which choice is best. What do we do when we’re confronted with all of these choices? Do we rush ahead? Or do we pause and let God lead us toward the best way to act? Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. It's also like a "muscle" that we need to exercise. Listen in to our teaching time from Octobe...
Oct 07, 2024•10 min
What do you do where there is a great barrier between you and where you think you are going? Because you're going to face them. And sometimes you'll break through the barrier. And sometimes you won't. So what do you do? In this message, Max Vanderpool teaches from Joshua 3 and how Jesus is a better Joshua - and how God can and will help us safely across. At the end of the day, it's not WHAT God says that's the issue. It's that we're not sure we can TRUST Him. Of course, it's not like anyone else...
Sep 29, 2024•28 min
