#442 The Controversy of Zion // With guest Joel Richardson

#442 The Controversy of Zion // With guest Joel Richardson

This episode features a conversation with Joel Richardson—New York Times bestselling author, itinerant speaker, and longtime missions worker in the Muslim world—covering biblical prophecy, Israel's place in salvation history, and what Christians should make of the current moment in the Middle East. Joel brings decades of frontline experience, hard-won pastoral honesty, and a willingness to say what many won't. If you've felt the ground shifting under the church's relationship with Israel, eschatology, and cultural engagement, this conversation is worth your full attention.   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] 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://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night])

#441 Restorative Prayer: Hearing from God // Part II

Does God actually speak to us — and if so, how? In this follow-up conversation on restorative prayer, Pastor Nic and Christina Sekutowski take on one of the questions that quietly unravels a lot of people's faith: why God so often feels absent, even when we're actively seeking him. Pastor Nic draws from High Point's Advent series on the elusiveness of God to reframe the whole question — arguing that God's hiddenness isn't a flaw in the system, it's a feature designed to draw us deeper. The conversation untangles the confusion between dramatic charismatic experiences and the quieter but equally real ways the Holy Spirit works through illumination, conviction, and insight — the very things that happen in a restorative prayer session. If you've ever walked away from a time of prayer wondering whether anything actually happened, or whether you're just talking to yourself, this episode offers a theologically grounded and surprisingly freeing answer.   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] 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://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night])

#440 Restorative Prayer: What It Is and Why It Works // Part I

What actually happens in a restorative prayer session — and should you be skeptical of it? In this episode, Pastor Nic sits down with Christina Sekutowski, High Point's point person for restorative prayer, to pull back the curtain on one of the lesser-known but most impactful parts of the church's healing ministry. They tackle the real concerns head-on: Is this just charismatic excess? Can revisiting painful memories do more harm than good? Where does psychology end and the Holy Spirit begin? What emerges is a frank, theologically grounded conversation about why emotional healing isn't a detour from discipleship — it's essential to it. From the neuroscience of memory to the biblical case for renunciation prayer, this episode makes the case that the heart God wants to fill has to be opened first, and that restorative prayer is one of the most intentional tools the church has for doing exactly that.   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] 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://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night])

#439 The Face She Dreamed // Missionary Testimony

This episode of Engage and Equip features Zane, a missionary with Overland Missions serving among the Maasai people of Tanzania. Zane shares how God redirected him from a pre-med path at UW-Madison into full-time missions, and the remarkable things he's witnessed on the ground — from a chief hearing the gospel for the first time after 20 years of pastoring, to a woman named Rhoda who dreamed of Zane and his translator a decade before they ever arrived, to a man named Edward whose life was transformed overnight after years of addiction and spiritual bondage. He also reflects on what authentic, culturally-sensitive ministry looks like in practice — going slowly, discipling deeply, and trusting that locally-raised disciples will carry the work further than any outsider ever could.   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://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night]) 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://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night])

#438 Intoxicating Substances Lecture // Part III

This lecture explores how Christians can think wisely about intoxicating and habit-forming substances—including alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, and GLP-1 weight loss drugs. Drawing on a scriptural framework and grounded in medical research, physician Bill and counselor Jill walk through a practical discernment process: examining cultural assumptions, weighing the evidence, and asking honest questions about what need a substance is really serving. The core conviction is that substances offer immediate relief from pain, but they don't produce lasting healing or resilience. Rather than landing on simple rules, this conversation invites listeners toward self-examination and the deeper work of addressing what's underneath the reach for relief.   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://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night]) 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://midwestcollective.bandcamp.com/album/before-the-night])