Reliable Truth: Recent Episodes

Richard E Simmons III

Welcome to Reliable Truth with best-selling author Richard E Simmons III. Are you searching for truth in your life? Looking for talks that will get you thinking? Each week Richard talks on topics like how to find happiness in your work, or how to improve your marriage. Listen anytime – on the way to work or over a lunch break – and you should come away feeling challenged and encouraged.

When facing death, where is your hope?

Yes this is not the season of Easter, but the truth of the resurrection of Christ is where we find our hope in facing death and dying.

Is it truly possible to “joyfully anticipate death,” as C.S. Lewis wrote about?

Can we honestly reflect and come to terms with mortality so that we can live with a joyful experience of the present and still maintain an optimistic view of the future?

In Armand Nicholi's book The Question of God, he says this about the importance of God and its influence on your worldview:

“Our view of God ultimately determines how we face sexuality, life, death, love, and loss.”

Read more about this in my newly updated book ⁠Safe Passage - Thinking Clearly About Life and Death.⁠ This week get 40% off with promo code *DAD40 for Father's Day*

What is your strategy for dealing with your mortality?

Years ago, a friend of mine came to me, concerned about his father, who was a very wealthy self-made man. He was concerned because his father had no spiritual life, so he talked to his dad about it and his father said, "You know, I just don’t have any need for God in my life. I don’t have any real need for Christ in my life."

In other words, he was saying, "I have a strategy for contending with life, and it’s a financial strategy. I’ll throw money and influence at life’s problems."

I have no idea if this man ever changed his mind, but he died recently and I’m not sure that his strategy took into account the fragileness of life.

What's your strategy?

Read more about this in my newly updated book Safe Passage - Thinking Clearly About Life and Death. This week get 40% off with promo code *DAD40 for Father's Day*

As we lead up to Father's Day, I'd like to share a message that my good friend Jerry Leachman gave at one of our Mens Breakfasts a few years ago.

One of the most important things that could happen in a man’s life is to become reconciled with his father or reconciled with his son. Forgive and be forgiven.

Then cultivate that relationship, and pass on what you are learning to the next generation.

In Deuteronomy 6, God exhorts us to be like an on-field coach:

"These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life...

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Jerry Leachman of ⁠Leachman Ministries⁠ is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S. He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally.

When Jesus raises from the dead and ascends to the right hand of the Father, what is He doing? What is Jesus doing now?

He does not sit idly in heaven. As our raised and ascended Lord, Jesus lives right now, praying and interceding for us, His people.

Hebrews 7:25 tells us: "Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them."

Watch on YouTube

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

What is the role of understanding in our lives?

I remember years ago, driving back from a vacation with our kids, who at the time were about 4 and 5 years old. They were happily watching a cartoon.

We happened upon a really bad storm, like nothing I had ever run into before. I finally had to pull over to wait it out.

It really shook me up.

Well, I looked back at my kids, and they were totally engrossed in their show - literally unfazed by the dangerous storm. They weren't concerned about it at all.

Many people are in grave danger of being eternally lost; maybe a heartbeat away from eternity, and they're not concerned at all.

It's like they're sitting back watching their favorite show, living with a false sense of security.

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus declares, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

Do you know of anyone in your life that is living with a false sense of security? As believers, we have a responsibility to speak up. Today we're discussing just how to do that.

What is the purpose of planting?

Of course, the purpose of planting is to yield something more than just the seeds that one plants. The purpose of planting is to yield something of value, like forests, food, shade or beauty.

Jesus tells us in John 15:8, "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples."

Yet, we cannot make the fruit ourselves. Only God can bring life. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:6 that, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth."

Bearing fruit is not optional. As His people, God designed and expects us to be fruitful in some way or another.

But the beautiful part of planting is to rest in knowing that the results are up to God.

Yes, strive to plant and do your work well in the Lord, using the gifts He has given you, but He is the one that causes the growth and brings others to Himself.

How much would it take to satisfy my heart? How much is enough?

Interestingly, there are people who don't have much that want more, understandably, and then there are people that have a whole lot, and they still want more.

And neither group stops to ask the question: Do I have enough?

Are you passing wisdom on to the next generation? Do you have young men in your family or life?

The book of Proverbs is an extremely important book for finding practical truths and principles to help us in wise living. As we are gaining wisdom, it is a worthy endeavor to look for ways to share it with others, particularly to those younger than us.

Proverbs 25:2 tells us that, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." What a blessing it can be to us to search out the mysteries of God that He is inviting us to discover!

Then in Psalm 78:4, the Psalmist declares, "We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about His power and His mighty wonders."

>>Watch on YouTube

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

The doctrine of election can be a matter of division among a lot of Christians.

Today's Richard's guest, Dr. Mark Gignilliat, discusses some overlapping and important theological concerns that the Bible itself raises, in terms of what we are as human beings and the necessity of God's grace to enter into our lives and to raise us into new life in Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that "no one can say Jesus is Lord" without the animating work of the Holy Spirit.

We cannot say with true sincerity that Jesus is Lord without the work of the Holy Spirit to take that which is dead and to make it alive again. Watch on YouTube

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

What is the quality of your work? Would you like to get understanding on how to live a more fruitful life?

In today's message, we continue looking at the metaphor of the different types of soil that the Word of God fell on.

We'll look at three things that keep us from being fruitful: worry, deceit and the desire for other things.

The most widely used metaphor in the Bible is farming. Metaphors are clearly one of the ways that God uses to teach us spiritual truth.

In John 1, we learn that John the Baptist leads Andrew to Christ, and Andrew, one of the 12 disciples leads his brother Peter to Christ. And then Phillip, one of the 12 disciples leads Nathaniel to Christ - Phillip brings him to "come and see" Jesus.

Tim Keller says that here we have a very important kind of principle at work: many times the way to find Jesus like this and to really know Him personally is almost always through a friend.

I believe our responsibility as Christians is to share who Christ is with others. Not to ram Christ down people's throats because that is not kind or respectful, and in fact that is very ineffective.

In today's message, I share some creative ways that we can bear fruit for the Lord - ways that you and I can invite others to, as Jesus said to Nathaniel, "come and see."

In 1 Timothy 6:11-12 Paul tells us, "But you, man of God... pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith." >> Watch on YouTube

What would it mean for the world if Jesus truly did rise from the dead? And what does it mean to me personally - or does it mean anything at all to me?

For many years C.S. Lewis thought the Bible and the stories of the resurrection were all a bunch of myths, kind of like Norse mythology.

But I would just say that the evidence for the resurrection is quite compelling, particularly if you'll take the time to look into it.

In this message I dive into 3 strategies that we use to deal with facing our own mortality.

By choosing the right one you can have true peace and confidence that will impact the quality of your life until it comes to an end. Watch on YouTube

What is Lent, and why is it important?

Much like Advent leading up to Christmas, Lent is a season that's really a gift for us. It is a time to become conscious and to take some time to enter into thought, prayer and repentance as we prepare for Easter Sunday.

Christians have an unusual relationship with the concept of time. We live in the present here on earth, but the Bible also lets us know that we're already participants and citizens of another time and place.

What does that look like in our daily lives?

Watch on YouTube

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

How did God design us, and what were we made to long for?

God is a relational being, and we are in His image, so we are also relational beings. Relationships are inherent to who we are as people. If we were not made relational, then there would be no such thing as loneliness.

Why do people get lonely? Life is bankrupt without relationships.

Former pro football player Joe Ermann says this about men:
"This is our problem (as men): we compare, we compete; that's all we ever do. It leaves most men feeling isolated and alone. And it destroys any concept of community."

Even to truly know God in the fullest way, we also need to experience God in relationship with other believers who know God intimately.

As you listen to this message, ask yourself, "How does this really apply to me?" Be honest with yourself. Then ask, "Is there something that I can do differently in my life?" Watch on YouTube

What would say are the biggest struggles in your life?

In Part 3 we discussed how to grow in wisdom as men. Now, using that wisdom, let's look at how to confront the three deadly sins - pride, greed and envy.

My desire is that these messages help bring you wisdom and freedom to live as healthy men. >>Watch on YouTube

What role do our choices play in our health?

In Part 1 we learned the importance of being centered on truth. Last week we discussed how to guard and look after your heart and mind - even recognizing that the heart and the mind are one.

Now in Part 3 we dive into growing in wisdom as men. Proverbs 24:5 tells us that "A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge increases power."

Wise people are forward-thinking. They understand that all of life is connected - that there is a cause and effect relationship between the choices we make today and the lives that we end up with tomorrow. Watch on YouTube

What has more power over you - your mind or your heart? Which one rules over you?

The heart can easily overcome or override what you know. The heart is the seat of the emotions and has the ability to take charge of your thinking.

Last week we looked at the foundational principles to living a healthy life:
- Being transparent
- Dealing with the past
- Dealing with the future
- Emotional health

We concluded that to truly live well is to live in the present.

In Part 2 we are looking at the heart and the mind, the innermost parts of a man.

The heart is made up of the mind, the will and the emotions. And the soul is the mind and the heart of a man.

To have a healthy heart, we have to be proactive, and we have to be defensive. It is up to each of us to protect our own hearts and minds.

What does it mean to be a healthy man? This is a complex issue.

One definition of the word healthy is, "a state of physical, mental and emotional well-being. A healthy person functions well in their day-to-day living, as opposed to being dysfunctional.

I propose to show you how the foundation of our health is actually spiritual, along with being centered on the truth.

Being centered on the truth is crucial to living a healthy, vital human life. - Richard E. Simmons III >>Watch on YouTube

How do you respond when you experience hardship?

How many of us face moments in our life when we don't have a plan? Serious illness, financial loss, failure... how we need to have this as our prayer from 2 Chronicles 20:12 "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You."

Our guest is Jerry Leachman, sharing this message at our recent Men's Breakfast.

James 5:16 tells us that "The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!" - Watch on YouTube

Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S. He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally.Learn more about the books Jerry mentioned in his talk: Reflections on the Existence of God and The Battle Plan for Prayer

What is the power of a humble life? Two verses sum up how God views pride and humility:

Proverbs 16:5 tells us that, "The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this, they will not go unpunished."

James 4:6 "But He gives us more grace. That is why scripture says that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Those are powerful words: God detests the proud.

The word opposed in the Greek means "to be at war with."

C.S. Lewis said that "Pride is a spiritual cancer... It is the complete anti-God state of mind." This is true because we have such a hard time seeing it in our own lives.

Could that be true of my life and yours? I believe that we should be praying daily, "Lord, show me the pride in my heart. Let me see it."

How important is unity in ministry?

After an interval of 14 years, Paul goes back to Jerusalem to confront 2 false brothers - false teachers. And he also went to see all of the 12 disciples, to make sure that they were unified in their mission of Christ with him.

Tim Keller writes: "If the other apostles had not confirmed Paul, if they had not renounced the false teachers, it would be very hard for Paul to retain his converts, because he had all these false teachers telling his converts that Paul was preaching a gospel that was inadequate, and not as full as the original apostolic gospel preached by the Jerusalem leaders.

So you can see why Paul wanted to come meet with them. Paul found that the 12 disciples were completely unified with him, which dispelled the false teachers attacks and propelled the growth of the church.

Do you think God has things that He wants us to do - that He appoints us to do? It is an interesting thought!

When Jesus appeared to Saul (Paul's previous name) on the road to Damascus, Jesus told him,

"Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."

Am I doing the work that God has appointed for me to do?

Today's episode previously aired on this podcast with the title "Seeking the favor of men or God?" I share it again today as it is Part 2 of our study of Galatians.

Isn't it interesting to think about how we let other people have such an influence on how we live our lives. I think we would all agree that the people in our lives are important to us. In fact, relationships are the substance of life. We were meant to be with other people.

But, am I living my life to please others? Or am I living for the approval of God? I can't do both. You cannot truly live to please and approve Christ and live to win the approval of man at the same time. One has to be above the other.

We're discussing a single verse, Galatians 1:10, to learn how to find true freedom from the fears that drive us to comparison, envy, jealousy and loneliness. ⁠Watch on YouTube

When I first became a Christian, I didn't think much of the book of Galatians. I didn't understand what Paul was saying.

But now here I am some 47 years later, I have a much better understanding of Galatians, and I love it. I deeply appreciate it.

Paul wrote this letter just 17 years after Christ's death and resurrection. He emphasized the many eye witnesses that were still alive at that time and encouraged those who were skeptical to go and talk with them.

Galatians 1:3-4 says that Jesus "...gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." He alone can rescue us.

What is God like? What are the most significant attributes of God that you think of?

Many people would respond that he is a righteous God, a holy God. He is all powerful. He is loving, he is merciful. He is a just God.

But maybe his most important attribute is one that we don't think about very often. The prophet Jeremiah tells us in chapter 31, verse 34 that God is knowable.

Think about that.

He's not a God that's hidden. He wants to be known. He reveals himself so that he can be known.

The scripture and prophecy that we are studying today, Jeremiah 31:31-34 is considered one of the best texts on knowing God.

Would you like to know him better?

Do you believe Christianity is true? If so, what is the evidence that you’ve built your faith on?

Conversely, have you rejected the existence of God? What is your basis of that decision?
The famous scientist Francis Collins was an atheist and incredibly well-educated. One day an older woman asked him about his faith.
And it just kind of dawned on him. Collins said, “As a scientist, I had always insisted on collecting rigorous data before drawing a conclusion. And yet, in matters of faith, I had never collected any data at all. I had never examined any evidence at all. I realized I didn’t know what I had rejected.”
In other words, Collins was saying, "I had rejected God, I had rejected Christianity, but, in reality, I didn’t know what I had rejected. I had never looked at any evidence."

As Francis Collins began to examine the evidence, he was shocked at what he found. Today, he’s a very committed, outspoken Christian and one of the most prominent scientists alive today.

You see, evidence is important.
In fact, we should want evidence, because the more evidence you have, the stronger your faith will be, just like if you’re trying a case in a court of law, the more evidence you have as the prosecuting attorney, the better the chances are that you’re going to win.

In this study we finish up John chapter 5.

Do you want to be well? Do you want to be made whole?

I find that there are so many people who are not well, and not healthy, and yet they are scared to death of the process that would be required to get well.

I’ve seen this over the years often. I saw it with a guy that came to see me about his finances. He had pride, and he was having problems. He showed me his income, and he showed me his expenses, and I said, "This is a simple math problem. This is why you’re in trouble. You’re spending more than you are making."

I told him, "This is what we need to do. You’re going to have to eliminate some things."

I don’t think he liked that. He didn’t come back to see me again. He didn’t want to be financially healthy.

In John 5:24 Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life."

What is that worth to you? On that day? I contend that it is worth everything you’ve got.

What is your mission in life?

As we continue in the book of John, in this study we see that this is the third time that we’ve seen Jesus contrast the physical with the spiritual.

We saw that with Nicodemus, Jesus talks about his spiritual birth. And Nicodemus asks, "What do you mean? How do you go back in your mother’s womb and be born a second time?" He doesn’t get it.

Then with the Samaritan woman Jesus starts talking about living water. She thinks He’s talking about something physical.

Now as we read this, Jesus talks about having "other food." What is Jesus talking about? Jesus explains in John 4:34 that He has other food - that His food is the Will of God and accomplishing the work that God has for Him to do.

Basically, Jesus is saying that we all have a window of time.

We have each been given an allotted amount of time, and as we live this life, we are to do the work of God. And then Jesus says, in John 17:4, just before He’s taken, “Father, I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work which You have given me to do.”

Over the years, that verse has always intrigued me because it makes me wonder, was that just specific for Jesus?

Does God have a work that He wants me to do?

What is the thirst of the soul?

We are in John 4, discussing Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. It is a fascinating conversation.

He’s focusing on the spiritual need in her life and she’s thinking about not having to come to this well to drag water back to her house every day.

The thirst of the soul.

I read an older sermon by Tim Keller, and he talks about the role of water in your body. He says that our body is 50% water, and that if you are deprived of water you will die of thirst and dehydration. It is a terrible way to die.

Thirst is a physical deprivation because you are made of water, and therefore, you crave it, and you need it. In the same way, Jesus uses the term living water, to tell this woman, "Your soul is craving for something that you don’t have and I’m the only one who can give it to you. It comes from Me."

Where are you looking to quench the thirst of your soul?

We live in a time where many people just want to emphasis God’s love.

But really, how do we know that He is a God of love? Does history tell us?

Over the centuries, human society has had a good understanding that he is a God of wrath, who is righteous and puts down rebellion, who holds up the law of righteousness.

But who came up with this idea of a loving God, a forgiving God, a merciful God–a God who will forgive people who are terribly wicked?

Where did that come from? It came from one place. It came from one person–the God of the Bible.

One of my favorite words to describe what God has done for us is the word rescue. Colossians 1:13 says that He came to, “...rescue us from the domain of darkness.” and I Thessalonians 1:10 tells us to wait for "...Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come."

He came to rescue us, but you have to want to be rescued. And to want to be rescued, you have to realize that your life is in peril.

Are you on a search for truth?

Today we are studying John 3:1-15. In this familiar conversation that Jesus has with Nicodemus, we’re introduced to this great truth about being born again. The idea of a new birth.

There is another word that Paul uses that means the same thing - regeneration. If you’ve ever read the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, it uses the words regenerate and regeneration a good bit.

There are three definitions in Webster’s for regeneration:

to generate and produce anew
to change radically and for the better
to be spiritually reborn

What do you think of when you hear the term “born-again" Christian?

Looking at our culture today, if you were to ask that same question to a random sampling of people, how do you think they would respond?

Author Tim Keller said that:

"The new birth means you are now able to sense the reality of things that before were nothing to you. You actually didn’t see the reality of them. The new birth is a new order of life in which you finally begin to sense the full reality of what’s out there in the Universe, and you can live and act in accordance with it."

In Ephesians 1:17-18, Paul’s prayer for the Christians in Ephesus was, "God, I pray that You would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation, and that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened." This is what God wants to give us through this new birth.

Today we're studying John chapter 2. It’s a quick read, and full of interesting details about Jesus.

He spent 30 years of His life in a small, obscure village called Nazareth. The people in Nazareth didn’t even think much of Him, yet even at age 12, Jesus really had a good grasp of who He was and why He was there. He grew in wisdom and knowledge, and in favor with God and man.

Hebrews 5 tells us that, "although Jesus was Son of God, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.”

So, we learn that He suffered, and He learned obedience from all that He suffered. What do we know about His suffering?

When my oldest son was about nine, out of the blue he asked me, “Dad, why do you believe in God?” And I gave him all kinds of reasons. I said there are a lot of very good, rational, logical reasons to believe in God. Then I said, but, for me, ultimately, I believe in God because of Jesus. The Word becoming Flesh and dwelling among us.

What is the reason for life?

Author Tim Keller said, “The Designer has punched a hole in the roof of the world, and He has descended down into it in the person of Christ…

You were built, all of us, not to just follow some philosophical principle or follow some law. You were built to know and love this divine person, Jesus.

And when you know Him, and you serve Him, and you love Him, when you find out what He built you for, and you comply with it, and you submit yourself to Him, that’s when you find out who you really are, and you become the person you were meant to be.”

Go back to John chapter 1, and substitute the word “reason” every time the verse says “the Word” when you read it.

“In the beginning was the reason for life, and the reason for life was with God, and the reason for life was God, and the reason for life became Flesh and dwelt among us.”

I think Paul says it best in Colossians 2:9-10, where he says, “for in Him (Jesus) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him, you have been made complete.”

John is telling us that Jesus is the reason for life, and, in Him, we are made complete.

Richard joins Dr. Michael Easley to discuss Richard’s book, Reflections on The Existence of God and the importance of evidence-based belief.

Why is it important to have evidence to believe in?

In this episode we'll look at these questions many of us have:

How should we think about evil in a culture that loves evil?
What is the meaning of life?
What is my purpose in living?
What is the psychology of belief and unbelief?
How is the person and work of Jesus Christ apologetic evidence?

There are a lot of strong arguments for the existence of God, but two of the most compelling are the fine tuning of the universe and the person of Christ as the Son of God.

We should each examine the evidence out there and strive to believe responsibly.

Find out more about Richard's book Reflections on the Existence of God - ⁠Read Chapter 1 for free⁠.

Dr. Easley’s experience in ministry spans four decades as a gifted Bible teacher and church leader. He was the 8th president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois He shares a passion for ministry, a heart for people, and love of God.

Michael Easley inContext wants to help you understand how God’s Word applies to the context of your life through interviews with subject matter experts, and men and women striving to obey Christ and His Word.

This episode originally aired on Michael Easley inContext here.

Today my guest is Paul Walker. We'll be looking at four different people from the gospel of John who represent four types of people: two seekers and two believers.

One seeker is a guy named Nicodemus who seems to have it all together while the other is a woman caught in the midst of adultery who's clearly got her fault lines exposed.

One believer is Thomas, Jesus's disciple who was plagued by doubts and questions. The other is Peter, fired up for Christ but finds that his life actually doesn't square with his faith.

So four people from four different places in life, each of which I would say is looking for the same thing: to be in the inner ring.

Christian apologist C.S. Lewis came to this conclusion, "I believe that in all men's lives at certain periods and in many men's lives, at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local ring and the terror of being left outside the inner ring."

Where have you felt it?

All of us have certain pictures in our minds and in our hearts of how we want life to be. Our pictures are made up of people and circumstances.

As long as reality and our pictures are somewhat in conformity, then life is good! Everything is going well!

The problem arises when there's a gap between my picture and reality. And the greater the gap, the greater the pain and disappointment, the hurt, and just the craziness that comes into our lives. Sometimes our pictures just blow up.

How do we respond to the storms when life blows up?

The content for today's episode comes from a seminar I attended by Christian counselor and author Julie Sparkman. Check out her book Unhitching from the Crazy Train: https://www.amazon.com/Unhitching-Crazy-Train-Finding-Control/dp/1625915365/

I greatly appreciate Julie's teaching on this subject. As I have used and applied these principles in my own life, God has impacted me in a deep way.

Unhitching from the Crazy Train: Finding Rest in a World You Can't Control

Is life worth living? And if so, how can it be lived well?

Dr. Mark Gignilliat joins us with a message from the Old Testament book of Joshua.

Where is happiness in all of this? Interestingly, I recently read that the largest registration for a single course in the history of Yale University was a course entitled "Happiness." To live a fulfilled human life is an age-old question. Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle answered that a well-lived life is one that's marked by virtue. In today's talk I will discuss how to grow and develop the virtue of courage in your life.

Courage is not the absence of fear. Aristotle said that courage is knowing when to withstand and knowing when to advance in the face of fear. In Joshua 1:9 the Lord told Joshua, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” ⁠Watch on YouTube⁠

⁠Dr. Mark Gignilliat⁠ is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

Happy Father's Day!

Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries joins us with a message for fathers especially, but also for all men - to help us all focus on the things that matter.

Are there any boundaries when it comes to human sexuality? How do our choices affect others in our lives? As a father, how do my choices affect my wife? My children?

Today's message is about living an upright life - how to be a righteous man. Righteous men are just normal guys, but they’re just not double-minded anymore. They confess their sins. They live with accountability. They want to be part of the solution.

Dads, you can demonstrate to your daughters how women should be treated. Men can model to their sons on how to think about real women, and how real men treat women. Women, even the most godly ones, cannot do that like a man can. Women can nurture. They comfort. They encourage and they’re powerful prayer warriors, but they cannot model for boys and demonstrate to young girls in the way men can.

Train up your child - create a desire in them to live for Christ through your example and through cultivating a loving relationship with your children. It's the most worthy job you could aspire to.

Jerry is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S.

He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally.

I remember watching a movie at around age 19, and laughing more than I'd ever laughed before in my entire life.

About 6 months later I became a Christian, finished college and went on to start my career. Some years later I found that same movie in a rental store and excitedly took it home to watch it. I started watching it, and after about 10 or 15 minutes I had to turn it off because it was so crude and so perverse.

I share this because something had happened to me.

Very clearly my view of life had really changed. The way I saw life had changed. And my view of sexuality had changed.

So what happened to me? I guess you could say I was seeing life through a different set of eyes. Clearly the Holy Spirit was in me as a Christian, and had transformed the way I view life.

Why is the world so broken? I believe the world is broken because of the spiritual condition of man.

All people need the light of Jesus Christ, as Jesus said in Acts 26:18, "to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me." ⁠Watch on YouTube⁠

Would you say that you're living a healthy life? And what does a healthy life even look like?

Today I'm diving into the life of King David and his fall into adultery–we'll look closely at what happened in his life.

When marriages are struggling and there's not much passion going on, that's when you are particularly vulnerable to the temptation to adultery. Proverbs 5 tells us men to, "Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth... and be exhilarated always with her love."

Maybe you're in a difficult place in your life. You might be thinking to yourself, "Well, you don't know my situation..."

I want to encourage you to hold on to the hope and the love of Christ for you. In today's message we'll learn how to:

be intentional about guarding our hearts
pray about the issues that we face
stay close to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls–Jesus Christ, and
trust in God's will for us in this.

I contend that if you apply these principles in your life, then over time you'll be a very healthy man and you will experience the abundant life that Jesus promised us in John 10:10. Watch on YouTube

In honor of Memorial Day, Richard's guest is WWII Marine survivor Edgar Harrell, who shared his heroic survival story at one of our Men's Breakfasts in 2019.

At the time, Sergeant Ed Harrell was the last surviving Marine of the ⁠USS Indianapolis⁠. Two years after speaking at our event, Harrell ⁠passed away⁠ at the age of 96.

July 30, 1945: After transporting uranium for the atomic bomb that would soon be dropped on Hiroshima, the USS Indianapolis headed unaccompanied toward a small island in the South Pacific. At 12:14 a.m., she was struck by two Japanese torpedoes, rolled over, and sank.

Harrell vividly describes the horrors of being plagued by dehydration, exposure, saline poisoning, and sharks. This is a story of courage, ingenuity, and faith in God's providence in the midst of the greatest catastrophe at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.

Want to hear more about Ed Harrell’s story? Pick up his book Out of the Depthshere.

As many of you may know, pastor and author Tim Keller passed away this past Friday. I am grateful for Tim's life and his witness, and for how the Lord has used him so powerfully in so many people's lives. We are thankful for the wisdom he has given to us through his speaking events at The Center.

In honor of Tim, I’d like to share with you his last Bible Study message to us, given live from New York City, hosted by The Center and Redeemer City to City on June 1, 2021. Tim is teaching from Romans 8:28-30, on how to find lasting joy, even in the midst of deep sorrow. I pray that you will find encouragement in this message. - Richard E. Simmons III

Tim Keller was the Chairman and co-Founder of Redeemer City to City, which trains pastors for ministry in global cities. He is also the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and the author of New York Times best-selling books The Reason for God, The Prodigal God, Prayer and his latest book Forgive. Visit Redeemer City to City for more resources. Watch on YouTube

"You just won your first major. You’ve got a beautiful young wife. You’ve got houses, cars, money, everything a 26 or 27 year-old could ever dream of and more. Well, what is this emptiness about? I had no ideas... " - Bernhard Langer

Today Richard's guest is professional golfer Bernhard Langer. Join us to hear Bernhard's fascinating story and his journey of faith.Bernhard is a two-time Masters champion. He is one of five golfers to win professional golf events on all six continents. After turning 50, Bernhard has established himself as the most successful player in the history of the PGA Tour Champions with 11 senior major championships. Watch on YouTube here.

Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries joins us today with a message calling us to give our lives away.

Jesus said people that give their life away will find their life. You know when you’re giving your life away because it’s impossible to be contentious toward anybody. You have become their servant. You don’t think you’re better than others, and you’re free from the bondage of consumerism.

People that give their life away, Jesus said, shine like lights in the world. He even said in the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation you shall shine like lights in a dark place.

Jerry is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S.

He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally.

What does it mean to be a human being?

Dr. Mark Gignilliat joins us with a message from the book of Exodus. I believe that we are seeing the erosion of the West, right in front of us. Shifts in our culture are accelerating very quickly.

What we are seeing is going to require us to wrestle with the very basic questions of who we are:

What does it mean to be a human being?
Do humans have a nature?
Is there a nature that can be defined as a common nature of all humanity?
What does sexuality actually mean in the givenness of the created order?

The answer to all of these questions sits on top of the reality and the confession that "God is."

God has given Himself to be known. He has spoken. He has given us His name, which allows us to identify Him and to relate to Him. And He is speaking to us through His Son Jesus in the Exodus of the Old Testament. And He has spoken to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament, so that we can know who our God is, relate to Him and worship Him more fully.

Watch on YouTube

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

Millions have read books and listened to sermons by Timothy Keller. But which people and what events shaped his own thinking and spiritual growth?

Today I'm having a conversation with Collin Hansen, as we celebrate his latest book Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation.

Timothy Keller takes readers behind the scenes to meet the people and understand the events that formed Keller's spiritual life and ministry priorities. With access to Keller's personal notes and sermons—as well as interviews with dozens of family members and longtime friends—Collin Hansen helps you understand one of the 21st century's most influential church leaders. Watch on YouTube

Buy book on Amazon

Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation

The prophet Ezekiel in the Bible is a wild ride. I'm not sure how else to describe him. Ezekiel is a remarkable prophet of the Old Testament Exile.

Dr. Mark Gignilliat joins us with a message from the first chapter of Ezekiel.

Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Jesus, "...is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

Ezekiel chapter 1 paints this incredible scene of Jesus praying for us. The scene moves from the ground up, as we see One like a man surrounded by a rainbow, Who is aflame and aglow with the mysteries of the universe. The cosmos is all around Him.

What is He doing? He is overseeing His creation. He is seeing all things toward their ultimate Redemptive purposes.

He is interceding for you and for me.

John Calvin famously said our Lord Jesus does not sit idly in heaven. He is active in heaven. What is He actively doing? Praying for His people, interceding for them, lifting them up before the throne. Jesus intercedes with His Father with knowledge, having lived in the realm of human suffering Himself.

Be encouraged with this today - Jesus is on His throne; He knows your name, He is praying for you to the Father by the Spirit, and He is reminding His Father that you are His. He has claimed you as His own. That is our only hope in life and in death.

Watch on YouTube

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

Think about these words - truth and evidence. How do we know what is true and valid? Is there real evidence for God?

I believe that every single one of us should be asking these questions. The healthiest men I know adhere to Socrates' advice to “follow the truth wherever it leads.”

So in order to discover what is true and valid we must take time to search it out for ourselves. Faith needs a foundation.

God invites us to step into the light.

Acts 17:31 tells us that God, "has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

Today I will share 3 points of evidence for the resurrection. I contend that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest source of hope in the world. Ultimately there is power in the resurrection! Watch on YouTube

Are you looking for hope in your life today?

In light of the recent, tragic school shooting in Nashville, I'd like to share this message of hope from a Good Friday talk I gave a few years ago. I believe it is pertinent today.

Author and pastor Tim Keller says this, “Hope is the engine that drives your life. And the reason is because how you live your life today is so influenced by how you perceive your future.”

In our vocabulary today, the word "hope" is generally spoken of as a synonym with wishing for something. I wish this would happen. I hope this would happen. Wishing is a vague longing for something we desire, but find unlikely to happen.

The hope that I’m speaking of is a noun and it’s a life-shaping certainty of something that has not happened yet, but you know will happen. That word “hope” is used 85 times in the New Testament. What you’ll see stressed repeatedly is that our relationship with God is the ultimate ground of hope in this life, and that’s what I want to show you today.

We are all hope-based creatures. We can’t live without hope. This is why people who see the future as being utterly hopeless, very sadly pull the plug on their lives. Because, when you look ahead at the future and you don’t like what you see and you see no change is coming, you find yourself feeling this sense of hopelessness. This naturally leads to despair in your present-day life. And so, the way you see the future has such an impact on the way you see your life and the way you live your life today.

When you think of God, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? In other words, when you think of the attributes of God, what do you think of?

Here in the south, many of us might describe God as a loving God, a merciful God, that He is a forgiving God and He is an all-powerful God. You see those descriptions in the Bible of who God is. These are descriptions that make us feel good about God and who He is.

The problem is when Easter rolls around we hear a lot of different words. We hear words like sin and the cross and the crucifixion, God’s wrath, and God’s judgment, the sacrifice He made and the spilling of the blood of His Son, Jesus. And for many people, this isn’t really pleasant. It’s kind of like a lot of people feel about Good Friday, they say, I’d just as soon forget about Good Friday and move on to Easter.

But the heart of the Christian faith starts at the cross. In fact, without the cross, the Biblical story of redemption makes no sense.

Today I'd like to share with you a Good Friday message I gave a few years ago, to briefly walk you through the events of Good Friday, and make four important points that I think will be very helpful to you, particularly as you prepare your heart for Easter.

Today's message might possibly be the most important message I could ever share with Christian men.

Proverbs 16:5 says, "The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: they will not go unpunished." Think about those words. Then James 4:6 tells us, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." The Greek word for opposed there means "to be at war with." Now who in the world wants to be at war with God?

There are two types of pride. The first is what you would call good, like taking pride in your work and striving for excellence in your life. The Bible is talking about the second type of pride, which is arrogance. We can easily see arrogance in the lives of others, but it's so difficult to spot it in our own lives. I have to stop, step back and ask myself, could this be true in my life?

Tim Keller says that pride is the carbon monoxide of sin. Pride silently and slowly kills you without you even knowing it.

If arrogant pride is the utmost evil, and yet we have a hard time seeing it in our own lives, should this concern us? I think the answer is yes. I'd like to share several good applications that you can apply to your own life, starting today. I believe we should be praying every day, "Lord, show me the pride in my life. Help me to see it. Help me to see what is true of my own heart."

Today Richard joins Jeff Pinkleton on the Pinkleton Pull-Aside Podcast to discuss Biblical manhood, the existence of God, Alabama football and much more. Special thanks to our brother in the Lord, Bob "Coach Schue" Schuemann, for connecting Richard with Jeff and the good folks at The Gathering!

Jeff Pinkleton is Executive Director of the Gathering of the Miami Valley, where their mission is to connect men to men, and men to God. You can reach Jeff at GatheringMiamiValley.org or find him on Facebook at The Gathering of the Miami Valley.

This episode originally aired on the Pinkleton Pull-Aside Podcast. Click here to listen.

We live in an age of constant distraction. We have to be intentional to find space for reflection, for prayer - to crowd out the noise of existence. Many people are marked by angst, depression and even suicidal thoughts. Where are you looking for hope in your life?

Dr. Mark Gignilliat joins us with a message about Lent and the book of Psalms. Psalm 121:1-2 tells us, "I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

The season of Lent is a gift to us, especially in an age that's marked by distraction. Lent is a gift for reflection, a gift for prayer, and a gift for renewal. It's also a time for us to think about basic questions of our existence:

Why am I here?
For what purpose have I been made?
Is life worth living?
What are we heading toward?
What's the purpose for our existence?

I believe that the Bible is extremely interested in all of those questions.

The Lord has promised that He will not lose us, that He's not going to fall asleep on us. He will keep our souls with that very thing that animates our being and gives us life. He will hold it and he will keep it. In the midst of the busyness and distractions of our lives. I pray that we will remember that our help comes from the Lord. That we will believe that this promise is true, and that it is true for each one of us.

Watch on YouTube

Recommended devotional for Lent: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society

Scripture tells us that God always saves for Himself a remnant. What about you? What about me? Are you part of the remnant?

Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries joins us today with a message calling us to prayer, commitment to Christ and to have a deep, fervent love for our fellow man. Like Ambrose's Band of Brothers, come together and spur each other on to love and good deeds. Be on the "battlefield", share your faith by loving people, caring for people. Be in each other's lives.

We are the Lord's remnant. Instead of praying for God to get you out of hard places, pray that whatever's ahead of you, that God would help you be faithful and persevere to the end.

Jerry is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S.

He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally. Watch on YouTube here

Isn't it interesting to think about how we let other people have such an influence on how we live our lives. I think we would all agree that the people in our lives are important to us. In fact, relationships are the substance of life. We were meant to be with other people.

But, am I living my life to please others? Or am I living for the approval of God? I can't do both. You cannot truly live to please and approve Christ and live to win the approval of man at the same time. One has to be above the other.

Today we're discussing a single verse, Galatians 1:10, to learn how to find true freedom from the fears that drive us to comparison, envy, jealousy and loneliness. Watch on YouTube here

Dr. Mark Gignilliat from Beeson Divinity School joins us again, this time with a message from the book of Psalms.

If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one book of the Bible with you, which one would you choose?

For me, I think it would be the Psalms. They are rich. There’s a treasure trove here of insight into what it means to live all of life In God’s presence.

Now, let me stop and just talk about that for a second. The Psalms are inviting us, and let me up the ante, the Psalms are actually commanding us to live all of life in God’s presence. From mountaintop moments, to the valley of despair, from confusion, to reorientation, in moments where you need wisdom, in moments when you are rejoicing, in moments when you are giving thanks, the Bible and the Psalms are instructing us that God wants all of our lives lived in His presence and in a spirit of prayer.

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as Canon Theologian at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children. Watch video on YouTube here

How do we find the true riches of life? In this series of talks we've discussed many fears and pitfalls that men experience - the fear of failure, battling the pressure to perform and 'act like a man.' We compare and compete constantly. This leaves men feeling isolated and alone.

If you think about it, a man's greatest fear should never be the fear of failure, but the fear of actually succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.

Author and coach Joe Ehrmann said, "At the end of our life, we ought to be able to look back over it from our deathbed and know somehow the world is a better place because we lived, we loved, we were other-centered, other-focused."

Every real man should be investing their life in a cause that is bigger than your own individual hopes, dreams and desires. But how do we make the changes necessary to do that?

Today is the last of 3 talks that I gave back in 2009 after the stock market crash. These talks became the foundation of my book The True Measure of a Man, which continues to impact many lives, both men and women.

Learn how to get Chapter 1 of The True Measure of a Man for FREE here.

Fear is a very interesting emotion. It's created by one thing: uncertainty over the future, and it operates in the realm of our imagination. It's amazing how we play things out in our minds, and most people don't know what to do with it. Fears end up running wild in their imaginations, particularly when they wake up at two or three o'clock in the morning and their minds start whirling. That's when fear runs rampant, and it cripples our lives in a multitude of ways.

Interestingly, in both the Old and the New Testament, the number one imperative from God to His people is to fear not. Be anxious for nothing. Do not worry.

So what is it that we fear? Well-known psychologist Larry Crabb says that we all have two basic psychological needs in our lives:

The need for security, and
The need for significance

What do I mean by significance? It's the belief that your life makes a difference that will last over time. At the end of our lives, each of us hopes that our life was important in some way.

Our need for significance creates an incredible fear of failure in us that we carry around - an incredible fear that we're going to fail somehow out in the workplace or in our relationships.

As you listen to this message, ask yourself these questions: How is God trying to use this in my life? What's He trying to teach me? Maybe for some of us, He's trying to make a spiritual breakthrough in our lives.

Today is the second of 3 talks that I gave back in 2009 after the stock market crash. These talks became the foundation of my book The True Measure of a Man, which continues to impact many lives, both men and women.

Learn how to get Chapter 1 of The True Measure of a Man for FREE here.

How do you cope when you experience hardship or failure in your life? Going through difficult times or failure exposes our true selves, which leads to more questions:

How do you define and measure your worth as a person?
What are the motivations that drive you?
Where do you get your worth as an individual?

Our culture tells us that our worth is all about performance and success. We've somehow gotten personal achievement confused with our value and worth as people. How different would your life be if you did not fear and worry about what others thought of you, if you never had to impress anyone?

Today I'd like to share with you the first of 3 talks that I gave back in 2009 after the stock market crash. These talks became the foundation of my book The True Measure of a Man, which continues to impact many lives, both men and women.

Learn how to get Chapter 1 of The True Measure of a Man for FREE here.

If there were only room for one thing in your life, what would it be?

You know, when we're dead and gone, I can promise you this, people will not remember us for the houses we lived in, the cars we drove or what we accomplished in our business or personal lives.

They will primarily remember us for the kind of people we were. Character, wisdom, love, and compassion. And if these qualities are what our lives are about, then we will naturally impact the lives of other people. And in the end, our lives will be known by the impact we have had on other people.

What is my primary loyalty in life - what is at the core of who I am? Is it money? Is it prestige and success? Is it the pleasures of life? There's something that is at the core of each of our lives. If it's not Christ, I want to challenge you to give Him preeminence in your life.

What is the desire of your heart for this new year?

Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries joins us today with a message to fuel your passions for 2023. How to cultivate an inner circle of wise people that can strengthen you and give clarity to your life. Most men don't even have an inner circle. They just have acquaintances. You need a wing man. If you don't have one, then pray for one. If you've got one, then make sure you're getting regular time with him. Go.

What kind of men are we going to be from here on in? You'd better get in a group. You'd better have a wing man on Omaha beach.

How in the world did the troops get off of Omaha Beach? They banded themselves into small groups of men. They designated leaders and they got off the beach because they were working together. They realized there were only two kinds of men on the beach - dead men and men who were going to get off the beach. Get with some brothers who love Jesus Christ and are serious. Iron sharpens iron. Your fear will go down. They will buffet evil in your life. They will influence you from doing unwise things, and your personal power and your potential for godliness will increase. Find a wingman.

The last thing is we must hear God and obey Him. In Psalm 81, it says, "My people would not heed my voice. Israel would have none of me, so I gave them over..." There it is. He abandoned them. "I gave them over to their own stubborn heart to walk in their own council. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways." Maybe you've lost faith. God can turn your life around.

Join Jesus Christ. Put His jersey on and get out on the battlefield with the men. Offer your service to the Lord. Whatever that would mean, He'll tell you, but you've got to be all in now.

Jerry is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S.

He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally.

Happy New Year! What are your goals for 2023? Are there areas in your life that you want to change?

Let's say you play golf, and you decide to go take a golf lesson. The first thing they will do is to film your golf swing. And they do it for one primary reason: to determine what are the flaws in your swing. The only way you're going to get better, the only way you're going to transform your golf game is to recognize your flaws. And here's what's interesting about this - almost every time you take a golf lesson, they point out your flaws. And you are clueless that the flaw exists. We are truly blind to our flaws.

The question is, are we willing to take a good hard look at ourselves? That's a very difficult thing for a lot of men, but I believe self-examination is critical if we truly desire to change course and walk down the path that leads to wisdom.

RE-AIR EPISODE Merry Christmas! Today’s podcast is taken a Christmas blog that I originally wrote several years ago. I share one of my favorite stories that illustrates the ultimate reason Jesus came into the world.

I hope that as we enter this Christmas season, and get caught up in the pageantry and celebration of His birth, that we would not forget that God sent His Son into the world to rescue us from the domain of darkness and from the wrath to come.

How does wisdom impact our lives? Well, it impacts the decisions and the choices we make in life.

Wisdom changes people. It impacts not only what we see, but what we choose. This is of critical importance because our lives end up being the sum of the choices we make as we walk down the path of life.

Your life today is the sum of the choices that you've made over a lifetime.

The way of wisdom is a path, where you become wise by assuming a certain set of daily practices. As you adopt these practices, these disciplines, and do them over and over again, eventually you become wise. Wisdom is not a door, as most of us would hope it is where we can turn a key and find some secret knowledge. Wisdom is a long, patient quest. It does not come quickly.

How must I change my daily practices so that I'm going down a path that leads to a deeper relationship with God? This is the heart of wisdom.

Dr. Mark Gignilliat from Beeson Divinity School, joins us today with a special Advent message from the book of Isaiah.

Do you feel overwhelmed by the busyness of the Christmas season? And what about all the chaos of the world?

Just like the story of Charlie Brown's Christmas, things don't seem to be right in terms of what this season is all about. But let me just encourage you to find, by God's grace, some time for reflection, some space, to think and to pray. To open your heart and your mind to the work of the Lord to draw you back to himself again. Because our ultimate identity is wrapped up in this tension that we live in, namely, we're in the old age, but we're already citizens of a heavenly kingdom.

Advent does two things for us as a season. Advent pushes us back in time, but it also pushes us to the future because just like the prophets, we too live in the in-between times right now.

We're in the old age, and we're awaiting the new age - but there's an overlap. Some call it the "already" and the "not yet." We're caught in the "already" because we know that Christ has come and brought his kingdom into the world. But we also know that it's "not yet" because that kingdom hasn't been completed yet.

This overlap helps us understand the tensions that we live in as Christians. For example, knowing that Jesus has come, and yet also recognizing that Jesus is absent. We feel the reality of Jesus' absence. We pray during this season of advent, Lord Jesus return again. Advent is a gift to us, to call us into a season of repentance, of reflection and of renewal.

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as Canon Theologian at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children. Watch video on YouTube here

How do we make wise decisions? It is learned through making mistakes, or is it more than that?

I believe that the more clearly we see the reality of the world, the better equipped we are to deal with the complexities of life. But the more our minds are clouded by falsehood, misperceptions, and illusions, the harder it will be for us to determine correct courses of action and make wise decisions.

Our view of reality is like a map with which to negotiate the terrain of life. If the map is true and accurate, we will generally know where we are. And if we have decided where we want to go, we will generally know how to get there. But if our map is false, if it's inaccurate, we generally will be lost, stumbling in the darkness.

I wonder how many of us are living with false ideas about life - false ideas about reality. I wonder how many of us might have false ideas about God and spiritual reality. One of the things I find when I meet with men is that many have false ideas about God and Christianity.

Proverbs tells us that a key to growing in wisdom is to first realize you're not wise - recognizing that there's so much that I don't know yet. That's where you and I need to be. If you believe that you've "arrived", that you are wiser than everybody else - well, you just stepped back into the darkness.

So a good place to be is to recognize, "I do like wisdom. I am needy." That's a great place to be. In James 4:6, scripture tells us, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Then Proverbs 3:6a, 7-11 says, "For the Lord gives wisdom... knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of His faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you."

Imagine that you're at work and, and things aren't going well in your marriage, or you and your wife are going through a dry season. You're invited to go to lunch with an attractive single woman. And you reason to yourself, there's nothing wrong with going to lunch. There's nothing morally wrong with making that decision.

Several weeks later you're working late on a special project and you're finally finished. All of a sudden the two of you are there at work and you say, well, let's go get a bite to eat. There's nothing wrong with going to dinner. Over dinner, you begin to share the struggles of your marriage. Again, nothing wrong with that, with sharing with somebody what's going on with your marriage. But, we shouldn't be asking, is this right or wrong? We should be asking, "Is this wise?"

Is there anything more important in life that we should be pursuing more than wisdom? As we go through this study, I believe that we will all conclude that wisdom has such great value because of its impact on our wellbeing and on the quality of our lives and our relationships.

In your eyes, what is a good man? To be caring? Honest? To put others' needs ahead of your own?

Now, what does it mean to be a real man? Many men would eagerly answer: "a real man takes charge, takes risks." Some might say "a real man walks like a man, talks like a man, and never cries." There's a real disconnect between the description of a good man and of a real man.

Many men today are confused about what it means to be a man. I believe we have false ideas on what it means to be masculine. In today's podcast I discuss some of the traps men fall into, like the fear of failure or what I call the performance trap. These things steal our joy and weigh us down. And guys, if we fathers don’t know this, what do we teach our sons about manhood?

Who is the most important person in your life?

How would it change you if Jesus were the most important person in your life? I would tell you that it would change you radically, and would set you free from the performance trap and put you on a path to becoming Christlike.

Is there more than one path to God?

You see, all of the world's religions make certain objective truth claims about the nature of God, about spirituality, and most significantly about what happens to you when you die. Either only one of them is true or none of them are true. To say that two or three of them are true or that all of them are true is absurd. It's logically impossible. In today's episode, I am discussing the real reason that the religious pluralist believes what he believes.

Who in this life has the spiritual authority to point us to what is true? I contend that Jesus Christ stands head and shoulders above everyone else.

Who is caring for the caregivers? Today Richard's guest is Phil Reddick, along with a panel of speakers, each giving their perspective on decision making, coping with these issues, grieving, and how to prepare for your loved ones during this critical time. This special seminar was hosted by The Center and YBL 2nd Half. Here is our panel of speakers:

Robert Atherton - Sales Executive with Temenos, who has gone through care-giving and loss with both sets of parents
Christy Baynes - President and Care Manager of LifeCare Solutions, Inc, who deals with and helps others with these issues daily.
Bill Nolan - The Alabama Elder Care Law Firm, LLC, who will discuss thinking through questions of legality and finances.
Loring Muir - retired banker, who lost his wife to dementia and just recently remarried.

Watch on YouTube here

Find out more about The Center: https://thecenterbham.org/ More about YBL 2nd Half: https://ybl.org/2nd-half-ministry

The most important thing that you bring to your marriage relationship, and really to any relationship, is yourself. And the healthier you are individually, the healthier your marriage will be, the healthier your relationships will be. Your character, your humility, your willingness to be transparent, to be honest, to be vulnerable, your ability to love, the wisdom that you attain, will all ultimately determine the quality of your relationships.

You see, the person you are becoming is most significantly impacted by your relationship with Christ. As men, what do we focus on? We mostly focus on achieving and what we are experiencing through our work, sports, and our activities. Rarely do we stop and think about what God says is most significant.

But in doing so, we are looking for something from our wives that only God can provide. In his book, Sacred Marriage, author Gary Thomas says,

“***I believe that much of the dissatisfaction we experience in marriage comes from expecting too much from it. We want to get the largest portion of our life’s fulfillment from our relationship with our wives. And they cannot provide it.”

***

The deeper we go in our relationship with Christ, the greater the transformation that will take place in our lives. And consequently, the healthier we will be.

What kind of man or woman are you becoming?

What is love? Dr. Mark Gignilliat from Beeson Divinity School, joins us today teaching on the book of Song of Solomon, also called Song of Songs.

This book of lyrical poetry is a collection of 10 simple poems, where the couple speaking are freely describing their marital intimacy with joy and freedom. Song of Songs gives us a biblical example of God's beautiful gift of physical intimacy in marriage for a husband and wife. This kind of love is a foretaste of the eternal love we will experience in heaven.

Medieval theologian Bernard of Clairvaux had this to say about Song of Solomon, "If anyone desires to grasp these writings, then he needs to love. For anyone who does not love, it is vain to listen to this Song of love, or to read it, for a cold heart cannot catch fire from its eloquence."

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as Canon Theologian at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children. Watch video on YouTube here

What would you say to Jesus if He asked you, "What do you really want?"

Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries joins us today with a message to inspire you to get creative - to get off the sidelines and get onto the field. With the time you've got left, when you're around people - build them up. Give them a lift. Be a blessing. Point them towards Jesus Christ. Every great coach will tell their team during training, "You've got to want it - you can't just show up in a uniform, you've got to want it - love it, eat it, breathe it, drink it. You've got to want it."

How will you spend the rest of your life?

Jerry is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S.

He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally.

Do you find yourself in a game of comparison?

Dr. Tim Keller says that we are the first culture in history where men get their sense of worth and significance based on how well they perform and achieve in life.

It’s not that you want to be the greatest coach in America. What you find is that you just want to be a better coach than you, and you, and you, and you, and you. It’s a comparison thing. It’s a competitive thing. And, that’s where we get our sense of worth and value.

This creates envy and jealousy. Do you know what envy is? Wanting somebody else’s life. If I want someone else’s life, that means I’m not content with who I am, what I have and what I’m doing. And yet, contentment is God’s will for your life - that we would be content with where He has placed us, with the abilities He’s given us.

The question is: "How can I be set free from this trap of comparison that I’m in?”

In the work that I do, I have noticed a frustration in people’s lives. It usually starts in their 30’s and continues on for the rest of their lives. This is the frustration they express, ”Why is there such a gap between the life I’ve aspired to and dreamed of, and the life I’m actually living?”

In evaluating my own life, I have asked myself, "Have I come, even partially close, to doing my very best in this life? And, in reality, does anyone ever really do his or her best? If not, why not?

How can you change the course of your life? How do you achieve a life of excellence? Today I discuss the importance of learning to use the accumulation of time. Multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, and you can accomplish magnificent things. You can find that life of excellence. But it is crucial to remember this: the most important areas of your life require regular deposits of time as the years go by. If these opportunities are missed, they are lost forever.

Since your final destiny has yet to be determined, starting today, why not live an exceptional life and leave a lasting legacy behind?

Today my guest is champion golfer Bubba Watson, who candidly shared about his victories and struggles over the course of his life at our recent Men's Breakfast.

Watson is a multiple major champion, with victories at the Masters Tournament in 2012 and 2014. In February 2015, Watson reached a career-high 2nd place in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Growing up in the small-town of Bagdad outside of Pensacola, Florida, Bubba Watson dreamed of being a champion golfer, and he has more than fulfilled that dream with twelve wins on the PGA Tour, including two Masters. A man of faith, he loves spending time with his wife, Angie, their two children, Caleb and Dakota, and his friends.

Bubba is also a big supporter of his hometown, where he is part owner of the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos baseball team, a car dealership, a candy store, and a driving range. But his family’s support of the Studer Family Children’s Hospital and the opportunity to help improve the community provides him the greatest satisfaction.

Bubba Watson’s book Up and Down: Victories and Struggles in the Course of Life can be found on Amazon.

Watch on YouTube here

Up and Down: Victories and Struggles in the Course of Life

Does it really matter what we put our faith in? If you’re going to really put your faith in something, it has to have a strong foundation to undergird it - otherwise it’s just blind speculation. Think about it this way: you can have very little faith in thick ice and it will hold you up just fine when you walk out onto it. On the other hand, you can have enormous faith in thin ice, and you can drown.

It’s not the amount of faith you can muster up that matters. In fact, Jesus says that your faith may be tiny like a little mustard seed, but He says, you must invest your faith in something that is solid. Because the bottom-line is that faith is worthless, belief is worthless, your hope is worthless, if it’s built on that which is false and unreliable.

If Jesus is the Son of God, and if Christianity is true, then there must be a uniqueness to them both that sets them apart from all other religions. You see, all the other religions of the world contend that a person comes into the world and gives us information about God and how we’re to live our lives. But in Christianity, God Himself came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. John chapter 1 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.” The apostle Peter adds in 2 Peter 1:16, “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

The central message of every other religion is that you are saved by what you do, but the teaching of Christianity is just the opposite. You are not saved by what you do but by what Jesus has done. You’re saved not by following His teaching, but by what He did on the cross. Jesus has entered history and lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died. Atonement has been made. If we are to be saved by grace, these historical events had to happen. Christianity is a concrete religion like no other. It is concerned about truth, reality, and the historical record.

We live in a time where the ideology of religious pluralism is becoming more and more dominant in our culture. A religious pluralist is one who believes that all religions are different paths that lead to the divine, and therefore, all religions are valid. In other words, it’s like there’s this one God out there but He just wears many faces when you look at the landscape of all the world’s religions.

You see, all religions make certain true claims about spirituality, but the question is, "Are their claims true?" C.S. Lewis said that modern people don’t seem to care about whether it’s truthful or not. They’re only interested in how it appeals to you and how it makes you feel - how it fits into your life.

A couple years ago I was sitting at a table with a guy who wanted to talk about the existence of God. We'll say his name was John. I suggested a good starting point is, that God either exists or He doesn’t. One of those statements is true and one of those statements is false. His response to me was, no, both of them can be true. Well, there was another guy sitting at the table and he was an accountant. The great thing about accountants is that they are very objective. He just spoke up and said, “No, John, Richard’s right. Either God exists or He does not exist. They both cannot be true. They both cannot be true statements.

How do we know the Bible is a divine book? What makes it different from any other ancient history book or book on philosophy? The answer to it is quite simple. Christians believe the Bible is the Word of God for one main reason. Because Jesus says it is.

Think about that for a minute. Jesus puts His stamp of approval on the Old Testament. In fact, on 92 occasions, Jesus and His apostles supported a position they took by saying “It is written” and then would quote the Old Testament. And the reason they did it is because Jesus and His apostles considered the Old Testament scriptures to be the written Word of God and therefore the ultimate authority in life. Jesus' apostles were eyewitnesses to His glory. Clearly, as His representatives, they were to write out and approve the New Testament record.

In effect, Jesus has confirmed that the written word in the past, the present, and the future, is God’s primary means of communicating with humanity. And therefore, the real question becomes not is the Bible the Word of God, but is Jesus the Son of God? Does Jesus have the authority to put His stamp of approval on the Old Testament? Does He have the authority to appoint men to write out the New Testament? I don’t have that authority. I can’t say the Bible is divine because I say so. Only God can do that. And so, today I close our this study with the big question - is Jesus God?

How can we know that the Bible is the inspired word of God? Amos 4:13 tells us, "Behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind, and declares to a person what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the Lord God of armies is His name." You see, human speech that can be clearly understood, documented through the written word, is the model that God has chosen to reveal Himself to us down through the ages.

So how did this written word come into being? In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah said that "the word of the Lord came to him", and in the New Testament Peter said in 2 Peter 1:20-21 that, "No prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."

English theologian John Stott says, “So Scripture is neither the Word of God only nor the words of men only, but the Word of God through the words of men,” and Stott goes on to say, “This is the double authorship of scripture to which we need to hold fast.” So biblical truth is inspired truth. Not only that, but it is also eyewitness truth. As 2 Peter 1:16, making reference to the Transfiguration, Peter says, “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” So the apostles who authored and approved the New Testament books were eyewitnesses of the Risen Christ.

I also will discuss the astounding fact that Jesus fulfilled every one of the Messianic prophecies. This is another powerful piece of evidence that points to the validity of the Bible.

Are moral choices just a matter of individual taste?

During the summer of 2008, the imminent Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith led a research team that conducted an in-depth interview with 230 young adults from across America. When asked to describe a moral dilemma they had faced, two-thirds of the young people couldn’t answer the question. Instead, they described problems that are not moral at all, like whether they could afford to rent a certain apartment or whether they had enough quarters to feed the meter at a parking spot.

When asked about wrong or evil, they could generally agree that rape and murder are wrong, but aside from these extreme cases, moral thinking didn’t enter the picture, even when considering things like drunken driving, cheating in school, or cheating on a partner. “I don’t really deal with right and wrong that often,” is how one interviewee put it. The default position is that moral choices are just a matter of individual taste. "Who am I to say what’s right or what’s wrong?" many of them concluded.

There seems to be a moral confusion in our world today. I contend that God is the ultimate moral lawgiver and his moral law is found in the Bible. The Bible is our moral compass, where we can have moral certainty. It eliminates the confusion that we see all around us, in what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil, what is moral and what is immoral.

Why doesn’t God speak to us from Heaven in an audible voice? Why doesn’t He just speak and let His presence be known? I believe the primary reason is that if the infinite God of the universe regularly spoke to us from Heaven, we would be terrorized into loving and listening to Him. Such a direct and demonstrative communication would create a situation where God actually forced Himself on mankind. Serving and listening to Him would almost become compulsory.

True love exists only when we choose to love from a condition of freedom.

Ironically, just yesterday, I happened to come across this in the book of John, chapter 12, verse 37. Jesus had performed many miracles, including raising Lazarus from the dead, that was witnessed by large numbers of people. Yet look what the verse says: “But though He had performed many miracles before them, yet they were not believing in Him.”

It's true that God has chosen not to regularly appear in a visible way. But it's also true that He has not hidden Himself, so that He can be found by those who truly seek Him. This is the promise He makes to mankind, "If you seek Me, you will find Me."

Is there good reason to believe that the Bible is the Word of God? I am convinced that true faith has to have a foundation, and the stronger that foundation, the greater your faith will be. The Christian's faith is not blind faith. Blind faith is worthless, based only on certain conclusions but not on any evidence. Christianity is the only word religion where spiritual truth depends on the veracity of historical events.

But how trustworthy is the Bible? How trustworthy are those who wrote the Bible? Has what we have today been transmitted to us faithfully over the centuries? Documentation is crucial when it comes to history and truth proposition, which is what the Bible is. And this is why the Biblical documents have been handed down to us with such great care with the passage of time. And yet, there are many people, maybe you, who wonder about the relevance of it.

So today, I want to talk about ancient documents, and the Bible in comparison with all other ancient literature that’s been passed down to us.

Are science and religious beliefs at war with each other?There are three different ways that people see the relationship between science and God.

The first is the belief that science and faith are at war with each other. This is the approach that Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris take - that science has the edge in credibility because it’s about provable facts, and religion depends on faith. The second is that they have nothing to do with each other. The great paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould of Harvard was an atheist and believed that science and faith occupy distinctly different domains. He said that science covers the empirical universe, while religion extends to the issue of morality, values, and meaning.

The final one is that the testimony of science points to, it doesn’t prove, but points to the existence of God. Dr. Steven Meyer, who has degrees in physics, geology, and a doctor’s degree in history and philosophy of science, all from the prestigious Cambridge University, says that, “new evidence has come to light in the last 50 years across a wide range of the sciences that supports a belief in God.”

Dr. Allan Rex Sandage, who is considered the greatest observations cosmologist in the world, turned heads when he became a Christian at the age of 50. He said that the Big Bang was a supernatural event that cannot be explained within the realm of physics as we know it. He said, "It was my science that drove me to this conclusion. It was only through the supernatural that I can understand the mystery of existence." And then he said, "Many scientists are now driven to faith by their very work."

Is there credible evidence that shows that the Biblical story is in harmony with secular history?

Unlike other religious literature, the Bible is not centered in a series of moral, spiritual, and liturgical teachings. The Bible centers around what God did in history and what He revealed in history. Peter Moore, the founder of Trinity Seminary said that Christianity is the only world religion to make spiritual truth depend on historical events. English historian and author Paul Johnson bolsters this truth by stating, “Christianity is essentially a historical religion. It bases its claims on the historical facts it asserts. If these are demolished it is nothing.”

Last week I shared stories of people who were convinced the Bible was a book full of myths. But once they were confronted with the strong possibility that the Bible was historical and true, it led each of them down a path to Christ. If the Gospels are true, then Jesus, the Son of God coming into the world would be even as talk-show host Larry King has admitted, the defining moment in all of history. And so today I want to talk with you about Christianity and the historical record. For me, it all started when I stumbled upon a history book of ancient Rome over 30 years ago.

How do we know that the Bible is truly God’s written revelation? It’s a legitimate question. This question always seems to come up in our culture and in our world today, and it plagues the skeptical mind.

And how can such an ancient document have any relevance to modern life? As C.S. Lewis was on his search, he stated honestly, “What I could not understand was how the life and death of someone else 2000 years ago could help us here and now.” I asked the same question years ago. I realized that I first accepted the Bible as God’s written revelation because several people that I trusted told me that it was. But I was never given a good reason. You know, just believe it. Just have faith in it.

As I look back, I felt that I was being told not to doubt. I believe this can be dangerous in a person’s life because it can take us in many different directions. For me, personally, I needed to know why I should believe it is God’s word. What kind of evidence is available, to show that the Biblical story is in harmony with secular history?

How well do we know ourselves? How well do we understand the deep longings of the heart?

I believe that the better we know ourselves, the healthier we are and the better we can relate to others. Healthy people know themselves.

Each one of us is searching for something, but sometimes we're just not sure what we're after. I contend that if we could peel back all the layers of our lives and get to the innermost being, we would all discover that we're attempting to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul that only Jesus Christ can satisfy. Today, I'll share some key ways that we can find true contentment and lasting joy in life.

Where is God in the midst of our pain and our suffering? Is it possible that God has a much different view of pain than we do? In the book of I Corinthians, Paul tells us that the wisdom of God often appears to be foolishness to mankind.

I contend that often God’s greatest blessings are a result of the painful events of life. And the opposite of that is true as well - that often prosperity and comfort can corrupt us - they can corrupt us spiritually. I believe that God transforms pain, using it to teach and strengthen us, if we allow it to turn our hearts toward Him. Character, wisdom, compassion, Christlikeness. These are what God desires for us. This is the door, He says, that leads to our ultimate happiness and to a high quality of life.

Pain and suffering may be the road that gets us there.

If there is a loving God, if He is kind and loving, why is there so much pain and evil and suffering in this life? Maybe this is not important to you. Maybe right now you’re at a point in your life where you’re kind of insulated from it, you haven’t had any big waves of difficulty come your way, but this question will be important to you one day, I predict.

I had lunch Wednesday with a guy who, a year ago said that life had never been better. But this past November he had to bury his 18-year-old son. And he said to me, "Now, every day I think about this. I think about the pain, and the hurt, and the why."

Today I want to consider some of the questions that are naturally raised when we see dreadful suffering among our fellow man. Maybe you’re experiencing suffering right now, and you have questions. I pray that this message will bring you fresh courage and hope in the God who is there for you.

In celebration of Father’s Day today, Richard‘s guest is Jeremiah Castille, University of Alabama football legend and All American, who went on to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Denver Broncos. Jeremiah has a heart for mentoring young people, and currently serves as the chaplain for the University of Alabama football team. Jeremiah gave this message to a large gathering of fathers and sons.

Jeremiah says that when he looks back on his life, he can see how God prepared him for the ministry work he does today. He knows that God used his mother and his Coach Bear Bryant to influence his life to help his fellow man.

The Jeremiah Castille Ministry provides ministerial programs for marriage, family and individual Biblical counseling in addition to individual and group discipleship, motivational speaking forums and evangelist engagements. Find out more by visiting www.castillefoundation.org.

With Father's Day coming soon, I wanted to share this talk to fathers and daughters. I believe one of the most important responsibilities that we have as fathers is to teach our children to be wise - that when they leave our houses, they would possess great wisdom.

Proverbs 3 says, “Wisdom is more precious than jewels and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand and in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She’s a tree of life to those who hold her and happy are all who hold her fast.”

Dads, we must be very proactive in teaching our daughters about what it means to be wise. In today's episode I cover four important issues that your daughters really need to understand, along with specific ways we can pray for our daughters. Happy Father's Day!

The greater the power anything has for good, the greater the power it correspondingly has for evil. This is called the Principle of Double Effect. An example of this might be nuclear power. When you harness nuclear power, it can be used for such good in generating electricity for people's homes and for businesses. But when it's made into a bomb, it can be incredibly destructive.

Another application of this principle goes like this: the greater the power anything has for joy in this life, the greater the power it also correspondingly has for pain. You see, God has given us a number of wonderful gifts that bring much joy and goodness to our lives, but they bring this joy and goodness when they're used and enjoyed the way God intended. But, when these same gifts are misused and abused by us, they can bring an incredible amount of pain and sorrow to our lives.

I believe this is particularly true of sex. Our sexuality is one of the most meaningful and powerful sources of joy in this life, but it's only when we experience it in the way God designed it. However, when our sexuality is misused and abused, it is the source of unbelievable pain and heartache. Unfortunately, large numbers of young people are finding their lives damaged emotionally, psychologically and physically because of careless and ill-advised decisions they've made with their bodies. Today I'm presenting the Biblical view of sexuality - the way God designed it. I contend that the healthiest, most meaningful, most satisfying and most pleasurable sexual experience is found between a man and a woman in a covenant relationship called marriage.

What does the farmer expect from the fruit trees he plants? To bear fruit, of course! Today I want to look at the parable of The Sower and the Seed, and it’s found in three of the Gospels. Today we'll study it from Matthew 13.

The seed is God’s Word, and the soil is man’s heart. Who is the sower that sows the seed? It’s not God. It's you and me! We’re called and have been given the privilege to plant and water God's truth in people’s lives. So God basically has chosen to make His appeal to the world through us.

But Satan desires to blind the mind, to snatch away the message. To snatch away the Gospel. There’s a great verse - it’s Acts 26:18, where the apostle Paul said, “God’s desire is to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the dominion of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those that have been sanctified by faith in Me.”

This should be our objective: to be growing and maturing in our faith, in our relationship with God, so that our life is useful to the Master and has the ability to bear fruit, wherever God chooses for you and for me to be fruitful.

I encourage you to pray consistently Colossians 4:2-3, "...That God would open up a door..." I don’t believe that you should go and barge into somebody’s life and say, "This is what you need to do." Instead, pray this: "Lord I pray that you would open up a door. I’m ready to be used by You, I’m looking to you to open up a door to be used in the life of somebody else."

I promise you, if you will pray that, it will happen. Just get ready.

What is the role of truth in our lives?

I believe we must learn the importance of finding out what is true - because truth is paramount in the Christian faith. King David warns us in Psalm 15, of the importance of speaking the truth in our hearts. Healthy people are willing to confront the truth about themselves - and take appropriate action.

People who have the habit of not facing the truth, have a habit of having trouble living in every aspect of their lives, in their jobs and in their personal relationships as well. Being centered on the truth is crucial to a healthy, vital human life.

How healthy are you?

What has shaped your ideas about life and about God? Where did you get those ideas and beliefs? Where did you get the perspective that you bring into your life? If God came and spoke to us, I think He would tell us to listen to the words of Jesus. Listen to what He has to say to you, and about where you are in life. "But why should I listen to Him?" you might ask. What does He have to say that’s relevant to me and my life?

The first reason is that His words are true. In Matthew 24:35 Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” Whether you lived a thousand years ago, or whether you live today, Jesus' words will have an everlasting application to your life.

A second reason is that one day, our lives will be judged by His words. In John 5:22-23, Jesus says, "For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father." That sure gets my attention.

And lastly, Jesus warns us in Mark 4:24 to “Consider carefully what you hear...” Our lives are shaped by so many things, by so many influences. What if the influences that have shaped my life turn out to be wrong? What if I’ve been misguided?

I believe that we all need someone who serves as a true compass to lead us to what is true, what is accurate, and what is wise. I contend that Jesus is that compass.

What is the object of life? And what are you hoping to achieve in this life?

American Trappist monk, Thomas Merton said this, "If you really want to know a man - to know what's at the core of his being," he said, find out what he's living for now - in the present. Jesus gives us some good insight on this in one of my favorite parables, found in Luke 12. It's about a businessman who stores up treasure for himself, but he is not rich towards God.

It's not so much that prosperity corrupts men. It's what prosperity makes available to us that potentially can corrupt us. Prosperity can cause us to live for ourselves, to want to be left alone so we can pursue our own dreams. Ahh, a life of ease... is it really as great as it sounds?

How great is my desire to know God and to truly find Him as a living reality for my life? For many people, God is nothing more than a concept or a distant being that’s out there, but not One that's alive and that you can have a relationship with.

Jeremiah 29:13-14 says, "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD..."

If this is true, God should be a living reality to everyone who truly seeks to find Him. But if God is not a living reality in our lives, maybe it’s because we haven’t sought Him. And maybe it’s really because we have no interest in having Him in our lives. Is this willful blindness?

Today Richard joins Dr. Michael Easley of Michael Easley InContext to discuss Biblical Manhood in a Man-Hating World.

Dr. Easley’s experience in ministry spans four decades as a gifted Bible teacher and church leader. He was the 8th president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois He shares a passion for ministry, heart for people, and love of God.

Michael Easley inContext wants to help you understand how God’s Word applies to the context of your life through interviews with subject matter experts, and men and women striving to obey Christ and His Word.

This episode originally aired on Michael Easley InContext. Click here to listen.

HG Wells was one of the great historians to have ever lived. He was not a Christian nor a religious man, but in his book The Outline of History Wells concluded that Jesus was the most dominant figure in all of history.

How did Jesus do that? How did he become the most dominant figure in all of history? Not by power, prestige, influence nor outward appearance. He chose the path of humility.

Watch the video of this message here!

Is the hope of Easter real?

11 Corinthians 4:16 says, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." The apostle Paul was saying that with the passage of time, if you don't have a strong, vibrant spiritual life, you cannot help but naturally lose hope. Most of us know that the body is dying. We also know that everything in this life that we've accomplished and worked for will be lost the moment we die.

We should build everything in our lives around Jesus, if indeed He is the risen Christ. And yet this is the struggle that so many of us have: we might acknowledge Jesus as Lord of the universe, but we just don't want Him to be the Lord of our lives. Who is Christ to you?

How can the events of Easter transform the heart?

Let's consider the events that took place on that first Good Friday and that first Easter morning. If they actually happened as events of history, then they are the defining events In all of life; in all of history. As Blaise Pascal observed, apart from Jesus, His crucifixion, and His resurrection, we cannot know the meaning of life, of our death, of God, or of anything else.

I contend that these Easter events have the power to convert and change the mind and the intellect, and to transform the heart. Today I want to consider how the cross and how the resurrection impact the mind and the heart. This is an important place to start as we live in an age of skepticism.

What is the foundation that I can build my faith and my belief on? Hebrews 2:9 says, "But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone."

When the gospel of grace truly penetrates your heart, it will change you. It will transform you.

When thinking about manhood or what really defines what a man is; what do you usually think of? Money? Success? Women? Today Richard joins Brett on The Brett Snodgrass Podcast to discuss what the true measure of a man really is! We talk about fear of failure and unnecessary shame that comes with being a man. We also discuss why fathers need to be teaching their sons about masculinity at a young age and how God plays a role in being a man.

Brett Snodgrass is a successful entrepreneur and host of The Brett Snodgrass Podcast. Brett’s vision is to build a community of entrepreneurs and businessmen who truly desire to learn from and help each other to live their purpose. This episode originally aired on The Brett Snodgrass Podcast on March 14, 2022. Click here to watch the complete episode.

I believe we have a tendency to live out the future in our imagination before it arrives.

For many of us, our lives are truly out of sync with time because we’re always anticipating the future. We all are always trying to rearrange our lives around future expectations of happiness. Blaise Pascal says this:

“*We never keep to the present. We recall the past; we anticipate the future as if we found it too slow in coming and were trying to hurry it up... We are so unwise that we wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think of the only one that does... We almost never think of the present and if we do think of it, it is only to see what light it throws on our plans for the future.

The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means, the future alone, our end. Thus we never actually live, but hope to live, and since we are always planning how to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.”*

If we have dealt with our past and we live at peace with our future, as we look to the future, you know what C.S. Lewis tells us, then we’re able to truly love in the present, in the now. He says, why? Because we will have dealt with all of the obstacles to love.

Now think about it. The past our faith is built on. The future, there’s hope. In the present, there is love. If you’re familiar with the great love chapter, Paul says faith, hope and love. He says, this is the essence of life.

You are what you remember.

I believe that what we remember affects who we are and what we experience in this life. Many people are haunted or weighed down by baggage from the past. Others try to live in the future, thinking that when they get to a certain point later, then life will be full and complete. Either perspective makes their lives in the present miserable.

God designed us to live a full and joyful life each day, with no impediments from the past or the future. Today we're looking at how to deal with the past. Next week, we'll cover dealing with the future.

If our lives are healed of past wounds and moral failures, if we are able to let go of anger, hatred, and bitterness by forgiving others, and if we have a strong faith built on God’s Word, on God’s revelation from the past, just think of the life you could live. Think of how free and how vibrant and how healthy you could be, and think of how abundant life would be in the present. Right now.

What is the value of living a humble life?

Life for most of us is all about what we do and how successful we are. Yet in today’s culture and with the power of social media, we also want to be well-known and admired for it. This is called the “pride of life.”

Humble people are grateful people. They recognize who deserves the credit for everything in their lives.

In this message I dig into the issue of pride and arrogance and then explore what I consider life’s great paradox: the power of humility. - Richard

Do you need help with your relationships?

Donald Miller says, "...the words alone, lonely and loneliness are three of the most powerful words in the English language... Those words say that we are human... they are like the words hunger and thirst, but they are not words about the body, they are words about the soul."

God designed people to need other people. We are relational beings because God is relational. And we love, as scripture says, because He first loved us. The soul needs to interact with other people to be healthy.

Join us for Richard's message on how to make our relationships flourish and thrive.

Blue Like Jazz (Special Edition with dvd & study guide)

Is your sexuality sacred to you? I contend that one of the most meaningful and powerful sources of joy in this life is our sexuality, particularly in the context in which God designed it. But when it's abused and misused, I believe, and I have seen, that it can be a source of unbelievable pain and guilt.

In our last episode we discussed getting wisdom for handling our money. Well, the way we regard our money and material wealth and the way we regard sexuality says a lot about us and what's going on in our lives. It says a lot about our culture. Today I'd like to lay out and make a case for the Christian biblical view of sexuality.

Do you need wisdom for your finances today?

Blaise Bascal once said, "Human beings find life to be unsatisfying and incoherent as time goes by, because they have false beliefs and false ideas on matters important for living a high quality of life." He goes on to say, "Therefore it is critical that gain genuine wisdom by uprooting false beliefs and replacing them with true insights and perspective."

We often are not aware that what we believe is false until we get burned by the belief.

What will life in heaven really be like? Will we just be spiritual beings floating around in heaven? The Bible teaches that heaven is a place of joyous celebration, and that we will each have a physical, glorified body in heaven. Philippians 3:20-21 says, "For our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body."

In Matthew 22:2 Jesus said,“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Revelation 1:9 "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb." Have you accepted God's offer of heaven for you?

Today's message follows up on a recent podcast series that Richard taught on Jesus' parable called The Rich Man and Lazarus.

Do you know what life is like if there is no God?

It’s kind of like the view that John Lennon wrote about in his song, "Imagine." He says, “Imagine there’s no Heaven, it’s easy if you try, no hell below us, above us, only sky. Imagine all the people living for today.” Lennon is saying, just imagine what it would be like if there was no God and no Heaven and no religion.

Solomon says that life "under the sun" leads to a life that is empty and meaningless. And so, what do we do? We look for ways to divert the mind and tend to center our lives on pleasure and our work. But then we discover that it doesn’t keep emptiness out of our lives. It doesn’t permanently satisfy.

Dallas Willard said, “Meaning is one of the greatest needs of human life. One of our deepest hungers. Perhaps it is in the final analysis, the most basic need in the realm of the human experience. Almost anything can be born if life as a whole is meaningful. As Albert Camus, the very famous Nobel prize winning Christian novelist says, ‘The foundational question about life is the question of meaning. Everything else is secondary.’ And until you answer this question, you cannot give answers to the other questions of life. And what Camus was saying was, this is life’s most pivotal question.”

Why do we have this desire and this sense of wanting permanence to our lives? Join us for this final lesson in finding wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes!

What is the purpose of work?

Jeffrey Salkin in the Wall Street Journal said this, “Americans work so hard that we often put work at the emotional and spiritual center of our lives.” And then Sigmund Freud who, in all that I’ve read about him, lived a miserable life - he said, “Work is the most powerful deflector to keep us from having to face the unhappiness of our existence.”

Last week we looked at the problem of making pleasure the highest goal in our lives. This week, we’re looking at a second very natural diversion - our work. Our labor, as Solomon calls it.

Work is good. Work is ordained by God. In fact, II Thessalonians 3:10, Paul says this, "If a man is not willing to work, don’t let him eat!" Your work has the great potential to give your life a certain sense of meaning. The problem with it, just like pleasure, it doesn’t last. It’s just temporary. Join me as we look for wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes!

What is the modern secular view of life?

You might say it is the same as Solomon’s conclusion in Ecclesiastes - if there is no God, life is meaningless. Your pursuits and your endeavors are temporary, and nothing more than chasing after the wind. Solomon concluded that life "under the sun" means there is no God who stands behind you and existence. There is no God sustaining the universe. No life after death. There’s no judgment. There’s no eternity.

When it comes to all the big questions the philosophers and intellectuals have asked over the centuries, there are no answers, and no one to give you the answers to those questions. Solomon concludes life is meaningless.

If there is no God, if there is no meaning to life, what should we do?

"Do you find yourself unsatisfied with things in your life?" Warren Wiersbe asks in his commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes.

He continues, “If so, you are in good company, because dissatisfaction is a part of the human condition. That’s why God gave us the book of Ecclesiastes — to remind us that satisfaction in life is not an external issue that can be appeased by amassing more stuff, or having certain life experiences. It’s an internal condition of the heart,”

He goes on to say, “I believe for the satisfaction of this life is possible, but to only the extent of my personal relationship with God. This is the big idea that runs through the book of Ecclesiastes.”

Join us today as we study the book of Ecclesiastes together!

Today my guest is Dr. Michael Green, bringing us a message from Acts 18, to begin the new year with renewed hope and courage.

Lift up your eyes to see what just one man can do for the cause of Christ. Remember, one person plus God is always a majority!

Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries joins us again today to share a special message about Christmas. His focus is on the shepherds, the first people the angels told about Jesus' birth. They were the first to see the baby Jesus. They knelt and worshipped him.

They were the first to worship and on the way back to their sheep, they witnessed to everybody. They were the first missionaries. They told everybody, the Messiah has come. We saw Him and we praised Him. These humble shepherds. Don’t we all need a bigger dose of humility? And our pride, and our sense of entitlement today?

Jerry is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S.

He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally.

Learn more about Jerry here.

What are you living for? A few years ago USA Today did a poll, asking their readers this one question, “If you could ask God one question and get an answer, what would that question be?” And interestingly, the overwhelming number one question that the readers answered was ‘What on earth am I here for?’ Why am I alive? Why do I exist?

What are you living for? Because the way we answer that question will ultimately determine if we will ever find meaning in life.

French novelist and Nobel prize winner Albert Camus once said, “The fundamental question about life is the question of meaning. Anything else is secondary. Until the question of meaning is dealt with, I cannot give answers to the other questions of life.”

I think Camus is telling us that the question of meaning is the most pivotal question in life. Life can be full of meaning... but it can only truly be found in Jesus Christ.

How much of your life have you wasted trying to impress others?How much different would your life be if you were delivered from the fear and worry about what others think of you? Today we're looking again at what Solomon has to say about our work in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Solomon says this, “What does the worker gain from his toil? I’ve seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the heart of men.” Solomon is saying that our lives are linked to eternity because we are eternal beings. And he says, because of that, we desire a permanence to our lives. We would like to think that our lives are going to have a permanence and a stamp and a significance in this life that I’ve lived.

If Jesus were standing before us today, and if we asked Him to make a comment about our work and success and the fruit of our labor, I wonder what would He say to us? I believe that out of love, He might tell us the same thing He told his disciples. Now Jesus always told them not what they wanted to hear, what they needed to hear. And this to me is a powerful, powerful verse from Mark 8:36, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

If you could live your life over again, would you do anything differently? As I meet with men every day, I find that there are so many men who live with the pain of regret.

Today's podcast is about the book of Ecclesiastes - a philosophical book about the sorrows, the regrets and the life of King Solomon. You see, he turned away from his faith in his latter years, and he turned away to false God gods and to idols of the many wives that he had taken from foreign lands. And as he writes this book, he often stops and looks back, and he asked this one question, "Can man find meaning in life if there is no God?" I encourage you to join me for today's talk.

As we approach this Christmas, remember the words of the hymnist, "Joy to The World, the Lord has come, let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing."

Are we in the land of the living? Actually, we are in the land of the dying.

My guest today, Jerry Leachman, would tell you that this is a message from a dead man. Five years ago he had a massive heart attack, and experienced what his doctor described as “sudden death”. Jerry tells his story about being with Jesus during that time, and the message that he was impressed with to share with us.

A second touch. A second opportunity to get your life right with God. That's what Jerry got. Could you or someone you love be in need of a second touch from God? Jesus and heaven are real. They are real. Don’t miss either of them.

Watch the video on YouTube here.

What gives meaning to life? How do we treasure God and people? What is God's unique purpose for me, and then how do I wisely invest my life?

Today my guest is Ken Boa, President of Reflections Ministries. In this final message on Transitioning Well, Ken will give us tools on how to live wisely; to give us a sense of encouragement, destiny and an understanding of where our lives are meant to be.

God is ever seeking to transfer our affections and hopes from the temporal to the eternal. The principles in today's message can help you become a person who is able to walk in this world with composure and clarity, so that you can approach relationships out of the overflow of Christ in you.

Today my guest is Ken Boa, President of Reflections Ministries. This is Part 2 of his 3 part series on Transitioning Well – Living this day as if it's your last.

Do you think it's possible for a person to miss his life, like a person that misses a plane? Yes! I can live for the future, thinking if I can accomplish this or that, then I'll be happy, I'll be content. Guess what happens if you are among the rare people who actually achieved that thing you were really hoping to do? You’ll discover it’s not all it was cracked up to be, that the happiness was only temporary.

So, instead of living in the future, we are called to live in the now and to enjoy His presence in the present tense, to live fully and to recalibrate and to have an understanding that God’s presence in our present is the idea of practicing His presence in the now. You only have one day and that’s this day.

Most of your impact is hidden in this life. But there is a purpose, there is a hope and there is a calling. And my prayer for all of us is that we would seek Him out, ask Him to guide us, empower us and become more like Him.

Today my guest is Ken Boa, President of Reflections Ministries. He is teaching a 3 part series on Transitioning Well - How to take the greatest years of your life, when you have the wisdom, the relationships and the resources, to impact the world.

Ken says, “Age conspires with God to take away our temporal hope.”

Think about that again: “Age conspires with God to take away our temporal hope,” forcing you, against your will, to begin to think about the fundamental questions. How much time is there? Why am I on this planet? Because if you really think about it, you know that you’re an eternal being having an earthbound embodied experience.

In fact, your greatest opportunities this day will not be in your calendar. It’s the difference between kairos and chronos. Join us to learn more!

Are you walking through a difficult time in your life? Today Richard‘s guest is Tom Bradford, President of the National Christian Foundation of Alabama. Tom is sharing his personal journey of faith while battling terminal cancer. His story is powerful, full of love and hope. We hope his message inspires and strengthens you today!

Do you have the right kind of wealth? In other words are you rich in the things that really matter? Do you possess spiritual riches?

The word content literally means "to be full, to be satiated, to be satisfied." Jesus said in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst." When Jesus said this, he’s not referring to our bodies, He’s referring to our souls.

Jesus is saying, I’m what your heart is longing for, but the cost is great. Surrender your life to Me, He’s saying. Set aside all those otherworldly things you go dashing after and put Me first. He says because when you do, you will suddenly find you have everything you’ve been looking for in life. And I think this is the key to contentment, putting Christ first. Everything else is secondary.

St. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You."

Where do you find contentment in life? I believe that true contentment has nothing to do with what you have or don't have. Contentment is in the state of your heart. I believe there are three sins, or vices, that have a huge impact on our lives. They rob us of true contentment.

What do you think these three sins might be? I believe they are pride, greed, and envy. The first reason they’re so deadly is that they’re so hard to detect in your life. Most people don’t think they’re guilty of any of these. I mean, how many people do you ask, “Are you greedy?” Nobody thinks they’re greedy. I’ve got control over the issue of money. Today I want to provide you with an antidote for these vices and how to find real contentment in your heart and life.

Think about the life that you could live if you had contentment... If pride, greed and envy can be somewhat nullified in our lives.

In Part 2 next week we'll look at the secret to finding true contentment.

There is one thing that each of us need - if you have this, it will make your life. Tragedies and heartbreak will come, but if you don't have this - you probably won't do well. I'm talking about deep friendship.

At its center, Christianity is about relationships - our relationship to God and our relationships with people.

What kind of friend are you? I believe there are 4 levels of friendship: an acquaintance, a team member, a social friend, and then what I call a "franchise player friend" - this friend is closer than a brother. A level 4 friend is loyal for life. Whatever it takes they are with you.

Yet, many people don't have a single level 4 friendship.

So how do I get Level 4 friends? Jesus said that whatever measure I give, that's what I will get. So to get a Level 4 friend, I have to BE a Level 4 friend. Be the kind of friend that you long for others to be to you. Love the people you're supposed to love with everything you've got.

Above all other friends, God, the King of glory is offering you His hand of friendship. How do you walk away from that? Your call.

Today's podcast is from my good friend Jerry Leachman. I hope you enjoy it!

Have you ever thought about the ideas you have and how they shape your life? Philosopher Dallas Willard says "Our ideas are the assumptions we have about reality. They are the way we think about and interpret life. Ultimately our beliefs and ideas determine how we live, and therefore our ideas about life will lead to certain consequences."

Today I am addressing three false ideas about reality, and how to choose wisely what to believe.

God is most interested in who we are becoming - and the objective is Christlikeness. Christlikeness involves your character, your wisdom and your ability to love and have deep substantive relationships. These sound very appealing, but we cannot achieve any of these in our own strength. We can change our habits and behavior, but we cannot change our own heart. God has to do a work in your life, and the only way through a relationship with Him.

The deeper a person goes into a relationship with God, the greater the transformation that takes place in their life.

Is it possible that you believe in Jesus, but you don't know Him? Could it be that Jesus resides in your head, but has never made it down to your heart?

Today's podcast is from a group Bible study I am teaching about the principle of sowing and reaping. I believe that for every person who is listening to this podcast, God would desire you to have a ministry of some sort. It doesn’t have to be a big ministry, but I believe that there is something that He wants to do through each one of us as we live this life. And I would also say that if you’re at home, and if you have kids at home, that’s probably one of your biggest ministries right there, is raising your children.

Ephesians 2:10 - Do you know that verse? “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” That word “workmanship” is a Greek word poiéma, which literally means "work of art."

We are God’s work of art! You have been created in a very unique way, with unique talents, gifts, abilities, resources, and He says He wants you to take all that you have been given and use it for certain good works that God prepared beforehand - before you were even born. And that you would walk in them. This is God’s Will. And He desires to see that lived out in our lives.

Today we're finishing the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. This parable reveals something about eternity. Many people don't realize the fact that in Heaven, you will have a physical, resurrected body. We're not going to be these spirits floating around in the clouds like some people think. In this parable, Lazarus and the rich man weren't spirits. They had physical bodies.

Think about the Apostle's Creed - it says, “I believe in the resurrection of the body”. That's not talking about Jesus' body. It’s talking about our bodies. II Corinthians 5:1-2 says, "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. For in this tent, we groan, longing to put on our Heavenly dwelling." The apostle Paul was saying that when our bodies die, they're going to be replaced by a permanent, glorified body that will never pass away.

So, what does it mean if Christ really rose from the dead? It means everything. It means he is the Jewish Messiah. It means the Bible is true. It means His words are true, that there will be a judgment and that there is a glorious kingdom of God. And for those who set their ultimate hope on the God who raises the dead, they can rest on Jesus’ own words in John 14, “I go and I prepare a place for you..."

My prayer is that through this study you will gain a greater understanding of the magnificence and the beauty of eternal life in God's kingdom.

Today's podcast is the second part of my Bible Study series on Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus. This parable is found in Luke 16:19-31.

Last week, we considered what the Bible tells us about hell. Hell is a real place - a place of agony, a place of torment, and it’s a place that no one really would ever want to end up. If hell is real, what should our lives be about, particularly as we consider people in our lives who may not have a relationship with Christ?

Today our focus is on the rich man in the parable. Did the rich man go to hell because he was indifferent to the poor? No. Did he go to hell because he was rich? No. Or did the poor man go to heaven because he was humble and poor? And the answer is no.

Mark 8:36-37 tells us, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Tim Keller says if you build your identity on anything but God and then something jeopardizes that thing or something goes wrong in that area, you’re not just unhappy, there’s no you left. That means you don’t feel viable and you don’t know what you’re living for. You don’t even know who you are because of what's happening in your life. There is an identity meltdown. Does this describe what you're experiencing right now in your life?

Today's podcast is from a Bible Study series I taught at The Center. We're looking at one of Jesus' parables that I think is very pertinent to us today. This parable is found in Luke 16:19-31 and is about the reality of heaven and hell. It talks about the human condition and man’s resistance of God. It talks about the irreversibility of death, which closes the door to grace. And that’s very seldom taught.

Jesus mentions hell 11 times in the Scripture. He also spends a lot of time talking about those who will enter the kingdom of God and those who will not. Those who have eternal life and those who do not. The Bible teaches us that there is a place of torment apart from a relationship with God.

Jesus primarily used parables to teach His people and give us greater insight into the mysteries of the kingdom of God. What is Jesus is trying to teach us here?

This is Part 1 of a 3 part series. I hope you enjoy it!

Today I'm honored to share a talk with you that my good friend and former NFL chaplain Jerry Leachman gave at a large men's breakfast hosted by The Center. Here is an excerpt:

"There is an incident that happened a few years ago in Cleveland. I had a guy from Cleveland in one of the groups and he said, that happened. They tell the story about the Cleveland symphony orchestra. Some seasons ago, the orchestra was forming a well-known piece by Mozart called “The Magic Flute”. Midway through, a powerful storm raging outside the symphony hall caused the lights to go out. Undaunted by the darkness, the musicians hardly skipped a beat. The members of the orchestra knew the music so well, they carried on the performance even though it was pitch black dark in the symphony hall. At the end of the Mozart symphony, the audience burst into thunderous applause, clapping and loud at this extraordinary feat. A stagehand illuminated the conductor with a flashlight, shined it along the front row. The musicians took their bows, the applause crescendoed again and again and again. It was a night never to be forgotten.

This illustrates a great lesson. Do we know the Savior by heart? Have we rehearsed in the good times? Have we practiced the presence of God to the point if the times went dark and the lights went out, if we couldn’t see the conductor, would we still make the music? Dark times will come. Storms will for sure make everything seem pitch black, but, like you, I want to get to the point in my life where I barely miss a beat. I want to do that not for my own soul’s sake, but for the applause that will resound to the Lord, Jesus Christ. This leads me to ask you 3 questions:

"What do I really want in life? How much am I willing to pay for it or suffer for it? And who or what gets my time?

You need to decide what you really want, what your mission God has called you on. You might reply, "I don’t know if I believe. I don’t care." Yet you’re still called of God. He put you here for a reason. I encourage you to align up with the God who came into the cosmos and created you and everything else. You have a destiny. One of your missions is to find out what your destiny in Christ is. Put His jersey on and then find out what He has put you here to do."

Faith. Culture. Hope. Life. Longtime journalist and commentator Billy Hallowell has covered thousands of the biggest faith and culture stories. Today I am honored to share a recent interview I had with Billy discussing my book Reflections on the Existence of God.

Either God exists or He does not - There is no third option. The question of God’s existence, in my opinion, is the most significant issue in all of life. As renowned French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal said, you are betting your eternal destiny that you are right.

My prayer for you is that through this podcast you will encounter truths and reasoning to challenge and bolster your faith.

Billy Hallowell is the director of communications and content for PureFlix.com, the former senior editor at Faithwire.com and the former faith and culture editor at TheBlaze; he has contributed to FoxNews.com, The Washington Post, Human Events, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, and The Huffington Post, among other outlets.

Subscribe to Billy Hallowell's "Edifi" podcast today! https://edifi.app/podcasts/edifi-with-billy-hallowell-26031/

Today's podcast is a message that I’ve been sharing for over 25 years, and about 10 years ago, it made its way into a book. What I really hope to do this morning is to help you understand yourself as a man. John Calvin said that “all true wisdom consists of two things, knowledge of God and knowledge of self.” And yet, one of the things that I find is that we as men don’t really understand ourselves that well.

So, let me start by just kind of laying a couple of thoughts out for you. Think about this. Growing up, I wonder how many young boys hear, during their adolescent years, these words: “be a man, be a man.” I wonder what they think when they hear those words, usually coming from maybe their fathers, a coach, an older brother, “be a man.” You have to wonder what they’re thinking when they hear that. What does that mean? Does it mean to be tough, to be strong, never cry, never show emotion? I think that most modern men have a real problem understanding what true masculinity is.

I would like to pray for each of you listening to this podcast and for the men in your life:

Dear Lord, Thank You for each one listening to this podcast. I pray that we as men would truly grasp the significance of building our life and our identity around You, to set us free to really live the life that You’ve called us to live. To not live in fear always wondering what people think. Being delivered from the fear of failing, not always comparing ourselves, enabling us to have true rich relationships with others, particularly with other men. And so, as we go forth, Lord, I pray that You would do a mighty work in each of our lives, that You would draw us to yourself in a very real way, and that we would truly be on the path that leads us to be the men that You have called us to be. And we pray all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today I am discussing the struggles that men deal with. Life is difficult. I don’t care how talented you are, how wealthy you are, how knowledgeable you are, life is difficult and it’s full of pain. Most men tend to withdraw - we tend to isolate ourselves in reaction to the pain and struggles in our lives. We just withdraw.

Did you know that eighty percent of the suicides in this country are committed by men? Eighty percent. What’s also interesting is of all those men who commit suicide, ninety percent of them are white males. There was an interesting article in the New York Times saying that researchers are really baffled over why so many middle-aged men are taking their lives.

I had a chat with a man who had struggled with depression and yet he seemed to really be a put-together individual. He made this comment that powerfully struck me. He said, “You know, I have never contemplated suicide, but there’s been many times I wish that I was not alive.”

There is a question that every single one of us men is always asking ourselves. And you know what? Often, we’re not even aware of it. The question is this: What are other people thinking of me?

Join me today as we consider this question, as well as look deeper into how to deal with the deepest issues that men face.

Today I welcome back my friend, Drayton Nabers. This time he is speaking on praying for your business life.

Nabers says that, "Prayer connects us to God’s grace. As we pray, we are seeking God’s grace with respect to whatever might be the subject of our prayer. The access to grace is always through faith."

In Romans 5:1, Paul says, "Since we have been justified by faith, we have access to God’s grace." So, if we are seeking God’s grace in prayer, we’ve got to pray with faithful hearts, believing hearts, and, as Paul says, with clean hearts that have been justified by faith in Christ.

Christ has an important role to play in the life of our business life. As we seek Him in prayer and come to Him with a humble heart, He will give us wisdom. He will help us to see the work we’re doing in the business world as God’s calling on our life. God has placed us where we are to bring Him glory by what we’re doing.

You can download Drayton's 3 resources referenced in his talk here: The Practice of Prayer, Andrew Murray on Prayer, Drayton Nabers handwritten notes on prayer

Today I'd like to share a principle that I believe is the most important principle in all of life. I want to start with a theory that has to do with this principle, then close with how to apply this in your life.

Jack Welch, the well-known retired CEO of General Electric had this principle as the core of his management philosophy: the key trait of a vital, dynamic corporations is this: looking reality straight in the eye, then acting upon it with as much speed as you can. He shares,

"At GE you could be a hero no matter who you were or what you looked like. All you had to do was face reality and perform... yet I found it hard for people to actually do this... Self-delusion can grip an entire organization, and lead the people in it to ridiculous conclusions..."

Looking reality in the eye is to see things as they really are, not the way it was and not the way we wish it would be. Year after year Welch would tell a particular story to drive the point home to his employees. Tune in to hear his story, and more!

If you were to Google the question "What is the good life?", you'd be overwhelmed by the response. Some of the answers are shopping, consumption, places to live. You'll find a host of books that offer formulas on how to find the good life. There are many retail stores that sell goods that promote the good life. Buy this, and it will contribute to your life.

But what you won't find is that the good life is a life of wisdom and knowledge that leads to a virtuous life. Instead, most of the entries involve material pursuits and games, which sadly, I think, reflects our modern definition of what's good.

There seems to be a huge gap for so many adults between the life that we dream of and believe we deserve, and the life that we actually end up with. I believe this is why Pulitzer prize-winning author John Cheever made this observation. He said, "The main emotion of the adult American who has had all the advantages of wealth, education, and culture is disappointment." And for this reason, though we may never share this with anybody, I think we always seem to find ourselves looking for a better life. But the question is, where are we looking and what are we putting our hope in?

My message that I'm sharing with you today is, I believe, one of the most important messages to anyone that I would describe as a church-going person, or a person with a church background.

This message is a result of two experiences I had. The first comes from a number of conversations I've had with men who are struggling with life and with their faith - church going men who intellectually believe in Christianity but who would acknowledge that clearly their faith has no impact on their day-to-day lives. Their faith is not a big priority in their lives, and they don't seem to be too concerned about it - this is where they are.

The second comes from my experience closely reading the New Testament and what it says about having a real, legitimate faith in Christ.

I would ask you to listen carefully, to think clearly about what I am saying, and to be honest with yourself in where you are. Ask yourself, "How does this message apply to me spiritually?

Today I want to continue discussing the heart of a man as we look at this question: What is it that men really want?

In Dr. Armand Nicholi's book The Question of God, he says this is what he's observed about the faculty and students at Harvard, "They avoid examining their lives, and they do not seem to want to understand themselves. They are afraid of what they might discover."

Is this true of us as men? Are we afraid to confront the truth about ourselves? I am reminded of a quote by George Gilder: "Men lust, but they do not know what for. They wander and lose track of the goal. They fight and compete, but they forget the prize. They spread seed, but spurn the seasons of growth. They chase power and glory but miss the meaning of life." We are all in search of something. What are you looking for?

How well do you know yourself? How well do you understand yourself?

In John Calvin's massive work called The Institutes of the Christian Religion, he opens the volume with this: "All true wisdom consists of two parts: knowledge of God and knowledge of self." French philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “One must know oneself. Even if that does not help in finding truth, at least it helps in running one’s life...”

Yet in this, we come to realize we have a problem. King David realized this in Psalm 64:6 when he stated, "Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep." So what is this driving force in our lives? Join me today as I delve into this important conversation!

Institutes of the Christian Religion

Today I'd like to start by sharing with you how I came upon this message.

At The Center, we do a lot of one-on-one meetings. One of the guys that I meet with is in his mid-30s, a very sharp young man, well-educated and articulate. He shared with me that he struggles with fear in his life, and we’ve talked a lot about those fears. And there’s another guy that is a good bit older, and who’s very, very wealthy, and has done extremely well in his life. He shared with me how he wakes up in the middle of the night and he’s got all these fears running wild in his mind, and he that can’t sleep well.

From these and other discussions, I’ve concluded that if you met either one of these men and interacted with them, you would never in your wildest dreams think that they had any worries because they seemed to be “so together.”

I’ve concluded how easy it is for us as men to fake and pretend that we have no worries in life. You know, men aren’t supposed to worry. We’re supposed to be fearless, and yet, what I’m realizing is that, that’s not the case in most of our lives.

You see, fear is a powerful emotion. Today I'd like to discuss the main four causes of fear in our lives. I pray that you will gain valuable insights from today's podcast!

Many scholars would agree that probably one of the most thoughtful books written in the last 30 or 40 years is Ernest Becker’s Pulitzer prize-winning book, The Denial of Death. Becker wrote, “Every person seems to have a need for cosmic significance”. In other words, purpose and meaning in their lives.

He says, throughout history, all the way up until modern times, people knew that they had value and purpose because of the transcendent, because of God. Becker said, throughout history people knew their place in the universe, they knew who they were, they knew their value and identity. He adds, but modern people have lost this. They’ve lost that sense of purpose. He said, “We have become secular.”

So where do we find our meaning in life? Well, 3500 years ago, King Solomon said in the book of Proverbs, that our knowledge of God is where we get our understanding of life; our knowledge of God is how we interpret life. Dr. Tim Keller says, “How we relate to God is the foundation of our thinking. It determines our view of life in the world.”

What keeps us from finding real meaning in life? If I believe in God, why doesn’t my belief really impact my life? Join me for today's podcast as I discuss the answers to these questions.

Today I have a special guest, Drayton Nabers, speaking on the role of Christ in the life of business.

When we’re doing business, we can think that spiritual things are to be done with nonprofits or in the Church, but not in the business world. When we’re in business, we’ve got to make some money. We’ve got to work hard. It’s a competitive marketplace out there. We gotta be tough. So, therefore, why Christ?

Well, Christ has an important role to play in the life of your business. He’s there with you, and He wants you to succeed. And by His Grace, He wants to equip you and empower you, and give you the wisdom to practice whatever you do in the business world in a way that brings Him glory.

So, what does the Bible have to say about the world of work and what does it have to say about God in the workplace? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. I hope you enjoy it!

How can I live a life that has purpose and meaning? That is the topic of today's podcast, Part 3.

In Part 1, we talked about how many people see happiness as a feeling. We looked at all of the destructive tendencies that creep into a person’s life when they believe that pleasure is the source of true happiness in life.

In Part 2, we considered the factors that lead to happiness, starting with God’s role. We concluded that God is the true source of happiness. But to really get this, I must ask myself: What kind of man do I want to become? We tend to focus on what we’re experiencing, but God is more interested in the kind of men we’re becoming. When you become a man of strong Godly character, then obedience to God becomes natural. So we talked about the importance of obedience.

How does Christ play a role in helping you find purpose and meaning in life? Answering this question is critical. It’s the foundation of finding true purpose and meaning in life.

This is Part 3 of my 3-part series. I hope you enjoy it!

*This episode has been updated to correct an error that occurred last week. Enjoy!

What is it that satisfies the thirst of the soul?

In Part 1, we talked about how many people see happiness as a feeling. We looked at all of the destructive tendencies that creep into a person’s life when they believe that pleasure is the source of true happiness in life.

What is the role that God plays in the search for happiness? Why is He important in finding happiness? Let's start by thinking about the human desires of the body. When we enter into this life we have four basic desires - all physical desires. We get hungry, thirsty and tired, so we eat, we drink and we rest. Then we hit puberty and our sexual desire kicks in. These four basic desires of the body called the sensual side of life.

Yet what is this desire that we have for joy and happiness, for peace, to love and be loved - not sex, but to love and be loved? It’s not a physical desire. It’s a spiritual desire. It’s a desire of the heart and the soul. Again, what satisfies hunger? Food? What satisfies thirst? Drink.

So where I want to go with this today, guys, is to ask the question, "What is the role that God plays in all of this?" If he satisfies this thirst in our souls for joy and happiness and peace and love, how does that happen? What is His role in our lives? What is his role in this elusive search of happiness that people are having so much trouble with?

This is Part 2 of my 3-part series. I hope you enjoy it!

I truly believe that many adults experience great unhappiness in life. A lot of them experience depression, which is not something that people want to admit, particularly men. We’re supposed to be on top of things, we’re supposed to be competent, together, and to acknowledge our unhappiness is something that we’d rather not do. This is a fascinating topic and I've found that it really is resonating with so many people that I’ve been sharing it with.

So, the question is, where is happiness found in this life? Over the next 3 podcasts, we’re going to explore this.

In our search for happiness, does God have a role to play? Why is He important in finding happiness?

I believe that happiness is a byproduct of living in the center of God’s will. You see, God never intended for happiness to be the object of life. It’s a byproduct of living our lives in the center of God’s will. When we seek to be in the will of God, we will find we are living in harmony with our design. We’ll be living the life that we were meant to live.

This is Part 1 of my 3-part series. I hope you enjoy it!

So much has been written on the issue of evil, but today I'd like to take all that I have read over the last six weeks on evil and try to distill it down into a 45-minute presentation. I pray that it will be enlightening to you. If at any point you get hung up with anything I’m saying, just hang on with me because we’ll keep going.

I've taught a two-part series on “Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?” where I discussed evil in a general way. There’s a difference in natural evil, like a natural disaster or physical disease and what I want to cover this morning, which is human or moral evil.

The issues that I raise this morning about moral evil are crucial for any thinking person to understand. I ask you to hang with me as I go through this, and I think when we get to the end, you will see that there is a critical application to every single one of us. My prayer is that each of us would be open to see what God would show us about our own hearts.

Today I'd like to talk about something that's very important to me - I call it the Great Paradox of Life.

The apostle Paul addresses this in I Corinthians 1:18-24, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Paul is contrasting the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of men to the wisdom of God. I am sharing this with you because I believe there truly is an art to living this life, and because life is governed by certain principles. Wisdom is seeking to live your life in harmony with these principles.

So many of God's important truths are foreign to the world because they are counter-intuitive. Yet the truth and the wisdom of God is often paradoxical.

The topic that I want to address this morning is fascinating. And, I believe that it will be of real benefit to you. One would think this concept is just common sense. Unfortunately, many modern people don’t seem to use common sense.

I'd like to start with some words that I know you’re familiar with: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These are the opening words of the Declaration of Independence.

Of course, that was 1776. From those words, we in America as a nation seem to have this foundational belief that there truly is a connection between liberty, or freedom, and the pursuit of happiness, and finding happiness.

Now, fast-forward 13 years from the signing of the Declaration to 1789, when George Washington gave his first inaugural address. In that inaugural address, he added a little something to that thought. Washington said, “There exists, in human nature, an indissoluble union between freedom, virtue, and happiness.” He threw in that word virtue.

So here, 13 years later, Washington realized that in order to have a free society, there has to be a certain character quality in the people. There has to be an ability to have self-restraint. He says, “This is necessary for any culture to flourish.” But, as you know, we seem to have lost this understanding of what it really means to be free.

What is it about the human condition that causes us to want to “one-up” someone else all the time? What is it that causes us to, and it makes us feel superior to others? What causes us to always compare ourselves to other people and why is it we’re always worrying about what other people think about us? This is what’s called the pride of life.

C.S. Lewis says that each of us have this great flaw within, and though we see it in other people, and we loathe it, we have a hard time seeing it in our own lives. He says it’s like a spiritual cancer that eats up our souls. It keeps us, he says, from being able to love, or ever find any real contentment in life.

You’re probably thinking, isn’t there a positive side to pride? Yes! There are two definitions. The first is, “justifiable self-respect”. It’s the idea of taking pride in what you do. Seeking to be the very best you can be in what you do, and that’s a positive definition of pride. But what I’m going to be talking to you this morning about is, the simple definition of pride as arrogance or self-conceit - the Greeks called it hubris. To have a too high view of yourself. And Lewis goes on to say that pride, if you really want to get to the heart of it, is really kind of, it’s competitive, so to speak. He says it’s rooted in comparison, where a person wants to be better and superior to you.

We all face this dilemma deep within our souls. So, what does a person do? What am I supposed to do?

Tim Keller says that all of us are starved for glory because we have this deep sense in our souls that our lives just don’t really matter. He says the worst thing for a human being is not to be disliked, or to be vilified. He says the worst thing for us, particularly for us as men, is to be ignored. To be overlooked. To feel like my life is just not very significant. And he says, this is why, in the deepest recesses of our hearts, we are seeking for glory out in the world. Out in our sphere of influence. And this is why so many men have instability in their hearts because they are desperately seeking to impress and win the approval of others. And, for this reason, and we see this often in our work, we as men are constantly looking for ways to convince the world, and ourselves, that we matter, and that our lives are really important.

Today I am discussing Jesus' parable about the pearl of great value, taken from Matthew 13:44-46. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid, and, for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Is there anything out in the world that you would sell everything you have for: your house, your cars, any investments you have, liquidate your retirement account, take all of that and sell it so you can get something of great value? You know, in order to do that, it would have to make everything you own pale in comparison to whatever that object is.

So today, I want to look at two things 1) What does it mean, to sell everything you have in order to get this treasure? and 2) What is the parable of the pearl merchant all about? Then we’ll look more specifically at the parable of the pearl merchant and what that parable is all about. One thing in context to the parable - pearl merchants were wealthy people. They had to have some degree of wealth because they were always buying and trading pearls which had great value. And so, they had to have some degree of financial wealth in order to stock their inventory.

Today is the last message in my 4-part series on pride and humility. I want to look at how God has special regard for the humble, and then I want to look at how to integrate this life of humility into our personal lives. I want to share a few verses with you and look at how God has special regard and honor for the humble.

Psalm 10:17. “Oh, Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble. You will strengthen their heart. You will incline Your ear.”

Psalm 25:9 “He leads the humble in justice. He teaches the humble His way.”

Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but, with the humble, there is wisdom.”

Proverbs 29:23, “A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.”

And lastly James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you.”

God has incredible regard and honor for the humble, and what’s interesting is, He doesn’t have that kind of regard for anybody else.

This is Part 4 of my 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

This morning, I want to share a few more words with you about pride so that we can truly see how destructive it is in our lives. And then I’m going to share some words on humility. As I’ve said before, pride is so insidious and that it slowly grows and develops in our lives and becomes well-established without our knowledge. God hates it because of what it does to us. And I want to look at one more aspect of pride and how it impacts our thinking in how we regard other people.

This is Part 3 of a 4-Part series. In these final two episodes, we’ll look at God’s promises to those who live humbly as they walk through life. There will be a major application in Part 4, so you don't want to miss it.

Today I want to look at the pitfalls of comparison. Comparing ourselves to others impacts our lives, our behavior, our relationships with others, and ultimately it impacts our relationship with God. Now, I’ll start by looking at some scriptures that I think will be helpful, staring with I Thessalonians 2:4, where Paul says, “Just as we’ve been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak not as pleasing men, but God Who examines our hearts.”

How is my life, my thinking, my behavior, and the motive of my heart affected by what others think of me? In other words, why do we allow other people’s opinions of us to be the gauge in which we measure our lives? And why do we think our lives don’t count very much, unless they count in the eyes of others?

This is Part 2 of a 4-Part series. In the final two episodes, we’ll look at God’s promises to those who live humbly as they walk through life. There will be a major application in Part 4, so you don't want to miss it.

Today I am starting a new series on the issue of pride and humility. In the first two episodes we’ll look at the issue of pride and just how deadly it is in our lives, and then, in the final two episodes, we’ll look at God’s promises to those who live humbly as they walk through life. There will be a major application in Part 4, so you don't want to miss it.

I want to start with the book of Isaiah, chapter two beginning in the twelfth verse. It says, “For the Lord of Hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty, against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, against all the lofty mountains, against all the hills that are lifted up, against every high tower, against every fortified wall, against all the ships of Tarsus, and against all the beautiful craft. The pride of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men will be abased, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”

Proverbs 16:5 states this in a similar way, “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Assuredly he will not go unpunished.” Throughout the Bible you’ll see a phrase, which we’ll talk about in some of our future episodes, which is this, “God is opposed to the proud.”

Now, I think we all have this desire to know, well, who are the proud? Surely not me. I know there are a lot of proud and arrogant people out there, but surely not me. There are two ways to define pride. One of them is "justifiable self-respect"; the idea of striving for excellence and being the best that you can be; the idea of taking pride in what you do. That is a positive definition.

But the pride that God detests, the pride that is such an abomination in His sight is arrogance. And arrogance is nothing more than an internal feeling or impression of superiority over others. The Greeks called it hubris, which meant too high a view of yourself.

This is Part 1 of a 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

Today I'd like to share my Good Friday message I gave last weekend, focusing on Isaiah 53. It is interesting to note that chapters 40-55 of Isaiah have to do with what God will do in the future, yet Isaiah was written over 700 years before Christ even enters the scene. Many scholars contend that this is the best single chapter in the Bible to explain what will happen in Jesus' crucifixion.

"Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God,

stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:4-6

Do you see the significance of this? The crucifixion was all about us. Jesus did it for us, and He did it voluntarily - for you and for me.

Easter weekend is really different from all other weekends and holidays on the calendar. Because if you think about it, we’re commemorating two of the most significant events in all of human history. And of course, Easter weekend, I guess some would say, started last night on Maundy Thursday, but really, it starts in my mind today, on Good Friday, that somber day where we reflect on the Crucifixion and then leads on to Sunday when we celebrate joyfully Resurrection.

Today I want to share with you some thoughts on both of these events, and then I’m going to, at the end, bridge them together, really pull it together into a central theme.

I want to read to you two verses out of the book of Acts. It’s Acts chapter 17, and it’s where Paul gives his famous sermon at Mars Hill in Athens, Greece. You know, Paul goes into Athens, that was the center of learning and scholarship where all the Greek philosophers were, and as you’re reading, Paul interacts with some of the stoics who were a certain school of philosophers there, and they are so fascinated by him, they take him to the Ariopagus which is this place where he can stand and speak to a big group of people and have discussion, kind of like Hyde Park in London. And Paul gives this brilliant talk, and he quotes their philosophers. He quotes their poets, and then he gets right down to the end of his sermon. And this is the way he closes it. He says, “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent because He’s fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness, through a man who He has appointed having furnished proof to all men, by raising Him from the dead.” Now, one of the first things that strikes me about these words is that Paul says that God has fixed a day out in the future when He’s going to judge the world. And he says, “He will judge the world justly and in righteousness.”

So, as we think about this judgment, we have to ask the question. But when you think of any kind of judgment, what is the criteria? What is the scale that’s going to be used to judge us by?

How can we find real peace? Physician, futurist and author Richard Swenson's work focuses on what he calls, “cultural medicine.” I’d never heard of that. He researches the intersection of health and culture. He looks at how culture impacts our mental, emotional, our psychological, and even our physical health. Interestingly, he wrote these words well before this current pandemic came along. Listen to what he says,

“People have always been stressed.” He said, “It’s simply part of living this life.” He says, “There’s always been change to cope with. There have always been economic problems, and people have always battled depression. It’s the nature of life to have its ups and downs. So, why all the fuss?” He said, “I’m not the one making the fuss. I’m only writing about it. I’m only being honest about what I see all around me. I sit in my examining room and I listen to people. Then I report what I hear. And, I can tell you,” he says. “Something is wrong. People are tired and frazzled. People are anxious. People are depressed. People don’t have time to heal anymore.” This is interesting. He says, “There’s a psychic instability in our day that prevents peace from implanting itself very firmly in the human spirit. And, despite the skeptics,” he says, “this instability is not the same old nemesis recast in a modern role.” He says, “Something has changed.”

And, I find that phrase, psychic instability, to be a good term for what’s going on in people’s lives. I’ve heard from two different news sources that at least a third of the people in our country, right now, are having real mental health issues. And, you know, I believe that that’s true.

So, what I’d like to do is drill down and get to the heart of this issue. Because it strikes me that this Coronavirus has really shattered our assumptions that our world is safe and it’s well under control, that we have things under control. This is one of the reasons I believe that nations, particularly our nation, has drifted away from God; we feel secure. We don’t really need Him. But when we do this without recognizing it, we are throwing open the door for fear to infiltrate our lives. Why is that?

A couple of years ago, I noticed something in the Bible that I had never recognized, and in the book of John, whether you are aware of this or not, there are 21 chapters, and it dawned on me that the last 11 chapters, over 50 percent of the book of John, deals with really the last week of Jesus’ life. And then you have the Resurrection. I share that because in John chapter 11, we read of an incredible event that ultimately led to the crucifixion, which is what we reflect on Good Friday.

What happened was that this event pushed the religious leaders to the edge. They finally realized, we have got to get rid of this guy. And the event that I am speaking of, which you may or may not be familiar with, is when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

John 11:19 says, “There were many, there were many Jews present who had come to console Martha and Mary.” In other words, Jesus performed this incredible miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead in front of a crowd of people. He didn’t do it in a vacuum. Think about what, I mean, imagine if you were there! But there was a crowd, and, as word gets out in this Jewish community, just think of kind of the explosion that probably took place. And the talk that went around.

But what you notice is that there were three basic ways that people responded to this incredible event, and I want to talk about those this morning with you a few minutes and look at these responses. Then I would ask you to look at your own life and ask, "How is this pertinent to me in my own response to this man Jesus?"

Why did Jesus’ death change everything forever? What did He mean when He said, “It is finished?” Well, the answer glimmers all through scripture, but it’s packaged precisely in Romans 1:17, where the apostle Paul writes, “For in the Gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed. A righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, 'the righteous will live by faith.' For in the Gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed.”

Well, from the outside, it doesn’t seem like much, that a Man died on a cross. I’ve heard the Gospel likened to a jalapeño pepper; it looks cold on the outside but when you bite into it, it will burn like no tomorrow. Ingest the Gospel, understand it down to the core of your being and it will burn its way down to every fiber of your being and have an impact on everything that you do and every decision that you make. How you spend your money. How you treat your wife. How you treat your ex-wife. How you discipline your children. Everything you do, this Man’s death on the cross wants to touch. Why? How?

If you understand the Gospel, and you really absorb it and you are taken to the emotional and psychological, the ontological cleaners with it, you can’t help but come away from this message and be changed by it. There’s nothing more important than Jesus’ crying from the cross, “It is finished.”

Today's talk is by my friend Paul Walker, who spoke at our Good Friday Mens' Breakfast several years ago. I pray that it blesses your life!

When Jesus speaks, everything He says that’s recorded in the Gospels is significant. Some of the things he says are parables, or stories with symbolic meaning. I am intrigued by these parables. Today I will dig into one of these parables, taken from Matthew 13:44-46. This message is from a weekly Bible study that I teach at The Center for Executive Leadership in Birmingham, Alabama.

Some of my Bible studies right now are hosted via Zoom. If you are interested in attending one, please email me at richard@thecenterbham.org. Be sure to tell me that you heard about it here on my podcast. Best regards, Richard

Today I'd like to share a message by Dr. Tim Keller, which he gave at The Center's Mens Breakfast in November 2019 here in Birmingham, Alabama. Tim's message draws some lessons from the early Church for us today and what we’re facing in our own culture, as the Christian church is declining. Increasingly, you have people out there who not only don’t believe in God or don’t believe in Christianity, but actually think Christianity is bad for people. And say that religion is bad for people. And religious people are a threat to our democracy and a threat to our social order. We’ve never faced anything like that, but the early Christians certainly did.

So, then the real question is why did so many people become Christians then in the first three centuries when Christianity was so persecuted? Why would anybody want to become a Christian? Keller ends the talk with a special time of Q and A. I hope you enjoy it! - Richard

Tim Keller is the Chairman and co-Founder of Redeemer City to City, which trains pastors for ministry in global cities. He is also the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and the author of New York Times bestselling books The Reason for God, The Prodigal God, and Prayer.

Why is our world so broken? I believe the world is broken because of the spiritual condition of man. The Bible describes our natural condition as being in spiritual darkness. Tim Keller says spiritual darkness comes when we turn away from God as our true light and make something else as the center of our lives.

In John 8:12 Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of life." In Luke 11:34-35 “The eye is the lamp of your body and when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light, but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness." He’s warning us to watch out and make sure that the light that you think you have is not actually darkness. This was written 2000 years ago and unbelievably pertinent to our lives today.

So how do we find our way out of the darkness? Well, your eye, or perspective, is the lens through which you see life. It’s your perception of reality. Stephen Covey calls it a paradigm. We see life through various paradigms. The academic world and the political world use a word that I like. It is the word “worldview”. What Jesus is saying is, your perspective, your worldview, your perception of reality can be rooted in the truth or it can be rooted in falsehood. And He’s saying if it is rooted in the truth, your life will be full of light, and you’ll be healthy, and have vitality to your life. He says if it is rooted in falsehood, your life will be full of darkness.

Throughout history, one of the intellectual debates that seems to come and go is this question, “Is mankind intrinsically good or is he intrinsically evil or depraved?” In fact, I think it would be interesting to hear the diversity of opinions then we might get from all those listening to this podcast.

As we are experiencing many changes in our world today, I think it’s important to understand why our world is so broken. So, I want us to consider this: What is the true condition of man, and is there any hope, particularly for our kids’ generations as we look out into the future?

Was Jesus more than a man in history? Was he just a great moral teacher? Great moral teachers don't make the kind of claims that Jesus made. Was he the Son of God? He claimed to be, so if he isn't actually the Son of God, then he was lying.

Whether we believe Christ was the Son of God or whether we don't, or whether we're not sure, I personally believe that every one of us should ask the question, "What is the evidence that would lead me to believe that Christ is the Son of the living God?" Consider that question - is it reasonable? Is it rational for an educated man or woman living in the 21st century to believe a claim such as this? In this talk I will point to four different parts of evidence for you to consider.

This is a follow up to last week's podcast episode "The Bible: Truth or Fiction?"

Back around 1984, I came to the conclusion that I had committed my life to a religious faith that had as it's source, a book. The Bible. A book that claimed in fact to be God's divinely inspired revelation to mankind. And though I had discovered personally that it was experientially true. I had to admit that the primary reason I believe that the Bible was God's Word is that, that I'd been told that all my life.

Maybe you've experienced that as well. But for me personally, I needed to go deeper. I needed more of an intellectual foundation on why Christians throughout the centuries have staked so much there - even their very lives on the words from a book that claimed to be God's Word. And that's the basis of this message this morning. It is a work in progress because I'm continually refining it.

For more on this topic, check out my apologetics book Reliable Truth.

Reliable Truth: The Validity of the Bible in an Age of Skepticism

Have you given much thought to the big questions of life: Why am I here? Why do I exist? Author Peter Kreeft observed that, "We are the first civilization that does not know why we exist."

Author and pastor Tim Keller says this about our Western culture, "We're the first culture in history where men define themselves solely by performing and achieving in the workplace. And because of this," he says, "in men's lives, there's never been more psychological, social, and emotional pressure out in the workplace as there is today."

In the traditional social order, work was seen merely as a functional means of providing for the family and improving the quality of life within the community. In other words, work would not and could not define your life worth and value in a more absolute sense, as it does today.

“How relevant is God in my life, and do I get a sense of meaning and purpose from Him in my relationship with Him? Does he impact who I am as a person? Do I really matter to anyone?

Today I want to discuss the evidence I have found for the existence of God.

Christian author Tim Keller said, “Though you may not realize it, how we relate to God, either whether we believe in Him or whether we don’t believe in Him - it is the foundation of your thinking. Because it determines the way you view the world, whether you believe God exists or not, this belief is the foundation in which all of your reasoning proceeds.”

I believe that the greatest influence on your world view - the way you see the world - is based on how you see God. Your worldview really informs you about everything; it informs you on on life's biggest questions: Why am I here? How am I supposed to live? How do you find meaning in life? And, what is my ultimate destiny once this life is over?

More about this talk can be found in my newest book Reflections on the Existence of God. Read Chapter 1 for FREE - Click Here!

Today I am going to address a very important question: Is Christianity the only valid religion, or are there other paths to God? As we live in this world full of religions and full of diversity, this question is going to continually come up.

Is it true, as some religions teach, that there is one God, but many paths to that God, or is Jesus the ONLY way to God?

Today I’m going to tackle a very difficult topic - to tackle this in 45-minutes is difficult because of the nature of the content. If you read the book of John, there is a very important word that’s mentioned 27 times. And, yet, when you look at the other gospel books of Matthew and Luke, this word is rarely mentioned. This word is almost exclusively used by Jesus.

The word I am referring to is the word TRUTH. In John 8:31-32 Jesus says, “If you continue in My word, then you will truly be My disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Then in John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through Me.”

In the Christian life, truth is paramount. When Jesus was speaking the truth with Pilate, Pilate asks Him, “What is truth?” and then walks away as if he doesn't actually want to know how Jesus would respond.

In its simplest definition, TRUTH is that which is real and actual. It’s that which conforms to reality. C.S. Lewis said, “Once you embrace Christianity, it's not because it makes you feel good, but because it’s true. Christianity is not a patent medicine. Christianity claims to give an account of facts to tell you what the real universe is like.”

In today's podcast I share about two different meetings with 2 different men, both who had some type of belief in God and Jesus, but they didn’t want Him to play an integral role in their lives. Clearly, there were certain barriers in their lives that kept them from coming to a legitimate faith.

What is it that causes men to keep God out of their lives?

I wonder, how many of us, when it gets right down to it, really don’t want any part of Christ because of the fear that He might disrupt our lives. I really believe this is a barrier in many men’s lives. A barrier to faith. A barrier to belief.

Today I want to continue discussing the relationship between wisdom and the principles of life. In Part 1 we discussed the Principle of the Path. In this talk I discuss 3 other principles that are crucial to leading a healthy life. You don't want to miss this!

This is Part 2 of my 2-part series. I hope you enjoy it!

We have a great need in the challenging days we are living in for wisdom. In today's talk, I want to introduce to you the relationship between wisdom and the principles of life. Principles are not good or bad - they are not moral. They are simply true. And what's important to know is that principles make life predictable. They give life order. Are you in need of order and peace in your life?

This is Part 1 of a 2-part series. I hope you enjoy it!

One of most enlightening things that I have learned this past year, especially when I counsel men, are some words from Blaise Pascal, who says this, “One of the primary reasons people struggle so much with life is because they have false ideas about reality.”

We need to work on our perspective so that each of us will know how to have a strong foundation to weather the storms of life. I think it’s important that we realize that maybe, just maybe, God’s perspective on the struggles we face is different from our view. So, the question that we need to ask ourselves is this: What is it I need to know about God and His truth that will enable me to properly interpret what I’m experiencing in the hardships of life?

This is Part 4, the final message in this 4 Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

How do we view difficulty when it comes into our lives? In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, we looked at the issue of perspective, which is a critical part of having a strong foundation for life.

Pastor and best-selling author Tim Keller says, “We all have a basic motivational drive. Every human heart has something that drives them. It gets us out of bed and it gets us through life. It moves us to do what we do and for most of us, I believe what drives us is fear. After all these years of pastoring, I truly think this is it. The fear of missing out, the fear of not proving ourselves, the fear of not living up, of being somebody, the fear of failure, the fear of death.” Today and for Part 4 we’re going to go deeper and look at how we live our lives and how we respond to the storms of life.

This is Part 3 of a 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

How do we deal with fear, anxiety and stress in our lives? In Phillip Yancey’s book, Where is God When it Hurts. well-known Swiss physician Paul Tournier says, “Only rarely are we the masters of events in our lives, but we are responsible for our reaction to the event, to the events that come into our lives,” and he says, “what counts is the way a person reacts in the face of suffering, because when it comes, a positive, active, creative reaction will develop us. A negative one will stunt the growth in our lives. The right response at the right moment may determine the course of a person’s life.”

This is Part 2 of a 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

It’s the middle of the night. You know, you went to sleep, hoping for a good night’s rest, now it's 2 am. You get up and go to the restroom, come back and get in the bed, and all of a sudden, you start thinking about things. You don’t intend to, you just start thinking, and the next thing you know, you’re wide awake, and all these little mole hills in your life have become a mountain, then you can’t go back to sleep, and you’re feeling all this anxiety.

In these unprecedented days of uncertainty, how will you deal with your fears, anxiety and stress? I'd like to share 4 primary causes of fear and anxiety in this life and how to deal with them in a healthy way.

This is Part 1 of a 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

Merry Christmas! Today's podcast is taken a Christmas blog that I originally wrote several years ago. I share one of my favorite stories that illustrates the ultimate reason Jesus came into the world.

I hope that as we enter this Christmas season, and get caught up in the pageantry and celebration of His birth, that we would not forget that God sent His Son into the world, to rescue us from the domain of darkness and from the wrath to come.

Are you experiencing real freedom in your life? Are you overspending this Christmas? In an attempt to give your family everything they could ever want, have you become a slave to a job that you hate? What is freedom anyway, because our wants are endless.

Today I share a story from Paul Harvey that reveals the one essential ingredient necessary to experience true freedom. Tune in now!

Now more than ever before, we need truth! In Hosea 4:6, God says, “My people perish because of a lack of knowledge.” And then 2 Timothy 2:15 speaks of the importance of accurately handling the word of truth. And the reason Paul says is, it’s so easy to mishandle it. Today I'm looking at questions that people wrestle with as they consider the Christian faith. I was meeting with a guy yesterday, where he asked this question, “Why is there evil in the world? Why do babies die innocently from accidents?” It’s important to answer these hard questions, making sure we have a true knowledge and understanding of the Gospel to have a true knowledge of salvation.

I believe all of us worldwide are ready for the coronavirus to be over. Austrian-Canadian scientist Dr. Hans Selye wrote a total of 30 books in his quest to better understand stress and human emotion. Toward the end of his life, Dr. Selye summarized his research, declaring that anger, bitterness and revenge are the emotions most harmful to our health and well-being. He also concluded that a heart of gratitude is the single most nourishing response that leads to good health. Gratitude and thanksgiving are like therapy for the soul.

In this holiday season, much emphasis is placed on thanking God for the positive blessings of life. And we should. But how should we respond to negative circumstances when storms blow into our lives?

Most of the natural disasters we face have a beginning and an end. Once they are over, the damage is assessed and the rebuilding begins. There seems to be at the very least some degree of certainty about the future, and what it might look like.

This however, is not the case with the Coronavirus Pandemic. We do not know when or how this is going to end and consequently are forced to admit that we are not in control. Furthermore, if you are in a high risk category, whether by age or an underlying health condition, you face daily the possibility of serious illness or even death.

In this podcast I am sharing about my recent book Walking By Faith Through a Pandemic. My prayer is that you would experience genuine peace in the times we are living, and gain valuable insights from this talk. Best regards to you! - Richard

Walking By Faith Through a Pandemic: Experiencing God's Peace

How do we articulate our own personal world view? More importantly, how do we defend our point of view? Today Richard joins Kerby Anderson on the Point of View Radio Talk Show to discuss Richard’s book Reflections on the Existence of God.

Kerby Anderson is the President of Probe Ministries and host of Point of View Radio Talk Show. This episode originally aired on the Point of View Radio Talk Show on August 6, 2020. Click here to Listen to the complete episode.

Martin Luther King Jr. was probably the most visible spokesman and leader of the civil rights movement in America. He is best known for advancing civil rights using the tactics of non-violence through civil disobedience. It is quite evident that Dr. King approached those he was seeking to influence with great humility. However, it was not from a position of weakness or condescension, or speaking from the moral high ground. He approached them as an equal, as one seeking to be a person of good will who was speaking to another person of good will.

In his own words, King said, "If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness."

As you listen to this podcast, I ask you to consider how he approached those who opposed him and racial integration. We could all learn a great deal from the example he set.

Have you ever noticed the competing desires in your life and how they can be so contradictory? For example, if you want to be healthy, fit and live a long life, but you also smoke cigarettes and drink heavily, at some point, you realize your model breaks down. The competing interests require that you choose a side, and you finally understand freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want, as your desires can be endless, easily colliding with each another. We believe we are only free if we can do whatever our heart wants.

Author Tim Keller says that sometimes you have to deliberately give up your freedom to engage in activities and thought processes that will enable you to release yourself to a richer kind of freedom. Do you want that kind of freedom?

Child psychologist David Elkind believes there are at least three contemporary sources of stress that mark our age as a difficult one. First, due to the alarming increase in violence and crime, we are more afraid. Second, due to rapidly changing job markets, technology, and economic factors, we are more professionally insecure. Finally, due to widespread separation and divorce, we are more alone.

These words were written several years ago but they still ring true today. I think when we faced riots in our streets, businesses boarding up their windows, and curfews being enacted, many people experienced a great deal of anxiety. However, as I have worked with men over the years, it is hard to determine if a man is struggling with fear, because we do a good job concealing it. In our culture, real men are not supposed to be afraid, so we fake it. Is it possible to have real peace? And is this life all there is?

In March of 1965, I remember driving home from the beach. It was a Sunday. We stopped to pick up a black man who was hitchhiking to Selma. I remember my Dad asking him if he was participating in the march and the man said that he was going to see his girlfriend.

Then something happened in August of 1965 that is still seared in my memory. Our family went to New York to attend the World’s Fair. One day we stopped by Macy’s department store. I was thirsty and looked for a water fountain. When I finally found it, I noticed there were two fountains, one for blacks and one for whites. To this day I can remember how stunning this was to me. Yet this is the world I grew up in.

I think many of our leaders are trying to determine how we find our way out of this racial divide. How do we deal with the sin of racism? I keep hearing of new legislation, but really, will new laws root out a heart of superiority? Can a law make a white person love a black person? I’m now 66 and wonder if much has really changed from the 1960’s. Tune in to my podcast to hear more!

Most issues regarding money are judgement issues. For this reason we all need wisdom in the handling of our finances.

There are 3 questions that the Bible and the book of Proverbs asks us about money: 1) How did you get it? 2) What is money doing to you? and 3) What are you doing with what you have?

Learning the answers to these questions can reveal the heart of our attitude toward money and give us true financial freedom.

This is Part 2 of my two-part series. I hope you enjoy it!

Billy Graham once said, "If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life."

I couldn't agree more! If your attitude on money is right, it's easier to develop the proper balance between work and family. Most issues regarding money are judgement issues, and for this reason we all need wisdom in handling our finances. There is much wisdom in the book of Proverbs, especially in the area of relationships, work and finances.

This is Part 1 of a 2-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

British scholar C. S. Lewis says that, “Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before... You are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature.”

Could there be a slow deterioration of the quality of my life based on what I am sowing and reaping? And if so, am I willing to sow in a different direction?

In this week's podcast, Richard Simmons III discusses sowing and reaping, and how the quality of our choices truly determines their outcome. Join us!

Do you feel alone and separated from God? Are you longing for something or someone that can truly satisfy the deepest longings of your heart?

You can go to the greatest resorts, eat at the finest restaurants, drink the finest wines, play on the world's top golf courses, have great sex, but the problem is when you wake up the next morning, you're still thirsty. These are wonderful things, but they don't satisfy you fully, because ultimately, our thirst is in our souls - we have a thirst that can only be satisfied by the Spirit of God. We were made in the image of God and we need to know our Creator.

This is God's great Rescue Mission - Christ became a man, and has come to rescue and free us from our brokenness and the powers of darkness. We cannot rescue ourselves - let Him rescue you today!

This is Part 2 of Richard's 2-part interview with Carrie Abbott, host of Relationship Insights Radio show based in Seattle. You can find this and hundreds of other interviews at carrieabbott.com.

If you could ask God one question, and be guaranteed that He would answer, what would it be? Recently USA Today conducted a survey asking this very question - the number 1 question people wanted to ask God was this, "What is my purpose here?"

In this podcast, Richard discusses his personal journey in searching for his purpose in life, and how this led him to write his most recent book The Reason For Life. In this book, Richard writes that purpose implies design. If this is true, then there must be a Creator. Be encouraged - your life matters! In Christ, life makes sense!

This is Part 1 of a 2-part interview with Carrie Abbott, host of Relationship Insights Radio show based in Seattle. You can find this and hundreds of other interviews at carrieabbott.com.

It seems that when it comes to pain and suffering, I think our natural first response is, how do I get this out of my life? Most of us are more concerned with how things are going to turn out, but God is more concerned with how we’re going to turn out. That’s His focus.

How do you prepare for the storms of life? How do you respond to them when they come into your life?

Dr. Hans Selye, the first true pioneer in discovering the impact of emotion on a person’s health, wrote 30 books on the subject, and at the end of his life, he summarized everything he’d learned in all of his years of research. He concluded, “Vengeance and bitterness are, as the emotional responses to our circumstances that will do us the most harm,” but “gratitude is the single most nourishing attitude for a person’s good health and well-being.”

This is Part 2 of a two-part series on Pain, Suffering and Evil. If you missed Part 1, be sure and go back and check it out!

Why does God allow pain, suffering and evil in the world? And why is it that suffering sometimes causes people to turn away from God? I believe we're not dealing with a problem that needs to be solved - rather, we're dealing with a mystery to be understood.

My purpose in this podcast is for us to gain understanding and make sense of the pain, suffering and evil around us. This topic leads to a very important question we should all ask ourselves - What is the ultimate good in life? Please tune in and join us!

Next week in Part 2, we'll deal with how to prepare for, and then respond to pain and suffering when it enters into our lives.

What is the purpose of your life? If your life has a purpose, your life will be fulfilling and you will have a deep sense of joy.

At the end of your life, don't you want your life to matter? Just as happiness is a by-product of a meaningful life, so futility is a by-product of a worldly life. Tom Brady, winner of six Super Bowls said, "There has to be something greater for my life."

In a hostage rescue attempt, Navy Seals were shocked that the hostages they were trying to rescue wouldn't leave until one Seal 'became one of them.' That's what God did in sending Jesus to earth. He became one of us.

So many of us want success and riches and fame, but at the end of the day, what that comes down to is our deep desire for significance.

Why do we live to impress those around us? Why do their opinions weigh so mightily on us?

In this podcast, we look at the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12. Richard asks us questions like: What would you call your true riches of life?

What will be of value to you when you are lying on your deathbed? What is wisdom to you, and how much of that do you truly possess?

C.S. Lewis said, “If you’re spiritually going in the wrong direction, or really in no direction, it’s never going to become the right direction... Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turn, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.”

Are you headed toward the true riches of life?

How do you measure a man's life? What are your aspirations for the rest of your life? What are your dreams?

I want to share with you four thoughts today to help you evaluate your life as it relates to what I call the performance trap. I’d ask you to be honest with yourself, because I think it’s a very healthy thing to examine yourself, to know yourself. In fact, John Calvin says that wisdom consists of two parts: knowledge of God and knowledge of self. So, it’s a healthy thing to understand yourself. Please join me and listen in!

Can the human heart be changed? Can it be transformed to do good? I invite you to join me in considering these questions.

Many years ago, in its infancy, Time magazine asked several hundred prominent philosophers and theologians to write a response to the question, “What is Wrong with the World?” G.K. Chesterton, the celebrated English journalist and novelist, was among those contacted. He wrote back: "Gentlemen, In response to your question, 'What is Wrong with the World?' I am. - Sincerely, G.K. Chesterton"

Many years ago I asked a group of men if they believed human morality was improving and if we were becoming a better society. To my surprise a bright attorney quickly responded, “Absolutely.” I was dumbfounded. He proceeded to share his optimism about the future as if human beings were perfectible and that a Utopian society might be achievable in our lifetime. That was well over twenty-five years ago and I wonder if he has changed his mind.

In his early years, the great twentieth century thinker and author H.G. Wells believed passionately in the perfectibility of human beings in our society. Yet shortly before his death, Wells completed his final work, The Mind at the End of Its Tether. In it, he concluded that "there is no hope for mankind."

Can the human heart be changed? Can it be transformed to do good? I invite you to join me in considering these questions.

Mind at the end of its tether

If there is a God out there, why did He put me here? What is the reason for my earthly existence? Join Richard today as he discusses these questions from his newest book, The Reason For Life. Today's podcast comes from the "Good Morning, Ozarks" show with KLFC Radio in Branson, Missouri.

To get your FREE copy of Richard's new book, The Reason For Life, text WISDOM to 345345. Get yours today!

The decisions and choices we make are the foundation of our life. Jordan Peterson says our choices either lead to order or they lead to chaos. They lead to excellence or they lead to mediocrity.

You see, life is not made by the dreams you dream. It is made by the choices you make. Do you need wisdom for your life? Join us and listen in today!

As we enter 2019, I want to address an issue that has great influence on our individual lives, though we generally are not very aware of it. I would like to introduce it through a riddle. Can you guess the answer?

Stanford psychologist Phillip Zimbardo made this observation, “There is nothing more detrimental to a person’s life than isolation. There is no more destructive influence on physical and mental health than the isolation of you from me and us from them.”

Yet, incredibly, we trivialize human existence and human relationships with the excuse of time-demands and the pressures of work.

Can a person be truly happy if they struggle with loneliness? Join me to listen in on my thoughts on this.

Harvard Business Review recently reported that, “Loneliness is a growing health epidemic. We live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization, yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s."

Why is human loneliness so problematic? Why does it cause such harm and dysfunction? There seems to be something in our wiring that requires us to be in relationships with others if we are to be healthy people.

This issue, I believe, strikes at the heart of the existence of God, the reason we are here, and what we are designed to do. When we live as we were designed - to think, to reason, to communicate, to love and be relational - we flourish.

We are all fighting battles of some kind. The truths of the Bible serve as a powerful comfort in difficult times and teach us how to respond to adversity. What battles are you fighting?

Last year I wrote a book titled, The Power of a Humble Life. In the book I write that “Humble people are grateful people.” This is one of the main qualities that characterizes the lives of the humble. They recognize who deserves the credit for everything in their lives. True heartfelt thanksgiving is a way in which we humble ourselves. Are you cultivating a thankful heart today?

Philosopher Dallas Willard says that, “Meaning is not a luxury for us... It is a kind of spiritual oxygen that enables our souls to live.”

Do you live your life with a sense of real purpose? Does your life today have a deep sense of meaning? I’m convinced it’s very difficult to live a healthy, vibrant life without the thought, without the knowledge that my life does have a sense of meaning.

Are you making a lasting difference with your life? How do you want to be remembered when your life is over?

This message lays out three principles that clearly point to a life of excellence. I am convinced that if one lives in accordance with these principles, his or her life will flourish and prosper. Are you living a life of excellence?

The great philosopher Augustine once said, “Is not a happy life the thing that all desire, and is there anyone who altogether desires it not?”

Do I live this life with a sense of purpose? Does my life have real meaning to it? True happiness is a byproduct of living a meaningful life, but how does one find that meaning?

Listen in to find out!

If you knew that no one would ever know, what would you say that you fear? Or who? Would you get rid of those fears if you could? The fear of failure and the fear of rejection, along with other fears, can just cascade into our lives and create all kinds of problems. Then of course, we never talk about them. Because if I talked about my fears, what would you think about me?

Welcome to the first episode of Reliable Truth with Richard E Simmons III! Today Richard talks about our search to satisfy the desires of our heart. When you get or achieve the ultimate and it lets you down, it makes you wonder - if this doesn't satisfy me, what will?