Reliable Truth

What's so wrong with wanting more? To want something that someone else has? In Ecclesiastes 4:4, Solomon tells us what he observed about this: "And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." >>Watch on YouTube

As we continue studying the book of Ecclesiastes, we see that Solomon goes through some really interesting times in his life. He experiences a dark period where he thinks about life as if there is no God, and what that would mean. I recently heard the famous song by John Lennon called Imagine. Lennon sings: "Imagine there is no heaven. It's easy if you try. No hell below us above us only...

Why are we always looking for more? It seems as if we are always looking over the horizon for something more or different than what we have, regardless of how much we have. Do we believe that more is better? Could it be that materialism is not so much about things, but more about the heart? Perhaps we believe more is always better because we believe that life is linear. From Ecclesiastes 2, Solomo...

What is your life all about? What are you trying to accomplish? If we are not asking these kind of questions, we may not be living very thoughtfully. And where can we find lasting enjoyment? Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 says, "There is nothing better for a man than to eat and to drink and to tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat an...

Today's episode is Jerry Leachman's message from our recent Men's Breakfast, a great event with almost 400 in attendance! He shared from his new book,  Brave Hearts, Strong Arms . Jerry read from Deuteronomy 6:6-7, "  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 ro...

Join Richard for Part 2 of his interview with former chaplain Jerry Leachman on his brand new book  ⁠ Brave Hearts, Strong Arms ⁠ . Drawn from years of heartfelt talks, Jerry Leachman blends the grit of the game with the truth of Scripture. Forty‑six short chapters, written to be read one locker‑room talk at a time. This isn't a book about being a perfect man. It's a book about being a com...

Join Richard in this 2-part interview with former chaplain Jerry Leachman on his brand new book  Brave Hearts, Strong Arms . Drawn from years of heartfelt talks, Jerry Leachman blends the grit of the game with the truth of Scripture. Forty‑six short chapters, written to be read one locker‑room talk at a time. This isn't a book about being a perfect man. It's a book about being a committed...

What is it that really drives us as human beings? We really have two primary dimensions: 1) The physical dimension - our bodies, and 2) The spiritual dimension - our souls. So every human body has a soul, and that soul thirsts for God. But many of us don't realize that we yearn for Him. Psalm 42:1-2 tells us,  "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, God. My soul...

How should we be sharing our faith in the public square? Paul gives us some great instruction about dealing with with those outside the faith. In Colossians 4:5-6 he says, "Conduct yourself with wisdom towards outsiders (those outside of the faith). Let your speech be with grace, seasoned as it were with salt, so that you know how to respond to each person." I think Paul is following his...

Once you realize how big God is, is anything too hard for Him? What's harder for God to pick up one pound or a million pounds? Neither one. Nothing's hard for God. Remember that when you say your prayers. Preach to yourself. If you take all the teachings of Christ, they can be distilled down to three ways you can spend your life: You can just waste it. It's like the Lord's given yo...

What happens when we truly understand the power and privilege of prayer? In this encouraging and challenging message, Richard's guest, Jerry Leachman calls believers to take their prayer lives seriously—not as a religious exercise, but as direct access to the God who created and rules the universe. Drawing from Scripture, personal experiences, and powerful stories from history, Jerry reminds u...

What kind of friend are you? I'm going to talk today about something that affects our everyday life. If you have it or if you don't have it, it'll make you or break you. I'm talking about friendship. The entire Old Testament and the entire New Testament is all about friendship, not religion. Christ is not looking for Christians or religious people—He's looking for friends. In t...

How important is our human sexuality? In Chuck Colson's last book The Final Word , he writes "Christianity is becoming more and more unpopular in our culture, primarily as a result of conflicts over sexuality. This is where modern human beings do not want to be in any way restrained. Most of the Bible they accept; they just do not like the way it governs sexual passion." Conflicts ov...

What gives your life lasting significance? In this encouraging Bible study, we explore what Scripture reveals about God's purpose for every believer and how our value is found not in achievements, status, or circumstances, but in our relationship with Christ. The word glory is an interesting word in the Old Testament. It comes from a Hebrew word, "kabod" , which means "importanc...

What does it mean to have a living faith? In the Bible, Paul and James began at different places in the Christian life. Paul begins at the beginning, when a person is considering to become a Christian and enters into a relationship with Christ. Paul says, it happens by putting your faith in Him. It's by grace through faith. And in James chapter two, after you've entered that relationship b...

Are you building a strong foundation for your life? It is important to know that everyone is building a house with their life. We are constructing a strategy that we believe will best prepare us for the future. Yet no one is exempt from hardship or pain. The good news is that we can be prepared when they do come. Philip Yancey says the best way to prepare for the storms of life is to work on a str...

We are re-airing this popular episode by Richard's guest, Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries Scripture tells us that God always saves for Himself a remnant. What about you? What about me? Are you part of the remnant?   Jerry's message is a call 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 spu...

Today Richard's guest is Norman Jetmundsen, retired attorney and active member of The Center's Bible Studies. The faith of C.S. Lewis can be summed up in his own words: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” ― C.S. Lewis Norman Jetmundsen is a retired attorney and graduate of the University o...

What is the source of love? And what is belovedness? Belovedness engenders love. If you are actively cherished altruistically by another, despite all of your own shortcomings and feelings of loss and history, that spontaneously and inevitably creates the fruit of love. 1 John 4:9-10 tells us,  "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so t...

Today Richard's guest is Russell Levenson, author and retired Episcopal minister. Russ shares: The longer I live, I've found I'm still kind of turning things over to the Lordship of Christ. And that is tough. And that requires humility. What am I doing with my time? How am I interacting with others? Does my relationship with others speak of one who walks in Christ? Prayer is the central avenue God...

In Parts 1 and 2, we've been studying verses in the Bible that begin with this phrase, "Do not be deceived..." Why would God give us this warning? I believe it is because there are certain areas in our lives as human beings where we can easily be deceived. Our lives can easily be corrupted by false ideas. Today we'll study the last of the fourth of these verses - Galatians 6:7, ...

In honor of Memorial Day, we are re-airing this popular episode. 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...

Who or what gets your time? Someone shared with me that they once asked Coach Bear Bryant, "Coach, with all these national championships, is there anything you would've done differently?" He said, "Yeah, I missed my family." My friend said, "You mean you were so busy, you kind of missed them while you were working?" Coach Bryant answered, "No, I missed it.&qu...

Are the ideas that we adhere to true or false? There are four verses in the Bible that begin with this phrase, "do not be deceived." Three of these come from Paul, and one comes from James. They all have to do with developing false ideas. They are saying to make sure you're not being deceived into believing ideas that that are contrary to the teachings of Christ. His teaching is base...

Are we aware of the ideas we have about life? Can ideas be dangerous? We live in a culture that gives little thought to our ideas. And whether we are aware of it or not, we all live with a certain set of ideas. Jesus spoke this in Luke 11:33-36, “No one lights a lamp and puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the la...