Reliable Truth

What are the covenants that are found in the Bible? Today we're discussing the covenants of both the Old Testament and New Testament. In the Old Testament, there was limited access to God. The priests acted as mediators between God and the people. Because human beings inevitably failed to keep the law perfectly, animal sacrifices were required to atone for sin. And these sacrifices had to be r...

What does it mean for Christ, who is a part of the triune life of God, to make Himself known and present within the history of Israel? To speak about Jesus in the Old Testament raises all kinds of questions about His pre-existence. That's really a driving concern. Today we will discuss the ways in which the Old Testament patterns and figures for us what God will ultimately do in time in Christ...

Are you troubled with guilt? Can doing good things cleanse our hearts and give us the freedom we are searching for? No, the only way we can be forgiven is through the shed blood of Jesus for our sins. Some people hate the idea of the necessity to shed Christ's blood. But if you take out the theology of the cross, then Good Friday and the Easter message is meaningless. Looking in the book of Ge...

Why is Good Friday good? In this year's special message that Richard gives each year on Good Friday, he discusses Jesus' conversation with the two criminals The 3 hours of darkness that fell over the land The moment that Jesus finally died From Luke 23:39-43, we read: "One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself a...

What are you storing up for the future? In Bruce Wilkerson's book A Life God Rewards - Why Everything You Do Today Matters Forever , he tells of a week-long seminary class he taught on rewards in heaven. Every afternoon after the class, a special group of scholars met and debated every point. One day, a church historian from Romania asked the group, "What do the greats of church history s...

How can we understand the motive of our hearts? What about the motives of others' hearts? The apostle Paul spoke this wisdom in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” >>Watch on YouTub...

How does God reveal Himself in the Old Testament to us? And where does His Son Jesus peer through? John 1:18 tells us, "No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known." So Jesus, who is the Word, makes visible that which is not visible. We cannot see God in His essence. We would be consumed by that. But what is the Son's unique role...

How is the best way to respond to the storms of life when they come my way? And how can my response be pleasing to God? When most of us experience painful circumstances our response is, "How can I get this out of my life?" And, if you have something in your life that's causing you pain and suffering and you can get rid of it, then you should. But we're talking about things that w...

What questions do you have about evil? And most importantly, how does God address the problem of suffering and evil? We all will experience some degree of suffering in this lifetime. Some of you have probably already experienced some real suffering, because we're not immune to it. Even as believers, we are not immune to it. But it's important to know that there are no easy pat answers to t...

What is the purpose for the season of Lent? Jesus taught that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man, as a gift for us. The Sabbath creates rhythms that allow us to break away from the normal routines of life and work so that we can enter into worship and enter into praise. This rest is a kindness of God to humanity. It's not meant to be a burden. The practice of ob...

Do you look to God for guidance? Do you give much thought to His will for your life? If we don't seek God's will and guidance, why not? God invites us to ask for His guidance. However, to really grasp this, I must first ask this question - how does God really regard my life? What role does He desire to play in my life? Acts 17:24-26 tells us,  " The God who made the world and everythi...

How is the will of God working in our lives, even in the midst of deep suffering and pain? In our last episode we talked about living in God's moral will, which has to do with His design for our lives. Today we are discussing God's sovereign will. But if God is in control of everything, do humans really have free will? It's a good question. We're going to cover that in this episode...

What is the will of God for our lives and how do we find it? As you think back over your life, how many times do you remember saying the Lord's Prayer? Remember this part - "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done..." I often wonder, even in my own personal life, when we say The Lord's Prayer, are we just repeating it, or do we real...

How do we understand Jesus Christ in relationship to the Old Testament? Two points to remember about Jesus: We properly understand Jesus of Nazareth as the author of the Old Testament. He is the primary agent of writing and giving the scriptures of Israel. John 1:1 tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is the author. Not only is...

How important is truth in our society today? I've been reading  Truth Triumphs  by Bible teacher John McArthur, and have really gained some new insights into this, which kind of helped open the door to this study. MacArthur believes that all of life is about the truth. In fact, he believes it's the most important reality in the universe. Think about how the issue of truth is so important i...

Can we really love God if we don't know him? We have to set aside time in order to get to know Him, and also to love Him. And at the heart of our faith is learning how to trust God with our hearts and with our lives. If you want to be a healthy, vibrant, dynamic Christian whose life makes a difference, three things have to be taking place in your life: The inner life of devotion. deepening you...

What final words would you leave to shape the faith and direction of your children for a lifetime? Drawing from David’s last instruction to Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:9, this message emphasizes four enduring priorities to pass on to the next generation: deeply knowing God (not merely acknowledging Him), wholeheartedly serving Him, living with right motives that please God rather than self or other...

There is a thirst in the soul of every human being that seeks to be satisfied. King David writes in Psalm 42:1-2: "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?" Many people are not looking to God to satisfy their souls. Instead, they are driven and ruled by unsatisfied desires, desp...

What truly satisfies us?   Today we are looking into the book of Psalms. We can find in the Psalms the reality of our human fallenness, our human fickleness, our sinfulness, our need for redemption, and God's offer of love and forgiveness. The Psalms are like a mountain range–they are the heights. The Psalms are also a valley–they are the depths. In the Psalms you can be met in both places. Th...

How can we know God? Is He knowable? Yes He is! Today we're studying Jeremiah --- Many Bible scholars, including Tim Keller, view this as the most famous prophecy of the Bible. Though it was written almost 800 years before Christ was born, the New Testament writer Peter felt this passage was important enough that he wrote it in its entirety in Hebrews. God is knowable—He is not a god who is hi...

What is the season of advent? The season of advent is a season of waiting on the Lord. We're waiting. We recognize not everything is right, we're waiting for it to be reordered. And we find the people of God in Isaiah chapter 40 in a season of waiting. And what is it that they're having to wait for? Well, Isaiah tells us they're waiting for mishpat , a Hebrew word that means "...

In what way does God exist and is He present in the book of Esther? And what does it mean to live life faithfully when God's absence seems to be real? When Esther has finally become the queen and the crisis is now emerging in the book, her Uncle Mordecai says to her, "Who knows Esther, maybe you became Queen for such a time as this." That is a claim about God's providence, God&#3...

Why did Jesus work miracles? These miracles served to show love to hurting people, prove His divine nature, and affirm the authenticity of His teaching. The book of John tells us how Jesus replied to the Samaritan woman's question to him: "Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He wo...

Who or what are you trusting in?   Today Mark is discussing Isaiah 13-39. "Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it. For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host... . Strengthen the weak hands...say to those who have an anxious heart, 'Be strong; fea...

What is it like to be the caddy for the number one pro golfer in the world? Richard's guest is pro caddy Ted Scott, sharing his story of caddying for Scottie Scheffler, his faith journey and his calling to serve others. ⁠ >>Watch on YouTube Ted Scott has been the caddy for Scottie Scheffler since late 2021. Their partnership has been highly successful, resulting in 17 victories over four...