Reliable Truth

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...

Do our words have power? If we are honest with ourselves we would say yes. The book of Proverbs tells us: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” - Proverbs 18:21 James 3:9-10 tells us, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise a...

When crisis comes into your life, who do you turn to? Who do you trust? The question that God puts before His people again and again is, "Are you going to trust Me?" Where you going to put your hope and your trust when hardship comes? Psalm 4:35 says, "Some trust in horses, some trust in chariots, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." What does this mean? It's very...

What would life be like if there is no God? ​ In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon writes about the meaning of life. He says a lot of the same things over and over. He also uses this phrase, "life under the sun." When Solomon says "life under the sun," he's asking you to consider—what would life be like if there is no God? Solomon says that it leads to a life that'...

How can we make a lasting impact? We have been called to be lights in a dark world, ambassadors for Christ and now we're called to be salt. Matthew 5:13 tells us, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." How can we be salt to the world? The a...

How do you influence people? What are you trying to influence them to do? Are you trying to influence them for good? Many influencers today are just really trying to entertain you. They're trying to draw a crowd and promote products. And they get paid by the brands that they promote. Influencers can change a person's behavior, their beliefs, their attitudes or outcomes without the use of d...

Can we understand our own hearts? What about the hearts of others? Today's episode is from Isaiah 30:9-11 "For these are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. They say to the seers, 'See no more visions!' And to the prophets, 'Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave th...

Why am I here? For what purpose have I been made? These 2 questions rightly demand an acknowledgment of the Creator. He exists. He's not just the projection of my own wishes and fantasies. There is a Creator and He's created humanity for a purpose. And what is that purpose? "In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will...

"I sure I sure hope I'm getting into heaven. I'm working hard at it." Have you felt this way or heard others say this? I see this with men all the time. There's this hint of uncertainty. Whenever you hear someone saying, "I'm really working at it. I'm trying hard. I hope I get there."—what does it tell you about that person's perspective on salvation? To...

How do you respond in when life gets really tough? Jerry Leachman says to remember that we're just a baby in a basket. What does that mean, "a baby in a basket?" When Moses was just a few months old, Pharoah, the most powerful man in the world, had a hit order on his life. Moses' family put him in a little frail reed basket and set him afloat in the crocodile-infested Nile River....

Are you looking for wisdom with your finances? Today's Bible study opens with Luke 3:1-14, where John the Baptist is calling people to repentance and changed hearts. Several groups of people ask John what they should do—first the crowds, then the tax collectors, and then the soldiers. John answered in Luke 3:8,  "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance..." then he addresses each gro...

What does it mean to have God's favor? There's an important phrase in the Bible that I'd like to look at today - the phrase is God's favor . I'm not sure that we think about this much or even understand what it is. Psalm 90:17 tells us, "Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and do confirm for us the work of our hands., yes, confirm for us the work of our hands." The ESV version of this ve...

Today Mark begins teaching in the first chapter of Isaiah. The first word of this titanic of a book is "vision." Isaiah is seeing something that goes beyond the normal activity of seeing. You and I are looking at the world around us, but seeing God's perspective on the world is a whole deeper level. We're talking about the difference between looking and seeing . The book of Isaia...

How has God made Himself real to you? Celebrate what Jesus is doing throughout the nation, and rise up to answer His call on your life. To serve the poor, heal the broken, free the captives, and bring joy to those in need. Today Richard is talking with Pastor Chuck Reich about his own faith journey, leadership and counseling with men at The Center. >>Watch on YouTube Pastor Chuck Reich is a...

Are you in a painful place in your life today? Do you feel like the wheels are coming off? Do you feel bitter toward God? Whenever you feel God may be far from you, whenever you feel the wheels are coming off in your life, choose to praise God. The worse it gets, praise God. And mathematically, God has to draw near because He always inhabits the praise of His saints. Don't question Him, don&#3...

What comes to mind when you hear the word confrontation? I believe confrontation is one of the most important practices of life. It's what the apostle Paul did. What we're talking about is a willingness to confront the truth. We are called to confront the truth as it relates to problems that we face in our lives. In Scott Peck's book  The Road Less Travelled , he writes: ​​ "What...