Reliable Truth

"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 me, it indicates in his mind that something is lacking in his life, that he's somehow falling short.Do you believe that your works, or lack of good works, could possibly keep you out of heaven? Many people, even in the church, just naturally believe that good works get them into heaven.Now, I contend if you don't get this right, you can spend the rest of your life, particularly the last years of your life, terrified by what the future holds. Terrified about eternity.The Bible teaches that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. This truth gives you assurance and not uncertainty. Today we're looking at how to understand God's grace.

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?

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 we have no control over.I think the problem comes when we are only interested in how this is going to turn out. God is more concerned with how you and I are going to turn out.Jesus spoke these truths to the crowds in Matthew 7:24-27,“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.” >>Watch on YouTube

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 this question of human suffering.We're not dealing with a problem to be solved. It's really more of a mystery that we need to understand. So this message is all about gaining understanding.The Lord spoke this through Isaiah, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9 >>Watch on YouTube

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 observing Lent is similar. We are not made for Lent. Lent was made for us - it is a season to be a gift to you and to me.Psalm 32:1-2 tells us, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." ⁠>>Watch on YouTube⁠Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew. Mark 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.

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 everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation." >>>Watch on YouTube

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.Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." >>Watch on YouTube

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 really mean it? Isaiah 30:18 tells us, "Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!" >>Watch on YouTube

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 Christ revealed in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ is the revealer of the Old Testament. Luke 24:27 tells us, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He (Jesus) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself."Jesus is describing Himself in the law, the prophets and the writings of the Old Testament, and He's inviting you into that act of discovery yourself. Jesus doesn't tell us exactly where to go—He simply lets us know that He is everywhere. He is the reason for life. He is tell us, "Pursue me and follow me there." >>Watch on YouTubeDr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew. Mark 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 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 in all of life. Not only do we have moral, spiritual and theological truth, we also have fixed truth in the physical world that we live in.Most rational people care about the laws of nature and science, and they realize the harm that violating those laws bring into their lives. But some of these same people are willing to split the reality of physical laws with the spiritual moral laws. So we have to ask, how do reasonable people do this?The Lord gave this reply to the Israelites through the prophet Isaiah, "Because you have said, 'We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, for we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.'" - Isaiah 28:15And in John 8:31-32, "To the Jews who had believed Jesus, He said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'” >>Watch On YouTube