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 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

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 your relationship with God. The intellectual life of rationality—developing your mind and the ability to reason and think. The outer life of service to others.Life moves fast. Bodies age. But your soul can still grow strong, resulting in a vibrant inward life. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:16: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”You were made to know God, flourish spiritually, live with purpose, and pass your faith on to others. ​​As this new year unfolds, how will you seek Him daily and let Him renew you from the inside out? >>Watch on YouTube

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 others, andactively seeking Him with the promise that He will be found.Through Scripture, illustration, and personal reflection, this study challenges believers to examine their relationship with God, reminding us that spiritual growth and blessing flow from intentional pursuit and obedience—and that we are always only as close to God as we choose to be.So if your life and legacy were distilled into a single message, would it point others toward truly knowing, serving, and seeking God?I Chronicles 28 9: "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, he will let you find Him. But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever."

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, desperately looking everywhere they can in hopes of finding satisfaction, turning away from the fountain of living water, the only water that can satisfy the thirst of their souls. We then come up with our own strategy for life. So we come up with ways to make our own cisterns, thinking we can fill those cisterns and we'll find satisfaction and a quenching of the thirst of the soul.But what does God tell us? He says that the problem with human cisterns is that they're all broken. They leak. They can't truly quench the thirst of the soul.Today we will discuss three tendencies that seem to creep into a man's life when this happens. As you listen today, think about your own life and how this applies to you.

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. The book of Psalms is waiting to meet you in the instability and the unfixed character of your own life.Of all the major themes of the Bible, here in the Psalms you can find the revelation of God and His goodness.John Donne, the great 17th century English preacher, poet and Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, famously said that the Psalms are manna for the soul.For us to understand who we really are requires a knowledge of God and knowing who God is. This in turn sheds a spotlight on who we really are. Studying the Psalms gives this to us.Dr. 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 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 hidden. He reveals Himself so that He can be known.

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 "judgment," or "law. They're waiting for justice, and they're waiting for the fulfillment of these promises that come in Isaiah 40:28-31Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. >>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.