Programs And Podcasts

Our son had the privilege of playing on a state championship football team in high school. And that’s a really big deal! They were the toast of the school, heroes of the town, for a while, until next year. Some of those heroes came back from college to visit the old alma mater, and you know what? They just weren’t a big deal anymore. Some new guys were the ones wearing the jerseys now and getting all the attention. Sorry, guys! Last year’s glory - yesterday’s news. What do you bet those guys will still be looking for someone to tell about the big game when they’re 70 years old?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Things That Really Last Really Matter.”

Forgotten victory, tarnished trophies—that’s the story of most of life’s great achievements, isn’t it? A big deal for a while but quickly faded. The title we fought for and got will be someone else’s before long, and it won’t even take a day to change the name on the door. All those achievements that mean so much at the time, all the rewards we wanted so long—gone so soon…except for one.

And it’s revealed in our word for today from the Word of God in Daniel 12:2-3. “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” Two eternal addresses—every person you’ve ever met, every person in your life will spend forever at one of these two eternal destinations—heaven or hell. The only thing they have in common is that they’re both “everlasting.”

That ultimate values-clarifier provides the backdrop now for Daniel 12:3, the path to a greatness that will never die. “Those who are wise shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever.” Tell me, what have you done in your life, or what can you do with the rest of your life that will give you a greatness that will make you “shine like the stars for ever and ever?” Only one thing. Lead people to God’s way, and in so doing, help them change their eternal address from hell to heaven. That’s ultimate greatness. It’s the kind of spiritual greatness your heart is hungry for.

What’s exciting about this greatness is it’s within everyone’s reach. You don’t have to be especially intelligent, or educated, or talented, or good-looking, or rich, or well-connected. This has nothing to do with your ability, only your availability for God to speak through you to explain what His Son did on the cross for the people you know. And, in fact, this helping people to go to heaven is the real reason why you are where you are. Jesus placed you there so people there could find Him. So, how are you doing with that? Your eternity-changing assignment is why you are who you are, why you’ve been through what you’ve been through, so you could talk to people like you and they’d listen to you when you tell them about what Jesus did for them.

I don’t know what you’re focusing your best energies on right now, your influence, your prayers, your time, your ambitions. But if it doesn’t impact eternity, it is too small to matter. That’s why the Bible says, “He who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30). I know you want to make a greater difference with the rest of your life than you’ve made until now, don’t you? There is no greater difference you could possibly make in the life of someone you care about than to help them be in heaven with you forever.

Every person you know who doesn’t know Jesus - in your family, every person you work with, every person you go to school with, that’s a future in hell or heaven. Be the one who tells them how they can be a future resident of Heaven. Introduce them to Jesus and your Bible says you’re going to shine like the stars, forever and ever!

Karl Marx and D.L. Moody. The contrast between these men could not be greater. These two men represent opposing worldviews that have competed throughout history—views that are very much alive today. Marxist ideas are surfacing all over the world, infiltrating even the most unlikely places here in America. Pastor emeritus of The Moody Church, Erwin Lutzer will join us to reveal the seduction and impact of Marxist ideology. He will showcase the difference between a man-centered worldview and a God-centered worldview, critiquing Marxism through the lens of the Bible while exploring the nature of God, humanity, and the consequences of ideas.

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The judgments of Revelation are sobering—but for believers, they are also a call to wake up, repent, and live with eternity in view.

In this urgent message, Dr. Michael Youssef turns to the opening of the seals in Revelation. False peace, war, famine, death, and divine wrath reveal that history is moving toward God’s appointed conclusion. Yet above every crisis stands Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain and the only One worthy to open the scroll.

Even in judgment, God remains sovereign. He preserves His people, hears the prayers of His saints, and calls His Church to remain faithful.

This episode calls believers to:

• Repent of worldly compromise,
• Reject false security,
• Trust Christ’s authority over history,
• Intercede with confidence,
• Stand firm through coming trials,
• Live with urgency as Christ’s return draws near.

The seals will be opened. God’s Word will be fulfilled. And the Lamb who was slain will reign.

Scripture Focus: Revelation 5; Revelation 6; Revelation 7;

If today’s teaching stirred a question, burden, or need for prayer, you don’t have to walk through it alone.

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Dirty diapers. Full trash cans. That argument neither of you is quite over. Turns out you said “I do,” not “I’ll never get on your nerves again.” So how do you love your spouse when it’s hard—when you’re hurt, misunderstood, halfway into your emotional turtle shell—and neither of you feels all that lovable? Quina Aragon, author of Love Has a Story, and her husband Jon unpack what God’s enduring love has to do with ordinary marriage when the warm fuzzies have left the building.

Show Notes and Resources

• Quina Aragon’s book, Love Has a Story: 100 Meditations on the Enduring Love of God.

• Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s book, Brokenness: The Heart God Revives.

• Thanks to the Christian Standard Bible for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at CSBible.com.
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Sometimes, it can seem as though we’re swimming against the current in our life of faith. If it isn’t opposition and even persecution for what we believe, it’s challenges in health, or finances, or relationships. How do we get through? How have others made it? Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie points to the Apostle Paul as our inspiration. We’re in the book of Acts considering the trial upon trial Paul faced, but the word of encouragement that pulled him through.

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Explore more resources from Pastor Greg Laurie, including daily devotionals and blogs, designed to answer your spiritual questions and equip you to walk closely with Christ.

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Financial loss can happen slowly or all at once. A business closes. A home is lost. An investment collapses. A scam wipes out savings built over decades.

And when money disappears, the loss can reach far beyond the balance sheet. It can affect our sense of security, our plans for the future, and even the way we understand God’s provision.

Scripture does not minimize those losses. It gives us permission to grieve them. But it also reminds us that while we can lose wealth, we cannot lose our true treasure.

Three stories—from Job, Horatio Spafford, and John Wesley—offer perspective for responding faithfully when financial loss comes.

Few people in Scripture understood loss as Job did. In a remarkably short span of time, his possessions, livelihood, and children were taken from him. Job grieved deeply. He tore his robe. He wept. He asked hard questions.

The Bible never suggests that faith requires us to pretend loss does not hurt. But Job also shows us something important about where his confidence ultimately rested. In Job 31:24–28, he reflects on the danger of placing his security in wealth:

“Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold? Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own? … If so, I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.”

That is especially significant because Job had been extraordinarily wealthy. Scripture describes him as the greatest of all the people of the East. His possessions were real blessings, and losing them was a real tragedy.

Yet even before they disappeared, Job understood that wealth was never worthy of carrying the weight of his hope. Financial loss often reveals what prosperity can conceal.

We may sincerely say that our security is in God, but a collapsing account balance can expose how much security we were actually drawing from that account.

So when loss comes, the first question may not be, How quickly can I get this money back? A better question may be, Lord, what have I been trusting to do what only You can do?

That does not mean we stop rebuilding. It means we rebuild on the right foundation.

Horatio Spafford knew something about rebuilding after loss.

He was a successful Chicago attorney and real estate investor who suffered significant financial losses around the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Then, two years later, tragedy struck at a level money could never measure.

Spafford’s wife and four daughters were crossing the Atlantic when their ship collided with another vessel. His wife survived, but all four daughters died.

Spafford soon crossed the Atlantic to join his grieving wife. In the midst of that devastating season, he wrote words Christians still sing today: “It is well with my soul.”

Notice what he did not say. He did not say everything was well. It wasn’t. Christian peace is not denying loss. It is the assurance that loss does not have the final word.

That distinction matters when you have been scammed, when a business fails, when retirement savings disappear, or when the house you thought you would grow old in is gone.

You can grieve what was lost without believing that you have lost everything.

That brings us to John Wesley's story. When Wesley was only five years old, the Epworth Rectory, where his family lived, caught fire. John became trapped on the second floor as the flames spread.

With no time for a ladder, neighbors climbed onto one another’s shoulders and pulled him through a window shortly before the roof collapsed.

The house and nearly everything in it were lost. But Wesley later remembered his father responding to the disaster by giving thanks that his children had survived. His