Reliable Truth

What are you living for? A few years ago USA Today did a poll, asking their readers this one question, “If you could ask God one question and get an answer, what would that question be?” And interestingly, the overwhelming number one question that the readers answered was ‘What on earth am I here for?’ Why am I alive? Why do I exist? 

What are you living for? Because the way we answer that question will ultimately determine if we will ever find meaning in life.

French novelist and Nobel prize winner Albert Camus once said, “The fundamental question about life is the question of meaning. Anything else is secondary. Until the question of meaning is dealt with, I cannot give answers to the other questions of life.” 

I think Camus is telling us that the question of meaning is the most pivotal question in life. Life can be full of meaning... but it can only truly be found in Jesus Christ.

How much of your life have you wasted trying to impress others? How much different would your life be if you were delivered from the fear and worry about what others think of you? Today we're looking again at what Solomon has to say about our work in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Solomon says this, “What does the worker gain from his toil? I’ve seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the heart of men.” Solomon is saying that our lives are linked to eternity because we are eternal beings. And he says, because of that, we desire a permanence to our lives. We would like to think that our lives are going to have a permanence and a stamp and a significance in this life that I’ve lived.

If Jesus were standing before us today, and if we asked Him to make a comment about our work and success and the fruit of our labor, I wonder what would He say to us? I believe that out of love, He might tell us the same thing He told his disciples. Now Jesus always told them not what they wanted to hear, what they needed to hear. And this to me is a powerful, powerful verse from Mark 8:36, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

If you could live your life over again, would you do anything differently? As I meet with men every day, I find that there are so many men who live with the pain of regret. 

Today's podcast is about the book of Ecclesiastes - a philosophical book about the sorrows, the regrets and the life of King Solomon. You see, he turned away from his faith in his latter years, and he turned away to false God gods and to idols of the many wives that he had taken from foreign lands. And as he writes this book, he often stops and looks back, and he asked this one question, "Can man find meaning in life if there is no God?" I encourage you to join me for today's talk.

As we approach this Christmas, remember the words of the hymnist, "Joy to The World, the Lord has come, let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing."

What gives meaning to life? How do we treasure God and people? What is God's unique purpose for me, and then how do I wisely invest my life?

Today my guest is Ken Boa, President of Reflections Ministries. In this final message on Transitioning Well, Ken will give us tools on how to live wisely; to give us a sense of encouragement, destiny and an understanding of where our lives are meant to be.

God is ever seeking to transfer our affections and hopes from the temporal to the eternal. The principles in today's message can help you become a person who is able to walk in this world with composure and clarity, so that you can approach relationships out of the overflow of Christ in you.

Today my guest is Ken Boa, President of Reflections Ministries. This is Part 2 of his 3 part series on Transitioning Well – Living this day as if it's your last.

Do you think it's possible for a person to miss his life, like a person that misses a plane? Yes! I can live for the future, thinking if I can accomplish this or that, then I'll be happy, I'll be content. Guess what happens if you are among the rare people who actually achieved that thing you were really hoping to do? You’ll discover it’s not all it was cracked up to be, that the happiness was only temporary. 

So, instead of living in the future, we are called to live in the now and to enjoy His presence in the present tense, to live fully and to recalibrate and to have an understanding that God’s presence in our present is the idea of practicing His presence in the now. You only have one day and that’s this day.

Most of your impact is hidden in this life. But there is a purpose, there is a hope and there is a calling. And my prayer for all of us is that we would seek Him out, ask Him to guide us, empower us and become more like Him.

Today my guest is Ken Boa, President of Reflections Ministries. He is teaching a 3 part series on Transitioning Well - How to take the greatest years of your life, when you have the wisdom, the relationships and the resources, to impact the world.

Ken says, “Age conspires with God to take away our temporal hope.” 

Think about that again: “Age conspires with God to take away our temporal hope,” forcing you, against your will, to begin to think about the fundamental questions. How much time is there? Why am I on this planet? Because if you really think about it, you know that you’re an eternal being having an earthbound embodied experience.

In fact, your greatest opportunities this day will not be in your calendar. It’s the difference between kairos and chronos. Join us to learn more!

Are you walking through a difficult time in your life?

Today Richard‘s guest is Tom Bradford, President of the National Christian Foundation of Alabama. Tom is sharing his personal journey of faith while battling terminal cancer. His story is powerful, full of love and hope. We hope his message inspires and strengthens you today!

Do you have the right kind of wealth? In other words are you rich in the things that really matter? Do you possess spiritual riches?

The word content literally means "to be full, to be satiated, to be satisfied."  Jesus said in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst." When Jesus said this, he’s not referring to our bodies, He’s referring to our souls. 

Jesus is saying, I’m what your heart is longing for, but the cost is great. Surrender your life to Me, He’s saying. Set aside all those otherworldly things you go dashing after and put Me first. He says because when you do, you will suddenly find you have everything you’ve been looking for in life. And I think this is the key to contentment, putting Christ first. Everything else is secondary.

St. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You."

Where do you find contentment in life? I believe that true contentment has nothing to do with what you have or don't have. Contentment is in the state of your heart. I believe there are three sins, or vices, that have a huge impact on our lives. They rob us of true contentment. 

What do you think these three sins might be? I believe they are pride, greed, and envy. The first reason they’re so deadly is that they’re so hard to detect in your life. Most people don’t think they’re guilty of any of these. I mean, how many people do you ask, “Are you greedy?” Nobody thinks they’re greedy. I’ve got control over the issue of money. Today I want to provide you with an antidote for these vices and how to find real contentment in your heart and life. 

Think about the life that you could live if you had contentment... If pride, greed and envy can be somewhat nullified in our lives.

In Part 2 next week we'll look at the secret to finding true contentment.

There is one thing that each of us need - if you have this, it will make your life.

Tragedies and heartbreak will come, but if you don't have this - you probably won't do well. I'm talking about deep friendship.

At its center, Christianity is about relationships - our relationship to God and our relationships with people.

What kind of friend are you? I believe there are 4 levels of friendship: an acquaintance, a team member, a social friend, and then what I call a "franchise player friend" - this friend is closer than a brother. A level 4 friend is loyal for life. Whatever it takes they are with you.

Yet, many people don't have a single level 4 friendship.

So how do I get Level 4 friends? Jesus said that whatever measure I give, that's what I will get. So to get a Level 4 friend, I have to BE a Level 4 friend. Be the kind of friend that you long for others to be to you. Love the people you're supposed to love with everything you've got. 

Above all other friends, God, the King of glory is offering you His hand of friendship. How do you walk away from that? Your call.

Today's podcast is from my good friend Jerry Leachman. I hope you enjoy it!