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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 group with a specific way to produce that fruit.

It is interesting to note that each of John's answers to have to do with money and possessions. May we learn and apply this wisdom in our financial priorities and choices. >>Watch on YouTube

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 verse says "establish the work of our hands."

This Psalm was written by Moses (the only psalm in the Bible written by him), and is a prayer, asking the Lord to bring His favor and blessing over the Israelites' life and work.

How should we seek God's favor as well? >>Watch on YouTube

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 Isaiah is a revelation. This book is not an act of Isaiah's own self-discovery. This book is a vision. And it's built off of that.

So, when you are reading Isaiah, you're reading the revealed word of the living God as He understands the world and His promises to humanity. >>Watch on YouTube

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 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 featured podcaster on Overcomers TV. This inspiring network features everyday people and ministries across America who are putting God's love in action. Tune in to Overcomers TV on your favorite app or streaming platform. This episode originally aired on Overcomers TV ⁠here.⁠

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't curses him. Praise Him. And He will draw near to you in. In your worst pain and in your worst moment, you can make it your finest hour if you'll praise God.

Then use that comfort you've received from God to give your life away. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:3-6

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer."

Jerry Leachman of ⁠⁠⁠Leachman Ministries⁠⁠⁠ is a favorite speaker at The Center's events. Along with being an associate Chaplain in The NFL for many years, Jerry has done ministry in Guatemala, Scotland, Russia, Europe and Africa as well as all over the U.S. He and his wife Holly have been on Young Life Staff and continue to be involved with Young Life here and also internationally.

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 makes life difficult is that the process of confronting and solving problems is a painful one. Yet it is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure.

Hardship is a part of the human condition. But if you're going to be a healthy man with healthy relationships in a healthy business life, you've got to be willing to be confrontational.

How are we to live in today's secular culture? In the book of Acts, what was Paul's approach to the pagan people of Greece?

Most of the people of Athens were well educated, but they were also pagan, and worshipped many Greek gods.

Paul's approach to his sermon to the people of Athens was very consistent with what he taught about going out into the world and dealing with a secular pagan culture—how to deal with those outside of the faith.

Paul did not argue or try to convince people. He reasoned with them, starting with what they already knew. 

Acts 17:16-20 "While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.”

They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”

Do only good people go to heaven? No. Good people don't go to heaven—forgiven people go to heaven.

Think about these attributes of God: He's loving, He's merciful, He's holy, He's full of grace. He's all powerful. He's just, He's fair. And that's called the theology of glory. And it's all true of God, and it makes people feel good about Him.

But think about these other biblical words: sin, wrath, the cross, crucifixion, the blood of Christ, sacrifice, repentance, those words are called the theology of the cross. I think a lot of people find it offensive.

In fact, there are a number of liberal theologians who really hate the idea of Christ's blood paying for our sins. They call it slaughterhouse religion. But if you take the cross, the crucifixion and the blood out of Christianity, it is meaningless because everything in the New Testament revolves around the forgiveness of our sins.

There are no good people. We're all sinners. But this is what's so interesting. God has made it clear that the forgiveness of our sins is only possible through the shed blood of an acceptable substitute.

Think about that for a minute. Without that substitute who bears the sin, we bear it. We bear it ourselves. And so today, I really want to consider the shed blood of Christ.

A great place to start is 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved is the power of God."

Looking for wisdom in your family relationships?

The book of Deuteronomy is rich with guidance, focusing on two realities: our tendency to forget, and our call to remember.

Deuteronomy was given to the Hebrew people as a teaching tool—to give them a kind of ordering of their own knowledge and understanding of their place in the world before each other and before their God, so that they can teach it to the next generation.

There is a very familial generational dynamic that's at work in the book of Deuteronomy. Godly instruction to enable us to flourish, enjoy and leave a legacy of faith to those going after us.

Deuteronomy 5:32-33 gives us this call to action from the Lord:
“So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.” >>Watch on YouTube⁠

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.

Are you experiencing true joy? Richard's guest Mark Gignilliat continues in his discussion of Psalm 100.
"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." - Psalm 100 >>Watch on YouTube

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.