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Mark continues his study in Colossians chapter 1:
"...The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." >>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.

What does true freedom look like in our lives?
The parable of the prodigal son is what I consider one of the most significant of all of Jesus' parables, taken from Luke 15:11-32.

I discussed this parable with some of the older men in our Bible studies, and several of them said they didn't like this parable because the older brother gets "the short end of the stick."

Today we are focus on the younger brother, but when we get to the older brother you'll see that both brothers play significant roles that we can all relate to. >>Watch on YouTube

Do you need encouragement in your prayer life? We are studying another powerful prayer of Paul to believers from the first chapter of Colossians.

Paul is talking about a knowledge that goes deep into the very fabric of who you are in your affections, your feelings and in your mind.

What is this knowledge—this deep intimacy with the Almighty that he's calling us to? It's the knowledge of what God's will is:

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light.

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." >>Watch on YouTube

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Mark is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

Where does true belief begin? True belief is an issue of the heart, not the head.

Many people believe that a God of love cannot also be a God of wrath. Think about that. But author and pastor Tim Keller says there is no love without wrath.

In the book Hope Has Its Reasons Becky Pippert writes, "Think how we feel when we see someone we love ravaged by unwise actions or relationships. Do we respond with benign tolerance as we might toward strangers? Far from it. Anger isn't the opposite of love—hate is, and the final form of hate is indifference."

Join us as we study Luke 16:19-31 and see what Jesus had to say about Hell. >>Watch on YouTube

Is Hell real?

In the past most people did not have a difficult time with the idea of hell. But modern American sentimentalism is one indication that people today tend to care only for the softer virtues of God like love and tenderness. They have forgotten the hard virtues of holiness, righteousness and justice.

So as we seek to come to terms with the hard issues like hell, we must consider the question, "What is my spiritual authority?"

Is my spiritual authority God's Word - the Bible - or is my spiritual authority my feelings and my sentiment? >>Watch on YouTube

How much is enough?

This question can apply to many different areas of our lives, but today we're looking at this question in regard to money and wealth.

Other than theological issues like faith and God's kingdom, the number one issue that Jesus addresses in the Bible is the issue of money and wealth.

He doesn't condemn wealth. He doesn't say that money is inherently evil, but Jesus sternly warns us against the dangers of the love of money. >>Watch on YouTube

Have you given much thought to retiring someday?

Richard's guest is Phil Reddick leading this seminar on how to maximize your impact as you think about retirement or are already retired.

Meet our guest panelists:

• Mark and Julie Edwards - Mark is with McGriff Insurance Services. Julie is a full-time homemaker.
• Felix "Tank" Tankersley - Tank is a Senior Wealth Advisor at BMSS Wesson Wealth Solutions.
• Roger F. Cartwright, Architect - Roger is a retired Architect and now a consultant with Cartwright Consulting

>>Watch on YouTube

FinishWell is a ministry of The Center, and is led by Phil Reddick. This seminar was co-hosted by Young Business Leaders (YBL) and Women Business Leaders (WBL).

What kind of man are you? What kind of man am I?

Jesus' well-known "Beatitudes" from His Sermon on the Mount contains some of His most vital promises to us. These verses are Jesus' formula for how to have a successful life and a successful eternity:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." - Matthew 5:6 >>Watch on YouTube

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.

Are you looking to strengthen your prayer life? Join Richard's guest Dr. Mark Gignilliat as he teaches on the prayers of the apostle Paul.

Paul's prayer to believers, from the first chapter of Colossians:
"...Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.

In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace."

Dr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew, and also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham, AL. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

Did Jesus have an opinion on money and wealth?

There are five primary teachings given by Jesus in the Bible.

• The Kingdom of God
• God the Father
• Faith
• The nature of Satan and the power of sin
• Life and everyday living, money and wealth

Jesus says a lot about money—He says a lot of hard things about it as well. Why do you think he taught on money and wealth? I believe one of the main reasons is because we struggle with money, primarily because it is hard to see money's real effect on our lives. Like the concept of greed; it seems easy for us to see the problem in other people's lives but not our own.

Jesus tells us that a man's life is not measured by the abundance of his possessions. Yet too many people—men particularly—find their identity in what they possess because we think our possessions tell the world that we have power and influence and prestige.

⁠In Luke 12:13-34, Jesus tells a chilling parable about the rich fool:

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”

Then He said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And He told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.' And I’ll say to myself, 'You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”>>Watch on YouTube