Reliable Truth

What is the desire of your heart for this new year? Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries joins us today with a message to fuel your passions for 2023. How to cultivate an inner circle of wise people that can strengthen you and give clarity to your life. Most men don't even have an inner circle. They just have acquaintances. You need a wing man. If you don't have one, then pray for one. If you've got one, then make sure you're getting regular time with him. Go. What kind of men are we going to be from here on in? You'd better get in a group. You'd better have a wing man on Omaha beach. How in the world did the troops get off of Omaha Beach? They banded themselves into small groups of men. They designated leaders and they got off the beach because they were working together. They realized there were only two kinds of men on the beach - dead men and men who were going to get off the beach. Get with some brothers who love Jesus Christ and are serious. Iron sharpens iron. Your fear will go down. They will buffet evil in your life. They will influence you from doing unwise things, and your personal power and your potential for godliness will increase. Find a wingman.The last thing is we must hear God and obey Him. In Psalm 81, it says, "My people would not heed my voice. Israel would have none of me, so I gave them over..." There it is. He abandoned them. "I gave them over to their own stubborn heart to walk in their own council. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways." Maybe you've lost faith. God can turn your life around.Join Jesus Christ. Put His jersey on and get out on the battlefield with the men. Offer your service to the Lord. Whatever that would mean, He'll tell you, but you've got to be all in now. Jerry 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.

Happy New Year! What are your goals for 2023? Are there areas in your life that you want to change?Let's say you play golf, and you decide to go take a golf lesson. The first thing they will do is to film your golf swing. And they do it for one primary reason: to determine what are the flaws in your swing. The only way you're going to get better, the only way you're going to transform your golf game is to recognize your flaws. And here's what's interesting about this - almost every time you take a golf lesson, they point out your flaws. And you are clueless that the flaw exists. We are truly blind to our flaws.The question is, are we willing to take a good hard look at ourselves? That's a very difficult thing for a lot of men, but I believe self-examination is critical if we truly desire to change course and walk down the path that leads to wisdom.

*RE-AIR EPISODE* Merry Christmas! Today’s podcast is taken a Christmas blog that I originally wrote several years ago. I share one of my favorite stories that illustrates the ultimate reason Jesus came into the world.I hope that as we enter this Christmas season, and get caught up in the pageantry and celebration of His birth, that we would not forget that God sent His Son into the world to rescue us from the domain of darkness and from the wrath to come.

How does wisdom impact our lives? Well, it impacts the decisions and the choices we make in life. Wisdom changes people. It impacts not only what we see, but what we choose. This is of critical importance because our lives end up being the sum of the choices we make as we walk down the path of life.Your life today is the sum of the choices that you've made over a lifetime.The way of wisdom is a path, where you become wise by assuming a certain set of daily practices. As you adopt these practices, these disciplines, and do them over and over again, eventually you become wise. Wisdom is not a door, as most of us would hope it is where we can turn a key and find some secret knowledge. Wisdom is a long, patient quest. It does not come quickly.How must I change my daily practices so that I'm going down a path that leads to a deeper relationship with God? This is the heart of wisdom.

Dr. Mark Gignilliat from Beeson Divinity School, joins us today with a special Advent message from the book of Isaiah.Do you feel overwhelmed by the busyness of the Christmas season? And what about all the chaos of the world? Just like the story of Charlie Brown's Christmas, things don't seem to be right in terms of what this season is all about. But let me just encourage you to find, by God's grace, some time for reflection, some space, to think and to pray. To open your heart and your mind to the work of the Lord to draw you back to himself again. Because our ultimate identity is wrapped up in this tension that we live in, namely, we're in the old age, but we're already citizens of a heavenly kingdom.Advent does two things for us as a season. Advent pushes us back in time, but it also pushes us to the future because just like the prophets, we too live in the in-between times right now. We're in the old age, and we're awaiting the new age - but there's an overlap. Some call it the "already" and the "not yet." We're caught in the "already" because we know that Christ has come and brought his kingdom into the world. But we also know that it's "not yet" because that kingdom hasn't been completed yet.This overlap helps us understand the tensions that we live in as Christians. For example, knowing that Jesus has come, and yet also recognizing that Jesus is absent. We feel the reality of Jesus' absence. We pray during this season of advent, Lord Jesus return again. Advent is a gift to us, to call us into a season of repentance, of reflection and of renewal. 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. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children. Watch video on YouTube here

Explore the concepts of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom through stories. Gaining wisdom through understanding and making choices. Redefining masculinity and challenging societal messages. The impact of body image on femininity and mental health. The importance of storing treasures in heaven. Seeing life through the lens of truth.

The podcast explores the importance of wisdom in our lives and relationships. It highlights how seemingly harmless choices can lead to marital infidelity and emphasizes the need to consider wisdom in decision-making. The significance of light in perceiving spiritual reality and making wise choices is discussed, along with the message of finding wisdom through Jesus Christ.

In your eyes, what is a good man? To be caring? Honest? To put others' needs ahead of your own? Now, what does it mean to be a real man? Many men would eagerly answer: "a real man takes charge, takes risks." Some might say "a real man walks like a man, talks like a man, and never cries." There's a real disconnect between the description of a good man and of a real man. Many men today are confused about what it means to be a man. I believe we have false ideas on what it means to be masculine. In today's podcast I discuss some of the traps men fall into, like the fear of failure or what I call the performance trap. These things steal our joy and weigh us down. And guys, if we fathers don’t know this, what do we teach our sons about manhood?Who is the most important person in your life?How would it change you if Jesus were the most important person in your life? I would tell you that it would change you radically, and would set you free from the performance trap and put you on a path to becoming Christlike.

Exploring the challenge of reconciling the exclusivity of Christianity with religious pluralism, various beliefs about afterlife in different religions, and the importance of considering spiritual authority. The chapter also addresses the dangers of subjective beliefs and the need for religious exclusivity.

Who is caring for the caregivers? Today Richard's guest is Phil Reddick, along with a panel of speakers, each giving their perspective on decision making, coping with these issues, grieving, and how to prepare for your loved ones during this critical time. This special seminar was hosted by The Center and YBL 2nd Half. Here is our panel of speakers:Robert Atherton - Sales Executive with Temenos, who has gone through care-giving and loss with both sets of parentsChristy Baynes - President and Care Manager of LifeCare Solutions, Inc, who deals with and helps others with these issues daily.Bill Nolan - The Alabama Elder Care Law Firm, LLC, who will discuss thinking through questions of legality and finances.Loring Muir - retired banker, who lost his wife to dementia and just recently remarried.Watch on YouTube hereFind out more about The Center: https://thecenterbham.org/ More about YBL 2nd Half: https://ybl.org/2nd-half-ministry