Scripture tells us that God always saves for Himself a remnant. What about you? What about me? Are you part of the remnant?  Jerry Leachman of Leachman Ministries joins us today with a message calling us to prayer, commitment to Christ and to have a deep, fervent love for our fellow man. Like Ambrose's Band of Brothers, come together and spur each other on to love and good deeds. Be on the "battlefield", share your faith by loving people, caring for people. Be in each other's lives. We are the Lord's remnant. Instead of praying for God to get you out of hard places, pray that whatever's ahead of you, that God would help you be faithful and persevere to the end. 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. Watch on YouTube here

Isn't it interesting to think about how we let other people have such an influence on how we live our lives. I think we would all agree that the people in our lives are important to us. In fact, relationships are the substance of life. We were meant to be with other people. But, am I living my life to please others? Or am I living for the approval of God? I can't do both. You cannot truly live to please and approve Christ and live to win the approval of man at the same time. One has to be above the other. Today we're discussing a single verse, Galatians 1:10, to learn how to find true freedom from the fears that drive us to comparison, envy, jealousy and loneliness. Watch on YouTube here

Dr. Mark Gignilliat from Beeson Divinity School joins us again, this time with a message from the book of Psalms. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one book of the Bible with you, which one would you choose? For me, I think it would be the Psalms. They are rich. There’s a treasure trove here of insight into what it means to live all of life In God’s presence. Now, let me stop and just talk about that for a second. The Psalms are inviting us, and let me up the ante, the Psalms are actually commanding us to live all of life in God’s presence. From mountaintop moments, to the valley of despair, from confusion, to reorientation, in moments where you need wisdom, in moments when you are rejoicing, in moments when you are giving thanks, the Bible and the Psalms are instructing us that God wants all of our lives lived in His presence and in a spirit of prayer. 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

How do we find the true riches of life? In this series of talks we've discussed many fears and pitfalls that men experience - the fear of failure, battling the pressure to perform and 'act like a man.' We compare and compete constantly. This leaves men feeling isolated and alone. If you think about it, a man's greatest fear should never be the fear of failure, but the fear of actually succeeding at something that doesn't really matter. Author and coach Joe Ehrmann said, "At the end of our life, we ought to be able to look back over it from our deathbed and know somehow the world is a better place because we lived, we loved, we were other-centered, other-focused." Every real man should be investing their life in a cause that is bigger than your own individual hopes, dreams and desires. But how do we make the changes necessary to do that? Today is the last of 3 talks that I gave back in 2009 after the stock market crash. These talks became the foundation of my book The True Measure of a Man, which continues to impact many lives, both men and women. Learn how to get Chapter 1 of The True Measure of a Man for FREE here.

Fear is a very interesting emotion. It's created by one thing: uncertainty over the future, and it operates in the realm of our imagination. It's amazing how we play things out in our minds, and most people don't know what to do with it. Fears end up running wild in their imaginations, particularly when they wake up at two or three o'clock in the morning and their minds start whirling. That's when fear runs rampant, and it cripples our lives in a multitude of ways. Interestingly, in both the Old and the New Testament, the number one imperative from God to His people is to fear not. Be anxious for nothing. Do not worry.  So what is it that we fear? Well-known psychologist Larry Crabb says that we all have two basic psychological needs in our lives: The need for security, and The need for significance  What do I mean by significance? It's the belief that your life makes a difference that will last over time. At the end of our lives, each of us hopes that our life was important in some way.  Our need for significance creates an incredible fear of failure in us that we carry around - an incredible fear that we're going to fail somehow out in the workplace or in our relationships.  As you listen to this message, ask yourself these questions: How is God trying to use this in my life? What's He trying to teach me? Maybe for some of us, He's trying to make a spiritual breakthrough in our lives. Today is the second of 3 talks that I gave back in 2009 after the stock market crash. These talks became the foundation of my book The True Measure of a Man, which continues to impact many lives, both men and women. Learn how to get Chapter 1 of The True Measure of a Man for FREE here.

How do you cope when you experience hardship or failure in your life? Going through difficult times or failure exposes our true selves, which leads to more questions:  How do you define and measure your worth as a person?  What are the motivations that drive you?  Where do you get your worth as an individual?  Our culture tells us that our worth is all about performance and success. We've somehow gotten personal achievement confused with our value and worth as people. How different would your life be if you did not fear and worry about what others thought of you, if you never had to impress anyone? Today I'd like to share with you the first of 3 talks that I gave back in 2009 after the stock market crash. These talks became the foundation of my book The True Measure of a Man, which continues to impact many lives, both men and women.  Learn how to get Chapter 1 of The True Measure of a Man for FREE here.

If there were only room for one thing in your life, what would it be?  You know, when we're dead and gone, I can promise you this, people will not remember us for the houses we lived in, the cars we drove or what we accomplished in our business or personal lives. They will primarily remember us for the kind of people we were. Character, wisdom, love, and compassion. And if these qualities are what our lives are about, then we will naturally impact the lives of other people. And in the end, our lives will be known by the impact we have had on other people. What is my primary loyalty in life - what is at the core of who I am? Is it money? Is it prestige and success? Is it the pleasures of life? There's something that is at the core of each of our lives. If it's not Christ, I want to challenge you to give Him preeminence in your life.

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.