Reliable Truth

Today I am discussing the struggles that men deal with. Life is difficult. I don’t care how talented you are, how wealthy you are, how knowledgeable you are, life is difficult and it’s full of pain. Most men tend to withdraw - we tend to isolate ourselves in reaction to the pain and struggles in our lives. We just withdraw.Did you know that eighty percent of the suicides in this country are committed by men? Eighty percent. What’s also interesting is of all those men who commit suicide, ninety percent of them are white males. There was an interesting article in the New York Times saying that researchers are really baffled over why so many middle-aged men are taking their lives.I had a chat with a man who had struggled with depression and yet he seemed to really be a put-together individual. He made this comment that powerfully struck me. He said, “You know, I have never contemplated suicide, but there’s been many times I wish that I was not alive.”There is a question that every single one of us men is always asking ourselves. And you know what? Often, we’re not even aware of it. The question is this: What are other people thinking of me? Join me today as we consider this question, as well as look deeper into how to deal with the deepest issues that men face.

Today I welcome back my friend, Drayton Nabers. This time he is speaking on praying for your business life.Nabers says that, "Prayer connects us to God’s grace. As we pray, we are seeking God’s grace with respect to whatever might be the subject of our prayer. The access to grace is always through faith." In Romans 5:1, Paul says, "Since we have been justified by faith, we have access to God’s grace." So, if we are seeking God’s grace in prayer, we’ve got to pray with faithful hearts, believing hearts, and, as Paul says, with clean hearts that have been justified by faith in Christ.Christ has an important role to play in the life of our business life. As we seek Him in prayer and come to Him with a humble heart, He will give us wisdom. He will help us to see the work we’re doing in the business world as God’s calling on our life. God has placed us where we are to bring Him glory by what we’re doing.*You can download Drayton's 3 resources referenced in his talk here: The Practice of Prayer, Andrew Murray on Prayer, Drayton Nabers handwritten notes on prayer*

Today I'd like to share a principle that I believe is the most important principle in all of life. I want to start with a theory that has to do with this principle, then close with how to apply this in your life.Jack Welch, the well-known retired CEO of General Electric had this principle as the core of his management philosophy: the key trait of a vital, dynamic corporations is this: looking reality straight in the eye, then acting upon it with as much speed as you can. He shares,"At GE you could be a hero no matter who you were or what you looked like. All you had to do was face reality and perform... yet I found it hard for people to actually do this... Self-delusion can grip an entire organization, and lead the people in it to ridiculous conclusions..."Looking reality in the eye is to see things as they really are, not the way it was and not the way we wish it would be. Year after year Welch would tell a particular story to drive the point home to his employees. Tune in to hear his story, and more!

If you were to Google the question "What is the good life?", you'd be overwhelmed by the response. Some of the answers are shopping, consumption, places to live. You'll find a host of books that offer formulas on how to find the good life. There are many retail stores that sell goods that promote the good life. Buy this, and it will contribute to your life. But what you won't find is that the good life is a life of wisdom and knowledge that leads to a virtuous life. Instead, most of the entries involve material pursuits and games, which sadly, I think, reflects our modern definition of what's good.There seems to be a huge gap for so many adults between the life that we dream of and believe we deserve, and the life that we actually end up with. I believe this is why Pulitzer prize-winning author John Cheever made this observation. He said, "The main emotion of the adult American who has had all the advantages of wealth, education, and culture is disappointment." And for this reason, though we may never share this with anybody, I think we always seem to find ourselves looking for a better life. But the question is, where are we looking and what are we putting our hope in?

My message that I'm sharing with you today is, I believe, one of the most important messages to anyone that I would describe as a church-going person, or a person with a church background. This message is a result of two experiences I had. The first comes from a number of conversations I've had with men who are struggling with life and with their faith - church going men who intellectually believe in Christianity but who would acknowledge that clearly their faith has no impact on their day-to-day lives. Their faith is not a big priority in their lives, and they don't seem to be too concerned about it - this is where they are.The second comes from my experience closely reading the New Testament and what it says about having a real, legitimate faith in Christ.I would ask you to listen carefully, to think clearly about what I am saying, and to be honest with yourself in where you are. Ask yourself, "How does this message apply to me spiritually?

Today I want to continue discussing the heart of a man as we look at this question: What is it that men really want?In Dr. Armand Nicholi's book The Question of God, he says this is what he's observed about the faculty and students at Harvard, "They avoid examining their lives, and they do not seem to want to understand themselves. They are afraid of what they might discover."Is this true of us as men? Are we afraid to confront the truth about ourselves? I am reminded of a quote by George Gilder: "Men lust, but they do not know what for. They wander and lose track of the goal. They fight and compete, but they forget the prize. They spread seed, but spurn the seasons of growth. They chase power and glory but miss the meaning of life." We are all in search of something. What are you looking for?

How well do you know yourself? How well do you understand yourself? In John Calvin's massive work called The Institutes of the Christian Religion, he opens the volume with this: "All true wisdom consists of two parts: knowledge of God and knowledge of self." French philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “One must know oneself. Even if that does not help in finding truth, at least it helps in running one’s life...”Yet in this, we come to realize we have a problem. King David realized this in Psalm 64:6 when he stated, "Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep." So what is this driving force in our lives? Join me today as I delve into this important conversation!

Today I'd like to start by sharing with you how I came upon this message.At The Center, we do a lot of one-on-one meetings. One of the guys that I meet with is in his mid-30s, a very sharp young man, well-educated and articulate. He shared with me that he struggles with fear in his life, and we’ve talked a lot about those fears. And there’s another guy that is a good bit older, and who’s very, very wealthy, and has done extremely well in his life. He shared with me how he wakes up in the middle of the night and he’s got all these fears running wild in his mind, and he that can’t sleep well. From these and other discussions, I’ve concluded that if you met either one of these men and interacted with them, you would never in your wildest dreams think that they had any worries because they seemed to be “so together.” I’ve concluded how easy it is for us as men to fake and pretend that we have no worries in life. You know, men aren’t supposed to worry. We’re supposed to be fearless, and yet, what I’m realizing is that, that’s not the case in most of our lives.You see, fear is a powerful emotion. Today I'd like to discuss the main four causes of fear in our lives. I pray that you will gain valuable insights from today's podcast!

Many scholars would agree that probably one of the most thoughtful books written in the last 30 or 40 years is Ernest Becker’s Pulitzer prize-winning book, The Denial of Death. Becker wrote, “Every person seems to have a need for cosmic significance”. In other words, purpose and meaning in their lives. He says, throughout history, all the way up until modern times, people knew that they had value and purpose because of the transcendent, because of God. Becker said, throughout history people knew their place in the universe, they knew who they were, they knew their value and identity. He adds, but modern people have lost this. They’ve lost that sense of purpose. He said, “We have become secular.”So where do we find our meaning in life? Well, 3500 years ago, King Solomon said in the book of Proverbs, that our knowledge of God is where we get our understanding of life; our knowledge of God is how we interpret life. Dr. Tim Keller says, “How we relate to God is the foundation of our thinking. It determines our view of life in the world.”What keeps us from finding real meaning in life? If I believe in God, why doesn’t my belief really impact my life? Join me for today's podcast as I discuss the answers to these questions. 

Today I have a special guest, Drayton Nabers, speaking on the role of Christ in the life of business. When we’re doing business, we can think that spiritual things are to be done with nonprofits or in the Church, but not in the business world. When we’re in business, we’ve got to make some money. We’ve got to work hard. It’s a competitive marketplace out there. We gotta be tough. So, therefore, why Christ?Well, Christ has an important role to play in the life of your business. He’s there with you, and He wants you to succeed. And by His Grace, He wants to equip you and empower you, and give you the wisdom to practice whatever you do in the business world in a way that brings Him glory. So, what does the Bible have to say about the world of work and what does it have to say about God in the workplace? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. I hope you enjoy it!