Reliable Truth

One of most enlightening things that I have learned this past year, especially when I counsel men, are some words from Blaise Pascal, who says this, “One of the primary reasons people struggle so much with life is because they have false ideas about reality.”We need to work on our perspective so that each of us will know how to have a strong foundation to weather the storms of life. I think it’s important that we realize that maybe, just maybe, God’s perspective on the struggles we face is different from our view. So, the question that we need to ask ourselves is this: What is it I need to know about God and His truth that will enable me to properly interpret what I’m experiencing in the hardships of life? This is Part 4, the final message in this 4 Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

How do we view difficulty when it comes into our lives? In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, we looked at the issue of perspective, which is a critical part of having a strong foundation for life. Pastor and best-selling author Tim Keller says, “We all have a basic motivational drive. Every human heart has something that drives them. It gets us out of bed and it gets us through life. It moves us to do what we do and for most of us, I believe what drives us is fear. After all these years of pastoring, I truly think this is it. The fear of missing out, the fear of not proving ourselves, the fear of not living up, of being somebody, the fear of failure, the fear of death.” Today and for Part 4 we’re going to go deeper and look at how we live our lives and how we respond to the storms of life.This is Part 3 of a 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

How do we deal with fear, anxiety and stress in our lives? In Phillip Yancey’s book, Where is God When it Hurts. well-known Swiss physician Paul Tournier says, “Only rarely are we the masters of events in our lives, but we are responsible for our reaction to the event, to the events that come into our lives,” and he says, “what counts is the way a person reacts in the face of suffering, because when it comes, a positive, active, creative reaction will develop us. A negative one will stunt the growth in our lives. The right response at the right moment may determine the course of a person’s life.”This is Part 2 of a 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

It’s the middle of the night. You know, you went to sleep, hoping for a good night’s rest, now it's 2 am. You get up and go to the restroom, come back and get in the bed, and all of a sudden, you start thinking about things. You don’t intend to, you just start thinking, and the next thing you know, you’re wide awake, and all these little mole hills in your life have become a mountain, then you can’t go back to sleep, and you’re feeling all this anxiety. In these unprecedented days of uncertainty, how will you deal with your fears, anxiety and stress? I'd like to share 4 primary causes of fear and anxiety in this life and how to deal with them in a healthy way.This is Part 1 of a 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!

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.

Are you experiencing real freedom in your life? Are you overspending this Christmas? In an attempt to give your family everything they could ever want, have you become a slave to a job that you hate? What is freedom anyway, because our wants are endless. Today I share a story from Paul Harvey that reveals the one essential ingredient necessary to experience true freedom. Tune in now!

Now more than ever before, we need truth! In Hosea 4:6, God says, “My people perish because of a lack of knowledge.” And then 2 Timothy 2:15 speaks of the importance of accurately handling the word of truth. And the reason Paul says is, it’s so easy to mishandle it. Today I'm looking at questions that people wrestle with as they consider the Christian faith. I was meeting with a guy yesterday, where he asked this question, “Why is there evil in the world? Why do babies die innocently from accidents?” It’s important to answer these hard questions, making sure we have a true knowledge and understanding of the Gospel to have a true knowledge of salvation.

I believe all of us worldwide are ready for the coronavirus to be over. Austrian-Canadian scientist Dr. Hans Selye wrote a total of 30 books in his quest to better understand stress and human emotion. Toward the end of his life, Dr. Selye summarized his research, declaring that anger, bitterness and revenge are the emotions most harmful to our health and well-being. He also concluded that a heart of gratitude is the single most nourishing response that leads to good health. Gratitude and thanksgiving are like therapy for the soul.In this holiday season, much emphasis is placed on thanking God for the positive blessings of life. And we should. But how should we respond to negative circumstances when storms blow into our lives?

Most of the natural disasters we face have a beginning and an end. Once they are over, the damage is assessed and the rebuilding begins. There seems to be at the very least some degree of certainty about the future, and what it might look like. This however, is not the case with the Coronavirus Pandemic. We do not know when or how this is going to end and consequently are forced to admit that we are not in control. Furthermore, if you are in a high risk category, whether by age or an underlying health condition, you face daily the possibility of serious illness or even death. In this podcast I am sharing about my recent book Walking By Faith Through a Pandemic. My prayer is that you would experience genuine peace in the times we are living, and gain valuable insights from this talk. Best regards to you! - Richard

How do we articulate our own personal world view? More importantly, how do we defend our point of view? Today Richard joins Kerby Anderson on the Point of View Radio Talk Show to discuss Richard’s book Reflections on the Existence of God. Kerby Anderson is the President of Probe Ministries and host of Point of View Radio Talk Show. This episode originally aired on the Point of View Radio Talk Show on August 6, 2020. Click here to Listen to the complete episode.