WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:04.960 You know, we really live in a world that's full 2 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:09.480 of competing beliefs and values and choices, and what you 3 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:14.400 believe shapes how you live and ultimately who you become. 4 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:18.760 But the good news is God hasn't left us to 5 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:20.800 figure it all out alone. 6 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:21.239 No. 7 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.000 In fact, today, on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, we're going 8 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:30.079 to continue our series Reframing Your Worldview, where Rick Warren 9 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:34.119 unpacks powerful truths from God's Word to help you see 10 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:38.799 life clearly and live it with confidence and purpose. So 11 00:00:38.920 --> 00:00:41.759 let's jump right in for part two of a message 12 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:44.280 called how do I Know What's True? 13 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:48.600 Here's Rick immorality, immaturity, here's another one. 14 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:49.640 Unreality. 15 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:55.479 Unreality is when people stop believing in truth, they'll believe anything. 16 00:00:56.439 --> 00:00:58.000 They'll believe things that are unreal. 17 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:02.159 They become very and they put their faith in all 18 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:05.079 kinds of things except God. I know people who are 19 00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:11.879 more committed to trusting crystals to get well than God. 20 00:01:11.480 --> 00:01:14.959 And it's just a rock. It's a rock. 21 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.480 But when you give up the idea that there is 22 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:20.280 absolute truth, then you start believing anything. I know people 23 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:24.000 who will believe in tarot cards before God, or tea 24 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:28.760 leaves before God, or astrology, before God or palm reading 25 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:29.560 before God. 26 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:31.159 It's like, I'll believe. 27 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:35.719 Anything except God. And we fall into this world of 28 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:40.200 unreality and we, you know, we accept things that aren't true. 29 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:45.040 And today there's this blurring of truth and we find. 30 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:45.480 It in the media. 31 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:47.920 We find it in what we call docu dramas, and 32 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:54.200 what that is is fiction disguised as nonfiction docu drama. 33 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:58.239 And we have people who write, you know, biographies and 34 00:01:58.280 --> 00:01:59.840 then just make up stuff. You know, we all know 35 00:01:59.879 --> 00:02:02.760 that happened. Just there was this big flap over James 36 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:05.480 Fry who wrote a book A Million Little Pieces, became 37 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:09.000 the number one best seller in America for about three weeks, 38 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:13.319 and it was this biography of all these things that supposedly. 39 00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:13.360 Happened to him. 40 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:15.879 And then they found out that he just made it 41 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:19.960 all up. It wasn't true, and everybody got upset that 42 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:21.800 this guy would would write. 43 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.479 Truth, write fiction and claim that it was true. 44 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:28.479 Well, I'm going, well, why isn't anybody upset about da 45 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:29.319 Vinci Code? 46 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:31.159 Because in the Da Vinci. 47 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:34.159 Code, the very first thing on the first page he says, now, 48 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:36.599 this is a novel, but it's based on all these 49 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:40.000 true facts, and every one of them has been trueven false. 50 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.639 I saw a big two hour documentary on the Discovery Channel, 51 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:47.080 and when nobody's upset about that the da Vinci Code. Why, 52 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:51.879 Because it's okay to lie about Jesus, It's okay to 53 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:54.439 lie about the Catholic Church. It's okay to lie about 54 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:59.240 Mary Mangalene because that's politically acceptable. I don't know if 55 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:01.800 you've noticed this or not, but even the reality shows 56 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.000 are getting more unreal. 57 00:03:04.759 --> 00:03:05.879 Have you figured that one out? 58 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:08.719 I mean, but it's amazing to us how much we 59 00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:14.080 worship on reality when we let go of truth. Now, 60 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:16.120 I don't want to put down actors. I mean, I've 61 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:18.560 got friends who are actors in Hollywood. It's a it's 62 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:21.280 a good profession, and you need people who are actors 63 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:24.280 to do you know, fantasy and to do drama. And 64 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.680 I mean, it's a good profession. But they're certainly not 65 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:32.159 heroes their entire life. They make a living faking it. 66 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:37.319 Think about this. They're not actually making the world a 67 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:43.719 better place like school teachers or you know, uh, you know, parents, 68 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:51.400 paramedics or or doctors, are you know, police or soldiers? 69 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.080 Why are we making heroes out of people whose whole 70 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:57.120 goal in life is to create illusions. 71 00:03:58.520 --> 00:03:59.599 I'm not saying that's not. 72 00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:02.879 A valid profession it is. I'm just saying they're certainly 73 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:07.319 not heroes. People jump on goofy beliefs. 74 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:07.800 On the bandwagon. 75 00:04:07.800 --> 00:04:12.159 The Bible says this in Second Thessalonians two twelve. Since 76 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:16.800 they refuse to trust truth, they're banished to their chosen 77 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:21.879 world of lies and illusion. We believe illusions and lies 78 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.720 all the time. We believe the illusion that having more 79 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:28.959 will make me more happy, or having more will make 80 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:33.199 me more secure, or having more will make me more valuable. 81 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:36.600 But those are all illusions. They're just not true. 82 00:04:37.639 --> 00:04:40.000 And when you give up the truth, you tend to 83 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.279 start buying into illusions. Now, let's get personal in your 84 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.720 own life. Here's a question to ask yourself. Where am 85 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:51.639 I faking it? Where am I faking it? Where am 86 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:54.879 I pretending to be something that I not really am? 87 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:58.360 You need to know that because when you're in those 88 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:01.279 areas that you're faking it, you're not exactly what you 89 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:01.920 appear to be. 90 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:05.439 That's called truth decay. 91 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:07.199 And it's gonna rot your heart, just like tooth decay 92 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:13.439 rots your teeth. When you're not being truthful on reality, immorality, immaturity. 93 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:18.519 Here's a fourth area of truth decay illegality, illegality. What 94 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:20.920 I mean by that, I'm saying, if there's no standard 95 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:23.680 or right or wrong, then everything can be considered legal, 96 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:27.360 because all law is built on an idea that there 97 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:29.120 are things that are right and there are things that 98 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:31.360 are wrong. If there is no right or wrong, if 99 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:36.240 there is no truth, there are no laws. And if 100 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:39.439 there's nothing legal, nothing illegal, then you can go around 101 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:41.600 and talk to you know, arguing about what the. 102 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:42.920 Meaning of is is. 103 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.160 And it doesn't matter if you murdered somebody because you 104 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:51.720 can get off on a technicality. When murderers go free 105 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:56.160 because of technicalities in a culture that's called truth decay, 106 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:01.120 doesn't matter what the truth is. What matters is the technicality. 107 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:03.240 That's truth decay. 108 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:08.360 See nobody at INRON or TYCHO or MCI or any 109 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:14.519 of those mammoth organizations that that you know collapsed after 110 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:17.240 the bubble. None of them started out by saying, let's 111 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.319 figure out a way to rip off five hundred billion 112 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:24.839 dollars of investors' money. Nobody woke up one morning and 113 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:27.800 said it, Inron, let's just think up the big lie 114 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:30.480 that'll steal a ton of money, waste it, and then 115 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:31.639 we'll go bankrupt. 116 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:33.800 No, how did it start. 117 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:38.560 All of those scandals inron tychon, et cetera started when 118 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:43.079 they started cheating at the edges in little ways. They 119 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:47.279 started telling what we call white lies, as if lies 120 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:53.480 have color. A lie is a lie, is a lie 121 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:56.720 is a lie is a lie, and it's false and 122 00:06:56.759 --> 00:06:58.879 it's never going to be true no matter how you 123 00:06:58.959 --> 00:06:59.480 color it. 124 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:01.319 A lie is a lie. 125 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:05.959 And when truth goes out the window and there's no 126 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:10.040 standard of right or wrong, then you go after anything anything, 127 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.040 It becomes legal. I don't know if you saw about 128 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.879 this guy, Nathan, who was just sentenced in Maryland to 129 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:20.199 seven and a half years in prison for defrauding and 130 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:23.399 stealing money out of the state pension plan. 131 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:26.959 And they caught him and put him. 132 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:28.800 In prison for seven and a half years this week 133 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.639 thanks to Here's who he had to thank for his 134 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:33.040 next seven and a half years in prison. 135 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:39.439 His three former mistresses. They were getting even. 136 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:44.000 And I wrote this down, this quote from the US prosecutor. 137 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:48.199 He said this, when we look for white collar criminals, 138 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:53.000 we know that if their life is a lie, then 139 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.040 it's not confined just to their personal life. If they're 140 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.800 lying to their wives, there's a huge but they're also 141 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:04.920 lying to their colleagues, their board of directors, and the auditors. 142 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:09.120 You see, some of you. 143 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:13.439 Are falling for what I call the Titanic myth. The 144 00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:18.399 Titanic myth was that if we compartmentalized. 145 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:18.680 The stuff, we can't sink. 146 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:23.560 Until the Titanic came along. Ships had one giant hull, 147 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:27.199 and if it got breached, the whole hall would fill 148 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:28.079 up with the water. 149 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:29.399 And the thing would sink. 150 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:35.039 And so the Titanic was called unsinkable because they compartmentalized 151 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:37.879 the hall. This has never been done before, and so 152 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:41.240 the theory was, we can take on a little bit 153 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:44.720 water in our ship and still not sink because we'll 154 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:48.000 compartmentalize the hall, and therefore some of it could be 155 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:49.919 breached and it can actually fill up with the water, 156 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:50.840 but it won't. 157 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:53.480 Sink the whole ship. And they were wrong. 158 00:08:55.639 --> 00:08:59.399 If you were compartmentalizing your life, you're in for a 159 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:03.679 disaster eventually of Titanic proportions. And if you say, well, 160 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:05.799 I got this little thing fling going on over here, 161 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.039 but I got it compartmentalized, or I got this little 162 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:11.279 thing over here at work. That's I know it's wrong, 163 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:13.799 but I got it compartmentalized. And it's not that a 164 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:16.600 sink my ship or my family or my reputation. And 165 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:21.080 I got this thing over here, but it's compartmentalized. As 166 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:23.840 your pastor who loves you and cares for you as 167 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:26.879 a friend, get out of that as quickly as possible. 168 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.679 Please, I'm telling you, for your own. 169 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.000 Good, get out of it as quickly as possible. Why 170 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:36.399 Because when you compartmentalize your life, there's a word for that. 171 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:42.600 It's called a lack of integrity. The word integrity comes 172 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:46.960 from the word integer. Remember from math class. That means one. 173 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:52.120 It's one digit and integer, it's oneness. And integrity means 174 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:58.360 your entire life is integrated, not compartmentalized. You cannot have 175 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:02.759 integrity if you're life it is compartmentalized. Well, this is 176 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:05.519 my sex life, this is my family life, this is 177 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:07.799 my work life, this is my church life, here's my 178 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:08.879 pornography life. 179 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:10.360 And here no, no, if. 180 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:14.240 You got it all, you got it all compartmentalized. You 181 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:18.559 do you lack integrity? Integrity is what you see is 182 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:21.600 what you get your authentic it's one big stew and 183 00:10:21.639 --> 00:10:23.679 you act towards your kids the way you act towards 184 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:26.320 your your friends, and you don't act different at parties, 185 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:27.720 and you don't act different at church. 186 00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:29.320 You are the same youth. 187 00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:31.759 You're not wearing a mask, you're not a hypocrite, you're 188 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.919 not a fake or a phony. You're the same with everybody. 189 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:41.879 That's integrity. And when truth happens to decay in my 190 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:45.120 life and I start trying to close it off with well, 191 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:47.200 that'll we'll just make that a little segment over there, 192 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:49.679 and that may get take on water. But it's okay. 193 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:54.080 You're in trouble. The Bible says in Proverbs twenty nine 194 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:59.960 to eighteen, when there is ignorance of God, crime runs wild. 195 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:03.720 It's interesting to me that in nineteen eighty they outlawed 196 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:08.519 putting the Ten Commandments in school rooms, which were standards 197 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:11.840 of moral truth accepted by Jews, Muslims, Christians, and even 198 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:15.559 people who aren't Christians are religious innoight. But they took 199 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:18.000 the Ten Commandments out of classrooms, off the wall, and 200 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:25.679 since that time, violence against teachers, violence in schools, Columbine, Oregon, Kentucky, 201 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:28.960 all those things have happened since then. Of course, there's 202 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:34.080 no connection at all between that. When truth is given 203 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:38.159 a sideline and there are no absolutes, than anything becomes possible. 204 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:42.159 And it says there. Look, it says truth decay. When 205 00:11:42.200 --> 00:11:45.840 there is ignorance of God, crime runs wild. Truth decay 206 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:49.360 has not stopped. Eventually, anarchy happens. And friends, I've been 207 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:51.320 in plenty of countries around the world that I could 208 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:54.000 give you examples of that one. Well, let's get it 209 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:57.360 back to you personally. Ask yourself this question, write it down. 210 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:02.039 Am I cheating in the edges? Am I cheating on 211 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:02.759 the edges? 212 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:03.559 None? 213 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:05.639 In the big areas of life? But just you're telling 214 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:09.639 the little quote white lies. You're not being fully. 215 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:10.759 Up up to snuff. 216 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:17.480 That's illegality. Here's a fifth one, idolatry. Idolatry is a 217 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:20.679 symptom in a culture of truth decay. 218 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.799 What do you mean by that? We idolize the wrong things. 219 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:27.519 And when I don't know right from wrong, when I 220 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:30.559 don't know the truth, then my priorities and my values 221 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:32.879 and the things I worship get all out of whack, 222 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:37.679 They get really messed up. And I idolize things like wealth, 223 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:46.320 or I idolize success, or I idolize physical beauty, or I 224 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:54.399 idolize athletic ability, or I idolize intelligence, or I idolize popularity, 225 00:12:55.159 --> 00:13:01.120 or I idolize cars and homes, I idolize the way 226 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:06.000 your house is redecorated, or I idolize any number of different 227 00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:09.320 things which may not be wrong in themselves, but they 228 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:13.240 don't deserve worship, They don't deserve to be top, to 229 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:15.759 be number one goal in your life. 230 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:18.559 And today, because. 231 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:20.960 Truth the kay is taking place in our culture, we're 232 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:24.840 actually flip flopping values and wrong things are now becoming 233 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.720 right and right things are becoming wrong, and good is 234 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:30.919 bad and bad is good, and black is white and 235 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:33.360 white is black, and it's all messed up. We're just 236 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:37.440 seeing this reversal. I mean, today, we turn criminals into 237 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:42.200 celebrities and then we give them multimillion dollar book contracts 238 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:43.639 and make a millionaires. 239 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.279 And the worst crime you do, the more money you 240 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:48.240 can make off of it. 241 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:53.399 That's out a whack, you know. We you know, we 242 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:58.240 kill unborn human beings. Forty four million Americans aren't here 243 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:01.440 that would have been here because of abortion. So we 244 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:06.519 kill unborn humans while protecting parasites and insects. What's the 245 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:12.440 logic of that one or TV constantly mocks and ridicules 246 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:14.840 marriage constantly mocks and ridicules it. 247 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:17.320 So how is this working. 248 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.919 It's all reversed and people are willing to worship anything 249 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:26.240 except God. The Bible says this in Romans one twenty five. 250 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:30.559 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, 251 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:36.759 they deliberately chose to believe wise, they worshiped the things. 252 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:41.679 That's called materialism. They worshiped the things God made, but 253 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:45.960 not the Creator himself. Here's the question for you personally, 254 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:50.440 what have I been idolizing? What have I been idolizing? 255 00:14:50.679 --> 00:14:53.440 What has become a little bit too important for me? 256 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:57.960 It's not wrong, but it's just all of a sudden, 257 00:14:57.960 --> 00:14:59.639 it's up there at the top of my life, like 258 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.080 that's the number one goal of life. And I've been 259 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:05.440 idolizing the wrong thing. I've been worshiping the wrong thing. 260 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:10.720 One more and I'll just cover this quickly. Injustice is 261 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:14.200 a sign of truth decay, because when there's no standard 262 00:15:14.279 --> 00:15:17.639 of right and wrong, no truth and no falsehood, you 263 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:20.120 can get away with anything. And the Bible says in 264 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:24.000 Isaiah fifty nine, our courts supposed people who are righteous. 265 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:29.240 Justice is nowhere to be found. Truth falls dead in 266 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:35.000 the streets, and fairness has been outlawed. Now, if that's 267 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:39.679 the damage of truth decay in our society, in our businesses, 268 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:42.879 in our families, in our lives, what's the solution we 269 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:46.120 have to reverse the tide? And how do we reverse 270 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:50.000 the tide? Not through politics, not through legislation. 271 00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:51.840 But by being people of the truth. 272 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:55.600 The Bible calls it being salt and light, being people 273 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:01.120 who stand for truth in a relati modern. 274 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:02.480 Anything goes society. 275 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.120 Now that brings up the question, then, how do I 276 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:08.480 know what the truth is? 277 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:10.919 Is there a way to know the truth? Absolutely? 278 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:14.759 Yes, there are at least five ways that you can 279 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:17.440 know the difference between what's true and what's untrue, what's 280 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:20.360 real and what's unreal. And we're gonna talk about that, 281 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:24.440 but it starts with an attitude of openness. An openness 282 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:28.159 it says, I want the truth more than anything else. 283 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:33.000 I want the truth even if it's uncomfortable. Remember that phrase, 284 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:38.000 you can't handle the truth. I want the truth even 285 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:39.399 if it's uncomfortable. 286 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.759 That is an openness. I'm amazed, you. 287 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:46.480 Know, I've been this last year speaking in a lot 288 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:51.120 of different secular type groups a lot of intelligent people, 289 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:55.120 smart people, And I'm amazed at how many people think 290 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:56.120 they are open. 291 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.759 Minded, but really aren't. They really aren't. 292 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:03.240 What actually happens is if you're intelligent, the more intelligent 293 00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:05.960 you are, the more you tend to be secretly proud 294 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:12.880 of your intelligence, and you go, I'm smart, I'm really smart. 295 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:18.240 I'm really, really, really smart. And that's called arrogance. 296 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:21.960 And when you get arrogant about your smartness, your intelligence, 297 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:26.920 you actually start closing your mind down. And I meet 298 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:30.000 people all the time who are They think they're open minded, 299 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:32.279 you start talking about God, they freeze up. They are 300 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.759 closed to even the possibility of it. They're closed to 301 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:39.599 that possibility, not even open to it. Jesus said this, 302 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.079 look up here on the screen John seven point seventeen. 303 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:47.759 He said, if anyone chooses to do God's will, he 304 00:17:47.839 --> 00:17:50.079 will find out whether or. 305 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:52.519 Not my teaching comes from God. 306 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:54.440 He said, Okay, you want to know if I'm telling 307 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:56.920 the truth or not. He said, you must have an 308 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:00.319 attitude of openness. And you say, God, if there is 309 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:04.440 a God, I want to know you. It's not closing 310 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:07.359 myself to that possibility, saying if there is a God, 311 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.799 I want to know you, Jesus. If he's telling the truth, 312 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:13.079 I want to know the truth. It may be difficult 313 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:15.759 for me to hear, but if it's true, I want 314 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:19.200 to know it. I am opening myself up. That's the 315 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:23.440 required attitude, because you can't share truth with a closed mind. 316 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:26.480 I remember I did this about thirty five years ago. 317 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:29.400 I got down on my knees. I was up in 318 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:33.160 the mountains at a camp, nobody in the room, and 319 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.240 I prayed a simple prayer like this. I said, God, 320 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:40.720 if there is a God, I'm open. If you exist, 321 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.400 if you're real, I want to know you're real. And 322 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:46.920 Jesus Christ, if you can change my life, you can 323 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:48.720 give me a better life. If there is a purpose 324 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:52.079 my life, I want to know it. And so God, 325 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.279 if you're real, I want you to make yourself real 326 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:55.680 to me. 327 00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:59.400 You know what happened? Nothing? 328 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:06.119 Nothing, I mean, no no bright light shone down, no 329 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:08.480 angels came in the room. And I didn't hear the 330 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:13.519 Hallelujah chorus. You know my hair didn't turn white like 331 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:18.000 Charles you know Heston's or you know you know, nothing happened. 332 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:20.519 I didn't get a quiver in my liver. No goosebumps. 333 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:23.079 I didn't get emotional, I didn't cry nothing. 334 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:28.119 It was just okay. That was the turning point in 335 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:28.559 my life. 336 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:34.279 Why Because finally I was open to the possibility and 337 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:38.119 I was no longer biasing myself against God, and I said, God, 338 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:40.480 I want to know the truth, even if it's inconvenient. 339 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:44.680 And that was the turning point in my life because 340 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:48.000 it had nothing to do with emotions. It was a simple, logical, 341 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.640 rational decision. If there is a God, I don't want 342 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:53.599 to miss out on it, and if he has a 343 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:55.799 plan for my life, I certainly don't want to miss that. 344 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:05.799 You know, people are being transformed by these messages. In fact, 345 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.640 here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners. 346 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.759 You know, no matter how bad things seem, you can 347 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.759 always trust that God is active in your life, working 348 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:21.119 things out for the good. While you are waiting, God 349 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.599 is working. God always has your best interest at heart. 350 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.440 He's a good God. Today, I want to give you 351 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:29.440 the example from a note that I got from a 352 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:32.519 young man named Tyler, who has seen how God is 353 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:36.440 always there even when circumstances seem to be their worst. 354 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:39.839 Tyler wrote me said, you know, Rick, I haven't had 355 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:43.279 a close relationship with Christ. But then several events occurred 356 00:20:43.319 --> 00:20:46.359 in my life all at once. First my girlfriend broke 357 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.519 up with me, and that was the biggest heartache that 358 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:51.960 I could imagine for both of us. Then my friends 359 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.480 left for college the same week, and third, my dad 360 00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:58.240 left for California to start. 361 00:20:58.039 --> 00:20:59.720 A new job, leaving me in. 362 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:04.559 All of this hit me at once, and I was 363 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:09.599 a complete mess. But with guidance from others and realizing 364 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.440 this was a scheduled appointment from God himself, I found 365 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:18.279 Christ through your Daily Hope podcast and through prayer and 366 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:21.359 in going to church I finally found the joy in 367 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:22.200 my life again. 368 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:23.720 And I'm a changed person. 369 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:26.680 Every day now, I listen to you, Rick, and I 370 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.839 read my daily devotional, and I look at life with 371 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:35.119 a whole new perspective. You know, before I was living 372 00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:38.920 for me, I wasn't living for God. But this journey 373 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:41.200 has been so amazing. God is so good and the 374 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.160 best part is that I can wake up every day 375 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:46.039 knowing that He loves me and will listen to me, 376 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:48.839 and that Jesus Christ will take my worries from me. 377 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:53.079 I'm so thankful, Rick, that God woke me up and 378 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:55.720 changed me into a better and healthier person that I 379 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.880 am today, and I'm thankful for my savior, Jesus Christ. 380 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:02.559 So God bless you you well. 381 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:07.359 Thanks Tyler, Thanks for writing that encouraging letter. You have 382 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:10.920 experienced firsthand how much God cares for you, even in 383 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:14.240 the smallest details of your life, and through this what 384 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:17.279 was a very difficult season, he led you to Jesus, 385 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:19.359 the greatest gift you could ever receive. 386 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:21.240 So did you know that the. 387 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:23.720 Bible says in Luke fifteen, right now, all of Heaven 388 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:27.640 is rejoicing because you're a part of God's family. The 389 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:29.640 Bible says they have a party in heaven every time 390 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:32.799 one person steps across the line. And what that means 391 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:36.680 that you and I are now brothers. Did you know 392 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.079 that we're brothers in Christ and your church family are 393 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:45.000 your brothers and sisters here to walk alongside you. So, Tyler, 394 00:22:45.079 --> 00:22:47.799 welcome to the Family of God. And as you grow 395 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:51.880 in your faith, staying connected with a strong church community 396 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.680 is so so important. I want you to surround yourself 397 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:58.440 with people who will encourage you in the Lord, who 398 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.680 will pray for you, who will help you they strong 399 00:23:01.079 --> 00:23:04.880 in your journey with Jesus. And just watch and see 400 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:08.759 how God moves in your life as you faithfully follow 401 00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:12.440