WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.780
so many of us have built houses that are lies.

2
00:00:03.780 --> 00:00:07.060
And because of that, when the rain comes

3
00:00:07.060 --> 00:00:10.220
and when the winds come, when the storms come in our life,

4
00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:11.380
our lives crumble.

5
00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:29.340
The single family home is a hallmark of American culture

6
00:00:29.340 --> 00:00:30.980
and society.

7
00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:33.660
I remember growing up and always hearing

8
00:00:33.660 --> 00:00:36.940
that a man's house is his castle.

9
00:00:36.940 --> 00:00:39.060
And it's really important that a home, which

10
00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:45.180
is probably the best investment you have in your portfolio,

11
00:00:45.180 --> 00:00:49.180
is strongly built, foundations are laid well.

12
00:00:49.180 --> 00:00:53.500
And we live in a house that was built in 1962.

13
00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:58.620
And this house is at 7,000 feet above sea level

14
00:00:58.620 --> 00:01:01.300
here in Colorado Springs, Colorado,

15
00:01:01.300 --> 00:01:04.860
where we have over 120 inches of snow

16
00:01:04.860 --> 00:01:06.700
every year in the Black Forks area

17
00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:09.500
where our house is located.

18
00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:10.580
And it's been solid.

19
00:01:10.580 --> 00:01:12.340
It's just been very solid.

20
00:01:12.340 --> 00:01:15.900
And it's a warm, inviting house.

21
00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:17.180
I've been through blizzards.

22
00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:19.820
Liz and I have been through blizzards in that house.

23
00:01:19.820 --> 00:01:24.140
We've been in that house with up to three feet of snow.

24
00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:26.060
And it stays warm.

25
00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:27.620
It's never leaked.

26
00:01:27.620 --> 00:01:28.900
It's been a phenomenal house.

27
00:01:28.900 --> 00:01:31.860
Well, so is building a house of truth.

28
00:01:31.860 --> 00:01:33.460
This is actually a habit.

29
00:01:33.460 --> 00:01:37.540
Just like a construction contractor

30
00:01:37.540 --> 00:01:39.180
who's building a house.

31
00:01:39.180 --> 00:01:41.500
And he just studies those plans.

32
00:01:41.500 --> 00:01:45.620
And he makes sure that he lays good foundations, strong walls,

33
00:01:45.620 --> 00:01:48.660
strong insulation throughout the house, good roof.

34
00:01:48.660 --> 00:01:51.340
Same way in your life, you need to build a house of truth.

35
00:01:51.340 --> 00:01:55.220
Because so many people build a house of lies.

36
00:01:55.220 --> 00:01:57.140
And their house is built on lies.

37
00:01:57.140 --> 00:02:00.540
I was recently in a meeting with a young man

38
00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:02.580
that's trying to get off drugs.

39
00:02:02.580 --> 00:02:08.220
He's addicted to heroin and takes other hallucinogen drugs.

40
00:02:08.220 --> 00:02:10.660
My challenge to this young man was,

41
00:02:10.660 --> 00:02:12.780
when are you going to quit lying?

42
00:02:12.780 --> 00:02:14.260
And he wasn't expecting that.

43
00:02:14.260 --> 00:02:17.580
I think he was expecting me to talk about discipline.

44
00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:21.060
I really wasn't interested in talking to him about discipline.

45
00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:22.620
I was more interested in talking to him

46
00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:26.100
about being truthful and honest in his life.

47
00:02:26.100 --> 00:02:28.900
Because if you show me a man or a woman

48
00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:32.140
who can be honest about every detail of their lives,

49
00:02:32.140 --> 00:02:35.180
and I'll show you someone who can walk in freedom.

50
00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:37.420
Because Jesus said, you shall know the truth,

51
00:02:37.420 --> 00:02:39.580
the truth shall set you free.

52
00:02:39.580 --> 00:02:42.220
So knowing the truth means you're experiencing the truth.

53
00:02:42.220 --> 00:02:44.260
It means you're living the truth,

54
00:02:44.260 --> 00:02:47.260
you're speaking the truth, you're listening to truth.

55
00:02:47.260 --> 00:02:49.260
So I want to talk about a habit,

56
00:02:49.260 --> 00:02:53.460
building a habit of building a house of truth.

57
00:02:53.460 --> 00:02:57.540
Because so many of us have built houses that are lies.

58
00:02:57.540 --> 00:03:00.860
And because of that, when the rain comes,

59
00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:04.020
and when the winds come, when the storms come in our life,

60
00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:05.580
our lives crumble.

61
00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:09.260
So in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7,

62
00:03:09.260 --> 00:03:14.180
Jesus is explaining the ethics and the integrity

63
00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:16.300
of the kingdom of God.

64
00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:18.820
And at the end, he says, it's like a man

65
00:03:18.820 --> 00:03:21.340
who built his house on the sand.

66
00:03:21.340 --> 00:03:23.660
And when the storms came, it fell.

67
00:03:23.660 --> 00:03:26.580
Over against the man who built his house on a rock,

68
00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:28.860
and when the storms came, it was solid.

69
00:03:28.860 --> 00:03:31.580
So I want to build this habit into you,

70
00:03:31.580 --> 00:03:34.740
of not just believing what everybody tells you,

71
00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:38.660
but you becoming a truth seeker in your own life.

72
00:03:38.660 --> 00:03:40.460
So I want to talk about some building blocks.

73
00:03:40.460 --> 00:03:43.300
Like we have building blocks that build a home.

74
00:03:43.300 --> 00:03:47.020
This is the building blocks that build a house of truth.

75
00:03:47.020 --> 00:03:51.620
And the first one is the Bible is your foundation.

76
00:03:51.620 --> 00:03:54.260
Well, you might say, well, I'm not a believer in Jesus.

77
00:03:54.260 --> 00:03:56.060
I don't believe in the Bible.

78
00:03:56.060 --> 00:03:57.260
Well, fine.

79
00:03:57.260 --> 00:03:59.100
But I'll just tell you that you're

80
00:03:59.100 --> 00:04:02.620
going to have a hard time building a house that's

81
00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:05.940
going to stand unless you have a foundation.

82
00:04:05.940 --> 00:04:09.060
And the most truthful, most powerful foundation

83
00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:13.060
you can have is the book that all of the founding fathers

84
00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:14.980
in America believed in.

85
00:04:14.980 --> 00:04:16.899
Most of the great leaders of the world,

86
00:04:16.899 --> 00:04:19.660
I'm talking about good leaders, not bad leaders.

87
00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:24.420
Good leaders believed in, built their truth from the Bible.

88
00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:28.620
Johann Sebastian Bach, arguably the greatest musician

89
00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:34.060
of all time, was spoken of as one who built his music

90
00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:35.580
on the book, on the Bible.

91
00:04:35.580 --> 00:04:40.300
In 1 Chronicles 25, Bach wrote, quote,

92
00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:42.820
this chapter is a true foundation

93
00:04:42.820 --> 00:04:46.540
of all God-pleasing music.

94
00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:50.100
One scholar said of Bach, he was a Christian

95
00:04:50.100 --> 00:04:53.180
who lived with the Bible.

96
00:04:53.180 --> 00:04:56.740
Abraham Lincoln, who built his entire presidency

97
00:04:56.740 --> 00:05:00.860
and his leadership around this book, the Bible.

98
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.400
said that it is the best gift God has given to man.

99
00:05:04.400 --> 00:05:06.660
All the good Savior gave to the world

100
00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:10.300
was communicated through this book, the Bible.

101
00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:12.440
Billy Graham, the great evangelist,

102
00:05:12.440 --> 00:05:14.880
probably the greatest evangelist of the 20th century,

103
00:05:14.880 --> 00:05:18.360
said, the Bible is God's book of promises,

104
00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:20.560
and unlike the books of men,

105
00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:24.200
it does not change or get out of date.

106
00:05:24.200 --> 00:05:25.280
So I wanna challenge you,

107
00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:28.520
if the Bible's not a foundation in your life,

108
00:05:28.520 --> 00:05:30.480
that you would make it so.

109
00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:35.040
Building block number two, follow time-tested precedence.

110
00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:37.960
Follow time-tested precedence.

111
00:05:37.960 --> 00:05:42.040
There's a legal word, a Latin word,

112
00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:46.320
that lawyers use called stare decisis.

113
00:05:46.320 --> 00:05:48.540
It's a Latin term meaning to stand

114
00:05:48.540 --> 00:05:51.340
by the things already decided.

115
00:05:51.340 --> 00:05:53.160
That's what I mean by precedent.

116
00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:56.780
Looking at precedent, looking at what other men,

117
00:05:56.780 --> 00:06:00.820
other historians, other scholars have said about something,

118
00:06:00.820 --> 00:06:02.260
we can trust that.

119
00:06:02.260 --> 00:06:04.540
Not all of it, it's not perfect,

120
00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:06.980
but I'm saying that when we come to a conundrum,

121
00:06:06.980 --> 00:06:10.100
we come to a place where it's an impasse

122
00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:14.020
and we're not sure what to think or believe,

123
00:06:14.020 --> 00:06:17.500
look back in history, look at other civilizations,

124
00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:19.540
look at good cultures,

125
00:06:19.540 --> 00:06:21.980
those that have been successful and prosperous,

126
00:06:21.980 --> 00:06:24.840
and we can see precedent in that.

127
00:06:24.880 --> 00:06:27.720
One of the biggest struggles in the American church right now

128
00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:29.800
is we don't use precedent.

129
00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:31.880
We don't look back in history.

130
00:06:31.880 --> 00:06:34.960
And so because of that, we're just driven by the culture.

131
00:06:34.960 --> 00:06:38.240
Every wind, every storm of the culture,

132
00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:41.680
you see pastors and leaders changing their view,

133
00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.240
constantly changing their perspective

134
00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:49.080
based on what's the latest, most popular idea.

135
00:06:49.080 --> 00:06:52.240
And for me, I've always looked at history and the Bible.

136
00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.520
So I look at the Bible, theology,

137
00:06:55.200 --> 00:06:56.480
but also I look at history

138
00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.800
and judge things based on history.

139
00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:00.280
And so some of the big questions

140
00:07:00.280 --> 00:07:03.160
that we're faced with right now about life,

141
00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:06.600
about gender, about marriage,

142
00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:09.800
all those different areas that are under attack right now,

143
00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.680
precedent tells us what to believe.

144
00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:16.040
Other great men have grappled with this

145
00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:17.660
and have come to some conclusions

146
00:07:17.660 --> 00:07:19.340
that are very, very helpful.

147
00:07:19.340 --> 00:07:21.860
This is not rocket science.

148
00:07:21.860 --> 00:07:23.980
Building block number three,

149
00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:27.780
seek the uncomfortable truth and be skeptical.

150
00:07:27.780 --> 00:07:31.500
Seek the uncomfortable truth and be skeptical.

151
00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:34.420
And what I mean by that is don't just take

152
00:07:34.420 --> 00:07:36.500
what quote unquote the experts say,

153
00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:38.740
which I think we found out in COVID

154
00:07:38.740 --> 00:07:42.300
that the experts were wrong on a lot of things.

155
00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:43.700
Well, when our first child was born,

156
00:07:43.700 --> 00:07:48.700
we were living in Japan and we had gone through Lamaze

157
00:07:48.900 --> 00:07:50.860
and we had gone through all these different trainings

158
00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:53.220
for how to have a natural birth.

159
00:07:53.220 --> 00:07:56.820
And then on the day of the birth,

160
00:07:56.820 --> 00:07:59.620
things didn't work out the way we had planned

161
00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:04.540
and we had a very highly intervention C-section.

162
00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:07.780
And we thought that it was amazing

163
00:08:07.780 --> 00:08:10.620
that this doctor had the ability to do a C-section

164
00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:12.820
and saved our little Anna.

165
00:08:12.820 --> 00:08:14.380
But as we did more research,

166
00:08:14.380 --> 00:08:17.240
we figured out that actually this doctor

167
00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:19.740
had set in place a number of things

168
00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:21.580
that actually caused a C-section.

169
00:08:21.580 --> 00:08:26.060
He didn't mean to, but he made some basic mistakes

170
00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:27.940
that we didn't know about at the time.

171
00:08:27.940 --> 00:08:29.100
And so we learned from that.

172
00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:31.460
We sought out truth, we figured it out.

173
00:08:31.460 --> 00:08:33.640
And the next time we had a child,

174
00:08:33.640 --> 00:08:36.179
we were able to have more maturity

175
00:08:36.179 --> 00:08:39.220
and also more knowledge in dealing with the doctor.

176
00:08:39.220 --> 00:08:40.700
And same thing with COVID.

177
00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:43.980
When COVID hit, Liz and I just did not believe

178
00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:46.020
what we were hearing 100%.

179
00:08:46.020 --> 00:08:49.420
So we started, we put together a health team at our church.

180
00:08:50.100 --> 00:08:52.140
We began to do the research and we found out

181
00:08:52.140 --> 00:08:53.860
that actually what we were hearing,

182
00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:58.860
not only was not based in good scientific investigation

183
00:08:59.420 --> 00:09:02.420
and research, but it was making a lot of money

184
00:09:02.420 --> 00:09:05.820
for a lot of people and we weren't buying it.

185
00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:09.780
The reason we had a skepticism about what was happening

186
00:09:09.780 --> 00:09:12.540
from the scientific community about COVID

187
00:09:12.540 --> 00:09:14.780
was largely because of our experience

188
00:09:14.780 --> 00:09:18.900
that had happened in birth, as well as in foods

189
00:09:18.940 --> 00:09:22.020
and things like that that we had experienced over the years.

190
00:09:22.020 --> 00:09:24.340
So when you're building, here's what's exciting.

191
00:09:24.340 --> 00:09:26.260
When you're building a house of truth,

192
00:09:26.260 --> 00:09:29.260
you can go back on what you've learned

193
00:09:29.260 --> 00:09:32.700
and you can build a library of truth in your life

194
00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:37.240
that makes it easier and easier to believe what truth is

195
00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:41.820
because you're developing your truth muscles

196
00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:46.020
by seeking God and also doing your own research.

197
00:09:46.020 --> 00:09:49.300
Building block number four, learn the art of listening.

198
00:09:49.300 --> 00:09:50.980
Now, this is the hardest one.

199
00:09:50.980 --> 00:09:54.660
And what I mean by that is to make yourself available,

200
00:09:54.660 --> 00:09:57.060
even to those you disagree with,

201
00:09:57.060 --> 00:10:00.020
even those you would say that you guys.

202
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:01.920
They're on opposite, polar opposites.

203
00:10:01.920 --> 00:10:06.160
Always good to listen, learning to listen.

204
00:10:06.160 --> 00:10:09.160
And I really experienced this a lot with my parents.

205
00:10:09.160 --> 00:10:11.200
They were very involved in the civil rights movement.

206
00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:14.320
And because they listened to the black community,

207
00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.960
it affected their view of what was happening

208
00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:18.760
in the Jim Crow South.

209
00:10:18.760 --> 00:10:19.760
That was powerful.

210
00:10:19.760 --> 00:10:20.840
And this is really hard

211
00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:23.080
because a lot of people don't wanna listen.

212
00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:24.600
They don't really wanna listen

213
00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:26.200
to what other people have to say.

214
00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:27.360
And I wanna challenge you

215
00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:30.400
that listening is really, really important.

216
00:10:30.400 --> 00:10:33.880
And then lastly, building block five,

217
00:10:33.880 --> 00:10:36.400
develop a passion for reading.

218
00:10:36.400 --> 00:10:38.560
Develop a passion for reading.

219
00:10:38.560 --> 00:10:41.240
So in fifth grade, I was a lousy reader.

220
00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:44.080
And Mrs. Milton, my fifth grade teacher,

221
00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.840
gave me a hunger and a love for reading.

222
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:49.920
And ever since then, I've been hooked.

223
00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:51.560
And so I love biography.

224
00:10:51.560 --> 00:10:52.720
I love history.

225
00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.240
I love theology.

226
00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:55.680
I love real life stories.

227
00:10:55.760 --> 00:10:58.400
And so I tend to be one

228
00:10:58.400 --> 00:11:00.960
who gravitates toward those subjects.

229
00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:05.640
But with the dawning of the new age

230
00:11:05.640 --> 00:11:06.920
that we have right now

231
00:11:06.920 --> 00:11:10.760
that has brought in so much craziness

232
00:11:10.760 --> 00:11:12.560
within the healthcare industry,

233
00:11:12.560 --> 00:11:14.640
I've shifted a lot of my research

234
00:11:14.640 --> 00:11:16.800
and my reading into those arenas.

235
00:11:16.800 --> 00:11:18.600
So I wanna challenge you to read.

236
00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:19.680
Be a good reader.

237
00:11:19.680 --> 00:11:22.280
And in my book, I give you lists of books

238
00:11:22.280 --> 00:11:23.680
that I think are helpful to you,

239
00:11:23.680 --> 00:11:25.560
that can be helpful in your reading.

240
00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:27.160
So these are the building blocks

241
00:11:27.160 --> 00:11:28.520
of building a house of truth.

242
00:11:28.520 --> 00:11:30.880
It was Alexander Solzhenitsyn

243
00:11:30.880 --> 00:11:33.240
who said in his last speech

244
00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:36.400
and his last treatise to the Russian people

245
00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:37.400
before he defected,

246
00:11:37.400 --> 00:11:39.320
live not by lies.

247
00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:41.600
Live not by lies.

248
00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:42.640
So I wanna challenge you.

249
00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:43.680
Don't live by lies.

250
00:11:43.680 --> 00:11:44.680
Live by truth.

251
00:11:44.680 --> 00:11:46.080
But you've gotta do the work.

252
00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:47.440
You've gotta put in the time.

253
00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:48.640
Seek it out.

254
00:11:48.640 --> 00:11:50.400
And with all of the podcasts

255
00:11:50.400 --> 00:11:51.880
that are available today,

256
00:11:51.880 --> 00:11:54.840
all the different ways in which truth is getting out,

257
00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:56.200
start looking, finding,

258
00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:59.400
and be skeptical about what you're hearing

259
00:11:59.400 --> 00:12:02.600
and go after truth passionately.

260
00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:03.760
It'll set you free.

261
00:12:03.760 --> 00:12:05.520
It will really set you free

262
00:12:05.520 --> 00:12:09.120
to know that you're laying good foundations for your life.