Truth Be Told

White Jesus??

**This episode utilizes, and refers to, many different historical images and depictions of Jesus. As such, it might be beneficial to view it through the YouTube link in the description below to get the full experience.**

 

Jesus was not white. This shouldn't come as a major shock to anyone.

He was born in Bethlehem in Judea, raised by a typical Israeli family, and was physically indistinguishable from His friends at the end of His life.

Whenever we see images of Jesus, people have a whole host of responses and many of them are angry.

"You should NEVER depict Jesus. That's idolatry!" - is this true?

"Jesus didn't look like that! He looked more like this!" - do we know?

In this episode we take stock of a bunch of images and depictions of Jesus throughout history to show just how varied His portrayals are. Then, we ask the question, why?

Are white people trying to whitewash Jesus? Are other races trying to claim Him ONLY for themselves to the exclusion of others? History doesn't seem to think so. It tells a different story that we'll explore in this week's episode.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

#faith #religion #spirituality #faithful #spiritual #religious #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #icons #iconography #idols #idolatry #God #Messiah #art #race #culture #ethnicity #whitejesus #blackjesus #jonathanroumie #thechosen #painting #davinci #caravaggio #history #ethiopia #bible #biblestudy #biblical #historicalJesus #OldTestament #NewTestament #hebrewbible #Israel #Israeli #Jewish #Judaism #Christian #Christianity #Muslim #Islam #Catholic #Protestant #hope #love #holybible #fyp #truth

Widow's Mite or Widow's Might?

What can the widow's mite teach me about my own value? This is a biblical lesson that is 2,000 years in the making!

Often when Christians consider how amazing God is, it can actually lead to some really problematic self-esteem issues.

When we observe the perfection of God, it is a natural byproduct that we also observe our own imperfection. Some people look at this state of feeling lowly and consider it a good work. "I SHOULD feel terrible about myself because that shows that I'm esteeming God appropriately!" Now, of course, I don't want to advise IGNORING your own sin or lowliness in light of God's righteousness and loftiness. But there is another step we HAVE TO TAKE!

Often people will take this first step of considering God and considering themselves and realizing that they fall short but they don't take the NEXT step of considering how God views them.

When we do this: "look at your life through Heaven's eyes," as Jethro says in the Prince of Egypt, we begin to realize that our value is more than our own estimation of it.

Sure, you might think, I know that Jesus died for me. I get that that imparts value to me.. but I still don't have anything to offer that ACTUALLY makes me worth that. HERE is where we turn to the lesson of the widow's mite.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

#faith #religion #spirituality #Christian #Christianity #value #worth #selfesteem #God #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #bible #biblestudy #widowsmite #mite #currency #denarii #biblical #Luke21 #widow #theology #apologetics #bible #fyp #religious #spiritual #faithful #hope #love #Gospel #gospels #goodnews #Christianmedia

How Does God Do Miracles??

Asking this one question might SERIOUSLY help your Bible Study - not because the answer is drastically important, but because it can change how your brain is interacting with the text.

So often, people have a hard time shifting from simply READING Scripture to actually STUDYING it. They believe it must take some monumental effort to do good, effective study because they don't find that it comes naturally.

In reality, a few small, intentional changes can go a long way in preparing your mind to dialogue with the text in a more effective way. And the good news is - it can be about cool stuff that you're already NATURALLY interested in like miracles!

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

#faith #religion #spirituality #faithful #religious #spiritual #bible #biblestudy #biblical #God #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #Christian #Christianity #NewTestament #OldTestament #HebrewBible #miracles #Jonah #miracle #healing #miraculous #theology #apologetics #video #fyp #Judaism #Islam #Israel #Judah #hope #love #supernatural

The Sons of Korah

The Sons of Korah are fascinating figures throughout the Old Testament. Dissenters, rebels, and subjects of God's judgment, but somehow also righteous, contented, dutiful, obedient, and loyal to God.

Though Korah and his sons don't have a unique book dedicated to their wild story, there are breadcrumbs for us to follow that paint an elaborate picture of this group of people starting in Numbers 16 and meandering all the way through to the Babylonian exile.

How did this family go from Korah who desired the Priesthood for himself, to a gentle group of gatekeeping psalmists who still yearned for access to God's House with that same passion, but respectfully did their jobs relying on God's promises to bless them in due time?

More importantly, what can we learn from these people both as individuals, and as a Church?

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

#faith #religion #spirituality #sonsofkorah #korah #korahsrebellion #Numbers #torah #pentateuch #psalms #psalmist #psalm84 #tabernacle #temple #gatekeepers #doorkeepers #doorman #bible #biblical #biblestudy #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #God #theology #apologetics #biblelesson #Christian #Christianity

By What Every Member/Joint Supplies

Ephesians 4:16 often gets rephrased as saying that the Church is, "joined and knit together by what every member supplies." But.. that's not what the verse says.

In nearly every translation, and even in the original Greek, the word Paul uses is "joint."

Maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal but "joints" and "members" are fundamentally different elements to a physical body and the same hold true for the Spiritual body. In fact, to misunderstand this verse is to potentially cause great harm to a Church.

To misunderstand this verse can (and does) often lead to pride, self-esteem issues, and wrong judgment of others because it elevates the INDIVIDUAL instead of elevating RELATIONSHIPS.

The reality is, our strengths, gifts, and efforts are only worth ANYTHING in the context of one another. If I have a gift for speaking but I have no connection to my Church - my gift is wasted. If I have a gift of hospitality but I have harmed my connection points to the Church - my gift is wasted.

No matter WHAT we have to offer the body, if we have undervalued connection TO the body, that gift lies stagnant.

Hopefully, over the course of this episode, we'll reexamine the connection points in the Church - our relationships with others - and esteem them as the pivotal building blocks to the Church that they are.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

What Bob's Burgers Taught Me About God's Will

Yes, I know. A biblical lesson from the Belchers in Bob's Burgers? Seems insane. But, honestly, if we are focused on God and meditating on His word regularly, we should be able to see evidence of Him and His truths everywhere!

All truth and all good gifts are from Him - whether they come from observing creation, our interactions with others, or a simple TV show, we can learn about God from the truth that all of existence can't help but repeat.

In one episode of Bob's Burgers, Bob is upset with his role as "Block Captain" and complains about the whistle he's been given that he feels is useless. His family comes to the whistle's defense saying that whistles serve A LOT of different functions and that Bob needs to stop complaining.

As soon as I saw this, I realized it was a great model for answering the question - what is God's will for my life?

You're probably asking - how?

Find out in this episode!

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

#fatih #religion #spirituality #Christian #Christianity #Jesus #JesusChrist #God #faithful #religious #spiritual #theology #apologetics #BobsBurgers #bobbelcher #lindabelcher #tinabelcher #louisebelcher #genebelcher #bible #biblestudy #TV #tvshow #biblical #fyp #fypyoutube #fypage #godswill #vocation #career #job #jobs #jobsearch #whatshouldido

Can We/Should We Be Preaching the Gospel to Animals?

In Genesis 9, God makes a covenant with, not just Noah but, the animals.

In Genesis 1, God asks mankind to rule over animal kind as Ambassadors in His image with goodness and love.

In Romans 8, Paul says that ALL of creation groans under the weight of the corruption its been subjected to as it longs for the revealing of the sons of God.

In Mark 16, Jesus tells His disciples to preach the Gospel to EVERY CREATURE.

Could any of this inform how we should think about, and treat, animals?

An even WEIRDER thought is - can we/should we be preaching the Gospel to animals?? HOW?!

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

#faith #religion #spirituality #animals #animalkingdom #animal #Creatures #Creation #God #Jesus #JesusChrist #Christ #Father #Son #Gospel #preaching #preachingthegospel #preachthegospel #evangelism #sonsofGod #bible #biblestudy #Genesis #Romans #Mark #Noah #flood #spiritual #Religious #Faithful #hope #love #biblical #holybible #Christian #Christianity

The One Thing I Do WRONG When Preaching the Gospel

A friend of mine told me once that I am like an "Evangelist for frozen mango."

This was about the weirdest comment I've ever received and so I had to ask about it and consider the statement. It's true, I do love frozen mango. It's one of the greatest snacks in the world. It's just something that makes me happy.

When people find this out about me, many are intrigued. It seems like such an odd thing to be happy about. Sure, most people have tried frozen fruit before. There's an appeal. Smoothies are certainly good. But, why is that specific one so great?!

People ask me these questions. They're incredibly curious about this oddity of mine and, when they see me eating frozen mango, 9 times out of 10, they ask to try it to see what the fuss is all about. I've got a pretty good track record when it comes to showing people just how awesome this snack is.

For all of these reasons, evangelist for frozen mango actually seems like a fairly accurate description. But considering this made me realize that my sharing of the Gospel has been lacking something MAJOR. Find out what it is in this week's episode.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

#faith #religion #spirituality #faithful #religious #spiritual #evangelism #evangelistic #evangelist #evangelion #bible #biblical #biblestudy #holybible #frozenmango #mango #fruit #Chrisitan #Christianity #theology #apologetics #Gospel #truth #Gospels #God

Making the House of God a Home

How can I look at the HOUSE of God and feel like it's a HOME?

Every time I look at the sections of Scripture that talk about the House of God, I remember that those verses often look directly at the Temple or Tabernacle structures as foreshadowing God making His home with us.

While the presence of God, is absolutely a thing I love and desire, looking at the physical buildings that were representative of that are a LONG WAY from giving me the warm fuzzies. To me, they've appeared cold and rigid. They seem too regal and austere to actually be a place I'd desire to dwell.

But the Psalmists write so lovingly about these places, not just talking about their beauty, but about how amazing it would be to actually LIVE there like the birds who make nests there do. So, what am I missing?

In this episode, we look through the book of Exodus and the elements God desired to have as a part of His tabernacle (and later the Temple) through the lens of "home," and see just how awesome of a place it actually is.

God doesn't desire to bring you in to live with Him in some stuffy, religious building - He built a home for His people (and is still building a home for His people) and when we see that, we'll want to dwell with Him there all the more.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

#faith #religion #spirituality #Christian #Christianity #faithful #religious #spiritual #Bible #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #God #biblical #biblestudy #biblemessage #theology #apologetics #truth #temple #tabernacle #Judaism #Israel #Islam #Moses #Exodus #David #Solomon #secondtemple #solomonstemple #houseofGod #thehouseofGod #symbolism #Psalms #SonsofKorah #Psalmist #Psalm84 #imagery #presenceofGod

Social Media and Christian Evangelism: John Mark Dyer Interview

Christian content creator, @johnmarkdyer7  and I had an awesome conversation about Christian evangelism and social media.

The discussion ranged from preaching the Gospel across generations to cultural starting points for sharing your faith.

So many are divided over opinions on Christian social media. How effective is it? Is it watering down the Gospel? Isn't it just a little too performative?

In the midst of all of this, John Mark Dyer has found a niche that tackles genuine topics in a way that communicates transparently and effectively.

Hopefully, this conversation sparks your imagination and encourages you to discover new tactics for sharing your faith life in your communities, workplaces, friend groups, and cultures. Preaching the Gospel is about so much more than the words you say - it's about the life you live that reflects God into the lives of others.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: 

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

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