Truth Be Told

A Layered Approach to Parables

In this episode, we dive deep into the parables of Jesus in Matthew 13 and wrestle with a question many Christians rarely stop to ask: are we always reading the parables the way Jesus intended?

From the Parable of the Sower and the Wheat and Weeds to the Mustard Seed, the Leaven, the Net, and the Pearl of Great Price, Jesus tells layered stories about the Kingdom of God that often resist simplistic interpretations. Sometimes Jesus explains the meaning directly — and sometimes He leaves room for discussion, curiosity, and deeper reflection.

What if the point of the parables isn’t just identifying “who represents who” in every story? What if Jesus intended His disciples to wrestle with these teachings in a more profound way?

In this conversation, we explore:
• The purpose of parables in Jewish rabbinical teaching
• Why Matthew 13 can challenge rigid Bible interpretation
• The Parable of the the Pearl of Great Price
• How the Kingdom of God reveals both God’s value to us AND our value to Him
• Why biblical interpretation requires humility, curiosity, and context

This episode is for anyone who has ever struggled with understanding the parables of Jesus, wants deeper Bible study insights, or is seeking a richer understanding of the Kingdom of God.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

No Atheists In Foxholes

Why is it that some of the most outspoken atheists still find themselves praying in moments of fear?

In this episode, I’m wrestling with an idea that’s been sitting in the back of my mind for a while. I’ll be honest—I don’t love making content aimed at atheists online. It often turns combative, exhausting, and rarely leads to meaningful dialogue. But at the same time, I can’t ignore the questions that keep coming up.

This isn’t a “gotcha” argument or a polished apologetics breakdown. It’s a thought experiment—something I’ve been turning over and genuinely wondering about.

We’ve all heard the phrase: “There are no atheists in foxholes.” In the chaos and terror of life-or-death situations, people often cry out to God—even those who would normally deny His existence. Why is that?

Is it just desperation… or could it point to something deeper? If, in our most raw and vulnerable moments, we instinctively reach beyond ourselves for help—what does that say about what we actually believe? Could it be that belief in God isn’t just learned… but embedded?

I explore:

• Why foxhole moments are different from normal reasoning

• The difference between intellectual disbelief and instinctive trust

• Whether desperation-driven prayer means anything at all

• How this connects to the core Christian idea of our need for salvation

This isn’t scientific proof. It’s not meant to settle the debate. But it might make you think a little differently about belief, doubt, and what comes out of us when everything else falls away.

Let me know your thoughts—I’m genuinely curious.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

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"Seemed Good to Me" -Luke

We all want it—we want to love God, follow His will, and live lives that are clearly aligned with what He’s doing in the world. There’s something deeply appealing about the idea that we’re so in tune with God that we can confidently say, “God told me…” or “The Lord is leading me…”

But what happens when we get that wrong?

In this episode, we explore the tension between two common approaches Christians take when trying to discern God’s will. On one side are those who readily attribute their decisions and desires to God’s direct leading. On the other are those who hesitate—who rarely, if ever, say “God told me,” and instead operate with uncertainty, often seeing things through a more natural lens.

Both approaches can come from a sincere place. Both can also lead to problems.

So where’s the balance?

Looking at passages like Acts 16, Genesis 15, and Jeremiah 22, it’s easy to feel like we’re missing something—that others in Scripture had a clarity with God that we simply don’t experience. But then we come to an often-overlooked line in Luke 1:1–4: “It seemed good to me also…”

Luke—the same author who so confidently describes the work of the Holy Spirit in Acts—chooses those words when explaining why he wrote his Gospel.

What does that mean for us?

This episode offers a refreshing and grounded perspective: that it’s okay to pursue what seems good—prayerfully, thoughtfully, and in alignment with God’s revealed will—without needing to claim direct revelation at every turn. At the same time, we’re reminded not to swing too far in the other direction and ignore God’s active role in our lives.

If you’ve ever struggled to know whether something is truly “from God,” this conversation aims to bring clarity, humility, and freedom.

Because sometimes, faithful obedience doesn’t start with “God told me”…
Sometimes, it starts with, “it seemed good to me also.”

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

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Women in the Church: Truth, Tension, and Overcorrection

In this episode, we tackle a viral-style argument that’s been circulating online—one that lists influential women in Scripture only to dismiss them with the repeated claim: “they were not pastors.” At first glance, it may sound like a defense of biblical roles or a defense of women's ability to do amazing things regardless of whether they were pastors or not.. but is that really what’s going on beneath the surface?

We take a closer look at what Scripture actually says in 1 Timothy 2:11–3:7 about the qualifications for pastors/overseers—and affirm an important truth: the role of pastor is reserved for qualified men who faithfully lead their households. But that’s not the whole story.

Too often, conversations like this drift beyond Scripture and into something else entirely—minimizing, dismissing, or even devaluing the countless ways God has worked through women throughout biblical history. From leaders and prophets to servants, messengers, and proclaimers of the Gospel, women have always played vital, God-ordained roles in His mission.

So where’s the tension? And how do we avoid overcorrecting in a way that causes more harm than good?

This episode challenges both extremes:

• The tendency to ignore or rewrite biblical teaching to fit cultural preferences
• And the equally dangerous impulse to go beyond Scripture and limit women more than God ever does

We explore how easily the conversation can shift from “different roles” to “different value”—and why that shift is neither biblical nor acceptable. We also ask hard, personal questions for both men and women:

• Are we unintentionally sidelining women in the church?
• Have we confused tradition with biblical command?
• Are we operating at only half strength because we’re not fully engaging the gifts God has given to women?

At the heart of it all is this: God designed men and women to work together in His mission—not in competition, not in hierarchy of worth, but in complementary purpose.

If you’ve ever wrestled with questions about gender roles in the church, felt tension around these topics, or want to better understand how to hold truth and dignity together without compromise—this conversation is for you.

Let’s uphold what Scripture clearly teaches—without adding to it, and without taking away from the value and calling God has placed on women.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

When Worship Makes You Uncomfortable

Have you ever felt uncomfortable witnessing how someone else worships?

Maybe it's a different religion, a different Christian denomination, or maybe it's someone in your very own congregation - but I'd be willing to bet that all of us have witnessed a method of worship that makes us uncomfortable.

But does this make it wrong?

In this episode, we do a survey of humanity's problem with worship from Cain to Israel, to David, to us.

The reality is, ALL of us, in one way or another, have probably been guilty of some of the sins related to worship that the rest of humanity has fallen to.

Across time, cultures, and methods, humanity has made the mistake of choosing for themselves how they would like to worship God. Sometimes we see people worshipping the wrong god (or gods) in ways that should be reserved for the true God. Sometimes we see people worshipping the right God in all the wrong ways. Sometimes we get uncomfortable when we perceive the "wrong people" to be worshipping the right God.

However, aside from adding elements to worship that actively displease God or ignoring certain things He has asked of us - MANY of us can be guilty of choosing for ourselves how we would like to worship God in our condemnation of other people's perfectly acceptable forms of worship.

You may not enjoy contemporary Christian music and find movement and passion to be awkward - but does that make it unbiblical?

Maybe you find hymns outdated and ritualistically performative - but does that mean God does not enjoy hymns?

We must be careful not to offer things to God that He has explicitly asked us NOT to offer up. But we must also be careful not to condemn others who are offering forms of worship that God desires just because it may make us uncomfortable.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

The Widow, The Temple, and What Things Last

In this episode, we revisit the powerful story of the widow who gave two mites—but not in the way it’s usually told. While her act of generosity is often lifted up as a model of sacrificial giving, what happens when we zoom out and read the full context?

Just before her offering, Jesus confronts religious leaders who exploit the vulnerable. Just after, people marvel at the grandeur and wealth of the temple. Placed in this setting, the widow’s story becomes more than an example of generosity—it becomes a contrast between two very different value systems.

One system, upheld by powerful leaders, prioritized image, wealth, and institution—even at the cost of the needy. The other, embodied by a poor widow, reflected deep trust in God and a willingness to give everything.

So what actually lasts?

The temple, with all its grandeur, eventually fell—just as Jesus said it would. But the widow’s story has endured for generations. Not because of the amount she gave, or even because she was perfect, but because Jesus saw her.

In this episode, we explore what that means for us today. Yes, we are called to give. Yes, our hearts matter. But ultimately, what gives our lives and offerings lasting significance isn’t the size of the gift or even the sincerity behind it—it’s Jesus.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Bridegroom of Blood

In Exodus 4, we read a passage that is widely agreed to be the most confusing and hardest to interpret sections in all of Scripture. 

Moses is commissioned by God.. and then, IMMEDIATELY, God seeks to kill him.

Zipporah, Moses's wife, somehow knows that MOSES is going to die because their SON is uncircumcised. She jumps into action and has him circumcised, quickly touching Moses's feet with the foreskin....what now?

She then says, angrily if you believe most commentaries, that Moses is a "bridegroom of blood" to her. Sounds terrifying. Makes no sense.

What is going on in this section?

In this episode we examine one theory that, I believe, makes the most sense of all the information we're given, holds great explanatory power, and integrates New Testament themes that we all readily accept as signatures of God working.

An episode about circumcision. What could go wrong?

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com 

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Can Transubstantiation Be Substantiated?

This week, we’re diving into one of the most profound, and controversial, aspects of Catholic theology: Transubstantiation.

What does it mean when Catholics say the bread and wine truly become the body and blood of Jesus? And why do so many reported Eucharistic miracles (wafers turning red or even resembling human heart tissue) raise as many questions as they answer?

From the 8th-century miracle in Lanciano, Italy, to modern cases in Buenos Aires, Poland, and Mexico, we’ll explore the claims, the science, and the symbolism behind these phenomena.

Why do miraculous wafers sometimes show physical changes while the wine seems untouched? Why is the blood type often AB? And why haven’t these events been studied in fully transparent, peer-reviewed ways?

I’ll also ask questions every Catholic thinker should consider: Do the physical properties of the bread and wine really need to change? How do we reconcile miracles with faith and scientific scrutiny? And why interpret Jesus’ words literally when He often spoke in metaphor?

Whether you’re Catholic, Christian from another tradition, or simply curious, this episode invites respectful reflection, challenging questions, and thoughtful conversation about faith, science, and the mysteries of the Eucharist.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

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When Bible "Saviors" Don't Look Like Jesus - Judges Explained

This week’s episode dives into one of the most chaotic, confusing, and, honestly, unsettling books in Scripture: Judges.

If you’ve followed this channel for a while, you know I love exploring typology; the patterns and echoes that point us to Jesus throughout the Bible. Once you start seeing them, it’s almost impossible to stop. They’re often beautiful, clear, and deeply compelling.

But Judges? Judges feels… different.

When you look for Jesus in Judges, you do find Him, but not in the clean, obvious ways we might expect. Instead, the typology feels messy, tangled, and even contradictory. The moments where certain figures look the MOST like Christ are often the very same moments they look the LEAST like Him.

-Samson stretches out his arms in death to deliver Israel—but seems more resigned to his death than nobly willing.

-Abimelech carries wood on his shoulders—but not to save, only to destroy.

-Sisera, a tool of God’s judgment, thirsts and is betrayed before his death—but is an enemy of God’s people and is crushed in the head which resonates more with “seed of the serpent” prophecy than anything Messianic.

So what are we supposed to do with that?

In this episode, I explore a theory that changed the way I read Judges: what if these figures aren’t just pointing to Christ—but also to sin itself?

Scripture tells us that Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us. At the cross, we don’t just see the love and mercy of God, we also see the full weight and ugliness of human sin laid bare. What if that’s the key to understanding Judges?

What if these broken “saviors” are intentionally written to reflect both:

→ the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent

→ judgment and mercy

→ a shadow of Christ and a mirror of our sin

When Abimelech is crushed, Sisera is pierced, and Samson brings the temple down, we see echoes of the serpent’s defeat. But in the same breath, we also see pride, vengeance, betrayal, and failure.

It’s not clean typology.

It’s cruciform typology.

And maybe that’s the point.

Because at the cross, the clearest picture of God’s glory is also the clearest picture of our sin.

If Judges has ever confused you or even made you uncomfortable, this episode is for you.

Let’s wrestle with the tension together.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

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Don't Be A Denethor (EPISODE 200!!)

** EPISODE 200!!**

In this episode, we explore a fascinating phrase from Jesus’s letter to the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7 when He identifies Himself as “the One who holds the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens.” What does this title mean, and why does Jesus use it here?

Think Lord of the Rings. Remember Denethor, the Steward of Gondor? His role was to govern the kingdom until the true king returned. But over time Denethor grew proud, bitter, and resentful of the very idea of the rightful king reclaiming the throne. The steward began to act like the kingdom was his.

In Isaiah 22, we get a similar story where God confronts a royal steward named Shebna. As steward of the king’s household, Shebna held immense authority symbolized by the “key of the house of David.” His role was not ownership but stewardship: to manage the king’s house on the king’s behalf. Yet Shebna allowed his position to inflate his pride, acting as though the house belonged to him rather than to the master he served.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God rebukes Shebna and removes him from his position, replacing him with a faithful servant, Eliakim. The key of David would be placed on Eliakim’s shoulder which serves as a symbol of delegated authority and faithful stewardship typological of Christ's ultimate authority as Lord and Master.

Fast forward to the book of Revelation, and Jesus deliberately invokes this imagery. By claiming the key of David, Jesus declares that He (not any human authority) holds ultimate authority over the kingdom of God. He is the true and faithful steward of David’s house, the one who grants or denies access to the kingdom, and whose decisions cannot be overturned.

In this episode, we unpack this powerful Old Testament backdrop and explore what it reveals about authority, humility, and the danger of confusing stewardship with ownership.

The warning given through Shebna still speaks today to leaders, institutions, and believers alike.

Join us as we connect Isaiah and Revelation to see how this small phrase reveals a profound truth about who Jesus is and what it means to faithfully serve in the house that ultimately belongs to God.

Whether you consider ancient Judah, fictional Middle Earth, or the modern day Church, the lesson is the same: don't be a Denethor.

 

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Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly