Truth Be Told

Expectation vs. Reality of Christ’s Calling

Though many sayings of Christ have been interpreted different ways over time and some can be a bit confusing if not placed in the right context - His instruction, "follow Me," was always presented in a clear and concise way and remains unchanged throughout the centuries. His call to men and women in the 1st century is applicable to you today but, just like some men and women in the 1st century, sometimes our expectation of Christ's call doesn't always match the reality of it. 

Are we ready to follow Christ wherever He leads us? Are we ready to follow Christ whenever He calls us? Are we ready to follow Christ into whatever end He has for us? Are we ready to follow Christ in doing all that He told us to do without moderating His command into something a bit more comfortable for us to follow? In this episode we look at these questions to see how our expectation of Christ's calling matches the reality of what He has called us to.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Learning From Satan’s Mistakes

Christians are called to love their enemies, pray for their enemies, and treat their enemies with kindness - but this doesn't mean we should be glad when an enemy succeeds against us. If an enemy makes a mistake while trying to cause harm to us, that should be a good thing.

Christians deal with more than just disapproval, or even persecution, from others, but also a continuous persecution from a host of spiritual adversaries, with Satan as their chief. Fortunately for us, even when Satan's plans all seem to work out in his favor, we serve a perfect God who can work all things together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. 

In this brief episode, we take a look at three actions that Satan deliberately took against God and His people to practice seeing how God can use, what Satan believes to be, a success, to teach us amazing truths about Him and His plan for us.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Finding Yourself In Bible Prophecy

Often Christians can get caught up in the idea that the Bible is a historical book that, periodically, "comes alive" whenever a particularly interesting subject is brought up. However, the Bible speaks of itself as "living," not, merely, resurrected when our interest is piqued. 

The people of the New Testament lived their lives believing they had the Bible in the Old Testament, unaware that they were to be primary subjects in the Bibles that we have today. Could we be making the same mistake in thinking that the Bible is about people who lived in the past rather than encompassing people of other times as well?

Throughout this episode we will take an in-depth look at Bible Prophecy and Typology to show that all Christians (throughout time) have a central role in the overall message in the Bible and that the words on the page deal directly with our lives, not only in a practical or logistical sense, but in a prophetic sense as well. You were written about in the pages of scripture and in the prophecies of God's messengers - find yourself there and realize that the Bible is, and always has been, the living word of God.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By: Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Dr. Peter Gurry Interview: Textual Criticism

In this episode Dr. Peter Gurry and I explore the topic of textual criticism, or textual reliability, which is a practice used across many literary works, including the text of Scripture. While gaining a better understanding on the topic, it should be come clear that textual criticism, while fascinating and valuable as a study for Christians, should never be a study that ones faith hangs on. The Bible has been proven to be textually reliable, though there is still so much to look into and ask questions about, and trust in the text is well founded.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

What is Your Value?

So many people struggle with feeling valuable. Fortunately, our value isn't up to us, or even those around us. We were bought with a price and that price is the, immensely valuable, sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

In this episode we study the concept of value and take a look at the analogy used by Peter between "corruptible things like silver and gold" and the blood of Christ to see what deeper meaning we can draw out.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Louis Markos Interview: Virtue and Myth

Dr. Louis Markos and I discuss virtue, myth, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and pagan writers. How do we think about pagan writers? How do we think about truth?

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Video: Jamie Schreiber

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful, By Twisterium

Voice of the Martyrs (Todd Nettleton) Interview: Christian Persecution

All across the world, and increasingly in western nations, Christianity is facing heavy persecution. Voice of the Martyrs is an organization dedicated to assisting the persecuted in furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God in hostile nations. In this interview I speak with Todd Nettleton, Chief of Media relations for VOM, about some of these persecuted people he's come in contact with, the concept of persecution in general, and what our takeaway should be as Christians who aren't currently facing heavy persecution.

While Christians persecuted in far away nations might seem distant and disunified from us in western civilization, it doesn't have to be that way. We all might have different beliefs on doctrine, but they can still provide excellent examples of standing up for your faith when it's difficult. This is a lesson that all who claim to follow Christ will need to learn as the world at large turns more and more hostile towards any sort of Christianity.

 

Voice of the Martyrs Website: www.persecution.com

Truth Be Told Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Dr. Christopher Yuan Interview: Holy Sexuality

Dr. Christopher Yuan joins Truth Be Told in an interview regarding Holy Sexuality. Identity and sexuality often get mixed up in today's society, but that absolutely shouldn't be the case. Whether you are someone struggling with same-sex attraction, someone frustrated by singleness, or someone wrestling with sexuality and faith - this episode is for you. Join us as we unpack some of the hard questions - what do I do if I struggle with same-sex attraction? How can I better minister to my friends with sexuality difficulties? What does the Bible say about being single? What should we be striving for when it comes to sexuality?

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Video: Jamie Schreiber

Audio: Chaz Leathers

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Barna Group (Savannah Kimberlin) Interview: The State of Faith in America and What We Can Do About It

What is the state of faith in America? Why are young people leaving the church? Can we, as individuals, make any kind of difference in our churches? How do we help the church in its mission to expand through the preaching of the Gospel, and maintain through the care of the people when we don't influence the organizational level?

These are all questions I discuss with Director of Research Analytics, Savannah Kimberlin of the Barna Group to help equip us to deal with the problems facing followers of Jesus Christ.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Barna Website: https://www.barna.com/ 

Does God Hate Animals?

Does God's placement of animals below humans in His creation, and His command for animal sacrifice in the Old Testament mean that God doesn't care about animals? In today's episode I respond to an animal rights activist's frustration at these thoughts on Christianity shared by many who believe Christian values don't include animal life. 

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez