Truth Be Told

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

Apologetics For the Feast of Tabernacles

The Feast of Tabernacles is a celebration commanded by God in Leviticus 23. Some may have never heard of it, some may know a lot about the historicity of the days but not see them as personally relevant, and some may actively keep the Feast of Tabernacles (along with God's other commanded observances). In this episode I will make the case, from scripture, that the Feast of Tabernacles is not something "done away with," and is an observance that we should still keep today. The points I will use are as follows:

 

1. The Feast of Tabernacles is a command of God and should, therefore, be looked at closely to see who the command goes out to.
2. The Feast of Tabernacles was a time planned out from the beginning of creation.
3. The Feast of Tabernacles is not strictly a Jewish holiday, despite the Jews being included in the original command.
4. The Feast of Tabernacles was kept by Jesus Christ and the Apostles (which only adds to the seriousness with which we should consider whether or not we should do it).
5. The Feast of Tabernacles was continued to be observed by Christians after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
6. The Feast of Tabernacles will one day be celebrated by all nations.

I'm really excited about the thoroughness of this episode and I hope that, if you don't keep the Feast, this has, at the very least given you something interesting to think about and might even convince you that it's something worth looking into more. If you already keep the Feast of Tabernacles, I hope this offers you a resource to, not only solidify this for yourself, but also explain it to others when they ask. Enjoy!

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Study of Love: Love Is Not Proud

Paul follows "love does not boast" with the phrase, "love is not proud." Just like Jesus Christ in His ministry, the Apostle Paul shows us an elevation idea. Not only do we have to be careful in our outward actions, but also in our inward thoughts and feelings as, boasting is the external expression of pride.

Pride leaves no room for love of others, love of God, or appropriate love of self, so Paul leaves no room for the love of pride in his description of the type of love a Christian is called to.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

The Current, Former Things

The Christian life is full of duality as we struggle to live like we are more and more a part of the life we are looking forward to in God's Kingdom, while still currently living as human beings in this world with all of its pressures and stresses and commitments. How do we reconcile this split reality? 

In this episode we look at how Christ dealt with the things listed in Revelation 21:4 that will be "former things" in God's Kingdom. Christ was fully Man and fully God in His walk on Earth and He was able to live a perfect life without feeling torn between the two realities He was a part of. Let's hope we can do the same!

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

The Enemy‘s Playbook

Every single person called by God needs to wake up to the fact that we are called into the middle of spiritual warfare. Those who have gone before us realized this truth, understood that they were what was being fought over, and comprehended that they were called to take an active part in fighting against the spiritual forces against them. 

Satan the devil and all those who fight with him are a malicious and organized system designed for our destruction and they have perfected their style of warfare over the thousands of years of human history. 

Fortunately for us, they have continued to attack humankind in the same way time and time again because it has continued to work for them. While we have to be careful to guard against these attacks, record of these attempts on humanity have been recorded in the Bible for us so that we can learn the enemy's movements, know where they'll attack, and fight against them more efficiently. 

Today we look inside the enemy's playbook to see the three places, that also happen to be human weaknesses, where Satan and his army will continue to attack so we can become better members of the army of the Living God, and fight on until death or the Kingdom comes.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Music: Pop-Rocks Beautiful By Twisterium

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Faithful Thomas

In this episode we look into the life of the Apostle Thomas and attempt to go through a process of:

1. Not accepting something just because someone says it or says it often

2. Reading the text for ourselves

3. Applying context (cultural, historical, literary) to the scripture we look at

 

that can be used to dispel all kinds of presuppositions we have about the Bible so that we can study more effectively and begin to think more critically about the text of scripture. Even if you already know all of the information I present here about the Apostle Thomas (unfairly named Doubting Thomas, from my perspective), the structure presented should be something you can take with you throughout all studies of the biblical text and all statements made by others that you'd like the Bible to weigh in on.

Hapax Legomena

Often, speakers at churches, conferences, or just in conversation will give expositions about certain words found within the Bible. A common tactic, is to do a brief word study and, to add credence to the fact that their topic is important, announce the number of times the word they've chosen as their topic appears in the Bible. The inference, if speakers and listeners are not careful, that can be taken away from this, is that the more often a word appears in the text of scripture, the more important it is to the section of scripture, to the Bible as a whole, or to your very life.

There is, however, a term used by literary analysts, borrowed from the Greek called Hapax Legomena that literally means "used only once." This can be once in a section, once in a collection of works, or once across all of literature depending on the context. The Bible has 1,086 true Hapax Legomena, meaning words that are only found once in the entirety of the Bible. Are these words less important than all the rest? Can we ignore them? Or, is all scripture God-breathed? 

While the usage of word count can be interesting and not intended to cause harm, it might lead us to unintentionally be cavalier in what we deem important or non-important, strictly based on quantity of times. Today we'll look at why frequency of use does not always equate to level of importance and some oversights we all might be guilty of in our speaking, hearing, and study, examples of Hapax Legomena, and a call to caution as we all go forward in our studies.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Pop-Rock Beautiful By Twisterium