Truth Be Told

Are the Unclean Meats of Leviticus 11 Canceled In Romans 14?

When I take an honest look at Scripture, I don't see anywhere that the food laws of Leviticus 11 were abolished. I realize there are some verses that people will often use to defend that belief but, looking at them in context, rules that out as an option. Jesus Himself said that He didn't come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, and most Christians would agree that sin (i.e. transgression of the Law) still exists. So what makes us think we can pick and choose from God's commands when we try to express believing loyalty out of love for what Jesus did for us on the cross?

Probably the trickiest set of verses to this worldview that holds the Leviticus 11 food laws as still being in place are found in Romans 14 and Acts 10. Paul is clearly talking about divisive matters regarding food between Jews and Gentiles, and my translation does say it is matter of "clean" or "unclean."

So, doesn't this show that, when Paul says these foods are only unclean to the one who believes them to be, that this Old Testament Law has become a thing of the past?....Not so fast.

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

What If We Knew God's Love Language?

The 5 Love Languages (physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, and acts of service) are categories meant to help people understand which acts of love are the most effective in making those around them feel the most loved. In this theory, love is a form of communication. It's a language.

Knowing how someone communicates helps understanding to flourish. If your wife appreciates gifts but you typically show love through acts of service, understanding her preferences and your tendencies will make actual displays of love that much more meaningful.

If we could know God's love language, what would we do? Would we spend time trying to make Him feel loved? Fortunately, God has told us, very explicitly, what makes Him feel loved. Unfortunately, most people tend to opt for OTHER WAYS to show love to Him that He hasn't, explicitly, asked for.

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

How To Train Your Dragon 2 Helps Us Rethink Obedience

Obedience is a tricky word in today's world. Talking about obedience in a marriage relationship? Even harder.

Immediately, images of harsh dictators and timid followers come to mind, and we bristle at the idea. This can take a real toll on our relationship with God because - like it or not, He does have commandments and does call us to obedience. He also desires a covenantal, marriage relationship with us so.. once again, we have to wrestle with this idea of marriage and obedience.

In the DreamWorks movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, there's a beautiful scene between Stoick, the Viking chief, and his long-lost wife that, I believe, illustrates an excellent model for understanding our relationship with God as it comes to obedience and loyalty.

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

What Resources Should I Use To Help My Bible Study?

This is one of the most common questions I get asked about Bible Study. It's easy to get frustrated when we feel like we see others navigating different tools and resources with ease while we barely know how to read our Bibles for more than 10 minutes without it feeling like serious work!

In this episode, we walk through 3 important things to consider before diving in to extrabiblical sources and consider some good first steps to take so we don't get overwhelmed with all the information out there. One of the most important things to remember when we approach the word of God or a tool meant to help us in our study is that, no matter how comfortable we get in our Bible study, it will always be a labor.

These tools and resources can help it become a labor of love that doesn't frustrate us so much, but no software, book, or scholarly source is going to DO the work for us.

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

It'll Preach, But Is It True?

In this episode, we open up by examining the joke phrase "that'll preach." Typically this is said about sermon topics, theological points, or certain exciting deliveries that inspire another speaker, preacher, pastor, or teacher to want to deliver the same type of message when THEY next speak.

This shouldn't pose a problem if the information is true. However, sometimes, something "preaches" so well, that we forget to vet whether or not it's completely true. I think all speakers are bound to do this in one way or another and even most lay-people have the problem of repeating information that sounds good without first checking its authenticity.

One example of this "that'll preach" phenomenon that I've heard repeated countless times without much challenge (to the point that I've even repeated it myself), surrounds the Greek word, "agape."

If you've ever heard this word expounded on, you might have heard some variation of: "Agape is the highest form of love. It is Godly and spiritual! It is self-sacrificial and all-encompassing. It stands out against all other Greek words for love."

However, if we do a brief survey of the Scriptures where this is, and other words for love are, used, we might be surprised to find that the ground we stand on when we make these claims, isn't as firm as we once thought. Certainly, it'll preach, but is it true?

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Is This the Face of Jesus? A Crash Course on the Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is, probably, the most controversial relic in history. However, this controversy doesn't necessarily speak to its illegitimacy. In fact, the ambiguity surrounding its authenticity might actually speak to a solid potential that it is the genuine article.

In this episode we explore all things shroud related. What is it? What's the evidence for or against it being the ACTUAL burial shroud of Jesus Christ? Does the Bible speak to this at all, or is this only a matter for science, history, and tradition?

Keep in mind, we are surveying an artifact that spans AT LEAST a thousand years. In fact, most relics have fascinating backstories covering various kingdoms and countries, kings and churches, time periods and important events and it is A LOT to cover.

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

What Did Jesus Weep About? A Lesson In Observation vs. Interpretation

In this episode we dive into John 11:35 (the, Jesus wept, verse) and the surrounding section as a case study on how to practice good biblical observation and interpretation rather than mixing these two things up.

One of the very first lessons they teach you in Bible college is about the art of biblical interpretation known as Hermeneutics. There are 4 basic steps to practicing good biblical hermeneutics:

-Historical Context

-Literary Context

-Observation

-Interpretation

These last two steps are PARTICULARLY tricky for us. While we might know, intuitively, that observation is different from interpretation, whether we are practicing one or the other is hard to discern.

We naturally bring our inferences, assumptions, biases, and general understanding about the world into the text and forget that these things are part of interpreting the text rather than simply observing the text.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with interpretation by any means. However, when we wrongly believe something we INTERPRET is the same as something we've OBSERVED, we tend to respond in anger when someone else observes or interprets something different than we have.

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

What If Ancient Israel Got EXACTLY What They Asked For?

In the book of Ezekiel, Israel contends with God's sense of justice asking "why SHOULDN'T the son die for the sins of the Father?" Their idea of fairness, possibly skewed from a position of desiring vengeance on their enemies, expected consequences AND guilt to pass on from father to son.

God demands, in this section, that they correct their ideas of justice to align with His objective standard. When we do Bible study with a mindset that considers the end from the beginning (as God inspired it to be written), we can ask ourselves the question: "How does this portion of Scripture lead the story closer to the fulfillment of Jesus Christ's life and work?"

By asking this question of this section in Ezekiel; by reading the reality of what was coming in the person of Jesus into the text, we understand why God saw it as such an important mentality to correct in His people.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Paul's Use of the Old Testament: Context of Miscontext?

In the book of Romans, like the rest of his writings, Paul draws on several Old Testament sources to make a point. While he seems familiar enough with books like Psalms, Isaiah, Hosea, or Jeremiah to quote them, his USE of singular verses to support his points sometimes leave us more confused than when we STARTED reading his letters.

Of course, Paul isn't the only one who does this! The Gospels, general epistles, and apocalyptic writings all pull out single, Old Testament verses to illustrate or support things that don't always make sense to modern readers.

On Truth Be Told, we spend A LOT of time making sure we get the context right when interpreting a section of scripture. I'm constantly saying things like: read the verses before and after, understand the line of reasoning from the whole chapter, go read the whole BOOK if you have to - ALWAYS read things in context.

So, what do we do with this fact that the New Testament writers feel perfectly comfortable plucking one single verse out of an Old Testament writing and applying it somewhere else we wouldn't expect if this isn't how WE should be studying our Bible?

Do these guys just get a pass because they were important, or is something else going on here?

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

3 Lessons From A Heretic

The Roman Catholic Church executed Girolamo Savonarola as a heretic in 1498 for refusing to adhere to a Papal Bull condemning his preaching against the city and rulers of Florence. This heretic, however, left behind incredible wisdom that can aid modern Christians in properly esteeming the text of Scripture and removing some of their fears and hang-ups regarding sharing the Gospel message.

In this episode, we explore the story of this, little-known, martyr to learn 3 lessons that he exemplified in his life and preaching.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly