Truth Be Told

Examining the Generational Divide: Dallin Interview (Teen Demographic)

**PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION**

This episode is the 2nd in a series that I'm slowly working through, dedicated to analyzing the potential for division in the Church that runs along age lines.

While I don't see any wild amount of disunity between the different age groups currently, there are differences in experience, thought, understanding, and preferred methodology that could quickly turn into division if we're not aware of them.

We should all be looking around at the members of our congregations and asking ourselves, "How can I better serve them?" The first step to this, in my opinion, is understanding them. By building relationships built on a desire to understand and succeed together, we mitigate the human tendencies to assume poor motives, to write people off, or to forge ahead alone believing ourselves to be the only correct thinkers.

In this episode, I sat down with my friend Dallin who spoke for himself but did his best to represent how he saw the mindsets of those in his age group. Dallin is a former camper of mine with a thoughtful mind and a great heart. He started out fairly nervous to participate in the podcast but ended up articulating his thoughts well.

The primary points that Dallin brings out that I hope you'll take away from this episode are:

 

-Younger generations don't always think the same way that older generations do and, if we assume they do, we'll really suffer in our communication with them.

-Younger generations were born into the culture of the Church, they didn't necessarily build it. This isn't their fault and it doesn't need to be held against them.

-Young Christians might take certain things less seriously than older Christians but this doesn't mean they should be taken less seriously. They're intelligent and thoughtful and valuable to our Church.

 

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

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

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com 

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

"Neither." -The LORD

Are you in danger of having an Us vs. Them mentality when it comes to those who aren't Christian? Is this even all that wrong?

In Joshua 5, we get a really unique story in Israel's history regarding the Commander of the Army of the LORD. This story sits between Israel's wandering in the wilderness after their liberation from Egypt and the fall of Jericho as the first of the conquests of the Promised Land. As such, it often gets forgotten. However, it is a story that might have some really interesting application to our own lives.

Joshua asks this Commander, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" The Commander merely replies, "Neither."

How could the Commander of the Army of the LORD not be FOR those who considered themselves to BE the army of the LORD? Doesn't God deliver the city of Jericho over to Israel? Doesn't this mean He's AGAINST their adversaries?

In this episode, we explore all of these questions and some potential applications to our own modern lives as we follow God.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

 

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How to Handle the "Hundreds of Contradictions" Conversation

It often gets stated by skeptics that the Bible is "full of contradictions." Even Christians will stumble across verses that get a bit confusing sometimes.

Whenever this conversations comes up, it seems like it results in hostility and frustration most of the time. There are a few things we need to keep in mind before we even THINK about getting into these types of conversations.

It's important to go through the individual verses, but we have to remember to have respect for one another when we do this and come to the table for an actual conversation, not an anger-inducing session of talking past one another.

Follow these steps to increase effective communication between you and someone on the opposing end of the debate.

Link: https://www.logos.com/grow/biblical-hermeneutics-guide/

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

And You Shall Call His Name, Jesus

The birth of our Savior is one of the most important events in human history. It is the fulfillment of prophecies, it is the answer to prayers, it is the beginning of hope. God became flesh and dwelt among us. 

While, personally, I don't celebrate Christmas (I don't think there is any chance this is remotely close to the actual birth of Jesus), to ignore this story in an effort to distance yourself from the materialistic trappings of the holiday is to refuse to participate in the recognition of an event that lowly shepherds, lofty kings, faithful Israelites, watchful Gentile astrologers, a humble Jewish family of little notoriety, and hosts of angels took very careful note of.

This story is historical fact and it is the answer to a question that has echoed down throughout time. "How long, LORD?!" The answer of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is one that should be rejoiced over.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Job Asks a Question That Jesus Answers

Job is one of the more well-known books of the Bible. It struggles through huge topics like human suffering, the spirit world, and God's goodness.

This book also presents several questions that Job, in his suffering, petitions God about hoping for an answer. Why is this happening to me? What have I done wrong? Won't you give me a fair trial? Why is there no mediator between God and man?

This last one, we know, is answered in the person of Jesus who, having lived as both God and man, is uniquely qualified to stand as our Mediator.

Job asks another question that we might gloss over, but actually highlights something AMAZING about Jesus Christ as well. The question is: "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" and the answer he sees in front of him is, "There is not one."

In this episode, we explore how Jesus uniquely answers this question.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Survey of the Antagonists in the Greatest Story Ever Told

Stories have been a part of human culture since its beginning. We learn about morality, emotions, differences in people, virtue, struggle, and how the world works all through the telling and retelling of stories.

The Bible contains what literary scholars call, "The Greatest Story Ever Told." The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has everything that the best stories desire to have: dynamic characters, intricate plotlines, rising and falling of emotions and circumstances, complex topics and pleasant scenes. Amazingly, this story is true.

One thing that all stories need is the presence of Antagonists. These are characters that act to build tension, difficulty, and struggle within a story. They move the plot along and cause certain catalysts for the story's hero(es) to overcome. The story of Jesus is no different. In fact, the number of antagonists and the complexity of them are greater than any other tale.

In this episode we walk through the Greatest Story Ever Told highlighting the antagonists, or those who made themselves enemies of Jesus, to see what lessons we can learn when viewing the story through this lens.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

I'm Worse Than Eve

Eve, the mother of all mankind, gets an incredibly bad wrap. We read her story in Genesis 3 and pin the state of the world on her shoulders to, probably, an unfair degree.

Sure, submitting to the temptation of the serpent, eating of the fruit in disobedience to God, and giving to her husband to eat as well are incredibly misguided actions that had dire consequences. But we forget that her story continues past Genesis 3.

In fact, when we read of her story past that chapter, we see a type of faith that most of us struggle to have in our daily lives.

In many ways, Eve is a cautionary tale, but in many other ways, she is an exemplar that we should look to when we struggle to understand some of God's promises.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

The Mercy of God at Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah is a classic story of God's judgement. These cities have become bywords to represent evil and sin and their destruction acts as a cautionary tale to all who would disobey God. But is that all there is to it?

Upon further reading, we might be surprised to know that this story is actually an amazing representation of God's mercy and estimation of human life.

How, you might ask? Find out on this week's episode.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

When Do You Think The Prodigal Son Repented?

The story of the prodigal son is one of the most well-known in the world. After centuries of telling and retelling, preaching and writing, expounding and studying - what more could we possibly take from this short section of scripture?

Let me ask you - when, in the story, do you think the prodigal son repented? Some might place it at the moment he "comes to himself" and prepares a speech on his way home to the father. This is a great candidate for repentance since he is ACTIVELY changing his actions and walking his sinful actions back.

However, there is a noticeable difference in the speech he PREPARES to deliver and the one he ACTUALLY delivers that might give us some insight into the heart of this wayward son.

The prodigal son is, after all, a story of the heart.

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Replying to Atheist's Comments

Last week's video was a wild one. I really did hope to have an even-toned discussion regarding the merits of the Christian claim of the sinless life of Jesus Christ. It turned into QUITE a bit more than that and I had comments as wide-ranging as requests for me to prove the supernatural, accusations against the validity of the manuscript evidence of the Bible, and flat out name calling.

In amidst all of this, however, there were some really pleasant people that took the challenge seriously and offered biblical arguments in favor of their beliefs, or on-topic discussions on logic and the rules of it.

Many believed me to be making use of the logical fallacy of circular reasoning. This, I found interesting.

I'm often asked by atheists to prove that a God who transcends the natural world exists while ONLY using the laws of nature. This has always seemed circular to me but I've been happy to oblige to do the best I can at building a plausible, rational case for His existence based on history, archeology, philosophy, textual criticism, and science, but it never seems to be enough.

In this video I respond to a few of the more respectful comments from atheists from last week's video. If you haven't seen it, the link is below:

https://youtu.be/eEiGSAOA0aA?si=PAEfjUoD68GjGElX

 

Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly