Truth Be Told

The Question of the Day: What outside/extrabiblical sources and resources are appropriate for a Christian to use? Word of the Day: Discernment. Christians tend to fall all along a spectrum of belief on this topic and, while I wouldn't agree with an extreme liberal view that all information is good and created equal, that you should consume information without abandon, and all paths lead to God, a hyper-traditionalist view is also problematic. In fact, if you are someone who holds the hard line that, "The Bible is all we need," I'd ask you the question, "all that we need for what?" Absolutely, the text of Scripture is the inspired word of God and absolutely it is truth about God and man and the story of our departure from Him and His rescue of us back to Himself. However, we know, instinctually, that the Bible does not tell us EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING. So, where is the line? Are commentaries good, but works of fiction bad? Is Josephus good but mythology bad? Is empirical truth right but story false? What about philosophy and wisdom - aren't those just attempts at syncretism and gnostic thinking? As wild as it might seem, the biblical authors seem far less afraid of this possibility and use outside sources and resources about the world around them, morality, and wisdom to HIGHLIGHT biblical truths about God with ease. Let's learn from their example.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #theology #apologetics #philosophy #wisdom #logos #greek #Socrates #Plato #platonic #socratic #bible #biblical #biblestudy #spiritual #faithful #religious #Oldtestament #Newtestament #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #resources #sources #extrabiblicalsources #thecave #John #apostleJohn #Gospel #1John #parousia #scripture #church #philosophical #God #fyp #fypyoutube #Christian #Christianity

I know it might sound silly to some, but there is, quite literally, no area of life that cannot be transformed completely by God through radical goodness, self-sacrifice, compassion, and love for others - even the world of Pokémon shows us this. Many people experience feelings of tension when they consider the transformative life they believe Christianity calls them to on one hand, and the confusion they have over how they are to live that out practically on the other. While I often emphasize the importance of verbally sharing your faith with others and being unafraid to speak about Jesus Christ to those who need Him, one example of good works and Godly action has stood out to me as worth sharing.  ⁨@CoopsCollection⁩  and  ⁨@BeardDadCardz⁩  are two Pokémon card vendors who, regardless of what they believe theologically, have chosen to lead their businesses with generosity, compassion, and love for their customers. While their constant giving might seem like it is contrary to effective money-making, business strategies, it is IN these actions that others have taken note, followed, and joined in the giving process. Our words can be a very effective form of communication and they should never be foregone in efforts to preach the Gospel to others. However, SHOWING others the light of God in us is super effective in exemplifying what all people are starved for and searching for, and also provides them with an actionable step after witnessing that Gospel in real-time.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #pokemon #pokemoncards #pokemontcg #pikachu #coopscollection #coopfluenced #coopatroopa #bearddadcardz #tradingcards #cards #hobby #pokemoncommunity #pokémon #pokemongo #gospel #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #spirit #fruitofthespirit #evangelism #faithful #biblestudy #biblical #bible #God #Christianity #Christian #religion #religious #Scripture #church #podcast #fyp #explore #fypyoutube

In the wake of the assassination of  ⁨@RealCharlieKirk⁩  I, am ashamed to admit, did not have a Christian response. It isn't a problem that I was angry. It isn't a problem that I was horrified at the insensitivity and inhumanity of some people's responses. It isn't a problem that I hope justice comes swiftly. What IS a problem is that I allowed myself to be overcome by evil rather than overcoming evil with good. What IS a problem is that I desired an enemy to vent my anger on. What IS a problem is that the thought of praying for my enemies sickened me. What IS a problem is that, briefly, I allowed my politics to inform my morality rather than my morality to inform my politics. "The problem is that all of our hate is 'justifiable.' There's enough evil for us to endlessly pass the blame, justify our actions, keep killing each other, isolate ourselves, and create power structures that protect our own interests. There's only one way out and it's impossible for humanity to do it. When Jesus went to the cross, He demonstrated the ONLY PATH of redemption in an evil world filled with corruption and pain. Jesus is the way. The cross is the way. Forgiveness, releasing debt, choosing generosity in the midst of injustice, sacrificial love, and building relationships with your enemy is the only way to abundant life." - ⁨@johnmarkdyer7⁩  Some will see this as SOFT Christianity but, really, it just IS Christianity and it is INCREDIBLY difficult at a time like this - but it is what we are called to.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #Charliekirk #utah #politicalviolence #currentevents #worldnews #conservative #liberal #politics #political #politicalnews #republican #democrat #Christian #Christianity #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #God #narrowpath #narrowroad #love #loveyourenemy #romans #Paul #bible #biblical #bibestudy #reaction #response #theology #apologetics #virtue #morality #persecution #podcast #turningpointusa #usa #america  ⁨@turningpointusa⁩ 

2 Corinthians 2:9 is a favorite verse of many preachers, pastors, speakers, and teachers who want to communicate JUST HOW GREAT the Kingdom of God will be. "Eye has not seen," meaning, "You won't believe it when you see it!" "Ear has not hear," meaning, "You've never heard of anything like it!" "Nor has entered into the heart's of man," meaning, "You couldn't even IMAGINE IT if you TRIED!" But is that what this verse is saying? For some reason, this verse is one that gets ripped out of context and, it really doesn't even need THAT much context to know that this is not what Paul is talking about. In this episode, we keep reading, and get to the beautiful truth that this verse is ACTUALLY trying to communicate.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #faithful #spiritual #religious #theology #apologetics #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #God #Christian #Christianity #bible #biblestudy #1Corinthians #ApostlePaul #Paul #epistles #biblical #scripture #church #context #hermeneutics #fyp #Christancontent #christianliving

When faith is talked about, it is often incredibly complicated or overly simple. It's something we all understand and, also, struggle to comprehend - not to mention live out! In this episode, we look at an analogy that might help us understand faith a bit better, review one of the Bible's most common stories that illustrate faith, doubt, and fear, and we dig deeper into why belief in what Christ has done is a faith builder. I know that the biblical authors talk A LOT about faith in the person of Jesus Christ, faith in His life, works, and death, and faith in His resurrection; but how does this translate into faith in my daily life? How does knowing that Jesus existed help me life my life more faithfully? How does knowing that He could do incredible miracles help me have faith that He is working things on MY behalf? How does the fact that He was resurrected make me have more faith that He hasn't left me in the proverbial Valley of the Shadow of Death? Certainly, believing these things to be true is GOOD and helpful for SOME things.. but it hasn't always correlated, for me, why the authors of the Bible seem to think these things are foundational for faith in God for EVERY part of my life. This is something I've struggled with for awhile (and probably will continue to to some degree), but the thought process in this episode helped me out a lot!   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Truth Be Told is 5 years old! Over the course of 5 years, this project has seen a mix of lessons learned and amazing successes that I can only count as blessings from God. In many ways, all of you listening now, or all those who have listened in the past have BEEN blessings yourselves. Many of you who listen regularly have expressed a desire to see Truth Be Told reach a larger audience and are truly rooting for the success of this channel. However, we have accomplished quite a bit in 5 years so, in this episode I wanted to share some of those milestones with you and encourage you to continue supporting. One fascinating lesson I've learned over the course of this work is that, much like Joseph telling his brothers, "what you meant for evil, God has meant for good," often, it is those who dislike Truth Be Told, despise Christianity, and can't stand me that end up being one of the biggest helpers to me. Every time they comment something hateful, every time they share my content with their friends to mock, and every time someone skeptical wants to "keep tabs on me," by sharing my content with someone they respect more, the algorithm responds by increasing the visibility of the video that, hopefully, is a reflection of God and His Word to those who need it. With this in mind, just imagine what your partnership could mean for Truth Be Told! Maybe, in this project, I am doing the planting, but every time you watch, comment, share, subscribe, rate, or interact with this content, you make yourselves the waterer which, SO FAR, has given God the opportunity to cause this effort to yield a lot of good fruit. Thank you!   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #bible #biblical #biblestudy #Christianity #Christian #truthbetold #truth #podcast #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #newtestament #oldtestament #youtube #religious #anniversary #5years #God

How can we deal with some of the incredibly difficult times we go through? How does finding meaning in our suffering make it easier to bear? Does it always? Exciting episode this week in that, I am able to blend two of my favorite worlds: Christian Counseling and Biblical Study. While reading Isaiah this week, I FINALLY reached a section (Chapter 32) that began to make sense of some of the confusing prophecies found in previous chapters. God says He'll be protective of His people.... like a lion is protective over its prey *gulp.* He says He will bind up His people's wounds..... that He has inflicted *gulp.* The list goes on. But FINALLY, in Chapter 32, we get a hint at the MEANING behind why God has allowed or caused these things. There's a theoretical model of counseling called "Existentialism," popularized by Viktor Frankl, that deals A LOT in meaning making as an important part of having a fulfilling life that can endure all things. Since Israel and Judah are expressly TOLD the meaning of their trials, and finding meaning in our suffering is incredibly important, does that mean they handle it well? Unfortunately, no. Why not? How does this effect our lives when we go through suffering and are desperate to find meaning in it? If we treat Israel and Judah's reaction to the meaning God gives for their suffering as a cautionary tale, we can learn a REALLY valuable lesson in the process.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #existentialism #christiancounseling #counseling #viktorfrankl #manssearchformeaning #meaning #purpose #meaningmaking #reason #therapy #podcast #faith #religion #spirituality #Christ #Jesus #JesusChrist #God #Christian #Christianity #theology #apologetics #bible #biblical #suffering #Israel #Judah #Gentiles #Isaiah #prophet #Romans #Paul #apostlepaul #apostle #biblestudy #hebrew #greek #newtestament #oldtestament #Catholic #Protestant #Jewish #Islam #religious #faithful #spiritual #truth #hope #love

In John 10, there's a really odd section dealing in a claim that Jesus is God, an obscure Psalm, a supernatural worldview that is only BEGINNING to become more commonplace, and cultural understandings of scripture and expectations of Messiah. In this episode we go through the 2 main theories that seek to explain this section of Scripture and leave it up to you to decide which option has the greatest explanatory power.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #john10 #youaregods #elohim #divinecouncilworldview #divinecouncil #psalms #john #gospels #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #God #temple #Israel #bible #biblical #theology #apologetics #truth #biblestudy #spirit #spiritual #pagangods #gods #OldTestament #NewTestament #Christianity #Christian #MichaelHeiser #DrMichaelHeiser #NakedBiblePodcast #TheNakedBiblePodcast #MikeHeiser  ⁨@NakedBible⁩ 

While the answer to this question might seem obvious to many Christians on the surface, when we apply some critical thinking, common sense, and look deeper at the Scriptures, we might come to different conclusions. This episode won't teach you WHAT to think but, hopefully, it will give some guidance on HOW to think about this sensitive topic.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #cusswords #cursewords #profanity #christianswhocursesometimes #christian #christianity #Christ #Jesus #God #Christ #JesusChrist #religious #biblical #bible #profane #obscenity #truth #Paul #fyp #fypyoutube

When we read our Bibles, there is A LOT to remember. History, Language, Culture, Audience - ALL of this needs taken into consideration. At the risk of giving you one too many things to consider - we might also reflect on what TONE we're allowing to color our reading of the text. In this episode, we walk through one example where the tone I applied to the text actually affected my understanding of what was being said.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #theology #apologetics #Christian #Christianity #hope #love #bible #biblical #JesusChrist #Jesus #Christ #God #tone #hermeneutics #exegesis #biblestudy #practicalchristianity #podcast #scripture #church #study #fyp #fypyoutube

I am not usually one to comment on current events but this one has me a little confused so I thought I'd start the discussion. Recently, the CEO of #Astronomer #AndyByron was caught cheating on his wife at a #Coldplay concert. Since then, there has been a flood of jokes, parody scene recreations, and commentaries on the event as the public latched onto it as a source of entertainment. This episode is not meant to analyze the situation itself or weigh in on the lives of those affected. It is not meant to shame those who have engaged in the discussion surrounding it. Instead, I want to present a platform for us, as Christians, to discuss the merits of staying out of it all together in an effort to not be so eager to cast stones vs. engage in it in an effort to highlight that sin leads to destruction. Admittedly, the enjoyment I see people getting out of this story isn't making a lot of sense to me, but I'd really love to have conversations about your thoughts!   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #truth #hope #love #judgment #adultery #scandal #scandalous  ⁨@Astronomer⁩   ⁨@coldplay⁩  #theology #apologetics #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #God #Christian #Christianity #Wicked #Elphaba #podcast #bible #biblestudy #biblical #church #Ezekiel #Peter #NewTestament #OldTestament #fyp #fypyoutube #Christianliving #practicalchristianity

In this episode we will connect ourselves to the plan of God. While it seems as if God has changed up what He has done, how He has worked, and what He has expected of humanity as it relates to His long-term goals, in reality, as Adam and Eve were commissioned, so are we. When we trace God's statements throughout history to Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Israel, Isaiah, and the Church through Jesus, we realize that our jobs today are the same even while the methodology might have shifted. Let's not fall into the same pitfall that Israel fell into, missing the forest for the trees. God's plan is for ALL people throughout ALL time and, when we commit our lives to Him, we commit to joining in the work that He gave His people to do throughout history.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

In the Gospels, there is a story about Jesus's life that we would NEVER in a million years account to Him as failure. Yet, when we find ourselves in very similar scenarios - we feel like failures ourselves. Christians, you are called to carry your cross daily, but the example of Jesus should show us that we do NOT have to carry it alone.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #Christianity #Christian #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #cross #crucifixion #resurrection #help #askforhelp #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #bible #biblestudy #biblical #theology #apologetics #gospel #gospels #matthew #mark #luke #john #simonofcyrene #cyrene #scripture #church #encouragement #hope #love #fyp #fypyoutube #chrisitanmedia #podcast #fail #failure #failing #failuretosuccess

How do we preach the Gospel to those who.... seem like they've already heard it? In the first century, when Jesus first commissioned His disciples, the majority of the world had never heard His name, what He had done, or any of the tenets of Christianity - sharing this information might have been persecuted, but it wasn't redundant. Often, Christians feel as if they should still be preaching the Gospel but aren't sure how that is supposed to look in the modern landscape now that.. MOST people have a general idea of who Jesus is. In this week's episode, we consider a simple mindset shift on this topic that might help us continue doing what Jesus asked us to do.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #Christian #Christianity #Jesus #God #Christ #JesusChrist #faithful #religious #spiritual #bible #biblestudy #theology #apologetics #truth #hope #love #fyp #fypyotube #evangelism #greatcommission #thegreatcommission #preach #Gospel #evangelion #Gospels #goodnews

In Isaiah Chapter 20, we see the, normally, mild-mannered Isaiah being asked to behave as eccentrically as some of the other prophets. For 3 years, he walks naked and barefoot. Why, you might ask? That's the kicker - until the 3 years is up, no explanation is given. Of course, God has His reasons for doing things the way He does. But the question this brought to my mind is - would I have faith like Isaiah to obey a command like this without understanding? Would you?   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #majorprophets #Isaiah #faithful #God #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #bible #biblical #biblestudy #theology #apologetics #oldtestament #newtestament #scripture #church #Chrisitan #Christianity #Assyria #Judea #Israel #Egypt #Cush #prophesy #prophecy #prophet #fyp #fypyoutube #Christianmedia

In this episode we take a look at the story of Jacob and Rachel as they flee from Laban. If we overlay the Exodus story, we can't help but notice that they share many of the same plot points: -Jacob leaves the Promised Land to enter a foreign place -Jacob enters into hard service to claim his bride -Jacob is blessed by God and his household multiplies -Jacob asks to leave and is denied -Jacob flees and Laban pursues However, there's one part of this story that is simply stated with very little explanation or commentary: Rachel steals Laban's household gods and refuses to return them. She tells Laban that, because she is on her period, she will not get up for him to search her possessions, all while she's sitting on the idols to hide them. Why are we told this? Why aren't we given more information about what's going on? While most read this story and assume that this is a moment of faithlessness from Rachel, desiring to preserve her connection to her pagan roots, overlaying the Exodus story actually sheds light on this bizarre section of Scripture and gives us clues to the fact that Rachel might actually be performing a faithful action LIKE one that God performs later on in Egypt.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #theology #apologetics #menstrualcycle #menstruation #periods #period #bloodflow #timeofthemonth #Rachel #Jacob #Laban #Leah #gods #God #idolatry #idols #Exodus #Genesis #bible #biblical #biblestudy #religious #Christian #Christianity #torah #pentateuch #law #Abraham #promisedland #Israel #Haran #JesusChrist #NewTestament #Jesus #Christ #OldTestament #HebrewBible #Hebrew #Greek #Catholic #Protestant #Judaism #Islam #fyp #fypyoutube #women #womenofthebible #heroicwomen #paganism #pagangods #idolatry

We have been called by God to do a job.  How are we doing? We should be excited to be working for Him - not fearful.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

The Bible....and Shrek. Probably not 2 things you thought you'd hear compared in your lifetime but, ACTUALLY, there are a lot of similarities between the two. When you sit down to watch Shrek, believe it or not, you have put in A LOT of preliminary groundwork in order to watch that movie with any enjoyment at all. Shrek is a story that CONTAINS other stories within it both in its thematic elements, jokes, and character choices. You, the viewer, are assumed to have a working knowledge of ALL of those things in order to dialogue with the story at the various levels it is trying to communicate on. Can you still watch Shrek if you don't understand who Pinocchio is? Sure. Is it better if you do - absolutely. The Bible is the same way. The authors of Scripture often had common worldviews, mythologies, cultural paradigms, and turns of phrase. They regularly draw on past stories from earlier portions of the Bible and Ancient Near Eastern literature to highlight deeper truths, evoke certain feelings, and to present deeper messages to the reader. To have effective Bible study, it is REALLY helpful to know some of these things so that proper connotations are drawn when reading the Scriptures holistically.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion spirituality #bible #biblestudy #biblical #truth #hope #love #ANE #story #stories #patterns #literature #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #God #theology #apologetics #hermeneutics #typology #Genesis #canon #Scripture #church #Christianity #Christian #aposles #prophets #authors #judges #Israel #Judah #typological #Shrek #fyp

After reading 1 Corinthians 12, everyone wants to know - what's my spiritual gift? Super speed? Invisibility? LASER EYES?! Obviously, this is a joke, but it is actually close to how many feel about spiritual gifts - like they are hyper-spiritual abilities that make us stand out from the crowd. However, while they absolutely are blessings from God, attitudes like this about spiritual gifts are SPECIFICALLY warned against by Paul because they can lead to some terrible consequences for the church and its members. In this episode, we read this section of scripture critically with awareness of some of the dangers people fall into when considering this topic and reverse engineer it to actually give us insight into how we might actually discover what gifts God has blessed us with. This method doesn't involve waiting for some mystical revelation or overestimating our abilities, it involves understanding the purpose for the gifts God gives us, looking out for the needs of the body, and determining where we might be uniquely suited to stand in the gap.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly   #faith #religion #spirituality #bible #biblestudy #spiritualgifts #spiritual #religious #faithful #paul #apostlepaul #1corinthians12 #1corinthians #God #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #truth #Christian #Christianity #church #biblical #theology #apologetics #hermeneutics #scripture

Watch this episode if you're interested in watching us make fun of each other for 2 hours while sprinkling in a few good thoughts about the Bible, the Church, podcasting, etc. Ryan and Brad are two of my best friends who I've known for most of my life. Every time we interact it's enjoyable (hopefully for those around us as well). It is a privilege to have been a subject for reaction on their channel and it was awesome to talk with them for a full-length episode.   Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TruthBeToldYouTube Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly #faith #religion #spirituality #podcast #bible #biblestudy #interview #friends #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #Christianmedia #christianpodcast #Christian #Christianity #conversation #discussion #God #church #biblestudy #reaction #fyp