Truth Be Told

A few weeks ago, it was brought to my attention that my friends Brad and Ryan have started a new project called, "Reacting to Truth," that, essentially, is a reaction channel to my podcast/YouTube channel. 

This news really took me by surprise. Were they making a joke about it? Was it a prank I wasn't aware of? Why didn't they tell me they were doing it? Surely they wouldn't go through all this effort to, not only LISTEN TO my content, but to discuss it enough to want to record their conversational thoughts on it, while JUST intending to be supportive and kind to me?

Sure enough - they were. They appreciated what I was doing and wanted to share their support and thoughts on the messages I was delivering. When I found this out, I immediately went from shocked and skeptical to heart-warmed and appreciative. But why was this my reaction?

Don't I pray always for God to bless my efforts? Don't I want HIS support for this endeavor? Why, then, was it so hard to accept that my friends would want to express this type of love for me?

If John says that it's more difficult to love God who we can't see if we're not even loving our brothers who we CAN see, is it possible the inverse is true? Is my reluctance to accept love from those I can see an indication that maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind to accept personal love from God who I can't see?

Email: [email protected]

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

**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: [email protected] 

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

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: [email protected]

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

#faith #religion #spirituality #hope #love #Joshua #theophany #Christophany #Jesus #Christ #JesusChrist #theology #apologetics #OldTestament #NewTestament #Gospels #Writings #CommanderofthearmyoftheLORD #TheLORDSarmy #usvsthem #tribalism #Christian #Christianity #exegesis #hereneutics #bible #biblestudy #biblical

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: [email protected]

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

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: [email protected]

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

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: [email protected]

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

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: [email protected]

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

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: [email protected]

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

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: [email protected]

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

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: [email protected]

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

Logo: Matt Hernandez

Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly