Truth Be Told Podcast

So often, this verse is one that is taken out of context because of the comforting words, lovely poetry, and pleasant picture it seems to paint for our lives as God sees them. Taking verses out of context, however, is a dangerous game. When you misapply scripture to yourself or force meanings upon the text, you inevitably have to ask yourself - where does it stop?
Where does it STOP applying to me? What DON'T I want it to mean? When you begin asking these questions, even if you aren't being malicious, you are abandoning interpretation in favor of your subjective opinion and this is the worst way to do Bible study.
In this episode, we're just going through one verse (Jeremiah 29:11) as an example of how using verses out of context can quickly become problematic for our understanding and appreciation of Scripture.
Interestingly, the message that people want to force this section to say (that God loves us, has our best interest in mind, and is not, ultimately, desiring our downfall) is a true biblical message. But if it can be found throughout Scripture, why should we insist upon forcing this verse to say what it actually isn't intending to say?

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Throughout the Biblical narrative, there are overlapping patterns that so many largely ignore. However, if we track these patterns, we begin to see important messages and themes building in intensity that give us a much grander view of God's sovereignty over the construction of His Scriptures, and lifechanging lessons that weave our lives inextricably to the text of the Bible.
In this episode, we walk through one such pattern of meeting God at the well. At first, you'll just begin to notice that wells, springs, and cisterns are mentioned more frequently than you had really considered before, but after we build the examples one on top of another and ask WHY the authors are continuing this pattern, we'll see that God was building towards something in epic fashion that reminds us of His goodness and love for us.

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

**PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION**
This episode starts off a series that I plan to slowly work 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 was privileged to talk to my good friend, Ani who spoke for herself but did her best to represent how she saw the mindsets of those in her age group. Ani is a regular listener of this podcast and was excited to participate but nervous, particularly about saying anything that reflected negative views of others.
The primary points that Ani brings out in this episode that I hope those of other age demographics will take note of are:
-YOUNG Christians desire to be interacted with as GROWING Christians. They don't know everything but many of them are eager to understand and are capable of more than surface level learning.
-Young Christians have some level of fear of expressing doubts and questions for fear of how they might be perceived. Other generations working to create a Church where vulnerability is allowed and encouraged out of an evident love for those who need to express it would go a LONG way.
-Young Christians face issues that you might believe you understand by virtue of living in the same world as them. However, while you're an adult living in this time period, you've never been a kid in this time period. Listening to them with respect first will produce an incredible amount of trust for you to be able to share your advice. If you attempt to share the advice first without building that trust, it won't create the lasting relationship that they desperately need from you.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

In the midst of a larger narrative in Luke 19, we're told a brief story featuring a small-statured, tax collector named Zacchaeus of Jericho. On its own, this account makes a cute, kid-friendly story about Jesus's willingness and desire to care for the outcast. In a deeper look, however, which we go through in this study, Zacchaeus becomes a microcosm of the entire Gospel message.
Luke is an intelligent and intentional writer attempting to accurately depict historical events, but he is also recounting these events with a purpose in mind. In this section of Luke, specifically, we are in a transitional period from the earthly ministry of Jesus to His death on the cross with this account of Zacchaeus sitting squarely in the middle.
Is this, simply, a retelling of events, or did Luke intend this retelling to speak to the larger purpose of the good news of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God?

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

God is vast and powerful and beyond human comprehension on so many levels, but He does desire to be known. In fact, He has gone through some incredible lengths to teach us about Himself and His work. One way we can learn so much about God is by considering His creation. What better way to learn about the Creator than to look at what He has made?
Scripture shows us we can learn about God as a shepherd, a father, a farmer, a king and, now, a fashionista.
In this episode, we track a pattern outlined in the Bible of being alternately clothed and stripped of clothing culminating in a final clothing event where we are given more excellent garments by a benefactor.
We see this pattern in the stories of Adam and Eve, Joseph and his brothers, David and Saul, Jesus and His incarnation, and even in our own lives as it relates to the scriptures.
Viewing God as someone who is intricately invested in clothing might seem like a bizarre lens to view Him through, but there are incredible, encouraging lessons in this study that we might not get in the same way other places.

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years

"YHWH Is Our Righteousness" is one of the compound names of God that describes Him as, not only righteous but, righteousness on our behalf. How are we supposed to understand that Someone can be righteousness for us when that doesn't seem to work in our human relationships? When many see the fulfillment of this in the person of Jesus Christ, they assume it means we have no obligation to behave righteously anymore since He did it for us.

Commandments? Laws? Good works? None of these are meant to SAVE a person (they couldn't even at their best), but if our King has shown us and offered us His righteousness, should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years

Last week's episode outlined 4 practical steps to cultivate a natural curiosity of Scripture:
1. Generally know the stories, truths, and virtues of Scripture
2. Train yourself to find Biblical patterns
3. Find those patterns that reflect universal truths, themes, and types EVERYWHERE (including outside of the Bible)
4. Reverse the order (find the themes, truths, and types you love and connect with from other stories/examples and find them IN scripture).

This week, I wanted to go through these steps using one of my favorite examples: Gandalf the Grey from The Lord of the Rings. Hopefully, after walking through this example, the steps will become clearer to envision and you'll begin to see how you can borrow the emotion evoked by more modern stories/media/examples and apply them to Scripture because those examples are only borrowing from Scripture in the first place.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

So many Christians struggle to maintain proper motivation for prayer and bible study. Sometimes, the thought of studying the Bible can even feel downright boring and this can lead to a tremendous amount of debilitating guilt.
Wouldn't it be amazing if we were more genuinely curious about the Scriptures so that it didn't feel like a chore to look into them more frequently? Wouldn't it be great if we could confidently dive deep into the word of God without the fear of feeling guilty over how much we just don't know? What if feeling actually interested in the text didn't feel so forced?
In this episode, we walk through 4 practical tips for cultivating a natural curiosity of Scripture that should help to remove those roadblocks that hinder you from desiring deeper study.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

When we consider what a mediator does in a modern context, we might immediately have some modern conflicts come to mind. It's only natural for these modern conflicts to shape our view of the role itself.
When we consider Jesus as our Mediator before the Father, do we allow some of the horrible conflicts that modern Mediators deal in to shape our understanding of what He is doing for us? If so, we might be in danger of, not only, misunderstanding the role of Jesus Christ, but also misunderstanding the disposition of the Father towards us.
Jesus as Mediator acts as a conduit for us to run back to the Father, not as a shield against the hatred we believe the Father might have for us. It's true, our sin needed dealt with and there is a lot of anger/enemy language in those contexts that can't be ignored, but they shouldn't cause us to think that the Father is vengeful and hateful towards us when He is the One who SENT the Mediator as a way to repair the relationship between us that we broke in the first place.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

In Exodus 4, the staff of Moses is, in one way, transformed into something wholly unique and different from what it had ever been before. This change doesn't come with grandiose celebration or any sort of fanfare. In fact, most readers would probably gloss right over the change that takes place without paying it much attention.
However, when the staff of Moses becomes the staff of God, amazing symbolism takes place that correlates to Moses' own life which, in turn, should give us many things to think about in our own lives as well.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

I thoroughly enjoyed talking with my good friend Clint Porter about doubt (and faith and certainty and trust and knowledge and church cultures and the Dunning-Kruger effect and and and and and..).
Every Christian has moments of doubting and we can start to feel guilty for that, but it's highly likely that we're thinking of those moments all wrong.
In this episode we'll shed light on questions like - What do we mean when we say the word: doubt? What is faith? Can doubt ever be a good thing? How should we think about various biblical examples who expressed their own doubts?
We'll also dive into topics like - how to combat certainty thinking, what to do when church cultures that make doubting feel morally wrong, and using the Dunning-Kruger effect (learning curve) as a template for checking where we are and where we need to go as we weight the claims of the Bible.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Compared to Old Testament and First Century Israel, celebration of God's Holy Days have diminished significantly. Even those who keep the Holy Days often have a hard time genuinely celebrating them. With this decrease in outward festivity and joy has come a complete dissolving of some of the lesser biblical observances and traditions that occurred during the Holy Days themselves in antiquity.
One of these observances that probably wasn't taken too much notice of even in biblical times that has almost become devoid of meaning to the average biblical Christian is the Wave Sheaf Offering that took place between the Days of Unleavened Bread outlined in Leviticus 23.
If we carry the symbolism of this Wave Sheaf Offering through to the New Testament (as is common with all the rest of the Holy Day observances) to see what its purpose might have been as time went on, we just might be awestruck at how immensely important this small ritual actually is.
The Wave Sheaf offering was an armload of barley grain that was taken into the tabernacle/temple and waved "before the LORD," as a firstfruit offering of the new harvest. In this episode we explore how this ties to the ascension of Jesus Christ to the Father and why this was even an important thing.
While most people know that Jesus did ascend to the Father, few know what the need for this was and how greatly this symbolism should enhance our celebration of what God has done on our behalf.

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

The things that run rampant in the culture of the world inevitably filter into the Church though, hopefully, to a lesser degree. One of these unfortunate things is the seeming desire to make division out of differences. Even in local church congregations where people, generally, have a lot in common, we find ways to divide ourselves contrary to Christ's prayer for us at the end of His physical life.
One of the biggest differences turned division in the Christian church is that of age. Younger people who have grown up seeing the mistakes of older people lose respect for them over time and the older people, sensing this, lose trust in the younger.
In this message (specifically given to my home congregation in Columbus, Ohio where this problem is honestly not one we struggle with, though applicable to everyone whether they struggle with it or not) we go over one story that takes place at the end of King David's life that outlines appropriate attitudes from both younger and older generations towards each other.
Hopefully we can take this as an example on how to overcome the generational divide by refusing to make it a thing worth being divided over.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

The argument between science and God is finally put to rest here!
The idea that we need to take an either or approach to these two topics is a false dichotomy often leveled at Christians, so that antagonistic skeptics, atheists, and extreme naturalists can pretend like God isn't real just because He isn't hemmed in by their isolated field of study. A biblical approach to things allows for God, science, philosophy, history, morality, etc. to be unified under the banner of reality.
Christians - refuse to be made to feel as if taking the biblical approach is the more narrow view because it simply isn't.

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

*NOTE: throughout this episode I refer to Moses as a "murderer." I'd like it to be clear that I, personally, view Moses' action of killing the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave as a justified act not worthy of the title of murder. Modern Torah readers, and even first century Christians (see Stephen's statement on this event) seem to view Moses' actions as appropriate, heroic social justice, and I agree that this is an appropriate interpretation. This being said, my use of the term "murderer" is meant to reflect the attitudes that, clearly, both the Egyptians and Hebrews in his time reflected back to him which created extremely unpleasant circumstances for him. Guilt and perceived guilt are not the same but they can both cause issues.*
While most wouldn't think of Moses as a cautionary figure, the events of his life and his life itself is summed up in one event that characterizes all of it, and it is certainly a cautionary story. Though Moses accomplished much in his life, ultimately, it ended in a failure to lead the children of Israel into the promised land on account of the sin he committed the second time God brought water from the rock.
In this episode we walk through the life of Moses to analyze his preexisting conditions that became a part of who he was, and the condition of that particular sin itself realizing that the entirety of Moses' life acted as a primer for that specific sin. Though this read through, initially, seems as if Moses was predisposed to fail in nearly everything he was asked to do, and his story cries out for justice and mercy and hope - it is also this very hole in the story that is perfectly filled by Jesus Christ.
In the cautionary tale of Moses we should gain an appropriate fear of committing the sins that often plague us, but with the hope that it points to in the person of Jesus Christ, we should also be filled with relief and gratitude for what he did that neither Moses, or we, could accomplish on our own.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

Discussing our faith opens us up for criticism, critique, and antagonism from some and might alienate us from others. Talking about our beliefs is fine in some circles but uncomfortable in most others. This can put a Christian who believes they're supposed to be unashamed about their relationship with God at odds with themselves and create a lot of unease. Don't worry - you're not the only one!

How do we balance the understanding that Christians should be ready, willing, and able to share their faith with the paralyzing fear that inevitably crops up when we're actually faced with the opportunity (or predicament) to do so.

In this episode we cover 3 tips for sharing our faith effectively and 3 tips for mitigating the fear that surrounds it. You might not always be met with encouragement and support when you decide to be open about what you believe, but it does NOT need to be as fearful as thing as we often imagine it is.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

With the topic of foot-washing entering the public eye with the "He Gets Us" campaign Super Bowl commercial, it felt appropriate to look into the topic to clear away some of the wrong ideas surrounding the practice.
Who did it? To who? For What?
Often, the people that actively perform foot-washing as a Christian practice either think that it's a generic act to be done for anyone in order to show yourself a servant to all OR see it as some sort of rededication or recommitment to God.
This second mentality is closer to the truth but still glosses over the important fact that your commitment to God happened at baptism. Once you've entered into that relationship, you can recall, reflect, and refocus on that commitment, but you can't enter into it again. To quote Jesus, "the one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean."

Email: [email protected]
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly

Those who worship Jesus Christ have been called all kinds of derogatory things since biblical times. We're told this is expected to continue as we get closer and closer to the time of Jesus' return.
In this episode we look at 4 names leveled against people of the faith during the time of the New Testament and the responses of the ones facing the criticism. Modern aggression towards Christianity hasn't changed all that much and some of the names are still in use today! By looking at what early believers did when they were called names, we can be informed about how we can handle some of the same attacks.
The 4 Names included here are: Nazarene, Seedpicker, Disturber of the Peace, and Christian.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

Russ Ramsey is a pastor and author from Tennessee with a vested interest in art and how it communicates to us on a fundamental level. In this interview we use his fantastic book, "Rembrandt Is In The Wind," as a jumping off point to discussing the broad topic of beauty.
In a world that is obsessed with image, are we overvaluing beauty or are we just using an improper definition? What is the balance a Christian might want to aim for when considering beauty versus aesthetic obsession?
We also discuss a few specific paintings and artists to reflect on a variety of questions. Idolatry and religious images, Catholic and Protestant tendencies, as well as the morality (or lack thereof) of some of the world's most well-known religious painters.
If you love art or discussions on faith - you'll love this episode. If you hate art or hate discussions on faith - you'll love this episode. Russ Ramsey has an incredible way of analyzing some of the most polarizing topics (art and religion) through the universally loved language of story which is sure to increase your love and appreciation for art, artists, history, faith, and beauty itself.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn-rlo-ORHtatIPjGmtZm-w

Russ Ramsey Information:
Rembrandt Is In The Wind Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rembrandt-Wind-Learning-through-Faith/dp/0310129729
Instagram:

The phrase, "God works in mysterious ways," is so commonplace in Christian circles that it often gets mistaken for a Bible verse. Any time we perceive that God has worked in a way we don't expect, we might shrug our shoulders and say this. However, should His workings be mysterious to us?
Of course, God is all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent, etc. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. We're SUPPOSED to look at the work that God does and marvel at it, but this doesn't mean we should be surprised at it.
God has given us a deep text FILLED with examples of the myriad of ways He can and has worked. If we study His word, not only will we begin to understand more clearly how God does and can work, but we'll feel much more free to ask for His guidance and blessing in our lives when we see just how unrestricted He is.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDUkiQvCEF8Rc4TzjyBMsxg

The Bible is a complex series of books. It bears the marks of God in its cohesiveness across time, cultures, and personalities foretelling the end from the beginning and it bears the marks of humanity in its reflection of circumstances, periods in history, and perspectives. It wasn't perfectly understood at the times it was written and it isn't perfectly understood now because it is a book meant to gain clarity as times and seasons come into fulfillment.
As we continue to search the Scriptures to gain clarity, we can be faced with the predicament of not understanding how God's perfect Word was transmitted through His imperfect servants across imperfect media. Skeptics will raise interesting points about various perceived contradictions. Apologists will defend eyewitness discrepancy claiming that, if they were any more perfect they would be exhibiting signs of collusion. On top of this, we have the question of literary license by the authors. Sometimes the Bible seems TOO perfect almost as if it were fabricated by authors rather than recounted by historians.
If the Bible is TOO perfect - we feel we can't trust it. If the Bible is not perfect enough - we feel we can't trust it.
Through this message we'll analyze three stories in the Bible that bear the marks of God's amazing work through imperfect people to bring about historical events in a symmetrical and poetic way and the marks of human perspective writing in such a way to impress a deeper truth behind the historical facts.
Hopefully, by the end, we'll see that while the biblical authors were exercising literary license in how they retold historical accounts, it doesn't negate the factual nature of their writings.
Rather than skepticism, through deeper study, this can become an incredible proof of God's sovereignty to preserve perfect truth through imperfect people.

Email: [email protected]
Logo: Matt Hernandez
Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly