Truth Be Told

David is an iconic, biblical character, but sometimes he can tend to make people uncomfortable. Sure, David is described as a man who chased after God's heart, but when we see some of his sins, we have a hard time seeing him as the hero that later biblical figures esteem him as. What's more complicated is that, after David commits some of his most egregious sins, it seems as if he never faces the...

​  ⁨@TruthBeToldYouTube⁩   ⁨@TruthBeToldBiblePodcast⁩  Was Mary, the mother of Jesus, sinless? Did she NEED to be? The sinlessness of Mary is a prevailing Catholic teaching formally defined as a Catholic doctrine in 1854 with roots that go back to the Early Church Fathers. The idea is that, in order to be acceptable before God to fulfill this special role, she had to be without sin. Often, when we...

I've noticed a tendency, in most Bible studiers, to categorize characters into "good guys" and "bad guys." While the authors of the Bible DO use storytelling techniques to communicate historical truths, we do need to be careful of overgeneralizations of characters into good and bad categories. When we aren't, there are a few pitfalls we can stumble into: 1. We don't study deeply into moments when...

​  ⁨@TruthBeToldYouTube⁩   ⁨@TruthBeToldBiblePodcast⁩  Many Christians believe Elijah was taken directly to heaven in a chariot of fire—but does the Bible actually say that? In this video, we examine Jesus’ own words that “no man has ascended into heaven,” the overlooked letter Elijah sent to King Jehoram after the chariot event, and the Hebrew meaning of “heaven” as it often refers to the sky or...

As part of God's Law, He determines that, in order to verify the truth of a matter in court, it must be brought before the leaders by the mouth of two or three witnesses. This would ensure that no single, jealous or angry party testifies falsely, wrongly condemning an innocent person. In establishing the covenant with Israel, God appears to follow this by calling two witnesses of His own - Heaven...

A few months ago, I received an email from an atheist outlining several supposed issues with Christian theology and thinking. This email covered everything from miracle claims to morality and, it seemed to me, these questions were asked with sincerity. In this episode we respond, systematically, to the concerns presented and, hopefully, come closer to clarity of understanding between people who be...

What does it mean to be "freed from the Law"? Would you be surprised to know that the Bible doesn't actually ever state this? Certainly there are sections of Scripture that discuss Law and the ways we now relate to it under the New Covenant in Jesus Christ. And, certainly, those sections do reflect a difference in HOW we relate to that same Law. But nowhere in Scripture does it say that we are FRE...

In the Gospels, we get an account of Jesus overturning tables and driving out the money changers. He calls them a den of thieves which, to most readers, tells us that the thing He's angry about is their dishonest business dealings. They must be taking advantage of the poor, buying and selling unfairly, and extorting those who can't help but fall prey to them. Right? Kind of. Jesus isn't just arbit...

In the book of Isaiah we get to read an amazing prophecy about the coming Messiah. When we line this prophecy up with the events of Jesus's life they fit to a point of precision that should amaze us and YET, it would have been so obscure to reader's in Isaiah's (or even Jesus's time) that to believe the events of Jesus's life were fabricated to REPLICATE this prophecy also doesn't seem very likely...

In this episode we begin a discussion on quoting sources. While, on the surface, this might not seem like a biblically relevant topic, it is one that people have differing opinions on throughout Christian circles. When we quote various books and authors, what is the responsibility of the person offering the quote to make disclaimer statements regarding what ELSE from the author we do or do not asc...

In the book of Exodus we read a very challenging set of verses. One says that GOD hardens Pharaoh's heart. One says that PHARAOH hardens his own heart. Everyone wants to know - which one is true and what are the implications for God's goodness and sovereignty in the face of the human suffering (the plagues) that came from this moment? In this episode we take a look at the best modern explanation I...

Sometimes when we read scripture we might walk away feeling like we got NOTHING from that bible study session. It can be aggravating and defeating, but we have to keep reading. You never know when something you read NOW might connect perfectly to something you read later. In this episode we examine one of my personal favorite stories: the woman with the flow of blood for 12 years. On its own, this...

I recently returned from a trip to India for the Feast of Tabernacles where I traveled with my dad, my girlfriend, and her best friend.  After the Feast, and before returning home, we took a brief trip to Mumbai where we experienced the most chaotic journey through the streets that we have ever lived through. We were the racial minority, we got odd looks from everyone, we were visiting at peak hol...

This episode is case and point why we should always be reading our Bibles. I just recently got done with a full study of the book of Romans, Romans 5 is one chapter I've studied extensively, there are memory verses all throughout it - but it took reading it THIS time to draw out something that struck me differently. In this episode we walk through and appreciate a logical case that Paul outlines f...

Throughout the Bible, particularly in Isaiah and Romans, there are allusions to the story of Gideon's defeat of the Midianites, but these allusions come at times that might not make much sense to modern readers. In fact, they might be missed as allusions altogether! In this episode, we walk through this story in Judges 7 and analyze the allusions to learn more about what this story points to in th...

Waiting is one of the most frustrating things that people have to do in general, and that Christians are called to do. We know it's just a part of life, but that doesn't make it any easier. Sometimes, depending on how desperate a thing we're waiting for, it can be downright torturous.  Isaiah writes, "men have not seen, nor has ear heard, nor eye perceived a God besides You who acts for those who...

A few weeks ago I ran into a guy at the self-checkout that felt the need to share an incredibly personal story about a struggle he was currently experiencing. I asked if he believed in God. He said, "I don't think so, but I'm not sure since I haven't really looked into all that." I asked if he would let me pray with him. He said he, "didn't really see the point," and clearly felt skeptical and unc...

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...

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 confusi...

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...

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...

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 h...

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 tru...

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 confusi...

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 greate...