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 inextrica…

**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 preferre…

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 microc…

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? Sc…

"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 as…

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 t…

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 in…

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 un…

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 st…

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. …

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 …

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 Chr…

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.…

*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 Mose…

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…

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 ge…

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 cr…

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 jus…

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, et…

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 per…

The Stoic philosopher, Seneca, offered a lot of wisdom on the topic of death - how to die well, how not to fear death, and how to live more fully in light of the knowledge that death is inevitable. Some, however, accused Seneca of being "obsessed with death," to which he might say, "No! You are obsessed with life!" Which team should the Christian b…

There is a constant debate going on regarding the Church's messaging to the world. Should we "cry aloud and spare not" reflecting the sins of the world back at them, hoping to convict the world of its evil, and drawing hard lines in the sand about moral rightness? Or, should we recognize the broken state of the world and try to share the hope that …

THE FINAL EPISODE! This episode clips along at a pretty good pace - a lot to see and hear about, but this recounting of events matches the feeling of trekking across Israel, barely making it into the country of Jordan, and seeing all there is to see before getting out of the country. It all blurred together and happened so quickly that, despite hav…

OUR FINAL DAYS IN ISRAEL! I am feeling almost as sad about this as I was at the time of actually leaving Israel. However, all good things must come to an end and this is no exception. Of course, this series won't be over with this episode because we still traveled into Jordan and there's a lot to talk about there that I'd be remiss not to mention. …

The temple mount was a surreal experience. To have stood closer to the proposed spot of the Holy of Holies than most of my biblical heroes could have in their time was humbling. Being there while it was almost deserted was ethereal. Picturing the layout of the first century scenery was enlightening. Standing at the Dome of the Rock, facing the Mt. …

Masada is one of the most sobering stories in Jewish history. The final stand of the first Jewish Revolt following the destruction of the temple by Rome saw 960 inhabitants kill themselves rather than be captured or defeated by their enemies. To this day, the swearing in ceremony of the Israeli military swears that what happened at Masada will neve…

**LINK TO PICTURES DOWN BELOW** Day 10 was, by far, our busiest day in Israel. For one, the buses couldn't follow us into the narrow streets of Old Jerusalem so, basically, we were a walking tour for most of the day. Looking back, I'm surprised by how familiarized I was with the layout of the city by the end of this day. Even though it just felt li…

Prior to leaving the region of Galilee we stopped at Beit She'an, the historical location where Saul and his son's bodies were hung by the Philistines after they died at Mt. Gilboa. I took a bit of detour from the main group to climb to the top which made me feel anxious but turned out alright. We, then, drove south to Jerusalem, passing Jericho on…

Day 8 was our last full day in the region of Galilee before heading down/up to Jerusalem for the remainder of the Feast of Tabernacles. In this episode we'll walk through the proclamation by Peter when he stated at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. We'll also talk about how the landscape of this area plays a big part in i…

On this day in Israel we balanced resting on the Sabbath day (seeing what that looked like on a national scale) and still seeing some incredible sites. Specifically, we visited the town of Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene, where we strolled through the ruins and learned about the first century synagogue uncovered there. It's likely that Jesus Himsel…

Friday, just prior to the Sabbath, we had a full day of touring in Israel. The biblical site of Hazor was first on the agenda. This is one of the largest archeological sites in all of Israel and is also one of the earliest, in-tact sites. The Mt. of Beatitudes, though less certain that Jesus would have actually spoken at exactly this location, is h…

The rest of our group joined us on this day for our touring and trip up to the Galilee region. First, we stopped at Caesarea Maritime to see another of Herod's constructions. Paul was on trial in this area and was, presumably, sent to Rome from here. This was also the site of Rabbi Akiva's death in the 130s A.D. On Mt. Carmel we got a panoramic vie…

We are currently caught up at the rate of 1 episode per day (we'll see how long it lasts)! On Day 4 of touring we ventured into the West Bank for the first time to see one of Herod the Great's most impressive architectural structures: Herodium. This constructed mountain became one of his primary places of rulership within sight of Jerusalem where h…

This episode wraps up day 3 in Israel going through the sites of Nazareth, Akko (Acre), and Haifa. At this point in the trip we are still in the Northern part of Israel with Nazareth in the land allotted to Zebulun, Akko being in the land allotted to Asher, and Haifa near the border of Asher and Manasseh. The primary sites here are the Church of An…

It's widely known that Saul didn't end up being a good king for Israel. However, most people read the stories surrounding his start and miss something pivotal that the biblical author of 1 Samuel is trying to show us. Did you miss it too? Email: truthbetoldbiblepodcast@gmail.com Logo: Matt Hernandez Music: Acoustic Indie Folk Years By MarkJuly…

I think I said the word "interesting" in this episode about 500 times, followed closely by the word "beautiful." If you have grace for that minor annoyance, this episode covers my 2nd day in Israel (first full day), and the first stop of our intentional touring: Tzippori. While not a site expressly mentioned in Scripture, Tzippori or Sepphoris is a…

Since returning from Israel, I've been struggling to know what to do with the information I picked up while there. It seems a waste to have gained so much from such a transformative trip, only to have that gain be for no purpose or benefit to anyone else. On the other hand, stories and explanations fall so short of the desired goal and can sometime…

On this episode we begin an exploration into the enigmatic spiritual realm of angelic beings. Drawing from a bible class conversation, we delve into their multifaceted roles as guardians, messengers, and more. As we navigate through scriptural references and visions, we ponder the intriguing question: Are there women angels? This discussion centers…

Most are familiar with Theology, some are familiar with Christology, but in this study we take a look at a term coined specifically for this - humanology. If the Bible is the story of God and man, how do we understand these two major players? Often we tend to look at humanity (either through ourselves as individuals or through the whole) and gain a…

Honesty is often thought to be relegated to whether or not we tell the truth. However, whether a person is honest or dishonest has so much more to do with overall character and virtue. While this is all well and good, it does provoke the question, why are we expected to be good, virtuous, morally upright, and honest people? Is it because being an h…

Odd title, I know. What kind of study could possible come from the "movement" of God? What does the Bible even have to say about something as obscure as this? Surprisingly, a lot. Through this study we'll take a look at Ancient Israel's views on where God is, how He moves, and in what manner He interacts with the physical world to show the slippery…

Anger is a natural part of being human. Knowing this, seeing how often anger is prevalent in godly people written about in scripture, and experiencing the mercy of God when we show anger to Him can start to make us feel like anger against God is okay. However, if we look analytically at the topics of sin, root causes of anger, and God's nature, a c…

It is so common to feel lacking and unworthy in the face of our great God. This feeling of uselessness pervades the non-religious world as well, in my view, because they lack belief in God. However, Christians are not immune to situations like this especially when we sin and fall short of the glory of God. We might begin to ask ourselves- what do I…

In this continuation of the study of love, we analyze love not being puffed up. This phrase, on the surface, is relatable since the concept of a prideful person being "filled with hot air" has transcended time. However, by bringing this characteristic out of the verse to understand it as a concept can help us when we place it back into correct cont…

Though I believe this topic is way bigger than can be expressed in a 35 minute episode, I felt it was worth it to discuss bible prophecy in an effort to demystify it for those who hesitate to study it. Though it's a genre that can be difficult to interpret and read, we shouldn't shy away from it but embrace it as God's word praying that He will lea…

The Bible often asks the question, why do the wicked prosper? We can tend to ask this question too but, many times, what we want to know is: why do the righteous suffer? We can be convinced that it's fine that the wicked prosper as long as it doesn't mean our frustration or misery. In this message originally given in Columbus, Ohio, we go through t…

The Passover is incredibly rich in meaning connecting both the Old and New Testaments in its symbolism. This episode briefly explores why modern Christians should continue to observe the Passover and highlights on the symbols of the Passover - the bread and the wine - before diving into the less remembered portion of the evening that Christ and His…

This episode walks through a post that has been circulating on social media dealing with God's interactions with men and women. Within this post, several premises are listed that seem scripturally based but offer more eisegesis than exegesis. The claims center around the idea that men in the Bible ascended up mountains to commune with God while He …

This is the first interview I've been a part of where I'm not the one conducting the interview. It was a privilege to be able to speak to the former president of the United Church of God, and my good friend, Victor Kubik on the topic of apologetics. I hope this episode going over some of the fundamentals is beneficial and might inspire you to look …

Often those who study the Bible fall into the habit of researching a biblical topic and spanning the scriptures to find support when speaking on or discussing said topic. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, allowing that one is careful not to force scripture to support an unbiblical belief, it can often limit our ability to engage in v…