What is Simple Truth? | Season 01, Episode 01 | Simple Truth Podcast

Does the world really need another Christian podcast? Honestly, yes. We believe it does. Because many people want a deep relationship with God, but they don't know where to start. And many go to church every week, but they still have unanswered foundational questions. So, let me ask you a few simple questions. Let's see how we do. Can you clearly explain what the gospel is? Or do you know the difference between justification, redemption, and sanctification? And do you know which parable Jesus said was the most important parable? If those questions make you pause even a little, this podcast may be for you. The Simple Truth podcast is for people who want real spiritual depth, not just inspiration. It's for people who love God, attend church, but are still looking for understanding in the basics. And no, we're not asking you to leave your church. This podcast is just a free open invitation to grow in your understanding of God and most importantly discover your purpose in life. Now, I won't leave you hanging. The word gospel means good news or good message. And that good news is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is actually clearly defined in the Bible in the book of 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. The word justification, it means being declared right before God, fully forgiven and no longer guilty. Redemption, it means being freed by a price paid, released from bondage. And sanctification means being set apart for God and progressively made holy. It's both a one-time work and an ongoing process. And these aren't just theological terms. These are three of the core things that God accomplished in you and me through the gospel. And as for the parable Jesus said was most important, it's the parable of the sower. In Mark 4:3, Jesus said, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?" But this isn't just about knowing Bible facts, is it? It's about you really understanding foundational truths in a way that you could live and experiencing the peace, the satisfaction, and the transformation that God intends for you and for me. So, what is Simple Truth? Short answer, it's a podcast and a website that's focused on foundational biblical teaching designed to help you grow closer to God and walk in his purpose for your life. Where did simple truth come from? What do we teach? And what's coming next? That's what this foundational episode is all about. So, let's get started. Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast, where we open the Bible to uncover simple, biblical, [music] and essential truths that can transform your life. And now, here's your host, Ted Ross. Hi, my name is Ted Ross and this is the Simple Truth Podcast, your home for biblical truth, clearly taught and freely given. Welcome to season 1, episode 1. What is Simple Truth? Let's get into it. Let's say this episode covers the ABCs of the STP, right? The Simple Truth podcast. Okay, I promise I'm not going to make that a thing. What are we going to talk about? Well, we're going to talk about how Simple Truth started and what it's all about. We're going to talk about whether this podcast is a good fit for you. Does it have what you're looking for? And we'll also be discussing what we'll be teaching in the seasons ahead. So, where did Simple Truth come from? Well, I'll tell you now. Our origin story. It isn't glamorous. It isn't fancy. It started in a living room. Didn't start on a stage. It started back in 2024. seven people. They got together twice a week and they did it to ask honest questions about the Bible and honestly what it means to be a Christian. It was a diverse group. We had younger and older, we had new, we had experience, we had male, female, we had different cultures, different backgrounds, different education levels. But what we saw as a group were foundational simple truths you could say in the Bible that most Christians really hadn't learned in church. And other people when they heard about these teachings, they asked for access beyond the living room. So, Simple Truth then grew into a podcast, a website, and a nonprofit. So, what does Simple Truth provide? Well, what you'll find at Simple Truth is our mission, and you've heard me say this, our goal is to be a home for biblical truth that's clearly taught and it's freely given. What does that involve? Well, there's going to be professional video and audio lessons that'll be available on website, through social media, on various podcast platforms. Honestly, the intent is to do something that's very accessible to you so you can get God's word your way. There's no hype, no politics, there's no religious noise, just the Bible, folks. We're going to do practical teaching for everyday life, not just Sundays, right? This is a daily walk. We believe that being a Christian is day in day out, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And what we teach is related to that. It's going to focus on your spiritual growth, your success, and your happiness. If you're old enough like me to remember certain commercials, there was a quote for hair care products in which they said, "If you don't look good, we don't look good." And honestly, that's this podcast. We're not measured by how many episodes we put up or how many, you know, how many likes we get or how many folks share it, etc. We're going to be measured on how well you grow in this word, your success, your happiness, and honestly, your satisfaction. That's really what it comes down to. We're going to also be discussing foundational Christian doctrine. It's got to be theologically sound. It's going to be mainstream and non-denominational. You're not going to find strange teachings here. You're going to be finding just the Bible. And every lesson is completely free. No fees, no subscriptions. We're also going to try to apply a sense of humor, but I must admit, use it at your own risk. Every Simple Truth episode, you'll see it's focused. It's intentional. It's structured. So, every major topic is organized into a simple truth. So, here's an example. We're going to discuss simple truth number one about God wants us to repent and believe the gospel. and then we're going to read verses associated with it and then we're going to define words to get a better understanding of really what that foundational truth is in scripture. You're also going to see that key words, they're clearly defined and they're simple, easy to understand. And for your reference, we're always going to include a Strong's number in case you want to do deeper study. And if you're not familiar, there's something called Strong's concordance where every Hebrew word in the Old Testament and Greek word in the New Testament has a number associated with it. So if you're watching this on your screen, you'll see that the word preaching has the number the letter G because it's Greek and the number 2784. So at any time if you wanted to take G2784 and just simply Google it or look at some type of lexicon then you can see what Greek word represents preaching and then you could look at definitions how it's used where it's used etc. Or for example, the word gospel is G2098. And so if you're ever interested, please go do deeper study, go do deeper research. We'll always make this available for you for you to be able to analyze it, assess it, and research it yourself. And you'll always be given the ability to watch this on YouTube or listen to it on Spotify, right? God's word is going to be made available in formats that fit your life. Maybe you listen to in the car, maybe you're watching at home. It's going to be something you can look from phone, tablet, computer, you name it. The whole point is to make it as easy and as flexible as possible for you. What's our commitment to you? Well, we are committed to providing clear biblical teaching to help all people come to know Jesus Christ and grow in spiritual maturity regardless of your background, regardless of your education, regardless of your life experience. Our whole focus is to make these truths simple, clear, easy to understand, and accurate. What are our values? Well, we believe in being honest, and transparent. We want to have accurate, faithful teaching of the Bible. We need to be foundational. We want to provide insight for every stage of your life or your calling. A lot of us grow through different stages. Sometimes we are just a new Christian. Sometimes we're a parent or sometimes we're just a young person or sometimes we're somebody who we believe is called into ministry. Our teachings are going to meet you where you're at and we are feeling quite confident that you're going to find them very useful for where you are and what you're trying to accomplish and what you believe God has in store for you. Our values include being gospel- centered. We believe that the work of Jesus Christ is relevant to every teaching. We believe in being simple but with depth. We need to be clear, but we can't sacrifice substance of God's word. We are accessible to all. We believe these biblical truths need to be available to all people. Free for everyone. We feel strongly about this. God's truth does not come with a price tag and a quality experience. We do our very best to give you excellence in content, in presentation, and in production. So, what's the road ahead for Simple Truth? What can you expect through this podcast? Upcoming simple truth seasons will include, drum roll, what it means to be a Christian. This is a really fundamental series of teachings that I think you're going to find will blow your mind. For quite often, many of us, we're really not even sure what it even means to be a Christian. And we're going to talk about what a Christian is and what God expects from us and what it means to be successful as one. So, we're going to include another season on how to live a successful Christian life. We're going to talk about five disciplines, things that God asks us to do that'll bring us much closer to God and make us much more successful. We're going to cover the six foundational teachings of Christianity as defined in the book of Hebrews. We're going to take a look at prayer, praise, and worship. We're going to take a look at different forms and how to be successful at it. We're going to take a look at the book of Romans verse by verse. We're going to go chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and we're going to walk through the book of Romans in a way that you can clearly understand. By the way, it's an extremely powerful book. We're going to take a look at the book of Hebrews verse by verse. We're going to look at Christian relationships and marriage. We're going to take a look at Jesus's parables. We're going to take a look at the end times and much, much more. There are so many topics that we can cover in the Bible. And there's so many powerful foundational truths that we could go to that I think you're going to find really quite interesting. So, what's the next episode of The Simple Truth? Well, before we start next season, before we start talking about what it means to be a Christian, we're going to want to get to know me a little bit, right? I'll give you a little bit of my background, where I came from. Spoiler alert, I was told that I was going to hell. So, I'll just leave that one there with you. I'll leave that as an appetizer. So check out our next episode, Why Am I a Christian? We're not just going to discuss my experience, but we're going to cover some foundational things that I think you'll find are really very interesting. Thank you for listening to our first Simple Truth podcast, What is Simple Truth? I'm very excited for the coming seasons and episodes. We are going to cover so many powerful topics. We just got started and there's so much more to come. If you enjoyed today's podcast, don't forget to like, to subscribe, and to share it with someone else. And be sure to visit www.simpletruth.org for more resources. In the next episode, we talk about a fundamental topic, why am I a Christian? And we're going to take a look at Jesus's very first message to all people. Do you know what that message was? I'll tell you in our next episode. Honestly, I think you're going to find it really interesting. Thank you for spending time with us.