The Bible Matters Podcast

The Song of Songs is one of the most surprising books in the Bible. Often ignored, misunderstood, or treated with embarrassment, it presents a bold and beautiful celebration of love, marriage, and sexual intimacy as gifts from God.
 
In this episode, we begin our journey through Song of Songs, exploring why the Bible speaks so positively about sex while also insisting that it must be protected within God's design for marriage. Along the way, we consider how God's vision for love challenges both unhealthy religious attitudes and the confusion of modern culture.
Questions Answered in This Episode

What is the purpose of the Song of Songs?

Does the Bible celebrate sexual love?

Why does God place boundaries around sex?

What does the Song of Songs teach about marriage and faithfulness?

How does biblical love differ from modern cultural views of relationships?

The Bible Matters Podcast is funded entirely by the generous donations of its listeners. If you would like to become a financial partner with us on this journey, you can give to the project on this link: https://linktr.ee/BibleMatters
 
To contact us, email office@biblematters.org

In this episode of the Bible Matters Podcast, Leo sits down with Chris, pastor of a multicultural church in Cape Town, South Africa. Together they explore Chris's journey from accounting to gospel ministry, the challenges and opportunities of serving in a post-apartheid society, and why God's Word remains central to church planting, leadership training, and Christian education.

From raising up future church leaders to building a church across cultural divides, Chris shares lessons learned from more than twenty years of ministry and reflects on how the gospel creates genuine unity where the world often struggles to do so.

Questions answered in this episode

How did Chris move from a career in accounting to full-time gospel ministry?

What does it mean to plant and lead a multicultural church in South Africa?

How can churches raise up the next generation of Christian leaders?

What role should the Bible play in education, discipleship, and church leadership?

How does the gospel bring unity across cultural, social, and historical divides?

The Bible Matters Podcast is funded entirely by the generous donations of its listeners. If you would like to become a financial partner with us on this journey, you can give to the project on this link: https://linktr.ee/BibleMatters

To contact us, email office@biblematters.org

Have you ever wondered whether following God is really worth the cost when life seems to be falling apart?

 
In this episode, we begin our journey through the book of Ruth by exploring one of the Bible's most honest accounts of grief, loss, faith, and hope. Naomi returns from Moab convinced that God is against her, while Ruth makes the remarkable decision to leave everything behind and cast her lot in with God's people. Through their story, we discover that turning to the Lord is not a turn towards emptiness, but a turn towards hope, even when we cannot yet see how God is working for our good.
 
Questions answered in this episode:

Why does the book of Ruth begin with so much tragedy and loss?

What does Naomi's story teach us about suffering and God's sovereignty?

Why does Ruth choose to follow Naomi and the God of Israel?

What is the connection between Ruth's decision and biblical faith and repentance?

How can we have hope when God seems distant or even against us?

The Bible Matters Podcast is funded entirely by the generous donations of its listeners. If you would like to become a financial partner with us on this journey, you can give to the project on this link: https://linktr.ee/BibleMatters

To contact us, email office@biblematters.org

What does the Book of Ruth really teach? Is it simply a love story, or is it asking a much bigger question: is it worth returning to the Lord when life is hard? In this episode, we were joined by Tim Sheppard to explore the first book in our series on the Megilloth, the Five Scrolls. We examined Ruth as a carefully crafted narrative that points beyond itself to God's sovereign purposes, his hidden work in ordinary circumstances, and his commitment to establishing his kingdom.

Along the way they discuss Naomi's bitterness, Ruth's remarkable faithfulness, Boaz's generosity, the significance of David at the end of the book, and why "finding your Boaz" may not be the main point of Ruth after all.

Questions answered in this episode

- Why is the Book of Ruth so important in the storyline of the Bible?

- Is Ruth really a book about romance and finding a spouse?

- Why does Naomi describe herself as bitter, and is she right to do so?

- How does God work through ordinary events to accomplish extraordinary purposes?

- What does Ruth teach us about trusting God's promises when they seem far from fulfilment?

The Bible Matters Podcast is funded entirely by the generous donations of its listeners. If you would like to become a financial partner with us on this journey, you can give to the project on this link: https://linktr.ee/BibleMatters 

To contact us, email office@biblematters.org

Have you ever wondered whether following God is really worth the cost when life seems to be falling apart?
 
In this episode, we begin our journey through the book of Ruth by exploring one of the Bible's most honest accounts of grief, loss, faith, and hope. Naomi returns from Moab convinced that God is against her, while Ruth makes the remarkable decision to leave everything behind and cast her lot in with God's people. Through their story, we discover that turning to the Lord is not a turn towards emptiness, but a turn towards hope, even when we cannot yet see how God is working for our good.
 
As we wrestle with suffering, disappointment, and the cost of discipleship, Ruth 1 asks a question that remains deeply relevant today: Is it really worth turning to the Lord?
Questions answered in this episode:

Why does the book of Ruth begin with so much tragedy and loss?

What does Naomi's story teach us about suffering and God's sovereignty?

Why does Ruth choose to follow Naomi and the God of Israel?

What is the connection between Ruth's decision and biblical faith and repentance?

How can we have hope when God seems distant or even against us?

The Bible Matters Podcast is funded entirely by the generous donations of its listeners. If you would like to become a financial partner with us on this journey, you can give to the project on this link: https://linktr.ee/BibleMatters

To contact us, email office@biblematters.org