Faith Debate Blog
Faith Debate: January 31st, 2021
Churches Should Be Open: Yes or No
There are arguments on both sides, with levels of nuance abounding. What are the scriptural considerations? Due to outside restrictions, the regular Faith Debate roundtable discussions have been placed on hold. Instead, we’re airing the “Lockdown Tapes – Round Two”. (“Round One” aired last spring.)
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: January 24th, 2021
Christian Advice for Handling Coronavirus
This show picks up where the previous show left off. The media reports are often contradictory and the claims of “science” are ever shifting. What is a Bible believing follower of Christ to think? What do the stats say? What does the Scripture say?
Due to outside restrictions, our regular Faith Debate roundtable discussions have been placed on hold. Instead, we’re airing the “Lockdown Tapes – Round Two”. (“Round One” aired last spring.)
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: January 17th, 2021
The Gospel and COVID
This is a sort of “bridge” episode. The first half contains the ending to the content we began covering last week. The second half contains the beginning of the content we will be covering next week. Last week took an up close look at the passion of Christ, as written in the Gospel narrative of Mark. Next week will take a look at specifics about the coronavirus.
Due to the restrictions placed on us, our regular roundtable discussions have been placed on pause. So, we’re airing “Round Two” of the “Lockdown Tapes”. (“Round One” aired last spring.) This departure from our normal habit, it turns out, might be exactly what we all need to hear right now.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: January 10th, 2021
Christ’s Passion Week in Mark’s Gospel
We might feel mired in difficulty as we head into a new year hoping for new beginnings. The Christian message promises new beginnings, and these blessings came about after (and because of) days that were mired in difficulty. This show holds reminders of this teaching, drawing attention to the tail end of the Gospel narrative recorded for us in the New Testament Book of Mark.
Due to the many restrictions placed upon us, our roundtable discussions have been paused. In the meantime we’re airing what we’re playfully calling “Round Two of the Lockdown Tapes”. (“Round One” aired last spring.) We hope you are blessed by these atypical episodes of our show.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: January 3rd, 2021
A Faith Debate Family Meeting
The “Christmas shows” of the past two weeks focused on the books of Genesis and Exodus, looking at the biblical teaching about fear versus shalom. Now, our special series of shows continues into the New Year due to the mandated restrictions which have placed our traditional roundtable discussions on hold. The Faith Debate is playfully calling this series of special episodes “Round Two of the Lockdown Tapes”. This is simply a soliloquy to which you get to listen in.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: December 27th, 2020
Part Two: Finding Shalom Over Fear in a Tour of Exodus
Mandated restrictions have placed our traditional roundtable discussions on hold. So, as we did for the early 2020 lockdowns, now during the late 2020 lockdowns, The Faith Debate is featuring a series of special episodes that we’re playfully calling round two of “The Lockdown Tapes”. This episode walks through the second book of the Bible, the Book of Exodus, to learn how it is that fear so often replaces peace and prosperity.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: December 20th, 2020
Finding Shalom Over Fear By Taking a Tour Through Genesis
Due to imposed restrictions, doing our typical panel discussion styled shows is problematic. So, similar to what we did last spring, The Faith Debate is featuring a series of special episodes that we’re playfully calling Round Two of “The Lockdown Tapes”. This one walks us through the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, to learn how it is that fear replaces peace and prosperity.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: December 13th, 2020
Insights on the State of Christian Movie Making from a Writer/Director Who Grew Up in Frederick
The Cristiano Brothers. The Irwin Brothers. The Kendrick Brothers. These tandems have come to define Christian film making in recent decades. However, it wasn’t always this way. What happened to the big budget blockbusters and the movies which are still regarded as all-time classics? This episode of the Faith Debate surveys the landscape of faith based movies (even those that are marketed as “Christian” movies, when they are not faithful to the Gospel.) Some are out-and-out Christian movies, but many take license and add in extra-Biblical worldview issues. It’s a facinating overview, guided by a man who is on the inside of the industry. (He’s a man who also happens to have graduated from TJ High in Frederick.)
This is the final episode in a four-part arc of shows featuring Thomas Bonifield and his brand new movie “Miracle on Christmas”. You’re invited (and encouraged) to listen to the previous three shows, which are still available as podcasts.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Thomas Bonifield. Writer/Director of “Miracle on Christmas”. https://www.miracleonchristmas.com/
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: December 6th, 2020
A Local Faith Based Movie Maker Shares Why and How He Made His New Film
There’s a new film this year that looks a lot like a Hallmark Christmas movie – bright lighting, rich colors, snow, lots of ornaments and Christmas music – but it covers much more serious subject matter than what you’d tend to find on that network. “Miracle on Christmas” focusses on steadfast love in marriage, forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption – and features a message of the hope that comes through Christ, Who is the reason for the season. Thomas Bonifield is the Writer/Director… and get this… he’s from Frederick.
Here are a few useful links:
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Xvo0F0myU&t=7s
News Release: http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5048884488.html
Movie Review: https://www.movieguide.org/reviews/miracle-on-christmas.html
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Thomas Bonifield. Writer/Director of “Miracle on Christmas”. https://www.miracleonchristmas.com/
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: November 29th, 2020
New Movie from a Man Who Graduated from Governor Thomas Johnson High School
Thomas Bonifield, who used to call Frederick home and graduated from TJ High School, is the Writer/Director of a brand new movie titled “Miracle on Christmas”. During last week’s Faith Debate show we discussed his personal stoy, and this show transitions into talking about the movie’s story. The film released earlier this month and its distribution footprint is broad, including on-demand rental, streaming, digital sales, and DVD sales. You can find it at Amazon, as well as at Walmart and Target.
This week examines the theme of the story and why it’s being told. Also, the lessons learned, the surprises and hiccups, the impact of coronavirus, and the behind-the-scenes process of making a dream a reality. There’s talk about the actors (Erin Bethea, Jason Burkey, Brett Varvel, and Micah Lynn Hanson – all of whom are Christians.) the producers (Kevan Otto and Danny Roth), the crew, and executive producer Ben Graham (who is part of the famous family of famous evangelist Billy Graham).
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Thomas Bonifield. Writer/Director of “Miracle on Christmas”. https://www.miracleonchristmas.com/
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Faith Debate: November 22nd, 2020
Man Who Grew Up in Frederick Does Good
In recent weeks we’ve been rather serious on the Faith Debate. And with good reason. There are lots of serious things happening this year. But now we’re heading into the holiday season. So, it’s temporarily time to shift gears and get you into the spirit of Advent season. There’s an uplifting, faith-based, family tale that stars Erin Bethea (“Fireproof”), Jason Burkey (“I Can Only Imagine” and “October Baby”) and Brett Varvel (“Play the Flute”). It tells a story of overcoming fears and doubts by relying on God, which is particularly timely in light of what the U.S. has endured this year. Thomas Bonifield is an independent filmmaker who graduated from Thomas Johnson High School. His movie is called “Miracle on Christmas”. In this episode our guest tells us his story (with upcoming episodes telling us the story of the movie).
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Pastor of Household of Faith in Christ.
Thomas Bonifield. Writer/Director of “Miracle on Christmas”. https://www.miracleonchristmas.com/
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Archives
Podcast
Sundays 9AM to 9:30AM
The Frederick Faith Debate is designed to be an open an honest forum for local faith community leaders to share and discuss their views of the truth. Lady Bird Johnson once said, “the clash of ideas is the sound of freedom”. In that spirit, the show seriously wrestles with important ideas… the participant often disagreeing with one another. The hope is that through this wrestling a better understanding of the truth will develop with regards to the most important issues facing the world.
In other words, The Frederick Faith Debate is home to conflict resolution on the issues that matter most. We can’t truly resolve anything without understanding. And we can’t gain authentic understanding without honesty. So, that’s what you get here. A safe haven for honesty. We share what we hold to be true and why. Where there’s disagreement, we hash it out. Because we know why we’re here, there’s no worry over hurt feelings. At the end, if we fail to persuade each other within the confines of our program’s allotted time, we will at least know not only where we stand, but the reasons that we camp out where we do.
Host Bio
Troy is a lifelong Chicago sports fan who worked at several Chicago radio and TV outlets before moving to Orlando where he worked at country music station WFIV as the morning sports anchor and afternoon disc jockey for three years. He then worked as a news reporter/anchor/producer at News Talk station WWNZ for several years.
Troy also served as the network producer of the Orlando Magic Radio Network for this NBA team’s first two years of existence. He also became the senior producer/sidekick of a daily sports radio show before then being offered the opportunity to host his own call-in sports radio program on a network of seventeen stations throughout the state of Florida. Affectionately known to listeners as “Mr. Cub”, Troy’s wife, Dina became known as “Mrs. Cub” after he proposed to her live on the air. (Their two children were later dubbed “Babies Cub”.)
Troy departed Orlando to become Executive Producer of WSYR in Syracuse. One year later he was named Assistant Program Director for News Talk WSYR and Sports Talk WHEN. One year after that he added the title of MAPs Director. (Marketing, Advertising, and Promotions Director.) After one more year Troy was named Program Director for both WSYR and WHEN; before adding the responsibilities of News Director, as well.
During his time in Syracuse WSYR was the recipient of numerous local and regional Associated Press awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award for news excellence, and the National Association of Broadcaster’s Crystal Award in recognition of service to the community.
Troy departed Syracuse to join the Affiliate Sales division of national program syndicator Westwood One. Then in 2001, Troy was in Frederick as a member of the WFMD/WFRE local sales team, where he was elevated to Local Sales Manager in 2004, General Sales Manager in 2007, and later to Director of Sales before leaving for a stint at WRBS radio in Baltimore, and then returning to WFMD/WFRE.
Troy holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Reformed Theological Seminary, and in 2004 began hosting The Frederick Faith Debate with Jonathan Switzer of Crossroads Valley Church and Crossed Bridges. Guests on the program have ranged from Buddhist to Baha’i. Roman Catholic to Eastern Orthodox. Atheist to Agnostic. Mormon to Muslim. Unitarian to Jewish. Charismatic to Presbyterian. Esoteric New Age Psychology adherent to Conservative Fundamentalist.