Faith Debate Blog
Program Air Date: Sunday, July 19th, 2020 – 9am
Injustice Should Make Us Angry
These words were recently written by a black man, “I’m angry because the stories of injustice that have been passed down for generations seem to be continuing before our very eyes. I’m angry because white people don’t get it. I’m angry because black people don’t get it, either.” And he added that more than 150 years since the abolition of slavery, you’d think that by now we’d have reached real parity between people of different skin tones. He then continues that, “A lot of white people believe that’s actually where we are. A lot of black people know we aren’t.” What does the biblical Christian church say in response to this?
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and moderator.
Jonathan Switzer. Founder of Crossed Bridges in Frederick, Maryland.
Vaughn Thurman. Follower of Christ who is a former lay leader within the church.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, July 12th, 2020 – 9am
Angry, Fearful, Embarrassed, Sad, Sympathetic, Offended, Confused, Introspective, Hopeless, Hopeful, and Encouraged
Lack of accountability. Lack of justice. Their deaths matter. Their lives matter. The issue can’t be avoided. Someone, somewhere, and somehow needs to do something about it. We’re talking about “racism”. Some say we’re talking about “systemic racism”. We talk about it every time something takes place like what happened in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. That’s when and where a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, a black teenager. And we’ve been talking about it like crazy this summer. Here we continue our talking about it for a second week on the show.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and moderator.
Jonathan Switzer. Founder of Crossed Bridges in Frederick, Maryland.
Vaughn Thurman. Follower of Christ who is a former lay leader within the church.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, July 5th, 2020 – 9am
Getting Real About Race
There are challenges over what are called “race issues” that our society faces every day. Recurrently there are stories in the media that bring the issue front and center. Breonna Taylor killed in her bed. Ahmaud Aubrey killed while he was out jogging. Tamar Rice, a 12-year-old shot while playing in the park. And, of course, George Floyd pinned to the ground by several uniformed police officers until he died. In reaction to things like this there have recently been widespread protests. And related to this there have been violently destructive and deadly riots across the country. What’s a biblical Christian to do and think?
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and moderator.
Jonathan Switzer. Founder of Crossed Bridges in Frederick, Maryland.
Vaughn Thurman. Follower of Christ who is a former lay leader within the church.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, June 28th, 2020 – 9am
The Lock Down Tapes #7
Fear versus faith. Perspective and reality. Church buildings closed. Divide over Romans chapter 13. Quotes for encouragement. Words of challenge.
During the shutdowns spurred on by the coronavirus outbreak, a series of Faith Debate shows were recorded in April. They feature comments, arguments, and thoughts first articulated in February and March of 2020. These shows are intended to stimulate thinking, provide reason for hope, and stand for truth in love. These episodes might be best considered as “time capsules”, given that the content was developed during the onrushing of the storm (February/March/April) but are airing after much will have changed (May/June).
There is purported to be an ancient curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” These times are interesting, indeed.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, June 21st, 2020 – 9am
The Lock Down Tapes #6
Fear versus faith. Perspective and reality. Church buildings closed. Divide over Romans chapter 13. Quotes for encouragement. Words of challenge.
During the shutdowns spurred on by the coronavirus outbreak, a series of Faith Debate shows were recorded in April. They feature comments, arguments, and thoughts first articulated in February and March of 2020. These shows are intended to stimulate thinking, provide reason for hope, and stand for truth in love. These episodes might be best considered as “time capsules”, given that the content was developed during the onrushing of the storm (February/March/April) but are airing after much will have changed (May/June).
There is purported to be an ancient curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” These times are interesting, indeed.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, June 14th, 2020 – 9am
The Lock Down Tapes #5
Fear versus faith. Perspective and reality. Church buildings closed. Divide over Romans chapter 13. Quotes for encouragement. Words of challenge.
During the shutdowns spurred on by the coronavirus outbreak, a series of Faith Debate shows were recorded in April. They feature comments, arguments, and thoughts first articulated in February and March of 2020. These shows are intended to stimulate thinking, provide reason for hope, and stand for truth in love. These episodes might be best considered as “time capsules”, given that the content was developed during the onrushing of the storm (February/March/April) but are airing after much will have changed (May/June).
There is purported to be an ancient curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” These times are interesting, indeed.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, June 7th, 2020 – 9am
The Lock Down Tapes #4
Fear versus faith. Perspective and reality. Church buildings closed. Divide over Romans chapter 13. Quotes for encouragement. Words of challenge.
During the shutdowns spurred on by the coronavirus outbreak, a series of Faith Debate shows were recorded in April. They feature comments, arguments, and thoughts first articulated in February and March of 2020. These shows are intended to stimulate thinking, provide reason for hope, and stand for truth in love. These episodes might be best considered as “time capsules”, given that the content was developed during the onrushing of the storm (February/March/April) but are airing after much will have changed (May/June).
There is purported to be an ancient curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” These times are interesting, indeed.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, May 31st, 2020 – 9am
The Lock Down Tapes #3
Fear versus faith. Perspective and reality. Church buildings closed. Divide over Romans chapter 13. Quotes for encouragement. Words of challenge.
During the shutdowns spurred on by the coronavirus outbreak, a series of Faith Debate shows were recorded in April. They feature comments, arguments, and thoughts first articulated in February and March of 2020. These shows are intended to stimulate thinking, provide reason for hope, and stand for truth in love. These episodes might be best considered as “time capsules”, given that the content was developed during the onrushing of the storm (February/March/April) but are airing after much will have changed (May/June).
There is purported to be an ancient curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” These times are interesting, indeed.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, May 24th, 2020 – 9am
The Lock Down Tapes #2
Fear versus faith. Perspective and reality. Church buildings closed. Divide over Romans chapter 13. Quotes for encouragement. Words of challenge.
During the shutdowns spurred on by the coronavirus outbreak, a series of Faith Debate shows were recorded in April. They feature comments, arguments, and thoughts first articulated in February and March of 2020. These shows are intended to stimulate thinking, provide reason for hope, and stand for truth in love. These episodes might be best considered as “time capsules”, given that the content was developed during the onrushing of the storm (February/March/April) but are airing after much will have changed (May/June).
There is purported to be an ancient curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” These times are interesting, indeed.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, May 17th, 2020 – 9am
The Lock Down Tapes #1
Fear versus faith. Perspective and reality. Church buildings closed. Divide over Romans chapter 13. Quotes for encouragement. Words of challenge.
During the shutdowns spurred on by the coronavirus outbreak, a series of Faith Debate shows were recorded in April. They feature comments, arguments, and thoughts first articulated in February and March of 2020. These shows are intended to stimulate thinking, provide reason for hope, and stand for truth in love. These episodes might be best considered as “time capsules”, given that the content was developed during the onrushing of the storm (February/March/April) but are airing after much will have changed (May/June).
There is purported to be an ancient curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” These times are interesting, indeed.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
Program Air Date: Sunday, May 10th, 2020 – 9am
Is the Old Testament About Jesus?
How does the Bible take the reader from Genesis to Jesus? Is the foreknowledge of the Messiah’s arrival something that has always interested you? It has Craig Longcor, and he’s hitting up Jonathan Switzer for some basic Christian education. He says that his questions for Jon are coming from a place of ignorance, not a place of opposition. And he thinks maybe he’s in the same place you find yourself.
The panel:
Troy Skinner. Faith Debate host and Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Jonathan Switzer. Founder of Crossed Bridges in Frederick, Maryland.
Craig Longcor. A one-year radical believer in Christ who attends Bethesda United Methodist Church.
Link to Faith Debate podcasts on iTunes here. Stream, Share, Download, and Embed past shows using the WFMD “Audio Vault” here.
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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.