March 8, 2026 • 48 mins
A weekly program of word and music featuring an eclectic mix of Christian music and teaching by Pastor Tom Cullen and Brian Evans. Mac Wigfield starts the program with southern gospel classics.
Produced at Straight Path Studio in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada.
Christian Artists featured are:
Down East Boys
Revelation
Point of Honour
Alison Krauss
Bebo Norman
Nick Riddel
CityAlight
Preye Odede
Steven Curtis Chapman
Steffany Gretzinger
Keith & Kristyn Getty
Thank you for listening to HOPE TODAY. This is a program developed at Light & Life Programming, a registered charity. We are listener supported. If you would like to help with this ministry, donations can be made through our website at www.lightnlife.ca.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome and thank you for joining us for our Hope
Today program today.
May you be encouraged and findjoy over this next hour we have
together.
Pastor Tom Cullen will beanswering the question: What did
Jesus mean when he said he wasthe way, the truth, and the
life?
Listen for the answers duringour time together this time on
(00:24):
Hope Today.
Once again, we start ourprogram as Mac Wickfield leads
us with wonderful gospelclassics.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Thank you, Brian.
Let me add my words of welcometo Hope Today.
You know, you hear sometimes onnews broadcasts, this is
exclusive.
This is an exclusive interview.
This is exclusive coverage ofthis event, for example.
We're gonna talk today aboutexclusivity.
Big long word.
Let's begin with the DowneastBoys.
(00:56):
They will set the stage.
One way, one name, one door.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
You're listening to Hope Today.
I trust that you were blessedby Mac's ministry, and you've
picked up on our theme.
What did Jesus mean when hesaid he was the way, the truth,
and the life?
What's that all about?
Well, stay with us, and we'llexplore the question together.
Asking God to show us the way.
Here is Alison Krause with Downto the River to Pray.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Jesus said he was the way, the truth, and the life.
What does that mean?
Think of how Jesus is the way.
One of the great questions ofhumanity is how do we get to God
and have a relationship withhim?
If we're honest, we know thatthere is a great gulf between
ourselves and God.
In Genesis, for instance, afterAdam and Eve are expelled from
(14:19):
the garden, the separationbetween themselves and God is
hatred as a flaming sword.
The original lightsaber.
It was a place betweenthemselves and the tree of life.
There was no way for Adam toget into the tree of life.
He couldn't need upon it by thebad half of ritual heating.
He couldn't climb up to it witha good deed.
(14:41):
The flaming sword was thereeternally to keep him from the
tree of life.
Jesus says that he is the way.
He is the one who directlyapproached that flaming sword of
death in his humanity and asour sin representative.
And now because he died foryou.
(15:02):
Jesus is the way to God.
Because it means that the wayto God is not a roadmap.
What a person.
It is as we believe in him andtrust in him.
If you ever watch thetelevision show, the amazing
(15:25):
race, you know that there arepeople who always get lost
following a map on their racearound the world.
There are those who get somekind soul to travel with them.
Someone who knows the languageand the territory.
And they don't get lost.
They don't even open a mapbecause they're taken there.
And if they're at, how did youget here?
(15:46):
They point to this person andsay, He brought me.
My friend, the Christian faithis so amazing.
Because through faith in JesusChrist, you are brought into the
presence of God Himself.
Jesus is the way to God.
So Bebo Norman sings, to findmy way to you.
(18:18):
He went on to say in John chapter 14 that no one
comes to the Father but throughhim.
Our culture doesn't like itwhen people talk that way.
It sounds like Jesus is beingexclusive.
Our modern age prefersinclusivity, where all religions
are right and no one has acorner on truth.
But think of this.
If we were to believe that allreligions led to God, that all
(18:41):
were equally valid, what kind ofGod would we have?
I suggest that we would have aschizophrenic God, one who
reveals himself as identicalwith the universe over here in
Buddhism, but who revealshimself as the creator of the
universe in Christianity, whoreveals himself as impersonal
and beyond the reach ofhumankind in Islam, but who
(19:03):
reveals himself as the one whobecame flesh in Christianity.
What kind of God is this?
Jesus teaches us that if wewish to reach God then, it is
only through a relationship withhim.
How wonderful this is.
It's about believing andtrusting in Christ alone.
(19:24):
At the heart of the Christianfaith, there is not a dogma or
another deity.
It is Jesus Christ alone.
This is what makes Christianityso accessible to you and to
everyone.
John Wesley used to talk abouta big little word in the
Christian faith, and the word isall.
All may come, all may enter,all may believe, all may know
(19:48):
the forgiveness of God, all mayexperience the love of God.
Speaker (19:52):
All.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
The Christian faith is accessible to everyone.
Bray Oded tells the truth in noother God.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Before time began, God established that the
consequence for rejecting Godand turning away from him in sin
was eternal separation fromGod.
In clear knowledge of thistruth, mankind sinned and
allowed their relationship withGod to be broken.
Now only God alone couldrestore his relationship with
mankind, his beloved creation.
(22:28):
Recognizing this truth, therenowned preacher and educator
Robert Lowry composed our hymntoday.
The text for Nothing But theBlood of Jesus was written in
1876.
It became a popular edition inmany hymn books and was part of
the singing at what became knownas camp meetings in that era.
(22:48):
Camp meetings were times whenpeople in the frontiers of
developing North America and whohad no regular minister could
come together for spiritualencouragement.
Included in these meetings wasthe singing of hymns and
biblical teaching from usuallyseveral itinerant preachers.
Because some traveled a gooddistance to attend, they would
(23:11):
set up camp and stay for severaldays.
It was a forerunner to thepresent-day summer camping
facilities.
Robert Lowry's hymn was firstpopularized at the camp meetings
in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
Listen now to City Alight withtheir rendition of Nothing but
the Blood of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
The truth about what?
He is the truth about ourselvesand God.
It's amazing that in JesusChrist you discover the truth
about yourself.
You may have thought youweren't valued by God, but then
Jesus comes and shows you thetruth of God's love for you, and
you discover how deep and longand wide and broad is the love
of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(26:54):
Or you felt that God hadnothing against you.
And then Jesus Christ comes andshows you the truth, that we
all, like Jim, have gone astray.
Each of us has turned to hisown way.
And you find out you aren't asgood as you thought you were.
And you are indeed subject toGod's wrath, an enemy of God.
When standing against thewonder of Jesus Christ's
(27:16):
holiness, you're made to seeyour utter unholiness.
Jesus shows us the truth aboutourselves.
And then we see in Jesus Christthe truth about God.
We discover that God's wrath isso real that his son would die
in agony on a cross in darkness.
You see that God is full ofgrace, and he would die freely
(27:38):
for you and instead of you.
You now know that God ispersistent and would search
after you like a shepherd goesafter one lodge.
He's like a caring fatherwaiting patiently for you to
return home from the proverbialforeign country.
And when you do return,welcomes you home with grace.
Jesus Christ is the truth aboutGod.
(28:00):
And isn't it wonderful that thetruth is a person you can
relate to a person, you canexpress your doubts to him, you
can share your joys with him,you can experience his love for
you and hear his correction.
You can't do that with a coldtheory or philosophy.
The center of the Christianfaith is the person of Jesus
(28:20):
Christ, who is the truth.
So Nick Rydell says to ourLord, You are the truth.
(33:14):
If he is both the way and the truth, he must be the
life of God.
And make no mistake, you aredead without Jesus Christ.
You say, I am?
But I'm breathing.
How can you say that I'm deadwithout Jesus Christ?
Trust me, you're dead withoutChrist.
I know because I've been deadtoo.
I was dead to the Word of God.
(33:34):
It did not thrill me to hearthe Word of God.
I was dead to the call of Godand his commands.
I couldn't keep myself fromlying or gossiping, or my heart
from anger and bitterness, or mybody from lust and greed.
I was clean on the outside, agood kid.
But in my heart I was filledwith no trust, no dependence
upon Jesus Christ.
(33:55):
I was dead, dead, dead.
Death is what describes us allwithout Jesus Christ in our
lives.
We read in the New Testamentbook of Ephesians, chapter 2,
verse 1, at one time you weredead in your transgressions and
sins.
Without Jesus Christ.
I was like the valley of drybones that the prophet Ezekiel
(34:15):
saw, and he asked God, Can thesebones live?
And the breath of God comesover those bleached dry bones
and they come to life.
Jesus Christ is that breath.
He took your place in death sothat you might know life.
And when you place your faithin him, your soul comes alive
(34:37):
with the very Spirit of God.
Stephen Curtis Chapman speaksof the life Christ gives in one
true God.
(39:09):
We at Hope Today pray that you would be able to say,
No one ever cared for me likeJesus.
Here is Stephanie Gretzinger.
(43:37):
Why group these three words together?
Because the center of theChristian faith is all about
having a relationship with theperson of Jesus Christ.
And if you're going to have arelationship with all three of
these experiences must exist.
A relationship will affect yourwill, your mind, and your
feelings.
Jesus says that He is the way,that is your will.
(43:59):
You must follow himvolitionally.
Jesus says he is the truth.
That is your thinking, yourintellect.
You must see him as the truth.
Jesus says he is the life.
That is your heart, youremotion.
He must capture youraffections.
It's that way with anyrelationship.
All three must be involved.
(44:20):
Sadly, I know of people who seeJesus as the way.
Their will is captured byJesus.
They are very loyal and orderlyin their faith.
But there's no depth of feelingwhen they hear about the cross.
Everything is mechanical.
There's no sense that JesusChrist gave his life for them.
There are others who are veryemotional, and they can jump and
(44:40):
wave their hands in praise.
But there's no depth of thoughtabout what they say or believe.
There are others who know theirtheology inside and out, but
there's no growth in their love,their joy, or peace.
My friends, Jesus Christ is aperson, and our experience of
him is meant to be rich andfull.
Giving to him your heart andyour mind and your feelings.
(45:04):
So when you see Jesus on thecross in your mind's eye, you
say, Here is the way to God.
I will give him my will and dowhat he wants me to do.
You say, Here is the truth ofGod.
I see that God has honored hislaw and punished sin by dying in
my place.
And you say, Here is the lifeof God, and I'm forgiven because
(45:27):
of his sacrifice.
Keith and Kristen Getty call usto the feet of Jesus in, I'll
hail the power of Jesus' name.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
Until we meet again next time on Hope Today.
It has been so good to betogether.
Hope Today is produced atStraight Path Studios, and we
are very pleased to bring thistime of inspiration and faith to
you.
Won't you and your friends joinus again?
Please send any comments youmight have to listener at hope
(48:19):
today-lp.ca.
We look forward to hearing fromyou.
Until we meet again, may God beyour strength and help in the
days ahead.
Welcome and thank you for joining us for our Hope
Today program today.
May you be encouraged and findjoy over this next hour we have
together.
Pastor Tom Cullen will beanswering the question: What did
Jesus mean when he said he wasthe way, the truth, and the
life?
Listen for the answers duringour time together this time on
(00:24):
Hope Today.
Once again, we start ourprogram as Mac Wickfield leads
us with wonderful gospelclassics.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Thank you, Brian.
Let me add my words of welcometo Hope Today.
You know, you hear sometimes onnews broadcasts, this is
exclusive.
This is an exclusive interview.
This is exclusive coverage ofthis event, for example.
We're gonna talk today aboutexclusivity.
Big long word.
Let's begin with the DowneastBoys.
(00:56):
They will set the stage.
One way, one name, one door.
Speaker 7 (10:37):
You're listening to Hope Today.
I trust that you were blessedby Mac's ministry, and you've
picked up on our theme.
What did Jesus mean when hesaid he was the way, the truth,
and the life?
What's that all about?
Well, stay with us, and we'llexplore the question together.
Asking God to show us the way.
Here is Alison Krause with Downto the River to Pray.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Jesus said he was the way, the truth, and the life.
What does that mean?
Think of how Jesus is the way.
One of the great questions ofhumanity is how do we get to God
and have a relationship withhim?
If we're honest, we know thatthere is a great gulf between
ourselves and God.
In Genesis, for instance, afterAdam and Eve are expelled from
(14:19):
the garden, the separationbetween themselves and God is
hatred as a flaming sword.
The original lightsaber.
It was a place betweenthemselves and the tree of life.
There was no way for Adam toget into the tree of life.
He couldn't need upon it by thebad half of ritual heating.
He couldn't climb up to it witha good deed.
(14:41):
The flaming sword was thereeternally to keep him from the
tree of life.
Jesus says that he is the way.
He is the one who directlyapproached that flaming sword of
death in his humanity and asour sin representative.
And now because he died foryou.
(15:02):
Jesus is the way to God.
Because it means that the wayto God is not a roadmap.
What a person.
It is as we believe in him andtrust in him.
If you ever watch thetelevision show, the amazing
(15:25):
race, you know that there arepeople who always get lost
following a map on their racearound the world.
There are those who get somekind soul to travel with them.
Someone who knows the languageand the territory.
And they don't get lost.
They don't even open a mapbecause they're taken there.
And if they're at, how did youget here?
(15:46):
They point to this person andsay, He brought me.
My friend, the Christian faithis so amazing.
Because through faith in JesusChrist, you are brought into the
presence of God Himself.
Jesus is the way to God.
So Bebo Norman sings, to findmy way to you.
(18:18):
He went on to say in John chapter 14 that no one
comes to the Father but throughhim.
Our culture doesn't like itwhen people talk that way.
It sounds like Jesus is beingexclusive.
Our modern age prefersinclusivity, where all religions
are right and no one has acorner on truth.
But think of this.
If we were to believe that allreligions led to God, that all
(18:41):
were equally valid, what kind ofGod would we have?
I suggest that we would have aschizophrenic God, one who
reveals himself as identicalwith the universe over here in
Buddhism, but who revealshimself as the creator of the
universe in Christianity, whoreveals himself as impersonal
and beyond the reach ofhumankind in Islam, but who
(19:03):
reveals himself as the one whobecame flesh in Christianity.
What kind of God is this?
Jesus teaches us that if wewish to reach God then, it is
only through a relationship withhim.
How wonderful this is.
It's about believing andtrusting in Christ alone.
(19:24):
At the heart of the Christianfaith, there is not a dogma or
another deity.
It is Jesus Christ alone.
This is what makes Christianityso accessible to you and to
everyone.
John Wesley used to talk abouta big little word in the
Christian faith, and the word isall.
All may come, all may enter,all may believe, all may know
(19:48):
the forgiveness of God, all mayexperience the love of God.
Speaker (19:52):
All.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
The Christian faith is accessible to everyone.
Bray Oded tells the truth in noother God.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Before time began, God established that the
consequence for rejecting Godand turning away from him in sin
was eternal separation fromGod.
In clear knowledge of thistruth, mankind sinned and
allowed their relationship withGod to be broken.
Now only God alone couldrestore his relationship with
mankind, his beloved creation.
(22:28):
Recognizing this truth, therenowned preacher and educator
Robert Lowry composed our hymntoday.
The text for Nothing But theBlood of Jesus was written in
1876.
It became a popular edition inmany hymn books and was part of
the singing at what became knownas camp meetings in that era.
(22:48):
Camp meetings were times whenpeople in the frontiers of
developing North America and whohad no regular minister could
come together for spiritualencouragement.
Included in these meetings wasthe singing of hymns and
biblical teaching from usuallyseveral itinerant preachers.
Because some traveled a gooddistance to attend, they would
(23:11):
set up camp and stay for severaldays.
It was a forerunner to thepresent-day summer camping
facilities.
Robert Lowry's hymn was firstpopularized at the camp meetings
in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
Listen now to City Alight withtheir rendition of Nothing but
the Blood of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
The truth about what?
He is the truth about ourselvesand God.
It's amazing that in JesusChrist you discover the truth
about yourself.
You may have thought youweren't valued by God, but then
Jesus comes and shows you thetruth of God's love for you, and
you discover how deep and longand wide and broad is the love
of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(26:54):
Or you felt that God hadnothing against you.
And then Jesus Christ comes andshows you the truth, that we
all, like Jim, have gone astray.
Each of us has turned to hisown way.
And you find out you aren't asgood as you thought you were.
And you are indeed subject toGod's wrath, an enemy of God.
When standing against thewonder of Jesus Christ's
(27:16):
holiness, you're made to seeyour utter unholiness.
Jesus shows us the truth aboutourselves.
And then we see in Jesus Christthe truth about God.
We discover that God's wrath isso real that his son would die
in agony on a cross in darkness.
You see that God is full ofgrace, and he would die freely
(27:38):
for you and instead of you.
You now know that God ispersistent and would search
after you like a shepherd goesafter one lodge.
He's like a caring fatherwaiting patiently for you to
return home from the proverbialforeign country.
And when you do return,welcomes you home with grace.
Jesus Christ is the truth aboutGod.
(28:00):
And isn't it wonderful that thetruth is a person you can
relate to a person, you canexpress your doubts to him, you
can share your joys with him,you can experience his love for
you and hear his correction.
You can't do that with a coldtheory or philosophy.
The center of the Christianfaith is the person of Jesus
(28:20):
Christ, who is the truth.
So Nick Rydell says to ourLord, You are the truth.
(33:14):
If he is both the way and the truth, he must be the
life of God.
And make no mistake, you aredead without Jesus Christ.
You say, I am?
But I'm breathing.
How can you say that I'm deadwithout Jesus Christ?
Trust me, you're dead withoutChrist.
I know because I've been deadtoo.
I was dead to the Word of God.
(33:34):
It did not thrill me to hearthe Word of God.
I was dead to the call of Godand his commands.
I couldn't keep myself fromlying or gossiping, or my heart
from anger and bitterness, or mybody from lust and greed.
I was clean on the outside, agood kid.
But in my heart I was filledwith no trust, no dependence
upon Jesus Christ.
(33:55):
I was dead, dead, dead.
Death is what describes us allwithout Jesus Christ in our
lives.
We read in the New Testamentbook of Ephesians, chapter 2,
verse 1, at one time you weredead in your transgressions and
sins.
Without Jesus Christ.
I was like the valley of drybones that the prophet Ezekiel
(34:15):
saw, and he asked God, Can thesebones live?
And the breath of God comesover those bleached dry bones
and they come to life.
Jesus Christ is that breath.
He took your place in death sothat you might know life.
And when you place your faithin him, your soul comes alive
(34:37):
with the very Spirit of God.
Stephen Curtis Chapman speaksof the life Christ gives in one
true God.
(39:09):
We at Hope Today pray that you would be able to say,
No one ever cared for me likeJesus.
Here is Stephanie Gretzinger.
(43:37):
Why group these three words together?
Because the center of theChristian faith is all about
having a relationship with theperson of Jesus Christ.
And if you're going to have arelationship with all three of
these experiences must exist.
A relationship will affect yourwill, your mind, and your
feelings.
Jesus says that He is the way,that is your will.
(43:59):
You must follow himvolitionally.
Jesus says he is the truth.
That is your thinking, yourintellect.
You must see him as the truth.
Jesus says he is the life.
That is your heart, youremotion.
He must capture youraffections.
It's that way with anyrelationship.
All three must be involved.
(44:20):
Sadly, I know of people who seeJesus as the way.
Their will is captured byJesus.
They are very loyal and orderlyin their faith.
But there's no depth of feelingwhen they hear about the cross.
Everything is mechanical.
There's no sense that JesusChrist gave his life for them.
There are others who are veryemotional, and they can jump and
(44:40):
wave their hands in praise.
But there's no depth of thoughtabout what they say or believe.
There are others who know theirtheology inside and out, but
there's no growth in their love,their joy, or peace.
My friends, Jesus Christ is aperson, and our experience of
him is meant to be rich andfull.
Giving to him your heart andyour mind and your feelings.
(45:04):
So when you see Jesus on thecross in your mind's eye, you
say, Here is the way to God.
I will give him my will and dowhat he wants me to do.
You say, Here is the truth ofGod.
I see that God has honored hislaw and punished sin by dying in
my place.
And you say, Here is the lifeof God, and I'm forgiven because
(45:27):
of his sacrifice.
Keith and Kristen Getty call usto the feet of Jesus in, I'll
hail the power of Jesus' name.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
Until we meet again next time on Hope Today.
It has been so good to betogether.
Hope Today is produced atStraight Path Studios, and we
are very pleased to bring thistime of inspiration and faith to
you.
Won't you and your friends joinus again?
Please send any comments youmight have to listener at hope
(48:19):
today-lp.ca.
We look forward to hearing fromyou.
Until we meet again, may God beyour strength and help in the
days ahead.
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