Behind the Scenes at Ask Pastor John

00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)

00:00:02.580 | - Hello and welcome back to the Ask Pastor John podcast.

00:00:07.840 | Today's episode will be less humorous than the last one

00:00:10.760 | and a little different.

00:00:12.040 | It's just me this time, Tony, your host.

00:00:14.320 | And this time we'll take a look behind the scenes

00:00:16.400 | of the podcast and answer some of your

00:00:17.880 | frequently asked questions.

00:00:19.780 | We'll talk about different listening options

00:00:21.600 | and how to ask good questions and things like that.

00:00:23.700 | All the ins and outs of this podcast.

00:00:25.440 | But I wanna just start with a thank you

00:00:26.800 | to everyone who listens.

00:00:28.280 | In the little over one year time span,

00:00:29.920 | this podcast has existed.

00:00:31.240 | The listenership has grown exponentially

00:00:33.920 | and it continues to grow every day.

00:00:35.760 | Of course, there are many ways to listen

00:00:37.160 | to the podcast every day and you'll hear more

00:00:39.120 | of those options in a moment.

00:00:40.200 | But just counting those of you who listen

00:00:42.080 | through social media, through Twitter and Facebook,

00:00:44.320 | and those of you who listen through the Ask Pastor John apps

00:00:46.700 | for the iPhone and Android,

00:00:48.160 | just through those channels alone,

00:00:50.520 | we're now approaching the five million play mark

00:00:53.520 | in a little over a year.

00:00:54.920 | Five million episodes played.

00:00:56.860 | It's an amazing work of God

00:00:58.120 | and very encouraging and humbling too.

00:01:00.080 | To date, we have just over 300 episodes in the archive,

00:01:03.360 | which translates to over 30 hours of audio

00:01:05.920 | from Pastor John in his study,

00:01:08.000 | answering your very good questions.

00:01:09.920 | And there's no end in sight to this project,

00:01:11.600 | either to the topics we can cover

00:01:12.900 | or to the questions that are coming in from you.

00:01:15.120 | This podcast reminds me of the promise

00:01:17.780 | in Proverbs 2, verses six and seven,

00:01:19.800 | which says that God's store of wisdom

00:01:21.660 | is infinite for his children.

00:01:23.560 | And that's a sweet promise.

00:01:24.680 | It's a promise that we bank on in this podcast.

00:01:27.240 | And in light of the success of Ask Pastor John

00:01:28.880 | over the past year,

00:01:29.720 | someone on Twitter once called Pastor John,

00:01:31.520 | quote, "The Yoda of New Calvinism."

00:01:34.040 | And while I think that's meant to be funny and flattering,

00:01:37.200 | it kind of is.

00:01:38.460 | There's something inherently disturbing about this too,

00:01:40.760 | and it's not because Yoda is like 900 years old.

00:01:44.140 | As I was preparing for this episode,

00:01:45.580 | I was reminded of a question

00:01:46.960 | I've been wanting to ask Pastor John.

00:01:48.520 | So I emailed him to ask it.

00:01:50.160 | Here it is.

00:01:51.000 | How does he want listeners to think of these podcasts?

00:01:54.940 | Here's what he wrote back to me, quote,

00:01:56.340 | "The way I would like listeners to receive my counsel

00:01:59.360 | "in these podcasts is in the spirit

00:02:00.960 | "of 1 Thessalonians 5, 21,

00:02:02.860 | "test everything, hold fast to what is good.

00:02:06.400 | "And the test I hope they use is first, the Bible.

00:02:09.920 | "That's where I try to find all my responses

00:02:11.600 | "to people's questions.

00:02:12.720 | "And secondly, I hope they esteem the spiritual leaders

00:02:15.420 | "of their own churches highly

00:02:16.800 | "and talk to them about the issues they face,

00:02:18.700 | "which is also 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 13.

00:02:21.400 | "There is one final authority,

00:02:23.240 | "and it's God's word, not mine.

00:02:25.460 | "I want to exalt God's word over and over

00:02:28.280 | "as true and wise and sweet."

00:02:31.440 | End quote.

00:02:32.280 | So take that to heart when listening to the podcast.

00:02:34.640 | Listen to all of Pastor John's counsel through that grid,

00:02:37.100 | which means whether you agree with Pastor John

00:02:39.340 | or whether you disagree with Pastor John,

00:02:41.240 | you'll have to engage the text of scripture.

00:02:43.720 | That's the inescapable goal of this podcast.

00:02:46.660 | With that said, on to some details.

00:02:48.600 | First of all, how can you listen to this podcast?

00:02:51.140 | Clearly you figured this out,

00:02:52.280 | but here are the four best listening options.

00:02:55.200 | First, you can listen through your computer.

00:02:57.160 | You can go directly to the newly redesigned

00:02:59.040 | DesiringGod.org homepage every weekday,

00:03:01.600 | and you'll find the most recent episode

00:03:02.840 | playable from the homepage.

00:03:04.040 | Just click the play button, you'll see it there.

00:03:06.060 | This feature will soon be added to the homepage

00:03:07.840 | of our mobile version of our website as well.

00:03:10.600 | Second, you can listen to the episodes

00:03:12.120 | directly through social media

00:03:13.480 | on Facebook and Twitter each day.

00:03:15.700 | Each episode is spread through Desiring God's

00:03:17.840 | Facebook and Twitter feeds at 7 a.m. and noon

00:03:20.760 | each weekday central time,

00:03:22.640 | and Pastor John follows these with a tweet

00:03:24.720 | on the episodes in the evenings.

00:03:26.760 | Third, you can also subscribe to the podcast feed

00:03:28.840 | through iTunes and play it through a chosen podcast app.

00:03:31.520 | This requires a little more web skill,

00:03:32.880 | but those of you who listen to a lot of podcasts

00:03:34.600 | will find this helpful,

00:03:35.480 | and you probably know what you're doing already.

00:03:37.000 | Fourth and finally, and maybe most significantly,

00:03:39.880 | for those of you on the go,

00:03:41.040 | we have a specially designed app

00:03:42.680 | for the Apple and Android devices,

00:03:44.580 | including smartphones, iPhones, iPads, et cetera,

00:03:47.000 | and this has proven to be the most convenient option

00:03:48.820 | for many of our listeners.

00:03:50.040 | The Ask Pastor John app is free of charge,

00:03:51.720 | and it can be downloaded from the Apple and Android stores

00:03:54.520 | right now.

00:03:55.360 | Again, it works both on smartphones and tablets,

00:03:57.640 | and a host of Apple and Android devices.

00:04:00.400 | Not only do you get the latest episodes,

00:04:01.920 | but you also get access to the archive through the app.

00:04:04.280 | Currently in the Android version,

00:04:06.080 | you can listen to the last eight or so episodes,

00:04:08.640 | and there's a link to the web to find the full archive.

00:04:10.560 | The iPhone and iPad app had these same features

00:04:12.920 | until recently when the app was completely revamped.

00:04:15.480 | Using the free Ask Pastor John app

00:04:17.000 | on the iPhone and iPad now,

00:04:18.640 | listeners can scroll through the entire archive

00:04:21.060 | of 300 plus episodes from within the app itself.

00:04:24.140 | And not only that,

00:04:24.980 | we've added a search bar at the top of the screen,

00:04:26.720 | making it easy for you to search

00:04:28.040 | all of the episode titles in a jiffy.

00:04:30.620 | This iPhone iPad app is now the best

00:04:32.480 | and most convenient way to navigate

00:04:34.200 | the entire podcast archive,

00:04:35.720 | and all this functionality will soon be coming

00:04:37.560 | to the Android app as well.

00:04:38.840 | So stay tuned for that update in the very near future.

00:04:42.240 | Well, with all the listeners,

00:04:43.360 | it's fun to see what have become your favorite episodes.

00:04:45.920 | Here are some of the most played episodes in the archive.

00:04:49.280 | At the very top, it's been at the top for a while now,

00:04:51.880 | is the John MacArthur and Strange Fire episode,

00:04:54.820 | episode number 214,

00:04:56.340 | which is followed by the Santa Claus episode,

00:04:58.740 | Santa Claus Harmless Fun or Christmas Disruption,

00:05:01.460 | episode 235, followed by Is Drinking Alcohol a Sin,

00:05:05.160 | episode 200, and a very recent episode

00:05:07.840 | broke into the top five list in its first week online,

00:05:10.860 | Pastor of World's Largest Church Convicted of Embezzlement.

00:05:14.120 | That was episode number 290.

00:05:16.060 | Then two related episodes on cussing, episode 97,

00:05:19.620 | and the follow-up episode,

00:05:21.020 | Can Christians Cuss to Prove a Point, episode 260.

00:05:24.500 | These are followed by Tattoos and Biblical Perspective,

00:05:27.280 | episode 240, and Six Reasons to Skip Tattoos, episode 241,

00:05:31.380 | back-to-back episodes on tattoos

00:05:32.900 | making it in the top 10 list.

00:05:34.480 | What is the Purpose of Fasting, episode 72, made the list.

00:05:38.460 | Would You Attend a Gay Wedding, episode 191.

00:05:41.880 | Can a White Woman Marry a Black Man, episode number 98,

00:05:45.260 | which was for a long time the most played episode

00:05:47.680 | in the podcast series.

00:05:49.160 | And then episode number 122,

00:05:51.360 | Is My Boyfriend's Porn a Marriage Deal Breaker,

00:05:54.480 | followed by episode 273,

00:05:56.300 | Is Porn the Unforgivable Sin.

00:05:59.280 | As you can see, we have a lot of serious episodes

00:06:01.560 | and some fun ones mixed in there too,

00:06:03.000 | like yesterday's March Madness episode,

00:06:04.600 | which we do have some fun every once in a while,

00:06:06.600 | but by far the most popular categories

00:06:09.200 | are questions related to sex, marriage, and dating.

00:06:12.600 | Contemporary issues within the church,

00:06:14.160 | like the Strange Fire Conference, are popular,

00:06:16.220 | as are questions on Reformed theology and Calvinism.

00:06:18.680 | Questions about alcohol, cussing, tattoos,

00:06:21.040 | and Santa Claus are also very popular too.

00:06:22.960 | And of course, no topic has been covered more

00:06:25.360 | than the topic of joy.

00:06:26.520 | About a dozen episodes directly on that subject.

00:06:29.120 | You can type joy in the app search bar

00:06:30.800 | and you'll see what I mean.

00:06:31.960 | Striking to me about these popular episodes

00:06:33.800 | is how many of them were developed interactively

00:06:36.120 | with you, our listeners.

00:06:37.600 | Your excellent questions help generate

00:06:39.260 | many of these most popular episodes.

00:06:41.080 | As many of you know, in the Ask Pastor John app,

00:06:43.040 | you can send us email questions with the touch of a button,

00:06:45.180 | or of course you can send us an email

00:06:46.920 | to askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.

00:06:49.760 | We receive over 400 emails per week

00:06:52.280 | and they pile up very fast in the inbox,

00:06:54.280 | but we do read them all,

00:06:55.520 | and all of them are very valuable to us,

00:06:57.200 | but there's simply no possible way

00:06:58.620 | that we can respond to any of those emails personally,

00:07:01.320 | so I apologize for that.

00:07:02.840 | But this leads me finally to spend a moment

00:07:05.760 | talking about something essential to our success,

00:07:08.320 | and that's helping you ask us really great questions.

00:07:11.520 | So let me close with three tips

00:07:12.780 | for asking good Ask Pastor John questions.

00:07:15.960 | Tip number one, check the archive first.

00:07:18.920 | About one third of the questions coming in now

00:07:20.680 | have already been addressed in previous episodes

00:07:23.040 | of the podcast, so start there.

00:07:24.920 | Tip number two, send follow-up questions.

00:07:27.260 | If you hear an episode and it raises another question

00:07:29.520 | in your mind, send us an email with the episode number

00:07:31.740 | and with your follow-up question.

00:07:33.220 | The episodes in this podcast series

00:07:34.680 | are in many ways interconnected to one another,

00:07:36.760 | and follow-up questions help us to fill out this web,

00:07:39.580 | so follow-up questions are greatly appreciated.

00:07:42.440 | Tip number three, keep it precise and brief.

00:07:45.140 | If your question requires paragraphs of background detail,

00:07:47.600 | it's probably a situation too detailed and delicate

00:07:50.160 | for us to tackle on the podcast.

00:07:51.840 | We're really looking for specific questions

00:07:53.880 | that appeal to many listeners,

00:07:55.560 | and this is a big challenge for us.

00:07:56.840 | So maybe the best tip I can offer you

00:07:58.760 | is to encourage you to simplify your question

00:08:01.060 | into one or two sentences.

00:08:02.560 | Think about your question for a while,

00:08:03.840 | give it time to soak and time to sharpen.

00:08:06.680 | But please, keep the questions coming into us.

00:08:10.520 | So as I wrap up this solo episode, let me say again,

00:08:13.200 | thank you for listening to this podcast.

00:08:15.380 | We are humbled that so many of you make time every day

00:08:18.060 | to listen in.

00:08:18.900 | You listen in the car on your way to work,

00:08:20.520 | or while cleaning the house, or while crafting,

00:08:22.940 | or walking, or jogging, or biking.

00:08:25.240 | I know there's even one listener who plays the episodes

00:08:27.100 | every morning during their morning shower before work.

00:08:30.140 | And while it's a little awkward to be told that in person,

00:08:32.740 | it's also an encouragement,

00:08:34.060 | and we're certainly not afraid of awkward here.

00:08:36.300 | So thank you for listening.

00:08:37.580 | And so many of you listen with an ear

00:08:38.900 | to serve others in your life,

00:08:40.200 | and we appreciate your labors in helping spread

00:08:42.240 | the Ask Pastor John app and specific episodes

00:08:44.260 | to people in your families and churches

00:08:45.780 | to bless and care for them in their time of need.

00:08:47.660 | So thank you for this valuable partnership

00:08:49.820 | of content sharing.

00:08:50.980 | Please continue to help us to spread God's word

00:08:54.060 | to those who need it.

00:08:56.060 | And of course, for those of you

00:08:57.460 | who financially support Desiring God,

00:08:59.140 | your funding and prayers are crucial to this podcast.

00:09:01.940 | This podcast and the free Ask Pastor John apps

00:09:04.020 | would not exist without you.

00:09:05.420 | So thank you for your sacrifices and support.

00:09:07.280 | We are deeply grateful to God for you and for your giving.

00:09:11.220 | - Well, goodness, that's enough of me.

00:09:12.820 | We'll be back tomorrow with a new episode

00:09:15.140 | featuring Pastor John

00:09:16.140 | and addressing these back from heaven stories.

00:09:18.340 | Books like "Heaven is for Real,"

00:09:19.940 | a little boy's astounding story

00:09:21.300 | of his trip to heaven and back.

00:09:22.660 | What are we to make of this story and others like it?

00:09:25.740 | Until then, I'm your host, Tony Reinke.

00:09:27.540 | We'll see you tomorrow.

00:09:28.700 | (upbeat music)

00:09:31.280 | (upbeat music)

00:09:33.860 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

Behind the Scenes at Ask Pastor John

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