Life, Hope & Truth Launches New Verse by Verse Podcast

by Erik Jones
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Topics: Christian Living, Bible Study

We recently launched a new podcast called Verse by Verse. We sat down with the podcast’s producer, Jeremy Lallier, to learn more about it.

Q: First of all, for our readers who aren’t familiar with podcasts, what is a podcast and how can it be accessed?

A: Not many people know this, but “podcast” actually comes from the Latin word podcastius, which means—

No, I’m kidding. A podcast is basically a kind of radio program you can listen to on demand with almost any device that connects to the Internet (a smartphone, a tablet or a personal computer). Podcasts are incredibly popular—if you can think of a subject, there’s a podcast about it. Most people listen to them on their phones, but you can listen to them on your computer through a browser too.

Verse by Verse is on all the major podcast platforms—Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. 

And, in case our readers weren’t aware, we also have a Discern podcast that has been active for a few years now.

Q: In a nutshell, what is the purpose and approach of the Verse by Verse podcast?

A: The Bible is full of meaningful, profound, life-changing passages. Our goal with Verse by Verse is to help our listeners discover and reflect on those passages. With each verse (or set of verses) we look at, we want to be answering questions like, “How can this verse change the way I relate to God?” or, “What impact should this verse have on the way I live my life?”

The episodes are pretty short—three to five minutes each. If the Bible were compared to an ear of corn, we’re looking at individual kernels, not the whole cob. But the beauty of God’s Word is that each of those kernels contains a wealth of insight on its own. We could probably do multiple episodes on each of the verses we’re discussing without repeating ourselves.

We also wanted Verse by Verse to tie in to the Daily Bible Verse Blog that Mike Bennett manages. For now, every verse we cover on the podcast will correspond to a Daily Bible Verse post. 

Q: Who will be presenting the episodes?

A: I’m pretty excited about this—we have a rotating cast of nine different presenters at the moment. We might add even more in the future. That means nine different voices—nine different perspectives—on God’s incredible truths.

And while God’s truths never change, different perspectives and personalities allow each of us to see aspects of that truth from angles the others might not have considered.

What that means for our listeners is a lot of great variety. I think different people are naturally  going to connect with different presenters, but this is going to offer a great opportunity to look at timeless truths from new angles.

Q: What kind of topics can listeners expect over the next year?

A: What topics can’t they expect is a better question. If the Bible has a verse about it, it could show up on the podcast. 

We’re going to talk about God’s plan of salvation, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the believer’s relationship with the law, the value of God’s holy days, life, death, resurrections, sin, righteousness, spiritual growth, dealing with trials, Satan’s tactics, God’s armor, the fruit of the Spirit, the coming Kingdom of God—anything and everything that can strengthen and encourage Christian believers.

(And we’re going to do it . . . verse by verse.)

Q: Can you give our readers a behind-the-scenes look into what it takes to produce the Verse by Verse podcast?

A: Sure. It’s a long and complicated road from planning the episodes to posting them.

We start with a list of every passage the Daily Bible Verse Blog will be covering that quarter. I put together a spreadsheet that lets all the presenters pick the verses they want to discuss. Then I assign recording and posting deadlines using a series of spreadsheet formulae I only half understand. 

And that’s just assigning the episodes. Then we each have to write out our talking points and schedule studio time, where our audiovisual team records the session, cleans up the audio and adds in our intros and outros.

This sounds like the part where I say, “And then we post it,” but it’s not. Next we have an internal review of the episodes to check for technical and content issues, then I write up descriptions for each episode, which need to be proofread, and then I pass everything on to our social media manager, who schedules them to be posted.

By the time an episode goes live, half of our media department has been involved with its production. It’s a complicated process!

Q: Is there anything listeners can do to increase the reach of the podcast?

A: Yes! Most podcasts live and die on reviews and ratings. That’s where so much of the visibility comes from—the algorithms on these platforms say, “Oh, wow, tons of people like this, so I’ll recommend it to others who are searching for similar content.” 

If you’re enjoying the podcast, one of the best ways to help us reach more people is to leave a rating and a review on the platform you use to listen to it. Apple Podcasts seems to carry the most weight, so if you have a choice, a review there would probably make the most difference.

The other thing you can do is to share Verse by Verse with friends who might be interested in listening to it. 

Word of mouth is huge for podcasts.

Date Posted: January 20, 2023