Best Christian Podcasts

I’ve been wanting to share my thoughts on my favorite podcasts (Christian and in general) for almost a year now – it’s one of my most frequently asked questions on here, Instagram, AND Snapchat. I’m thrilled to finally be sitting down and knocking this out!

After I got a few hours into working on this post, I realized that I had SO MUCH I wanted to say and information/resources I wanted to give y’all. Because of that, I decided that I MUST break this post up into a little mini-series, focusing first on Christian podcasts followed by my favorite that aren’t Christian based.

Most importantly, I want to begin building a mega-resource guide centered solely around Christian podcasts. So to start this series off, I’m going to list out my favorite Christian podcasts and  “people”/pastors/authors/etc. that have influenced me in my own personal walk of faith – and you’ll find that list below.

Then, I’ll be dedicating individual blog posts to specific podcast series where I want to highlight a few of my favorite individual sermons or messages that really resonated with me. I also want those posts to serve as a forum of sorts for y’all to comment with your favorite sermons or individual episodes from that specific series as well. Make sense?

Rather than just having a one-off, random blog post that I threw together, I want to create a legitimate resource for y’all that you can refer back to and count on when it comes to finding new podcasts or some inspiration. There’s nothing worse than getting through a 30-60 minute podcast feeling like you just wasted your life listening to junk.

Lastly, I’m putting together a list of non-Christian podcasts that seem to be the most popular among y’all. I asked everyone to Snapchat me the other day and I got such a great response! I’ll be putting together a list of those for an upcoming post as well, so stay tuned!

BTD’s Top 5 Favorite Christian Podcasts

Below you’ll find a list of my TOP 5 podcast channels that I listen to the MOST. I tried not to have any bias in putting this list together, but instead just be honest regarding which podcasts I actually subscribe to on my podcast app.  I have by NO MEANS checked everything out nor do I have any idea how these actually rank in the grand scheme of things. But again, these are just my personal go-to picks.

I wanted to open up the discussion for you to comment below with YOUR favorite Christian podcasts. I want you to think of the comment section as an added resource to this blog post! Please weigh in with your top picks and comment back to each other too if you agree! Don’t be shy! I want this to be a community of friends and everyone is welcome!

1. Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast (iTunes // Website)

I’ve been listening to Tim Keller for AGES and have always been a huge fan. He’s one of the smartest men I’ve ever heard speak and his brilliance and devotion to spreading the Gospel never cease to amaze me. I’ve never listened to a sermon where I didn’t walk away feeling enlightened, encouraged, and emboldened by the truth of the Gospel.

Here are a few I’ve talked about on the blog before:

• “Finding God” sermon from April 2002 – I wrote a long blog post on this one back in the day. And it’s funny to go back and read my thoughts and notes because it still resonates with me today. This sermon really stuck out to me because it led me to ask the question: “where do I place my hopes”. And the answer to that question really is so telling. This is an incredible sermon if you haven’t listened to it yet.

2. John Piper Messages by Desiring God (iTunes // Website)

This man though. He is by far one of the most incredible Christian leaders alive. His dedication to Christ and charisma for telling everyone about the Lord’s truth will without a doubt have you asking yourself a few questions. He’s one of the most passionate people I’ve ever heard talk and it only takes a few seconds for you to hear the enthusiasm and emotion in his voice. His mission statement behind his ministry is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him – love that!

Piper offers SO MANY amazing resources for believers including many, many articles on his website, Desiring God, as well as his Q&A series, “Ask Pastor John” where he answers theological and other faith-based questions.

I’ve talked about a few of his podcasts on my blog and thought it might be helpful to point them out to you:

• “If my Words Abide in You” – this was a really pivotal one for me and opened my eyes tremendously to the importance (and necessity) of memorizing scripture to the christian walk.
• and I just realized I never published the other podcast entries I wrote. I need to get on that asap! more coming soon!

3. The Porch (Young Adults Ministry of Watermark Dallas) (iTunes // Website)

A lot of people LURVE Watermark church Dallas and I gotta be honest with y’all – it’s not really my favorite. I feel like someone might kick me for saying this, but I’m just not a huge fan of the lead pastor (monkey-hands-over-face emoji). But I DO, however, LOVE JP who typically talks on Tuesday nights at the young adults worship (known as “The Porch”  – see below). Speaking of Watermark sermons, I loved the Head, Heart & Hands series (but JP actually spoke during that series)..SO good!

I will say, though, that recently (although I truly do LOVE JP and think he’s great) I feel like the Porch messages have been less expository (focused solely on scripture) and have had a little too much “fluff” or anecdotal “stuff.” Does that make sense? Like, I think it’s important to make the sermon interesting, but I also think that scripture can speak for itself (by way of the holy spirit – aka scripture is sufficient). And so it sort of drives me nuts when pastors get a little carried away in the life application, jokes or story-telling time while giving their messages – and then it’s more about being entertaining than it is preaching the word of God. Don’t hate me for being honest – it’s just what I’ve been noticing lately as I’ve been listening to the most recent podcasts. But then again, maybe that’s because it’s not meant to be like a typical Sunday sermon but instead more like a discussion on current/modern young adult struggles? That could be why it’s a little less expository and more focused on application/anecdotes.

4. The Village Church Sermons – Matt Chandler (iTunes // Website)

I kid you not when I say that I have been listening to Matt Chandler since I was 15 years old – before I ever really even began to understand the magnanimity of the gospel. Even still, Chandler is such a good speaker and has been captivating people’s attention and interest for YEARS. He has a way of relating to just about everyone and talking in such a way that you really feel like he’s your friend. And yet, he has such wisdom and has amassed such success and even fame over the years, but remains humble and wholeheartedly focused on serving Christ and keeping himself accountable to that mission alone.

5. Les Newsom – Ole Miss RUF (iTunes)

OK, so you might make fun of me for this one, but I just love this guy. His teaching is great. I wish I could remember how I found him, but I honestly have no idea. Ever since I heard his talk from 2008 about relationships (I’m sure you’ve heard of it – it sort of went viral a few years ago), I checked out his other stuff and just love it.

He doesn’t work at Ole Miss anymore and so the podcast isn’t updated (it’s just an archive of old talks), but I still love how his talks are organized so simply and that they’re each less than 30 minutes long. He has about 133 talks out there and has great little mini-series that you can go through on your own covering Romans, Leviticus, The Deadly Sins, Luke, Revelation, Ephesians, and more.