Podcast Review: Ask Pastor John

My college pastor introduced me to the works of John Piper with the book Don’t Waste Your Life. Years later, as Kevin and I began our premarriage counseling, that same pastor asked us to read This Momentary Marriage by Pastor John Piper. His writings have influenced the way I view the Bible and our Heavenly Father.

So when I saw that Desiring God had created a podcast called Ask Pastor John, I subscribed. And the setup matched exactly what I expected – people across the county, from all ages and walks of life, wrote to Pastor John to ask earnest and often difficult questions regarding faith and their walk with God.

Here are just a few of the questions that Pastor John has answered in the past month:

• How do I honor God in chronic pain?
• Do pets go to heaven?
• Is permanent birth control a sin?
• Does God want me to be happy or holy?

I have wrestled with many of the questions that Pastor John answers. Though I do recommend this podcast to you, I would not say that I always 100% agree with his answers or emphasis. But I would quickly say that he gives sound, Biblically-founded advice and possesses a wisdom and understanding of God’s Word that we should all strive to possess.

The intent of today’s blog is not just to review the podcast, but also to give us a few quick lessons of what we can learn from Pastor John’s answers.

Pastor John always (and I mean ALWAYS) reads a Scripture passage in His answer. Of course, he has had time to prepare, which is an unfair advantage to many of us who are Sunday School teachers and get caught trying to answers off the cuff. But even we can say, “Let me get you a more precise answer” and then follow through with that. Pastor John doesn’t merely paraphrase the Word of God, he quotes it and cites the reference.

I find myself trying to do this more and more with my middle school girls in Sunday School. For example, last month our question was, “When Jesus was on earth, was He compassionate?” I didn’t let them get off the hook with a simple yes or no. I didn’t even accept the answer, “Yes because He performed miracles.” I forced them to open the Word of God and read an exact sentence from the Bible that supported their answer. Pastor John answers many sensitive questions and it is vitally important to note that he uses Scripture and explains the bigger context in which it is found.

Even when the question reveals sin in the life of the person asking that question, Pastor John shows great compassion. This is a podcast, that is, Pastor John is not answering a person face-to-face or even over the phone. But he still shows respect and compassion to the questioner. He frequently addresses them by name. It would be easy to come down hard in condemnation, especially when it’s just him and a microphone. But he remembers that at the other end of the question is a child of God who earnestly seeks counsel from him.

So if you’re struggling answering either a question of your own about God or other people’s questions, I recommend you subscribe to Ask Pastor John. Most likely, he’s already answered the question and you can find the answer in the archives. You can also study his style and learn how to be a better question-answerer yourself.