Podcast Review: The Porch
June 4, 2020
While being at home a lot more and not seeing as many of my friends as I typically would, I have tried to be much more conscientious about what I am listening to, watching, reading, etc. Because of this, I have been trying to find meaningful, thought-provoking sources of entertainment in every channel. While unwinding with a nice, little binge of The Office can be enjoyable after a long day, I found myself in a rut of passively consuming entertainment and not really trying to find things that could actually help me grow. We are affected by whatever we’re listening to or watching. Whether it’s something that doesn’t require much of our attention or reading a book that makes you think outside of your normal beliefs, everything we consume will have an effect. It’s very easy to slip into a passive consumption mindset because of the easiness of it. It’s much easier to watch our favorite TV show than to find a new book that makes us think critically in both introspective and extrospective ways.
In my search for finding new forms of entertainment that would push me to grow, I found The Porch podcast. The Porch is the gathering of over 3,000+ young adults every Tuesday night as part of the young adult ministry of Watermark Community Church. The podcast is usually recordings of the different sermons done mostly by their Young Adults Director, David Marvin. These sermons are designed to address many of the issues young adults in their 20s and 30s are facing each day, making every podcast relatable to college students. I was first introduced to this podcast a couple years ago through a series called Fantasy Dating. It was a three-part series, with the two other podcasts being Fantasy Guy and Fantasy Girl. The idea of these were to tackle misconceptions of what dating and marriage looks like when we truly are pursuing God through it. I will admit I was skeptical at first. The amount of relationship advice out there today is overwhelming, and a lot of times way over-complicated or simply not true. But I gave listened to all three of the podcasts on my drive back to Lynchburg, and I was surprised by the truth and depth that Pastor David brought. He didn’t try to spruce up concepts or complicate things. It challenged me to rethink the way that I would approach dating when the time came. It wasn’t until about a month ago that I begin consistently listening to these podcasts, but I have been challenged through pretty much everyone who speaks on it. The podcast also contains messages about anxiety and depression, breaking down biblical stories, such as Esther, and digging deep into how they can be applicable to challenges we face as young adults.
I really recommend The Porch, as I feel it is perfect for any college student seeking meaningful growth in their lives. I don’t want to steer you the wrong way – there are many concepts in this podcast that can bring growth, but we have to not fall into the trap of passively engaging it. In Acts 17:10-15, Paul and Silas have travelled to Berea, and the found Jews who were eagerly studying God’s Word and examining the scriptures to make sure what they were being taught was biblically true. This is what it should look like when listening to sermons today. Through actively studying what he teaches, I take the concepts I hear and have questions about and discuss those with my friends. Though we live in a society that tends to disagree in unhealthy ways (social media being a big platform for this), questioning and fact-checking are important in finding out the truth and helpful for personal growth.
So, if you’re looking for a podcast that will give you a chance to grow both spiritually and mentally, I highly encourage you trying this one out. You can find almost every topic you could think of pertaining to young adults. These podcasts will also help you critically think and can help give the chances for more meaningful and deep conversations with friends – something I love to have. Make sure you actively listen to these though! It is important when pursuing growth that you are actively consuming the culture around you by critically thinking about the concepts being presented to you. Down below you can find the link to this podcast through Spotify or Apple Podcasts!
Sources
https://open.spotify.com/show/3H0DFwAtyMDhOgfx8rEHSk
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-porch/id325418914
Written by: Andrew Reynolds
Andrew is a Senior Project Management Major, and enjoys writing for the blog because of the opportunity it gives him to grow as a writer and to challenge himself to see current topics and discussions from a view point he may not have otherwise thought about.