BONUS: Fr. Mike Reflects on 5 Years of The Bible in a Year
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What significant milestone is celebrated in this episode?
Some people get done with the Bible in a year and they think, what's next? Press play. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and today I wanted to take a moment as we get ready for another year of the Bible in a year. It's hard to believe, but 2026 is actually the fifth anniversary of this journey. When we launched the Bible in a year back in 2021, none of us, the Ascension team, Jeff Cavins, or myself, had any idea what God was gonna do with it. We never, never anticipated the reach, the impact, or even just the sheer number of people who would say yes to reading scripture every day, whether with their eyeballs or with their ear balls. As you might know, The Bible in Here is the number one religious podcast in the world, still five years later.
How has the Bible in a Year podcast impacted listeners globally?
It's reached listeners in over 150 countries. Years ago, I was watching a Christian movie, and in this Christian movie, there was a Muslim woman. She was listening to her iPod, that's how old it was, listening to her iPod, listening to a man preach on, I think, 1 Corinthians. And she had a conversion to Jesus. I remember thinking, God, that would be incredible. It would be incredible to be able to do that. We've got messages from people who were raised Muslim, who have now professed faith in Jesus. And not just in this country, the United States of America or in Canada, but people in countries where if they publicly become Christian, their lives are forfeit. But they've listened to the Bible in a year and have come to that place.
God's word has transformed their heart, has transformed their minds in such an incredible way that they're like, no, I believe Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is God. When I first heard about the first person, that first story, I remember thinking, oh my gosh, Lord, That's what I prayed for. And here we are, you know, 150 countries, some of them, countries where it would be illegal to listen to the Bible in the air. Talked to another man who talked about how he lives in a country where it is illegal. It is illegal to openly practice your Catholicism, your Christianity. And he said, use a number of VPNs to get around all these things to be able to listen to to the word of God through the Bible in a year. It's consistently topped, not only actually the religious charts, maybe you've heard about this, but it's actually been the top podcast overall, even hitting number one in the entire US podcast charts a couple of times.
Usually it's the beginning of every year. You know, people, they like to start. This is good. I always like when people start listening to the Bible at the beginning of the year. I've heard of whole families, like an eight-year-old who like, yeah, I've listened to the whole Bible now. Like I'm not sure how much they got out of it, but the fact is they heard all of the stories to an 88-year-old, 93-year-old, Literally, earlier today, I heard from a 99-year-old person who listens to the Bible in the air. I remember this one man, he said he was in his 40s, an atheist his whole life. He said he read the Bible a couple times on his own, raised his children to be atheists, and he said, I remember this was the first year, maybe a couple months in, and he said, I know, I realize, I believe.
I know I've shared this before, but That first year, my mom and dad both listened to the Bible in a year. And they finished the whole thing. And I remember coming downstairs. It was like a Sunday afternoon and I had done with masses and everything and I was visiting them and came downstairs and I heard my voice in the living room. And I come down, I'm like, oh, hey guys.
What inspiring conversion stories have emerged from the podcast?
And they're like, shh, shh, shh, we're almost done. They were listening to the Bible in a year together. And I just think, oh my gosh, the people who taught me how to read, I got to read God's word to them. I have my sisters who have listened to the Bible in a year. One of my brothers literally just finished for the first time ever the day 365 and he texted me and I just, I literally can't put into words. It's one thing to have stories of people who I've never met before.
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