About the Podcast

The Key Chapters podcast began somewhat accidentally in January of 2020.

In the fall of 2019, our church created a 366 day reading plan where, together, we'd read one key chapter a day. We published the list in December and we were gearing up for going through God's Word together.

Then on January 1st, I was in my office working on sermon prep and I was listening to a podcast for pastors. The host said that every church should consider creating a podcast.

As I listened to them, I began to see the value of how a daily podcast might help our church in keeping up with our daily reading plan, and seeing why we chose each chapter to be a "key chapter". So, since it was still just January 1st, I figured, "Let's give it a try!"

The first podcasts were literally recorded with the computer microphone, and the final audio only came out one ear (I was still learning about audio back then!) I created two or three episodes and sent them to the leaders. They liked them, so I created a few more and sent them out to some more people in the church. By the weekend, I had 4 or 5 episodes and a bunch of folks listening. But still, I wasn't sold that we should keep it up.

But then, on Sunday, I began hearing about people in our church using the podcast to start Bible studies in their workplaces. Folks were starting groups where the attendees would read the key chapter, listen to the podcast and then they'd all discuss it. Families were going through it too! That's when things began to get real, so, I kept making episodes. 

Then, to make the podcast more accessible for our folks, we began publishing them to Spotify and Itunes. Little did we know that Spotify (especially) would actually promote the podcast around the world! Somewhere in the mix, Feedspot.com began to include it in their Top Bible Podcast to listen to (thanks Feedspot!). Over the year, it's been fun to watch the podcast continue to move up in their rankings. Amazingly, after just a year, the Key Chapters podcast now ranks in the top 10% of all podcasts currently in production.

These days, things have come a long way. For one thing, I'm no longer using the computer mic! Plus, we use a podcast service that streamlines production and now we're listed on more podcast servers than we can count (they often just automatically include our podcast on their services). Thanks to all of these services, we have listeners from around the world in places like Australia, Taiwan, England, Belgium, etc. If you're one of those listeners, thank you for tuning in! It's an honor and a privilege to go through God's Word with you.

This has been an exciting year, and throughout this time with you, studying God's Word together, I've seen so many ways the Lord is blessing this ministry. Many folks have given feedback about how this podcast is deepening their fellowship with the Lord and their trust in Him; and most of all, their understanding of the overall word of God. Total praise!

My hope is that these episodes will continue to reside on the internet, giving glory to God and teaching people His Word.

Thank YOU so much for listening in and being part of this. If you ever want to drop me a note, I'd love to hear from you and you can This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

About Russ

As for me personally, here's my quick story: 

I grew up in a strong moral family with a hard work ethic. Although we were very spiritual, we only occasionally went to church; and that for a couple of years. The church we went to for the longest period of time denied the deity of Jesus, the sufficiency of the Bible, the reality of sin, and the need for Christ's cross. Thus, I didn’t know the Gospel.

After a tragic event in my life just after high school, I met with a pastor who shared Christ with me. That was August 17th, 1990. That night I gave my life to Christ.

Soon afterwards, I began attending a Bible study and later went on a short term missions trip to Jamaica. It was in Jamaica that I began to see the call of God in my life.

I went to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, met and married my wife Corinne and I ended up living there for nearly eight years. After college, I worked at Motorola in the Chicago suburbs and later joined the staff of a large church in the area. I worked there for about two years before heading off to The Masters Seminary in Los Angeles county, California. 

After seminary I did church planting in downtown, urban Los Angeles for 2 years and then moved to New Jersey to serve as an associate pastor for 9 years.

I came to Wellington Colorado in January of 2014 and have been blessed to be part of the Lord's work here.

I've been married since 1998. We have five children living at home plus a sixth, our oldest, who is married. 

My degrees are a Bachelors in Pastoral Ministries from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL (1996) and a Masters of Divinity from The Masters Seminary in Sun Valley, CA (2003).

You can access my personal theological doctrincal statement here. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you join in the podcast! 

God Bless