That’s a Wrap! My year on Spotify and WordPress
By Elizabeth Prata
Sixteen years! Next week as of January 9th I’ll have been writing daily on The End Time for 16 years. There are 6,764 essays here. On my other blog The Quiet Life it has been intermittent, but I founded that personal blog 3 years earlier, so, 19 years.
After 2006 other social media came along beyond blogs, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and so on, so I absorbed them into my posting routine too.
The End Time blog is my main ministry though. My goals are to present solid theology, to refer women to credible ministries for further exploration, and to present thoughts about our faith that ultimately exalt and honor Jesus. The public square is marvelous for getting the name of Jesus out there and to share doctrines from a trustworthy source.
When podcasting became a thing I added that to the list. My main goal is to get good theology and resources into the hands of women, many of whom are busy moms. If they can listen to content while driving, cooking, or folding, instead of having to stop to read it, all the better. So The End Time Blog podcast was born.
Spotify keeps an annual analytic they send to creators at the end of the year. This year I stopped in May for a few months as I regrouped from WordPress and Spotify’s divorce, while I looked for another podcast platform to record on. So a good chunk of my analytics were impacted during the pause. Even with not having podcasted for a full quarter, the stats look good. So…thank you!
Apparently according to Spotify’s algorithm I am a Trendsetter personality:
They define the Trendsetter personality this way: “Like a true trendsetter, you have your finger on the pulse, publishing often and keeping it short and sweet. You love sharing your stories with your listeners.” Women have commented to me that they like short podcasts- some because it’s nice to intersperse with others’ longer podcasts, or just because they prefer short for various reasons. Most of my podcasts are under 15 minutes.
New listeners are coming in, so that’s good. Even with not promoting it and having stopped for a few months!
What was my top episode? Well, now there’s a story. If you follow me on Facebook and especially on Twitter you know I post rebuttals, warnings, and frequent criticism of Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife of @godltwomanhood (and her little husband too). Her ministry is damaging and unbiblical. I like being her gadfly, (to annoy through persistent criticism). I know that criticism is her kryptonite. Husband Ken hates it, too. They are unteachable, arrogant, and have thin skins- not a good look for people claiming to be Christians and teachers of others.
However, Lori has a huge following, I mean it’s near the million mark, so that means her damage goes far. Her false teaching goes far. If even one woman goes away from Lori through anything I post, I will have had a satisfactory day.
So what was my all-time 2024 podcast episode? Lori Alexander, red flags of a false teacher, and the whole counsel of God.
THAT’S why I persistently criticize Lori Alexander’s ministry. There are many women out there who think Lori’s output is biblical who would benefit from a wake up warning call, others who are seeking answers to niggling issues that their conscience or Bible study raises about her “teaching” or her behavior, or other ladies who just need confirmation of their own discernment that Lori’s output is not OK.
Other top blogs in 2024 included another discernment essay titled, Beth Moore’s divorced daughter was married this weekend. A consistent top read essay on this site year after year is the one I did comparing two divorces of celebrities in the faith that I wrote in 2016- Summer White and Melissa Moore, titled Two divorce cases: Summer White and Melissa Moore. White is the daughter of theologian James White and Melissa is Beth Moore’s daughter. So it stands to reason that Moore’s daughter’s remarriage this year also garnered a lot of interest.
Inevitably, when I write discerningly about a teacher’s lifestyle or her family I receive lots of comments along the lines of ‘It’s not your business!’ Oh, but it is. If a teacher is teaching publicly in a public ministry, the Bible tells us that their home life, behavior, and character are part of the qualifications for assuming the authority of teaching. (1 timothy 4:16, Titus 2:7-8, 1 Corinthians 9:27, James 1:21-22).
The Alistair Begg issue (when he told a grandma it was OK to attend her gay grandson’s wedding) was also a well-read, top essay this year. So were the perennial top 10 essays I’ve written in the past but always land in the top 10 or 15, about Joyce Meyer and David Jeremiah.
A few non-discernment essays were also in the top 10, such as A Day in the Life of a Shepherd, an essay about the glory, one about the tree of life, and the like.
I’m happy that anyone reads anything I write. Discernment seems to be needed, and since the Spirit gave me that as one of His gifts of the Spirit, I am happy to employ it. I’m not embarrassed by discernment. I’m also happy when a women reads anything else I write about, and I do write about other topics besides discernment, such as natural history, biblical history, people in the faith (in the Bible or outside the Bible).
My personal favorites are the series I published on “A Day on the Life Of…” and the series on “Little Known Bible Characters” especially the one I researched and wrote about Eutychus (the young man who fell out of the window). That was a fun one to look into.
These are the essays I wrote about “A Day in the Life Of”-
A Day in the Life of: Introduction
A Day in the Life of: A Professional Mourner
A Day in the Life of: A Fisherman
A Day in the Life of: A Potter
A Day in the Life of: A Scribe
A Day in the Life of: A Shepherd
Select A Day in the Life of: A Tanner
A Day in the Life of: A Tanner
A Day in the Life of: A Seller of Purple
A Day in the Life of A: Concubine
A Day in the Life of: A Roman Centurion
The blog and the podcast are small potatoes compared to a lot of others, but I’m content, because this is what the Spirit has ordained. In truth, I’m still working full time and I do not believe I cold keep up if the blog and podcast grew more or expanded faster. I’m not on a “speaking circuit”, the podcast is really small, the blog isn’t a brand, it’s not slick, and to younger eyes the graphics may even look uncool. I’m just an old lady who loves her Savior and writes stuff because that is the way I process concepts. It’s all OK.
When a lady messages to me that she has gone away from this or that false teacher, or has grown thanks to the resources I offered, or just enjoys the writing, it is my reward. I’m grateful for another year here at The End Time, and all glory goes to Jesus.
