For Steve and Kim Marshall, discovering 1517 opened up the Scriptures in a new way, helping them see the gospel from beginning to end and inspiring them to support the work so others can hear it too.
Meet Steve and Kim Marshall, a couple from the Grand Rapids, Michigan area who attend Redeemer Bible Church. As Steve puts it simply, “We love 1517.”
For Steve, that relationship began at Camp Arcadia in Arcadia, Michigan. A good friend who works with 1517 introduced him to the ministry, and while there, Steve heard Chad Bird teach on the book of Jonah.
Something clicked.
Until then, much of the Old Testament had felt disconnected to Steve. It was mainly a collection of familiar stories about Noah and the flood, David and Goliath, judgment, kings, battles, and people from a distant world.
Then he heard Jonah taught through the lens of the gospel.
“It really opened up the Old Testament to me for the first time,” Steve says.
From there, he found 40 Minutes in the Old Testament. The combination of the podcast and hearing the Scriptures taught in person changed the way he approached the Bible.
“It just opened up a whole world to me that hadn’t been opened up in the past,” he says. “That was a gift to me, really.”
And it didn’t stop with the Old Testament.
Through other 1517 teachers, podcasts, books, and events, Steve began seeing the same good news throughout the New Testament as well. What had once felt like separate pieces increasingly became one story centered on Christ.
“I’ve just been blessed to know the gospel through the whole book, from beginning to end.”
That growing understanding has mattered beyond Bible study. Steve says it has helped him through difficult things in his own life and has made talking about his faith easier.
“The ability to share is easier now because I understand more of what God’s plan is for us.”
For Steve and Kim, part of what makes 1517 distinctive is the variety of voices brought together around that same message. Scholars, pastors, and writers approach Scripture from different angles, but continually bring listeners back to the gospel.
Steve describes it as an “incredible group of people” who have helped make the Scriptures understandable and approachable.
And over time, those voices have become more than voices in headphones.
The Marshalls have returned to events, formed friendships, and experienced the fellowship that happens when the people they have listened to and learned from gather together in person.
“The fellowship with those people in real life is just life-giving,” Steve says. “They’re human people. They’re real people, and they’re just so incredibly loving.”
That combination of podcasts during the week, books at home, speakers in local churches, and larger gatherings around the country is a big part of what the Marshalls value about 1517.
The large conferences bring people together from across the country. But Steve especially appreciates the smaller events that make those teachers accessible to people closer to home.
“We’re from Michigan. We can’t always fly to California, but we can drive to Detroit to see a speaker.”
And when they’re home, 1517 remains part of the rhythm of everyday life.
Steve listens to 40 Minutes in the Old Testament, 30 Minutes in the New Testament, and Tough Texts, which has quickly become one of his favorites.
“Their humor alone is great,” he says of Tough Texts, “but they really run through the text and clarify it.”
For Steve and Kim, all of those things - the teaching, books, podcasts, friendships, and events - eventually led to another decision.
They became monthly donors.
“We’re so blessed to have all of that information coming to us,” Steve says. “Whether it’s books, podcasts, friendships, and the gospel...it’s what it’s all about.”
Their giving is a way of helping make sure those same resources can reach someone else—the next person who may open a podcast, attend an event, or hear a familiar passage of Scripture explained in a way that suddenly makes the gospel clear.
“That’s one of the main reasons we wanted to give,” Steve says, “to support that network so that more people get to hear the gospel and understand it for what it really is.”
And that is the invitation Steve and Kim would extend to others who have been helped by 1517.
“If you’ve come to an event or read a book or listened to a podcast or seen a speaker, and you’ve been as blessed as we have by that content, we encourage you to become monthly donors as well.”
Because for the Marshalls, supporting 1517 is ultimately about making more of those moments possible. These 'moments' are what 1517 is all about: when an old story becomes new, when a confusing passage becomes clear, and when someone hears again that all of Scripture finally points outside of themselves to Christ.
As Steve puts it:
“The gospel is free, but this work does require ongoing giving.”
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