Tara-Leigh Cobble never planned to become the voice behind one of the most listened-to Bible podcasts in the world. But then again, she didn’t exactly plan to read the entire Bible either. Not until a friend made her a deal: Ask me your questions along the way.
That one condition changed everything.
“I grew up in the church, and I was so used to reading the Bible looking for myself,” Cobble said. “What’s my takeaway? What’s my to-do list? How can I be a good Christian so that God gives me what I want? It was transactional.”
But when a pastor friend challenged her to shift the focus—to stop searching for herself and start looking for God—everything clicked.
“What He loves, what He hates, what motivates Him,” she said. “That subtle shift absolutely changed my life.”
At the time, she was already leading a growing network of discipleship groups, or D-Groups, that started with nine college girls in her living room and eventually expanded to hundreds around the world. Every year, she encouraged people in her groups to read through the Bible with her. And every year, most of them fizzled out by Leviticus.
“It was incredibly relatable. I’d done the same thing for years,” she said.
What helped her finish for the first time wasn’t more willpower. It was having someone she could ask questions.
“Instead of accumulating confusion, I was accumulating understanding,” she said. “And that was stoking my desire to keep reading.”
One of the girls in her Bible study caught onto that and asked Cobble to walk her through the entire thing. When they neared the end of the Old Testament, her friend said, “I never would have finished this if you hadn’t walked me through it.”
And that’s when it clicked.
“Maybe this is the key,” Cobble realized. “Maybe people just need someone to help them understand what they’re reading.”
She wanted to do that for as many people as possible. But she also knew she couldn’t personally mentor every confused reader in America. So she started a podcast.
On Jan. 1, 2019, The Bible Recap launched with the humble hope that 300 people would tune in. It’s now one of the top Christian podcasts in the world and regularly ranks in the top 100 overall podcasts on Apple.
That might sound like a flex, but to Cobble, it means something deeper.
“People want to read the Bible. There is a hunger and desire to know God,” she said. “That says less about us as a podcast and more about the hearts of people out there.”
The show’s premise is simple: Each episode recaps the day’s Bible reading, with Cobble helping listeners understand the confusing parts, see the full narrative arc and—most importantly—spot the character of God.
“You don’t leave The Bible Recap with a moral task list,” she said. “You leave with awe. You leave knowing who God is.”
That’s the part she loves most. Growing up, she was used to looking for a checklist.
“Tell me the things I’m supposed to obey so I can make God happy,” she said.
But when she began focusing instead on discovering the heart of God—His patience, His consistency, His justice—it changed her faith from something transactional to something relational.
And that, she said, is why the Bible has to be a daily habit.
“Every day we’re being shaped by things around us—social media, conversations, TV, even the voice in our head,” she said. “And most of those things aren’t telling us the truth.”
One hour at church each week isn’t enough.
“The truth is powerful, but it’s a lot easier to fight the lies when you have a storehouse of truth built up in your heart and mind,” she said.
But she’s quick to clarify that this isn’t about spiritual productivity or hustle culture. This is about relationship.
“Imagine telling your spouse, ‘Hey, we can talk for one hour on Sundays, but that’s it,’” she said. “That’s not intimacy. That’s not love. If this is someone you love, why wouldn’t you want to spend time with Him every day?”
Cobble’s work has grown well beyond the podcast. She recently launched a book series called “Knowing Jesus,” with studies on the Gospels of Matthew and Mark already released, and Luke and John on the way. It’s a deeper dive than The Bible Recap allows, designed for people who want more time in the Gospels and more clarity on the distinct lens each one brings to the life of Christ.
She also continues to lead and expand her D-Group ministry, with men’s and women’s groups meeting online and in person across the world, from military bases to church basements.
What makes those groups unique isn’t just the study materials—it’s the diversity. Cobble is a strong believer that discipleship is richer when it’s not just people in your same stage of life.
“Some of my friends got married at 19, and they have no idea what it’s like to be single in their 30s,” she said. “I’ve never had a husband or kids. But when you’re on mission together to know and love God, you build relationships that are deeper than you would’ve thought possible.”
That kind of spiritual community, she said, is meant to reflect the church itself—a diverse body, full of wildly different people, held together by a shared pursuit of Christ.
“I want my community group to look like the kingdom,” she said.
Even as she continues building resources and community for people to fall in love with the Bible, she’s also expanding the footprint of her mission—literally. This fall, she’ll head out on her first-ever live tour, hitting four cities across the U.S.
In addition to leading luxury pilgrimage tours through Israel via her company Israelux, she’s launching a Greece and Turkey edition next year, tracing the footsteps of Paul and the apostles aboard a sailboat.
“Any opportunity I can have to get people excited about reading, understanding and loving God’s word? Sign me up,” she said. “If I’ve got to take them around the world to do it, I’ll do it. Let’s go.”
