Bible paraphraser’s day
I JUST LOST JEREMIAH 5 TODAY. I’m supposed to be paraphrasing that chapter right now. But I’m one-hour into working with tech support, trying to solve a mystery. (It took 2½ hours.) I wanted to know …
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Condolences for Christians bummed by election results
I GOT A PAINFUL EMAIL at 5:35 this morning, after the election. It was from a lady who has been helping support The Casual English Bible® this year. She and her husband were deeply upset about the …
Daniel in the lion’s cistern
DANIEL WASN’T IN A LION’S DEN. It was more likely just a hole in the ground—a cistern for storing water. Cisterns in that dry land were often empty and sometimes used to store supplies …
Bible pro tips: What good leadership looks like, part 2
WITH A BIG ELECTION ALREADY UNDERWAY, I thought it might be a good idea to see what the Bible says good leadership looks like. Nearly half the nation is bashing the other half over how to vote in what …
Funny Bible verses
THERE ARE FUNNY BIBLE VERSES that jump off the page and smack me a good one. Not usually in a bad way. But in a way that catches me off guard. That takes some doing because I have spent more than 40 …
Theology of Deputy Barney Fife
ONCE UPON A TIME I wrote jokingly that I’d have trouble with the Sermon on the Mount if Jesus had the squeaky voice of Deputy Barney Fife from the “The Andy Griffith Show.” Then an old …
AI Bible paraphrase vs Casual English Bible®
AI WILL PUT ME OUT OF BUSINESS, someone told me recently. They’ll write better easy-reading Bible background books than my Complete Guide to the Bible. They’ll create a Bible paraphrase …
Looking for Sodom and Gomorrah
THERE’S ONE MAP people want to see more than any of the 900 we have so far at The Casual English Bible® (TCEB). Sodom and Gomorrah. Not surprisingly, given human nature, they want what they …
Bible paraphraser’s day
I JUST LOST JEREMIAH 5 TODAY. I’m supposed to be paraphrasing that chapter right now. But I’m one-hour into working with tech support, trying to solve a mystery. (It took 2½ hours.) I wanted to know why I got an alert this morning that says someone named Norma has just gained administrative access to a system that controls my website. This is a normal part of a fulltime Bible paraphraser’s day. Oops. Tech just cut out. He’s gone. Now I have another tech, named Vishwaja, reviewing the past hour’s interaction. Norma must die. This has gotten out of hand I’m …
Condolences for Christians bummed by election results
I GOT A PAINFUL EMAIL at 5:35 this morning, after the election. It was from a lady who has been helping support The Casual English Bible® this year. She and her husband were deeply upset about the presidential election result. I was up because I hadn’t gone to bed. I dozed off for an hour or two, and when I woke, I didn’t feel like sleeping. But I felt. It was a “My God!” evening. I felt for the lady, for myself, and for the dad who emailed me last night. He was about to leave, to meet his daughter …
Daniel in the lion’s cistern
DANIEL WASN’T IN A LION’S DEN. It was more likely just a hole in the ground—a cistern for storing water. Cisterns in that dry land were often empty and sometimes used to store supplies such as grain. But it seems the Persians in what is now Iran used it at least some of the time as an execution chamber. I just finished paraphrasing Daniel. You can read the 12 chapters here. And you can look at the maps, charts, and illustrations here and download them as PDFs for $5. I’ve always had trouble imagining Daniel in a lion’s den. The …
Bible pro tips: What good leadership looks like, part 2
WITH A BIG ELECTION ALREADY UNDERWAY, I thought it might be a good idea to see what the Bible says good leadership looks like. Nearly half the nation is bashing the other half over how to vote in what may become the most consequential election of our lifetime. Not because the issues are any more important, but because of animosity and chaos stirred up by some politicians running for office. That alone begs for guidance on what to look for in a leader. Here’s a snippet of wisdom from writers and sages long ago. (By the way, this is a …
Funny Bible verses
THERE ARE FUNNY BIBLE VERSES that jump off the page and smack me a good one. Not usually in a bad way. But in a way that catches me off guard. That takes some doing because I have spent more than 40 years researching, writing, and editing books about the Bible. I’ve been paraphrasing The Casual English Bible® for several years now. I keep track of Bible verses that stand out I’ve made notes about passages that hit me; I wish I had done better because there have been a lot of them. Some for better. Some for worse. I’m …
