I am releasing this episode number 12 of Joysightings at the DBRP feed in order to let you know about my recordings of Tales of the Kingdom and Tales of the Restoration, by David and Karen Mains. You can find the other chapters of these two books at joysightings.info. It was perhaps in 1989 that a precious friend sent the two books to us, when we were living in the rainforest of Papua, Indonesia. Our children were at just the right ages to enjoy the full impact of these stories. It is a joy for me now to share these with you also. Each book consists of 12 chapters written as allegories. You wi ..read more

Today I would like to give pointers for understanding Jesus’ parables. I consider the parable to be one of the greatest of all teaching devices, and a legacy of the Greatest Teacher. I will end this episode by sharing a non-Biblical parable. One little detail to understand is that the word ‘parable’ (Greek paraboles) had a wider meaning than we normally think of in English, and you may see this sometimes in the New Testament. In English, we normally think of a parable as a story that points to some deeper meaning. However, as an example, the word ‘parable’ is used for a one-sentence figurative ..read more

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Every Word 2022 day 115: What most people don’t know about Bible translations Hi there, and welcome to this bonus podcast! I will be discussing the two main types of Bible translations I recommend for most people. As a Bible translator since 1983, I feel that most Christians in the USA are not given enough information about why Bible translations differ in wording, and which kinds of Bible translations will be better for different kinds of readers. This is an important topic, so I am surprised at myself: I can’t believe that I haven’t released a dedicated podcast about this topic every year si ..read more

EXODUS 1:Yesterday we wrapped up Genesis with Jacob's very prophetic blessings for each of his sons. Then we heard of the conclusion after Jacob was buried, including the account of Joseph’s death and his instruction about what to do with his bones. Exodus is clearly a continuation of the story of Genesis since the first word in the Hebrew text is ‘And’. Tradition holds that Moses is the author. The name Exodus derives from the name that was given by the Septuagint translators— which is the translation of the OT into classical Greek made during the period from three hundred to one hundred and ..read more

GENESIS 49-50:In yesterday's reading in Genesis, Jacob blessed Pharaoh, Joseph lead powerfully during the worst of the famine, and Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh— putting the younger Ephraim above his older brother. (And if you remember Jacob's story, you'll know how he got that idea.) JOB 30:In the book of Job today, if you are following the GNT, this is the 2nd of Job’s three chapters stating his complaints. In the NLT, this is the 5th chapter of his monologue. Yesterday Job spoke of his previous blessed life and high position. In this chapter, he tells of his anguish. 1PETER 4:Yesterday ..read more

Welcome back for Day 29 in our reading plan. GENESIS 47-48:In yesterday's reading, Jacob arrived in Egypt with his family. Excluding more extended family, the whole group numbered 70 people at that time. JOB 29:Yesterday in Job 28, we heard the chapter in praise of God’s wisdom. I think NLT is right attributing this to Job rather than to Zophar. Today Job speaks of his former blessings, in the first of three chapters which are the final statement of his case. 1PETER 3:In his first two chapters, Peter packed each sentence with meaning. I encourage you to take time to re-read those chapters slow ..read more

GENESIS 46:In yesterday’s two chapters of Genesis, Joseph's brothers went back to Egypt with Joseph's younger brother, Benjamin. Joseph contrived a creative way to reveal his identity. When Pharaoh heard about Joseph's brothers, he helped provide for Jacob's family to come to Egypt. JOB 28:Today’s chapter in Job and part of the previous chapter are assigned to Zophar in the GNT. NLT goes strictly with the assignments of speakers as in the Hebrew, where all of this is assigned to Job. Starting in 27:13, NLT, therefore, makes it clear that Job’s words— which sound mighty like what his opponents ..read more

Greetings everyone! I am hoping that all of you who are in different places in the 365 episodes of the DBRP will get this news. I’m going to use the initials DBRP for Daily Bible Reading Podcast several times in this message. At around 12:01 midnight GMT on February 1st, I am going to flip a switch that will probably change the way both the Daily NLT and the Daily GNT podcasts will display in your podcast app. It is likely that you may notice a change in the ordering or appearance of the podcasts. However, there should be no problem in finding the podcast that you want to play next. For many y ..read more

GENESIS 44-45:Yesterday we heard of Joseph's brothers on their first and second trips to Egypt. At the end of chapter 43, Joseph’s giving wine without limit might be considered as the typical generosity of a wealthy host. The GNT and NET say that Joseph’s brothers became drunk. But under these circumstances, I very much doubt that his brothers would have allowed themselves to become drunk. I prefer NLT and NIV’s translation, saying that the brothers drank freely. We pick up the story, still in Joseph's palace on the second trip. JOB 27:When we turn to Job 27, if you are reading or listening to ..read more