Harvesting Earth
I’M STILL WORKING MY WAY through paraphrasing Revelation for the Casual English Bible. I won’t post Revelation until I finish all 22 chapters. But here’s a sneak peek at an engaging passage that might leave some folks wondering if …
One big end-time demon army
I GOT ANOTHER SURPRISE yesterday, while paraphrasing Revelation for the Casual English Bible. Most Bibles say that the massive end-time army from somewhere east of what is now Israel will tally 200 million soldiers (Revelation 9:16). These are the …
What to do with complaining Christians
Q LIFE APPLICATION. Paul asks for Christians to do what they know God wants them to do, and to do it without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14). Some people in the church complain a lot. What do you think is a good way to deal with someone …
End-time letter to Laodicea
I SPENT WEDNESDAY paraphrasing Revelation 3 for the Casual English Bible. I won’t post Revelation until I finish all 22 chapters. But here’s a sneak peek at my first, unproofed draft of the short letter to Christians in the church at …
Odd way to start the Jesus story
IT SEEMS LIKE A CRAZY WAY to start telling the story of Jesus. John introduced him as “the living Word of God” (John 1:1 Casual English Bible). What? Try picturing that in your head. It’s so much easier to picture him as a baby in a …
How a Roman buries a dog
I WAS SURPRISED to read what a Roman dog owner in Jesus’ day said in tribute to the pet dog he buried. I was surprised because I know that Romans had a ritual of crucifying some dogs each year. Romans crucified the dogs for a reason that makes …
Easter pushback from the critics
I GOT OVERRUN by YouTube viewers this week. Some 220,000 of them. I have no idea why my video What Romans said about crucifixion attracts such a diverse crowd: Loving Christians Crazy drunk Christians Kind atheists Killer atheists who recommend …
When a word is a spirit
I GOT CAUGHT OFF GUARD by one verse in particular, when I was recently paraphrasing my way through the Gospel of John for the Casual English Bible. See if this makes sense to you: “Eternal life comes from the Spirit. Our bodies have nothing to …
Atheists at Easter
I READ ATHEISTS just about every day. It’s not my choice. It’s my job. I have created enough YouTube videos about the Bible that Google analytics tells me I have about 150-200 people watching my videos every hour. It’s a little intimidating to think …
First picture of Jesus
JESUS ON THE CROSS. That’s the first-known picture of Jesus, etched into a jasper oval about an inch long (30 mm), and probably worn on someone’s ring or as a necklace or bracelet. It dates to around a century and a half after the time of Jesus. So …
Here’s the Gospel of John paraphrased
I JUST FINISHED paraphrasing the Gospel of John for the Casual English Bible. Kinda. I wanted to get the paraphrase out in time for the Easter Season. But I’m still working on the maps. I have some finished. But I’ll keep working my way …
Resurrection of Jesus—why Christians believe
PARDON THE HIATUS. I’ve been scrambling to finish an Easter-season video before Easter. These Bible-background videos sap a tremendous amount of time out of me because I’m an internet-taught rookie. I have to google nearly everything but my face, …