Speaker #0Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another mini-sode. Yet again, I am sick. This is ridiculous. God is seriously working on my ability to rest. It's funny, I do not like doing anything Christmas related until at least Thanksgiving is over. That's like the earliest maybe I'll allow my family to celebrate. I'm usually like, can we just wait until... the 1st of December, but I had a cold after Halloween and I was just starting to get over it a few weeks ago or a week ago. And then I got the flu and now I'm trying to get over that. So I have literally this whole month been in and out of my bed, not really able to do much except for watch TV. And since I don't watch a lot of stuff, the only channels I really stick to our hallmark and Great American Family. And what is on there right now? It's Christmas movies. So I have broken my hard, fast rule of nothing until after Thanksgiving. And I have been re-watching Christmas movies that I like because I don't know what else to do. I've been reading the Bible, trying to stay consistent with that instead of what I used to do whenever I get sick is just put everything on the back burner because I'm quote unquote too sick. to handle anything else. I don't want to do that with God anymore. So I've been intentional on sticking with my plans to keep him first. I have also been working hard on continuing with my Russian studies because I don't want to get behind in that. It has been hard because the most difficult part for me is speaking the language. And that's something that's been hard to do the last month because my throat has. been really sore, hurting, coughing, all of that stuff. So that's been fun. But anyway, I didn't come on here to complain to you all about how I'm feeling. Those who have been praying for me, I absolutely appreciate your prayers. I'm definitely a lot better than I was. What did you think of this episode with Dan Parr and his new EUR translation of the Bible? Have you checked it out yet? I have been listening to it. He was gracious enough to give me a copy and I love it. It's definitely easy to understand. I love that it's audible. I can take it with me wherever I go. So if you're really into that, I suggest getting the audible version. If you like an actual copy, he has one so you can always get that. I really just like how dynamic his voice is. His voice is perfect for the audio reading of this. God knew what he was doing. It's amazing how God knows what he's doing. isn't it? We always think we know what we're doing, but no, God knows everything and he knows what he's doing. So when he calls us to something and we say, I don't know, I don't think you have the right person, I feel like we're insulting him and he's just up there belly laughing like, what is wrong with you? I know everything. Of course, I know that you're not perfect for the job. I didn't ask for perfect. I asked for obedient. So there's a little side tangent for you. If you're feeling that you're not equipped for whatever he may be calling you to, you should just do it anyways because he's calling you to it and we need to be obedient. Do you have a favorite translation and are you hard, fast, stuck to that, that you won't look at any other one? I used to be that way. For me, back when I was younger, it was definitely NIV I stuck to. Lately, it's been NLT. I have verses memorized. in the NIV and NLT version, but I have the Tony Evans Study Bible, and it is the CSB version, Christian Standard Bible, I think that's what it's called. So I've been reading through that. It was an adjustment because it was a new one, but it's not too different from the one that I was used to. So that was nice. I just realized that. It's not really bad to have different translations of the Bible. The only thing that makes it bad is when they aren't actually translations of the Bible. They are adding to the word of God, which you are absolutely not supposed to be doing or taking out important things. The passion, quote unquote, translation I have heard is not very good for various reasons. I do believe I discussed this during season four. maybe episode one and two when we talked about new apostolic reformation. I believe we mentioned the Passion Translation. It's okay to have different versions of the Bible as long as they are all accurate versions of the Bible and not taking away or adding things to the Bible because we see things differently. There's people who read it in the Hebrew, in the Greek, and that gives them new understanding of what is actually meant by the passage. I don't believe there's anything inherently wrong with having different. translations of the Bible. It just helps you understand more. Back in my high school years and maybe a little bit of college, I might have disagreed with myself and said, no, how can we trust these? But back then, I just blindly listened to whatever was told to me by whoever it was told by. So I wouldn't have had a leg to stand on with that argument. As long as it is God-inspired, I don't see a problem with having different translations because some people learn from the King James. Some people learn from the message. It may not be the best. It may just be a paraphrase, but God is going to use it. His word never returns void. So I don't think this is a hill we have to die on as Christians. We need to be good Bereans and we need to study the word so that when we hear it in a different translation, we know where it's going off the rails. If you don't study the Bible in your most trusted version, how are you going to understand if someone else is telling you a lie in a different one or even if maybe the one you're trusting is a lie? It is very important that we know what the Bible says. We dig deep and we understand and we ask the Holy Spirit. to lead us and give us that clarity we need. If you're in the mailing list for Honest Christian Conversations, you would have seen that this week's challenge memory verse was the ones that Dan Parr mentioned in the episode when he did the side-by-side with the King James and then his version. If you're in the mailing list, please comment and let me know, did you see the difference in the version that you trust from his version. I really would like to know what you thought about that and which version you listened to the most and what you thought of his. If you're not on the mailing list, you got to get on the mailing list because I give weekly challenges and verses to try to memorize. This is a way for us to grow together and to equip each other and to just grow in our spiritual walk. and outside of our comfort zones. So if you aren't involved in the mailing list, you can join by going in the show notes and see that link there. This week's challenge for you is to read a different translation of the Bible. It doesn't have to be one that you're afraid to read. You don't have to go and read the Passion. And I think there's a new thing called the Mirror. mirror translation or mirror Bible. I'm not really sure, but you might want to stay away from that one too. I've also heard a few things about that. Just try a different translation, put it next to yours and see how it stacks up. I have a English to Russian side-by-side translation Bible. So I have the, I don't know what it's called in the Russian translation, Synod. I think that's wrong. But that's the version that they use for the Russian. And the next to it, I think, is the American Standard version. So I have the side by side inside my Bible. I can read it in one and I can read it in the other. And the American Standard is a little, it's got a lot more wording to it. That is not something that I'm used to. But I've been reading that. So I've got different versions that I've been reading. And I love it. It's fun. It gives you new perspective. It gives you new ideas of the same thing that you've read before. And then you read it again in a different version. You're like, wow, like I get that. And that's what we should be doing with the Bible. It is alive and breathing. We should be feeling that every time we read, we should feel that it is alive. So I challenge you to go to a different translation, read your favorite Bible passage and see how it differs. and what God is teaching you from it. All right, I gotta go before the snot comes back. I don't know if you can hear it. I am extremely congested. I am so sorry. I hope the next time I talk to you guys that I am back to my full self. I will talk to you all later. Bye.
