Hey, Everyone!
I am thrilled by what is happening at the beginning of this year! Welcome to all of you new listeners! I’m praying for all of you!
Some people read the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan using the Youversion/Bible.com reading app, and some people listen to the Daily Bible Reading podcasts which follow the same plan. And some people read along while they listen. This podcast is mainly to help people who want to both listen and read along. I hope that I can clear up some confusion with this podcast.
One person wrote to say that her podcasts didn’t end with a prayer. All of the DBRP end with a prayer. Evidently she was listening to the recordings that are bundled with many versions in the Youversion app itself. Both the GNT and the NLT already have recordings bundled into the reading app. Those recordings are played by hitting the triangular play button at the bottom and center of each Chapter window. If you play those recordings, you won’t hear my short introductory comments before each chapter and there will be no prayer at the end of the NT passage. (The advantage of the bundled recordings is that they are consistently great quality!) Youversion has graciously allowed me to link my podcast recordings on the Devotional Content page, and I put them at the very top right hand side of those pages. However, for most people using smart devices, the Youversion reading app won’t allow you to both read along and listen using those links. If you leave the player page that pops up when you click on that link, the audio stops playing. Using those links only works for people who are visiting Bible.com on a computer. They can Ctrl-click on those links and the audio will open and can be played in a new tab, and you can still go back to the prior tab to read along.
For some listeners not into all this new technology, I realize that my last explanation would be hard to follow. If you want, you can read what I said in the episode notes attached to this podcast. So bottom line: Here’s the easiest thing for most people using any kind of smart device:
- Figure out what application you will use for listening to the podcasts. Information is found by scrolling down the home page at dailybiblereading.info. I hope that whatever app you use allows you to see the full episode notes. Most of the time, you’ll just want to listen as I read those notes, but there are times when having them available to refer to will be helpful.
- Every day, I recommend that you open the listening app first, and choose your next episode/day number.
- Then while the podcast intro is playing, start the Youversion/Bible.com reading app and open the Digging Deeper reading plan to the day number you’re listening to.
2017 is the first year where I have released two podcasts every day. Choose the dominantly yellow icon for the GNT podcasts that were first released in 2016. Choose the dark blue icon for the NLT podcasts which were first recorded in 2014 and tweaked in 2015. Several other kinds of podcasts that I release in the same space will have different colored icons.
There’s another little wrinkle: I knew that I wanted to improve the quality of some NLT series, especially those that come out in the first 5 weeks of the year. If you are one of those special people who started listening to the NLT series in 2016, please continue to use the listening app you have been using and searching for the series with the names that start with 2015DBRP. All the links for the GNT in the Youversion reading app should work. The links in the Youversion reading app will only work for 2017 re-releases of the NLT series. In other words, on January 3, the links inside the Youversion app will only be good for days 1, 2, and 3. Edition 4 won't be available until the 4th.
I’m so encouraged by the growth in our Digging Deeper Facebook group in these last two days! This is only the second year for this group, and I already see some sharing that goes beyond what we saw last year. Several people have shared questions that don’t have easy answers. Some have been vulnerable in what they have shared, and one or two have said that they are looking to the group to encourage them to be consistent in reading God’s Word. We need to add a few moderators for this group. Moderators have the power to delete inappropriate posts, although this has seldom been necessary. Mostly, moderators approve people who want to join the group. I hope that moderators will be people who are spiritually mature. They might be called upon to make connections to others who can give appropriate counselling help for people who express the need for such help. Of course, such personal matters should be handled in private messages, not group posts. If you will be visiting the Facebook group regularly and would like to function as a moderator, please send a private Facebook message to me (philip.c.fields).
As you may already know, Gale and I are with Pioneer Bible Translators, and the focus of our work is in Indonesia. Right now the urgent task at hand is revisions to the Plain Indonesian New Testament that must be completed by mid-February so that printing might start in March. Our translation team is also working on drafting the Old Testament. I normally make two 7-week-long trips to Indonesia each year, one in the spring and one in the fall. I have been doing that since the year 2000. The trip that I scheduled for February-March may not happen this year. I would appreciate prayers for God’s will concerning that trip. Please especially pray for my part in the NT revisions. The other key person to pray for in that is Balazi, (who is recently married, and) who is the coordinator of our translation team. I’ll tell you more another time. Thanks for your prayers!
May the Lord bless ya’ll ‘real good’ this year!
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