Ward on Words

And more good news… Had this sent to me by a viewer recently. This is—not kidding—*exactly* what I wanted and even prayed for. "False friends" is a sticky idea.

2 months ago | [YT] | 145

Ward on Words

Big news! Preorder links are up!

www.amazon.com/dp/1683599292?tag=3755-20

www.amazon.com/dp/1540905942?tag=3755-20

2 months ago | [YT] | 143

Ward on Words

New book cover day! Vote for your favorite! Feel free to make comments of constructive criticism!

(Note: These covers were designed by the fine artists at my publisher, not by me!)

4 months ago | [YT] | 72

Ward on Words

Friends, I asked you to pray that my garage office/studio would be 100% spared. The Lord answered with a yes. The water crested last night at a much lower than expected height. It appears our power did go off while we spent a quiet and restful day on high ground with dear friends, because a friend stopped by to snap a pic early this morning, and you can see that my bright studio light is on in the garage even though the last thing I did before evacuating was turn it off! Other friends of mine are still in danger zones and I ask that you pray for them. I’m feeling so grateful right now for all the love that was shown to me and my family.

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5 months ago | [YT] | 380

Ward on Words

Several are asking how we're doing. I'm sitting in a beautiful spot overlooking the ocean in Oak Harbor, staying with some of our best friends. I have a webcam on in the garage back home, and there is no water intrusion so far. The projections have dropped two feet, from 41 to 39. That still puts us two feet above the 2021 record, which was terribly close to the top of the flood wall in my beautiful little town. The danger time is actually coming Friday morning. We were asked to evacuate sooner if we could, so we took the chickens to a nearby farm, gave the ferrets extra food and water, and took off! Please do pray specifically that my office would not be touched. The black tarp in this current webcam picture is protecting my office door!

5 months ago | [YT] | 138

Ward on Words

Asking for prayer: my brand new office/studio is in the floodplain of the Skagit River, which is projected to go four feet over its highest level at midnight Friday. I'm not even fully into my office; I just unpacked some more book boxes this last week. If the office is flooded it will be a very hard blow. I do not have insurance on any of the construction materials. I trust the Lord; this could absolutely all come to nothing. And even if it doesn't, he is good and does good. But we are having multiple friends and my daughter’s eighth-grade classmates come in an hour to try to help prep the lowest-lying building (the garage that contains my office/studio) for water intrusion. Reportedly the LVP flooring will be reusable, but I will have to redo the underlayment as well as the lower portions of drywall, insulation, and paint. I was just laughing last night: I was already feeling like I was having trouble keeping my head above water as I ramp up to do some teaching in January—and here comes a literal flood! Please do pray, and not only for me but for many people in the beautiful Skagit Valley of Washington who are under imminent threat. Everyone is taking this very seriously!

5 months ago | [YT] | 185

Ward on Words

I think I just got the final title of my forthcoming book. Here's the evolution:

- It was originally contracted with Lexham Press as KJV Words You Don't Know You Don't Know.

- After going through a fairly long period for writing (because I kept finding more false friends and, for a time, wanted the book to include them all), Lexham persuaded me to stick with 38 examples and gave me help figuring out how to structure the book, and I wrote it.

- Many friends (and a few, uh, not-friends!) read the manuscript, I made many small changes. I was super grateful for this feedback.

- My excellent editor at Lexham, Elliott, gave me an excellent developmental edit.

- Lexham decided to retitle the book "Study to Shew Thyself Approved: How to Read the KJV When You Don’t Live in the 1600s." (That was actually after a process that included several other options, including one with the word "Bowels" in it…)

- Baker bought Lexham, and they decided to retitle the book again. It was sent to me as "What Sayeth the Lord?: How Our Changing Language Shapes the Way We Read (and Misread) the KJV Bible."

- I pointed out that it should be "Saith," not "Sayeth" and expressed a preference for the original title but willingness to defer to the pros at Baker!

- Baker just got back to me with a reasonably final title: "What Saith the Lord?: KJV Words We’re Getting Wrong—and How to Get Them Right." I like this. I think the main title is clever and the subtitle is more explanatory, hopeful, and constructive—like the book aims to be.

I want this book to be used within KJV-Only educational institutions. I'm serious. I'm praying toward that end. I think it will also be useful for anyone who enjoys nerding out about language and the Bible!

5 months ago | [YT] | 279

Ward on Words

I'm headed to NC to speak at a conference on New Testament textual criticism! I'm going to try out an idea that I've been working on and toying with for literally years, a way to put on very visual display the number of differences among major Greek New Testament editions! I'll be friends like Abidan Shah and Elijah Hixson (I believe!) and Maurice Robinson!

subspla.sh/4pbkrcr

6 months ago | [YT] | 145

Ward on Words

This was my goal when I set out to help move institutions away from exclusive use of the KJV. I tried to make a gracious but insistent case, then wait for regular people to ask their favorite institutions nicely for additional options—and then pray for those institutions to use Bible translations made into fully intelligible English. 1 Cor 14 says we should. I applaud RBP.

6 months ago | [YT] | 195

Ward on Words

Do I have any stats experts among my viewers who can help me make sure I'm doing my math right as I attempt to quantify textual difference between two Greek New Testament editions for a conference talk I'm giving in March? You'll need to have a basic but solid understanding of textual variation in the Greek New Testament, and you'll need to have a sense for how to work through the numbers accurately, fairly, and confidently for a lay audience.

6 months ago | [YT] | 38