Author: Michael Paul Johnson

Inductive Bible Study, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. BIBLE STUDY METHODS 1. Simple reading and listening 2. Meditation – speaking out loud and thinking about a passage of Scripture 3. Topical Bible study – search through the Scriptures to see what the Bible says about one particular topic, such as marriage, money, angels, etc. …

Choose your next steps wisely!, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. I got some questions from some thoughtful people about why I recommended the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND+ license for Bibles, as outlined at http://PNGScriptures.org/terms.htm in my last post. It is NOT because I think it is the best possible license. I don’t. It is because …

St. Joseph’s Church & Kaupo Gap, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. Bible copyright notices and liberal licenses should be accurate and clearly published with Bibles, lest we hinder the Church’s fulfilment of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. Thousands of years ago, over a span of at least a thousand years, the Holy …

West Maui Mountain Morning, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. Back before I went into full-time missions, before the turn of the millennium, I saw a gentle hill with windmills on it, powering a broadcast of God’s Word in text, audio, and video formats all over the world. It was a vivid dream. I was …

Say what?, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. The inscription on this rock reminds me of some of the digital archeology I do in processing older Bible texts. Here is what I do in place of a full-time job, in a nutshell: Seek permission to publish Bibles electronically for free, with no copy restrictions, which …

Hundreds of Bibles, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. In the process of securing permission to publish translations of the Holy Bible and portions thereof, I have had to study some copyright law in detail. I’m not a lawyer, but I can read English and understand some complex issues. I recommend that you check my …

Coconut Tree, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. The flight attendant looked at me, wondering why my eyes were watering. I asked for a soft drink, and continued reading Sleeping Coconuts. Macho or not, I think a few tears is a normal reaction to being freshly reminded of such intense disaster affecting close friends. Our …

Kodiak departing Uvol, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. I just read again about a dear friend of mine, Steve, returning to service as a missionary pilot in Papua New Guinea. This is an awesome miracle, really. It may not seem to be spactacular, or quick as we would like it, but it is nonetheless …

Bible translation on DRM, a drawing by kahunapulej by Michael Johnson, 24 July 2012 Electronic media of various kinds offer the potential of making God’s Word available to more people in more ways and in more languages than ever before. Just turning a paper book into some random electronic format is a nice start, but …

Phone booths are not dead, yet., a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. More to the point, when did you last actually use a telephone booth (or any public pay telephone)? Have you ever seen a pay phone in a rain forest? Over 80% of the world’s population now has a mobile phone. There are over …

Phone booths are not dead, yet., a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. More to the point, when did you last actually use a telephone booth (or any public pay telephone)? Have you ever seen a pay phone in a rain forest? Over 80% of the world’s population now has a mobile phone. There are over …

Blue flowers in the morning, a photo by kahunapulej on Flickr. After many months of acknowledging that our own missionary web site was in serious need of revision, both in the content and in the structure, I celebrated the President’s Day weekend by actually doing it. I tried to present the important stuff in bite-sized …