A lot of people ask me what kind of Bible I read and the answer isn’t as easy as you might think.

You see, I tend to use several. Here is an approximate break down-

My standard reading Bible is the NASB. There are a few reasons for this, but the main reason is that it was the required text from Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul where I received my Masters degree in “Uppity Theologian Who Thinks He’s Always Right”.

For sacred occasions such as reading the Christ Birth at Christmas time, I prefer the St. John Bible. This is a hand scribed book and I never cease to be amazed at it’s beauty.

I still casually read from my NIV Bible that I was presented upon my graduation at Lee University. The inside has an inscription by President Paul Conn himself! How’s that for your tuition dollars at work?

Now things get a bit trickier.

If I’m studying the New Testament in an effort to introduce context and proper meaning, I use Marshall’s NASB-NIV Parallel. It’s a nice sturdy hardbound edition that April got for me years ago, and you can read all three translations (Greek, NASB and NIV) at once.

I also like to read The Message (not a true translation, I know…) when preparing a lecture or sermon. I thing Peterson is a linguistic genius and we can probably get closer to the spirit of the text from the Message on most days than we can from any real “translation”.

I have a small pocket version of the ESV that was presented to me on the evening of my Ordination into the ministry. I don’t read it much, but I do often keep it in my back pocket just in case.

You will notice that nowhere on the list is the King James or the New King James. I know that many pastors love the sound of the King James while screaming it. It definitely has an air of authority to it and with the proper Southern twang it can sound downright brimstone-y. A definite must-have if reminding people that they have a one-way ticket to Hell.

In my opinion, neither of these texts are better than the NASB or ESV and in most cases, The Message will serve your purpose better anyway.

Now, on to the matter of Coffee…

Starbucks or Dunkin. Period.