Would you be willing to spend the next four years of your life pursuing a project that God called you to but you
felt totally unqualified for? In this episode of the God and Gig Show, you're going to meet our guest Dan Parr, who
did exactly that with an incredible task, translating the Bible into a whole
new translation and narrating it. But in this episode, you're going to see if you
have big dreams or if you are scared of something that God's calling you to, you can do it with persistence and with a
faithfulness to God's word. This episode is perfect for you if you've ever been nervous about pursuing a big call on
your life. And that's why I want you to check out this entire episode with our guest Dan Parr.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is an absolute pleasure to bring a guest who I am
learning right now has so many gifts, but one of the major gifts he is using is his ability to take the Bible, make
it understandable and present it in a whole new way. I cannot wait for you to meet our guest. So, Dan Parr, welcome to
the God and Gig Show. How are you, my friend? I am doing so well. Thanks so much for having me on. It's a pleasure to be
here, Alan. Uh, the pleasure is all mine because I do believe I always like to make out firsts, right? in this show after, you
know, God, it's amazing blessing. 350ish episodes by the time this comes out. Um,
the fact that I do not believe we've ever had a narrator or someone that works in your specific field on our
show. So, you are the first and hopefully the one that will break the ice and make us all understand what you
do. So, I don't know if that's a big congratulations or honor for you, but I just wanted you to know. Well, thank you. That's an awesome uh
that's an awesome privilege. You know, I was looking doing research uh just
recently and I found out that I'm the first person in history to come out with
a version of the Bible that they have written, published, and narrated. Other people have done portions of it, but
nobody has done all three for all 66 books. So, I thought that was pretty cool. Oh my gosh. All right. So, we have so
much to dig into, but because we have to figure out all the things about you in this short time, of course, we can't do
it all. So that's why they'll click the links at the end of this interview and get to know more more about you than we
can share in this time. But I always like to start with this so people get to know the person behind the project,
right? So people are meeting Dan for the first time. Maybe it's not in this interview. Maybe it's at the grocery
store. Maybe it's at church, right? And you don't get a chance to read your entire bio. You don't get a chance to give them the business card. So what are
those two or three things that you want people to know about you, the person the upon first meeting? So, I would say that
now uh I have moved from a reluctant Bible publisher and narrator into a full-time ambassador of God's word. Um,
and that's what I'm doing now. I'm a voiceover talent and I am spreading God's word uh through the project that I
recently completed after four years of work called the EUR Bible.
Wow. And that would be an amazing introduction right away because people immediately are finding out, wait a minute, you've done all this with the
Bible and you also voice over. So all these talents and gifts come immediately to mind and all the questions, right? So
I guess my first question would be if I was meeting you for the first time, it would be the same question. How did you even get into narrating? How did you get
into this idea of using your voice in books? Was it were you an avid reader? Were you an avid movie watcher? Did you
get to know that voice on the movies where they they read the they read the inner world, right? So, how did you even
get into this world in the first place? Yeah. So, I've been working in radio since I was 14 years old. I started off
cataloging and filing records uh for minimum wage and had worked in radio for a number of years after that and then
kind of transitioned into doing voiceovers for companies literally around the world and did a uh a couple
of audio projects. Um, but I was kind of reluctant to do the Bible only because I
realized it was going to be a lot of work and frankly I didn't think I had the bandwidth to take it on. But
apparently God felt otherwise and he uh he cleared up some bandwidth for me and allowed me to work on this for a a
period of four years now. Okay. So as a fellow creator who is
starting a project or God gives you right that impetus that that nudge to do
something that feels like I would assume is beyond you as you just mentioned to have the bandwidth to even consider
this. What were those first few obstacles that immediately hit you like
wait I'm going to do a narration of the Bible I'm going to voice it I'm going to
have to translate it. So, I mean, I'm just name some of the things that would scare me. So, what were those first few
obstacles you had to overcome to even get to start this project? Uh, so I'm the biggest obstacle that uh
existed, right? I didn't want to do it. I told God repeatedly, I'm not a Bible scholar. I'm not a theologian. That
didn't seem to phase him. He uh kind of reminded me that when he started spreading the gospel, he used some
ordinary guys, fishermen and tax collectors and others. and he uh seemed
to impress upon me if he could use them and be successful, he could probably use me, too. Uh so he uh he really had to do
a work in my life before I got on board with the project. And of course, you
know how God works. He you give him a small little opening and he'll kick that door wide open. Uh I didn't start off
with a plan to do the entire Bible. I wanted to do just a little resurrection story about Jesus and put up on my
Facebook for friends and family. Um, you know, I probably got three or four likes on it and then uh he uh he moved on from
there and got me to do the book of Luke and then the entire New Testament and then Psalms and Proverbs and after much
protest I finally gave in and uh did all 66 books. All right. So because you were willing
to take that first leap of faith, right, and step into this with the first couple of um narrations that you did a
particular Bible books, I guess the next question has to be the process of why
you wanted to do this particular type of translation. And I mean, let's just be
honest. I'm not a theologian. I'm not the person who would nitpick at translations and things like that.
Although obviously as a as a as a person who studies and reads, I have my own particular translations that I enjoy. So
what was your motivation and your process of starting this new version of
the Bible? Yeah. So it started right from the very beginning when I did the resurrection story out of Luke. Um I read it and I
thought, well, I'm going to put this up on Facebook, but before I do that, I'm going to rewrite this to make it more
understandable. And I really enjoyed that process of trying to say things as
simply as possible without changing the meaning or the intent of the authors. Uh
so I did that for the um the resurrection story. And then as I was going through the book of Luke, I
thought, well, if I'm going to do the entire book of Luke, I've got to find something that's in the public domain.
You know, I came across the King James version with all the these and the thous, and I thought, well, that sounds very pretty, but I'm not going to be
able to read that. And beyond that, I don't know if there's a lot of modern people that are not familiar with the
faith that are going to understand it anyway, even if I did read it. So, I began the process of finding something
else in public domain. Came across the world English Bible, which is a much more modern version, but even then, I
felt it was kind of archaic uh in places and some of the terminology and phrasing
was um not how we would say it in the 2020s. So, I just went through the
entire thing, sentence by sentence, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and thought, if I didn't know anything about
the Bible, if I never heard about Jesus, if I never knew anything about God or salvation or any of those other uh
things, what would I want it to say? How could I explain it as simply as possible where if anybody speaks English, they're
going to be able to understand it? So that really became my goal to make it uh a lower point of entry for people who
maybe don't come from a background of faith or are new or younger. Um so
really it was just a desire to help out people who felt intimidated by other uh
versions particularly like the KJV. Got it. And I love the fact that you
came across or approached it from the aspect of someone that's new to the
faith or just understanding of faith. Um I do want to ask whether you did have or
have had I guess hes has it I don't know if it's been released at this point. Have you had other people to look at it
to listen or look at to listen to it and to give you kind of like that feedback in terms of oh well is this specifically
exactly what the Greek and the Hebrew would have said or is this something else that feels like the meaning is a
little different. Have you had to either deal with push back from theologians or just have other people like listen to it
and tell you their opinion based on other translations that they were used to? Yeah. So the beauty about this project
is that I was able to start from a very solid foundation which is the world English bible which has been vetted and
gone through you know by bible teachers, scholars, pastors, lay people, theologians you know they've all had
input into its creation and put it out in public domain. So, I felt like I was starting already from um a very strong
base. So, I didn't really worry about that too much. But what I did do, Alan, is when I went through this um if I got
to a particularly challenging section of text, I would go through, you know, up
to a dozen different versions of the Bible to make sure that what I was putting in lined up with how the text is
historically been interpreted. The last thing I wanted to do is misrepresent the word of God in any way or come at it
from left field. So, I wanted to make sure that I was in line with the major translations that already exist.
That's a great way to look at it. and the fact that you are open to all these and that's why I feel like with the word of God we have to be so understanding
that God knew there would be so many new ways of saying certain things and yet he
chose a specific way to say it that could be translated in all languages not
just English right we're talking about you know hundreds of languages maybe thousands of languages across the world
that we knew that the Bible would be eventually translated into um and I believe God knows exactly how
these words, his word, not just our words, but his word will be interpreted so that people will hear his heart
because he decided to write a book. I want to ask you a little bit about the narration part of this because there's
also a little bit of the creative in terms of how you say things, your
decision on right mood and tempo. I'm wondering if you were ever challenged in
reading certain parts. I'm thinking right now of all the uh the beatats, all
the parts of the Bible that aren't necessarily fun to read. So, I'm wondering how did you approach that as a
narrator, as someone that says, "I have to make this come to life and yet some parts of the Bible are not easy to even
read and maybe, like you said, might be difficult passages." How did you approach it as a narrator having to put
this into life in into uh into your voice? You know, the weird thing about it is when I got to books like Leviticus
and Numbers, I was very hesitant because I thought, "Oh, man. I I don't normally
read out of Leviticus or Numbers or some of the Old Testament prophets, right? Uh because they're more challenging." But
when God begins a work in you, he is faithful to complete it. And he just put a love for me, love of his word, uh in
my heart for me. And as I got to even Numbers or Leviticus, I could see the beauty of God's word. and just trying to
you know explain it as simple as possible. Um so even what I was dreading
he made it okay somehow. So you know the challenge was a lot of the names of
people uh and cities and I'm sure that I did not get all of them 100% correct and
you know God forgive me. I think maybe when I get to heaven there's going to be some people up there and say Zeru Babel
that's how you said my name instead of Zerubbabel. Um, so there's probably going to be a few people like that
that'll have a word with me, but as a narrator, I realize that I'm going to
give this my best shot. I'm trying to honor God with this. This is a love offering to him. So, I'm going to give
it all that I can, but I know the impact is not with me. The impact is with the
word of God itself. It's with the text itself. That what carries the power, not my performance. So, I'm just a uh a
vessel that he is using. Um, so the real impact, the real heavy hitter is the
text itself. And so, I just had to realize that, you know, I'll do my best, but ultimately it's it's God's power
working through his word that's going to make the difference. 100%. I love your allegiance to that, to
the word itself, right? to the power of God speaking through his word versus like you said your performance or the
way it's said or all the different things that we might make too important
or try to attach importance to when his spirit can speak. I do want to also talk to you about the slightly it sounds
weird to say that when you talk about the Bible but the business of the Bible. Yeah. There is also as you just said thousands
of translations thousands of ways to put this. So I'm wondering how are you approaching now other than other than
just obviously being on this podcast. how you're approaching spreading the word and explaining to people why this
particular narration or this particular translation is needed when there are so many versions even versions that like
you said are written on purpose um to be easier to read right I'm thinking of the
message right it's the most famous one most likely that is even a paraphrase but it has become a a beloved paraphrase
of the Bible so what are you doing in terms of sharing your your message
behind behind creating this and letting people know about it in a way that resonates with them. And again, you're
not selling, but you are promoting Right. Right. a different translation. Yeah. So, one of the things that I uh
argued with with God at first is um the need for another translation. I told him
repeatedly, "There's already 900 translations out there, God. We don't need one more. There's there's no point
in having one more. We've already got plenty." And I said that several times and finally I think he got tired of
hearing it. So he very firmly but gently spoke to my spirit and said, "Dan, why
don't you let me decide what's needed and what's not." And that was kind of a mic drop moment, right? So he said that
and I thought, "Okay, I I guess you want this done, so I better just be still and be obedient and get it done." Um, so
yeah, like you've said, I've been on podcasts now talking about it. Um, I've done a couple of articles and I'm trying
to reach out to more Christian organizations, uh, be it radio stations,
magazines, television stations, just letting them know that this word is out there now. Um, it's a little unique in
the fact that I'm the first person to ever do all three pieces, write, publish, and narrate. Um, and then, you
know, just the backstory uh, of my life where this all the fact that it even
came to me is is remarkable in itself, right? I I shouldn't even be here, right? I was uh recommended to be
aborted when I was in womb. So, just the fact that, you know, God clearly had a
plan for me and uh you know, 50 years in, here we are living it out. So, letting people know the backstory,
letting people know that uh it's kind of unique and the way that it's all come together and just trying to spread the
word. And really, I feel like I've been like Peter. I've stepped out of the boat. I'm walking on the water. just got
to keep looking to him to keep me up now and uh see this through. I love that and that's why I wanted to
make sure I pointed to that because so many of us are carrying something that it does feel like you're carrying kind
of like the the five loaves and the five fish and the five loaves and two fish, right? Um what can God do with this?
Like how is this actually going to help? I'm thinking of so many creators that are creating projects and they may not
be as specific as the word of God literally, but it is something that God planted in them, right? It's a song,
it's an album, it's a book and they're like, "God, what but number one, like
you said, there's so many. So many other people are already doing it, right? And you're like, why me?" And God's like,
"Why not you?" Yeah. And then the other part which I do want to kind of point to and ask you about is
the specific need of you to say, Lord, if this is the project that you want me
to take on and if I'm going to spread the word now, Lord, I'm going to need the resources to do it. I'm going to
need the people. So, I'm wondering, are there people in your life, people that are mentors, people that are like other,
you know, whether it's pastors, church members, people that have come alongside you? Because I believe I believe so much
in the power of community that I do believe that you know that where two or three are gathered right and that you know two can put a thousand to fly 10
two could put 10,000 right one could put a thousand and two could put 10,000 so I'm wondering where are you seeing in terms of the community of believers or
people that are starting to resonate and see and kind of help you bring this toart have you found those kind of
partners in your life you know first off I appreciate what you say about community because the Christian life was never meant to be a
solo effort right we are designed for community Paul talks extensively about how we all have a role to fulfill. We're
each a part of the body. Um, you know, some people are a thumb, some people are a toe, some people are the eyes, some
people are the ears. But the important thing is that they are all working together to make something that is the
body of Christ. So, I'm just fulfilling my role much like any other creator out there is fulfilling their role. Be it
writing a song or putting up a blog, uh, whatever, you know, we all have a role to fulfill. And that's why the need for
community is so great because you're going to have times where you think what am I doing this for? How come? And you
need brothers and sisters in Christ to come along you uh and just encourage you, motivate you and help you. You
know, really this idea germinated when uh my life group leader uh said one day
in class, you know, Dan, every time I ask for uh someone to read the Bible, I
always hope it's you. I love the way God's word sounds through your voice. And that was very, very flattering, very
humbling in a way, uh, in a good way. But, um, you know, you just need those people in your life to encourage you and
motivate you. And they probably don't even know, you know, what their little word is going to spark. U, but yet, uh,
we have to be in community and fellowship so that we can become all that we can be in Christ. So, you know,
I've met a lot of great podcasters through this process. um some great
people who have took the time to write articles uh about the work. Uh so, you
know, I've I've had some creative people come alongside me to help me spread the word and I've just been blown away by
the kindness and reception that I've got along the way. That's beautiful. And that's why I mentioned it because I feel sometimes we
feel this is we're carrying this all alone, right? We're carrying a project, we're carrying a podcast and we feel
alone. And I think I think of Elijah in terms of when he got so depressed
because he was running and then he gets in a cave and it's just like Lord just take it all and he reminds him I have
7,000 right he has there's always like this remnant of people that actually believe in what you believe in and want
to see it come to pass as much as you do and I think sometimes I'm almost want to make sure I encourage you as well
because sometimes they don't appear right away right we're in the cave by ourselves but there's so many people that you know are
actually for you than are that are then then are against you but we don't sometimes see it because this is a can
be a very lonely profession I think of you even when you were recording I mean was this in your own studio was this by
yourself did you have a a a team around you helping you or was was a sole effort just you and the microphone
yeah so it's me and 61 hours of audio and as you probably know for every hour
of audio you probably spend three to four hours creating it so it's been a uh a long solo effort and we have a home
studio studio. We're voice my wife and I are both voice-over talents. So we do voiceovers on a daily basis. So I've got
a uh a bedroom that I've converted into a studio orex lined walls the whole bit. Uh so yeah, it's just a lot of me and a
lot of God sitting in front of a computer screen and uh pounding this out over a period of four years.
Wow. So again, this is why I want people to both be inspired by the fact that you
stuck with this project that you put it out and that it's going forward and also take a lot of encouragement in their own
project, right? So what would be the advice that you would have for someone? And again, maybe it's not a Bible
translation, but maybe it's something similar where they hear the whisper of God and they're like, "Hey, I is this
just me being crazy? Am I arguing with God about this? Taking this on?" What would be your advice to someone who is
also considering taking on a major project or something maybe not major whatever you want to call it right but
something that they feel God has put on their heart to pursue in terms of a creative goal. What would you be what would your advice be after four years?
First off understand that the project is secondary. It is not the most important thing. The most important thing is going
to be your relationship with God. So, you have to have a firm foundation to go through this because there's going to be
peaks and valleys and you have to be tight with God in order to sustain you during the valleys. Uh, so I would
encourage people three things. Be in the word daily. Right? If I'm not in the word, it means I'm not trying to hear
from God and I desperately need to hear from God. So, be in the word daily. Uh, be in prayer daily. Really, multiple
times throughout the day, I it's called whisper whisper prayers by me, right? I whisper up prayers to God all throughout
the day. God, how am I supposed to do this? What am I supposed to do here? Help me with that. Oh, what do you think about this? So, throughout the day, be
in communication with God. And then, uh, third, like we talked a little bit earlier, be in community with others.
You're going to need brothers and sisters in Christ to help you. Once you have all of that in place, then proceed
to the next step, which is the vision that you feel God has led you to. And
just take him at his word. If you feel led to do this, he's going to open up doors and close doors uh at will to kind
of guide and direct your path. And just be open to that. You know, not everything you do is going to work out.
That's okay. He's directing your path. Just trust him in the process. And just
take that first step and get it started because that's that's the hard thing, right? Getting it started and then
sticking with it because this is a uh it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. It's
going to take a while as as I can attest to. Ah, such good advice. And again,
sometimes we feel like when we hear it ourselves and we tell ourselves this is it doesn't sound as powerful, but when
someone else has gone through it like you have and you're on the other side of the finished product, now we're seeing like, you know what, it is so true. And
I wanted to make sure I didn't leave without asking this question because as you talk about creating this narration,
creating this Bible translation, I have to ask, what has changed in your view of
the Bible? Are there specific verses that did not ring out to you before that maybe were
life verses for you and now you have a different one or a new, you know, just outlook on the word after spending four
years with his word. I can't imagine how many things have changed. But I was just asking you to pick one or two ways that
the word has really come alive and different in your heart since you started this project. You know, previously I God's always been
the same yesterday and today or forever. But when you read the New Test when you read the New Testament versus the Old Testament, you get a different uh
feeling of how God was in the Old Testament. But doing this project really drove that home to me that he is the
same. He continues to be faithful. He continues to reach out in love time and time again. From the very beginning,
Adam and Eve kind of turned their back on God. He pursues relation with relationship with them still and he
makes efforts so that they can have that restored fellowship. Israel turned away
from him time and time again. He doesn't get mad. He relents and uh extends, you
know, his hand of grace and mercy and makes a way for them to be reconciled to him. And we see that just throughout the
Bible, right, from start to finish, it's us turning away from God. God continuing to reach out to us in love and mercy to
try us to try and draw us back to him where he knows we'll be the most satisfied and f have the most fulfilling
life. So that's the really the major thing that I came across uh with all this is just how the love of God has
been consistent from Genesis to Revelation. That's beautiful. And again the key is
that you are living out and learning as you are sharing right and that's the thing I think I keep think of the the
scripture which again and you know which translation I'm not sure it came from but the word is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword right
the fact that he is the word of God Jesus is the living word and that this is not just some book or in your terms some audio
that simply floats into your ears it is literally God speaking and you were willing to let
to be the mouthpiece to let yourself be the mouthpiece of what will eventually go in people's ears. And I'll do a quick
aside here just because I'm thinking in terms of the ears and the podcast. I do believe that, you know, the voice of
God, even though it can be audible and it doesn't actually, you know, go into our ears all the time, I do believe podcasting and speaking, you know, the
Bible says that faith cometh by hearing, right? So, I do believe I mean, even though you were already a voiceover narrator, you
already had that skill. I think there's a reason that God decided to have you say it and not write it, right? Because
you could have just transcribed this and made it into a written version, but I have a feeling that you don't have any
plans for a written version. Am I right? Well, it's already available. The funny thing about putting something on Audible
is that you have to have it on Amazon already, right? So, you have to have the written text in order to have the audio
text or the audio version. So, yeah, there's e versions available out there. There's print versions available of like
the New Testament and some New Testament books. But primarily, you're right, I am pushing the um the the audible version
just because I believe in the power of, you know, the the word that is heard. Like you said, faith comes by hearing,
hearing through the word of God. So, uh that's where I kind of direct people. But yeah, the the print and ebook
versions are also available. Good to know. Oh, I'm glad to hear that because that's one of the things I kind of assume that oh well if it's only
narration then people you know and I can again like the word comes across in different ways based on the medium you
get it right so people who read things and then hear it you can get two different things just because again God
can use it but it's also just the way we learn right some people are very much auditory and like I said I believe podcasting and and music obviously as a
musician myself I believe there is so much intimacy and connection with the human voice that uh
you again are kind of tapping tapping into with this. Um before we go and this has been a great conversation. I would
love to have you back to talk about just narration in general and audio books and because we have a lot of authors in our
um in our membership and in our community that I would love for you to share more about you know just the whole
process and the business of voice over and things like that. But I do want to ask you really this question is if you
go back, you know, and I know you mentioned very briefly and I would love to dig into this next time we have you
on about your past and how God rescued you from so many other things, but if you look back, what would you tell
yourself before God started to give you this idea? If you knew what four years
would look like, what would be your advice to yourself, if you had now what
you know is the whole picture? Uh, jokingly, but sort of realistically, I say buckle up because you don't know
what kind of ride you're going to be on. Uh, so I honestly though, I would just say trust him. And that's really all you
can do. Trust him that he's going to make a way where you don't see a way. And that's really what our whole
relationship comes down to, right? Is our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, for our daily bread, for
helping us get through each day. Uh it really just comes down to trust him.
Amen. And I'm so glad that again that it comes back down to that first thing of listening to his voice, right? which you
have so willingly added a new way to hear his voice and to hear his word and
to hear it in a new way by being the first person to do all three again that is an amazing stat that I don't think uh
you should take lightly right and uh and then in the creator side being willing to stick with it being willing to do the
heavy lifting of you know sitting in front of the computer day after day and night after night and following through
with it so I applaud you I thank you for coming on the go gig show and let's make sure since you are talking about the
book and about the audio book uh let's make sure people know where to find it and how to connect with you. So if
they're low they're old school and they didn't click the link already just tell them how to find it. Uh you can go to audible.com for the
audio version or amazon.com for the print or e version. Just type in danpar
or eur bible easy to understand red bible and uh you'll find everything that I've done on there.
Awesome. Well, Dan, I hope this isn't the last time we have you on, but until next time, thank you so much for being an amazing guest. And again, God bless
everything that you're doing and your future projects, whatever they are, because we can see you have a heart after him.
Thank you, Alan. You as well.
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