ALT-DV and Ministry Update

ALT-DV and Ministry Update

ALT-DV and ALT-OT

I have received several inquiries recently in regards to the Analytical-Literal Translation - Devotional Version (ALT-DV). This is the proposed Bible version mention in the introductory pages to the hardcopy Analytical-Literal Translation (ALT) and which are posted on this site.

I was planning on starting the ALT-DV only if the sales of the ALT were significant enough to give me reason to believe that the ALT-DV would be worth the effort it would take to produce it. However, this simply has not been the case. The sales of the ALT have been disappointing, to say the least. To date, after being in print for about four months, only a few dozens copies have been sold. And even this limited level of sales has nose-dived since the events of September 11th.

It took me 2 1/2 years to produce the ALT, and with only a few dozen people currently using it, I am beginning to feel like it was a waste of time on my part. The ALT-DV would probably not take me as long to produce. I’m “guesstimating” it would take about a year. But if the sales of the ALT are any indication, then the sales of the ALT-DV would not justify spending a year of my life working on it.

I have also received a couple of inquires in regards to producing an Old Testament for the ALT. Yes, an OT to go with the ALT-NT would be nice. However, I previously stated that such a project was not being considered any longer. The amount of time and effort that translating the entire OT would take is simply beyond my abilities. It could possibly take as long as a decade to finish. And with the lack of sales of the ALT-NT, I wouldn’t even consider planning on investing that many years of my life in producing an OT.

Financial Situation

I posted a notice on this site at the beginning of this year titled “The End of Darkness to Light?” The main points of this article were incorporated into the page Supporting Darkness to Light. Simply put, I stated on those pages that if support of this ministry did not improve then it might cease to exist. And to date, support has not improved.

I removed most of the advertising from this site a while ago as it was proving to be a waste. And I have not been able to find any worthwhile advertising to replace it. So what I did was post ads for my books on every page of this site. With four book available in hardcopy and eBook format and four additional books available in eBook only format, I was praying that sales of these books would provide sufficient income for me to continue this ministry.

However, the sales of my other books have been even worse than the ALT. Again, only a few dozen copies of each of the other three hardcopy books have been sold and even less of the four eBook only books. And again, even this limited level of sales has nose-dived since 9-11.

Part of the problem is I am not very good at promotion. I do not have the outgoing personality that is required to be a “salesman.” Plus, it really hurt that major Christian stores like Christian Book Distributors and Family Christian stores did not pick up any of my books.

This lack of sales has left me in rather dire financial circumstances. Also contributing to my financial difficulties has been my poor state of health. I have spent $1000s on health care over the last few years.

I have been living on savings for some time now. The settlement from my bicycle accident is what has kept me going. But that has been mostly depleted now. The dive in the stock market hasn’t helped as well as I had invested a significant portion of that settlement in mutual funds.

So what all of this means is this: I will not be able to start the ALT-DV or any other major project. What I am going to have to do is try to find a job that I can do despite my health problems. And with my health problems, there is no way I can work on a major project like the ALT-DV and work a secular job at the same time.

In addition, I have not posted much in the way of new items on this Web site of late. With all of the above going on I have simply been too discouraged to do much writing. Writing would have been the ideal career for me. It would be something I could work on at my own pace, working when I was feeling up to it and taking time off when I needed to. But financially it simply has not worked out.

Personal Situation

I have been writing for this ministry for over ten years now. And I have greatly enjoyed doing so. Eight books and a Web site with over 800 pages is quite an accomplishment given all of the health problems I have struggled with over the years. But frankly, it seems like it has all been a waste. What I have gotten for all of my efforts is to end up in poverty.

If I sound somewhat bitter, I probably am. I decided to dedicate myself to ministry way back in 1988 when I left a decent job to go to Denver Seminary. But ever since that time all I have known is financial and health problems. So yes, I have been struggling with the feeling that God has let me down. I am now thinking that I should have just stayed at the job I was at. At least I wouldn’t have been broke at this time of my life.

Also, I have been focusing my limited energies on finding solutions to my health problems. And I am doing somewhat better. Using the same kind of mind-body techniques I used to overcome my back pain, I have been able to get the pain from my fibromyalgia mostly under control. However, the same techniques have not worked as of yet on the fibromyalgia fatigue. Plus, I am still continually pulling muscles. I have pulled 14 different muscles in the past few months. Some of these pulled muscles have occurred doing simple things like walking or most recently changing the blankets on my bed.

To try to deal with these pulled muscles and my health in general I have gone back to weightlifting, along with doing some light aerobics and stretching. And my workouts have been going reasonably well, all things considered. However, they leave me completely fatigued, with little energy to do much of anything else the rest of the day. But I feel I have to keep working out if I have any chance of overcoming my problems. And this fatigue is another reason I have posted very little on this site lately.

Future of this Site

This site will remain active with all of the pages currently posted on it still available for viewing, but only as long as I am able to continue to pay the bill for my Web hosting service. Currently, the Web host bill is paid up until January 27, 2001. Whether I will be able to renew it at that time or not will remain to be seen.

I might try to post some new items as I am able. But how often and what subjects I will cover I cannot say. With my limited energies being devoted to my health, I might post more in this regard. As for new Christian content, with the spiritual discouragement I am experiencing I am simply not in the mood.

I’m not saying I have lost my faith. But I am struggling. As various items on this site show, I have gone through similar spiritual struggles in the past when my life has taken yet another downturn. But I have always come through them even stronger than before. But only God knows what is in the future for me at this time.

Update

I did renew the contract for the Web hosting service for this site for another year. So this site will remain active until at least January 27, 2003. My health has continued to decline, and the medical bills are pilling up, so my financial situation is becoming more dire than ever. But working on this site is the only ministry I am capable of. And I really didn't want to see all of the work I've spent on it over the years go to waste. So despite the lack of money, I went ahead and renewed the Web hosting contract.

See Words of Encouragement for follow-ups to the above article.

The above page was posted on this site October 25, 2001.
The update was added February 3, 2002.

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