The parable is known as the “The Prodigal Son” yet Jesus never used that term. Who came up with that title, and why? One thing does seem to be self-evident … it had to have been a Westerner who came up with that title. No one conversant with first-century Middle Eastern village culture would ever have characterized this parable in that way. This story is about a father and two sons, and as it contextually unfolds, we begin to see that the narrative is really a story about the father’s heart towards his two lost sons.

The story Jesus unfolds in Luke 15:11-32 and is typically only about 500 words long. It can be read in a matter of minutes, yet pondered for a lifetime. It tells a remarkable story that has made a lasting impression on our language. When someone comments that a person is “the family prodigal,” they are most likely drawing upon this story as the basis for their use of that word. Another cultural idiom “hidden” in this story, but readily recognized by a Middle Easterner, could be coined “the elder-brother syndrome.” But that gets ahead of our story.

Written by Doug Greenwold, Senior Teaching Fellow and Founder of Preserving Bible Times, the printed edition was first published in January of 2014. You are invited to revisit this “greatest short story ever told” as it is now reconstituted in audio form with its original context as narrated by Jim Park, Creative Director for Preserving Bible Times. May you be touched in transforming ways as you rediscover how much there is still to absorb from this “familiar” story.

---

---

$19.95 — Listen online or download all 14 chapters. The link to the audio chapters will be emailed to you upon purchase. With your purchase, you will also receive a link for a free download of the Those Prodigal Sons eBook

Ideal for small groups, home fellowship and Adult Education classes! In listening to this narration by Rachel Capuano, you will experience a sense of discovery and excitement and be motivated to dig still more deeply into God’s Word through the use of historical, cultural, literary and geographical context. Each chapter challenges the reader with open-ended, probing, soul care type questions to draw out appropriate heart and mind issues for transformational reflection and journaling. Reflection notes are included in the eBook edition available free with your purchase.

In John 4, Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in a remarkable,redemptive encounter. As that rendezvous unfolds, we come to suspect that this woman — whose name we do not know — has a checkered past. Nevertheless, Jesus approaches and interacts with her both righteously and gently as He brings her into the Kingdom. Placed into its original context, this remarkable event has much to teach us about how to effectively communicate with those “black sheep,” those prodigals, and other marginalized people that God places in our path and in our networks. Jesus’ own righteousness shows us how to establish redemptive relationships in our family, our workplace, and in our neighborhoods.

---

---

$19.95 — Listen online or download all 12 chapters. The link to the audio chapters will be emailed to you upon purchase. With your purchase, you will also receive a link for a free download of the Jesus Engages a Samaritan Woman eBook.

First published by Doug Greenwold in 2007 and then revised in 2011, The Rest of the Story, a Closer Look at “Familiar” Passages is a veritable contextual buffet. Choose any or all of ten chapters, each rich in the kind of contextual analysis that allows you to experience the authentic cuisine of the first-century Middle Eastern agrarian villagers who witnessed and were often stunned by the teachings of Rabbi Jesus.

Any Archaeologist will tell you it takes the time and effort of many people to excavate an ancient site so as to uncover its many clues to the past. Many people are needed to carefully dig, brush, sift, measure and categorize before a reconstruction of the past starts to come into view. Even when it comes to the individual pieces of broken pottery scattered around a site, many potsherds (pottery pieces) need to be discovered and organized before they can be placed back together to recreate the nature and shape of the original vessel.

This work is no exception. It comes with great appreciation and thankfulness for the work of digging, sifting and categorizing that many have previously done to discover the pieces (sherds) that have allowed for the contextual development of the passages in this effort.

---

---

$19.95 — Listen online or download all ten chapters. The link to the audio chapters will be emailed to you upon purchase. With your purchase, you will also receive a link for a free download of the The Rest of the Story eBook.

You can approach Encounters with Jesus as either a “compendium” or as a sort of audio “slideshow” but, either way, this book offers contextual analyses of twelve different events in Jesus’ ministry, each contributing mightily to a greater appreciation of how central is the role of biblical context to a proper appreciation of what Scripture holds for us generally. Originally published by Doug Greenwold in 2008, the book resembles a forensics text book in that it reveals the DNA, the fingerprints and the cross-cultural toxicology of our Western misinterpretation of those events from that other time and that other place. It both clarifies and enlarges the scope of what Jesus was in the midst of accomplishing not only for His disciples, but for both the Jewish and Gentile worlds.

Encounters with Jesus is also available here on the Preserving Bible Times website in eBook form (included here with your order) and contains Doug’s full introduction. We are pleased here to offer the book in audio form …

---

---

$19.95 — Listen online or download all twelve chapters. The link to the audio chapters will be emailed to you upon purchase. With your purchase, you will also receive a link for a free download of the Encounters with Jesus eBook.

Jesus often taught using parables, as did rabbis generally. It has been said that a parable is an earth-bound story with heavenly implications. So it was with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. While this parable may indeed be widely known and frequently referenced, how well is it really understood? Doug Greenwold digs into the context of this parable in five chapters that explore how Jesus radically challenged the observant Jewish paradigms of the day and now takes aim at our paradigm of, first, who is my neighbor and, second, what it means to be neighborly.

Doug’s book, That Good Samaritan, is also available here on the Preserving Bible Times website in eBook form (included here with your order) and contains Doug’s full introduction. We are pleased here to offer the book in audio form …

---

Listen to this sample from the book …

---

$19.95 — Listen online or download all five chapters. The link to the audio chapters will be emailed to you upon purchase. With your purchase, you will also receive a link for a free download of That Good Samaritan eBook.

The Paralytic’s Amazing Friends was published by Doug Greenwold in 2016. Doug was inspired to write the book by his son David who, beginning early in life, suffered from mental retardation, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy and Autism. Needless to say, parenting such a child presents incredible challenges. Over the years, Doug and his wife Nancy sought out special people and organizations to help David and came to feel indebted to them for their amazing contributions to David’s growth and development. Doug dedicates this book to them.

While David furnished Doug with a unique perspective on what we would normally term “handicaps”, it was Pastor Louie Giglio who provided him a new perspective on Luke 5 and the four friends who’s view of those with disabilities varied so incredibly with the standard of the day.

Doug’s book, The Paralytic’s Amazing Friends, is also available on the Preserving Bible Times website in eBook form (included with your order) and contains Doug’s full introduction. We are pleased here to offer the book in audio form …

---

---

$19.95 — Listen online or download all eight chapters. The link to the audio chapters will be emailed to you upon purchase. With your purchase, you will also receive a link for a free download of the Paralytic’s Amazing Friends eBook.

Becoming a Judean Shepherd by Doug Greenwold first appeared in print in 2013 and was published with children in mind. After a warm response from an international audience, Doug chose to share the same shepherding insights with adults. These insights are rich with servant leadership principals and provide meaningful Psalm 23 glimpses into the immensity and constancy of God’s care. We are pleased to offer the material now in audio form.

Two changes Doug made for adults were the addition of appropriate reflective questions at the end of each chapter and a Case for Context as an Appendix. These questions to ponder can serve as a guided discussion for small groups and Bible studies. In the rabbinic tradition, you will find no fill-in-the-blank questions nor any easy answers but, rather, thought provoking questions intended to hone your discernment regarding discipling and body life issues. For devotional purposes, they can also guide personal meditation and journaling. However this little book ends up being used, the prayed-for outcome is the same — transformation by the Holy Spirit!

---

---

$19.95 — Listen online or download all four chapters. The link to the audio chapters will be emailed to you upon purchase. With your purchase, you will also receive a link for a free download of the Becoming a Judean Shepherd eBook.