Thoughts on Admitting Failure of the Audio New Testament Project

Although it’s no surprise, I’m sad to officially announce that I’ve given up on continuing my Audio New Testament project. It’s something that I really felt compelled to attempt a few years ago. However, as the work progressed, I came to the realization that I couldn’t continue it to completion. Through it all though, I think there are a few concepts I’d like to share before returning back to regular updates on this site.

Perfectionism Can Destroy Progress

The first main idea I learned is that being a perfectionist can be a real drawback as a person. In the case of the recordings, I eventually became dissatisfied with them. As I listened during trips around town I started to notice all the pops and hisses in the mp3s. These really bugged me over time. After my last post for my audio recordings from Romans, I decided to redo the New Testament recordings with better equipment and at a higher bitrate.

This ended up being a mistake.

My dissatisfaction with the previous recordings caused me to lose all the momentum I had. Although I was successful in redoing the recordings for the shortest letters of the New Testament, my progress did not continue much after that. While working on the 4-chapter books, I spent so much time trying to fix small audio issues and reading mistakes that I became extremely discouraged. After trying to correct issues that persisted after multiple attempts one weekend, I decided to give up on the project. I couldn’t justify the hours I spent each week and stopped working on them in August 2023.

Admitting a Mistake Early Is Better

As I finish writing this in November 2024, we all know that I haven’t been active on this site for quite a while; my last post was on November 16, 2022. What I should have done after August of last year was to admit my failure of the New Testament reading project by the end of 2023, but I was too demoralized to do so. My emotions and pride got the better of me and kept me from discussing it here.

Reflecting on that time now, I have a bit of shame for all that lost time. Although I continued to worship God and assist people in my day-to-day life, I was not adding more teachings or other material to this site. Thankfully, I take solace knowing that my labors here have not been in vain. This is based on the few emails I’ve received during that time, and the number of views this place continues to get.

At least with this post my inactivity here will come to an end. Hopefully that will be the case, anyway. I can say that I appreciate any prayers for success in the restart of this blog. Thank you in advance!!

Accurately Counting the Cost Is Necessary

One reason I didn’t give up on the audio recordings earlier was because I didn’t want to stop something that I considered to be for a godly purpose. After all, one of my major hopes for this blog was to help people to read the whole counsel of God. I wanted my recordings of the New Testament to assist people in that endeavor. Unfortunately, I was unaware of just how much time it would take to do all the work for them on my own. I didn’t accurately count the cost to complete the project, so to speak.

Every time I would think about quitting a particular passage came to mind. It mentions counting the cost before building a tower. In Luke 14:28 and following it reads,

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? [29] Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, [30] saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’

Luke 14:28-30

That last statement would really stick with me when I read it. I didn’t want to give up. Yet, now I am looking forward to writing again and discussing different Bible-related topics with you in the future. I hope you find benefit from my upcoming posts like I do in preparing the material. Thank you!!

Image Used

Floor Plan of a Building With a Pen from Pixabay