Many people will (mistakenly) think that anyone who memorizes a huge amount of Scripture must be some sort of “super saint”. I have this to say about that, and that’s this: Super saint? NO I AIN’T! Not even close. (To echo the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh”.) In fact, just the opposite of their notion is true, because the more of the Bible I memorize, the more I realize how utterly and entirely sinful I am in and of myself, in my flesh. You see, as Psalm 19:7-8 clearly states, the Bible – and especially memorizing the Bible – “enlightens the eyes”. It breaks through the blindness which besets us from birth and opens one’s eyes. To the truth and existence and nature and will of God. To the nature and detrimental, destructive, and indeed deadly consequences of sin (Romans 6:23). And to the nature of man. Our flesh. Our fallacy. Our tendencies. Why we do what we do. Why we do what we should not and not do what we should! (Romans 7:19) So you can see why I say that the more Scripture one memorizes, the more one will see the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of oneself, of the flesh, to the extent that I can honestly say that I’m the BIGGEST SINNER I know, I’m the biggest sinner I’ve EVER known, and I’m probably the biggest sinner YOU’VE ever known, at least that’s how I see it, that’s my (believe it or not blissful) Bible-borne perspective.
But thankfully Psalm 19:7-8 doesn’t stop there! Because it’s just as clear that the Bible also “restores the soul” and “makes wise the simple” and “rejoices the heart”! It’s not just a win, not just a home run, memorizing and reciting Scripture is a GRAND SLAM! And not just spiritually, but humanly… not just in the spiritual realm, but in the human realm, not just in the life to come but also this present life (1 Timothy 4:8). And I can testify from firsthand experience that all of this is absolutely true: so long as I’m doing so on a regular basis, my spirit remains utterly joyful, rarely ever leaving the proverbial “cloud nine”. I find that I see things that many others don’t (heightened insight produced by the Word within). And I find that my heart remains filled with and focused on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2), not on the things which are seen, but unseen, not the things which are temporal but eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18) – what a wonderful way to go through life! And what’s amazing is that I’m just at the START this journey of memorizing the entire Bible, after which the Lord is leading me to turn this into a full-fledged, full-speed-ahead, full-time ministry – here’s the plan…
PHASE 1: Memorize the ENTIRE Bible as a “love/thank You” gift back to Him and also to prove, to demonstrate to the world the utter and tangible power and benefits of the ingested (memorized) Word of God! And for the first few months to highlight the need and leave room for the Lord to lead like-minded Bible-loving believers to support this in whatever ways they’re able and willing and excited to do so when learning about this historic endeavor and opportunity.
PHASE 2: After memorizing all or at least the vast majority of the New Testament, the next step will commence and entail totally changing the emphasis of this website from seeking one-time and especially Monthly Partners so as to get and keep this going to just giving back by meeting the needs of others, to “fulfill the law of Christ” by “bearing the burdens of others” (Galatians 6:2) and “serving one another” (Galatians 5:13; 1 Peter 4:10).
Specifically, I will make myself available all throughout the day virtually every day so anyone will be able to:
- Ask and receive Bible-based answers to their questions about the Bible itself, God, sin, human nature, and whatever else might be on their hearts at any given time. Literally for the rest of my or their lives, they will have a ready and waiting friend and/or listening ear and/or shoulder to cry on according to their need at the time. Without reservation, and without judgment.
- Submit prayer requests to be prayed for by someone who is brimming with the living Word within him, which I firmly believe is the biggest key to effective prayer: the Word sanctifies (John 17:17) and cleanses (Ephesians 5:26) and keeps pure (Psalm 119:9) and away from sin (Psalm 119:11); now combine all of this with the fact that “the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer” (1 Peter 3:12) and “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16b) and perhaps speaking most poignantly to the amazing link between memorizing Scripture and an effective prayer life, “If you abide in Me, and MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, ask WHATEVER you WISH, and it SHALL BE DONE for you.” (John 15:7). How will people’s lives literally change and be transformed by the supplication and intercession by one in whom such a massive amount of Scripture will be dwelling? GAME-CHANGER. Life-changer. WORLD-changer! (Literally. Just ask the people who were living in the time of Elijah.)
- Find a BIBLICAL – Bible-loving, Bible-believing, Bible-practicing – church near them, right in their local area! I am already in the process of putting together this network of churches; denomination will be irrelevant, the only criterion will be the extent to which they demonstrably adhere to the principles set forth in the Bible about “how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) With a primary focus on how supportive they are of Bible memory. I expect even just the human-interest/intellectual aspect of this project to attract countless people who aren’t even religious or are very early on in their spiritual growth who’ll need and want to find a church that will foster and maximize said growth.
- Find the businesses in YOUR area that are owned and/or managed by fellow Christians who love the Lord and His Word and realize the importance of and support Bible memory. Galatians 6:10 and 1 Timothy 6:2 make clear that it is our responsibility as Christians that our everyday choices inure to the benefit of fellow believers whenever possible, so I’m going to make that super easy and convenient by posting a nationwide (but searchable by state/county/city) LIST of Christian businesses so we can all choose THEM whenever we need a product or service; once assembled, it will appear on the “Find A Christian Biz” / Yellow Pages section here at BibleMemory.ORG so please check back for that in the coming weeks.
PHASE 3: Turn this burgeoning history-in-the-making effort into a full-speed-ahead, full-fledged, full-time ministry to Educate, Encourage, and Empower others to memorize and recite Scripture on a regular, systematic, verse-by-verse, book-by-book basis! Tall goal, but totally doable, because something very interesting happened as I memorized my very first book of the Bible, the New Testament book of James. That goal seemed not just tall but downright monumental. Undoable. Right? Wrong! Because, amazingly, the more of it I memorize, the EASIER it gets! The more of it I memorize, the more I am able to memorize. By the time I came to Chapter 5, I knew this large task was indeed going to be accomplished. BIG difference than when I was facing Chapter 1 Verse 1.
This is a fantastic real-life demonstration of Matthew 19:26 which says, “With men, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Including memorizing the ENTIRE Bible! You see, in the physical realm, the more water you pour into a glass, the less capacity it will have for more water to be added. But in the spiritual realm, when it comes to God and His Word, the Bible, the exact OPPOSITE is true! The MORE you pour into your mind, the MORE capacity you’ll have for additional verses and chapters and books to be added! Not less. And this amazing power is exponential in nature: I saw a large increase in capacity from James 1 to James 5, but double or triple the capacity by the time I finished memorizing Hebrews 1-5, and then quadruple or quintuple the capacity by the time I finished memorizing Hebrews 6-10, and so on. This finding is literally historic, and indeed the closest thing to a bona fide miracle in recent history of which I’m aware: it’s verifiable, it’s tangible, and – due to the “living and active” nature of the Bible (Hebrews 4:12) – it’s even repeatable. While the specific extent of this phenomenon might vary from person to person, the essence of the Word does not. Ever. This is how I’ll be able not just to Educate and Encourage the masses to memorize and recite Scripture on a regular, systematic basis but also to EMPOWER them to do so (the Word through me). (Believe me, once a person gets a taste of this, his or her life will never be the same. Human metaphors don’t really do it justice but in terms of the Christian life, it’s like trying filet mignon for the first time after a lifetime of eating hamburger.)
This will primarily be accomplished by producing a course, a syllabus, an entire series of videos, CD’s, and even audio cassettes, which will take all of this and make it SUPER EASY and CONVENIENT for people the world over to learn and apply this at their own pace and as their individual schedules permit. I am utterly convinced that another worldwide spiritual revival will occur, but I’m even more certain that it will only occur as people start ingesting the living Word of God by memorizing and reciting it regularly – “all the day” (Psalm 119:97) and even “day AND night” (Psalm 1:2-3).
By the way, this would be a great time to let you know that as I’ve been memorizing Scripture, a very specific METHOD of doing so is coming into focus, which, as noted above, I can testify firsthand is making it MUCH EASIER for me to memorize and retain – not just the Bible but EVERYTHING: to-do lists, schedule and meetings, various events that occur, etc., a true “sponge” effect! – and I’m 99.9% sure that it will do so for virtually anyone and everyone who applies it. It’s still coming together but seems to be getting close to the point that it can be rolled out. This one aspect alone of this one phase alone could easily and literally change the world and people’s everyday lives.
PHASE 4: Set up new and/or work with established addiction centers to specifically address the huge need for healing, curing, and then preventing from recurring (relapse) the massive crisis of addiction to pain killers, opioids, and other drugs, as well as the dreadful disease of depression. I am absolutely certain that the best and probably only way to truly beat, to truly eradicate, overcome, and conquer an addiction is to turn to something even more addictive – and I am equally certain that the most addictive thing in the universe is the BIBLE, the living and active Word of God, the Word ingested. No doubt about it. The main challenge is that so relatively few ever really give regular and systematic Bible memory a try, but I – with your and the Lord’s help – intend to change that!
It won’t happen overnight but I have no doubt that change is indeed coming. And just in case you don’t think the Bible extends or has relevance to the physical realm of human existence, I humbly give you Proverbs 4:22 which, referring to the Bible, the “my words” of verse 20, clearly states that His words “are LIFE to those who find them, and HEALTH to ALL their WHOLE BODY.” Is that an amazing verse or what?! We have a super-duper health “pill” readily available to us (the Bible is the most-published and available book of all time) yet SO FEW EVER ACTUALLY SWALLOW IT! To their utter “missing out” yet few if any are even aware of this because nobody has trumpeted it from the proverbial mountaintops but with your help I intend to change this, too, and do just that!
I didn’t start memorizing entire books of the Bible as a child but did memorize a lot of single Bible verses and – totally not surprisingly in light of that verse/truth/fact – I haven’t had to see a doctor or go to the hospital my entire adult life. Not even a single time. No emergencies. No health surprises. Not one. I don’t think the two are unrelated or that this remarkable health history is mere coincidence or the result of “good genes”; no, I’m certain it’s that verse at work.
No, it won’t happen overnight but down the road I look forward to organizing some clinical/medical trials to demonstrate that this is universal and not just specific to me. I dare say that other than imparting the Gospel or giving one’s own life to save another’s, there is no greater act of love and kindness and therefore Christlikeness (since He epitomized and epitomizes both) than to free a person from the cruel slavery and bondage of addiction or depression, to provide them with the answer, the antidote, something that actually and permanently WORKS! So even just this phase of the action plan will likely be enough to revolutionize the nation and world.
CONCLUSION: If you like what you’ve heard here and found yourself nodding in agreement several times, please read on…
Fall
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryNo, I’m not talking about the change of season, beautiful as that’s always been to behold. Nor Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending injury, sad as that physical fall was to watch and which is still echoing throughout the throngs of football fans across the nation and especially the New York/Jersey area.
I’m talking about the massive increase – both quantitative and qualitative – in how a horde of highly-esteemed people have experienced a jaw-dropping reversal of fortunes seemingly overnight in many cases, in just the past handful of years, a trend definitely worth keeping an eye on and which likely has a correlation to “end times” truth (eschatology) – here’s a quick list just off the top of my head, which touches virtually every significant segment of society:
Sports: Zion Williamson
Entertainment/Hollywood/Media: Matt Lauer, Brian Williams, Chris Matthews (what’s in the water at NBC?), Leslie Moonves, Kevin Spacey and extremely recently Danny Masterson, Ed Henry, Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly (what’s in the water at Fox News???), Bill Cosby, and Harvey Weinstein (again, just a partial list from the top of my head)
Law: Lyn Wood, Robert Mueller, Sydney Powell, and while Rusty Hardin is legitimately a living legal legend, his prosecutorial performance in the Paxton impeachment proceedings left much to be desired or admired, he seemed but a shadow of his usual (past?) self and was overwhelmingly outdone by Tony Buzbee and the defense side of the aisle
Politics: the aforementioned Ken Paxton, Donald Trump, Andrew Cuomo, Rudy Giuliani (what’s in the water in New York?????) and too many others to list but you get the point: people who previously, until just a year or few ago, were wildly well-perceived have quickly fallen to the opposite end of that spectrum and are now near-universally despised, mocked, ridiculed, shunned, and/or under the heavy boot of dogged pursuit by law enforcement.
The point of this post is not to pummel these publicly-punished people (I’m pretty sure that I’m far worse a person and bigger a sinner than they) but rather to simply point out that it’s unfettered folly to put one’s total trust or reliance or confidence in any mere mortal, since ONLY ONE will never, ever fail or even disappoint!
We hear and see so much fanfare and hype and hoopla about countless people in the public eye, a seemingly never-ending list and I’m happy for each and every one but it’s sort of bittersweet in that any glory or praise or credit is rarely ever publicly poured out to the One who is so precious and priceless and peerless and actually deserves and merits such! Michael Jordan was a phenomenal basketball player… but could he ever in a trillion years even come close to comparing to Him who walked on water or turned it into wine? George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were phenomenal presidents and leaders, but could either even come close to comparing to Him who took every single sin of humanity – past, present, and future – and placed it squarely on Himself, “in His body” (1 Peter 2:24) thus making salvation and an eternity in Heaven available to all people (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16) by conquering and vanquishing the power of death and the sway sin had held over us and therefore freeing us from the horrors of Hell?
Next time (and all subsequent) we hear someone celebrating a mere mortal, let’s at least keep in mind the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; Philippians 2:9-11, 3:20-21; Colossians 1:13-19) and preferably say something aloud so others can partake of this proper perspective: there’s none who can compare to Christ… if you never want to be disappointed, simply put your faith and trust and reliance and dependence in and on Him!
(Speaking of sports, if you’d like to be my teammate in the historic event unfolding in real-time at BibleMemory.ORG, here are three great ways to do so!)
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Teammates
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryWith the NFL season almost upon us, I recently took a tidbit of time to check out the trades and other roster changes (retirements, free agents, etc.) for several teams and on one of the sports news websites it highlighted the New England Patriots’ record during and after their Tom Brady era. As I’m sure many of you could already guess, the numbers, the difference was stark. Night and day.
And that stat blurb immediately brought to mind the fact that, while I fully agree that the newly-retired (for good, this time, I think) (much to the relief of all competing teams) “Tom Terrific” was just that, what’s usually overlooked is another fact: that the team also had one of the best offensive linemen/lines, who provided him with the time needed to drop back and make so many good passes. And oh by the way, as excellent a quarterback as he way, someone had to actually catch those rockets, and without them, too, he would likely have been just an above-average quarterback.
And what about the phenomenal kickoff and punt returners who consistently gave him great field position, making those many touchdowns more probable?
In other words, teammates matter.
And that’s exactly how it is in the Christian life!
Our teammates, our fellow believers, have a lot to do with whatever ground we gain.
Their prayers. Their encouragement and kindness and love. Their good advice and sermons and sharings from the perfect Book. (I’ve never found the phrase “the good book” to quite satisfy.)
Yes indeed, to the extent that I gain ground at all and achieve greatness of any kind, on any level, you can be 100% sure that many, many, many people God has placed in and throughout my life will have had a lot to do with that. While I’ll keep the primary focus of myself and this website right where it belongs, on the Lord Jesus Christ, under that umbrella I’m greatly looking forward to telling you about some of these people from my past and present and no doubt future. But for now it will suffice to wrap up this particular post with two takeaways.
To value and respect and deeply appreciate and thank God (and them) for our teammates’ roles in our lives. And to be continually grateful and humbled by the fact that, even infinitely greater than the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick, we have such a perfect and perfectly patient and faithful and forgiving and loving and all-knowing Coach to guide us through the game of life, to eternal victory.
And speaking of teammates, if you’d like to be MY teammate in this historic event unfolding in real-time at BibleMemory.ORG, here are three great ways to do so!
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No Idols
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryHarkening back to a common high school cheer at football and basketball games… “I say ‘No idols’, you say ‘No duh’, no idols, no duh, no idols, no duh…” But perhaps this topic isn’t so cut-and-dry, because it has become more and more obvious in recent years that, in practice, in essence, certain things have become an obsession at least and I would strongly argue that they’ve become idols especially in the New Testament sense of that word. Meaning that while people generally don’t carve pieces of wood or melt and mold metal to look like a football or basketball or baseball or (especially? 🙂 ) golf ball or hockey puck or their favorite celebrity or, the most recent addition to the list, politician or political party, while they don’t go to that extreme as was common in Old Testament times a handful of millennia ago, it’s clear to me that the practice of idolatry is even far more widespread and rampant nowadays, though the main manifestation is mental, not physical like a statue or golden calf. Intangible rather than tangible. In our minds rather than on our mantels.
This is exactly why the disciple-turned-Apostle “whom Jesus loved”, John, saw fit (as did the superintending Holy Spirit) to end his first Epistle with these words of warning: to guard ourselves from the devil? from demons? from false teachers? No, he ends that blessed book by writing, “guard yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21)
While a statue or metallic calf can be an idol even today, the broader and best definition of an idol is this: anything which takes precedence over the Lord in our lives, in our day-to-day living. In how we spend time or money, in our thoughts, in our emotions and affections, in our words and actions… if the Lord doesn’t maintain “first place” in any of those, the thing or person which does has become an idol, and must be dethroned. Immediately. Because the only entity able to duly and rightfully occupy that position is the Lord.
There are, of course, countless other passages of Scripture but either one of these is fully sufficient for us to know beyond any doubt at all Who – and Who alone – should be and remain first and foremost in our lives. [While exceedingly generous, He is rightly and wholly (and holy 🙂 ) unwilling to share (even any part of) that place of preeminence, as James 4:5 makes crystal clear: “… He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us.” So much so that verse 4 states that merely wanting to be a friend of the world (system) makes oneself an enemy of God.]
Let’s bring this full circle.
A new football season is upon us. Many will be tempted to take time away from, say, going to church for the next many Sunday mornings and stay home to watch the football games and pre-shows instead.
And the Senate and House of Congress are coming back from their (main 🙂 ) summer recess (they have several) to a huge stack of major to-dos just waiting for them, such as: avoiding (or causing) a government shutdown by passing (or blocking) the dozen required spending bills for the next fiscal year which begins on October 1; authorizing (or not) another $24 billion for the Ukraine-Russia war and the recent Florida hurricane and Hawaii wildfire; and last but definitely not least, the unofficial kickoff of a different kind, of the 2024 U.S. Presidential primary and general election season; among others… like I said, a huge stack of to-dos. All of which are sure to be fraught with fierce fighting and forceful partisanship which will surely and sorely tempt many people (even Christians) (especially Christians? 🙂 ) to jump headfirst into the fray to the extent that they spend more of their (God-given) time and thoughts and emotions and even money on politics than they do on God, on the Lord, on the Bible and other things pertaining to Him and His Kingdom.
Autumn has also always been the most romantic time of the year in my view, a sense surely shared by many, who will undoubtedly soon find themselves in a new (or current) relationship which constantly competes with the Lord for “first place” in their hearts and minds and, therefore, time and money.
My humble yet super-strong encouragement to you, and God’s to us in 1 John 5:21, is to NOT let that happen. Not to avoid getting involved in the brand-new football season or politics or romance, but rather to avoid letting any of those – or anything else – take more of our time or money or emotions or affections or (especially) thoughts than what we give to the Lord.
I grew up in a, well, let’s just say financially-challenged (pastor’s) home (thankfully, the Lord has used those times of struggle in many, many great ways throughout my adult life, and besides, what we lacked in money, my parents more than made up for in love and affection and total acceptance and constant praise, which are far more important and valuable and fruitful to boot) so we were limited to just one main “family gift” each Christmas and the one when I was in 8th grade happened to be the hot, new, must-have (and thoroughly entertaining, potentially addictive) TV gaming system. My siblings and I couldn’t wait – and definitely didn’t wait – to start playing the handful of different games (cartridges) which came with the console.
And playing. And playing. And playing.
All through that night (we were one of those families that always opened our gifts on Christmas Eve, after the church service) and all Christmas Day, and all Christmas night and into the morning of the 26th, we played those games. And I can remember it now as though it were just yesterday, my dad’s walking into our family/TV room and lovingly telling us this word of wisdom: referring to earthly possessions, he said, “Always control them, never let them control you!”
He didn’t specify it but in effect he was telling us children what 1 John 5:21 tells everyone: “guard yourselves from idols.”
I hope this will be a big blessing and help to you as this month of September and its various “seasons” kick off in earnest!
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