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…
Role Players
/in Uncategorized /by Bible Memory[Picking up from the previous post as promised…]
The second sort of player that has impressed me these playoffs in particular has been some phenomenal role players.
For those not familiar with basketball, most teams’ “starting five” is comprised of at least three and often four role players, not “stars”. In other words, most starting squads only have one or at most two true “stars”, phenoms, basketball beasts. The only exception I can recall of three or more superstars on the same team would be the Boston Celtics and L.A. Lakers of yesteryear, especially the 1980’s: Robert Parrish and Dennis Johnson (combined)? Check. Kevin McHale? Check. Larry Bird? Ten check-marks. James Worthy? Yep. Kareem? Definitely. Magic Johnson? Ten check-marks, like Larry. But teams usually have just one or, if they’re blessed beyond belief, two. Like Jordan and Pippen (then just throw ANY other three players for the starting squad and any half-dozen for the bench like the Chicago Bulls of the 1990’s did and you’re sure to bag not one but two “threepeats” – and it no doubt would’ve been “eight straight” had MJ not retired for the two seasons in between). Or Shaq and Penny (Orlando) or Shaq and Kobe (Los Angeles). Or, most recently of course, Tatum and Brown for the storied Celtics.
Yes, it’s nice to have TWO superstars… but even then a team won’t be able to pull off a string of superlative seasons if they don’t surround them (or him, in the case of Nikola Jokic when the Denver Nuggets won it all last year [since Jamal Murray was out with an injury that season] or Dirk Nowitzki when the Dallas Mavericks won it all in 2011) with great ROLE players!
These are the players who aren’t nearly so celebrated and famous (and well-paid) as the superstars, but are absolutely imperative to team triumph.
Unsung heroes.
Helpers who show up game after game after game and fulfill one or more purposes for the team. Perhaps passing for a point guard, or defense and rebounding and blocking for a big man, or a wing who can shoot the lights out from three-point range. (Or ALL OF THE ABOVE in the case of the Celtic’s Derrick White… or, except for the 3’s, Jrue Holiday, a born-again brother in Christ I’m pretty sure.)
And this year’s Playoffs in particular pressed upon my mind how crucial, how vital it is for us as the Church, the Christian community, to have great ROLE PLAYERS! Yes, the “superstars” named MacArthur or Graham or Jeffress or Swindoll or Solomon or several others in the past half-century, or Spurgeon or Calvin or Luther, Edwards, Wesley or Whitfield before that, it’s definitely fantastic to have them on the team, great “floor generals” on the spiritual “playing field” for sure. But where would they be and far more importantly, where would the Church be without the countless – and mostly nameless – “role players” of the past two thousand years, since God used Paul and Peter and James and John to start then expand the body of Christ on earth, the Church?
When you go to church each week or as you’re representing Christ to unsaved co-workers or neighbors each day, please never forget or DISCOUNT the utter importance of role players, plentiful in pews across the country and globe, perhaps deprived of “glory” but it’s even exponentially better to get that in the life to come, in eternity, in heaven, rather than here on earth.
And ending by bringing us back to the previous (“Part One”) post, while memorizing the entire Bible for the first time in human history might thrust me into the ranks of a “superstar” in the minds of many, I have and will continue to view myself as a ROLE player… and one who comes off the BENCH at that! But that truth of the matter is this:
I’m overjoyed and thrilled and honored and humbled just to be on the team. The team who’s currently being led by MacArthur and company just quoted, and whose Coach is Christ.
The ultimate Substitute per the prior post, and the ultimate Superstar of all time and every aspect of life, even when He was setting aside the voluntary use of His inherent Diety and living as a human like you and me, minus the sin.
What a Substitute.
What a Superstar.
What a Savior.
Donate Pray 9 ways YOU can help MAKE HISTORY
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.
Bench Players
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryThe 2024 NBA (pro basketball) Championship Series (“Finals”) has just begun, and one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in this year’s playoffs has been how crucially so-called “bench players” have contributed to the winning team’s success in each series so far.
For those who don’t play or watch basketball, NBA bench players are the handful of fellows who free up the first-string “starters” for foul-trouble or breath-catching breaks throughout a game, which is why they’re also commonly called “substitutes” or “subs” or “substitute players”.
And as I’ve watched them do their thing for these past four or five weeks of the season-finishing playoffs, my mind keeps coming back to how Jesus – the very essence of holiness and perfection – became a substitute for US by willingly and lovingly volunteering to vault over that humanly-unclearable bar (sinless perfection) so one day we will join Him in heaven for all eternity, thus escaping humanity’s truly due and deserved destiny of hell.
Jesus Christ is the ULTIMATE Substitute…
… who offered and freely gave His own human life and body and blood in our stead…
… so our souls could be saved and spared the certain “wages” (result) of sin, which is death – physical and spiritual.
Christ made this ultimate substitution – the Blameless for the blameworthy, the Sinless for the sinners, He “who knew no sin” for those who knew nothing BUT sin – on the Cross, atop a haltingly haunting-turned-thrill-inducing hill called Calvary.
[If that song seemed “sleepy”, this one will wake you up…]
[…and please don’t miss the big blessing of THIS third and final song, I think it just might melt or mend your heart… (it definitely melted mine!)]
Like I said, the ultimate Substitute!
Our all-in-all, our Everything,
Jesus is our God and King.
For Him – and Him alone – we sing,
Because He crushed death’s pow’r and sting;
To Him our hearts we humbly bring –
Yes, Jesus is our God and King.
And bringing this post full circle by ending where we began (basketball), there’s a similar-but-distinct second sort of player who has impressed me throughout these Playoffs, which I’ll write about in the next post so stay tuned (as they say in the TV biz 🙂 ) …
Donate Pray 9 ways YOU can help MAKE HISTORY
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.
The (Mind-Popping, Pervasive, Palpable, Pitfall-Prone) Power of the Tongue
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryNow more than ever in my lifetime, plenty of people presume that talking more is okay, that it’s good, that it’s better – but the Bible has a blistering boatload of bad news for them; you see, not only is talking more NOT better, NOT good, and not even just OKAY… it’s WORSE! Much, much worse…
… because it’s G-U-A-R-A-N-T-E-E-D to lead to SIN!
But wait, there’s more!
And the Lord Jesus Himself went even further, broadening it to not just words spoken against Him but “every careless word” a person speaks!
But the Bible goes EVEN FURTHER to say something so stark and significant that it’s super-startling:
Even with just a cursory scan through Proverbs, one will quickly come to a crystal clear conclusion: nothing in life is so dire and dooming and destructive and deadly as folly. Yet this verse provides the antidote! This verse says that there’s something which can trump and topple even folly: the tongue. Specifically, NOT USING IT!
And that those who DO are DOOMED to suffer the horrific consequences.
Not only in the life to come (as we saw in the passage above, from Matthew) but also in this life.
I think that the utterly dangerous, destructive, disastrous, and downright deadly potential of the tongue is probably most poignantly put forth in these verses (fittingly, from another earthly brother of Jesus, like just-quoted Jude):
Yikes! Clearly, we would be wise to heed the pure and powerful words of warning in a certain Sunday school song from yesteryear and “be careful little tongues what you say.”
Donate Pray 9 ways YOU can help MAKE HISTORY
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.