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…
A Terrific Tip for Parents… and a Shout-Out to an Old Friend
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryA few posts ago (“Why I’m Doing This”) and on the Why page in reason numbers nine and ten, I mentioned that my childhood was characterized by having famous theologians (Merrill Unger, Andy Telford, Richard Seume) and preachers (Haddon Robinson) and Christian leaders (James Dobson, Jay Adams, the latter of whom was the inventor or nouthetic counseling yet downright hilarious at the dinner table, especially when it came time for dessert) and a hundred different missionaries stay at my family’s home from time to time, for up to a week at a time (you really get to know someone when they spend seven straight nights in your home).
Another thing that characterized it was this: before dinner, which we’d all eat together, my dad would lead us in singing a short song or the chorus of a hymn – here are the ones we would sing 99% of the time, basically on a rotating basis but Dad would usually let each of us pick the song and I’d usually pick this first one even if it had just been sung the evening before (certain things never get boring or “old” or “tiring” to me no matter how much I hear or sing or eat them, a trait which has been with me my whole life) (as always, when I post external songs or videos or links, those aren’t an endorsement of the artist or uploader as it’s not worth the time to research all of that – even if such were doable; that said, I do have a strong hunch that most or all of them are fine people who share our Christian values, as otherwise they probably wouldn’t post a song honoring Christ):
(… those first four are the ones I sing most frequently, still, to this very day… Proverbs 22:6 in action!)
(… while in my family’s case it was around the dinner table, that one hits closest to home of these eight videos)
I rarely give advice to parents (I’m pretty sure 99.9% of whom have far more wisdom about how to raise children than I do) but I’m happy to make this twofer exception: as much as possible, (a) eat dinner together, as a family, as a unit, and (b) before “digging in” sing a short Christian chorus and say a prayer… this will pay dividends for the rest of your life. And theirs.
I’m living proof.
[Side note: Speaking of Haddon Robinson, not only did he spend an entire week at my home when I was barely out of my teens but I also got to drive him – an hour each way – to the location of the weeklong preaching seminar he was holding (you also get to know a person really well when spending ten hours in a car with them). What a gift. What a treasure. (I’ve never told anyone about 90% of all we talked about… sounds like great grist for some future posts!) He was known for teaching preachers how to preach. (Similar to Charles Spurgeon a century before, he was known as “the Prince of Preaching”.) Here’s a small example for those of you who have the interest and time and if you lack the latter at least listen to the first 30 seconds, it’s classic Haddon Robinson, Haddon in a nutshell: he never took himself too seriously, but always took the Word of God very seriously… here’s to you, old friend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
He went home to be with the Lord in 2017, at which time I’m sure he heard the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” None of the scandals or “secret sin lives” which some high-profile Christian leaders have had revealed in recent years. Here’s a video of his memorial service… I’ll see you again some day, old friend, and you can let me know how I did with the many boulders (not nuggets) of wisdom and preaching and the Bible you shared with me in those five round-trip car rides in particular.]
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Quick Thought: Blocking Spam
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryLike everyone else, I get quite a bit of spam in my email inbox.
I love the fact that I can simply mark those as such and BLOCK THE SENDER going forward.
That’s exactly what Bible memory does in the Christian life! It “blocks” sin from making it to the “inbox” of our mind.
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Chess
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryI enjoy a good game of chess.
That has been the case since I first learned the game as a child. I just went a decade without playing even a single game (as you know, I have far bigger fish to fry these days) but started playing again over the recent holidays and it really is like riding a bike. I’m definitely not great at it, rather I’d rate myself as a solid “decent” but no Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov, that’s for sure; instead of enjoying the game based on skill level, the main reason is that the game is entirely bound by the rules. They provide structure, yes, but the aspect which is even far greater in my view is that once a person knows the rules, the rest of the game (strategy) is comparatively easy. Conversely, when someone doesn’t know the rules, well, you don’t want to be that person in the chess world. (And – unless you really, really, really love them – you probably won’t enjoy playing a game with someone who doesn’t know the rules.) Because those are the game of chess.
And that’s why I really enjoy it: because the rules make the game totally expectable. They eliminate any conjecture or guesswork: if you move a piece to a square that’s unobstructed and diagonal from your opponent’s bishop, you can know with utter and complete and indeed infinite certainty that your piece can be legally captured on the next move. It doesn’t mean that it will be (your opponent might not see it, might want to accomplish another purpose or make another move or two first, etc.) but you can know with infinite certitude that it can be, and that’s what allows one to develop a winning strategy.
And that’s exactly how the Bible is in the “real world” (as we used to say as kids), in life. Not knowing it, not being aware of what it says, is like trying to play chess without knowing the rules, or trying to walk in darkness.
And conversely, knowing what it says enables a person to do what it says and that, my friend, is THE KEY to life, to blessing, to all good things: obedience to God via His Word, the Bible.
Just like in chess when you know that placing a piece in a square which has an unobstructed diagonal path to the opponent’s bishop makes that piece totally vulnerable and quite possibly might end up costing you the game, so also knowing the Bible makes us aware and enables us to avoid the pitfalls of life, to avoid sin and its many devastating consequences…
… and not just to avoid the pitfalls but to reap real rewards…
… in the life to come AND in this one!
Knowing and obeying the Bible is the path to true and lasting blessing and joy and fulfillment. And there’s literally no better way to know and obey the Bible than to memorize it.
If you’d like to help me help countless others do so, please see the Side Panel to the right for several ways, all but one of which don’t cost a dime and hardly any time! (Hey, that’s a rhyme! 🙂 )
And if you’d like to memorize, to store entire books of the Bible in YOUR mind or that of your children or nieces and nephews or students, stay tuned since I sense that in six or twelve months from now I will have received all or at least a sufficiently huge percentage of the specific memory method which the Bible itself has been revealing to my mind’s eye ever since I began this historic project… more updates here on this blog as events unfold over the coming months, I am absolutely certain that it will not only change countless lives but revolutionize the world of education, the very way we learn and teach.
I saw a news article which reported that “chess has been shown to raise student’s overall IQ scores. A Venezuelan study involving 4,000 second-grade students found a significant increase in their IQ scores after only 4.5 months of systematically studying chess”…
Just wait until the world sees the results when I show students (and adults! Because as I often say, it’s never too early to start memorizing Scripture but it’s never too late either!) across the country and the globe HOW to literally transfer and store, permanently, huge chunks of the infinite and effective and beyond-mighty Bible, the “living and abiding” (1 Peter 1:23), “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12) Word of God Himself, which does not “return void” (Isaiah 55:11) but rather “performs its work” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) in any and all who simply believe and receive it.
Stay tuned. Never-before-seen and indeed never-before-imagined things are on the way.
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