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…
Quick Thought: 3 Kinds of People
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryThere are three kinds of people:
Those who seek to put their issues/burdens onto others. (Bad)
Those who seek to put their issues/burdens onto themselves. (Good – Romans 14:12)
Those who seek to put others’ issues/burdens onto themselves. (Best – Galatians 6:2)
(If I ever turned this post into a movie I’d call it “The Good, the Bad, and the Utterly Beautiful”)
May we never be the type of people who try to pass off their burdens or issues onto others; rather, may we maintain full ownership of our own and, better yet, take burdens off of other people’s shoulders and onto our own. Because when one fulfills the former, he or she will be able to add the latter. And quite easily at that.
Great perspective. Great way to live, to go through life.
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Ripple Effect
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryIt seems as though “PK’s” (pastors’ kids) tend to largely end up going to one extreme or the other in life. I’m sure there are many who end up somewhere in between, in the middle, but the ones I remember most vividly either “turned out” to be very, very good or very, very bad/troubled.
I’ll leave it to the Lord first and foremost, and under that umbrella, other people to render a verdict on how this PK, moi, yours truly, has turned out, but in any case a massive benefit of being born into such a situation (especially spiritually but in other ways, too) is that the Bible was constantly (no exaggeration) being discussed all around me since birth (my father entered seminary to get his MDiv shortly after I was born). While that wasn’t (couldn’t have been) “the” reason (since none of my siblings showed much interest in the Bible or spiritual things as kids), it absolutely didn’t hurt in my starting to memorize Bible verses at age two or three, mainly via the (long-since-defunct) BMA and (still-going-strong!) AWANA ministries.
As briefly discussed in the Overview video on the Home and Videos pages and YouTube Channel (YouTube.com/BibleMemory) and alluded to in a prior post, Bible memory has had many wonderful and powerful benefits and effects in my life including near-perfect health; I literally haven’t been sick even a single time my entire adult life (and only of the “faking it!” variety throughout my school years so I could stay home and play video games and watch TV 🙂 ) but I used the word “near-perfect” just now because there was kinda one exception: for a few years as a teen, maybe every 3-6 months (warning, please delay for a good hour or two before reading on if you just ate) I would develop ingrown toenails. Always the “big toe”. (And once on BOTH feet at the same time… OUCH!)
But would any rational, sane person think that said pain was relegated, was limited to just that toenail? Of course not. The pain, the consequence, the result (quickly) spread to the foot and leg and indeed entire body. (If you’ve ever broken a leg or foot or collarbone, you know exactly what I mean. And we certainly all know that a toothache doesn’t just affect the mouth.)
And that’s exactly how it is in the Christian life!
When we sin, the consequences, the results, the effects don’t remain limited or relegated to our own life but indeed spread to the entire body (local and even universal) of Christ (church… Colossians 1:24). (Good example of what I always say… in a slight tweak of Apple’s slogan, “There’s a verse for that!”)
And God is very clear how urgent a matter this is when He, through Paul, says in verses 11-13 “not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler – not even to EAT with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, GOD JUDGES. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” (Emphasis mine.)
The only thing on which I rely and depend in this life is the Bible and through it, as a result of what it says, the Lord and Holy Spirit and heavenly Father. Ergo, if a principle or perspective is taught in the Bible, that’s not 99.9% but 100% (or as I used to say as a child, “infinity percent!”) confirmation, all we need, full stop. Yet I find that the Lord doesn’t just confirm truth to us via the source and essence of truth, the Bible (John 17:17), but also in life itself (which makes perfect sense since God is the Author of both).
Two recent – and stark – examples of this principle (one person’s conduct affecting the group) in action, all from just the past year alone and spanning the political spectrum:
The name “Cuomo” used to be among the most respected in all of politics, but that’s no longer the case as it evokes mocking and ridicule after son Andrew was forced to resign in disgrace amid multiple scandals including multiple criminal complaints: the results, the consequences, didn’t affect just him as his conduct has obviously tainted his entire family and especially his father Mario’s legacy.
Ripple effect.
And when the year kicked off with around a thousand people with Trump and Republican flags and hats storming the U.S. Capitol as Congress was certifying the big presidential election two months prior, the results and consequences didn’t stop with them: as we’ve all seen in countless news stories all year, the actions of the (comparatively) few (i.e., 800-1,000 of the reported 250,000-1,000,000 who attended that rally at the White House) has in very large part tainted the entire Republican/MAGA/conservative political movement.
Ripple effect.
And how many times have many of us shared the Gospel with someone in the past year whose reason for rejecting it included the name Jerry Falwell Jr. or Ravi Zacharias? [Not judging or criticizing them but rather biblically benefiting the Body by beseeching you to not only imitate Christ-like conduct (1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17) but also realize and reject bad behavior by those who confess Christ with their mouths in public even while doing the exact opposite with their deeds in private (Philippians 3:18; 1 Timothy 5:20 … and verses 24-25 are eerily on point… not criticizing at all, for truly “there but by the grace of God go we”).]
Ripple effect.
So too, your and my words and actions and decisions have ripple effects. The vast majority of which we’ll likely never even know about on this side of eternity, but those ramifications do indeed extend to the lives of others, and certainly to the body of Christ so I think it very wise for each of us to go forward and live the rest of our time on earth with this perspective and to ensure that said words and actions and decisions are good and decent and noble in nature such that the related ripple effects will inure to the benefit of others and especially the body of Christ, not to the detriment as the examples just discussed.
In other words, to live by Bible verses such as these:
Because a toothache isn’t just felt in one’s mouth. It spreads throughout the whole body. Just like sin does in Christ’s body, the church. (Colossians 1:24). Like leaven (e.g., yeast… as I often say, “There’s no leaven in Heaven!”). Like cancer.
Or spider venom.
When I was a teenager, I was bitten by a spider in our backyard shed. I immediately told and showed my parents who virtually worshipped me throughout my entire formative years and into adulthood and I love them dearly but at times they’d tend to “have their heads in the clouds” (almost always on ministry matters so I didn’t mind!) to such an extent that things – even important, indeed, even life-and-death things – of a physical, earthly nature sometimes didn’t quite “register” with them at first, on their own, and surely enough their reaction was to “just trust the Lord” and “pray for it to heal” which are all well and good but should never be misunderstood or misused to avoid the human responsibilities in life which are in line not only with God’s will but indeed His very design for creation, for life, for us – so I respectfully let them know in no uncertain terms that at least one of them would be driving me to the emergency room within ten seconds and to their credit they did and it’s a good thing because otherwise the first person in known human history to memorize the ENTIRE Bible and then recite it back to the Lord as a one-of-a-kind love and thank-You gift for all He does and who He is would never have made it out of his teens: you see, the urgent care doctor said that I hadn’t been bitten by just any spider but a brown recluse, one of three in the black widow family. The doctor cut about a half-inch section out of my arm because he could see the poisonous venom starting to spread. (The Lord was faithful to protect me – as always – but what a great illustration of the primary means by which He does so: via the “common sense” with which he has endowed each of us such that virtually everyone knows (or learns) not to put their hand on a hot stove or in a fire.) The last thing the doctor said was that had I gone even just ten or twenty minutes longer I would have definitely lost my entire arm (via amputation) and quite possibly my life.
And that’s another great example of how it is with sin in the body of Christ, the church: when sin infects one member of the body, it’s sure to spread. Like spider venom. Like cancer. Like yeast in a lump of dough. So next time we’re tempted, let each of us immediately remind ourselves that giving in and sinning would not only displease the One who has given literally everything for us and not only bring certain discipline but also adversely affect the entire body of Christ, especially our local church.
I find that focusing on how my sinning would affect God and my fellow believers is an even far more effective motivation and means by which to overcome temptation.
May I never, ever be a stumbling block or spider bite or cancer to my brothers and sisters and especially my Lord and Savior and best friend by far.
How could ANY pleasure promised by sin (James 1:14-15) even COME CLOSE to comparing to the pleasure delivered via purity and righteousness and obedience?
Next time you experience temptation I hope you give that tip a try! It has worked wonders for me. Along with a few others in particular which I’ll discuss in-depth in future posts. But the biggest “bat” by far to aid in believers’ battle with temptation and sin and the evil one is, yep, you got it, the B-I-B-L-E (to quote a beloved Sunday school song). Reading it, yes. Studying it, yes. But especially memorizing it.
With one year’s ending and another’s beginning, may we refocus our day-to-day lives on pure and righteous living and obedience to God’s Word, the Bible. And that’s really BibleMemory.ORG in a nutshell: to demonstrate the true and tangible and jaw-dropping power of the Bible – in my own life and then help do so in the lives of countless others. If YOU would like to be my partner and “fellow worker” for the kingdom of God in general and for the cause of Bible memory in specific and thus share in the eternal/heavenly and immediate/earthly benefits such is sure to produce, please click here and, if comfortably able, also the small “Make this a monthly donation” check-box on that PayPal page as this would provide even far better visibility and planning for the many ministries methinks God intends to flow forth from this historic project underway at BibleMemory.ORG!
May He bless you richly in the New Year.
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Talk about a weighty post!
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryPun fun aside, I’ve been thin my whole life… with two exceptions. The first was when I was promoted to a cushy desk job; it wasn’t the fact that I literally sat at a desk the entire shift in that new role so much as the fact that said shifts lasted 10-12 hours, virtually the whole waking day. Leaving no room for exercise. Enough said.
Then one morning I noticed that my suit pants had gotten a bit too tight for my taste and weighed myself and it was “go time!” Having resigned from that job and gone into business for myself weeks before, I availed myself of that newfound freedom of schedule and hit the many walking paths in the area (or the treadmill when the weather was wavering) for two or three hours every day but Sundays and, wa-la, got back down to my high school weight again. Whew, close call.
But then it happened again. Just recently. That’s right, the second exception was when the trying-to-taper-but-still-going-as-I-write-this pandemic hit early last year (2020) and pretty much everything was shuttered, total lockdown for what turned into many months and I put the previous poundage back on but here’s the thing: like before, it kinda “crept up” on me, like the frog which starts out in a pot of lukewarm water which only very slowly comes to a boil.
And it hit me that this is exactly how it is with the Christian life! More often than not, sin “creeps up” on a believer and previously-gained ground is given back very subtly.
Another perfect parallel: for a second time in my life I now know what it feels like to take “two steps forward, one step back” when it comes to weight management. What it’s like to “give gained ground back” and how important and more efficient it is to (a) be aware of that ever-present (pesky!) potential and (b) prevent it.
And back to the physical realm, I’ve learned for the second time that the best way to do this is to weigh myself every week or so (versus never like before). And that’s true in the spiritual realm, too!
In the physical realm I’ve taken to doing so on Saturdays, and while I’m thankful for the progress so far (around 50% of the “pandemic pounds” have been worked off) that still leaves the other half and it hit me just now on this lovely November Saturday evening that I could always just set my (analog) bathroom scale to a default setting of -15 (versus 0) and, wa-la, that would do the trick, problem solved! But only in my mind. Yes, it would feel good but wouldn’t actually do any good.
This is very obvious in the physical realm but sadly it’s exactly what countless people do spiritually in trying to take a “shortcut” to salvation/heaven, to find a different route than Christ and perhaps the biggest example of this is the massive rise we’ve all seen in “virtue signaling” in recent years in particular. As I find myself saying more and more often to those who ask, don’t let yourself get “triggered” when you observe people doing that but instead simply see it for what it actually is. Self-righteousness. Nothing more and nothing less. It’s a way human nature tries to make a person feel better about one’s spiritual state / soteriological situation, spurred on by the sense of eternity God Himself has set in the human heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11) but unless a person goes through Christ (John 14:6) it’s literally no different than if one were to set the default on their bathroom scale to -15.
Truly, totally ineffective.
Why try to do for oneself (with guaranteed failure) what Christ has already done for us (with infinite success)?
Why merely feel good about one’s spiritual state very temporarily versus actually being in good shape for all eternity?
I choose the latter.
I choose Christ.
Unlike the computer on which I’m currently typing, when it comes to salvation/heaven there are no shortcuts. Or as the famous tagline in Porsche ads would put it, there is no substitute.
The solution is found in Christ alone.
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If you sense that the Lord might be leading YOU to support the historic event unfolding in real-time here at BibleMemory.ORG and thus become my fellow worker and thus share in all of the fruit and blessings (3 John 8) and literally MAKE HISTORY together, here are the best ways to do so:
1. Become a one-time or monthly partner by making a donation via PayPal’s fully-secure Bible Memory page!
2. Encourage as many people as you can to support this historic event by having them go to BibleMemory.ORG/support (please make sure they understand that it’s .org, not .com) – doing so by word-of-mouth is great, and to do so with a single click on your social media simply click here then scroll down a few inches to the green box and select your platforms, it’s that quick and easy!
3. Add your name to my Prayer List!
4. Encourage as many of our fellow Christians as you can to pray for this historic event by having them go to BibleMemory.ORG/pray (please make sure they understand that it’s .org, not .com) – doing so by word-of-mouth is great, and to do so with a single click on your social media simply click here then scroll down a few inches and select your platforms, it’s that quick and easy!
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