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: Best. Attorney. EVER. I highly recommend availing yourself of His services.
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryImagine this scenario: a person commits a crime, is guilty as sin (literally!) but when going to trial, when entering the courtroom, sees that his defense attorney is also the judge and jury!
Sounds silly in light of how our legal system actually works, but did you ever realize that this is EXACTLY how it is for YOU AND ME in the spiritual/eternal system of justice? That’s right. We are the defendant/accused (Romans 3:23; 5:12), God is the judge (James 4:12), the devil is the prosecutor (Revelation 12:10), and Jesus Christ is the defense attorney: “And if ANYONE sins, we have an Advocate [defense attorney] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
That’s right. It’s TOTALLY RIGGED – but in OUR FAVOR in this case! IF we select the right defense attorney.
As referenced in the previous post: “To sum up, each and every one of us is born into sin by default (Romans 5:12) but then compound the situation by our own actual sins (Romans 3:23) which carry the spiritual penalty of death (Romans 6:23).” BUT made available to each person is the greatest defense attorney ever, who has never lost even a single case for a client. Not by proffering clever legal arguments. No, the Lord Jesus Christ is unlike any other defense attorney because He wins our freedom by offering to SERVE THE SENTENCE for our crimes on our behalf, in our stead, in our place: “and He Himself is the propitiation [substitute] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)
Yeah, I think I’ll take HIM as my defense attorney in spiritual court, thank you very much. Talk about a no-brainer! Talk about a slam-dunk! Talk about a rigged system – but praise God, this one is indeed in our immense and infinite favor. We simply need to choose the right Attorney.
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Talk About SCARY!
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryI’m writing this on October 31. While the world wilts at the thought of ghosts and goblins and other mythical creatures, I’d like to share with you what I think actually is THE SCARIEST thing in the universe. Bar none.
You might think I’m talking about hell, about spending all eternity in fiery torture and utter darkness and isolation and separation from God (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9) but would you believe that there’s something – one thing – EVEN SCARIER than that? And that’s this: a person’s spending all eternity in hell after being fully convinced for YEARS and even DECADES here on earth that he or she would be spending it in heaven.
The other day I turned on the TV for a few minutes to see what was going on in the nation and world, to keep up with the news, and I came across a commercial with former President Ronald Reagan’s son and namesake, Ron Reagan (which is the only reason I stopped to, you know, actually watch a commercial – a very rare, nay, unheard-of event for me personally, but he was one of the most beloved presidents so I waited a few seconds to see what his son would say). Perhaps you’ve seen it: he promotes atheism and ends by saying something to the effect that he’s “looking forward to burning in hell.”
Okay, that’s the OPPOSITE of what I’m talking about here.
I’m not referring to people like him who think eternity itself is a joke or myth or even that they’ll have fun in hell. And I’m not even talking about the exponentially greater number of people who rightly realize and view that notion as utter folly, who don’t mock hell but also don’t know whether or not they’ll avoid that grimmest of fates.
BOTH of those thoughts are scary, to be sure. Very scary. At least to any sane person. But what I find to be scariest is the fact that many, many, many people who are absolutely convinced that they’ll go to heaven will wake one irreversible day, when it’s too late, in the fiery lake of hell. The Lord Jesus Himself could not have been any clearer about this in Matthew 7.
Just the thought of that breaks my heart. Breaks. My. Heart. And brings tears to my eyes. So it’s no surprise that this is one of THE BIGGEST, STRONGEST motivating factors of my life and very existence, to spend virtually every second of every minute of every hour of every day doing everything I can (the Lord through me) to help people KNOW and MAKE SURE they are indeed headed for heaven, not hell.
I do not desire at all to breed doubt in anyone. Just the opposite: blessed and blissful certainty about this most important of all matters. Nor does the Bible desire at all to breed doubt, but given said all-importance it does URGE us in two passages in particular not to doubt but rather to REMOVE any and all doubt about our eternal status and destiny.
Hmm, that sounds very familiar. Probably because it’s a virtual mirror of the “fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23. And also similar to the list in Romans 5:3-5. And Ephesians 5:18-21.
Yes, beloved, the standard, the “key” for grading the test is very clear in the Bible – not just these passages but also the entire books of James and 1 John which in essence were written for this very purpose, so that the reader “may KNOW that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13) simply by “looking intently” into the mirror of the Bible and abiding by what we see versus being “like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror” and then simply “goes away” and “immediately forgets” what he saw (James 1:22-25).
So why did these two warnings in 2 Corinthians 5:13 and 2 Peter 1:10 even need to be given much less twice? One word: deceit.
You see, not only do we have the external factor of the devil always seeking to deceive us with his various “schemes” (Ephesians 6:11) but we also have the internal factor of our fallen flesh (Jeremiah 17:9). But wait, there’s more! Believe it or not. Just what we needed, right? Yeah, like an eighth hold in the head. But be that as it may, along with being prone to the deceit of the devil and our own flesh, there’s also the additional deceit produced by sin itself (Hebrews 3:13). That’s right, it’s already as though each of us is trying to walk UP the DOWN escalator, but when we let sin into our lives, when we give into temptation, it’s as though the operator pushes the “2x speed” button.
This is the reason for that exclamation point (urgency) in 2 Corinthians 13:5 and the phrase “ALL THE MORE DILIGENT” in 2 Peter 1:10 and “applying ALL DILIGENCE” in verse 5.
But that’s easier said than done. Why? It goes back to the devil’s deceptive”schemes” of Ephesians 6:11. The Lord Himself called him the “father of lies” (John 8:44) and said that the self-righteous religious leaders of the time wanted “to do the desires” of the devil, to carry out and fulfill what THE DEVIL wanted them to. But did you know that this is the case with EVERYONE who hasn’t put their faith in Christ? “… those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from THE SNARE OF THE DEVIL, having been HELD CAPTIVE by him to DO HIS WILL.” (2 Timothy 2:25-26)
Wow! Double-wow! Just to think that there are literally billions of people on earth who are headed for an eternity in hell but don’t even realize it. Why? Well, if we had been thrown out of heaven and cursed to spending all eternity in the fiery lake and darkness and torture of hell and wanted as many people as possible to suffer that fate with us (per the time-tested adage that “misery loves company”), what would be the BEST way to accomplish that? Exactly. To make people headed for hell THINK THAT they’re going to heaven. In other words, the devil’s main desire and goal in life – and ultimately his only desire and goal – is to take as many people with him to hell. WHAT BETTER WAY TO DO THAT THAN TO MAKE THEM THINK THAT THEY’RE GOING TO HEAVEN?
You see, people who are searching out and seeking the truth are far more likely to find it, right? But by convincing so many people, by making and keeping them so convinced that they’re going to heaven, his job is made a thousand times easier and more effective, more productive, more successful. Talk about warped! Talk about evil genius! Talk about psychological/spiritual warfare! He’s playing for keeps. For eternity. But thankfully God in/through the Bible has given us all the weaponry we need to combat and overcome him and his tactics and wicked intent. The “armor of God” as noted in that very same verse, Ephesians 6:11, and consummated in verse 17 by “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” – the Bible! Isn’t it amazing how everything always comes back and down to the Bible?! This is why I’ve committed the rest of my life (literally) to memorizing it. Reading it is right, studying it is super, but memorizing it is max, ingesting it is incomparable, irreplaceable, and imperative for maximum victory over the devil and sin and our own human propensity for being deceived. 1 John 2:14 – “because you are strong, and THE WORD OF GOD ABIDES IN you, and you have OVERCOME THE EVIL ONE.” It’s right there in black and white, the only question is whether or not we’ll walk through that wide open door.
To sum up, each and every one of us is born into sin by default (Romans 5:12) but then compound the situation by our own actual sins (Romans 3:23) which carry the spiritual penalty of death (Romans 6:23). BUT by accepting that “free gift of God” of “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” by placing our faith and foundation for entering heaven wholly, fully, and solely in Him (John 14:6) by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) which comes via the Bible (Romans 10:17; James 1:18) and will be confirmed by a characterizing pattern of good works in that person’s life (Ephesians 2:10; James 2:14-26; Romans 5:15-19; entire book of James; entire book of 1 John) which also comes via the Bible (1 Peter 2:2; John 17:17).
Therefore, it’s absolutely imperative that each of us examine our own life to see, to “make certain” that it does indeed demonstrate such a pattern and if it does, then we can KNOW for a FACT that we will indeed spend eternity in heaven, not hell. “Even so, EVERY good tree bears good FRUIT; but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:17)
But if we fail to do that, to make certain of that most important of all matters, the Bible makes clear that we run the risk of merely thinking we’re on the road to heaven, of being in the very same boat of the people Jesus addressed later in that Chapter, in verses 21-23, which in my view is indeed the SCARIEST passage in all of Scripture and scariest thought in the universe. May we be wise in this matter and heed the instruction and implied warning of 2 Corinthians 13:5 and 2 Peter 1:10 – not for the purpose of making us doubt but rather to REMOVE all doubt about our true eternal destination and spiritual status. In other words, don’t question your salvation, clarify it; don’t doubt it, definitely do confirm it by taking a close look at your life on a regular basis to make sure that what you see if in line with what you read in the Bible: if it IS then KNOW that you are indeed saved and heaven is in your future, not hell. But if the overall, characterizing pattern of your life isn’t in line with the Bible then it would be wise to stop wandering through life with a guess and come to a clear conclusion in the matter – and quickly. Because tomorrow is guaranteed to nobody, only today, indeed only right now. If your examination suggests that you’re in this second camp, please don’t put it off for another day, hour, or even minute. I don’t want you to find yourself in the same situation as undoubtedly so many of those unsuspecting 9/11 victims did, startled to awake in hell when they thought they were going to heaven, or never took the time to nail down that most important of matters. And then next thing they knew, it was too late. “NOW is the acceptable time, TODAY is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Today is the day.
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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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Let’s Give A Big Hand…
/in Uncategorized /by Bible Memory… to Sunday school teachers. Are they THE BEST or what?!
They don’t do it for money or praise (since they get the latter so infrequently, and the former almost never) but rather give a good deal of their precious time for one reason: to help others, often the next generation, often children.
I remember my Sunday school teachers like it was yesterday. Most of them didn’t have impressive jobs or incomes or titles, yet I’ve remembered them regularly as I’ve journeyed through life ever since.
One in particular had an outsized impact on me, on my life and especially my future (now my present).
As noted on the home page and in other posts, ever since I heeded God’s call for my life to memorize the ENTIRE BIBLE, I’ve found that He and/or it – the Bible itself – has been revealing to me, to my mind’s eye, a very specific method to accomplish that. How true it is that God’s calling NEVER LACKS God’s provision, so I’m not surprised by this development at all but nor was I expecting it. But I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful and blesses I’ve been by it, as it hasn’t just made this historic goal actually doable but has literally revolutionized my life, because it has revolutionized my mind, my entire way of thinking, my entire thought process.
And I’m 99.99% sure that it’ll have the exact same effect on countless others when He finishes revealing it to me and I can thus share it. My sense is that I’m around 75% of the way there so I expect this to occur in the not-too-distant future and what a total GAME-CHANGER and (literally) world-changer it’ll be, no doubt about it. It will make it EASY (and, believe it or not, FUN!) for virtually ANYONE to memorize and retain unthinkably-large amounts of text. My hope and strong recommendation of course will be for them to use it 90+% for Bible memory but the fact is that it works for everything else, too. Just like EVERYTHING in the Bible does! (1 Timothy 4:8 – “For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for ALL THINGS, since it holds promise for the PRESENT LIFE and also for the life to come.”)
I am so excited about this! Please be praying that the Holy Spirit and the Bible itself will keep it coming, will keep revealing this to me, will keep filling in that final 25% so I can share it with everyone and have the great pleasure and honor of seeing it benefit them as it has me.
But back to that childhood Sunday school teacher. Before I had any inkling that decades later God would call me to be the first person in known human history to memorize the ENTIRE BIBLE, He used that Sunday school teacher to give me my very first taste. I remember it as though it were yesterday. He was teaching us the books of the New Testament and helping us memorize them so we could turn to a passage quickly whenever the Bible was being taught, and he gave a very common but unknown-to-my-young-brain-until-then mnemonic device of acronyms.
USA, CIA, FBI, DOD, TSA, ICE – the government certainly hasn’t been bashful about using it, that’s for sure. =) And he was in the military so that all fits perfectly but the way he used it with us, with that church room of around 15 kids, was to remember the correct order of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, and he did so via “General Electric Pepsi Cola”. (A friend later said his Sunday school teacher used this variation: “General Electric Power Company” – that’s good, too, probably even a little better… whatever works best for you as I often say.) And that was all I needed! I had been memorizing Bible verses for a few years at that point thanks to BMA and AWANA (can we also give a big hand for all AWANA workers?! What a great ministry that is!) but this seemingly small aid took it to a whole other level.
I hope that ALL of the teachers reading this will never forget that even the smallest statement out of your mouth, even what might seem like a “throwaway line” can make a HUGE difference in your students’ lives and even effect change on the whole world as I think will be the case in this instance.
To all teachers – and especially Sunday school teachers – thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart (and I’m sure your students’, if not now then certainly when they’re older). Lord bless you richly for investing your time and energy and insights for eternal dividends. Indeed, “your labor is not in vain…” (I Corinthians 15:58). I’m living proof.
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