Proof of Authenticity

The next thing that occurred to me was how could I demonstrate that this is legitimate, that it’s not just talk or a pipe dream?  I’ve decided and indeed already begun to pour every penny of my life savings into this but that would only cover a handful of months on its own, and a goal as huge as memorizing the ENTIRE BIBLE, well, I’m sure you’re aware how long it takes to merely read  the entire Bible, so multiply that by 10 or 20 or 30 and you’ll see that this will take several years, which means I’ll need to do it full-time, which means it’s only going to happen if the Lord leads enough like-minded Bible-loving believers to support it, so it’s very important to me that they know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this is 100% legitimate and real, and the best way I could think of to accomplish that was to make a video reciting the very first entire book  I’ve memorized, the New Testament book of James, as well as links to the other five I’ve memorized on a part-time basis until now.

But since I’m doing this over the internet, how could I guarantee  that I’m not reading lines or cheating in some way?  And that’s when I went out and bought a double-ply sleeping blindfold from Walmart.  Looks strange (and feels even stranger!) but verifying the legitimacy of this project is exponentially more important, so without further ado…

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    VIDEO:  Reciting the entire book of TITUS from memory
    VIDEO:  Reciting the entire book of PHILEMON from memory
    VIDEO:  Reciting the entire book of HEBREWS from memory
    VIDEO:  Reciting the entire book of JAMES from memory
    VIDEO:  Reciting the entire book of 1 PETER from memory
    VIDEO:  Reciting the entire book of 2 PETER from memory

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NOTE: The official recitation videos for these first six and all future  books of the Bible I memorize – eventually ALL 66 Lord-willing, and I’m sure He is! – will be located on the Videos page in their biblical  order and on the Blog page amid all the other videos and posts in chronological  order.

Speaking of the blog and other videos, I also intend to publish regular “stream of memory” (like stream of consciousness) videos which I refer to as “informal” (versus “official”) since I’ll be reciting various books of the Bible from memory but will also  share seemingly “random” thoughts and insights about those passages and principles as they arise, as the Lord and the Holy Spirit and the Word itself bring them to mind in REAL-TIME as the Bible filters through my mind!  These have proven to be absolutely LIFE-CHANGING to me and I think you’ll enjoy those same massive benefits as well, that these videos will CHANGE YOUR LIFE in a very tangible and wonderful and ongoing way.  Literally for the rest of your life and indeed all eternity.  Such is the true nature of the Word ingested:  it is alive and active (Hebrews 4:12), it restores the soul (Psalm 19:7-8), it transforms the mind (Colossians 3:16), and it lasts forever (1 Peter 1:23) – it will be my honor to demonstrate and unleash these truths and benefits in YOUR life, too!  So you can do likewise in the lives of others, and so on, and so on, and so on.  (Talk about a virtuous circle!)

Plan of Action

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…

Prizes of Assistance

When I say “partner” I mean it – all who provide such crucial financial assistance to help fund this history-making effort and resultant ministries can expect to receive the following:

1.)  Perpetual Accountability:  I will be ongoingly accountable to you by regularly posting videos of my reciting new books of the Bible as completed, so you’ll be able to follow every step of this process as it unfolds and know for certain that I’m staying the course and continuing to relentlessly pursue this historic goal!

2.)  Personal Appreciation:  You’ll be on the receiving end of immeasurable, literally unlimited gratitude from me for joining other Lord-led, like-minded, Bible-loving believers in supporting this each month and thus literally help make it happen, help make it a reality for the Lord to receive this first-and-only-one-of-its-kind “love/thank-You” gift for all He does and who He is!

3.)  Permanent Award:  Did you know that the Bible teaches that when you support a ministry or related God-useful cause, you actually and literally SHARE in all of the fruit?  3 John 8  “Therefore we ought to support such men, that we  may be fellow workers  [and therefore SHARERS] with the truth.”  And Luke 6:38  “Give and it will be GIVEN TO YOU; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.”  And Proverbs 11:25 perhaps puts it most poignantly:  “The GENEROUS man will be PROSPEROUS, and he who waters will HIMSELF be watered.”  This doesn’t merely pertain to blessing in this life but extends to spiritual fruit and reward.  Indeed, one of the reasons that I started this ministry was so like-minded people could have a great, fun, and unique way to multiply the funds the Lord has entrusted to them and convert those into spiritual and everlasting treasure and reward.  Matthew 6:20-21  “But lay up for yourselves treasures in HEAVEN, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  It doesn’t get any better than that!

And below are some additional ways to support this effort that don’t cost a dime and for those who aren’t able to be a Monthly Partner at this time…