Reading the Bible in a Year

I have recently seen lots of tweets and posts and yielded a fair number of questions on the topic of reading the Bible through in a year. It is a common resolution and one likely a little less successful than weight loss or watching less television.

If you are setting out to read Genesis through Revelation this year, I suggest a visit to Jon Acuff's SCL website and read:

Already being behind on your read through the Bible in a year plan.

If you have indeed already fallen behind or if you have decided to put it off until next year or if you have decided it sounds like a good idea but is never going to happen, here is another thought: What about an opportunity to read the grand, sweeping narrative of the Bible and to experience the the stories and chronology of the work of God and of God's people in the words of scripture? What if you could do that in about twelve weeks? What if you could do that in community so that you could hold yourself accountable to get it done plus have a chance to learn a little bit more of what is behind the words, share your thoughts and questions and discuss new insights? What if there was only one meeting at the church and the rest of the course could be done online on your own schedule?

Well then... join us for The Forum a core course in the Message Phase of the Pathway to Discipleship. There is one required meeting at the church on January 16th at 5:30pm or January 19th at 7pm. The rest of the course will take place online for 12 weeks starting the week of the 26th. The cost of the course is $15 which includes a copy of The Story, the text we will use.

You can register online (soon) at register.uchurch.tv or email Elizabeth at elizabeth@uchurch.tv.

peace,

will

Memorization Tips

During this portion of Season with the Savior, we are emphasizing the discipline of memorizing scripture. You can read more about what is behind it in another post: Memorizing Scripture.

I promised a little guidance for those who have never done it before, so here it is: (Note, the scripture reference below is in the New Revised Standard Version of The Bible, the text read on the South Campus. For our North Campus worshippers, your weekly memory verse is in the New International Version.)

1. Realize that you can do it – I nearly dropped out of seminary when they told me everything I would need to memorize. However, I stuck to it. Memorization is harder for some people; but you can do this. We are starting out with some short passages and working our way up.
2. Set aside a little time every day – If you already have time set apart from prayer and scripture reading every day, this can be part of it. If you do not, you really should and this is a great way to get started.
3. Don’t forget the reference – This week, we are memorizing Matthew 6:33. Just say that over and over until you remember it.
4. Figure out the gist of the passage – It is harder to memorize a seemingly random set of words. So read the passage a few times through aloud and think about what it means. Don’t forget the reference. Say it out loud, “Matthew 6:33 - But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
5. Start memorizing - I am going to give an A and B because people are wired differently. I realize there is a C, D, E, etc. I am going to leave that for the comment section. I will lay out two ways, and oral method and a written method.
1. Oral – Write the verse down on a small piece of paper or use the tear-off that you received in worship. This is pretty simple. Start repeating the verse over and over. “Matthew 6:33 – But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” After a couple times, see how far you get before looking at the paper. If you do this enough times, you will stop looking at the paper altogether. Keep the paper with you. Put it in your pocket, wallet or purse. When you have a moment, try reciting the passage and if you get stuck pull out the paper. Don’t forget the reference.
2. Written – This is pretty much the same thing. Take out a sheet of paper and start writing the verse. “Matthew 6:33 – But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” This is my method and I tried all sorts of tricks in school. For instance, after I wrote it a few times, I would cover up what I just wrote with another sheet of paper so I could try it without any help.
6. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. Spend a few minutes every day and you will start getting it.

There are lots of tips and tricks. In many ways, memorizing scripture is like memorizing anything else. You just need to find something that will get the connections going in your brain and you need to work at it. I would love to hear some other tips that you have found useful. It was also be great to hear how it going. Feel free to share from your own joys and struggles as we memorize scripture together.

peace,

will

Going Deep

Our Assistant Director of Discipleship, Michael Andres, will be writing a guest post in response to the comments from my last post. In the meantime, here my latest column from The U's "Encourager."

Going Deep

I have finally finished my latest journey through the Bible. It has been a while since I have set out to read every book, every chapter, every verse. I have never been very good at reading straight through. So this time, I split it up and read some from multiple sections every day (for instance: Torah, Psalms, Prophets, Gospels, Letters.) This journey took me the entire fall and into January. And as usual, it left me feeling refreshed, inspired, focused, connected and completely ignorant. I am pretty sure that between readings God is adding thing to the text. I am a seminary trained student of the Bible. I read the Bible every day and every time I sit down to take a comprehensive trip through, I feel like I am being confronted by things I have never seen before. It is not surprising if you think about it. I mean, how much time do most of us spend searching the depths of the prophet Obadiah? How often do we ponder the narrative differences in the story of God’s people as told in Samuel and Kings vs. the way it is told in Chronicles? How many of us could say for sure if the following names are really in the Bible: Asahel, Eliahba, Eliphelet, Igal, Ithai, Mebunnai, Zalmon? (Actually all of them, spelled that way in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.) How much time do we dedicate to reading the Gospels and pondering their message? How much time do we spend comparing and contrasting each account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and wondering why God led the different Gospel writers to focus on different aspects of Jesus Christ?

It was Albert Einstein who said, “The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know.” That is so true for me and my life with scripture. But much like the ever curious Einstein, my realized lack of knowledge draws me to want to know more and more. While I feel like my tiny little human brain will never be able to take in the full depth and breadth of what God offers to us in scripture, my love of God never wants to give up.

This quest for knowing is not just an academic exercise in Bible trivia; it is an act of loving the one who created us and gave us a written account of our life together.

When asked about the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus replies, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) Jesus calls us to be more than followers but matheteis – disciples, students, learners.

Mark Batterson, in his book Primal, A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2009) writes,

When you stop learning, you stop loving. Why? Because loving is learning more and more about the one you love. True love is never satisfied. It always wants to know more about the object of its affection. The more you love God, the more curious you become.

As we enter into the second portion of Season with the Savior, I encourage you to go deep, to engage your holy curiosity and learn more about the One you love and the One who loves you. While there are many ways to go deeper in our walk with God, let us focus, for a while on loving God with our mind through the study of scripture. During this second part of the series, That’s What the Man Said: The Key Teachings of Jesus, there are many opportunities to dig into the message of Jesus as found in scripture. You will find some of them laid out in this issue of The Encourager. But let me challenge you to a few very simple and clear steps. Through this series which goes through March 14, consider the following:

• Buy a Bible if you don’t already have one that is specifically yours – The Word Store has a great selection of Bibles in all shapes and sizes.
• Keep your Bible with you all the time – You will find that you have more time to read it than you think.
• Bring your Bible worship every Sunday – Keep it open as we talk about scripture.
• Memorize Scripture – We will offer scripture each week through the series along with hints and suggestions for memorizing scripture.

Maybe you are a lot further along in your journey than I am. Perhaps you have the Bible down pat. If so, consider the words of Harry Truman, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that really counts.” More importantly, remember the words of scripture, “Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge.” (1 Corinthians 8:2)

Blessings on your journey!

Will

Memorizing Scripture

The other night at our Charge Conference (that is the connectional decision making body for the local church in United Methodist governance) the chair of our Administrative Board began the opening devotional by reciting Psalm 100 from memory. I was taken at how powerful that simple action was. Had you asked me beforehand if there would be much of a difference between him reading it or reciting it from memory I would have responded that I didn’t think it would matter, but it did. That brief experience really convicted me about what we are about to do as we move into the second component of our series of series “Season with the Savior.”

During “That’s What the Man Said: Key Teachings of Jesus” February 7-March 14, 2010, we will offer one key verse each week and challenge members of the congregation to memorize it. It will be my job to offer some resources and tools and give some encouragement to people who are committing to this discipline.

I have to admit that this is new to me. Remember, I didn’t grow up in the church so I never did “Sword Drills” or any other memory work in Sunday school. But as I have been thinking about how we are going to do this, I have become more and more convinced about how vital and important it is.

I believe that scripture tells us that God wants scripture to be more than something on our shelves; God wants it to be in our hearts. Deuteronomy 6:6 reads,

Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.

God wants the word to dwell in us, to be part of our very being. Colossians 3:16 reads,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

If you have ever taken a Bible class with me, you might know that, for me, this is not as simple as memorizing key passages. I want people to know the overarching story of the Bible and the message that is heard from knowing the entire narrative of God’s relationship with God’s people. Just memorizing scripture doesn’t do this. However, when you combine the memorization of scripture with a life of comprehensive Bible study, these memorized passages become mental bookmarks. One verse calls to mind more than that verse. It calls to mind where it fits in the overarching story of redemption. It becomes a bookmark to remember all of God’s word to us.

I challenge you to try it. Our first verse will come Sunday, February 7th. We will cover it in worship and then have the whole week to memorize and live with it. I look forward to hearing how it goes and how this time with scripture affects individuals and the congregation as a whole.

Don’t know where to start? Check back on the weblog, I will be posting some tricks, tips and resources in the coming days.

peace,

will