Nationals Update

With the National Bible Bee less than a week away as I write this, our studying is intense. The 750 verses we were assigned to memorize have been memorized; however this is only the beginning of the process, as we recite each passage at least once every day--ironing out small slips in the verses we know best and struggling to recall those more difficult sections. Some of the verses are more fun to say than others: we have a couple long passages from Acts it is easy to put a lot of expression into, but there’s also a section in Lamentations that is rather depressing. I think my favorite passages to say are the two resurrection chapters: Matthew 28 and John 20:1-20. It’s rather like having Easter Sunday every day. The thrill of saying “He is risen!” never gets old. One exciting thing about all the verses is the fact that the more we study them the better we can see how many of them tie into Ephesians.
Ephesians is a very rewarding study, with many important theological concepts as well as clear practical directions on living life. My method of studying Ephesians has several parts. First I try to get a general concept of whichever chapter I’m working on by listening to sermons, summarizing each verse and the chapter as a whole, reading commentaries, asking and answering questions about the chapter, and finding the “key verse” (Which means a verse that contains the major theme or teaching of a chapter. Sometimes there is more than one!) Next I focus on more specific aspects of the chapter through greek word studies and cross-references. I also hope to memorize all of Ephesians before the competition, because I have found this helps me understand how everything works together and recall what I’ve learned about each verse.
It’s a lot of work, but I’ve been very blessed to be part of the Bible Bee for the last five years. It has really helped me understand the richness of God’s Word, and given me experience I can continue to use for the rest of my life. We are both looking forward to returning to Tennessee this year, as we had a very enjoyable time last year.

Waiting for a Second Wind

I am tired. Sarah and I finished memorizing our verses the first week of October and I have been reviewing them pretty faithfully since, but still sometimes when one of our quizzers says a reference I will look at them blankly for a few seconds before giving up and saying, "What's the first word?" Also, I am beginning to be of the opinion that when the first word is "for", "and", or "then", they should not count it as a prompt, and when the first phrase is something like: "And (or "then") the Lord (or "God", or both) spoke (or "said") to Moses (or Noah, Jacob, Abraham, or him, or them, or whoever) saying (or "and said")"– that should not count either. Or they could make it all count as one prompt: "AndtheLordspoketoMosessaying" sort of like "inasmuch" or "nevertheless". However, that is not the case, so I must resign myself to trying to make stick in my head whether it was God or the Lord, spoke or said, Moses or him, in all the times that God (or the Lord) spoke (or said) to Moses (or whoever) and put as brave a face on it as possible under the circumstances.

We really are enjoying ourselves. I promise.
But we do look forward to that moment on the plane ride home, on the car ride on the way to church, while I wait for my piano lesson, to not need to recite/mutter verses to ourselves. It will be nice to have a break for a few months. But we will miss it very much.
I remember last year when we came home, getting a frantic feeling whenever I went anywhere for weeks afterward that I was forgetting something only to realize that I was missing my stacks of verses and that I didn't need them anymore. However, just because we won't be carrying around our stacks of verses, that does not mean that we won't have them with us. Now that they are in our memory, God will bring them to us just when we need them most. Which is why we knock ourselves out over a competition that just started a few years ago and still has many wrinkles and flaws. Because, of all competitions, this is one that you can truly say from your heart:

"It isn't about the competition".

Psalms 71:14-17  But I will hope continually,

And will praise You yet more and more. 

  My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness

And Your salvation all the day,

For I do not know their limits. 

I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;

I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. 

  O God, You have taught me from my youth;

 and to this day I will declare your wondrous works.

2013 Nationals

In mid-November Sarah and I will be going to participate as competitors in the 2013 Bible Bee Nationals in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee! We are very excited at this opportunity to study Ephesians and memorize 750 more verses over the next few months, as well as being able to spend a few days in the fellowship of hundreds of families from all over America who have been studying not only God's word like we have been, but the same parts of God's word!
Some of those who follow our blog may have noticed that we have not been as faithful in posting every couple of weeks. This will probably continue be the case until after November. We apologize, but, –still recovering from extreme suspense followed by extreme excitement– we do not feel as regretful as we might.

Why Memorize?

Well, Megan keeps saying it's my turn to write a post, so I'm taking her word for it. Since the Bible Bee is quite close now, I thought I'd write about why I like to memorize scripture, specifically large portions of scripture such as an entire book. There are lots of general reasons, like the fact that the verses you've memorized are often the ones that God will bring to mind when you need them, but I am going to stick more with personal reasons, since this is a blog, not a sermon.

I have been memorizing scripture since before I can remember, but the first long sections I memorized where Romans 6, and then Matthew 5. This gave me the first clue on how fun memorizing was, but I really started to get serious about it four years ago when the Bible Bee started. There is a certain thrill connected with remembering a large chunk of text for a certain period of time. So Reason #1 to Memorize: It is fun! 

Be warned that this does assume some level of enjoyment in using your brain. Which leads directly into the second reason: Reason #2 to Memorize: It is challenging. I like challenges, but even if you don't usually, they are still good for you. If you are not intimidated enough by an "easy" book like 2 Timothy or 1 John, you could always opt for something longer, like Romans, or John. I don't know how common this is, but I have a plan for my Bible memorization over the next 5 years. 

Finish Romans (by the end of this year)
Proverbs
Isaiah
Genesis
Acts

I think that Genesis and Acts will actually be fairly quick (maybe a year for each) because there is so much narrative. I found Jonah to be pretty easy because of this. I don't know what I'll memorize after these, and they may get switched around a bit (I was very tempted to add John, and I may still memorize that before some of the others...) but that is the general plan. 

Finally, the most serious reason; Reason #3 to Memorize: Spiritual Warfare. I wasn't exactly sure what to call this reason, and it is a bit hard to explain, but basically, memorizing or reciting memorized scripture is one of the best methods I have found for controlling negative or angry thoughts, etc. It also helps me calm down when I'm nervous. 

These are just a few of my personal reasons for memorizing, above and beyond the Biblical ones, but I hope they will encourage others to memorize more as well. 
God bless.

Free to Serve

Our country is a free country. But as American Christians we have a double reason for rejoicing: We are also free in Christ! 

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;  and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 

Galatians 5:13  For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 

Happy Independence Day!

Assurance

Well, I hesitate to write about this because I know I won’t be able to express myself fully, nor do I feel qualified to delve into the complex doctrine this topic entails. However this subject has been hitting hard (in a good way) the last couple weeks as I’ve studied 1^st John. Today, while listening to one of MacArthur’s sermons I finally decided to start typing and do my best.

John is very clear on the subject of assurance, and his letter is full of it. Listing all the references that touch on assurance would be impossible. The specific verse that I was learning about today is 1^st John 3:19: And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 

There are several pieces to this verse, but the central one is that we know we are of the truth. It is hard to realize how comforting this simple phrase is until you have a firm understanding of just how amazing salvation truly is. God, no matter what we do, has promised that we are in his family forever, because of the work of Christ on the cross. We have been saved from inexpressible torments, and saved to be part of His glorious work in the world. Our minds can’t even comprehend how awesome salvation is, yet we can KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that we are saved for all eternity. 

The next part of the verse is in someways even more surprising: we shall assure our hearts before Him. It is no wonder many Christians doubt their own salvation: it is hard to believe that an absolutely holy God can accept us, when we know how sinful we are. Yet John declares that we can be sure of our position even when standing in the presence of God Himself. 

Of course, the question remaining is, “How?” to answer this, it is necessary to look at the rest of the epistle briefly, since the explanation given in the verse itself is only by this. These two words refer both to the immediate context of the surrounding verses and to the previous chapters. In 3:18, we see that loving in deed and truth is one way to know that we are of the truth and there are many other clues in chapters 2 and 3:

2:3 If we keep his commandments

2:4 keep his word

2:10 loves his brother

2:15 not loving the world

2:21 knowing the truth

2:23 acknowledging the Son

2:28 abide in Him

2:29 practice righteousness

3:3 purifies himself

3:6 does not sin

3:7 practices righteousness

3:9 does not sin

3:10 practices righteousness, loves his brother

3:14 loves the brethren

Some of these raise more questions, but overall they are a good way to know one is a christian.

Let not the Wise Man Glory in His Wisdom

Jeremiah 9:23 ¶ Thus says the LORD:

“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,

Let not the mighty man glory in his might,

Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 

Jeremiah 9:24 But let him who glories glory in this,

That he understands and knows Me,

That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

For in these I delight,” says the LORD. 

This passage is one of my all time favorites, and it is a perfect summary of our mission statement as participators in the Bible Bee. We are not supposed to be in this to be able to impress everyone with our incredible amount of Bible knowledge, ability to memorize, or even our ability to study through critical thinking and analyzing to rightly divide the word of truth by the end of the summer.

Not that we always study during this season with the true purpose in mind. We have been brought up to love learning, love information, and love knowledge for their own sakes. This is very helpful, because for us learning is already a way of life that we enjoy, so we don't have to work against the prejudice of thinking that learning is a pain and avoiding it whenever possible. But when it comes to Jeremiah 9, we do tend to glory in the wisdom that we are accumulating itself rather than the objective of that wisdom. Wisdom is very important to pursue

Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting, get understanding.

but having the wisdom is not the only end to getting it. The reason to get wisdom is found here in Jeremiah 9:24: to understand and know God, that He is the LORD, exercising lovingkindness judgment and righteousness in the earth, for in these He delights. 

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One  is understanding.