NRH2014
3 highly effective methods for memorizing Bible verses
There’s no doubt that memorizing Bible verses is difficult for many people (myself included!). A big aspect of the challenge for me has been that I haven’t been very methodical about memorizing. I’d simply repeat a verse a few times and hope that it stuck, with no plan for review. Going about memorizing halfheartedly like this is a recipe for discouragement and–ultimately–failure.
Effective methods for memorizing Bible verses always involve an intentional approach to internalizing new verses and reviewing old ones. Don’t think that there is a magic formula out there for doing this without putting in the hard work.
You’ve got to commit to the process and show up daily.
Here are three ways I’ve found to effectively memorize Bible verses.
Jesus the perfect priest did this once and for all
Chapter seven of Hebrews gives what few details we know about a mysterious priest named Melchizedek – that his name carried a meaning regarding righteousness, and that his office was one of peace.
Because the records of his birth and death are not found in Scripture, and because his priesthood is not tied to any biological lineage, it seems that he was a priest solely at God’s discretion. In some way Melchizedek foreshadowed Jesus.
Jesus, a priest after the order of Mechizedek
Jesus is “after” (“like”) the order of Melchizedek because he is righteous. His office as Prince of Peace also grants him special status. Like Melchizedek, Jesus is not installed as ultimate high priest because of his lineage, but rather because of who he is and the divine will of God.
It’s at this moment that Jesus as the catalyst for spiritual formation comes into focus. Because we have this perfect high priest, we are able to draw near to God through him, and he makes intercession for us…changing us in the process.
A perfect and eternal sacrifice
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. (Hebrews 7:26-27, ESV)
Ultimately, God’s plan couldn’t be accomplished by the Levitical priesthood. Their sacrifices were temporary, and as fragile human beings they could not go on forever. Jesus, however, can offer himself one time, for all eternity.
His perfection ensures us that we don’t needn’t continually offer sacrifices to appease God or obtain forgiveness.
Jesus–the perfect priest–did this for us, once and for all. We are at peace with the God of universe and ourselves.
Hallelujah!
3 vital questions to ask yourself when picking a Bible translation for memorization
Photo Credit: UnlockingTheBible via Compfight cc
The very first “real Bible” I remember having as young child was the Good News Bible. It’s a easy-to-read paraphrase with line drawings. I loved it, and still read from the GNB on occassion for nostalgia’s sake. After that I “graduated” to the New International Version (NIV), but as I learned more about Bible translation philosophy, I became enamored with more “accurate” word-for-word translations. For a big chunk of high school I studied out of the New American Standard Version (NASB), while keeping the New King James Version (NKJV) on hand for general reading. In college I began using the English Standard Version (ESV) and have pretty much settled on that one as my primary reading and memorizing translation.
This is one of the most disturbing passages in the New Testament
When I first encountered Hebrews 6, I remember being confused and scared. I had always believed “once saved, always saved.” I thought it was impossible for you to lose your salvation, but that seems to contradict the plain sense of this difficult passage.
Hebrews 6 seems to teach there may be those that genuinely believe and participate in the life of the church, and still irrevocably fall away to such an extent that some will not repent of their sin. Here’s the really disturbing part:
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. (Hebrews 6:4-6, ESV)
To be in this blatant unrepentant state is damning, and will end in fire (cf. Hebrews 6:8). Despite this dire warning the author is quick to reassure the original readers that he or she believes that they are saved–through their faith and patience and good works.
Although this passage can be disconcerting, I suppose that if it is disturbing to you or me, it's a good sign we haven't fallen into that state of permanent rejection of God.
I’m reminded in this passage that we never look to ourselves for assurance of our salvation, but rather to the promises of God for those that believe.
And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:11-12, ESV)
For what it’s worth, here is a passage from the Anglican liturgy that helps me when I have my own doubts:
Hear the Word of God to all who truly turn to him.Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Matthew 11:28
God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15
If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the perfect offering for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2
What do you think of this passage? Where do you find your assurance of salvation?
A challenge from C.S. Lewis' spiritual mentor
"We must not merely do as He did; we must see things as He saw them, regard them as He regarded them; we must take the will of God as the very life of our being; we must neither try to get our own way, nor trouble ourselves as to what may be thought or said of us." ~ George MacDonald
George MacDonald seems is largely unknown to my generation, but was a massive influence on literary giants we love like C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkein, and even Oswald Chambers. I know I had never heard of him until I read the C.S. Lewis classic The Great Divorce which makes McDonald a central character.
After reading this quote, I think I should move his work a bit higher on my reading list.
Is Jesus making you uncomfortable? Good.
Although I’ve been a Charismatic in theory for most of my Christian life, I would say I have not been one in practice, at least not in terms of outward manifestations of God the Holy Spirit. I have had mystical experiences, to be sure, but only inwardly. So, when I had an embarrassingly emotional charismatic experience a few weeks ago, my boat was rocked. It made me seriously uncomfortable.
Do you know what it means for Jesus to be your High Priest?
In the fifth chapter of Hebrews, the author moves from speaking about Jesus as God and and Messiah to Jesus Christ as high priest. It’s important to the author that Jesus did not choose this office for himself. Like the first priest, Aaron, God called him to this office.
Jesus cried out to the God the Father out love for us.
He knows us intimately in our weakness, because he made himself weak like us. He came to the Father in humility, with tears, abandoning himself, and God heard him.
His reverence and respect for God the Father made this possible.
He suffered, learning obedience.
The pattern is striking, isn’t it? Because of Jesus' call, his response to God, and his suffering, you are called, you are enabled to respond, and you too learn obedience through suffering.
Like Jesus, we also look forward to a resurrection.
The end of the chapter hints at great depths of meaning in the idea of God-in-the-flesh as our High Priest. Yet before we can go on to plumb them, we must get the basics right.
You have to know the story-arc, the characters, the purpose of the Scriptures. Lay a solid foundation so you can practice discernment (distinguishing between right and wrong). Thus grounded, you can venture out to explore and expand your understanding.
Do you know what it means for Jesus to be your High Priest?
Does this move you to awe and thankfulness and worship, or is it confusing?
If it is confusing, have you laid a solid foundation on the Gospel message contained in the whole of Scripture? Have you forgotten “the basic principles of the oracles of God?”
3 Biblical reasons memorizing Bible verses is essential
I’m convinced we act out of our most deeply held beliefs.
So, before I was ready to commit to a daily habit of memorizing Bible verses, I had to really buy in to the importance of doing so. Honestly, it’s hard. It takes time and effort, so I know I’m not going to follow through if I don’t really think it’s worth it.
Of course, I accept the Bible as authoritative in matters of faith and practice, so I had to see what the Bible had to teach me. Do I really need to make memorizing the Scriptures a regular part of my discipleship? Just a cursory study convinced me that yes, memorizing bible verses is essential.
Christian spiritual growth: the one discipline that can change everything
Of all the spiritual disciplines, which is the most important discipline for Christian spiritual growth?
For the longest time if someone would ask me that question, I would answer “prayer” without hesitation. After all, prayer forms the basic building block of our relationship with God; it’s how we talk to him. For many of us, prayer is how we came to commit our lives to radical discipleship.
A close second for me would have been simply reading the Bible.
What if I told you it wasn’t prayer, or even simple Bible reading was the most important for Christian spiritual growth? What if I told you it wasnt any of the 12 spiritual disciplines as we usually talk about them?
The path to inner healing
Inner healing starts with Jesus.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus is essential to inner healing, because somehow the more we focus on him, the more we desire to know him, the more we become like him.
As our minds are formed to be more like Christ’s, we are able by grace to deal with sin and wounds that have been inflicted upon us by evil. As we become more like Christ, we become more pliable to the Holy Spirit, sanctification progresses, and God continues the process of freeing us from all effects of sin. This process (what the Orthodox call theosis) is sometimes slow, but Jesus will certainly be faithful to complete it.
In Hebrews four, “God’s rest” has has past, present, and future dimensions. We reflect on what God has already done (the Exodus, Christ’s resurrection) and the rest that those before us have entered in. We also have this promise for the future that still stands (Heb. 4:1) and allows for believers to “draw near with confidence” (Heb. 4:16) for mercy and grace.
Reflecting on God’s promises and the past/present/future reality reminds me of the faithfulness of the God who saves us and allows me to rest content knowing that his will has been, is, and will be done.
This kind of rest is powerful force for forming the mind and body and spirit, because it helps facilitate a state of being where my confidence is firmly rooted in God and his ability and intention to accomplish his holy purpose, regardless of the circumstances I may find myself in.
This kind of rest is the beginning of a deep, divine inner healing.
Do I believe?
In Hebrews three, the author compares and contrasts Jesus with Moses, the greatest leader in Jewish history.
The writer of Hebrews states that both are marked by faithfulness, but that Jesus’ faithfulness is different than Moses’. Jesus’ faithfulness, in contrast to Moses’, is “over” God’s house rather than “in” it (cf. Heb. 3:5-6). In chapter 1 and chapter 2, Jesus is set up as supreme over creation, and this theme of supremacy carries over here.
The author brings the concept closer to home for his or her readers–showing that Jesus is the logical and natural fulfillment of the Mosaic leadership example.
The parallel between the Exodus event and Jesus’ work is unmistakable.
The ultimate grand ending of the Exodus is entering the promised land, and the author is quick to point out that those that did not enter this place of rest and refreshment–flowing with milk and honey–were denied because of their unbelief.
The implication is clear: entering God’s rest through Jesus parallels the Exodus/Promised Land story, and belief plays a key role in this.
To find rest, to find our ultimate home in God, we must believe in Jesus.
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12, ESV)
If we are not living in rest and peace, I suppose the question for us, then, is this:
Do I believe?
An Embarrassingly Emotional Experience
I was recently part of a prayer service where I was (for reasons still somewhat unknown to me) touched by the Holy Spirit and overcome with emotion, to the point of weeping. It was simultaneously beautiful and disorienting.
Our God suffers
Chapter two of Hebrews solidifies Christ’s sovereignty in all things, especially salvation.
In a final, powerful statement, however, the humanity of Jesus is underscored when the author reminds us that “he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18 ESV).
Our God suffers with us.
This reminds me of the overriding purpose of the spiritual disciplines: to know Jesus more and to be conformed to his likeness. These practices take time, effort, and sacrifice.
They wouldn’t be worth it, save for the fact they help me know this person who is somehow my friend and brother and king and God, this person who not only died for his people, but rose victorious from death to redeem them from the clutches of death.
The ultimate worthiness of pursuing Jesus at all costs is confirmed.
The lost practice of mental discipline
One of the biggest obstacles for seriously following Jesus in our hyper-connected world is a simple lack of mental discipline, otherwise known as focus and attention span.
Culturally, we’ve succumbed to the temptations of constant distraction and whimsy. If we are not “engaged” (by which we too often actually mean “entertained”) by whatever “content” we are “consuming” we simply move on.
In other words, when it comes to thinking, we tend to give up when the going gets tough.
This makes sustained, deep reflection rare for lots of us. It makes singularly focused worship even more rare, because we’ve abandoned any idea of worship as “the work of the people.” Instead, worship must seem to be (for the “audience,” anyways) effortless.
The result is that we settle for shallow worship, surface-level teaching, and stunt our own spiritual growth.
Yet the Bible teaches us that we must train and discipline our minds (2 Cor. 10:5; Rom. 12:2), and that we know God when we take the time to ponder him and his word (Psalm 1, Phil. 4:8, etc). We are to wrestle with our faith, which necessarily takes time and effort.
How can you get better at sustained mental engagement?
You have to practice.
Take a Bible verse or passage, set a timer on your phone for five minutes, and think about that verse, and nothing else. Consider its meaning, application, context, etc. Memorize it. When your thoughts wander return to your passage. Do this every day for a week. Then up your time to 10 minutes. Do this until you can meditate on a single short verse or idea for 20 minutes.
You can also apply this to your corporate worship time. Make the effort to focus on the sermon and the words you are singing. Take note when your mind begins to wander and do not let it! Bring it back to the idea or topic at hand. Do not allow yourself to become distracted by friends, your phone, shiny graphics on the screens.
The important thing to is to be self-aware enough to realize when you are becoming distracted, and then exercise discipline to bring your mind back into focus.
When you have this kind of self-control, you’ll find that you’re able to think more clearly, resist temptation more effectively, and follow Jesus more wholly.
The most unfathomable mystery?
The first chapter of Hebrews is beautiful, enlightening, and foundational for Christian doctrine. It sets up Jesus as God in no uncertain terms, tell just how much of God we see in Jesus: the “radiance of his glory and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3 ESV).
This is nothing short of breathtaking for me, that somehow the depths of God’s nature–the creator-king of the universe–are revealed in a humble man.
The mystery is unfathomable, yet it provides so much assurance that God is close, knowable, and that he desires to be known by us. Why else would he have chosen this way of salvation for his people?
Jesus is the crux of creation and reigns supreme over everything.
Only want Christ
Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created. From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it. For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created. ~ Ignatius of Loyola
Our ultimate, primary, overriding desire is meant to be communion with Christ.
Only want that which helps you grow closer to Christ.
Anything else isn’t worth holding on to.
It's time for a revival of critical thinking
The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind. ~ Mark Noll
Evangelicalism and especially the revivalist tradition have often had a very strong anti-intellectual bent. Mainstream Evangelicalism’s continued emphasis on religious experience to the exclusion of critical thought is well intentioned, but ultimately self-destructive.
We now have generations of people in the church that either simply don’t care or have developed an underlying suspicion of science and logic.
Unfortunately, this leaves many Christians completely vulnerable to even the most easily refuted attacks against against the reasonableness of our faith.
"...in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)"
The fact is that the Christian faith is grounded in the historical reality of the resurrection of Jesus, and we have good reasons to believe our confession is true. We have nothing to fear from solid reasoning or science.
God can handle our questions and the Christian faith is not shaken by a better understanding the world that God has created.
We need to be teaching the basic principles of valid reasoning and how to apply them not only in theological study, but in everyday conversation.
Although basic critical thinking skills should be part of everyone’s basic education, this is unfortunately not the case.
It’s time to make critical thinking a foundational part of our discipleship efforts.
4 ways to keep theological disagreement civil on Facebook
Have you ever noticed how theological conversations on Facebook tend to disintegrate quickly? Anger, accusations, and off-the-cuff rhetoric now seem to be standard procedure. I know a lot of Christian leaders that choose to simply not ever engage on Facebook, because it tends to go downhill so quickly.
I’m convinced it doesn’t have to be this way. You can choose to join or start a conversation in a Christ-honoring way and make a positive impact in the social media space.
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you venture out into the waters of online theological controversy.
1) Write with grace
Remember that you are an ambassador for Christ in this moment. You are not primarily representing your church, your employer, or even yourself. You are representing Jesus himself. Find points of agreement with the person you are conversing with, and make the effort to genuinely understand their ideas.
Keeping the the tone light and respectful will go a long way toward keep the conversation civil. And speaking of tone, remember that things don’t always come across the way you intend in the written medium. If in doubt, rephrase or explicitly state how you want your idea to come across (for instance: “This is a sincere, not sarcastic question…")
Never respond when frustrated, angry, or flustered. Take time to cool off. It can always wait until tomorrow. Avoid deliberately inflammatory rhetoric like the plague. Don’t call people names and don’t throw accusations of heresy around lightly.
2) Know the limits of the medium
Facebook threads get pretty unwieldy when the comments get too long. Honestly, it’s just may not the best place to lay out your thoughtful, logical argument for whatever theological truth is under discussion. It seems unlikely to me that a very long response is even very likely to be read. Be concise, articulate, and accurate.
3) Don't aim to convince
Don’t always try to fully persuade the other person of your point of view, especially if you can’t lay out your whole argument in a thorough yet brief way. Instead, provide a compelling thought that could spur further discussion or exploration, and offer to discuss the issue in more detail via private message or email.
4) Know when to bow out
If the conversation starts to get repetitive (“As I said in my previous comment,” “Let me restate what I’m actually saying…") the discussion may be over. If it’s clear you each understand the other’s position, yet neither of you is ready to change their mind, then gracefully bring the thread to a close. If it’s obvious your conversation partner isn’t going treat your arguments seriously or if the other person starts making personal attacks and assumptions, it’s time to stop. Don’t be afraid to write something like this when the time is right:
“I totally understand your point of view, and I hope I’ve been able to communicate mine accurately. Although we disagree, I’m grateful for what we have common. Grace and peace!”
* * *
Don’t waste the opportunity to engage in theological conversation on Facebook. Just choose your battles wisely and remember it takes effort, forethought, and often extraordinary amounts of patience.
Why we have to get discipleship right the first time
In educational psychology, there are a number of “laws of learning” or “principles of learning.” One of those is called the law of primacy, which basically states that when a student learns something for the the first time, a strong and almost unshakable impression is made.
“Unlearning” or “reteaching” ideas is therefore incredibly difficult.
If a student learns incorrect information regarding a topic, the teacher faces an uphill battle when it comes to repairing the mistake.
This is a huge reason why serious discipleship is so lacking in various parts of the Christian culture. New Christians have basically been taught (often implicitly and usually unintentionally) that learning a few theological basics and having the occasional “quiet time” is enough grow deep in their faith.
Keeping track of your sins
In the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, the saint lays out a thirty-day program for discipleship, generally meant to be completed as part of a secluded retreat. The first week was devoted to moving the person being discipled toward a genuine sorrow over their sin, as well as beginning to overcome it.
As part of this time, the disciple was required to take daily inventory of their sins, pausing three times a day to reflect on the previous hours. They were to make a note on paper every time they committed a particular sin. Each day they would reflect back and strive to make improvement on conquering these specific sins.
To my Reformation-influenced mind, this seems a bit legalistic and formulaic, but I don’t think it really is. The prayers Ignatius suggests do call for God’s grace in this. For instance, one of the exercises ends with a focus on “mercy, pondering and giving thanks to God our Lord that He has given me life up to now, [and] proposing amendment, with His grace, for the future.”
I don’t think this was a “works righteousness” effort. I think there’s something to how seriously Ignatius and the men he discipled took their sin, and how they methodically determined to eradicate as much as possible from their lives, primarily by beginning to actually understand the gravity of their sin and turning their attention from it to Jesus. Once this change of heart and mind was accomplished, deeper contemplation on the life of Jesus could happen.
I see this sort of exercise as a reminder to live fully aware of God’s great grace and mercy, and–with God’s help–continue on in the struggle against sin.