Start of Vacation

Yay, time for a relaxing long weekend. Work was pretty great, they let everyone go home at noon, so it made for an earlier break. Pretty cool, spent some time with Julie setting up more Christmas decorations. Julie's justification is that we will be out of town this weekend and can't set them up.

Now I'm out here with some family, and a bunch of little kiddos. So far things are going well. Had a good trip. Glad I brought my laptop. Not really for this right here, but for the football games. I'm not into sports. So this will give me something to do. Though I'll probably not use it, but instead play with the children.

Attempted schedule change

This morning was a little different, I had some friends over last night to game and left the kitchen somewhat of a mess so I could get to bed. Well, that was a mistake. I didn't realize how bad of a mess the kitchen was. It took me too much time to get it cleaned this morning, so I wasn't able to write in my blog this morning, but I planned to post during my lunch break. Well, lunch was a bit busy but now I have some time. Basically I need to figure out a good time to post. I don't think I can continue with mornings because I need to leave early when I bike. Granted I won't really be doing much biking until after Christmas, but it would be fun to develop a routine. I'm planning on gaining some time by quitting World of Warcraft again. It is amazing how much it eats into family time.

With this new found time I plan to spend it with my family, or maybe reading, or posting. I have plenty of things to do with it. Hopefully I can keep the house in decent shape too.

I think I need to evaluate things in my life more often and try to deal with them quicker. We have so much stuff in our house that we are trying to sell now which is good, but we have held onto some of this stuff for so long and we don't know why. A lot of it is stuff that came with the house that the sellers left. Other things are upgrades we have made, like our fireplace.

Thanksgiving is coming

Well, now that I think more about it, I should have chosen a more appropriate memory verse than Romans 14:12. Thanksgiving Holiday is great. You don't have to mess with gifts (shopping, purchasing, wrapping, delivering), but you get to meet with family and have a relaxing time. I do think too many people put too much effort into the food preparation, but I'm not too sure how to fix that. Well, I've run out of time, so I'll make this entry short. We got some lights up on the house and plan to do the big decorating for Christmas after Thanksgiving, but part of me thinks due to this Thanksgiving is being lost in the business of preparation for Christmas.

Judgement
Romans 14:12
"So then, each of us is to give an account of himself to God."
Rom 14:12

I did it.

Setting small achievable goals is fun. I was able to post ever weekday this week. For some reason that makes me happy. I was really surprised that I actually had a lot of text too, not just some short paragraph.

Back to the verse memorization theme I've been using. Julie is wanting to wait a couple weeks until her women's bible study is over, then she will join me in learning the scriptures, so I'll try to grab some different verses and not go through the book for a couple weeks.

Romans 14:12
"So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God."
Romans 14:12

But wait, there is more. Since this isn't from the book (I don't think it is at least), I have to come up with my own topic so that it can be remembered when discussing that topic. Looking at this verse I see judgment and accountability. So if others actually read this I could use some suggestions here.

On a complete side note I find it strange that judgment isn't spelled judgement.

Baby, need to go.

Culture Shift

I was reading in exodus last night in bed. I think it was close to chapter 26. It spoke of consecrating Aaron and his two sons for the work of a priest. It went into detail about the clothes they are to wear, but then it went on to a consecration ceremony. Reading this is pretty weird.

Sacrifice a bull and poor some of it's blood on the alter. Take it's liver and kidneys and burn them on the alter. Then get rid of rest of it by burning it outside of the area.

Take a ram and sprinkle it's blood on the sides of the alter. Put some blood on the right ear lob, right thumb, right big toe. Cut the body in pieces and burn it.

Take another ram and perpare it for food. Aaron and his sons now eat this at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

When I read that i was thinking of how different things were. Could you imagine being there for this? I don't know if I could handle the sight of all that blood. But then I thought about it some more, and this was the culture they were raised in. It wasn't really all that different, it was part of their lives. I think I lose a bit perspective sometimes, and reading this helps put in perspective what our sin does. We are sinners, and it requires blood to be made clean. This isn't just a figure of speech, it requires blood. The life of Christ was poured out as an offering for our sins.

Daily

Well, I've been trying to write something on this blog five times a week, and I'm starting to wonder if I should simply focus on one aspect instead of making it simply about life. For now I'll probably continue to keep it general. This allows me to jump around in my thinking which I do so well.

I like the topic though. I can focus on a certain item at a time. For example I've been working on scripture memory. So now I need to discuss reviewing memory verses. In the past I have always done it on my own, but the navigator's book recommends having a partner to test with. This would be really useful especially in getting it word perfect as suggested. I think this would also have the benefit of keeping Julie involved without being so directly on her.

I know it is Wednesday and time for the new verses, but I don't think I have established the proper pattern with Julie, and I can't leave her behind. She is still working on getting the verses word perfect, and I don't want this to add any stress to her life, so I'll take it easy and try to establish more of a routine in memorizing, then hopefully we can really go for it.

A few things the book suggests and I think I have posted on, but are worth reviewing. On each scripture it isn't about just knowing the words. It is about knowing the word of God. The point of a sentence is to communicate meaning, and when memorizing scripture you better know what it means. So knowing the reference is important so you can look it up quickly and demonstrate that you are not using it out of context.

You should know the context of the verse. Not just the surrounding verses, but also putting in perspective the culture, current events, political setting, and what audience it was meant for.

You should know the meaning of the verse. Reading other translations can help, but I find it a bit confusing on getting the verse word perfect.

Study the verse. Why is it in the bible? Why is this author using it? Who is the author writing to? Why did he say what he said this way? Is there cultural relevance?

Discuss the verse. This really needs to be in prayer to God. It is His word you are trying to learn, so discuss it with Him. But also talk about it with others, especially if the meaning isn't really clear.This discussion can help encourage others to grow spiritually, and could help equip the saints (Eph 4:11-12).

I'm thinking I need to be making these posts in the evening and not the morning. But at the same time I have time to relax and think in the morning. It just seems that I don't have as much time as I need to get everything done. This would be even more true if I was still biking in the mornings.

Sin and Confession

I don't know about rest of you, but I enjoy having Julie in my life. It is wonderful to have someone that I can be so real with. Even with my family it isn't the same. But with my wife I let her know me. All the good and all the bad. It is a wonderful thing to be able to talk to someone about specific sins I have done and be able to be encouraged.

Sometimes I wonder why I feel so protective around others. Why I hide things I feel shame for. Would I be rejected? I doubt it. Is shame really so bad that it has to be avoided? Even to decrease the closeness of a relationship? Would the relationships in the church be better if we truly opened up to others? Probably. Am I willing to step up? Not yet.

The weekend

Well, this weekend was great. Got to go do some camping with family and had time to play video games (yes, it was World of Warcraft). The camping was nice just to get away from things. But once I got back the house still needed a lot of work. So I actually did some work around the house. Not nearly enough, but did some. Hopefully this week or at least over the weekend I can get some more done.

On to more important things. Let's review.
Christ the Center, 2 Corinthians 5:17; "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Now it is time to start working on the next verse. Actually this should have been done Friday Saturday, but I haven't gotten started with Julie on this yet.
Christ the Center, Galatians 2:20; "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Gal 2:20

Man, I didn't do very well on the Galatians verse. I didn't even spell Galatians right, I spelled it Galations. Yea for backspace right. I don't know about the rest of you, but I consider it a sign of respect when capatilizing the references to God. Such as "Son" or even pronouns like He or Himself.

Busy

Well, wife and kids are out of town without me, so I'm doing what I can to stay busy. This mainly involved playing video games. I'm thinking Julie is going to be okay with attempting the scripture memory, so now I have to be really sensitive to how she is doing since she doesn't really want to be doing it. I really don't want to turn her off to the idea. But at the same time I doubt it will make things worse. Neither of use have been even attempting to memorize any scripture.

So we are working on 2Cor 5:17
The topic is Christ the Center, the reference is 2 Corinthians 5:17, the verse is "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.", and reference again is 2 Corinthians 5:17

Context of 2 Cor 5:17

Time to look at the context of a verse.  2 Cor 5:17 was written by Paul to believers in the church of Corinth.  Second Corinthians addresses unity to Paul's ministry and offers perspective on the ministry of the gospel.

So today we need to read 2 Cor 5.  But focus on the verses surrounding the memory verse.

Christ the Center

2 Cor 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

2 Cor 5:17

Oh, and baby update.

Katie went in for her two month checkup and was 22", 12lbs 6oz.

Slight change

I'm wanting to be a loving husband and try and get my wife involved.  Looking at the benefits of scripture memory how would I not try and get other involved.  

But she likes the NIV version, and a lot of the older verses from childhood I know were NIV.  

Christ the Center

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Christ the Center 

Galations 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galations 2:20

Starting the plan

So this week I'll start for real.  Which isn't really fair since this is a review.  I pretty much already know these verses.  The plan is the first two days of the week to focus on 2 Cor 5:17, then the third and forth day to focus on Gal 2:20.  For rest of the week work on both.  

A few things to help memorize the verse is to say it aloud, pray about the verse, read other translations to help get the meaning of the verse.  Think about how the verse applies to self.  Always include the topic and reference when saying it.

Once you know the verse the book recommends you write it down from memory.  I actually prefer to write it down first just by copying it from the Bible.  

Christ the Center

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away, behold, new things have come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

I actually did that wrong first.  My problem is a lot of these older verses were memorized as NIV and some as NASB.  Well, I think I'll stick with NASB for now on, so I have to relearn some verses.

Christ the Center

Galations 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galations 2:20

I know I said this yesterday, but then I decided to follow the actual book, so we can look at context tomorrow.  When I say context I basically mean a quick look at the book itself and the chapter specifically.  It is important to know who wrote it, and who it was written to, and try to understand what was going on at the time.  Reading the chapter helps to understand what was being talked about at the time when the specific verse was used.

* picture taken from navigators.com

Benefits of memorizing scripture

So I'm rereading through the topical memory system, and the very beginning goes over some points that are worth noting.  

Here are a few things the book mentions scripture memory can help with:  Overcome worry, victory over sin, confidence in witnessing

I don't know about everyone else, but those items right there are enough to get my interest.  But the book goes on to mention what the system is for.  It helps memorize and meditate on scripture effeciently, apply the verses to life, review the verses to be able to recall them later, and continue memorizing beyond the verses covered.  

The system groups verses by topic so they can be recalled by thinking of the topic the verse speaks of.  The verse I picked to start with Eph 4:11-12 isn't actually part of this.  I may start with the system's verses tomorrow.  It recommends a pace of two verses/week.  which I thought was hard, but it really isn't that bad.

So what topic does Eph 4:11-12 refer to.  "And He gave some as apostles and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ."  Eph 4:11-12  

One of the topics listed in the system is "Be Christ's Disciple" which I feel is a good fit for this verse since it deals with equiping and using our gifts.  So according to the system you are to say the topic, reference, verse, reference.  So...

Be Christ's Disciple

Ephesians 4:11-12

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-12

How things can add up

Typically I don't like how things add up.  For example, I pay $15/mo to play a game.  Yes, a game.  well, $15 isn't that bad, but that is per month.  So in one year I am spending $180.  I could do some stuff with that kind of money.  

But beneficial things add up too.  That is what I'm really wanting to get at.  I'm wanting to take scripture memory more seriously.  If I can memory  a verse once a week then that is at least 50 new verses a year.  What do you think about that.  So feel free to join me on this adventure.  

Ephesians 4:11-12

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-12

Now I have a great book on scripture memory, unfortunately I lost a bunch of the memory verse cards, so I'm thinking I can use this blog and may palm pilot to do this with.  But the concept is that you don't just repeat the verse over and over, but that you study it.  For now we will simply look at the verse itself, and hopefully tomorrow we can look at the passage to provide some context.  It also helps to write it out instead of just reading.  And also reading aloud gives you the audio feedback to help in memory also.  I've always struggled with the reference, but the book recommends to do the reference scripture reference, and this has been a huge benefit.

The book I'm refering to is "Topical Memor System" from the Navigators

Where is the light

When I was younger I would love winter.  I liked the cold, but mostly I loved the snow.  But now that I work all day I get out of work and it is dark so soon.  There is very little time to enjoy the outdoors with any light.  This probably didn't bother me much when I was younger, but now that I have kids I want it to be light so they will be safer and I have more visibility which somehow provides me comfort.  

So now I'm not so sure I enjoy the winter.  It is different for sure.  I think part of it is that I have been bike commuting, but that is becoming difficult.  It is too dark and I need some new lights and some better cold weather clothes which I asked for Christmas, so I can't really buy for myself now.