Tuesday, February 3, 2009
James - Week 1 - James 1:1-4
James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
9 months... memorizing the entire Book of James
So I had a conversation with my pastor the other day (Pastor James Brummett) regarding strategies of Bible verse memorization. He said that he has started memorizing chapters in Psalms and has really been blessed by it. He suggested that I try the same with the Book of James. I was pretty nervous about the endeavor at first, but the more I thought about it, the more excited I got!
As I said, it seems pretty overwhelming to memorize an entire book of the Bible, so I tried to break it down. The Book of James has 5 chapters with a total of 108 verses. I figure if I memorize about 3 verses per week that I can memorize the entire book in about 9 months. All of the sudden, this doesn't seem so bad. I remember back in High School when I was part of discipleship, we would memorize 3 passages per week of 1-5 verses each... So 2-5 verses per week will be cake!
I am planning on memorizing the book using the NIV version.
My memorization strategy has several methods behind it. First, instead of just memorizing precisely 3 verses per week, I am breaking the verses into logical chunks. The result is that some weeks there will be more to memorize than others. The benefit is that it's a lot easier to memorize verses if you understand the major theme behind them, as well as being able to put these verses in context.
Also, I have formatted (or rather am in the process of formatting) these verses in such a way that I can print them onto perforated business card stock for easy dispensing and reading. If you are interested in using these documents (formatted using Microsoft Word), let me know, and I’ll send them your way… I may also post a link to them once I have finished them.
Next, I will follow a flexible, but useful daily plan, to help me stay on track and fully absorb these verses I am trying to memorize.
I plan on spending the first day (Monday's) immersing myself in the memorization of the verses. Reading the verse over and over, both out loud and in my head, until I am familiar with the content. Also, I will write it down several times so that I interact with the verse using multiple parts of my brain. Start saying the verse without looking. And finally commit the verse to memory so that I am able to say it comfortably without the need of an aid. It seems reasonable, considering we are only talking about 2-5 verses per week, to be able to commit the verses at least to short term memory in a matter of 1 day. I will continue to practice these verses throughout the week.
On day two (Tuesday), I plan to break the verses down and start thinking about what James and God are actually saying. Analyze and contemplate why he uses certain words and what the deeper meanings might be, and how these verses can apply to my life. I’ll be using a website called http://www.bibleshared.com/ to write down my personal notes about these verses and how they apply to my life. The great thing about this site is that it allows you to store and share notes about the Bible. You can create a group or multiple groups where each person in the group can store their thoughts about these verses. It’s a great way to encourage, challenge, and corroborate with each other about these verses.
On day three and four (Wednesday & Thursday), I plan to break each verse down and do some deep study into what the verses really mean. If we can understand the meaning behind the verses, it will be a LOT easier to remember what the verses actually are. I plan uses tools like http://biblestudy.crosswalk.com/ (they have many commentaries and concordances available all in one place) to examine the verses one or two at a time to gain a better understanding of what these verses really mean.
On day five (Friday), I plan to build a visual outline of these verses giving visual meaning and understanding to these verses. It may be that more than one week’s verses are compiled into a single visual outline. This outline will bring together the verses, my personal understanding, and the knowledge of others into a single perspective, possibly along with images, diagrams, and anything else that will bring a clearer understanding to the meaning of these verses. The end result will be a full understanding and outline of the entire book of James, broken down into meaningful segments.
On day six (Saturday), once I have a solid understanding of what God is trying to tell me through these verses, I plan on praying these scriptures over the lives of my family, friends, ministry and myself, to continue to meditate on them, and to find ways to constructively apply these verses to the various areas of my life.
Finally, on day seven (Sunday), I plan on sharing my newly memorized verses with others, along with whatever I have learned over the past week. Also, I will review verses from previous weeks so that I don’t “loose” the information I have spent time memorizing.
Studies have shown that by engaging multiple parts of your brain in these exercises, more of your brain is utilized in the memorization process. So I fully intend on using the visual, auditory, cognitive, emotional, and creative parts of my brain in this process. By mixing together these various techniques together, over the course of the week, I hope to speed up the process of moving memorized chunks of scripture to my long term memory.
Finally, I plan to surround myself with as many people as I can who are willing to take on this challenge with me (I already have 11 who are onboard). This way we can hold each other accountable, encourage each other in the process, and share knowledge and insight we learn as we travel this journey together.
I am going to start this journey right away (well, I actually have the first 4 verses memorized), and I’ll try to post the verses and insights each week as they come.
As I said, it seems pretty overwhelming to memorize an entire book of the Bible, so I tried to break it down. The Book of James has 5 chapters with a total of 108 verses. I figure if I memorize about 3 verses per week that I can memorize the entire book in about 9 months. All of the sudden, this doesn't seem so bad. I remember back in High School when I was part of discipleship, we would memorize 3 passages per week of 1-5 verses each... So 2-5 verses per week will be cake!
I am planning on memorizing the book using the NIV version.
My memorization strategy has several methods behind it. First, instead of just memorizing precisely 3 verses per week, I am breaking the verses into logical chunks. The result is that some weeks there will be more to memorize than others. The benefit is that it's a lot easier to memorize verses if you understand the major theme behind them, as well as being able to put these verses in context.
Also, I have formatted (or rather am in the process of formatting) these verses in such a way that I can print them onto perforated business card stock for easy dispensing and reading. If you are interested in using these documents (formatted using Microsoft Word), let me know, and I’ll send them your way… I may also post a link to them once I have finished them.
Next, I will follow a flexible, but useful daily plan, to help me stay on track and fully absorb these verses I am trying to memorize.
I plan on spending the first day (Monday's) immersing myself in the memorization of the verses. Reading the verse over and over, both out loud and in my head, until I am familiar with the content. Also, I will write it down several times so that I interact with the verse using multiple parts of my brain. Start saying the verse without looking. And finally commit the verse to memory so that I am able to say it comfortably without the need of an aid. It seems reasonable, considering we are only talking about 2-5 verses per week, to be able to commit the verses at least to short term memory in a matter of 1 day. I will continue to practice these verses throughout the week.
On day two (Tuesday), I plan to break the verses down and start thinking about what James and God are actually saying. Analyze and contemplate why he uses certain words and what the deeper meanings might be, and how these verses can apply to my life. I’ll be using a website called http://www.bibleshared.com/ to write down my personal notes about these verses and how they apply to my life. The great thing about this site is that it allows you to store and share notes about the Bible. You can create a group or multiple groups where each person in the group can store their thoughts about these verses. It’s a great way to encourage, challenge, and corroborate with each other about these verses.
On day three and four (Wednesday & Thursday), I plan to break each verse down and do some deep study into what the verses really mean. If we can understand the meaning behind the verses, it will be a LOT easier to remember what the verses actually are. I plan uses tools like http://biblestudy.crosswalk.com/ (they have many commentaries and concordances available all in one place) to examine the verses one or two at a time to gain a better understanding of what these verses really mean.
On day five (Friday), I plan to build a visual outline of these verses giving visual meaning and understanding to these verses. It may be that more than one week’s verses are compiled into a single visual outline. This outline will bring together the verses, my personal understanding, and the knowledge of others into a single perspective, possibly along with images, diagrams, and anything else that will bring a clearer understanding to the meaning of these verses. The end result will be a full understanding and outline of the entire book of James, broken down into meaningful segments.
On day six (Saturday), once I have a solid understanding of what God is trying to tell me through these verses, I plan on praying these scriptures over the lives of my family, friends, ministry and myself, to continue to meditate on them, and to find ways to constructively apply these verses to the various areas of my life.
Finally, on day seven (Sunday), I plan on sharing my newly memorized verses with others, along with whatever I have learned over the past week. Also, I will review verses from previous weeks so that I don’t “loose” the information I have spent time memorizing.
Studies have shown that by engaging multiple parts of your brain in these exercises, more of your brain is utilized in the memorization process. So I fully intend on using the visual, auditory, cognitive, emotional, and creative parts of my brain in this process. By mixing together these various techniques together, over the course of the week, I hope to speed up the process of moving memorized chunks of scripture to my long term memory.
Finally, I plan to surround myself with as many people as I can who are willing to take on this challenge with me (I already have 11 who are onboard). This way we can hold each other accountable, encourage each other in the process, and share knowledge and insight we learn as we travel this journey together.
I am going to start this journey right away (well, I actually have the first 4 verses memorized), and I’ll try to post the verses and insights each week as they come.
Friday, October 24, 2008
New Phone!!! - T-Mobile's G1
I am happy to say, after a year and a half of anticipation, I have just received my very own T-Mobile G1 running the Oh-so-awesome Android OS.I have played with it for about 6 hours now, and I have to say that I am REALLY impressed! So many people are trying to compare the G1 with the iPhone... Ok, so the G1 is not quite as glamours as the iPhone... but what it lacks in sex apeal, it gains in openness!
So far, this phone has outperformed pretty much every other phone I have ever used (okay, that's not saying too much). It's equipped with a 528Mhz ARM processor by Quailcomm, 256MB of Rom, 192MB or Ram, a 3.2" touch-screen, Quad-band reciever, Bluetooth, 3.2 megapixle camera, WiFi, GPS, electronic compass, and so much more!
It's fully integrated with Google -- GMail, Calendar, Contacts, Maps, etc!
And already has a stockpile of very intregueing applications, many of which are completely free!
LOVE IT!!!
Monday, September 8, 2008
"Youth of today becoming the church of tomorrow" OR "Finding Identity"
I came across an interesting statement I thought I'd share... This is from a book called "Practicing Passion" by Kenda Dean:
"...many visible leaders of today's "alternative" congregations -- where pastors intentionally refashion styles of worship, patterns of polity, and forms of nurture to attract Baby Boomers and their progeny -- admit strong roots in youth ministry. A quick scan through their proliferating publications shows that, by and large, these leaders simply adapted their visions (and methods) of youth ministry to address the adults the youth inevitably became"
Just kind of blew me away, I think it's interesting, because it is so true... that people easily identify with the passions of their Youth. I remembered back when we had this Prime-timer's luncheon along with the youth/young adults... and they were reminiscing back to what it was like in their youth... standing around singing hymns and choruses until the wee hours of the night, praying for each other and seeking God all while praying with the Fire of the Holy Ghost... and that's exactly what gets them excited now. Just last Sunday, when we were singing a run of Hymns, all about Heaven... and those people really got excited... standing up, clapping, and singing with all of their heart. I just find it so interesting how things progress.
As a Kid, when I would go to youth events with my sister, and we'd sing songs like "I don't want to be a casual Christian"... and even today, the focus of that generation is all about not being casual with the things you do. Not specifically church or God, but life. To be committed to whatever it is you are doing... I think it because of the climate of that culture, where commitments just didn't matter.
With the youth of my generation, everything was about being extreme... X-treme sports, X-treme movies, X-treme songs.... pushing the limits and boundaries of everything. And that's exactly what we are still doing... pushing the limits of technology, laws, and even finances... And it is once again, a reaction to the climate of our culture. The generation just before us didn't commit, and my generation over committed to to many things, and does none of them well... okay maybe that's just a little critical... And that's how we view church... it seems to be an all or nothing deal... and if it's not, then we never really connect, we never really commit, because we are too busy over committing to too many other things...
What is really interesting, it the rising generation... Have you noticed the tone of even their music, especially the Christian music... everything lately has been to the tone of... I am lost, and I cannot make it another moment without you God. And forgive me for the terrible sin in my life. I am desperate for you God... desperate for something. I think, that this new generation is reacting to the climate of our culture. A culture where the young people are struggling to find identity, struggling to find hope, and struggling to find something to be passionate about, in a world that is falling apart at it's seems. A world full of Drugs, Sex, Crime, War, Terrorism, and overall Hopelessness.
Kenda said "'Identity'... and 'Identity formation' [is] the developmental 'crisis' that young people must resolve... a socially-sanctioned 'time-out' from adult roles and commitments in which young people could construct an integrated self that both responded to their historical context and cohered across time and social roles. This sense of self, or identity, WAS burrowed in part from social institutions and significant others whose established selfhood helped anchor young people's developing psyche... Yet... identity-bearing social institutions like families, schools, and religious communities grew noticeably weaker, and a new institution, the electronic Media started to make fragmentation look normal...Today, channel surfing, split screens, hyperlinks, and hundreds of other momentary investments seem to challenge [the] notion of an integrated identity...".
So where is this generation finding their notion of "Identity"? From the very culture that has stolen it... Today's youth has become radical and desperate. They are desperate to find their identity, desperate to find something, anything that they can love, and will love back. They are desperate to be part of something that they feel is worth dieing for. I am truly interested to see and understand what our young people require for a "successful" youth ministry... and more so, what the "successful" churches of tomorrow will become.
Here's the book info if you are interested:
Practicing Passion
Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church
By Kenda Creasy Dean
http://www.amazon.com/Practicing-Passion-Youth-Passionate-Church/dp/0802847129
"...many visible leaders of today's "alternative" congregations -- where pastors intentionally refashion styles of worship, patterns of polity, and forms of nurture to attract Baby Boomers and their progeny -- admit strong roots in youth ministry. A quick scan through their proliferating publications shows that, by and large, these leaders simply adapted their visions (and methods) of youth ministry to address the adults the youth inevitably became"
Just kind of blew me away, I think it's interesting, because it is so true... that people easily identify with the passions of their Youth. I remembered back when we had this Prime-timer's luncheon along with the youth/young adults... and they were reminiscing back to what it was like in their youth... standing around singing hymns and choruses until the wee hours of the night, praying for each other and seeking God all while praying with the Fire of the Holy Ghost... and that's exactly what gets them excited now. Just last Sunday, when we were singing a run of Hymns, all about Heaven... and those people really got excited... standing up, clapping, and singing with all of their heart. I just find it so interesting how things progress.
As a Kid, when I would go to youth events with my sister, and we'd sing songs like "I don't want to be a casual Christian"... and even today, the focus of that generation is all about not being casual with the things you do. Not specifically church or God, but life. To be committed to whatever it is you are doing... I think it because of the climate of that culture, where commitments just didn't matter.
With the youth of my generation, everything was about being extreme... X-treme sports, X-treme movies, X-treme songs.... pushing the limits and boundaries of everything. And that's exactly what we are still doing... pushing the limits of technology, laws, and even finances... And it is once again, a reaction to the climate of our culture. The generation just before us didn't commit, and my generation over committed to to many things, and does none of them well... okay maybe that's just a little critical... And that's how we view church... it seems to be an all or nothing deal... and if it's not, then we never really connect, we never really commit, because we are too busy over committing to too many other things...
What is really interesting, it the rising generation... Have you noticed the tone of even their music, especially the Christian music... everything lately has been to the tone of... I am lost, and I cannot make it another moment without you God. And forgive me for the terrible sin in my life. I am desperate for you God... desperate for something. I think, that this new generation is reacting to the climate of our culture. A culture where the young people are struggling to find identity, struggling to find hope, and struggling to find something to be passionate about, in a world that is falling apart at it's seems. A world full of Drugs, Sex, Crime, War, Terrorism, and overall Hopelessness.
Kenda said "'Identity'... and 'Identity formation' [is] the developmental 'crisis' that young people must resolve... a socially-sanctioned 'time-out' from adult roles and commitments in which young people could construct an integrated self that both responded to their historical context and cohered across time and social roles. This sense of self, or identity, WAS burrowed in part from social institutions and significant others whose established selfhood helped anchor young people's developing psyche... Yet... identity-bearing social institutions like families, schools, and religious communities grew noticeably weaker, and a new institution, the electronic Media started to make fragmentation look normal...Today, channel surfing, split screens, hyperlinks, and hundreds of other momentary investments seem to challenge [the] notion of an integrated identity...".
So where is this generation finding their notion of "Identity"? From the very culture that has stolen it... Today's youth has become radical and desperate. They are desperate to find their identity, desperate to find something, anything that they can love, and will love back. They are desperate to be part of something that they feel is worth dieing for. I am truly interested to see and understand what our young people require for a "successful" youth ministry... and more so, what the "successful" churches of tomorrow will become.
Here's the book info if you are interested:
Practicing Passion
Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church
By Kenda Creasy Dean
http://www.amazon.com/Practicing-Passion-Youth-Passionate-Church/dp/0802847129
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
There's a new sheriff in town...
Google has announced yesterday that it will be releasing a new web browser... Google Chrome...
What does this mean for the Web Browser industry? More competition... And from a Giant like Google, it's sure to be very interesting!
So what can a new browser do for us? well for the user, it means a cleaner interface with some feature and performance boosts.... for us developers, it means real sandboxing, true garbage collection, significant JavaScript performance boosts including compiled code before it runs, better security, and even the ability to run in a browser window that is stripped of all things "browser" allowing our "Browser Apps" to feel more like "Apps" and less like "browser".
I gladly welcome this new arrival and look forward to the innovation that Google will bring to the market!
Here's a link to their blog post:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html
What does this mean for the Web Browser industry? More competition... And from a Giant like Google, it's sure to be very interesting!
So what can a new browser do for us? well for the user, it means a cleaner interface with some feature and performance boosts.... for us developers, it means real sandboxing, true garbage collection, significant JavaScript performance boosts including compiled code before it runs, better security, and even the ability to run in a browser window that is stripped of all things "browser" allowing our "Browser Apps" to feel more like "Apps" and less like "browser".
I gladly welcome this new arrival and look forward to the innovation that Google will bring to the market!
Here's a link to their blog post:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html
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