The Kitchen…
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For everyone that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
… grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. (2Peter 3:18)
THE KITCHEN IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ROOM IN THE HOUSE. It's the engine room. Other rooms are important, but the kitchen is the chief room.
FOOD PREPARATION USUALLY BEGINS WITH BREAKING DOWN larger pieces of food and mixing it with other ingredients to improve the taste and digestibility of the food. We want a good cooking stove because we want pungent aroma and tantalizing taste and a sense of satisfaction from eating the meal. Sometimes, we might even consider what is healthy for us. (Imagine that, in this day!)
IN LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, the “kitchen” is the most important room in the life. Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; (Deuteronomy 4:9) I don’t read the Bible and pray because I’m spiritual. I read the Bible and pray because I’m NOT spiritual!
I WAS BLESSED TO HAVE HAD SOME GOOD TEACHERS from the first grade through college years. Some of the most valuable and practical help that came my way was from the Navigators I met on college campus. These were military veterans, mostly navy, who had been through World War II.
WHILE IN TRAINING, THEY HAD ENCOUNTERED DAWSON TROTMAN in California who worked with sailors and perhaps some pilots. He taught them how to memorize Scripture verses and how to share their faith with others. As these men went into war, they led many of their companions to Christ and taught them how to memorize Scripture verses.
WHILE A STUDENT AT TENNESSEE TEMPLE COLLEGE, I sang in chapel one time, as a voice student of Mrs. Ellen Herrmann. I was not solo material, but it was an assigned duty and I got on with it. I sang: “It Will Be Worth it All When We See Christ” in D-flat. The special guest speaker for that chapel occasion was…Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators. It was one of the highlights of my life. (He drowned trying to rescue a young person who had fallen out of a boat at a Bible camp.)
I TOOK SEVERAL BIBLE COURSES THAT WERE HELPFUL, but Bible reading, and memorization became my spiritual kitchen. I learned that there are five major ways we take in the word of God: 1. Hear 2. Read 3. Study 4. Memorize 5. Meditate. Using the first letter of each of those five things, we get: HRS of M&M’s.
FROM M.R. DE'HAAN'S RADIO BIBLE CLASS, I learned that every passage of Scripture comes with three questions: 1. What does it say? 2. What does it mean? 3. How does it apply to me. If we use those three questions in our Bible kitchen, we will open up the Bible passage in a very meaningful way.
FROM READING A.W. PINK'S BOOK: "ELIJAH," several times (I try to read it every year) it became obvious that “God wrote His book in phrases. We think in phrases, not verses, not chapters, not in sermon outlines, but in phrases. So, in memorizing Scripture, give attention to the phrases. Underline them and memorize them first. We index where the material is found by assigning it a chapter and verse. But, the heart of the verse is its phrase or phrases.
UNDERLINE THE PHRASE. People who have listened to sermons and Sunday school lessons have memorized Bible phrases “accidently.” Most church attending people know more Scripture than they think they do.
WRITE DOWN PHRASES THAT COME TO YOU (keep a folded paper in your Bible for that purpose). When you can, look it up in the Bible and write the rest of the verse and the reference. Put it on a card to be memorized or “rounded out.” If you have a Bible app on your phone, such as the Blue Line Bible, you can type in the phrase and get all the places in the Bible that phrase is used.
CHAPTERS AND VERSES ARE GOOD FOR indexing the verses. It is very important that we memorize the chapter/verse reference by saying it before and after each passage. That way, if you think/hear the reference, you can recall the verse. If you think/hear the verse, you can recall where it’s found. But the references contribute nothing to understanding the verse.
EVANGELIST PAUL FERGUSON (boxing champion) memorized 8,000+ verses. (In the King James Bible, there are 31,173 verses and 1,189 chapters.) I interviewed him for six days and wrote what he told me in: Paul Ferguson the Fighter. (288 pages). Dr. Lee Roberson gave it the title and wrote a Foreword. You can get a free copy by writing me at Dan Carr 1320 County Rd. 81, Flat Rock, AL 35966. If you can afford the postage and packaging ($3.00) that would be helpful. The book includes a chapter on memorizing Bible verses.
THERE'S A CHAPTER BY BROTHER LESTER ROLOFF: 60 Chapters in 60 Months. That is the memory program he used in his homes for boys and girls. He sent it to me to be printed and given out, so I just stuck it in the Ferguson book. All the verses that appear in the writing of the book are in a chapter in the back of the book and are good, I think. There’s a list of 60+ uplifting song titles, listed alphabetically from AMAZING GRACE to WONDERFUL WORDS OF LIFE.
FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, NOW, I'VE KNOWN I MUST GATHER UP ALL THE VERSES I’ve memorized and put them in the computer from Genesis through Revelation. From that, I can print them off on sheets of paper, if desired, fold them and keep a couple of folded sheets in my reading Bible.
ALSO, I WILL BEGIN WRITING VERSES on 3x5 half-cards (3x5 cut in half). Verses that are still sharp will go into one box and will be reviewed again next year. Verses that “stall,” make me hesitate to recall any part of the verses, will be put in the “work pile.” Those verses are to be reviewed until they are easily recalled and can be recited without effort.
I LIKE THE NEON GREEN CARDS. I carry a Sharpie- Fine/Ultra Fine Permanent Marker and use the fine-point end for writing verses on cards. It’s easier to read than ball point. The cards have lines on one side. If the verse is longer than the card, flip the card with the fingers so that the verses are upside down to each other. You can flip a card easier with the fingers than with the wrist.
I MAY WRITE SOME OF MY VERSES ON DADDY'S 1935 ROYAL TYPEWRITER. (I started typing on it with two fingers when I was five, with the chair turned backward and standing on my knees; 80 years ago)
THE VERSES ON PRAYER, A HUNDRED OR SO, WILL BE KEPT SEPARATE and reviewed often by writing them and reciting them. These verses are either on prayer or verses that relate to prayer, such as faith, hindrances to prayer, examples of prayer, etc.
THIS WILL BE A LIFE-LONG PROJECT FOR ME, AND I WILL PRIMARILY USE IT FOR PRAYER and for writing and sharing one-on-one. I don’t know how many verses I know; not enough to brag about. Maybe 1,000-plus. Every Christian should set a goal for memorizing Bible verses. 300 verses would be a good round number.
IF YOU TRY TO MEMORIZE A VERSE PER WEEK, you will actually do about 30 verses a year. Ten years will give you 300 verses. DO GOOD, SOLID WORK! (I double-dog dare you!) You will accomplish more if you will set your mind to it. We can’t share what we don’t know.
CAUTION! We don’t memorize verses so we can show off our Bible knowledge. Most of what we know, we will do like Mary: But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) Bible phrases will float up all the time. Bible-rich hymns do the same thing. An hour a day for memorizing and repairing rusty verses. You are welcome to join me if you think it’s a good idea for you.
SO, THESE ARE MY KITCHEN PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. The dining room where we serve Morning Minute should be a little better with less time.
ON THE HOME FRONT: Mama won’t let me on a ladder to clean gutters any more. The three downed trees were cut up and hauled off while we were gone. (I may sneak in some weed-eating while Barbara’s working at the Community Center on Tuesdays.) She likes to mow, so I don’t mess with that, except the banks. We have neighbor-help at times. I’ll enjoy working more in the Bible Kitchen this year and working on the fourth Thursday’s at the Community Center Food Day. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 29, 2019 – MONDAY
A.M. 2 Samuel 21-22 P.M. Luke 22:1-30
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verse to Memorize:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)
Songs for Today:
The Stranger by the Sea (1:39) (Brother Roloff)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKk_7-XPi5I
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