So, some people out there know that I am in the process of writing a booklet that stresses the importance of memorizing Scripture as book by book and not verse by verse.  Anyway, this process is coming closer and closer to becoming a realization.  I am going to self-publish through a company by the name of Morris Publishing.  Joe has agreed to allow me a table at the upcoming Founder's Conference in February at First Baptist Church of St. Peters. 

What does this all mean? 

This means that I am going to be published!  Weird, eh?  The hard copy is downstairs being printed off as I write this and I will be sending it off to the published before the close of this week.  I will, Lord willing, get the "sample" book back a couple of days after that, and if it looks good I will order the rest.  WOW!  Yeah, I am a little excited. 

Funny thing is this:  None of this would have come about if I did not move back to St. Louis.  Back in May, I believe, or June, James asked me if I would come and speak to his youth group during a D-Now on Scripture memorization and actually quote the book of Colossians.  Unfortunately, I was not able to make it for a pretty awesome reason:  The birth of my first child!  Anyway, I told him that I would write something up for him.  That took me about a week or so.  Then I decided to add more to it...and more...and more...and so on and so on.  It would seem as if God knows what He is doing...imagine.

You have a weak mind...don't take it personally, we all do.

With every ounce of mental power you can muster do your best NOT to think about the following visual: Pink elephant on a skateboard. DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE PINK ELEPHANT ON THE SKATEBOARD. Even as I write this I am thinking about a pink elephant on a skateboard, why? Simple, I typed out the phrase and had to think about it before I typed it...but why are YOU thinking about a pink elephant on a skateboard? Have you ever seen one before? Have you seen a pink elephant? Have you seen a regular elephant on a skateboard? 99% of you reading this will say no to both questions...and there will be some who make a joke out of them. Truth is that NO ONE reading this has seen that pink elephant and I doubt you have seen a grey one on a skateboard...so why are you thinking about it?

If it is that easy to fill your mind with a non-sensical image like a pink elephant on a skateboard...or a blue bear riding a bike...how easy do you think it is to fill your head with dangerous Worldly things throughout the day? An image here, an over-heard conversation there...add a dash of the fact that you are "prone to wander", as the hymnist put it, and the mind is set-up for disaster. I think this is why I have begun to see memorization of Scripture and meditation on Scripture as more and more important. I think these to quite neglected areas are weaknesses in most believer's lives. Why? Memorization takes discipline if we are actually going to retain what we have learned, while Mediation takes time, sitting in silence to let the word wash over us. And those things are simply not part of Western culture: Discipline, Time and Silence. It has become ingrained within us to not want to work hard, to want things as fast as possible and to always have SOMETHING going on in the background. We have to break free of that, I believe, if we are going to meet the Lord through His word, but even now I am speaking to myself. (Sigh) Just some thoughts as I finish up a Sunday School lesson. --Grace and Peace--