Scripture Stickies contests, discounts, and prizes

Posted on November 08, 2011 Phil Walker 218 comments

Julie Alvarez - yes the same Julie who helped spice up our 100,000th Verse contest - has offered some more prizes and discounts in her endorsement of Memverse.  Here is what she has to say:

Hi, Memverse members! I want you to know that I love what you're doing in memorizing God's Word. I want to use my ministry, Scripture Stickies, to point people towards the joy and benefit of using Memverse and also to encourage and bless those of you already using Memverse. There are many ways to memorize Scripture of course but we found that one of the most helpful ways for many people is to have it sticking all over the place to be read over and over! Hence Scripture Stickies! Here are some of the exciting promotions that we have going on right now in conjunction with Memverse:

Each month there will be a new contest exclusively for Memverse users with the winner receiving a free Scripture Stickies pack.

SCRIPTURE STICKIES past winners:

Predicting 100,000 Grand winner = NathanV;  other winners included Carissa; Phil Walker; Sydney Reed; Elisabeth Sinclair and SavedByGrace

November 2011 contest winner = Mommy's Helper

December 2011 contest winner = AstroJohn  

January 2012 contest winner = ChosenByHim

February 2012 contest winner = Erika Wenzel

March 2012 winner = Anna Mieczkowski

April/May 2012 winners = ? (Please let us know if you were a winner of the April/May contest with your entry listed on the Scripture Stickies website.)

June/July 2012 winner = Emily Hamilton

August 2012 winner = Eunice Sofia from India (our first winner outside the USA)

Sept/Oct 2012 winner = ?? If you submit an entry it could be you!

Sept/Oct 2012 contest

For our Sept/October contest I would love to hear what verse or Bible story God has recently been using in your life and how. Please share and encourage all of us! For me right now it is the story of the man born blind and the disciples ask why this happened- was it sin in his life or his parents. Jesus reminded them that this happened not due to anyone's sin but so that the work of God could be shown in His life. As I go through trials I need to remember that God's work is being shown in my life as I trust in Him and put Him at the forefront. What a testimony to others (and to myself!!) when this happens. Thank you, Jesus.

For those of you not on our regular mailing list, here is a link to our most recent Scripture Stickies newsletter so you can check it out: http://www.scripturestickies.com/newsletter.html

In addition to contests I want to offer special discounts to Memverse users. Right now Scripture Stickies is offering a 15% discount to everyone who has memorized at least one verse on memverse. To receive this discount, insert the code MEMVERSE1 when you place your order. Use this code to get a great discount on Scripture Stickies packs for yourself or for friends and family! This code is also valid on Scripture of the Month Clubs and favors.

I would also like to encourage you when you reach a special highlight on Memverse. When you reach 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, etc. or your state or church make a debut on the Leaders board, or move up in rank (for example from 5th to 4th place) or memorize any multiple of 1,000 verses, you will have one week to claim a 25% discount and insert the code MEMVERSEHIGHLIGHT when you order. Please list what the specific highlight was either on this blog or by email info@scripturestickies.com

It is exciting to see that there are so many young people memorizing so much Scripture and even over 35 of you joining SavedByGrace in hoping to memorize the entire Bible in your lifetime!! Scripture Stickies will award a free one year subscription to the Scripture Stickies of the Month Club to the first person who reaches 5,000 verses memorized on Memverse, and a free pack of the Scripture Stickies of your choice to all who reach the 5,000 milestone.

Finally, I encourage all Memverse users to check out www.scripturestickies.com from time to time to see new features, new packs being offered or to participate in contests open to the general public.

May God bless you as you continue to memorize and meditate on God's Word.

It was so neat meeting many of you in Nashville.  Thanks for stopping by my Scripture Stickies booth.   

Julie

Bible Bee Practice Tests

Posted on November 07, 2011 Alex Watt 69 comments

Matthew Minica kindly developed practice tests for Bible Bee National Qualifiers and asked us to post them on Memverse for him. Here are the tests along with a note from Matthew:

Last Saturday, we went to visit our friends, the Smithes, who have a son Joshua going to the National Bible Bee as a Senior. We had a couple of their friends come over and held a mock Bible Bee with the three of us going to Nationals: Joshua, Courtney, and I. My dad suggested that we should make a practice test for each other, and I caught onto it right away. A couple days later, I had an idea: Why not share about this on Memverse!? So here is that practice test, all finished and ready to be administered.

There are a few things I would like to note: First, if you are a Primary who would like to take this test, I apologize for not making a Primary version of the test. The reason I did not is that I could not see any Primaries who were currently active on Memverse.

Second, the only difference between the Junior and Senior versions is 16 questions about some Level 3 passages; otherwise, the Junior and Senior tests are exactly the same.

Also, to take the test you will need the bubble sheet available here on the Bible Bee website.

I hope you enjoy this practice test and that it will really help and encourage you in your studying!

Matthew Minica
Romans 1:16

____

Update 11/11/11: Anna and Grace Mieczkowski (Senior National qualifier) have also created two awesome practice tests to share; one is for Primaries and the other is for Seniors. Juniors are advised to take the Primary test.

____

Thanks again, Matthew, Anna, and Grace, for working on these tests and sharing them. Blessings to all studying for Nationals!

When is a Verse Memorized?

Posted on October 10, 2011 Andy 38 comments

I want to encourage you to not focus too much on Memverse's designation of whether or not a verse is memorized. We picked 30 days as an arbitrary milestone which wouldn't prove to be too elusive but was also something to strive for. Truly committing a verse to memory, though, takes a lot longer and will likely require you to frequently select option 1 or 2 and start again.

Let me illustrate my point. All of us at some point had the equation for the roots of a quadratic drummed into our heads in high school. I remember being able to wake up in the middle of the night and recite it without hesitation. Like so much we learn, after leaving school I never had occasion to use the equation for about a decade. A year ago, I had to solve a quadratic and was astonished to find that I couldn't recall the formula. Something that I had once memorized perfectly was no longer accessible.

Fortunately, I asked Google and it gave me the answer. What I found interesting is that a single refreshing of that memory (after more than a decade) was sufficient to completely lay down the track again. I'm fairly sure I will remember it for the next twenty years.

This is why it is best to rate yourself as honestly as possible when reviewing your verses. I've been using Memverse now for over two years and I am starting to experience some of my early verses that I haven't had to review for a long time come up again. Some of them I remember and as I type them out again I can feel the memory track getting deeper. Others I have to reset and over the next few months, as the interval grows again, I get to really know them well.

That's how Memverse is designed to work. Next time you experience your mouse swaying between option 2 and 3, remember that the race is long and not necessarily to the swift. It's often better to reset a verse earlier, rather than later.

Incidentally: the roots of a quadratic are given by: -b +- sqrt(b^2-4ac)/2a

Verse Hero on impresskids.com

Posted on October 08, 2011 Phil Walker 79 comments

I praise God for those who use their talent to promote a love of Scripture. Impresskids.com has developed an incredible Scripture Memory Game.  I hope you will join us and encourage your friends to join us on our Memverse page at impresskids.com  Feel free to let me know what passages you want in what translations if they are not already available.  Some of you may want to encourage your family, church, school, 2012 local Bible Bee, or home school group to consider making their own Impresskids.com page.  Currently on the Memverse page we have:

Open to all guests:  GALATIANS 2:20, JOHN 15:5-8; and PSALM 23 all in the 1984 NIV

Open to members only (registration is free)

On the impresskids.com website, the games are listed in alphabetical order

1984 NIV

JOB 23:8-12;  PSALM 33:1-22; 34:4-19; 119:1-40;  ISAIAH 53:1-12;  MATTHEW 5:1-12;  ROMANS 2:1-10;  HEBREWS 11:1-7; 8-19; 20-30;  

KJV

GENESIS 1;  PSALM 119:1-16, 17-32;  ROMANS 12:  TITUS 2; 1 PETER 1; 2;  

NKJ

EXODUS 20:1-17;  ISAIAH 53;  ROMANS 8:1-6 

ESV

 PSALM 33; 56:3-4; 67;  2 TIMOTHY 4:1-8

NASB

EXODUS 20:1-17;  JOSHUA 11:23;  COLOSSIANS 1; 2;  1 PETER 1:1-12

Feel free to request passages in other translations and we will add them. 

Free Book Rewards from Scripture Memory Fellowship

Posted on September 29, 2011 Phil Walker 88 comments

Scripture Memory Fellowship (SMF) is an exciting ministry based in Hannibal, Missouri, which recently has branched out to embrace, endorse, and support other Scripture memory ministries and tools, while still using their trademark systematic Scripture memory rewards system started by founder Dr. N.A Woychuk (originally began as "Bible Memory Association - BMA"). The director of SMF, Jim Woychuk, has contacted us to offer prizes to those who have memorized verses on Memverse.

SMF will mail a free book to everyone who has memorized at least 200 verses on Memverse! Additional free books will be mailed when Memverse users reach 500 verses, 1,000 verses, 2,000 verses, 3,000, and every thousand after that. SMF will give a $100 gift certificate to CBD or the Bible Bee e-store (or other appropriate Christian enterprise) for anyone who reaches 10,000 verses on Memverse and another for every 10,000 after that.

The first one in SavedByGrace's group to memorize all 31,173 verses on Memverse will get a brand new car...just kidding about the new car, but thanks to SMF you will have a library of wonderful free books and $300 of gift certificates by the time you finish.

The current list of books to choose from are:

For 200 verses you can pick from:

• Valuable Selections from the Writings of George Müller | George Müller
• Valuable Selections from the Writings of Frances Ridley Havergal
• Jesus Commands (175 memory verses from the teachings of Jesus)
• Missionary Coloring Book (John 3:16 in 25 languages with flags and kids in native dress to color)
• Morning Bells by Frances Ridley Havergal
• Isaac Watt Biography by Dr. N.A. Woychuk

For 500 verses you can pick from the books above or:

• Abide in Me (Andrew Murray, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Henry Jowett, N. A. Woychuk)
• The Amazing Life of Christ, Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Keep In Memory, How to Enjoy Bible Memorizing with Profit, N. A. Woychuk
• Singing Psalms with Isaac Watts (includes Isaac Watt's biography)
• Checque Book of the Bank of Faith, C. H. Spurgeon, for those at verse level and above

For 1,000 or more verses you can pick from the books above or:

• Tic-Tac-Know - a Bible knowledge quiz game
• Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure, with Lloyd-Jones audio CD

This post will be updated as more titles will be added to choose from. Those who have memorized 500 or more verses may claim multiple books at the same time. For example, if you are currently at 1,143 verses, you can receive 3 books (1 for 200, 500, and 1,000) and contact SMF for a 4th book when you reach 2,000 verses.

In addition to the book awards, SMF is also awarding a free week of SMF summer Scripture Memory Camp to 5 Memverse users each year who have memorized at least 500 verses on Memverse. If you have memorized 500 verses on Memverse and are interested in possibly attending the SMF camp this upcoming summer of 2012, please contact SMF. They will let you know when the dates and locations of the camps have been finalized. You will then have 2 weeks to confirm that you want to go, or your spot will be made available for another Memverse member with 500 verses who wants to go. If more than 5 request the free week of camp scholarship, a waiting list will be started. Those on the waiting list who do not get to go in 2012 will get first chance at the scholarship the following year.

To contact SMF for the free books or the free week of camp, or to get more information about these offers call (573) 231 - 0577 M-F between 8:30am and 5:30pm CDT or email smfi.77@gmail.com or mail them at SMF 245 N. Levering Ave, Hannibal, MO 63401 or stop in person to the Hannibal headquarters or see the SMF booth at the Bible Bee Nationals in Nashville in November, or home school fair in your area.

Below is the current plan of locations and dates where SMF expects, Lord willing, to have a Scripture Memory booth.  At several of these, they will also be running Scripture Memory workshops.  If you are interested in giving a quick testimony of the positive impact memverse and/or the Bible Bee has had on your life and/or on your family, please get in touch with Jim Woychuk of SMF
 
Bible Bee Finals, Nashville, Tennessee, November 17-19, 2011
Spartanburg, South Carolina "Teach Them Diligently" Convention, March 15-17, 2012

Homeschool Fairs in:

• St. Louis, Missouri, March 22-24, 2012
• Memphis, April 12-14, 2012
• Kansas City, April 19-21, 2012
• Cincinnati, Ohio, April 19-21, 2012
• Arlington, Texas, May 11-12, 2012
• Naperville, Illinois, June 7-9, 2012

We will update this list with any new locations or possible cancellations.

When you contact Scripture Memory Fellowship for your reward, you will need to give your name, your age (for those under 18), your Memverse user name, the books you selected, and the address you want the books mailed to. You can learn more about SMF at www.scripturememoryfellowship.org.

100,000 Scripture Memory Verses

Posted on September 16, 2011 Phil Walker 324 comments

This summer, I had predicted that we would hit 100,000 verses on September 15th, 2011. Obviously I was wrong. However, I am hardly discouraged as it is so exciting to see so many new people using Memverse and seeing regulars reaching new heights and staying faithful with the Scripture. It is also very inspiring to read all the passion for God's Word on Memverse that stands in sharp contrast to what we often encounter off Memverse.

Our main focus on Memverse is always knowing, loving, worshiping, and serving the true, Living, Biblical God better and better through memorizing, meditating on, and obeying His Word. However, I think there is room in our goal to encourage and inspire each other as we meet different milestones here on Memverse.

So what do you think? When will we hit 100,000? You can make one prediction on the "Original guess" chart.  You can also update that guess as many times as you want on the "Latest guess" chart.  I will record up to 3 names for each date on each chart.  Will you be the first to predict the right date? A big thanks to Julie of scripturestickies.com who is increasing the fun and adding prizes to those who guess the right date.  I wonder who will have the honor of memorizing verse #100,000. Please join us in praying for each Memverse user as we memorize and interact with God's Word. Also pray for Andy, Alex, and Emeka as they keep working to improve Memverse.

Exact date you think we will reach 100,000 verses on Memverse?

Original Guess Chart (maximum of 3 guesses on every date)

Any brave September predictions?  25th = Claire;  30th = Laurel

October predictions? 2nd = Clay Dennington;  9th = Hannah del Toro;   11th = Simeon;  12th = Bethany;  Joshua Harrell; 13th = Phil Walker; Coretta H;   14th = AmyV;  15th = Laura Hedstrom;  16th = Kaitlyn Vredevoogd;  17th = Alex Watt;  18th = Jonathan Staddon; Matthew Sinclair; 19th = NathanV; Elisabeth Sinclair;  20th = InSoloChristo; Constance Keating;  21st = Josiah K; Rachelle; TigerJohnny;  22nd = Ethan Brown; Hannah  23rd = Josiah DeGraaf; RyanV  24th = Dakota Lynch; Zachary Baas; Sheri;  25th = Matthew Minica; LealChristianm.juat;  26th = Ian R;  27th = Rachel Crosswhite;  28th = Monica Duitsman; Julie; Joanne;  29th = Grace Mieczkowski;  Seth Walley;  30th = Sydney Reed; ChiefofSinners; Jamie;  31st = On-Christ-The-Solid-Rock-I-Stand; Christ's Handmaiden

October 21st, 24th, 28th and 30th are full and cannot be joined as a first guess

November predictions?  1st = Darla; Carissa;   Nov 2nd = Naomi;  Jonah Brown;  3rd = Ben Walley;  4th = SavedbyGrace;  9th = Connie Swaine;  11th = AstroLeah;   12th = Paulina;  17th = BibleBeeJunior11; Nina;  19th = Marie Morris;   21st = Mommy's Helper 22nd = Nikki Brown

December predictions? 5th = Adam Murphy;  11th = Chloe; 24th = Charity;  25th = Jess; 29th = Sarah Stelzl; 31st = 2remember

Latest Guess Chart (maximum of 3 guesses on every date)

Any brave September predictions?   30th = Laurel

October predictions? 2nd = Clay Dennington;  4th = Zachary Baas;  9th = Hannah del Toro;  11th = Simeon;  12th = Joshua Harrell; Laura Hedstrom;  15th = Jamie;  16th = BibleBeeJunior11;  17th = Alex Watt; Matthew Minica; Seth Walley; 18th = Jonathan Staddon; Grace Mieczkowski; Ben Walley;  19th = Carissa; Phil Walker; Sydney Reed;  20th = InSoloChristo; Constance Keating; KaitlynV;   21st = Josiah K; Marie Morris; Bethany  22nd = Ethan Brown; AmyV; SavedByGrace;  23rd = Josiah DeGraaf; AstroLeah; RyanV;  24th = Dakota Lynch; Sheri; Jesus-Paid-It-All;  25th = LealChristianm.juat; ChiefOfSinners;  26th = Ian R;   28th = Monica Duitsman; Julie; Joanne;  31st = On-Christ-The-Solid-Rock-I-Stand; Christ's Handmaiden; Coretta H

October 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 28, 31 are full and cannot be joined unless someone leaves that date.

November predictions?  1st = Darla;  2nd = Naomi;  Jonah Brown.  9th = Connie Swaine;  12th = Paulina;  14th = Claire;  17th = Nina;  21st = Mommy's Helper;  22nd = Nikki Brown

December predictions? 5th = Adam Murphy;  11th = Chloe; 24th = Charity;  25th = Jess; 31st = 2remember 

A message from Julie:

Hello everyone! I love what you guys are doing here on Memverse as you memorize God’s Word and encourage each other. This contest looks like a lot of fun! A few years back, I started a ministry called Scripture Stickies to help people memorize and meditate on God’s Word. Scripture Stickies are stickable Bible verses and they are a fun way to help you study verses. They also make great gifts.

I would like to offer some prizes for this contest. To everyone who picks the right date on either the “Original Guess” or “Latest Guess” chart I will give one free Scripture Stickies pack of your choice. In addition, the first person to have picked the right date as their original guess will receive a free 6 month subscription to the “Scripture Stickies of the Month Club”. Although I will feel a little bad if I actually win and claim my own prize, I do want to join the fun, so I will predict October 28 as the date Memverse hits 100,000 verses. :)

If you think you have a good prediction, feel free to start looking for your favorite Scripture Stickies pack now on my website, www.scripturestickies.com.

To claim your prize, call me at 1-888-202-4007 or email me at info@scripturestickies.com or mail me at 405 El Camino Real #434 Menlo Park, CA 94025 with your username and the address you want me to mail your Scripture Stickies to (also tell me which pack you chose and what version of the Bible you prefer). Alternatively, if you will be at the Bible Bee Finals in Nashville – and if 100,000 verses has been reached by then - you can pick up your prize in person at the Scripture Stickies booth.

Thank you and God bless!

Countdown to 100,000:

- ffrash memorized 91,000th verse on September 21

- Angela memorized 92,000th verse on September 24

- Andrea Joy memorized 93,000th verse on September 27

- Stephanie Hills memorized 94,000th verse on September 29

- Grace Mieczkowski memorized 95,000th verse on October 3

- Jessica memorized 96,000th verse on October 6

- Laura memorized 97,000th verse on October 10

- Kaitlyn Vredevoogd memorized 98,000th verse on October 13

- Alex Watt memorized 99,000th verse on October 17

- SavedByGrace memorized 100,000th verse on October 19 at 15:57:42 UTC!

- Phil Walker memorized the 150,000^th verse on April , 12, 2012 at 01:28:08 UTC

Bible reading

Posted on September 06, 2011 Phil Walker 85 comments

Even though the main emphasis of Memverse is, and always will be Scripture memory verses; we also want to encourage and inspire all forms of treasuring, taking in, and meditating on Scripture in our pursuit of knowing, loving, praising, and serving the true Biblical God.

After a hectic July with haphazard Bible reading mostly developing a worshipful heart through PSALMS, Jacky and I decided to start August with a disciplined, yet flexible and grace filled daily joint Bible reading goal and plan that we might be able to continue throughout our married life together.  God enabling us, we want to read together at least one chapter of the Bible each day.  We will read through 5 sections of the Bible.  The Old Testament (minus PSALMS and PROVERBS); PSALMS, PROVERBS, the Gospels, ACTS - REVELATION.  Rather than be tied down to a certain number of daily chapters, we are using target dates we are aiming for to complete each section.  Two days before the end of each month is the target date for reading through one Gospel.  Two days before each 4th month is our target date to complete PROVERBS; Two days before the end of each 6th month is our target date to complete PSALMS and to complete ACTS - REVELATION; July 29th each year is our target date to finish the Old Testament.

We plan to supplement our daily devotional reading with periodic longer Scripture reading sessions where we read several chapters from one of the 5 sections.

On this blog we plan to declare our monthly Bible reading as an accountability help for us and, Lord willing, an encouragement to others.  We also invite others to likewise share your reading plans or goals and/or declare your weekly or monthly or yearly (or periodic) Bible reading. 

This blog can also be used to discuss any specific Scripture you have recently read.  Please always feel free to share testimony or insights on the Scripture we declare as reading.

May we always remember that quality time in Scripture and a right heart for God always trumps quantity of chapters read or verses memorized.

I look forward to hearing from you as we encourage and inspire each other.

In Christ, Phil Walker  philjohn1558@yahoo.com

PS  If we have interests in others committing to monthly declarations of Bible reading we can set up a friendly monthly "Remember to declare your Bible reading" post on this page or monthly email sent out to those who desire to be included.  

Post Bible Bee

Posted on September 02, 2011 Alex Watt 88 comments

On August 27, many of you competed in Local Bible Bees across the United States. On Wednesday, August 31, those of you in the National track learned whether you will be traveling to Nashville for the National competition as a competitor. Today, you're probably either getting ready for a more intense competition or going back to "normal" life. Either way, we want to congratulate you for your diligence in memorizing Scripture! Every hour we spend now establishing a more fervent walk with our gracious God through family discipleship, Scripture memorization, and prayer is of great value and can change the course of our lives and the lives of those around us for God's glory. Paul reminded Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:8 that "physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." We do not memorize merely for information, but we seek the truth of God's Word because it is a "lamp to our feet and a light for our path," a comfort to our souls, the Sword of the Spirit we need to kill sin in our own lives, and the way to truly knowing Him.

When the Bible Bee competition ends for you, we pray you would find the beginning of a new chapter in your life filled with the grace of God through Scripture memorization and intentional time spent with Him. (Dakota challenges us about how Christians should budget time here.) Consider memorizing a book of the Bible to see how verses and chapters fit together with the larger scope of the book's theme. Some are memorizing 1 Peter to give themselves a fuller understanding of that book which they studied over the summer while preparing for the Bee. This is a great choice. You can check out that project.

We also have been encouraged lately to memorize one of the most amazing books of the Bible: Romans. This book is, to quote from J. I. Packer's Knowing God:

... the high peak of Scripture, however you look at it. Luther called it "the clearest gospel of all." "If a man understands it," wrote Calvin, "he has a sure road opened for him to the understanding of the whole Scripture." Tyndale, in his preface to Romans, linked both thoughts, calling Romans "the principal and most excellent part of the New Testament, and most pure Euangelion, that is to say glad tidings and that we call gospel, and also a light and a way in unto the whole Scripture." All roads in the Bible lead to Romans, and all views afforded by the Bible are seen most clearly from Romans, and when the message of Romans gets into a person's heart there is no telling what may happen.

If this is true, we should seek to understand Romans and memorize it. To see a wonderful calendar for memorizing Romans from September 1, 2011, through December 31, 2012, please choose a file format: PDF or DOC. (Courtesy of the Alexander family - thank you.) At one verse a day, with separate review days built in, you can memorize Romans in just over a year.

Maybe the Bible Bee isn't over for you, and you are preparing for Nationals. If so, we want to help you. Phil Walker has prepared materials to help those studying the additional 100, 200, or 300 verses (depending on your age division: Primary, Junior, or Senior) in the NIV 1984 version. Not only are there documents for each division with the verses printed word-for-word or prompterized like he kindly did for us last time, but there is also a document containing a game you can play. To play the game, you will need to print it out and cut each page into word strips, keeping the strips grouped by passages. Then scramble several (or all, if you're up for a big challenge!) of the passage groups together. By racing against time as you and your friends arrange the verse texts in the correct order, you can learn your verses for Nationals and have a lot of fun. Please see the appropriate links below:

If anyone has resources for other Bible Bee versions, please let us know in the comments and we can post them as well. (Phil expects to also have Study Stack sets created for the new verses as well, and we will link to those as they become available. Thanks for putting all this together for us!)

We are also planning to hold a few more Bible Bee Live Quizzes before this marathon is over. We would like to hold at least one with verses you studied for the Local Bee targeted at all Bible Bee participants, regardless of whether you've qualified for Nationals. Please check back sometime next week when we will have more information.

Update 09/05: We have determined dates for six more Bible Bee Live Quizzes. On each of these dates we will hold a quiz (and maybe a re-run of that quiz) starting at 4:00 p.m. EDT — except for November 11, which begins at 4:00 p.m. EST. Please see below and mark your calendars! This post will be updated before each quiz with a link to it. We hope you can attend one or more quizzes. If for any reason we need to cancel a quiz, we will do our best to let you know as soon as possible. The first quiz will contain material from what was studied for the local competition, so as to allow anyone in the Bible Bee to participate (some Primary, Junior, and Senior verses), but after that we will focus on verses for the National qualifiers with some review from earlier material.

Friday, September 9
Friday, September 23
Friday, October 7
Friday, October 21
Friday, November 4
Friday, November 11

Packer, J. I. Knowing God. Downer's Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1973. Print.

Bible Bee Scripture Memory Verses Finalists

Posted on August 30, 2011 Phil Walker 429 comments

ROMANS 12:15 tells us to "Rejoice with those who rejoice..."  Here at Memverse we want to do that in congratulating any Memverse members who become Bible Bee Finalists!!  Please help me out as we attempt to find and list them all on this blog page.  We will also set up a new accountability chart to help encourage anyone who wants to memorize the extra 161/261/361 (including the 61 verses in 2 PETER) verses the Bible Bee Finalists will be memorizing or studying in getting ready for "Nashville in November".  All are welcome to join this chart even if you, like me, will not be competing in the November contest.  Regarding 2 PETER, you can treat those verses however you want. I would encourage contestants to consider memorizing the entire book to be best ready for the contest.  However, you may also declare them as "fully studied but not memorized" and we will still count it on this chart.

May we also be sensitive to Bible Bee participants who did not make the list of finalists.  ROMANS 12:15 ends with "... mourn with those who mourn."  The obvious truth is that being one of the finalists has little to do with how much God will use His powerful Scripture in your life in the years to come.  May we stress this and be gracious in our conversation on this blog.

CONGRATULATIONS to our Memverse Bible Bee Finalists:

Seniors: Christian Alexander, Josiah DeGraaf, Laura Hedstrom, Grace Mieczkowski, Marie Morris, Bethany Pentimone, Alex Watt, Abigail Brigham, Olivia Guillard, Rachel Eaton, Prasanth Venigalla, Nina Camillone, Darcy Arnall, Stephanie Hills, Elizabeth Ledford, Angela McCain, Melody Mieczkowski, Thomas Youngman, Matthew Staley, Seth Walley, Seth Lehman, Elanee Smythe; Virginia Cruser = 23 finalists

Juniors: Nicolas Alexander, Zachary Baas, Hannah Del Toro, Clara Kho, Matthew Minica, Courtney Minica, Carissa Pentimone, Hannah Teeters, Kaitlyn Vredevoogd, Emily Brigham, Ben Watt, Allison Couch, Abigail Sutton, Alethea Leonard, Kerestel Leonard,  Monica Duitsman, Hannah Leary; Joshua Bontrager; BonnieLeigh Cruser; Meggie Cruser = 20 finalists

Primary: Kara Buckner; Abigail Lehman = 2 finalists

A through T Primary Accountability Chart.  Each declaration = 8 verses. 

 Felice                              A   B   C   D

A through T Junior Accountability Chart. Each declaration = 13 verses.

Matthew M   TX              A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S    Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS for completing this chart of 261 verses.  You are in Jacky and my daily prayers as you sharpen all 700 verses for Nashville and study 1 and 2 PETER.  More than that, we pray that God will speak powerfully in your life as you meditate on His Word and keep and treasure many of these 2011 Bible Bee verses for years to come.

Kaitlyn V       MI              A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS for completing this chart of 261 verses.  You are in Jacky and my daily prayers as you sharpen all 700 verses for Nashville and study 1 and 2 PETER.  More than that, we pray that God will speak powerfully in your life as you meditate on His Word and keep and treasure many of these 2011 Bible Bee verses for years to come.

Carissa P     MO            A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS for completing this chart of 261 verses.  You are in Jacky and my daily prayers as you sharpen all 700 verses for Nashville and study 1 and 2 PETER.  More than that, we pray that God will speak powerfully in your life as you meditate on His Word and keep and treasure many of these 2011 Bible Bee verses for years to come.  

Zachary B    MI               A   B

Alethea L     MN             A   B   C  

Kerestel L    MN            A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K

Nicolas A    OH            A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S    Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS for completing this chart of 261 verses.  You are in Jacky and my daily prayers as you sharpen all 700 verses for Nashville and study 1 and 2 PETER.  More than that, we pray that God will speak powerfully in your life as you meditate on His Word and keep and treasure many of these 2011 Bible Bee verses for years to come. 

Hannah D   VA             A   B   C   D   E   F   G

Clara K      NC              A   B   C   D

Monica D    TX             A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P

A through T Senior Accountability Chart. Each declaration = 18 verses.

Bethany P    MO             A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS for completing this chart of 361 verses.  You are in Jacky and my daily prayers as you sharpen all 1,100 verses for Nashville and study 1 and 2 PETER.  More than that, we pray that God will speak powerfully in your life as you meditate on His Word and keep and treasure many of these 2011 Bible Bee verses for years to come.  

Stephanie Hills FL         A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS for completing this chart of 361 verses. You are in Jacky and my daily prayers as you sharpen all 1,100 verses for Nashville and study 1 and 2 PETER. More than that, we pray that God will speak powerfully in your life as you meditate on His Word and keep and treasure many of these 2011 Bible Bee verses for years to come.

Josiah D       PA             A   B   C   D   E

Laura H     NE                A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS for completing this chart of 361 verses.  You are in Jacky and my daily prayers as you sharpen all 1,100 verses for Nashville and study 1 and 2 PETER.  More than that, we pray that God will speak powerfully in your life as you meditate on His Word and keep and treasure many of these 2011 Bible Bee verses for years to come  

Christian A   OH            A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N

Grace M   MI                  A   B   C   D

Alex W     PA                 A   B   C

Seth W    MO                 A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS for completing this chart of 361 verses.  You are in Jacky and my daily prayers as you sharpen all 1,100 verses for Nashville and study 1 and 2 PETER.  More than that, we pray that God will speak powerfully in your life as you meditate on His Word and keep and treasure many of these 2011 Bible Bee verses for years to come.  

Phil W  IDN                   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H

Scripture Songs for Bible Memory Verses

Posted on August 25, 2011 Phil Walker 39 comments

A great way to learn Bible memory verses is through Scripture songs.  This blog is to share with others Scripture songs you write and Scripture songs you find.

My favorite site for free NIV 1984 songs is www.pilgrimsongs.us from Rob and Wendy Jacobson.  My favorite songs from the site are "Do you not Know?" (ISAIAH 40:27-31) and "Do not Throw Away your Confidence" (HEBREWS 10:35-39).  I also very strongly endorse www.nivkids.com for 2-9 year olds and others who don't mind high quality, catchy kids tunes for memorizing God's awesome Word.  You can listen to samples for free and download an album for $1.99

In the KJV, a great site for free downloads is www.heritagemusic.org 

We would love to hear from you.  What great Scripture songs have you found or written that you can share with us?  

Prioritizing Your Schedule

Posted on August 14, 2011 Dakota Lynch 38 comments

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

               -Matthew 6:33

In these tough economic times, I know I’m not the only one who’s realized the need to create a weekly budget to help keep me on track financially. Without a definite course charted out I often find it difficult to stay motivated and am very liable to spend a little bit more money than is appropriate on unnecessary things, such as eating out and texting.

In the same way, it’s often necessary for a Christian to budget their time in order to maintain a close relationship with God. If you are regularly missing out on prayer, Bible study and church due to a supposed lack of time, then consider putting your facebook account on hold for a while and reprioritizing your schedule. Put God first and make everything else revolve around His place in your heart.

“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.”

               -Mark 9:43

For some of you, finding time to spend with God might mean setting your alarm 20 minutes early next week and trying to remember where you last had your Bible. For others, you may have to do nothing more than close your web browser after reading this post and go implement what you’ve just read. Whatever sacrifice you find necessary, just remember that it is no sacrifice to have a relationship with the living God. “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” (Luke 17:10)

1,000 Active Users in Memory Verses!!

Posted on August 06, 2011 Phil Walker 84 comments

We are once more approaching 1,000 active users and this time I believe that we, Lord willing, will make it.  How exciting when according to the "one church" leaderboard chart we had not even cracked 500 as recently as June 2010.  One easy way to tell your friends may be to forward the recent August Memverse newsletter you received to your friends.

To encourage us to pass the 1,000 active user mark I am setting up a "My friend signed up in August" chart.  If someone you told about Memverse signs up (or has already signed up) this month, please let us know on this blog.  Please also let us know if you are the one who signs up in August and remember who told you about Memverse!

I realize an over emphasis with numbers can be dangerous.  It is possible for us to have 1,000,000 active users and not have right hearts before God!  Let's not get out of balance.  On the other hand, as a math teacher and a coach for 20 years I love numbers and am excited about the motivation we can receive as we see other like minded believers memorizing Scripture with us and dream big God-size dreams of what He might do through His Word and truth in our lives.

         August Memverse Inviter                                      Memverse joiners who signed up in August after someone invited them  

1) Rachel Crosswhite                                                     A) Redwriter  B) justbyHisMercy

2) Christian Alexander                                                   A) Octavius;  B) Rachel;  C) Nathan Detwiler;

3) Phil Walker                                                                A) Joven06

4) Zachary Baas                                                            A) Chloe

5) Bethany (Bible Bee)                                                  A) Allison

6) Josiah K                                                                    A) Shelberlynn

7) vburk                                                                         A) Deborah Martin

Can we get more than 10 people to help a friend sign up for Memverse this month?  At last count, we recovered from our nose dive and set a new record of 994.  Many thanks to everyone who spread the word about Memverse at your local competition.  It would be very cool to get over 1,000, even if it is only temporarily before we dip again, before we eventually surpass 1,000 for good!!  Who will you refer today?

Memory Verses - the Entire Bible?

Posted on August 03, 2011 Phil Walker 130 comments

A group of Memverse members, led by SavedbyGrace, have started a new Scripture memory group committing to memorizing the entire Bible in their lifetime!  Wow!!  What a great goal and use of the mind and life God has given us.  It is exciting to see the impact the National Bible Bee is having on so many young people in the USA.  May God's blessings be on the group as you get to know the Living God better and better through His Word and as you commit to keeping these Bible Bee memory verses for the rest of your life and even adding more in your pursuit of memorizing the 31,103 verses in the Bible.  I have never met anyone who can quote the entire Bible and will be thrilled to be praying for each member of this group as you proceed.

We at Memverse want to encourage you in any way we can.  If you want to join this group, please let SavedbyGrace and his friends know through this blog post. This is also the place to make any comments about memorizing the entire Bible, and/or encourage this group.

SavedbyGrace or others in the group will be editing this page in the near future to give more information.

Those (currently 40) with a goal to memorize the whole Bible in their lifetime:

Me, SavedByGrace; Erika Wenzel; Brooke Nicole; Matthew Minica; Simeon; BibleBeeJunior11; Marie Morris;

Rachel; Angela; Joshua Harrell; God's little child; Josiah DeGraaf; Sarah Stelzl; AndrewBibleBeeJunior11;

Heidi Schreiber; Laurel; Sarah; Rachel Crosswhite; Sara Kenyon; Hannah Teeters;  Hanah Lanier; Sarah

Grace Mieczkowski; Michelle; Laura Hedstrom; Arthur Roshkovski;  Lee Jinks; China Dennington; 

GraceandGlory; Clay Dennington; Charity; Zachary Baas; Sydney Reed; Ashley; JAG3; On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand

Maddie Pickens; Anna Mieczkowski; AstroLeah; blewis18;

Please let us know if we mistakenly list you twice, or if you no longer want to be on this list.

Memory Verses in 1 Peter

Posted on August 02, 2011 Phil Walker 232 comments

Rachel, a committed Memverse member, has started a group of people committing to memorizing 1 PETER.  Very cool.  I will let her update this page to include information on how the program works.  When the Bible Bee local competition is over, it would be neat to set up an accountability chart here for memorizing 1 PETER.  It would also be very cool to run a 1 PETER Live quiz or 2 either while we are memorizing or after we are done.  There are now 20+ people in the group.  If you would like to join us in memorizing 1 PETER with the group, please let us know.

The current group of 38 members =

1 Peter Memorizers

-- Rachel Crosswhite (me); SavedByGrace; Bethany (Bible Bee); Phil Walker; Matthew Minica; Josiah DeGraaf; Marie Morris; 

-- Eunice Sophia; BibleBeeJunior11; Ranch4Christ; Rachel; Simeon; Carissa (BB); Alex Watt; Kaitlyn Vredevoogd; RyanV; 

-- AmyV; NathanV; vburk; BrookeNicole; Sarah (Bible Bee); Zachary Baas; Sara Kenyon; Hannah Teeters; Emily; Lydia;

-- Sarah Stelzl; Jonathan Staddon; China Dennington; God's Little Child; Clay Dennington; Daniel Dalton; Jo B; Elessar;

-- Alethea Leonard; Kerestel Leonard; Monica Duitsman, Christian A

Please let us know if you no longer want to be listed or if you were listed twice by mistake.

Please be active in praying for members in the group as we take in this exciting book.

We don't want to accountability chart people to death.  However, we also want to give an outlet for people who are memorizing 1 PETER.  Group leader "Jesus Paid it All" has set Jan 31st, 2012 as a target date to finish, giving time to Bible Bee Finalists to finish after Nashville.  However, people are welcome to keep memorizing and declaring after that date.  There are 105 verses in this awesome book, so we will make each declaration = 5 verses.  We will welcome and post single, double and triple declarations as we understand that some have already been memorizing 1 PETER.  We ask you to refrain from declaring more than 15 verses at once, but rather return back for future declarations.  Declarations can be made from any parts of 1 PETER since we know some are not starting with 1:1.  We would love for you to join us!! Can we, Lord willing, get all 37 on, or better yet to eventually complete this chart?

Sample declarations = John D   IL   Set A = 1 PETER 4:1-5 = 5 verses; or  Frank J   NM   Set A, B, C = 1 PETER 2:3-17 = 15 verses or my first declaration of Phil W   IND   Set A,B = 1 PETER 1:13-20; 2:9-10 = 10 verses

1 PETER Accountability/Encouragement chart: Each declaration = 5 verses

Rachel C    NC                A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U have finished the 1 PETER chart.  CONGRATULATIONS!  I pray that God will use 1 PETER powerfully in your life for yours to come.  Thanks for encouraging all of us with this group!

Nicolas A   OH                A   B   C

Kaitlyn V     MI                 A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P

Bethany P   MO              A   B   C   D   E

Emily I       NC                A   B   C   D   E   F   G

Monica D    TX               A   B   C

Amy V      MI                   A   B   C   D   E

Simeon B   AK              A

Carissa P   MO             A   B   C   D   E   F   G

Eunice S   IND              A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U have finished the 1 PETER chart. CONGRATULATIONS! I pray that God will use 1 PETER powerfully in your life for yours to come. Great to see India involved with memorizing this wonderful book.  I can't wait for God to open the door for me to, Lord willing, one day visit India.

Christian A  OH             A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L

Jo B   UK                       A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U have finished the 1 PETER chart. CONGRATULATIONS! I pray that God will use 1 PETER powerfully in your life for yours to come. Great to see England involved with memorizing this wonderful book.  I pray that more and more people in England will treasure and memorize Scripture and praise God for the historical legacy England has in our Christian faith.  

Phil W     IDN               A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H

Bible Bee Live Quizzes

Posted on July 21, 2011 Alex Watt 422 comments

We plan to continue holding Bible Bee Live Quizzes here on Memverse.com on Fridays at 4 PM EDT. (If for some reason we cannot hold a quiz, we will do our best to let you know as soon as we have that information available.) We are thrilled to have a new feature here that allows you to participate in these quizzes in real time with other Bible Bee participants. It is still a work in progress, but we believe some of the bugs have been worked out since last week's quiz.

If you plan to participate in any of these quizzes, please see this blog post: Preparing for Bible Bee quiz. It has important information about making sure your computer is ready for the quizzes.

During past quizzes, we have always had 15 questions: the first and last five were "give the reference" type questions (which are not part of the Bible Bee per se, but they are from Bible Bee passages and do reinforce the references in your mind), and five questions in the middle for you to "recite" (type) a Bible Bee passage. We have tried to keep these mostly Primary verses, with some Junior.

However, we are now entering the second season of Bible Bee quizzes - this is Week 7 in our studies - with a better quiz system and a need for more review, so the format of the quizzes may change. We plan to include more verses from previous weeks and hopefully more of these can be Primary and Timothy track verses.

On Friday, August 26, 2011, at 4 p.m. EDT, we will hold the Finale Bible Bee Live Quiz - the last one before the Local Competition on Saturday, August 27, held across the United States! Click here to enter that quiz. Bible Bee participants generally start to arrive about 10 minutes before the quiz opens. We hope you can make it and pray that God blesses you as you memorize His Word!

As a double-check to make sure your browser is ready for the quizzes, you could click the link for the last quiz and send a test message in the "Chat" section. If all is well, you should see your message.

Finally, if you experience any technical difficulties before or during the quiz, please let us know with our support forum: http://getsatisfaction.com/Memverse or in the comments below. You can spread the word by giving people the link to this post! We look forward to seeing you and your friends! Thanks.