Staying On Track

Posted on February 04, 2012 Dakota Lynch 17 comments

• How many verses have you already memorized?
• How many new verses would you like to memorize?
• By what date would you like to be finished?

Get it Now!

LAST REVISED: 2/4/12 - 9:00 PM CST

NOTE: This workbook requires the enabling of macros on your PC. If they are not already allowed on your machine, follow the instructions in this tutorial.

If the above link isn't working in your browser, click here to access the download manually. Not tested on versions prior to Excel 2007.

Memorizing from the Gospels

Posted on February 04, 2012 Alex Watt 4 comments

We need the gospels because we need the gospel. In the gospels we have the clearest picture of the incarnate Word who is himself good news for Adam’s race. And by memorizing and meditating on the gospels we can have a Christ-centered perspective on the rest of Scripture.

We are like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, foolish and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken, slow to realize that all Scripture is really about Christ (Luke 22:13-35, esp. 22:27; also John 5:39-40). By starting with the gospels, we gain the perspective essential for profitably meditating on all other verses.

If we meditate on the gospels, Christ himself will put the rest of our memorization in its proper place and give us a Christian perspective on the Bible. He will warn us that eternal life is not in the Scriptures or in knowing the Scriptures (see Matthew 7, John 5:39-40) but in him alone (John 14:6, John 17:3). He will remind us that the Holy Spirit is the helper who teaches us all things and brings to our remembrance all that he has said (John 14:26).

I realized that I have a tendency to elevate the epistles over the gospels when I read a quote from J. I. Packer, which you can also read here. I need to know Christ better in the gospels, as well as the rest of Scripture. We need balance in our Bible reading, studying, and memorization; and we need a Christ-centered, Christian perspective on all of Scripture. May God open our eyes to see that the written Word centers on the grace and truth of Jesus Christ, who is the Word made flesh (John 1:14-17).

Do you have a portion of Scripture that you feel you need to spend more time memorizing and meditating on?

Memverse Flyer

Posted on January 06, 2012 Alex Watt 79 comments

We have a new "God Has Spoken" flyer available for download here. I encourage you to take a look at it and print some copies to share!

January is always a great time to invite people to Memverse. Everyone is making a fresh start for the new year and there is a lot of excitement about memorizing scripture.

Thanks to Emeka Rajis for doing an amazing job on the flyer design!

Elijah Project Audio

Posted on January 04, 2012 Alex Watt 13 comments

To aid participants with their memory verses in the Elijah Project, we are posting MP3 audio files for the passages you are memorizing (1 Kings 17-19, 21; and 2 Kings 1:1-2:18). Currently, you can choose from four translations: the King James Version, the New International Version (1984), the English Standard Version, and the New King James Version. The files came from Faith Comes By Hearing and JCSM.org (no known copyright except for the Bible publishers), and we just edited the files to be one file for each translation. We listened to each of these and they seem error-free. (We removed a one-word error from the NIV; please note in the comments if you find any other errors.)

Thanks to Phil Walker for all the work he has been doing on the Elijah Project, and thanks to Ben for helping me compile the audio files.

The diligent Elijah memorizers are inspiring. Keep it up!

Goals for 2012

Posted on January 02, 2012 Andy 59 comments

Well, we missed our Christmas blog post and have almost missed our New Year one too! We trust, though, that everyone had a blessed and merry Christmas and quality time to reflect on the birth of Christ. The passage of two thousand years has not dimmed the significance of God sending his own son into the world.

As you think about your goals for 2012, consider setting yourself a memorization goal. In an upcoming release we will make it easier to see how many memorization sessions you have completed this year. Since it's difficult to know exactly how many verses it's possible to commit to memory in 366 days, consider setting a goal of completed memorization session. My personal goal is 250 sessions, or five per week. Let us know in the comments what your goal for 2012 is. Make it attainable.

Finally, a sequence of events over Christmas reminded me again of the importance of coupling memorizing with understanding. We continue to feel that memorizing Bible verses is most valuable when it is a discipline combined with a deep study of the meaning behind the word. Read Proverbs 2 for details. Even if you are memorizing select verses from a passage, please make it a habit to read and understand the full context.

If you're memorizing Matthew 2:11, more than memorizing which three gifts the Magi gave Jesus, it is important to understand why Matthew includes this account in his gospel. What does this tell us about Jesus' message to first century Jews? How does it introduce a major theme of Matthew's gospel? What light does this shed on Jesus' cleansing of the temple? How does this inform our eschatology? Combining your Bible memorization with deep study will give you a much richer understanding of the King we serve.

We look forward to hearing from you on December 31st, 2012. Memorize with a friend. Find support in a group. Be encouraged by the global church.

Memorize 1 Verse from N.T. chapters

Posted on December 30, 2011 Phil Walker 104 comments

A few years back I picked out a key verse to memorize from every chapter of the New Testament. I want to share the list with the Memverse family. On January 1^st, 2012, we will start a, Lord willing, active support group of people who want to memorize these 260 exciting verses in one year.  Bible Bee participants may want to finish all 260 before the start of this year's Bee.  Others may want to go at a slower pace than 260 verses in a year.  You may start late and/or go at whatever pace you want and still participate in the group.

The official pace is:  Jan = MATTHEW 1-28;     Feb = MARK 1-16;     Mar = LUKE 1-24;     Apr = JOHN 1-21;    

May = ACTS 1-28;     June = ROMANS 1-16; July = 1 and 2 CORINTHIANS (29);     Aug = GAL - COL (20);    

Sept = 1 THESS - PHILEMON (22);     Oct = HEBREWS & JAMES (18);     Nov = 1 PETER - JUDE (16);     Dec = REVELATION 1-22

We would love to list all participants as an encouragement and inspiration to others.  We would also love to list all groups memorizing together.

2012 NTOYC participants: Angela;    Angelyn Metran;    AstroLeah;    Bethany Pentimone;    ChosenByHim;    Darcy Joy;    Dhestielyn Metran;    Grace Mieczkowski;    Hannah Jane;    InSoloChristo;    Jacky Walker;    Katrina;    Kayode Olaniyi;    Leah;    Luxon Mavindidze;    Margaret Eddy;    Marlene Metran;    Martha Wright;    Mommy's Helper;    Monica Duitsman;    Nina;    Phil Walker;    Rachel;    Redeemed By God;    Rhea Metran;    Roger Dalton;    Sarah;    Sarah Eddy;    Solo Scriptura (Peter);    Stephanie Hills;    Thomas Youngman;    Walker Junior (we trust);    Zach Justice; = 33 people

Groups memorizing together:  Roger Dalton and Zach Justice quoting on Sundays in the 1984 NIV in Clinton Corners, NY

Solo Scriptura (Peter) and Katrina memorizing in the KJV in Michigan

Walkers (Phil, Jacky, Junior) memorizing in the 1984 NIV in the Philippines and Indonesia

Accountability Chart: 

Those who wish can join our chart where we will list the first name, first initial of the last name, state (or country), and progress.  The 260 verses convenently breaks down into 26 groups of 10 verses each to be declared.  Verses don't have to declared in order.  A sample declaration would be Zach J  NY  MATT 1:21; 2:11; 3:8; 4:19; 5:16; 6:24; 7:21; 8:3; 9:36; 10:28;

Thomas Y         NY      A

Leah B              OH     A   B   C

Leah W             MO     A   B   C  

Sarah E            WA     A   B

Caleb W           OH      A   B   C   D

Darcy A            GA      A   B   C   D

Beowulf W        OH     A

Peter B              MI      A   B   C  

Bethany P         MO    A   B   C   D

Katrina B           MI      A   B   C   D

Hannah J         AL      A

Jacky W           IDN     A   B

Phil W              IDN     A   B

I recommend memorizing this list of verses for Bible Bee enthusiasts, SavedbyGrace's "entire Bible" group, and any others who want a good overall grasp of the New Testament.  Others may simply want a collection of 260 powerful treasures.  Please let us know if you are joining, if you have family or friends memorizing with you, and if you have any tips or ideas to encourage or support others in the group.  I will be posting my daily email devotionals I send out based on these verses. I look forward to any feedback, insights, or thoughts you have as we interact with the daily Scripture and each other’s thoughts.

This is my last of 5 years I will be emailing these devotionals.  In 2013 I will send out devotionals based on Old Testament chapters and will be making a new list of key NT verses to write devotionals for in future years..  If you want to receive these 2012 daily devotionals in your email inbox, or if you want to send private feedback, you can email me at philjohn1558@yahoo.com.

New Testament One Year Challenge

Typed out in the NIV, KJV, NKJ, NASB, and ESV at www.scripture-memory-support.org/newtestament.html.  Let me know if you would like the verses typed in other translations or languages. 

Matthew 1:21; 2:11; 3:8; 4:19; 5:16; 6:24; 7:21; 8:3; 9:36; 10:28; 11:28; 12:12; 13:44; 14:30; 15:8; 16:26; 17:23; 18:35; 19:6; 20:34; 21:13; 22:29; 23:28; 24:24; 25:23; 26:41; 27:4; 28:19

Mark 1:35; 2:17; 3:11; 4:20; 5:34; 6:42; 7:7; 8:29; 9:24; 10:45; 11:24; 12:44; 13:11; 14:36; 15:39; 16:6

Luke 1:35; 2:11; 3:22; 4:18; 5:8; 6:46; 7:47; 8:14; 9:23; 10:2; 11:13; 12:33; 13:24; 14:33; 15:7; 16:15; 17:32; 18:7; 19:8; 20:21; 21:36; 22:32; 23:34; 24:26

John 1:12; 2:17; 3:30; 4:24; 5:39; 6:63; 7:38; 8:36; 9:25; 10:10; 11:25; 12:32; 13:35; 14:21; 15:7; 16:33; 17:26; 18:11; 19:15; 20:21; 21:17

Acts 1:8; 2:38; 3:6; 4:12; 5:20; 6:8; 7:53; 8:35; 9:16; 10:34; 11:18; 12:23; 13:2; 14:15; 15:8; 16:31; 17:31; 18:10; 19:15; 20:24; 21:13; 22:16; 23:11; 24:16; 25:11; 26:18; 27:23; 28:31

Romans 1:16; 2:4; 3:20; 4:20; 5:8; 6:23; 7:24; 8:28; 9:16; 10:9; 11:33; 12:2; 13:8; 14:8; 15:5; 16:19

1 Corinthians 1:18; 2:9; 3:13; 4:20; 5:12; 6:20; 7:9; 8:6; 9:27; 10:31: 11:1; 12:3; 13:13: 14:25; 15:10; 16:9

2 Corinthians 1:4; 2:14; 3:18; 4:5; 5:21; 6:14; 7:10; 8:9; 9:8; 10:4; 11:14; 12:9; 13:5

Galatians 1:9; 2:20; 3:3; 4:7; 5:13; 6:14;                        Ephesians 1:7; 2:10; 3:20; 4:11; 5:33; 6:11;

Philippians 1:21; 2:13; 3:8; 4:19;                                    Colossians 1:15; 2:6; 3:13; 4:2;

1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2:9; 3:13; 4:17; 5:18;                   2 Thessalonians 1:11; 2:4; 3:3;

1 Timothy 1:15; 2:8; 3:2; 4:12; 5:17; 6:10;                       2 Timothy 1:7; 2:15; 3:16; 4:7;

Titus 1:16; 2:14; 3:5                                                             Philemon 1:6;

Hebrews 1:8; 2:18; 3:12; 4:12; 5:7; 6:10; 7:25; 8:12; 9:14; 10:23; 11:6; 12:1; 13:8

James 1:12; 2:19; 3:10; 4:7; 5:20;                                  1 Peter 1:15; 2:24; 3:15; 4:19; 5:6;

2 Peter 1:3; 2:9; 3:9                                                             1 John 1:9; 2:17; 3:16; 4:19; 5:12

2 John 1:11;                                   3 John 1:4                                        Jude 1:24

Revelation 1:8; 2:4; 3:8; 4:11; 5:9; 6:9; 7:14; 8:13; 9:20; 10:6; 11:3; 12:11; 13:8; 14:11; 15:4; 16:15; 17:14; 18:4; 19:7; 20:15; 21:4; 22:17

Memorize with a Church and a Group

Posted on December 13, 2011 Andy 81 comments

Since many Memverse users have been torn over whether to belong to their church or a 'group' we have added the ability to join both. On the profile page you can now select both a church and a group to belong to.

If you have been using the Church/Organization field to affiliate yourself with a group, please move that over to the 'Group' option. Over time, we will remove inactive groups from the Church Leaderboard. And, as you can imagine, there is a brand new Group Leaderboard. 

B.R.I.G.H.T. LIGHTS on Memverse

Posted on December 12, 2011 Phil Walker 41 comments

Bright Lights is a young ladies discipleship's groups. BRIGHT stands for "Being Radiant in Godliness, Holiness, and Testimony." There are groups across the USA and the members get together every so often, and have a Bible study or something similar. They have conferences with a lot of the groups. You can learn more through their website.

Marie Morris, a member of the Memverse Marketing team (this team has nothing to do with money, but exists to spread the word about Memverse and help others get the most out of using Memverse with their groups) is a BRIGHT LIGHTS group leader who is excited about seeing BRIGHT LIGHTS groups and members use Memverse to inspire, encourage, and equip them to memorize Scripture in their pursuit of Godliness and Holiness in their Testimony.

It has been neat to see the discussion on BRIGHT LIGHTS on the Elijah page. (Andy or Alex, is there a way to transfer those comments here?) We hope this page will lead more Memverse members to learn about and enjoy BRIGHT LIGHTS.  We also hope that other Memverse members will join Marie and letting BRIGHT LIGHTS groups and members know about Memverse.

Personally, I was excited to see that the BRIGHT LIGHTS team has been to Singapore and Malaysia (2 countries close to the Philippines and Indonesia where Jacky and I are most focused. Malaysia even shares esentially the same language as Indonesia.)

Who Can Be Against Us?

Posted on December 08, 2011 Dakota Lynch 30 comments

The moment you choose to follow Jesus is the moment you choose to head down a path of persecution and worldly opposition (2 Tim. 3:12). Of all the promises afforded us by the Scriptures, none guarantee our life will be easy or comfortable but instead assure of just the opposite: “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you,” was the warning of Christ to His disciples, yet they counted the sufferings of this present time unworthy to be compared with what they knew their Lord could offer (John 15:20; Rom. 8:18). We are told from the beginning exactly what we’re getting ourselves into by becoming a Christian and it should be anything but surprising when trouble comes our way.

Not only should we expect persecution, but we should follow the example of the apostles by learning to rejoice in them (Acts 5:41). Certainly the trial itself gives us no reason to be joyful, but the knowledge that we are living in obedience to the Scriptures and their Author in a noticeable way is reason enough to leap for joy (Luke 6:23). For each hardship, consider both the physical and mental sufferings of Christ which far surpassed what any of us are able to experience or imagine (Heb. 12:3). Did He agonize and weep? Of course! That’s never the problem, as long as we can pray the same prayer He did in the garden of Gethsemane: “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42) Nobody ever having prayed these words from their heart was given a heavier load than they were able to bear (1 Cor. 10:13).

It’s helpful when we understand that, just as no man can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24), it is impossible for a person to feed their soul while indulging their flesh. How many of us actually faced persecution when our soul was being starved of truth? In most cases it’s not until a person embraces things of eternal importance that they begin to encounter opposition, and so rather than despairing when rejected for your faith, learn rather to “rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matt 5:12)

 “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

               -1 Peter 4:16

To answer the question Paul presented in Romans 8, if God is for us then technically a lot of people will probably stand against us. If a God of righteousness and truth calls you His child then don’t count on this world of wickedness and deceit to congratulate you for your newfound faith in Christ. The message of this verse is not that we’ll never face opposition, but that, if the Lord is our Shepherd, we have absolutely nothing to fear (Ps. 27:1). Who can take away your home, comfort, or possessions? Just about anybody. Who can take away your salvation? Jesus Himself answered this question in John 10:28 when He declared, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”

Isn’t it great to know that God is on our side? More specifically, to know that He is for us? His thoughts toward us, according to the Psalmist, “cannot be reckoned up in order…they are more than can be numbered.” (40:5) The God Whom Scripture says neither slumbers nor sleeps relentlessly watches over His saints, counting their steps and directing their path in His wisdom and love (Ps. 121:4; Job 31:4; John 16:13). 

This is the comfort we are offered by the Scriptures, not the false gospel of earthly prosperity often preached today. As a Christian, know that you will most certainly face the valley of the shadow of death and be forced to walk through the very midst of it (Ps. 23:4). “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor. 15:57) To the Christian, death is only a shadow. Its sting does not harm us, for we are saved. Its victory is no more, for our Savior lives! No man has the power to lay anything to the charge of God’s elect and we can live in peace, knowing our eternity is safely held in the same hands which hold the universe (Rom. 8:33; Col. 1:17).

A Zippier Memverse

Posted on December 05, 2011 Andy 26 comments

This weekend we rolled out a global content distribution network for Memverse. In the past, all the web pages were loaded from our data center in California. We are now using Amazon's content delivery network which allows a lot of the content on each page to be delivered from Amazon's (much faster) data centers which are distributed all around the world. Those of you living outside the US should notice substantially faster page loads now.

If you aren't using one of the latest browsers, it is always worth upgrading. Web browsers almost always get faster with each new release. Many of you would get faster load times by using the latest version. Faster load times means more time spent memorizing your verses, and less time waiting around.

Memorize "Elijah" with us

Posted on December 03, 2011 Phil Walker 240 comments

Each of the past 3 years, we have had a verse a day world-wide Scripture Memory initiative. It started with HEBREWS, then 1 TIMOTHY and last year's 1 JOHN.

Shortly after the 1 TIMOTHY project began, I got an email from Andy letting me know about this new Scripture Memory website he had made called Memverse. He thought it might be a good tool for people around the world memorizing 1 TIMOTHY to encourage and inspire each other as well as keep track of their individual verses.  I took a look at Memverse and loved it. I sent out an email to our 1 TIMOTHY participants letting them know about Memverse, and as they say, the rest is history... It was a lot of fun that first year to see almost half of the top 100 most popular verses all come from 1 TIMOTHY.  The chart has since been overtaken by a bunch of enthusiastic Bible Bee memorizers so that now zero verses from 1 TIMOTHY remain and only the famous 1:9 remains in 31st place from 1 JOHN.  There are currently no verses from 1 KINGS 17 - 2 KINGS 2 in the top 100.  Will you pray with me that we can get the word out enough about the Elijah project on memverse to change that.  (maybe some day Memverse will extend the chart out to the top 1,000 most popular verses so I could see where others beyond the top 100 currently rank.)

I am praying for 100 Elijah finishers and at least 10 Elijah project groups memorizing together offline.  Do you have some friends or a church group who might want to memorize Elijah with you for some exciting face-to-face discussion, meditation, encouragement, and inspiration the next few months? 

One exciting new tool for memorizing Elijah is www.impresskids.com  I have 1 KINGS 17:1 and 1 KINGS 17:2-4 set up in the 1984 NIV, KJV, NKJ, ESV, NASB, the Magadang Balita Biblia (Tagalog spoken in the Philippines) and Terjemahan Baru (Indonesian).  I also have through 1 KINGS 17:16 in the 1984 NIV.  Let me know if you would like us to include Elijah verses in other translations as well.  You can join our Elijah page at http://www.impresskids.com/my/place/101  

Any on Facebook can join our group there at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=673866741&ref=tn_tnmn#!/groups/Memorize1John/

Schedule for memorizing 1 KINGS 17-19, 21; and 2 KINGS 1:1-2:18  (there is no legalism in this schedule.  You may start and end and go at whatever pace best suits you and your friends.)  This schedule is just a guideline and the pace that I and Jacky will be following.

1 KINGS 17:1-24 = Dec 12th - Jan 4th;      1 KINGS 18:1-46 = Jan 5th - Feb 19th;     1 KINGS 19:1-21 = Feb 20th - March 12th;

1 KINGS 21:1-29 = March 13th - April 10th;     2 KINGS 1:1-18 = April 11 - 28th;     2 KINGS 2:1-18 = April 29th - May 16th

then if you are ages 7-18 take a short break and get ready for the 2012 National Bible Bee  www.biblebee.org

Current known ELIJAH memorizers:  If you are no longer memorizing ELIJAH or are listed twice, please let me know.  Also let me know if you are aware of people memorizing with us who are not on this list.

Please pray for people in this group.  Pray that God might grant us strength, endurance, motivation and discipline to keep memorizing.  Pray even more importantly, that the Scripture might be powerful in our lives and that God may be pleased on our meditation on His Truth through this project.  Less importantly, but still worth praying about, you can also sneak in a short prayer that those on this list not on Memverse may discover the joy and benefit of Memverse and that Memverse may gain new strongholds of members through the Elijah Project.

Abidemi Elebute,    AJ,    Allie Smith,    Alma Baker,    Alma Juat,    Amy P,    AmyV,    Andrea Miller,    Angela,    Angelyn Metran,    Archambault family (Sheena, Kiarra, and Grace),    Arthur Koon,    Ashley Chastain,    Ashley Hanney,    Barbara Sheldon,    Barbara Smith,    Bautista family ( Ronnie, Belen, Nyra ),    Ben Watt,    Bert Fajutrao,    Beth Nueva,    Bonnie Rodriguez,    Carolyn,    Cindy Singh,    Claire,    Connie Swaine,    Constance Keating,    Courtney Allison,    Courtney Killingbeck,    Daniel Baergen,    Danny Liuson,    Dayo Davies,    Desnan Malaoe,    Devan Miller,    Edrian,    Elisa J,    Emeka Rajis,    Erika Wenzel,    Ester Kppi,    Florida Hasibuan,    Funmilayo Ikiebe,    Gilles Dossan,    Gina Ahamnos,    GMoV,    Hannah (Spanish);    Hannah Fiedler,    Hannah Green,    Heather Stump,    Heidi Schreiber,    Imelda Pedida,    InSoloChristo,    Isaiah Martinez,    Jacob Kallikoth,     Jacky Walker,    Jael,    Jake Erkens,    Jay Sandoval,    Jennifer W,    Jireh,    Jonathan Pearson,    Josiah De Graaf,    Josie Fernandez,    Joshua,    JPIA(Rachel),    Julia Conners,    Julie Jones,    KaitlynV,    Karlin Kendall,    Kim Cordner,    Kristine Librado,    Laura Cimmino,    Laura H,    Leal Christian Juat,    Leal Grace Juat,    Leng Gumaro,    Linda Johnson,    Lori Murphy,    Marjorie Renold,    Marilyn Fischer,    Marinda Hartzenberg,    Mariner Eccles,    Marisa Joulfaian,    Marlene Farley,    Marlene Metran,    Mary Ginn,    Mary L,    Matthew Minica,    Melody Mieczkowski,    Michelle Curry,    Michelle Dueling (5),    Naga Pila,    Nanay Carina Metran,    Natalia Groot,     Octavius,    OCTSRIS,    Odejimi Oyekunle,    Ofhel Castillo,    Pamela McDonald,    Phil Walker,    Pilar Valdoz,    Purig Ramos,    Renelle,.   Rhina Babas,    Rochelle,    Rommel Amansec,    Roy Cline,    Rozleigh Roman,    Sarah Mackenzie,    Sara Young,    Sheila Froehlich,    Shelly Scheidling,    Sinmisola Ajelero,    Stephanie Lish,    Surreyhorse (4),    Tamara Cline,    Temitope Akiode,    Tina Torres,    TirzahLynn,    Todd,    Trish Mathis,    Walker Junior (we trust) = 132 people

Known Groups Memorizing ELIJAH offline for face-to-face mutual accountability, discussion, meditation, encouragement, and inspiration:  Please let me know if your group has stopped meeting or if you are forming a new group or if you have different members in your group.  (Some may want to consider forming a group to begin 2012 after Christmas is over).  Please let me know what information you would like with your group.  You can include church or location you are meeting, translation you are memorizing in, times you are meeting, etc.

Please pray for the formation of new groups.  Pray also for the current groups that their meeting times may be enjoyable, encouraging, inspiring, and most importantly, honoring to God.  Pray that groups that want to increase numbers will be able to and that those who want to join a group will be able to find one or recruit a friend to start one.

Kaitlyn and Amy V meeting in Northern Michigan;     

Laura H and Mary L meeting in Nebraska;     

Surreyhorse family (4 memorizers);     

Alma Juat, Josie Fernandez, Leal Christian Juat, Leal Grace Juat, Leng Gumaro, Ofhel,  Pilar Valdoz, Puring Ramos, Rhina Babas, Bautista family ( Ronnie - father, Belen - mother and Nyra ), Renelle, Rochelle,.Edrian, Jireh, Joshua at Fountain of Life Christian Community Church in Valenzuela City, north Manila, Philippines memorizing in both the 1984 NIV and MBB (Tagalog)     

Hannah Fiedler and Heidi Schreiber

Sarah Young and Angela

Michelle Duelling and 4 from the family of her pastor

Sheena, Kiarra, and Grace Archambault

Phil, Jacky, and Junior Walker in Manila, Philippines on our way, Lord willing, to Indonesia.memorizing in the 1984 NIV (other translations welcome)

ACCOUNTABILITY CHART:  Those who want can get extra support and encouragement by declaring your verses and being listed on this chart.  For every 6 verses you declare you will receive a letter on the chart.  You do not have to declare your verses in order.  You can declare verses from chapter 19 before chapter 17 if you wish.  To declare verses and join the chart, give your first name, the first initial of your last name, the country or USA state you live in, and the verses you have memorized.  Sample declaration = Jim A  OH  1 KINGS 17:1-6  or Phil W  IDN  1 KINGS 18:5 - 10

Laura H        NE      A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L

Mary L          NE      A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L

Kaitlyn V      MI       A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K

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

Josiah D      PA      A   B   C   D   E   F   G

Amy V         MI       A   B   C   D   E   F   G

Rachel C     NC      A   B

Amy P        MO      A   B   C   D

Beowulf W  OH      A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K

Hannah F    IL        A

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

Surreyhorse 4 CA  A   B   C 

Jacky W     PHI      A   B   C   D   E   F   G

Phil W        PHI      A   B   C   D   E   F

Marlene M    PHI    A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L

Sarah M      U.K.    A   B   C   D

Pilar V        PHI      A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I

Christian J  PHI      A

I can honestly say that I am more excited about starting this new world wide Elijah initiative than with any of the 3 previous wonderful experiences we had.  Maybe a part of it is simply what is going on in my life.  I got married June 25th shortly after finishing 1 JOHN so this will be the first large Scripture memory project Jacky and I, Lord willing, complete together.  I can't wait to memorize, discuss, and pray over these powerful verses with her.  Any other husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend teams going to experience this joy with us?

Secondly, Jacky and I are engaged in radical full time ministry spreading a passion for Scripture in the Philippines and Indonesia and wherever else God sends us.  We want and desperately need Elijah's God to be real for us as He leads, empowers, and provides for our lives and our ministry.

Lastly, Jacky is pregnant with our first child.  As new parents, we don't want to share dead, weak, or hypocritical religious teaching and practices to our children who know us best.  Rather, we pray that God will so change and indwell us that our children will see us literally trusting the God of Elijah to be at work in our family.

I don't know what your situation is. However, I do know that our Christian world, and especially the next generation of Christians growing up needs to know that the true, living, Biblical God of Elijah is real, and is just as powerful, and wants to be wholeheartedly trusted just as much in 2011 as thousands of years ago during the days of Elijah.  Will all the advances and excitement of modern sience, psychology, technology, materialism, entertainment, and temporal worldly success reduce the Bible to irrelevant even if it's true?  Or will we fully live up to the life Jesus Christ died and rose again to bring and live inside of us.  Will those who see our faith in a powerful, living God join Elisha in passionately wanting to know the God who lives in us for themselves as they proclaim "Where now is the God of Elijah?"

I invite you to join us in memorizing "Elijah" the next few months. I ask you to help me in spreading the word by email, twitter, facebook, in your churches, etc. so that all who might want to memorize "Elijah" with us will hear of our support group. Lastly, I would ask you to consider and pray about possibly starting an offline "Memorize Elijah" group for face-to-face encouragement, inspiration and growth.

If you have any questions, insights, or ideas for me, or if you would like to receive weekly Elijah encouragement emails, feel free to get in touch through philjohn1558@yahoo.com in addition to this blog.

Seeds Family Worship Coupon

Posted on December 01, 2011 Andy 21 comments

People have mentioned Seeds Family Worship on the blog before. We own all their CD's and they are brilliant for memorizing Bible verses. They are currently offering a free song download and a 25% discount on their products if you enter the coupon code, THANKFUL11 when you check out.

I can't say enough good things about their CD's. What's really cool is that they send you two copies of each CD you order so you can load up on stocking stuffers for everyone you know.

As far as I know most of their songs are word for word out of the NIV 1984 so if you're memorizing from that translation they will be a great addition for your commute.

If you visit their store, listen to the song, Soar Like Eagles (Isaiah 40:29-31) from the 'Power of Encouragement' CD. You can find the song here.

Memverse newsletters

Posted on November 24, 2011 Phil Walker 37 comments

We just sent out the Thanksgiving Memverse newsletter.   If you did not receive it and want to be added to the list to receive all future newsletter and news flashes, you can sign up through www.memverse.com/blog/main/A_Monthly_Memverse_Newsletter or by emailing Phil Walker at philjohn1558@yahoo.com

Below is a copy of the Thanksgiving Newsletter. 

Dear Memverse friends,

As you and your family enjoy Thanksgiving, we want to share some of the things we are thankful for:

Most of all, we are thankful for God loving us and sending His Son to die for us that we might have forgiveness of sins and a new Life in Him.  We are thankful that we can deeply know God in all of His fullness through reading, meditating on, trusting, and obeying His Word!  We are thankful that God led Andy to start Memverse and for all the work Andy and others who have come along beside him have put into making Memverse such an enjoyable and valuable tool for memorizing and inspiring others to memorize God's precious Word.  We are thankful that God has led you to www.memverse.com and for the many of you who are spreading Memerse on to others you know.

We at Memverse are thankful for the completion of another wonderful year of the National Bible Bee.  42 of the 300 Finalists are on Memverse.  We want to congratulate all of them for making it this far and for their work in Nashville.  Our heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS go to:

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 = 22 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 = 18 finalists

Primary: Kara Buckner; Abigail Lehman = 2 finalists

Among the 45 to advance to Friday's "sudden death" competition were Memverse members: Olivia Guillard, Rachel Eaton, Laura Hedstrom, Matthew Staley, Hannah Leary, Joshua Bontrager, Abigail Lehman and Kara Buckner.  Out of these, Hannah, Laura, Abigail and Joshua were among the 17 to advance to Saturday's competition, and Laura Hedstrom was awarded 3rd place in the senior division!!!

I very much enjoyed taking in the competition, hearing the Scripture getting quoted and dreaming big God-size dreams of how He might use His Word in your lives.  I also enjoyed meeting many of you in person for the first time.  It is neat to see the impact the National Bible Bee has had on so many families.  I hope many of you will be able to join again in 2012 and I also hope to have similar events someday in the Philippines, Indonesia and in other countries around the world.

We at Memverse are thankful for the milestone we reached on Oct. 19th, 2011.  Memverse began February 28th, 2009.In the past 31 months, countless people have been blessed by the encouragement, inspiration, accountability and helps it provides in memorizing God's precious Word.  Oct 19th, we passed the 100,000 verses milestone.  A great feature of Memverse is to be able to see the current total at all times on the home page.  In prime memverse memorizing time around 8:00 - 9:00am EST, you can often see the live total increasing before your eyes. 

On the home page, you can see highlights people reach under the heading "Recently on Memverse"  Did you know that the title is also a link? That's right.If you click on "Recently on Memverse" it shows you the exact verses that have been memorized and when they were memorized. What an encouragement this has often been to me when I see my friends and people I don't know actively memorizing Scripture I love.

PS  For any who have not yet heard, please use your email address rather than your previous username to access memverse. 

Changes to Memory Verse Tags

Posted on November 23, 2011 Andy 14 comments

As many of you commented, the previous tag cloud had become a cluttered mess. For that reason, we have made the following changes in the hope that this will make it more useful.

You will still be able to tag your personal memory verses with whichever tags you wish. For each verse in a given translation, the four most popular tags will become part of the tag cloud and will also show up as the 'Memverse Tags' on verses. The tag cloud will take a few months to reflect all the existing tags and, over time, some of the tags currently in the tag cloud will no longer be represented as other tags become more popular.

Some of you have volunteered to help curate the tag cloud. For now, we are going to let the experiment run a little longer and see what emerges. I realize that many of you will have theological differences with the four most popular tags for any given verse. That is a weakness of any 'democratic' system.

You will notice that some verses don't yet have any 'Memverse Tags' i.e. the four most popular tags have not yet been calculated. Those will be updated as you, or anyone else, continues to tag that verse.

Remember that the tagging system is intended to capture the theme or key ideas behind the verse. In many cases, the best tags will not be words that are in the verse.

Finally, thanks for bearing with us as we complete the migration to our new server. We have solved many of the most fatal problems and will continue to iron out the remaining wrinkles over the next week or so. The change was more complicated and stressful than we had imagined! As we wolf down our turkey tomorrow, we are thankful that it is now behind us.

Bible Bee 2011

Posted on November 16, 2011 Andy 171 comments

First, good luck to all the Bible Bee contestants. We trust that this will be the start of a lifetime of committing the Bible to memory.

If you are attending, there are going to be three Memverse sessions in the computer lab. We don't have exact times but you should see them on the schedule.

We included the live event broadcast of the finals on Saturday morning in this blog post.