Middle school recap

Our Middle schoolers had a fun night that included the guys pretty much mopping the floor with the girls in a variety of games, from climbing over each other, to passing a ball in a crazy position, to memorizing images on the screen. I hope everyone had a great night.

Our HABIT for the week was Bible Memorization, which I know sounds like the worst topic in history. It just wreaks of total boredom right? But think about all the things we have memorized. Songs, movie lines, sports team lineups, and even annoying commercial jingles (call Empire... Today! Gosh I HATE that jingle). We memorize a lot, so why not the Bible? Here's my example for why Bible memorization is important. We all know I'm a caffeine addict. I can hardly function without it. Sometimes my wife will surprise me when I get home that we have to immediately turn around and go out with a group of people, which I so don't have the energy for. So the only thing that can save me such a horrendous situation is... a nice, cool, refreshing, and caffeine laden Mountain Dew. So I tell my waitress: "I will take a Mountain Dew please." And her response "oh, we don't have that. How about a Sprite?" A SPRITE!!! Are you kidding me!?! I want the most caffeinated normal soda and you want me to have a Sprite, which has NO caffeine! Are you kidding! At that moment I am so craving, indeed almost feeling like I NEED a Dew, that I could just scream. You know, life can be like that too. I remember in Seminary when we basically had to memorize the Bible. They would pick a couple of books on an exam and we would have to literally write what happened in EVERY chapter of that book. Yeah, so that means you basically have to know what happens in the entire massive Bible. There were so many times when I just wanted to give up and do something else with my life, because I never thought I could learn all that. But that's when I'd remember "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13). Having just that little portion of God's word stored in my mind reminded me that God would help me through if I worked hard and trusted Him, and indeed that's what happened. You see memorizing scripture is liking having a reserve Dew on you at all times. It gives you that extra boost, that extra focus in those tough times when you need it. Psalm 119 says "I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you." We memorize Bible verses so we remember to live the sort of life God has planned for us, a life that is awesome for us, others, and God.

We are challenging are middle schoolers to memorize 10 bible verses each by Wed Dec. 10th (there are a few extras in Andy's office). They all received key chains with 50 verses, so they have plenty to choose from. Any small group getting all members to 10 will get a special prize, and the person memorizing the most will get a gift certificate to their favorite store.