FinishYear 2012 - Scripture Memory Facts

Some of my goals for the year was to memorize a great deal of Scripture. Well, it isn't going quite like I had hoped, but that doesn't mean that I am not learning Scripture. I use a program called Memverse.com to help me study and memorize the verses.

Here are a few facts about my memorization so far this year.

• I have currently memorized 117 verses.
  
• Of those 117 verses, 45 verses are from the Old Testament and 72 verses are from the New Testament.
  
• I am currently working on memorizing 6 complete Psalms (Psalms 1, 23, 91, 100, 103, and 121).
  
• I am also working on memorizing Romans 5 and 6, Philippians 1, 1 Corinthians 13, and 1 John 1 and 2.
  
• There are 31,103 verses in the Bible. I have memorized 0.3% of the Bible.
  
• There are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament. I have memorized 0.2% of the Old Testament.
  
• There are 7,958 verses in the New Testament. I have memorized 1% of the New Testament.
  

Now, in full disclosure, the word "memorized" is a very loose term. I am working to be able to recall the verse if someone gives me the reference, but I am not quite there yet. I can, however, recall most of my memorized verses when provided with the first letter of each word in the verse. Some may call this cheating, but I am attempting to hide God's Word in my heart. That can't be said for a lot of other individuals.

I'll touch base in a few weeks or so and we'll see how much these percentages have changed.

FinishYear 2012 - Fun Facts About My Bible Reading

I have made it a goal to read over 3,000 chapters of the Bible this year. To do so requires that I read a minimum of 10 chapters a day. I do this by reading from various places throughout the Scripture. This prevents from getting bogged down in certain areas and losing the motivation to continue reading. As of this writing I have read 735 chapters (that number changes every day, of course).

Here are a few fun facts about what I have read this year so far.

• There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. The Old Testament has 929 chapters and the New Testament has 260.
  
• Of those 1,189 chapters, I have read 625 unique chapters. This equals 52% of the Bible.
  
• I have read 387 chapters out of the Old Testament. This equals 41% of the Old Testament.
  
• I have read 238 chapters out of the New Testament. This equals 91% of the New Testament.
  
• So far, I have read at least one chapter from every book in the New Testament. I have also read Proverbs 2 1/3 times, Acts over 2 1/2 times, Job almost 1 1/2 times, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians twice. Other books will soon be added to that list.
  

It is is not my goal to brag about my accomplishments with these fun facts. I am simply sharing them because I found them interesting and I hope that it will provide some motivation to others who might want to begin a Bible reading plan. You can never go wrong by reading God's Word.

Why Reading Scripture Is Vital to Pastors

I know that my title seems a bit redundant and obvious. Of course, pastors need to read Scripture. But why? Can't we just read the latest book and build our sermons off of what someone else wrote? Matt Chandler, from the Village Church, gives a dynamite answer as to the necessity of intimately knowing Scripture.



This is why I'm working toward reading over 3,000 chapters of Scripture this year. I want to know and understand what God has revealed to us in the Bible. How can I think that I can stand before God's people if I don't intimately know what I am speaking to them of?

FinishYear 2012 - Reading 3,000 Chapters of the Bible - How It's Going

If you were to do a Google search for "Professor Grant Horner's Reading System," you would discover it is quite the rage this year. There is even a Facebook group with almost 2,000 members. I am using to help me reach my goal of reading 3,000 chapters of the Bible this year. Here is how it is going so far:

• I have read over 420 chapters of the Bible so far (more by the time you are reading this).
  
• I have read through Proverbs and Acts once each and am working on my second time through.
  
• I have read a good portion of the New Testament.
  

Additionally, I have read through the following books of the Bible:

• Joshua
  
• Job
  
• Proverbs
  
• Matthew
  
• Acts
  
• Romans
  
• 1 Corinthians
  
• 1 Thessalonians
  
• 2 Thessalonians
  
• 1 Timothy
  
• 2 Timothy
  
• Titus
  
• Philemon
  
• James
  
• 1 Peter
  
• 2 Peter
  
• 1 John
  
• 2 John
  
• 3 John
  
• Jude
  
• Within a week, I will have finished Genesis, Judges, Ecclesiastes, Mark, and 2 Corinthians
  

I realize that reading 10 chapters per day is quite a stretch for some individuals. There are days when I am unable to do it. However, I find that the more time I spend in the Word, the more time I want to be in the Word. Also, the multiple readings of the books will be of great benefit to me. If my desire is to be a pastor (and it is), I need to know what the Bible says so that I can share it with others.

How are you doing with your Bible reading this year?

FinishYear 2012 - Putting My Memorization into Practice

I had the opportunity to put some of my memorization into practice on Sunday evening. Using Psalm 119:9-16, as our text, we looked at the absolute necessity that Scripture memory is in our Christian walk. My points were based of a sermon I had read by John Piper on John 15.

At the end of the sermon (which I will post the video from at some point, as well as the points I used), I had the opportunity to share some of the passages that I have memorized. I was a bit nervous, so I took notes with me. Here are some of the notes that I used to recite the passages.

1 John 1:1
T w w f t b, w w h h, w w h s w o e, w w l u a h t w o h, c t w o l –

1 John 1:2
t l w m m, a w h s i, a t t i a p t y t e l, w w w t F a w m m t u –

1 John 1:3
t w w h s a h w p a t y, s t y t m h f w u; a i o f i w t F a w H S J C.

Looks a bit undecipherable? Well, this is a tip that I've learned about memorizing: using the first letter of each word until you have the passage down cold. While some make think of this as cheating, you have to know the verse in order to understand the "code."

Best of luck. What passages are you going to memorize using the code?

FinishYear 2012 - One Week Update

I know that most of you have been waiting anxiously for updates on how my FinishYear 2012 projects are coming. Well, here is the first update:

• I have finished copying Proverbs 1 and am currently working toward finishing Proverbs 2.
  
• I have finished reading my first book, Leaders That Last by Dave Kraft.
  
• I am continuing to memorize 1 John 1:1-10. The first couple of verses are rather complex and I am having difficulty getting them to stick in my head.
  
• I have memorized Romans 5:1 and am working on Romans 5:2-8.
  
• I have not done any running at all
  
• I just finished reading 180 chapters of the Bible. In full disclosure, I did begin this project before January 1, but I thought any Bible reading was a good thing, right?
  

So, there you go, my first week of FinishYear 2012 update.

How are you doing with your FinishYear projects?

FinishYear 2012 - Reading Over 3,000 Chapters of the Bible - A Breakdown

The other day in church, my pastor mentioned to the congregation about how I was planning to read over 3,000 chapters of the Bible. Given the fact that the Bible has a little over 1,000 chapters, it would seem that I would be reading the Bible through twice or more. Actually, it doesn't quite work out that way. Let me explain what I am doing.

There are 10 different section that I read each day. The sections are as follows:

• List 1 - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John (89 days)
  
• List 2 - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (187 days)
  
• List 3 - Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews (78 days)
  
• List 4 - 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, 1&2 Peter, 1,2,3 John, Jude, Revelation (65 days)
  
• List 5 - Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (62 days)
  
• List 6 - Psalms (150 days)
  
• List 7 - Proverbs (31 days)
  
• List 8 - Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (249 days)
  
• List 9 - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (250 days)
  
• List 10 - Acts (28 days)
  

Following that pattern, my reading will break down like this:

• The Gospels will be read 4 times.
  
• The Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) will be read twice.
  
• The Epistles (Romans-Revelation) will be read 4-5 times each.
  
• The Wisdom literature (Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) will be read 6 times.
  
• The Psalms will be read at least twice.
  
• Proverbs and Acts will be read 12 times each.
  
• The Old Testament History and Prophets will be read about 1.5 times.
  

What it boils down to is 10 chapters per day. I was asked by someone at church as to why I was doing it. My answer: If I want to teach people what the Bible says, I need to know what's in it...deeply.

FinishYear 2012 - Hand Copying Proverbs - Off to a Good Start

As I've written about before, one of my projects for this year to hand copy the book of Proverbs into a journal. While I don't wish to rehash all of the reasons for this, I did want to update you on my progress. Yes, I realize that it has only been one day since 2012 began, but it is always easy to stick to a project the first day; it gets harder as time goes on. Being accountable to you is what is going to keep me going.

As you can see from the picture (or maybe you can't), I began my copying with the first ten verses of Proverbs 1. This chapter begins by telling us that it is Solomon who is giving us these proverbs and he is laying out why it is necessary for us to study them. He also includes some admonishments to study (most likely the Scriptures) because that is how one becomes wise and avoids being lumped in with the foolish. The section I copied so far concluded with some encouragement to a son to listen to the advice of his parents and to stay away from those who would entice him to do wrong.


I won't post pictures of every time I write in my journal, but, from time to time, I will update you on what I am doing and what that day's passage is all about.

I hope that you will be encouraged to join me in this journey. The great thing is that you can start at any time. Just write a few verses a day and you will be finished by the end of the year.

FinishYear 2012 - Memorizing 1 John and James

I've already written about my project to memorize Romans 5-8. This project is something else entirely. Rather than memorizing a few chapters (no small feat), I'm planning to memorize two complete books of the Bible. I will be working on memorizing 1 John and James. According to the schedule that I've worked out, it should take me about 19 weeks to memorize 1 John and 20 weeks to learn James. This is at a pace of about 6 verses per week.

I was very blessed to receive this notebook from one of my students as a Christmas present. I was quite pleased to see it because I was actually planning to go to Target that afternoon and purchase one. Receiving this little notebook/journal was actually an answer to prayer.

I typed up the verses to 1 John in a Word document with text boxes set to be about the size of a 4x6 index card. After typing them up and printing them out, I cut them out and pasted them into my journal, one card on every other page, leaving a blank page to write on.

On the blank page, I have listed out the days of the week and left some space below to give me a place to write my thoughts and reflections over that week's passage that I am memorizing. Next to each day of the week, I will keep track of how many times I have reviewed the passage that particular day. My goal is to read through/recite the passage at least 10 times each day. I actually think it will be more beneficial to review the verses several times throughout the day instead of trying to do all 10 recitations at the same time.

As I advance week to week through memorizing the book of 1 John, I will actually spend more time each day reviewing the old verses. I mean, what good is memorizing verses if you aren't going to use them? I'll say my new verses, then recite the old verses in order to have the context of the whole passage. After memorizing 1 John, I am going to spend a few weeks reviewing the whole book each day before beginning the book of James.

The reflection area on each page is for me to record what God is teaching me through the verses that I am learning that week. I can record how many times a phrase is used, how God allowed me to recall that passage, or how it is helping me to grow in my faith.


Here is a link to another blog where I got this idea. I hope that you will consider joining me, even if you don't take the time to put together a memory journal of your own.

FinishYear 2012 - Hand Copy the Book of Proverbs

As a part of my FinishYear 2012 projects, I am planning to hand copy the book of Proverbs into a journal. I full anticipate that this project will take me most of the year. The book of Proverbs has over 900 verses, each of which are several lines long. I did the math and I will need to hand copy at least 3 or 4 verses each day in order to complete the book by the end of the year.

I have had a journal in my possession for several years and have never quite found a purpose for it. It is a hardcover journal with a lot of blank pages inside. Because there are no lines, I'm going to have to really focus on my writing to make sure that I do not end up with a sloppy product. My hope is that this will turn into something beautiful that I will want to keep in my possession for quite some time.

Someone asked me why I was doing this, what was the benefit I hope to gain from hand copying the book of Proverbs. Well, for me, handwriting something causes me to really think about what I am doing. The act of putting pen to paper requires a concentration that I don't often experience when I am typing something. My prayer is that I focus on the text of what I am writing, I will be able to apply the message and wisdom of the book of Proverbs to my life.

What are you doing to be more intentional about studying God's Word this year?

FinishYear 2012 - Memorizing Romans 5-8

One of the things that I have become passionate about is memorizing Scripture. As a result, one of the projects that I will be doing in 2012 is memorizing a large amount of Scripture. If you have read my list of FinishYear projects, you know that I will be memorizing 1 John, James, and Romans 5-8, in addition to a large number of other verses and passages. I am currently working my way through Psalm 1, Psalm 23, Psalm 100, and Psalm 121.

Anyway, back to Romans 5-8. This sounds like a difficult task, something that will take a long time. In actuality, it will. My goal is to memorize Romans 5-8 over the course of the entire year. I will learning one or two verses a week for the 52 weeks of 2012.

John Piper and his church in Minneapolis are also doing this. They are actually the ones who set up the plan to memorize Romans 5-8. If you are interested in participating, and I hope you are, you can find the schedule at FighterVerses.com. There is also an iPhone app that you can purchase. I have it and there are number of quizzes you can use to help you memorize the verses.

I would also recommend reading through this resource if you want help with memorizing.

FinishYear 2012 - Reading Over 3,000 Chapters of the Bible

As part of my FinishYear 2012 goals, I am going to read over 3,000 chapters in the Bible. As you may already know, there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible, so if I read over 3,000 chapters in the coming year, I will read many of the chapters in the Bible more than once.

In order to help achieve and finish this goal, I (along with about 1,000 people) will be using a reading plan called Professor Horner’s Bible Reading Plan. Using this plan, I will read 10 chapters of the Bible from different lists. Each of the lists has a different number of days to be completed before the list starts over. Some of the lists (Proverbs and Acts) will be read 12 times throughout the year. Others will only be read a couple of times. Regardless, think of how much Scripture one will come in contact with as they follow this plan.

I am striving to read 3,000 chapters this year. If you are up on your math, you will know that there are 365 days in a year and, at 10 chapters per day, I should be reading 3,650 chapters. This is true, but I also know that there are going to be days where I am unable to complete my 10 chapters, no matter how hard I try.

If you are interested in learning more about Professor Horner’s Bible Reading Plan, you can download some information and the bookmarks to help you keep your place. There is also a Facebook group that you can join to help with accountability and to give you support.

It is my prayer that many of you will also want to participate in this project. Please join the Facebook group, comment on the post below, or visit my Facebook page and let me know that you will joining with me.

I'd like to thank Tim Challies for this awesome challenge.

I look forward to hearing about the amazing things God will be doing in and through us as a result of digging deep into His Word this year.

FinishYear 2012

Today, Jon Acuff wrote a piece about some of the projects that he will be finishing in 2012. It kind of struck a chord with me and I spent a lot of time today thinking about what things I would like to begin and finish in 2012. Here is the list I came up with:

• I will read over 3,000 chapters of the Bible.
  
• I will memorize the books of 1 John and James.
  
• I will memorize Romans 5-8.
  
• I will read a minimum 24 books (1 non-fiction and 1 fiction book per month)
  
• I will run at least 2 5K races in less than 28 minutes.
  
• I will run in either a 10 mile race or ½ marathon.
  
• I will hand copy the book of Proverbs into a journal.
  
• I will write on my blog at least three times a week, making a minimum of 150 quality posts.
  

I realize that some of these projects seem lofty and will require a great deal of effort on my part. My wife and I are also expecting our fourth child in June and anyone who has ever had a child knows how much work goes into them. That being said, I am hoping that I can depend on the support and accountability of my friends to help me be successful.

What are you planning to finish in 2012?