Pastor John, it seems you have traditionally placed the emphasis on Bible memorization

for the personal benefits derived from the discipline.

Is there a community dimension to scripture memory as well?

Tony, usually when I try to defend memorizing scripture, I'll go right to the soul work

that it does in my heart.

I love to memorize scripture because something happens to my soul.

I feel like I know God better.

I have a more intimate relationship with Him.

His fellowship is more steadfast as I can get with me through the day, but that's not what

I want to say this time in answering this question because of something that happened last

night.

Just to remind me of something that's happened many times, I want to encourage people

to memorize scripture, say two, three verses or a chapter, a sun-precious unit, and then

be on the lookout for what I would call immeasurable moments.

Once where the insertion of that text from your heart, eyeball to eyeball without having

to open a book and read it, coming from your soul would make that moment explode with

significance.

So, for example, we had over last night a missionary family who is going to be leaving in

tomorrow to go back to Southeast Asia and we just wanted to once say them having to

make a meal and the other is just to bless them as they go.

And as we stood in the kitchen before we got our taco salad, we held hands and they thought

I was just going to pray and I said, let me give you a word from the Lord that I think

...