We had just finished a piano session with the boys' teacher. She is an extremely great lady (so is her mom) and was my son's 1st and 2nd grade school teacher.
I am not sure how it came up, but somehow it dropped that my boys were learning 3 sets of verses for different groups.
She gave me this look of confusion. "I can't believe it," she remarked "when we send verses home with the kids for Sunday School the parents tell us it's too much, because of the ones they are learning at the Christian school."
In my head I was laughing. Oh no. We take what we can get! I am not saying I am on top of it all, but we are there with bells on. Hear me?
I remember fondly this preacher who had locked himself in a basement trying to get over an addiction to pornography or something, drinking, maybe? Depression....I don't know. He was stuck somewhere and decided to retreat to the basement and learn scripture.
He preached at the front of our little chapel on the Christian campground, pointing into the air in front of him, seemingly being able to view the scripture we could not see, and tell us "In Romans, about the 6th chapter, a few verses down, it says..." and then recite it to a dumbfounded audience.
This was the same guy who I will never forget said, "pay your kids to learn verses. It doesn't matter how, or what motivates them. They are getting the word in their hearts."
Now I can hear the naysayers. "Pay my kids to learn God's Word? Perish the thought."
This is where I would side with the "we don't worship the Bible" syndicate. God gave us this Word to learn and learn well. These words change lives. It changed the life of this man standing right in front of me at that little chapel in the woods, to the an astounding degree.
What I am saying, and I sincerely hope I am not wrong, that it isn't, for sure, beneath me to bribe my kids to learn it with treats or money, and I don't think it's "beneath scripture."
Having said that. In our house we have what we call "Judo Verses". They learn the verses, they get a prize. We learn them around the time we go to Judo class every week (so we don't forget). We don't have the blessing of Awana in our area, so we connect it to something.
This fall we'll learn this. To show you how little I had to work on it, I pulled it straight outta my own Bible study by Beth Moore (The Quest).
Tape it up on the kitchen cupboard. Done.
Lastly, I know that Americans are super over their heads, most of the time, with stuff to do, but if you are like me and you don't have access to Awana, i.e. a group of peers for your kids challenging them to learn scripture, my friend started this super simple format for neighborhood outreach and verse memory, and I just have to pass along the method.
All that it takes is one hour per week, one friend to help you from your church, a passage of scripture to memorize and a pot of chili (or whatever. We rotate the same meals and start over every month. Nobody is joking around about streamlining. Nobody.). She, in sincere seriousness, starts at 5:30 on Wednesday nights, her husband sings a song to get things started, she does a little song and/or game over a verse or two, the kids split up to tell their verse to the likes of me (who brought the side toppings for potatoes and made sure the meal was set up), feeds 'em, and kicks all the neighborhood kids (unchurched kids who were actually excited to come) out the door at 6:30 with a passage started of God's Word, and a belly full. That's literally it.
Outreach- check
Scripture memory with peers- check
Feed people- check
Show God's Love- check check check
one. stinking. hour.
I am not sure how it came up, but somehow it dropped that my boys were learning 3 sets of verses for different groups.
She gave me this look of confusion. "I can't believe it," she remarked "when we send verses home with the kids for Sunday School the parents tell us it's too much, because of the ones they are learning at the Christian school."
In my head I was laughing. Oh no. We take what we can get! I am not saying I am on top of it all, but we are there with bells on. Hear me?
I remember fondly this preacher who had locked himself in a basement trying to get over an addiction to pornography or something, drinking, maybe? Depression....I don't know. He was stuck somewhere and decided to retreat to the basement and learn scripture.
He preached at the front of our little chapel on the Christian campground, pointing into the air in front of him, seemingly being able to view the scripture we could not see, and tell us "In Romans, about the 6th chapter, a few verses down, it says..." and then recite it to a dumbfounded audience.
This was the same guy who I will never forget said, "pay your kids to learn verses. It doesn't matter how, or what motivates them. They are getting the word in their hearts."
Now I can hear the naysayers. "Pay my kids to learn God's Word? Perish the thought."
This is where I would side with the "we don't worship the Bible" syndicate. God gave us this Word to learn and learn well. These words change lives. It changed the life of this man standing right in front of me at that little chapel in the woods, to the an astounding degree.
What I am saying, and I sincerely hope I am not wrong, that it isn't, for sure, beneath me to bribe my kids to learn it with treats or money, and I don't think it's "beneath scripture."
Having said that. In our house we have what we call "Judo Verses". They learn the verses, they get a prize. We learn them around the time we go to Judo class every week (so we don't forget). We don't have the blessing of Awana in our area, so we connect it to something.
This fall we'll learn this. To show you how little I had to work on it, I pulled it straight outta my own Bible study by Beth Moore (The Quest).
Tape it up on the kitchen cupboard. Done.
Lastly, I know that Americans are super over their heads, most of the time, with stuff to do, but if you are like me and you don't have access to Awana, i.e. a group of peers for your kids challenging them to learn scripture, my friend started this super simple format for neighborhood outreach and verse memory, and I just have to pass along the method.
All that it takes is one hour per week, one friend to help you from your church, a passage of scripture to memorize and a pot of chili (or whatever. We rotate the same meals and start over every month. Nobody is joking around about streamlining. Nobody.). She, in sincere seriousness, starts at 5:30 on Wednesday nights, her husband sings a song to get things started, she does a little song and/or game over a verse or two, the kids split up to tell their verse to the likes of me (who brought the side toppings for potatoes and made sure the meal was set up), feeds 'em, and kicks all the neighborhood kids (unchurched kids who were actually excited to come) out the door at 6:30 with a passage started of God's Word, and a belly full. That's literally it.
Outreach- check
Scripture memory with peers- check
Feed people- check
Show God's Love- check check check
one. stinking. hour.
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