We had a special guest speaker in our church for the Sunday evening service. This is the 3rd or4th time we have seen and heard this gentleman since we've been here. The name of the ministry is Living Logos. Rod and Jenny Carlson are the couple who started this ministry. They travel around the country doing presentations. The presentation - a complete book of the Bible, recited / preached from memory! He does such an awesome job of presenting the Word in a format that is very easy to follow. You do not feel as if you're being read to, nor do you have a hard time understanding the words. He memorizes from the New Living Translation so it sounds like someone who has written a letter and is reading it aloud to the recipient! The books of the Bible we have heard are Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and James. Obviously, these books are written as letters to churches. Rod is able to present in such a tremendous way, the words, along with the emotions behind those words - that it truly makes the Word come alive!
The Holy Spirit reveals something everytime you read the Word, which is what separates the Bible from any other book! The gift that Rod has to memorize can also be a chance for the Spirit to reveal something in God's Word. You could hear something and it sound very different from times when you've read the same verse or chapter. Rod challenges each service to begin memorizing Scripture - not just verses - but sections. His challenge - you can memorize a few verses each week and eventually, you will have memorized a chapter, then an entire book! In our world, there could come a time when our copies of God's Word might not be so readily available. God can use the memorized Word to bring encouragement and hope when the written Word is not available. When the Word is memorized, it also has the freedom and ability to affect our lives in ways we might not could begin to imagine.
If you ever have the chance to hear this couple, make the effort. You will be blessed!
3 comments:
It sounds wonderful! For many years, I've known that I need to memorize and I've never done much about it. And the bad thing is that I have no excuse except for laziness. Thanks for the challenge!
I'm terribly impressed, because memorizing isn't easy and to retain it, is even more of a gift. I memorize my script and it's gone within months after the show closes! then again, we're talking about something important.. so perhaps that's the difference.
Kathy - it is a challenge to me as well. I can memorize whole songs or even scripts but have a hard time memorizing scripture - unless I put it to music or hear it in a song!
Incognito - I would think that he repeats the books often as he does presentations all around the country. And, yes, I suspect that God will bless that endeavor as it truly puts His Word in the center of your being!
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