Analogies on Memorization

illustration

Smells Hack Our Memory

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 8:21, Exodus 30:34-38, Leviticus 1:9, John 12:3, 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

The Forming of a Memory Before we truly remember anything, it starts as an experience. It is a moment when our senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch) interact with the world around us. Those ...

illustration

Invention Begins With Inventory

Author

Casey K. Tygrett

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:26, 2 Peter 1:12-13, Philippians 4:8, Luke 2:19, Proverbs 2:1-5

Memory researchers reveal that memory and creativity are linked historically. The Latin root inventio is the basis for two words in our modern English vocabulary: inventory and invention. And to ...

illustration

Einstein’s Phone Number

Author

Keith Roberts

Keywords

A reporter interviewed Albert Einstein for an article he was writing. At the end of the interview, the reporter asked if he could have Einstein’s phone number to call if he had further questions. “Cer...

illustration

Forgive us our Mattresses

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

While countless children grew up reciting the Lord’s Prayer, it is somewhat unsurprising to learn that many didn’t exactly have the words correct. In an article by Ann Landers of the Chicago Tribune, ...

illustration

William “Refrigerator” Perry is asked to Pray

Author

Ken Davis

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4

The following story is told about the Chicago Bears’ coach, Mike Ditka and one of his most famous players: One day Ditka was about to deliver a locker room pep talk and he looked up and saw defensiv...

illustration

Earth, Receive an Honored Guest

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Revelation 21:4, John 14:1-4, Job 19:25-27

W.H. Auden is widely considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th Century. Auden grew up in England but spent some of his adult years in the United States. When he passed away on the 29th of Septe...

illustration

Remembering the Ten Commandments

Author

Robert Jeffress

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 119:11, Colossians 3:16, Deuteronomy 11:18, 2 Timothy 3:16

Quickly—without checking Google or your Bible—name as many of the Ten Commandments as you can. Go ahead . . . I’ll wait. How did you do? If you struggled to remember them, you’re not alone. According ...

illustration

Will Cain Kill Abel?

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 4:1-16, Hebrews 11:4, 1 John 3:12, 2 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 119:105

Some years ago when radio was still a primary source of entertainment, a French dramatist was commissioned to write the script for the debut episode of a Bible study radio series. For the most part, ...

illustration

The Power of Four: Spiritual Transformation from Reading Scripture

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Does reading the Bible really change us? Does it have the ability, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to shape and form our characters? That's what The Center for Bible Engagement wanted to fin...

illustration

Your Name is?

Author

Clay Scroggins

Keywords

Have you noticed how difficult it is to remember someone’s name when you meet them? Within seconds of a person telling me his name, I’ve forgotten what he said. I may have even repeated it to myself. ...

illustration

The Gettysburg Address & Identity Formation

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, John 1:12, Romans 6:3-4, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Peter 2:9

Why is it that countless American school-children memorize the Gettysburg Address each year? Is it a simple civics lesson? An opportunity to learn about the Civil War, a turning point in American hist...

illustration

True Christianity is a Fight

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Joshua 1:8, 2 Chronicles 34:29-33, Matthew 4:1-11, Ephesians 6:10-17, Psalm 119:11

Now I have to ask you: If Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did not presume to face the forces of evil in the world without a profound knowledge of the Bible in mind and heart, how could we try to face li...

illustration

Capturing Memories

Author

Donald Miller

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4–12, Joshua 4:1–9, Ecclesiastes 12:1, Luke 22:19, 2 Timothy 1:5–7 , Psalm 77:11–12

The saddest thing about life is you don’t remember half of it. You don’t even remember half of half of it. Not even a tiny percentage, if you want to know the truth. I have this friend Bob who writes ...

illustration

Gratitude Requires Memory

Author

Robert A. Emmons

Keywords

Gratitude

In his book Gratitude Works, psychologist and Gratitude expert Robert Emmons begins by drawing an important connection between the practice of gratitude and memory. He also goes on to share how religi...

illustration

Hey, You?

Author

Clay Scroggins

Keywords

Have you noticed how difficult it is to remember someone’s name when you meet them? Within seconds of a person telling me his name, I’ve forgotten what he said. I may have even repeated it to myself. ...

illustration

Humanity's Problem of Forgetfulness

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

One of humanity’s problems is forgetfulness. Forgetfulness can happen at multiple levels, from a simple problem of recall to a posture of hard-heartedness and disobedience toward the command-giver. Wh...

illustration

Life in Reverse: Short Term Spiritual Memory Loss

Author

Casey K. Tygrett

Keywords

Scripture

Joshua 4:6-7, 2 Peter 1:12-13, James 1:23-25, John 14:26, Revelation 2:5

In the film Memento , we meet Leonard, who is searching for the man who killed his wife. He appears to be the typical Hollywood hero of the early 2000s. The hair is right; the jaw line, the atmospher...

illustration

The Strength of Catechisms

Author

Brian Dembowczyk

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22-24, Matthew 7:24-27, Colossians 3:16, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 5:12-14

I’m a huge advocate of catechisms, for example, having used this approach with my kids. I even wrote one. The strength of a catechism isn’t in memorizing the questions and answers of the catechism; th...

illustration

Remembering who we are and whose we are

Author

Mia Levetan

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 8:1, Genesis 19:29, Exodus 2:24, Exodus 6:5, Exodus 13:3, Exodus 32:13, Leviticus 26:42-45, Deuteronomy 4:10, Deuteronomy 8:2, 18, Judges 3:7, Psalm 78:11, 1 Samuel 1:11, 19, Psalm 63:6, Psalm 74:2, Psalm 77:11, Psalm 78:35, 42, Psalm 105:42, Psalm 106:45, Psalm 111:5, Psalm 119:52, 55, Psalm 143:5, Isaiah 44:21, Isaiah 57:11, Jeremiah 14:21, Jeremiah 51:50, Jonah 2:7, Mark 14:72, Matthew 26:75, Luke 22:61, Luke 22:19, Matthew 27:33-55, Mark 15:22-41, Luke 23:33-49, John 19:16-30, 1 Corinthians 1:18, Philippians 2:8, Hebrews 12:2

God remembers Noah. God remembers Abram. God remembers Lot. God remembers the Israelites. The Israelites, in the book of Judges, do not remember God—this was their problem. God remembers Hannah. The P...

illustration

A Repeated Bodily Practice

Author

J. P. Moreland

Keywords

Christian spiritual discipline is a repeated bodily practice, done over and over again in dependence on the Holy Spirit and under the direction of Jesus and other wise teachers in his Way, to enable o...

illustration

A Redemptive Memory

Author

Richella J. Parham

Keywords

In her excellent little book (Mythical Me), Richella Parham describes the importance of looking on the past with grace: Developing a redemptive memory requires recalling not only the pain of the pas...

illustration

Study Your Own Failures

Author

Arthur C. Brooks

Keywords

Studying your own failures as well can make them seem less earth-shattering. One researcher suggested in a 2010 article in Nature that people maintain a “CV of failures,” a written list of the things ...

illustration

Biblical Meditation

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 1:null

Biblical scholar Nahum Sarna (in On the Book of Psalms) points out that the mediation mentioned in Psalm 1 (The man who “meditates on [God’s] law day and night”) is “not engaged in meditation and cont...

illustration

Ritual and Repetition

Author

Peter Enns

Keywords

The influence of the familiar on our lives is something that advertisers never forget. The point of advertising is to capitalize on real needs or to create needs and then to provide a product to fill ...

illustration

Using Repetition to Make a Point

Author

James Boice

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 13:, Philippians 3:1, 1 Samuel 3:1–10 , Exodus 7:12, Deuteronomy 6:4–9 , Psalm 136:

In the second century before Christ the great rival to Roman power in the Mediterranean world was Carthage, the Phoenician city-state located on the north African coast. It had been founded in 822 B.C...

illustration

Two Examples of Long Memories

Author

Kenneth E. Bailey

Keywords

The Reliability of Scripture

As an amateur yet serious student of the American Civil War, I am constantly amazed at the sheer volume of material, which was preserved orally for half a century and longer, surrounding the key figur...

illustration

And So Life Is

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Memory

The Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler was famous for beginning counseling sessions with new clients by asking, “What is your earliest memory?” No matter how his patient replied, Adler responded, “And...

illustration

The Mind Over Time

Author

Mark Batterson

Keywords

Neuroimaging has shown that as we age, our cognitive center of gravity shifts from the imaginative right brain to the logical left brain. At some point, most of us top living out of imagination and st...

illustration

The Problem of Forgetfulness

Author

Eugene H. Peterson

Keywords

One of humanity’s problems is forgetfulness. Forgetfulness can happen at multiple levels, from a simple problem of recall to a posture of hard-heartedness and disobedience toward the command-giver. Wh...

illustration

Looking Back to Find the Way Out

Author

Casey K. Tygrett

Keywords

Scripture

John 14:26, Revelation 2:5, Philippians 1:3, Isaiah 46:9, 2 Peter 1:12-15

Barbara Brown Taylor recounts her first experience with caving, the exploration of caves that are not prepared or made easily accessible for inexperienced explorers. Her guides gave her a bit of helpf...

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalm

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel