43 Sermon Illustrations on Memory

What cards are in your catalog?

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features save for the one wall covered with small index-card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endlessly in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I Have Liked". I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one.

And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match.

A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching. A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I Have Betrayed".

The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. "Books I Have Read", "Lies I Have Told", "Comfort I Have Given", "Jokes I Have Laughed At". Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've Yelled at My Brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents". I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my 20 years to write each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "Songs I Have Listened To", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music, but more by the vast amount of time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts", I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: "No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In an insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it.

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I saw it. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With". The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that the hurt started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key.

But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him. No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one?

Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card.

"No!" I shouted, rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood.

He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished."

I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.

__________

Josh Harris, Spring 1995 issue of New Attitude magazine

[see also HolwickID #22215]

In January 1989 Eileen Franklin-Lipsker looked into her 6 year old daughter’s blue eyes and suddenly remembered the murder of her best friend, 8 year old Susan Nason. Eileen’s own father had molested and killed Susan by bashing her head in with a rock, then warned her that he would do the same to her if she told anyone. He also molested Eileen and she learned to repress her memories to cope. A jury was convinced of her “repressed memory” and convicted George Franklin of murder and gave him a life sentence.

#1414

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Judy White Edelson wrote in Newsweek magazine:

"I used to laugh about my mother telling me, 'That will go on your permanent record.' I thought I had no permanent record. I was young and had a long, full lifetime in which to make mistakes and explore endless possibilities.... There IS a permanent record. It lives on in the memories of all the people you have come in contact with. It lives on in your own perception of yourself, coloring and flavoring who you become, what you expect to be able to accomplish, and how you live your life. Every decision you make determines your tomorrow. Your future is in your past."

#3308

[also see #10929 and #27879]

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Dr. Sachs, a clinical psychologist, in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat, tells of Jimmy G.--a 45

yr. old man who had Korsacoff's Syndrome. KS caused by alcoholism, those who have KS have no short-term memory. Life stopped for Jimmy G. at 19. Dr. Sachs put a mirror in front of Jimmy's face--"Do you see a 19 yr. old man?" Jimmy's face contorted in momentary horror and he jumped up and went to the window--Dr. Sachs felt bad/cruel. He said: "I'm sorry I showed you the mirror." Jimmy G.: "What mirror?" One minute later Jimmy had forgotten! Dr. Sachs described Jimmy G. as "a lost soul."

WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE

Grove Patterson, editor of the Toledo Blade, once wrote a classic editorial entitled "Water Under the Bridge." It spoke of a boy who leaned against the railing of an old-fashioned bridge and watched the current of the river below. He watched a log, a bit of driftwood, a chip float past. The water kept flowing by . . . under the bridge. The image stuck in the boy's mind, serving him well in future years. He faced some difficult days. But he knew they would, like water, pass under the bridge. When he made a mistake or

fumbled an opportunity he would say, "It's water under the bridge." He didn't waste valuable time lamenting past errors, nor did he let trouble get him down . . . because it was "water under the bridge."

During recent years great emphasis has been given to the value of having a good memory. Numerous courses have been published on "How To Remember," accompanied by promises of success and happiness to any who master the study. To be sure there is great value in having a good memory. But of equal value is the ability to forget. Your success will be directly related to your skill in forgetting the following:

1. Past successes. Glorying in past accomplishments can only lead to a fruitless future. Don't be a diary and scrapbook worshipper. 2. Past failures. A morbid memory of past mistakes, sins and failures causes

fear of the future. Seek forgiveness of sins; learn from past mistakes to avoid repeating them. Then forget them and forge ahead. 3. Past injuries. If you lug into the future your resentments, hatreds, frustrations and disappointments it will soon wear you out. Don't permit your life to be controlled by constant thought of another's mistreatment of you.

The future doesn't belong to you so long as you are shackled by the past. Whatever contribution you make to the world will be dependent upon your ability to forget the past. -- Joe R. Barnett

May it be ours to die like that saint, Bishop Beveridge, around whose bed wife and children stood, weeping over the wreck of faded faculties, and a blank, departed memory.

One had asked him, “Father, do you remember me?” and received no answer; and another, and another also, but still no answer. Then all making way for the venerable companion of a long and loving pilgrimage, the tender partner of many a past joy and sorrow, his wife, draws near. She bends over him, and as her tears fall thick upon his face, she asks, “Do you remember me?” A stare; but it is vacant.

At this moment, one calm enough to remember how the love of Christ’s spouse is “strong as death,” a love that “many waters cannot quench,” stooped to his ear and said, “Do you remember Jesus Christ?” That name seem to recall the spirit, hovering for a moment, ere it took wing to heaven. Touched, as by an electric influence, the heart beat once more; and, with a smile in which the soul took its flight to glory, he replied, “Remember Jesus Christ! Dear Jesus Christ! He is all my salvation and all my desire.”

A few years ago, a church member’s mother from North Carolina visited our church in Tennessee. When I introduced myself, she asked, “Pastor, do you remember a woman named Lois Pendley?” I replied, “Yes, I do. She was a member of my first pastorate.”

“Well,” the lady continued, “she is now in a nursing home severely challenged with dementia. However, she speaks often of her pastor, Richard Hipps. I thought you’d want to know that.”

Forty-four years ago, as a college student, I became this precious woman’s pastor. Lois Pendley and 200 other brave souls risked calling a ministerial student with no experience as their pastor. For five years, they helped shape my life and ministry.

Being humbled by the fact that Lois Pendley, in her challenged state, was remembering me as her pastor, I sat down, got comfortable and relived as many memories as possible. I took my time and not only remembered people and places but also asked the Holy Spirit to help me interpret what I was remembering. It was truly amazing, a deeply spiritual exercise.

One thought rose to the top of all these memories – God loves me and is always faithful.

I have no idea how God has used my life and ministry over the years, but hearing about Lois Pendley gave me a glimpse. I think one of the joys – and surprises – of heaven will be seeing how our small stories help enrich God’s Big Story. Perhaps it will be just a paragraph or a sentence, but just the same, God’s Big Story is incomplete without God’s working in our small stories.

Even though it is heartbreaking to watch age or dementia claim a loved one’s mind, it is a mistake to think that disease destroys a person’s desire or ability to worship. I have known many individuals who lose their ability to recall facts and events but remember such matters of faith as a pastor’s name, the Lord’s Prayer or a favorite hymn.

Although our loved ones and friends may forget many things, God has not forgotten them. I do not have dementia, but there are not many of us who do not struggle with memory problems. Most of us have selective memory, especially when it suits our needs. We also have memory problems constrained by time and interest. We are too busy to sift through our past and remember the prints left on our hearts by others and be grateful.

We are too often absorbed in other things to remember the people who gave us chances and were living models of God’s faithfulness to us. As I thought of all the people who allowed me to share in the sacred places of their lives, I recall the words of an old hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” – especially this line: “Here I raise mine Ebenezer.” An Ebenezer is a memorial stone, like the one raised by God’s people in Joshua 4 to remember God’s presence and participation in their lives.

One of the greatest enemies of faith is forgetfulness. Holy Spirit-inspired remembrances of the past encourage attitudes and behavior in the present.

When we discipline ourselves to remember – deeply remember – it can remind us of our many blessings, spur us on and keep us focused. The remembering can form our hearts and help us live and tell the story of God’s love.

What would happen if we raise our own Ebenezer by recalling year by year as many memories as possible and the ways we witnessed God present and participating in and through our lives?

The look in the rearview mirror would probably encourage each of us to trust God more and declare God’s faithfulness daily.

________

Richard Hipps is the retired pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee. This article appeared in the Baptist and Reflector.

Two elderly men recognized each other in a shopping mall and began talking. One finally said, "Forgive me, I'm sorry, but I can't remember your name."

The other man looked a little bewildered, and asked, "How soon do you need to know?"

_______

Source: Bill's Punch Line, http://www.tcmr.com/billspunchline.html

"I Forgot"

Read: Psalm 20

We will remember the name of the Lord our God. --Psalm 20:7

I was relieved to find out that I'm not the only one who forgets things. Everyone does at one time or another, according to Karen Bolla, a Johns Hopkins researcher. These are the things people most often forget:

names 83%

where something is 60%

telephone numbers 57%

words 53%

what was said 49%

faces 42%

And if you can't remember whether you've just done something, you join 38 percent of the population.

Followers of Jesus Christ also have a problem with forgetfulness. In high-pressure situations, or when we're just going through a daily routine, we forget God. We seem to forget that we are His children. We fail to recall what He has promised to do for us. We don't remember His awesome power and His love. So we try to overcome temptation in our own strength, or to solve a difficult problem by using the wisdom of the world.

David said it this way: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses," which is another way of saying that people rely on their own resources (Ps. 20:7). But then David added, "We will remember the name of the Lord our God."

How's your memory today? --DCE

Thinking It Over

Have you been taking the Lord's goodness for granted?

How many of His blessings can you list right now?

Why not thank God specifically for those blessings?

Daily blessings are daily reminders of God.

About every five years or so, I run into my scrapbook while I'm going through this closet. Oh, there's the geeky-looking, eighth-grader there, holding his county spelling bee trophy. Oh, there's chubby little Ronnie in his Indian outfit on a vacation to Minnesota. And, the picture of our championship Bible Quizzing Team. Now it's also a lot of fun when we pull out the old photos of our family. Two decades of Christmas eves ... scenes from scores and scores of vacation adventures ... sons in football uniforms, a daughter all dressed up for her first recital. Ah, the memories. Now it isn't that we haven't had some not-so-great things happen. There was the automobile accident, the painful injuries, the bouts with various sicknesses -- but, somehow, they just didn't make it into the memory book.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "The Only Reason To Look Back."

Now, all of us have an album of memories, stored away, not just in a book, but in the memory banks in our mind. And some of us think a lot about things in the past, and talk a lot about them, too. But which things? Well, God has something important, even liberating, to say about what's in your past, especially the things you keep bringing out and bringing up again and again.

Our word for today from the Word of God is Isaiah 43, beginning at verse 16. God is talking to people who have been through a lot of pain -- people who have lost a lot of things they care about. There are some parts of the past God says they need to remember, and some they need to forget. Here we go, "This is what the Lord says, He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters." Now God says remember that stuff He goes on, "Forget the former things; and do not dwell on the past." In other words, don't keep your pictures of the ugly stuff.

He goes on to say, "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Now God says, I don't want you to miss the glorious things I'm about to do for you ... because you've got your nose buried in your pictures from the past!

Now, I wonder if your memory album has a lot of mental pictures of the painful moments in your life. I wonder if some of the folks close to you are tired of your going over, and over, the times you've been hurt and wronged. God's Word is clear -- forget that stuff. What kind of memory album is filled with pictures of the ugly times? If you dwell on the past -- if you dwell in the past, you may miss the new things God wants to do with your future.

But there's one good reason to look back -- to relive those countless moments in your life you can PRAISE GOD for! The parted seas ... the conquered obstacles ... the divine interventions ... the deliverances ... the miraculous provisions ... ways in the desert ... streams where it looked like there would be nothing for your need. In Isaiah 43:20-21, God says, "I provide water in the desert ... to give drink to My people, My chosen, the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim My praise."

So which past are you going to dwell on? The painful past? Well, that will just keep that pain alive right into your future. Or are you going to dwell on the praiseful past -- all the ways your loving God has been there for you over and over again? Those memories will get you ready for the next exciting episode in your life with this awesome God of yours.

Our family albums aren't full of images of the bad times -- the images we keep going over are the good times. That's how it needs to be in that photo album in your heart. The only reason to look back is to once again relive your memories of life with your wonderful Heavenly Father.

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

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An elderly gent was invited to his old friends' home for dinner one evening.

He was impressed by the way his buddy preceded every request to his wife with endearing terms - calling her, "Honey", "My Love", "Darling", "Sweetheart", "Pumpkin", etc. The couple had been married almost 70 years, and it seemed they were still very much in love.

While the wife was off in the kitchen, the man leaned over and said to his buddy, "I think it's wonderful that, after all the years you've been married, you still call your wife those loving pet names."

The old man hung his head. "I have to tell you the truth," he said. "I forgot her name about ten years ago."

Sheep have an undeserved reputation for being dumb, says behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England. Kendrick's team found that sheep can recognize as many as 50 other sheep for up to two years. "If they can do that with faces, the implication is that they have to have reasonable intelligence, otherwise what is the point of having a system for remembering faces and not remembering anything else?" he asks. "It is a very sophisticated memory system. They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans."

(Reuters)

One morning every spring, for exactly two minutes, the nation of Israel comes to a complete stop. Sirens sound, pedestrians stand in place, and drivers pull over to the side of the road. Nobody speaks, sings, eats, or drinks as the nation pays respect to the victims of the Holocaust. All except Sigmund Schiller. He treats it like an ordinary day. Which is amazing because Schiller himself is a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, where he was imprisoned at age 15.

When his daughter Daniela was in the sixth-grade the teacher gave an assignment to interview someone who survived the Holocaust. Daniela sat with her dad at the kitchen table and asked him about his memories. He said nothing. It was a silence he held for decades.

But not long ago, Sigmund Schiller spoke about his Holocaust experience. It happened once, and he says that it won’t happen again. It was for a documentary and Daniela warned the film crew that he probably wouldn’t say a word to them. They asked him about his memories of the Holocaust and there was a long silence. Then to Daniela’s astonishment her father began to speak. In a flat monotone but with tears in his eyes he said, “I was eleven when my little sister was born. I was very attached to her, and she was closer to me than to my mom. I taught her how to walk. Her first words, her first laughter was with me. I am the one who raised her.”

He had never mentioned having a sister, not even to his wife. The last time he saw his sister, his mother was taking her to their maid’s house. Later, he heard a rumor of what had happened. Mr. Schiller said, “Two policemen came, and took her to the fields. One was a ‘humanitarian.’ He didn’t want her to suffer, so he took her toy, threw it away, and said go pick it up. That way, he could shoot her in the back without her knowing.”

The film crew sat in silence. He then made a comment about the movie “Sophie’s Choice” where a woman (played by Meryl Streep) is sent to Auschwitz with her children. She was forced to choose which one of her two children would be gassed and which would proceed to the labor camp. She chose her son, Jan, to be sent to the labor camp, and her daughter, Eva, to be sent to her death.

Mr. Schiller said, “People talk about ‘Sophie’s Choice’ as if it were a rare event. It wasn’t. Everybody had to make Sophie’s choice - all of us. My mother left behind a four-year-old with the maid. You don’t think I was beaten and shot at? There are no violins in my story. It is the most common thing that happened.”

When the finished documentary was previewed in the Schillers’ living room, Daniela hid her eyes with her hands, and so did her father. For the most part, they were immobile. On camera, she asked him if he had consciously suppressed this information. “Yes,” he said. “You must suppress. Without suppression I wouldn’t live.”

Daniela Schiller is a leading researcher into traumatic memories and post-traumatic stress syndrome. Her research centers on the connection between memories and fear.

________

Adapted by David Holwick from the article "Partial Recall: Can neuroscience help us rewrite our most traumatic memories?" by Michael Spector, New Yorker magazine, May 19, 2014.

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[Original illustration at this number was moved to HolwickID #2393]

It is marvelous to consider the amount of information we carry about in our heads. Think for a minute about all of the numbers you have by memory: phone numbers, birthdays and ID numbers, zip codes, appointment times and so forth. Among our many numbers are some so inscribed in our minds with permanent marker that we could not forget the number anymore than we could forget the person or thing they represent. The significance moves well beyond the boldfaced digits themselves - the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, the street number of the house you grew up in, the number of times you failed before you finally passed the test.

A friend remembered recently the kind of number that is quite natural for most people to forget about, even as it is one that quietly holds for me more than I can put into words. But like the number itself, her remembering was more than a recollection of detail. It was distinctly as if she remembered me.

In the days of Mordecai and Queen Esther the people set themselves to remember the days when they received relief from their enemies, the month that had been turned “from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday” (see Esther 9). And so it was determined: “These days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants” (Esther 9:28). The days were weighted with enough hope to press upon them the need to remember them forever. Moreover, they saw the certain possibility that they might forget.

I suppose there are moments in our lives when we realize that we are beholding the carving of a day into the great tree of history. On the night before my wedding I scribbled anxiously in my journal, “It will never be this day again, but the seventeenth of every August will never be the same either.” I knew from that day forward it would be difficult (and detrimental) to forget that day on the calendar - it would carry the force of forgetting so much more.

God told the Israelites that they would remember the night of Passover before the night even happened. “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast” (Exodus 12:14). Moses and Aaron were given instructions to tell the whole community of Israel to choose a lamb without defect, slaughtering it at twilight. Then they were to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts of the houses. “The blood will be a sign,” the LORD declared. “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike the firstborns of Egypt.”

Celebrating the Passover was nonnegotiable, and with good reason. It was a command passed down from generation to generation: “Remember this day as a statute forever.” But just as we remember more than the wedding itself on an anniversary or the act of birth on a child's birthday, the Israelites were remembering more than the events of Israel's exodus from Egypt; they were remembering God Himself - the faithful hand that moved and moves among them, the mighty acts that shout of God's timely remembering of his people.

As the disciples sat around the table celebrating their third Passover meal with Jesus, an observance they kept before they could walk, everything probably looked ceremoniously familiar. The smell of lamb filled the upper room; the unleavened bread was prepared and waiting to be broken. Remembering again the acts of God in Egypt, the blood on the doorposts, the lives spared and brought out of slavery, they looked at their teacher as he lifted the bread from the table and gave thanks to God. Then Jesus broke the bread, and gave it to them, saying something entirely new. “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

I have always wished that Luke would have described a little more of the scene that followed. Did a hush immediate fall over the room? Were the disciples once again confused at his words? Or did their years of envisioning the blood-marked doorposts cry out at the Lamb without defect before them?

They had spent their entire lives remembering the sovereignty of God in the events of the Passover and then Jesus tells them that there is yet more to see in this day on the calendar. “In this Passover lamb, in this the broken bread is the reflection of me. As you remember God in history, so remember me. For on this day God is engraving across all of time the promise of Passover: I still remember you.”

From that day forward the disciples knew it would be difficult to forget that day on the calendar. May we also be wary of missing all that weights that moment with hope. For indeed, to forget what was witnessed in the upper room on that Passover in history carries the force of forgetting so much more.

__________

Copyright © 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate in KeruxID 25837-26027]

Always remember to forget

The things that made you sad.

But never forget to remember

The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget

The friends that proved untrue.

But don’t forget to remember

Those who have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget

The troubles that came your way.

But never forget to remember

The blessings that come each day!

2 Peter 1:8–9 — Improving Our Vision « Leader information shown in this fashion »

A. The Condition 2 Peter 1:8a

1. various translations of the this part of the verse …

a. AV – For if these things be in you, and abound, …

b. NAS – For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, …

c. NIV – For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, …

d. J. B. Phillips – If you have these qualities existing and growing in you …

e. NLT – The more you grow like this, …

2. “these things” — let’s review; what things are these?

a. 1. « faith; the spiritual foundation of the following »

b. 2. « virtue, goodness of life, moral excellence »

c. 3. « knowledge; discretion and understanding of the truth »

d. 4. « temperance, self-control »

e. 5. « patience, perseverance, endurance »

f. 6. « godliness: right worship and devotion to God »

g. 7. « brotherly kindness or love; philadelphia »

h. 8. « real Christian, God-given love; agape »

3. what are the two conditions concerning “these things”

a. “be in you” — this is literally « “be in your possession,” that is, they are your personal property; this is static, from a verb meaning not a temporary but a permanent state.. »

b. “and abound” — what do the alternative translations tell us concerning this word? « — this is not a static item, but one that is continually improving … growth in these is expected »

B. The Result 2 Peter 1:8b

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – … they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful …

b. NAS – … they render you neither useless nor unfruitful …

c. NIV – … they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive …

d. J. B. Phillips – … then it means {… knowing … Christ} has not made your lives either complacent or unproductive.. …

e. NLT – … the more you will become productive and useful. …

2. “they make {you}”

a. what is the “they?” « — the possessed and increasing 8 virtues »

b. how do the other translations render “make?” « — render, keep; … literally: set down, put in place; to constitute »

3. “barren” — how about the other translations for this word?

a. « useless, ineffective, complacent, {not} useful … from this verse you can again see the weakness of paraphrases, as they seek to capture the idea they lose some of the flavour »

b. Greek: argon, an inert gas « — lit., not working; hence, unemployed or idle »

4. “unfruitful” — literal translation, “without fruit”

a. hence, figuratively: « unproductive, not fulfilling the design »

C. The Forum: 2 Peter 1:8c

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – … in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

b. NAS – … in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

c. NIV – … in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

d. J. B. Phillips – … that knowing our Lord Jesus Christ …

e. NLT – … in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. What makes this knowledge different from that in verses 5–6? « — usually, with no specific object, usually this knowledge is the truth or wisdom of God; here the object is a Person, recognizing or understanding by personal experience the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ »

3. the Philips paraphrase (see previous segment of this verse) seems to me to be foreign to what Peter is saying here …

D. The Alternative: 2 Peter 1:9a

1. various translations of the this part of the verse …

a. AV – But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, …

b. NAS – For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, …

c. NIV – But if anyone does not have them, he is short-sighted and blind, …

d. J. B. Phillips – The man whose life fails to exhibit these qualities is blind—his eyes so dosed …

e. NLT – But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. …

2. “lacketh”

a. other translations? « — not have, not exhibit, not develop »

b. literally « — “is not beside” … is not accompanied by »

c. so, what about the believer whose life is thus stunted? … what is the alternative? … here is their sad situation …

3. “blind” « – either physically, but also frequently mentally, that is ignorant or dull of apprehension »

4. “cannot see afar” – Greek, myopazo (literally, one shutting the eyes, squinting; from which we get our word “myopia”) … hence the other translations

5. in what area is such a person blind/ … what is it that this person fails “to see” « … let’s look at the rest of this verse »

E. The Failure: 2 Peter 1:9b

1. various translations of this part of the verse …

a. AV – … and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

b. NAS – … having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

c. NIV – … and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

d. J. B. Phillips – … that he has forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

e. NLT – … They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them form their old life of sin.

2. “forgotten” – « “having taken or received forgetfulness, oblivion” »

a. « there is no indication here of a deliberate rejection of truth, but rather of a carelessness respecting it … does this strike a familiar chord? »

b. what does this tell us about the ordinances?

3. “purged … sins” – what has Christ done in respect to our sins? « — cleansed us, purified us »

4. note the subtle change in how the NLT renders this, which is « — that we have been cleansed from the life of sin, rather than from the sin itself; this gives an inaccurate portrayal of atonement … let us look at Revelation 1:5–6 in a closing note of praise »

There are three sure-fire ways to tell when you are getting old. One is that you start repeating yourself. Two is that you start forgetting things, and three is-s-s-s — sorry, I can’t remember.

Memory — what a miracle from God! I can vividly remember my one-room country school teacher and what a Godly example he was. I fondly remember my mother’s shy but ever present smile. I’m sure you can all fill in your own special memories. Isn’t memory one of God’s choice gifts?

God expects us to use our memory as recorded in Psalm 103:2 (niv). “Praise the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits,” but how soon we do forget. Look back and recount all your benefits from the Lord — the answered prayers. “Ain’t God Good!”

Be grateful to God for your heritage, remembering all those who helped you along the way. Have a good day thankfully walking with him.

In a research at Katie Melua, scientists have discovered that taxi drivers have actually grown more grey matter in the area of the brain associated with memory because of all the knowledge they keep in their heads. They believe that this part of the brain, the mid-posterior hippocampus, is where black-cab drivers store a mental map of London, including up to 25,000 street names and the location of all the major tourist attractions. The research is the first to show that the brains of adults can grow in response to specialist use. It has been known that areas of children’s brains can grow when they learn music or a language.

In the study, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL’s Institute of Neurology carried out scans on the brains of 35 cabbies and bus drivers, all men. The results of the scans show that the mid-posterior hippocampus of all the cabbies was bigger and that they had more grey matter than the bus drivers. The one big difference between the two is that bus drivers stick to routes, while cabbies have to learn the layout of streets and the locations of thousands of places of interest to get an operating license.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2081652.ece

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #11424]

Dr. S. D. Gordon tells of an old Christian woman whose age began to tell on her memory. She had once known much of the Bible by heart. Eventually only one precious bit stayed with her: “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” By and by part of that slipped its hold, and she would quietly repeat, “That which I have committed unto him.”

At last as she hovered on the borderland between time and eternity, her loved ones noticed her lips moving. They bent down to see whether she needed anything. She was repeating over and over again to herself the one word of the text: “Him-him-him.” She had lost the whole Bible except one word. But she had the whole Bible in that one word.

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Source: These Times, Copyright (c) September 1982, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com

Suppose you could plant an idea in someone else’s mind -- and make them think it was their own.

That’s the premise of “Inception” (PG-13) one of the most interesting summer blockbusters of recent years. The sci-fi movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, a mental thief-for-hire who specializes in “extraction” of ideas from people’s brains via their dreams. When a high-powered corporate chief offers him an irresistible payoff to do the reverse -- to sneak an idea into a competitor’s mind -- Cobb organizes an elite team of dream commandos and springs into action. Lots of cool special effects ensue.

But the film isn’t just another collection of digital gimmicks. It raises serious questions about the nature of reality. Are there different levels of reality, or different realities altogether, in our minds? Are they so “real” that we can become trapped in them? If consciousness and reality are malleable, what about truth? These questions have been asked for ages by mystics, theologians and philosophers -- not to mention computer gamers.

Postmodernism questions the existence of all absolutes. So “Inception” plays to popular culture’s ambivalent relationship with truth. My beef with the movie, however, is its suggestion that planting an idea in someone’s mind is more difficult than removing one. In the real world, the opposite is true.

Getting an idea, especially a false one, out of some folks’ minds is almost impossible. Ignorance often plays a role. But plenty of well-informed people don’t let facts interfere with their views, as several recent studies confirm. One such study, by University of California researcher Jonas Kaplan, analyzed the centers of the brain that stimulate emotion. He found that people tend to form political opinions first, then invest all their mental and emotional energy “making themselves feel good about their decision” -- regardless of the conflicting data presented to them.

Two Stony Brook (N.Y.) University scholars discovered that highly educated people are even less open than others to new facts that challenge their existing perceptions. Their factual knowledge in some areas “makes it nearly impossible to correct [other areas] on which they’re totally wrong,” according to an article on the findings in The Boston Globe.

You can see this phenomenon demonstrated daily (and loudly) by TV talking heads, political bloggers and the like. You probably see it around your kitchen table or the office water cooler.

Planting an idea in someone’s mind, on the other hand, is relatively easy -- for good or ill. Good parents and teachers use methods as old as Socrates to encourage young people to “discover” the right answers for themselves. Advertisers convince people every day that they can’t live without things they don’t even need. Propagandists and gossips entice people into believing lies by constant repetition.

The unsurpassed master of mental manipulation has been at it for a very long time. He convinced Adam and Eve that they didn’t need to heed God’s tiresome commands, that they could become “like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Humankind’s long history of self-deception and self-destruction began with an insidious idea planted in our minds: If we can be like God, we can be God. Then we don’t need to obey or worship Him. As a practical matter, He no longer exists.

The devil plants plenty of bad ideas, but this might be the worst: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1a). A lot of really smart people believe that one. If there is no God, the saying goes, all things are permissible -- murder, genocide, you name it. Recent history gives many blood-soaked examples of godlessness as state policy.

Sin, the process of rebellion against God and worship of self, is an act of the will. But it begins in the mind. Only one idea is more powerful: the Gospel.

That an all-powerful God would enter our reality, live among us, die at our hands and rise again -- all to express His love and mercy to those who rejected Him -- is the most revolutionary idea in history. If it is believed, if it is accepted and acted upon, it changes everything. God uses it to renew our darkened minds so we can worship Him in spirit and truth. Then we can transmit this great idea to others, which is the mission of the church in the world.

Plant the Gospel idea in a few minds -- and see what happens.

Judy White Edelson wrote in Newsweek magazine:

"I used to laugh about my mother telling me, 'That will go on your permanent record.' I thought I had no permanent record. I was young and had a long, full lifetime in which to make mistakes and explore endless possibilities.... There IS a permanent record. It lives on in the memories of all the people you have come in contact with. It lives on in your own perception of yourself, coloring and flavoring who you become, what you expect to be able to accomplish, and how you live your life. Every decision you make determines your tomorrow. Your future is in your past."

#3308

[also see #10929 and #27879]

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