A Ready Recollection: Uplifting Archives

As the Director of Alumni Relations for the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver (BVBID), I orchestrate the school's alumni publication "Uplift" (and may I add, I'm NO journalist!). But I've enjoyed the opportunity to fumble through old articles of past heroes in The Faith and many times minutes in the old articles have turned to hours. I'm going to start a section in our "Uplift" called A Ready Recollection which will feature 'classic' articles from the past 30+ years that BVBID has published "Uplift".

This article I'm posting now was from Warren Wilcox who received his reward into Glory in 2008. Warren and his beautiful wife, Carolyn, served the school for over 40 years together and Carolyn contiues laboring for the Lord at the Bear Valley church of Christ and BVBID.

If you are interested in receiving "Uplift" from the institute, PLEASE let me know and give me your church address or personal address. Thanks!

In Him,
Jon

*Enjoy the article below*


A Ready Recollection: Uplifting Archives
“The Most Misunderstood Motive”
by Warren Wilcox
(Uplift, March/April 1988)

I didn’t always let my kids go everywhere they wanted to go, have everything they wanted (even if I could have afforded it), nor do everything they wanted to do. That didn’t always make me popular (I hope it will someday). I acted this way because of love. Love is the most misunderstood motive in the world.
Love caused Jesus to call religious leaders hypocrites (Matthew 23). It got Him crucified. Love caused Jesus to teach with the authority of God when He spoke the words of God. I caused people to question Him (Matthew 21:23). Love caused Jesus to tell the religious leaders of the day who would not repent they would be destroyed. They sought to “lay hold on Him.”
More examples could be offered, but the point is this: Love does not always allow people to go on in their regular way of life – it tells them where they are wrong and what they need to do to get better. At least that’s what Jesus’ love did.
I often hear about Jesus’ love and I am glad He showed it to the world and especially to us as Christians. However, we must understand that love, real love, demands that we not only have tender feelings toward the lost, those in sin, those whose lives are messed up, etc. but also demands that we tell them (even insist) that they get their lives in harmony with God’s laws. This includes those who have never become Christians, those who have but have fallen away, and those who because of believing false doctrine or who are living in immorality are headed towards apostacy. That’s what Jesus did. And it cost Him His popularity and His life. It may cost us the same. But that’s love,. Real love. And God rewards it. It may even require us to tell those who preach “love” to learn what it really is (Hebrews 12:5-11).
P.S. I Love You.

100 Days of Scripture Verses- Days 1-100

"Only God’s Word Saves” Verses
Day 1 James 1:21 (May 29)
Day 2 Romans 1:16 (May 30)
Day 3 Romans 1:17 (May 31)
Day 4 Luke 24:44 (June 1)
Day 5 Luke 24:45 (June 2)
Day 6 Luke 24:46 (June 3)
Day 7 Luke 24:47 (June 4)
Day 8 James 5:19 (June 5)
Day 9 James 5:20 (June 6)

"God's Word" Verses
Day 10 2 Timothy 3:16 (June 7)
Day 11 2 Timothy 3:17 (June 8)
Day 12 Proverbs 7:2 (June 9)
Day 13 Proverbs 7:3 (June 10)

"I Shall Not Be Moved" Verses
Day 14 1 Corinthians 15:58 (June 11)
Day 15 Psalm 1:1 (June 12)
Day 16 Psalm 1:2 (June 13)
Day 17 Psalm 1:3 (June 14)
Day 18 Psalm 1:4 (June 15)
Day 19 Psalm 1:5 (June 16)
Day 20 Psalm 1:6 (June 17)


"Salvation In Christ Only" Verses
Day 21 John 14:6 (June 18)
Day 22 Galatians 1:8(June 19)
Day 23 Galatians 1:9(June 20)

"Sin" Verses
Day 24 Romans 3:23 (June 21)
Day 25 Ezekial 18:20 (June 22)
Day 26 Romans 6:23 (June 23)

"Hear" Verses
Day 27 John 6:45 (June 24)
Day 28 Romans 10:17 (June 25)

"Believe" Verses
Day 29 John 3:16 (June 26)
Day 30 John 5:24 (June 27)
Day 31 John 8:24 (June 28)

"Repent" Verses
Day 32 2 Corinthians 7:10 (June 29)
Day 33 Acts 17:30 (June 30)

"Confess" Verses
Day 34 Matthew 10:32 (July 1)
Day 35 Matthew 10:33 (July 2)
Day 36 Matthew 16:13 (July 3)
Day 37 Matthew 16:14 (July 4)
Day 38 Matthew 16:15 (July 5)
Day 39 Matthew 16:16 (July 6)
Day 40 Matthew16:17 (July 7)

"Baptized Into Christ" verses
Day 41 Romans 6:3 (July 8)
Day 42 Romans 6:4 (July 9)
Day 43 Galatians 3:26 (July 10)
Day 44 Galatians 3:27 (July 11)
Day 45 Acts 2:38 (July 12)

"Blessings IN Christ" verses
Day 46 2 Corinthians 5:17 (July 13)
Day 47 Acts 2:46 (July 14)
Day 48 Acts 2:47 (July 15)
Day 49 Ephesians 1:3 (July 16)
Day 50 Romans 8:1 (July 17)
Day 51 2 Timothy 2:10 (July 18)
Day 52 1 John 5:11 (July 19)
Day 53 Mark 16:16 (July 20)
Day 54 Ephesians 2:12 (July 21)
Day 55 Ephesians 2:13 (July 22)

"Overcoming The World" Verses
Day 56 1 John 5:1 (July 23)
Day 57 1 John 5:2 (July 24)
Day 58 1 John 5:3 (July 25)
Day 59 1 John 5:4 (July 26)
Day 60 1 John 5:5 (July 27)

"Temptation" Verses
Day 61 1 Corinthians 10:13 (July 28)
Day 62 James 1:13 (July 29)

"Laziness & Lying" Verses
Day 63 Proverbs 6:6 (July 30)
Day 64 Proverbs 6:7 (July 31)
Day 65 Proverbs 6:8 (August 1)
Day 66 Proverbs 6:9 (August 2)
Day 67 Proverbs 6:10 (August 3)
Day 68 Proverbs 6:11 (August 4)
Day 69 Proverbs 4:24 (August 5)

"Wisdom" Verses
Day 70 Proverbs 1:7 (August 6)
Day 71 Proverbs 3:5 (August 7)
Day 72 Proverbs 3:6 (August 8)
Day 73 Proverbs 14:12 (August 9)
Day 74 Isaiah 55:8 (August 10)
Day 75 Isaiah 55:9 (August 11)

"Love" Verses
Day 76 1 Corinthians 13:1 (August 12)
Day 77 1 Corinthians 13:2 (August 13)
Day 78 1 Corinthians 13:3 (August 14)
Day 79 1 Corinthians 13:4 (August 15)
Day 80 1 Corinthians 13:5 (August 16)
Day 81 1 Corinthians 13:6 (August 17)
Day 82 1 Corinthians 13:7 (August 18)
Day 83 1 Corinthians 13:8 (August 19)

"Abominations to the Lord" Verses
Day 84 Proverbs 6:16 (August 20)
Day 85 Proverbs 6:17 (August 21)
Day 86 Proverbs 6:18 (August 22)
Day 87 Proverbs 6:19 (August 23)
Day 88 Proverbs 6:20 (August 24)
Day 89 Proverbs 6:21 (August 25)
Day 90 Proverbs 6:22 (August 26)
Day 91 Proverbs 6:23 (August 27)

"Hope" Verses
Day 92 1 Peter 3:14 (August 28)
Day 93 1 Peter 3:15 (August 29)
Day 94 1 Peter 3:16 (August 30)
Day 95 Romans 5:3 (August 31)
Day 96 Romans 5:4 (September 1)
Day 97 Romans 5:5 (September 2)
Day 98 Romans 5:6 (September 3)
Day 99 Hebrews 10:23 (September 4)
DAY 100 Hebrews 11:1 (September 5)

Can I Memorize All 100 Verses???

I friend shared a story with me that I thought might be an encouragement to us all!

Gay Atnip shares:
"The comments being made about faulty memories made me think of this story. It's too long to post, but I wanted to share it with you in case you hadn't heard it:

'The story is told of young boy who lived in a house on a hill. Behind the house, at the bottom of the hill was a small creek. The boy’s father often instructed his son to memorize portions of the Bible. Unfortunately, the boy had a learning disability that made it very difficult for him to retain information.

One day the boy cried out in frustration, “Dad, it’s no use! I can’t remember these verses. I have tried but it just doesn’t work."

The man took his son out to the back porch of their house. He pointed to a bucket that was bent, dirty and even had a couple of holes in it. “Son,” he said, “Would you please take that bucket down to the creek, fill it with water and bring it back to me?”

The boy realized that the bucket had holes in it, but he obeyed his father. By the time he made it back up the hill, all the water had leaked out of the bucket. His father had him do it again, and again. Finally, the boy said, “Dad, it’s no use! This bucket has holes in it and won’t hold water.”

The man replied, “Yes, that’s true. But look how clean it is now.' "

Even if we can’t remember every jot and tittle of God’s Word, it still has a cleansing effect on us. Let us get into the Word, but more importantly, let the Word get into us."

Thank you, Gay!

Memorization Tips from Attendees of 100 Days of Scripture!

I thought I would share the ideas that everyone was sharing with one another about Bible Memory. Hopefully we all will find something here that will help each one of us!
Jon

Jon Warnes: "#1 I am a morning person. So learning when I am at my 'best' mentally has been a good help in the past. Find your best time of the day for you.
#2 Reading the verse several times, then practicing it by writing the verse on paper until it is 'cemented' in my brain."

Nargis Patterson:
"Here is a system I use with my daughter to review Bible facts and am going to try to use it to help me with the 100 verses. Most likely the last section (with the 31 dividers) will need to be adapted, but the system works quite well to review learned materials. Hope this is useful to someone. :o)"
http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/.
Scripture Memory System – Simply Charlotte Mason
simplycharlottemason.com
An easy yet effective system to memorize and recall hundreds of Bible verses. Takes about five minutes per day.

Deb Parks: "I am going to do this, too! But I think I will make a notebook of the verses I memorize. For one thing, experts say you will remember something better if you see it, write it, and say it outloud. Also, if I have them recorded, I can easily go back and review them."

Darwin Hunter :"Write it out on a card, and put it where youhave to look at it (in the kitchen or on a mirror) and just refer to it all day."

Laura Warnes: "When the boys were doing Greek as well as learning many Bible memory verses at BVBID, they wrote the verses that they were working at on index cards and then hole punched them on the corner in order to attach them to large rings that clasp shut that you can purchase in the office/supply sections of stores. They are really inexpensive and come in packages with many in them so you can get a number of them at once.
Anyway, this way, you can keep these in your pockets or purses and pull them out all day when you have an extra five minutes. Think about all those extra minutes in your day that you can be meditating on God's Word...standing in line at the grocery store, riding in the car (so long as you are not the driver), during commercials, if you watch TV, while the kids are napping, instead of playing games on FB :) We really do have lots of extra dead minutes during the day. And then we could flip through the old verses as well as the new ones.
Also, one tip I was given that has helped me a lot, is to place the scripture reference at the beginning of the verse. Otherwise, I tend to learn the scripture, but I never remember where it is :)
I have found that when I am out of practice in my memory work, I am really slow and discouraged at first, which is where I will be again. But when I get going, God blesses my efforts and it gets easier and easier, so I encourage everyone to just do their best and God will bless our efforts!!"

100 Days of Scripture (Week #1)

This may be easier to view!

Alright, here is the first batch of verses!
Before giving them to you, remember, the idea is to do your best to memorize them but to not get frustrated. Also, there will be verses with "Combo Days". For example, you will get Romans 1:16-17, this means verse 16 applies to one day and verse 17 applies to the next day. You do not memorize v. 16-17 in one day.

Week #1 will have verses I have titled, "Only God's Word Saves". These verses are;
Day 1: James 1:21;
Days 2-3: Romans 1:16-17;
Days 4-7: Luke 24:44-47.

This will cover May 29th - June 4th (Sunday - Saturday). I will repost these verses throughout the week and post each individual verses on that day to memorize it.
Any questions, just fire away.
Memorizing God's Word AND having fun ARE compatible! :)

The Great Escape (67 Years Later)

Believing he and his fellow prisoners of war were living on borrowed time, Squadron Leader Roger Bushell of the Royal Air Force conceived an idea in the Spring of 1943 to create a mass escape from Stalag Luft 3. Sixty-seven years ago today, March 24, 1944, that Great Escape took place. In one year's time over 600 allied prisoners carefully carried out a detailed plan to dig and develop three major tunnel veins (affectionately called "Tom", "Dick" and "Harry") which lead to one master artery out of the prisoner compound. The plan only allowed for 200 of the prisoners to defect the camp in hopes to find their freedom. And not just any 200 but the first 100 were called "serial offenders", which included men who spoke German well, had previous escape experience and had provided a considerable amount of time digging the tunnel. The second 100 were individuals who were not given much of a chance of success. They were selected by lots and they were men who spoke little or no German, plus they were to travel at night to escape any chance of human interaction.

Unfortunately, there was the need to make the escape on the night of March 24th, earlier than planned. 76 officers made the escape out of Stalag Luft 3 with only 3 reaching the goal of liberty from the stronghold of Hitler's regime. Many of the defectors were murdered. Many of the prisoners that did not have the opportunity to flee lost their lives. Knowing that 600 men diligently put their lives on the line for 3 to reach freedom, was this effort a success? Any business model would tell you that a 1/2% (.5%) return on investment is not even worth lifting a pinky over. But this is not about worldly gain but about the acquiring of freedom from tyranny...the freedom from torment!

Where are we today as a church? Do we look around and see our environment as non-threatening? Our world on earth is a spiritual concentration camp made up of souls under the possession of Satan and his agents which are waiting to devour more individuals who are deprived of the Truth of God (1 Peter 5:8). God, as our 'Squadron Leader' has a perfect Master plan for His children to follow in helping those who are bound by the chains of the devil. We must first know that His requirements are not burdensome (Matt. 11:29-30) but easy and light.

Our rescuing efforts will revolve around three focus groups: Lost souls, souls once rescued but entrapped again, and finally ourselves. Jesus was very clear through His teaching to His disciples in Galilee when He said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:18-19). This Great Commission is THE tool for the Great Escape of prisoners caught up in the snare of the adversary.

Secondly, our focus is directed towards the words from both the Paul and James. Paul's inspired words to the Galatian church family states, "Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:1-2) And James' words to the dispersed Christians, "My brethren, if any among you stray from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his souls from death and will cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)

Finally, Paul through the direction of the Holy Spirit, informs Christians that we can escape temptation. Paul writes, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).

You see, an effort from a 350 member congregation working together on a rescue mission which may initially only produce 1 restoration or 1 saved soul, isn't a failure...it's a success!

Ministry Positions

1.The church of Christ in Pryor, Oklahoma is searching for a minister. Please contact Jeff Lair (elder) for more information.

Pryor Church of Christ
605 S. Coo-Y-Yah
Pryor, OK 74361
918-825-2539 


2.The church of Christ on 6755 San Juaquin St. in Sacramento, California is searching for a pulpit preacher. The congregation has 3 elders and 2 deacons and is located near the eastern edge of downtown Sacramento. For more information please contact Tom York (elder) at (916) 484-1155.


3.Brethren,
The church of Christ at Colleyville, TX is looking for a full time minister and would appreciate any assistance you may be able to give us. We are a congregation of about 80 -100 with no elders. It is preferred that each applicant be a graduate of BVBID or another sound school and have a minimum of five years experience. Send info to Colleyville.cofC@SBCGlobal.net or call 817-281-1681. For more information contact David Hamrick. Thanks for your help.
David Hamrick
817-528-4929