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The Musings of a Stubborn Believer

Category: Operation 300

Here We Go!

February 1, 2013 / / 6 Comments

Promise for the day:
Psalms 81:10 “Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it…”
Don’t take my word for it. Prove Him.

Charge for the day:
You think we know 10,000 people between us? I do.
And every one of them should have the chance to dare with us.
So, tell them. Text them. Facebook them.

Encouragement for the day:
It does get easier. It does.
But you’ve got to be willing for it to be hard first. 🙂

I declare this week coming to be “Pray-for-each-other-on-ScriptureTyper-week.”
Let’s see what God can accomplish.

Click your ST tab above and let’s go.

— [excited beyond belief. :)]

Revolution to Revelation

January 17, 2013 / / 39 Comments

Because every revolution,
every revolution,
goes somewhere.

Ends somewhere…

–  –  –  –  –

We’re going to do this again.

I sat there like some of you did, arms folded, but soft.
And when he said we should, this symphony in me agreed…

I’d only been home a day or two when the same girls who dreamed up the last audacious charge tapped me on the shoulder. That made three.
And that three has already become a little army.

Maybe I’m a big dreamer.

Or maybe, just maybe I dare to believe that this generation is actually willing to be different than the last.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s exactly what it’s going to take to get us Home.

Revelation: Before Men and Angels.

Because every revolution worthy of the name goes somewhere.
And in our case, and in the case of the last 12 men to turn the world upside-down, that revolution existed for this one purpose: that Christ might be revealed to a world in darkness.

Revelation is the goal.
And memorization is the challenge.

Again, count me in.

–  –  –  –  –
But I’m dreaming bigger than just getting all of my friends to join. 
(That is my dream. Already been up and down my street canvassing the neighbors. Ask them.)
I want all my friends to get all their friends to join. 
Because that’s how a revolution spreads. 
And just to be sure nobody can legitimately say “I haven’t got the time,” we’ve got two projects in the pipeline. Starting February 1st:
404 verses, or 1-2 a day.
OR (and? ;))
108 verses, you do the math.

I think you can. And what’s more, 
I believe you will. 

And I believe your friends will too.
Because the only thing better than winning is winning together. 

A Heart for This Word

March 8, 2012 / / 18 Comments

I’ve never had so much fun memorizing.

At dawn’s first light, over sink full of dishes, all breathless on the treadmill…
We’re hooked.
Oh, we’re feeling our limitations too… but there’s no turning back.

But really, it’s not five verses a day we’re hooked on. Or three.
It’s the constant preoccupation with the Word.
Truth be told, we’re all over the place. Some are straining their limits to the breaking point, and are still a bit behind. Likely some of you are too. I’ve just got one word for you:

Whatever you do, don’t stop.

In this quest, there is only one reason for regret:
Losing a golden opportunity to grow.

In the end the most blessed will be the ones who could barely manage 2 verses a day at the start, but who stuck with it anyway. Why, I personally know a girl whose mind became so thirsty for the Word (through relentless memorization) that she could finally nail down a chapter a day.

Try God.

If this were really about counting verses like dollars in the bank, we should never have started.
We need more than minds full of the Word.
Let this be a heart project.

Then we’re all winners.

P.s. I’ve promised the audio of the book of Acts to whoever needed it– Now easier than ever. Right click this link and click “download linked file” or “save link as.” You get the whole thing. 🙂

I Can’t!

March 5, 2012 / / 21 Comments

To the contrary,
yes you can.
I know you can.

Did you expect to get this without trying really hard? (this, for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about.)
We don’t come by anything valuable without effort.

But we’ve learned a thing or two that makes it a bit easier… You probably have too, and I’d love to hear about it. (We’re here to help each other, right?) So here are a few things that help me tremendously. (translation, habits without which it becomes impossible for me to memorize more than a phrase or two.)

1. Don’t panic.
If you’re working on verse 5 or 6, you’re fine! The schedule is a guide. And some people will find it more effective to memorize tortoise style, rather than hare style (no, not hair.) with a bunch of review. 

2. Engage multiple senses
Hear, see, speak out loud. Hear, see, speak out loud. Speak, hear, read. Hear your own speaking, while reading. Hear someone else reading, while speaking. The more different ways, the more neuropathways. The more pathways, the better.

3. Engage multiple systems
Think, speak, move! Muscle memory is sometimes easier to come by than abstract memory. I attach hand motions to abstract concepts to make them concrete. Then the gesture can actually remind you of the word… So, for words like “former…before…after…many days hence” I picture time as moving from left to right, and gesture accordingly. Other words like “seen…speaking,” “spoken…beheld…looked,” “taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.” are even easier. Invent your own sign language. 🙂 Just move your hands.
Lists, same thing. Jerusalem is always on my left, Judea next, (all Judea– gesture the “all” too) Samaria off to the right a bit, and the uttermost part of the earth is… far flung. 🙂
Oh, and one more thing: Don’t sit down. Seriously.

3. I repeat: Listen.
Can’t stress this enough. The Bible we listen to is free. So free, in fact, if any of you have not already procured it, I will email the first 3 chapters to you right this minute. Seriously. [then the next three, then the next three] Please(!!!) drop me an email… [seannebblett[at]gmail.com]
Even if you’re not an auditory learner, I promise you everything you hear (and everything you will ever hear) is stored in your brain forever. If you’ve listened to a chapter 20 times before it’s time to memorize it, you’ll find most of it recognizable. (Translation, start listening to Acts 2 a couple times a day. by the time you get there you’ll be glad you did.)

As a bonus, the mind is particularly adept at capturing conversations through the ear… And Acts is full of conversations. Have you noticed it’s easier to remember what the characters are actually saying that what is said about them?

4. Memorize out loud. (This is why it’s handy to have more than one person doing it in your house. :))

Ok. What have I missed?

p.s. If any of you are still having trouble with the calendar, revisit the original post and use the links I added specifically for Google Calendar.

Triumph on Day 1

March 4, 2012 / / 3 Comments

Did you catch what I caught?

Thirteen words into the book of Acts, and I’m already seized by the tenor of triumph. 
That one word, “began.” 
The whole (previous) Gospel full… 
Luke says it was just the beginning.
Just the start.
That’s really, really good news.

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour…” 2 Cor 2:14, 15a

It’s not too late to join us! 🙂 Check out the previous post for all the details. This is day 1.
Day 300, here we come!

Acts: The Revolution… Starts on Sunday.

March 2, 2012 / / 79 Comments

Winter blurs into spring; projects blur into each other. And blogs sometimes fall silent while we trace the trail assigned us. (Texas and Minnesota being the destinations in the last 7 days.)

But always there are those moments in between…when we remember what’s really important.
Seattle skyline as seen from the hotel that will be hosting GYC.
Into the midst of our overflowing life, Tasha brought back from the most recent trip an idea destined to radically change our summer… Exactly how it was born, I know not. But a friend (and fellow GYC ECOM member) from Canada had something to do with it, and now the 5 of us are getting geared up for a challenge. 🙂
In the simplest terms,
The book of Acts:
28 chapters
1,007 verses
24,308 words
in 300 days.
And not just because GYC 2012 is going to be all about the book of Acts.
Because we want to enter in to the life of Acts.
Since after all, the book is still being written.
So here’s the big question: 
You want to join us?
Yes, you.
Consider it an investment in your mind. An investment in your spiritual life…
Three verses a day isn’t really that many, but only the absolutely determined will actually pull it off. And it will take more than 10 minutes a day. But what if it changed your life forever?
You don’t think you can. 
I know you can. You should. And we’d love to cheer you on. (and hear you cheer for us!) 🙂
So here’s the plan: 
1: Subscribe to our memorization and review schedules with any calendar application (iCal, iPhone/pad/pod, Android, Google Calendar, Outlook, etc) using the subscription links below.
OR:
Download and import these two .ics files (calendar will be static however, and won’t update if we change or adjust anything) (click the link, and on the page right click file and select “download”)
2: Just a suggestion… Get yourself an audio bible so you can listen at least an hour a day… to the chapter you’re working on, plus ahead and behind.
3: Let us know you’re with us!
GYC, here we come. 🙂
p.s. If you can’t keep up the pace, or if you’re reading this post late and we’ve already started, no worries! Take it at your own pace, or jump in in the middle… So what if you only have half the book memorized by December! You’ll never be sorry. 
p.p.s. Hint #1:
You’ll notice the memorization assignments fluctuate between 2 verses and 5. Three verses a day is the average. The daily dose is split by logical thought breaks, not by number of verses. But no worries, until the second half of Acts, 30% of the days have no new memorization assignments at all. They are just for just review. So if you can’t seem to grasp 5 new verses in a day, do three. There are review days coming. Just check the schedule to make sure you’re roughly on track. 🙂
Hint #2:
If you’re jumping in in the middle, or you get way behind, skip a chapter and get back on schedule. (or ahead) Nobody said you couldn’t come back to something. Your morale will stay higher if you don’t feel like you’re always trying to catch up. 🙂
______________________________________________
Subscribe to our memorization schedule here: (iCal)
webcal://p08-calendarws.icloud.com/ca/subscribe/1/cS21hHbOrOSRPcrfC_vHp4S3zfxv2eraV8XHi_Y611coj2Kk-d1VkgfOuDCZFzE5HgkyjHBVp7wNB7fCfTP1ZbgAOpQkPQmRIol2o1zJvn4
And to the review schedule here: (iCal) (Yes, you will want both.)
webcal://p08-calendarws.icloud.com/ca/subscribe/1/m5O5AqFpbyrgRnIlMho_YblamjH87rWrjeij1jiE0NOsWjypR4DHbBUntICR19xWSBiqT4hCdE8_CK-FKCq7E_dDTDu-MmoNWGAyNKO9ATY
Or subscribe with Google Calendar:
Memorization: https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/8ko4ui9l5gjl6l825bencd20q0%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Review: https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/h0cet12jp99d2kufm7n97s615c%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Or check out the Acts: Memorization tab on either thenebblettfamily.com or seannebblett.com

Go get yourself an audio bible from a place like this.
Or, listen to it streamed on demand, here.
Or, download an audiobible app for your iDevice here.
Or your Android. here.

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