Coming Soon to a Blog Near You: The Return of MMM

In October, I hosted the first-ever Mega Memory Month, which was warmly received by many who jumped in to participate — they shared the intent of committing to memory something longer than they ever before undertook.Each person determined what “mega” meant personally. Some, with more nimble minds offering greater capacity, tackled vast swaths of Scripture; while a few of us nibbled what tidbits we could. Regardless of the actual serving size, I believe we all feasted. We stretched ourselves. We swallowed as much as our systems could handle, and were nourished.Just in time for goal-setting and New Year Resolutions, Mega Memory Month shall return.Prepare yourselves for:

Mega Memory Month: January Edition

In the next few weeks, you might come across a poem, some music, or passages that you’d like to commit to memory. Write down the top picks in a journal or on your blog, so you don’t forget.And then, as part of your New Year’s resolution or just to start the year off right, you can choose from your options and dive right into another month of memorization accountability and encouragement.For a little inspiration, here’s a recent Desiring God devotional from John Piper. Some highlights from his intro:

I have it third hand, that Dr. Howard Hendricks (of Dallas Seminary) once made the statement (and I paraphrase) that if it were his decision, every student graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary would be required to learn one thousand verses word perfect before they graduated.Dallas Willard, professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, wrote, “Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization” (“Spiritual Formation in Christ for the Whole Life and Whole Person” in Vocatio, Vol. 12, no. 2, Spring, 2001, p. 7)….Luther knew so much of the Bible from memory that when the Lord opened his eyes to see the truth of justification in Romans 1:17, he said, “Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory,” in order to confirm what he had found.

I hope you’ll join me in another attempt at memorizing more than we thought possible.Take note of something mega to memorize, and drop in here for Mega Memory Month (MMM): January Edition!