For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on a new apologetic to answer those who say there are contradictions in the Bible. Jeremiah 34 sparked the idea. I hope you find it helpful and may God give us many opportunities to use it:

Evangelist: “The Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead on the third day, so that whoever repents of their sin and believes in Him will not receive the due punishment for their sins, which is hell, but will receive the gift of eternal life.”

Skeptic: “But we can’t know anything about what Jesus really taught, because all we have is ancient writings that have likely been changed over the years, just like when kids play the telephone game and the final message is way different from the original.”

Evangelist: “When something is written down, it is precisely the opposite of the telephone game.”

Skeptic: “OK, but you are telling me what an English book from the 1600s says.”

Evangelist: “The King James Bible is a great translation, and all the English translations agree on these things. More importantly, the original Greek manuscripts, of which we still have more than 5,000, agree completely.”

Skeptic: “The Bible books don’t even agree with themselves. There are contradictions in the Bible.”

Evangelist: “There are only apparent contradictions that upon closer examination are not contradictions at all. For example, a King of Judah said that two of God’s prophets contradicted each other*. Ezekiel said that King Zedekiah would not see Babylon; Jeremiah said that King Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon as a captive and would see the king of Babylon, face to face and eye to eye. The skeptical King Zedekiah scoffed at the two prophets, claiming that the two contradicted each other. Would you like to know what ended up happening?”

Skeptic: “What happened?”

Evangelist: “The soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon captured King Zedekiah and took him to Riblah. Nebuchadnezzar also captured the sons of Zedekiah. He forced Zedekiah to watch as he killed his sons right in front of his eyes. Then, so that the death of his sons would be the last thing he would see, he gouged out the eyes of the king of Judah. Obviously, there was no love lost between these two kings. Judah’s king was led captive to Babylon as a blind man.”

Skeptic: “That’s horrible. What’s the point?”

Evangelist: “The point is that the words of the two prophets (Jeremiah and Ezekiel) came true exactly. Like Jeremiah said, the king of Judah saw Nebuchadnezzar face to face and eye to eye. He was, in fact, taken to Babylon. And like Ezekiel said, the king did NOT see Babylon. He didn’t see it, because he was blind!”

Skeptic: “So you’re saying that there are no contradictions in the Bible. Anything that at first glance looks like a contradiction will prove upon closer look to be no contradiction at all.”

Evangelist: “That’s exactly what I’m saying. And I’m saying something more than that too. I’m saying that relying on a half-baked presumption that there are contradictions in the Bible cost a king everything, including his sons and his eyes. It’s a brazen thing to say that God, who breathed out the Bible, contradicted Himself. Can you tell me even one example of a contradiction in the Bible?”

Skeptic: “Well, I’m not a Bible scholar. I don’t study this stuff all day. But I heard that there are differences between the gospel writers about how many angels there were at the tomb and I heard that there are two competing creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2.”

Evangelist: “If Matthew describes an angel outside the tomb, sitting on the giant stone after rolling it back, and Mark describes a young man in white sitting inside the tomb, this does not violate the Law of Non-Contradiction at all. A contradiction is saying A and not A regarding the same thing at the same time and in the same sense. The case of the angels at the tomb does not meet the definition of a contradiction. One angel is described as a young man in white. The description of “a young man” does not preclude him actually being an angel. In fact, angels often appear to men as men throughout the Bible. That’s not unusual or unexpected. And the presence of one angel that rolled away the stone and another angel who delivered the message to those who looked inside the tomb is not at all contradictory. It is simply describing two angels that fulfilled two different tasks.”

Skeptic: “I get that, but what about there being two creation accounts.

Evangelist: “Do you realize that the book of Genesis is one of the most influential books in the history of the world? Nothing you or I write will likely be read by anybody thousands of years from now, but you and I are sitting here talking about a book that has endured for thousands of years. How then could the author be a moron? How could he write one account and then immediately contradict himself with another?”

Skeptic: “Maybe Genesis is a compilation of two competing myths.”

Evangelist: “Even under that theory, you have the compilers of a literary masterpiece being unable to see what you in your brilliance are able to see without hardly reading it. Isn’t it much more likely that the author of one of the greatest books ever written knew exactly what he was doing? This is, again, that arrogance that I warned about in the story of Zedekiah. Why not rather read the book with an open mind, at least as open as you would be to any ordinary book? I promise you, it is very easy to read Genesis 2 as a simple zeroing in on the specifics of what Genesis 1 revealed in broad strokes.”

Skeptic: “Well, you’ve given me something to think about. I guess I was just assuming that there are contradictions.”

Evangelist: “Can I pray with you that God would soften your heart to believe His Word?”

Skeptic: “You can pray, but right now I’ve got to get to class.”

Evangelist: “Here’s a tract to take with you. It summarizes the most important ideas of the Bible. And we’ll try to be out here again, so look out for us. Or please come visit Cornerstone Church in Mt. Laurel, so we can keep talking. This is the most important conversation anyone could have. You can trust the Bible.

Skeptic: “Maybe so. See ya.”

Evangelist: “See ya.”

*Josephus, Antiquities, Book 10, Chapter 7, Section 2: “Now as to Zedekiah himself; while he heard the Prophet speak, he believed him; and agreed to every thing as true; and supposed it was for his advantage. But then his friends perverted him, and dissuaded him from what the Prophet advised; and obliged him to do what they pleased. Ezekiel also foretold in Babylon what calamities were coming upon the people: which when he heard he sent accounts of them unto Jerusalem. But Zedekiah did not believe their prophecies, for the reason following. It happened that the two Prophets agreed with one another in what they said as to all other things; that the city should be taken, and Zedekiah himself should be taken captive. But Ezekiel disagreed with him, and said, that “Zedekiah should not see Babylon:” while Jeremiah said to him, that “the King of Babylon should carry him away thither in bonds.” And because they did not both say the same thing as to this circumstance, he disbelieved what they both appeared to agree in; and condemned them as not speaking truth therein: although all the things foretold him did come to pass according to their prophecies: as we shall shew upon a fitter opportunity.”

Carlos made the above graphic from Sunday’s sermon. I appreciate it very much. He has given us a very useful tool. Please grab it, screenshot it, print it, or whatever you can do and put it in a place where you can refer back to it.

Developing holy habits in the six areas represented by D-A-N-I-E-L will set you free from many bad anxieties and will yield so much good fruit in your life that you’ll hardly be able to believe it. Hebrews 11:6 says that God “rewards those who seek Him.” So, set aside a certain period of time for a D-A-N-I-E-L fast, perhaps 10 days, 30 days, or 100 days, whatever you think you can do and whatever it will take for you to form better habits of holiness.

D is for diet. Read Daniel 1 and commit to eliminating a few unhealthy food or drink choices from your life.

A is for A-C-T-S prayer. Commit to running through these progressions (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication) every day before you fall asleep. Maybe you do so each night when you lay your head on your pillow.

N is for No sin. Think about any habits you have that do not please God. Don’t try to change everything bad about yourself at once. Instead, pick one thing and set your face like flint to eliminate that habit entirely from your life for the duration of the D-A-N-I-E-L fast.

I is for Immerse. Read at least one passage of Scripture per day. Don’t just check the box; sit there with it. Immerse yourself in it. Soak it in. Really think about what it means and pray about how God wants you to apply it.

E is for Exercise. Nike is right about this one: Just do it. Allow yourself no excuse. The days of the D-A-N-I-E-L fast are not too long. Simply commit to exercising 6 days a week (or perhaps make a less ambitious decision, 3-5 days a week). Just don’t give yourself any excuse for not doing what you’ve set your mind to do.

L is for Love. Intentionally say something kind to someone in your life that needs some love. Do this every day. Watch the dynamic between you and this person change over the course of time.

If you do a 100-day D-A-N-I-E-L fast, you can rest assured that you will notice that your life has improved in noticeable ways. That’s not to say everything will be sunshine and roses. Circumstances external to your own walk with God will still ebb and flow, but the D-A-N-I-E-L fast is sure to give you a closer walk with God. You’ll see problems resolve. You’ll feel more joy in the Lord and have less of the bad anxieties.

Developing these holy habits is not a matter of theoretical agreement with each of the points. Rather, you have to see not only the finish line but the steps it will take to get there. So, take fifteen minutes right now to put reminders in your phone. If you use a calendar app, actually schedule the what and when of the plan. It’s up to you to make an attainable plan. You can do it.

People all around us are anxious about many things. But few people are “anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:34). Decide right now to be more anxious about developing these habits of holiness.

Dearly Beloved,

The church should be the most peaceful place on earth; it’s where the Prince of Peace is supposed to have His way. But disturbers of the peace are sure to come. Like a teenager who throws a house party when his parents are away and the cops get called because the music is too loud and someone just jumped off the roof into the pool, a “disturber of the peace” can break the peace that ordinarily exists and make the most peaceful place on earth look more like a frat house. Our Prince of Peace gave us a special chapter to prevent such shenanigans from happening.

Matthew 18 is the only chapter in all four Gospels wherein the local “church” is mentioned by name. Just 53 verses prior to Matthew 18:17, where the local church is mentioned twice, Jesus uses the word “church” in reference to the universal church (Matthew 16:18). These three references are the only ones we have. Matthew 18:17 is the only verse in the Gospels that directly addresses the local “church” by name. There must be something special about Matthew 18:17 and its surrounding context. I would contend that the Prince of Peace put Matthew 18 where it is, being intentionally anachronistic (ahead of its time), to give it a prominent place. Jesus speaks about the local church before it was built, so that we would hold the keys to peace before we even need them, and we would always have them.

Here are the 4 keys to peace in the local church that Christ gave us:

1. Humility. The first key to peace in any local church is humility. Matthew 18 begins with the disciples wanting to be regarded as the greatest. Pride is the root sin in the heart of every disturber of the peace. Ambition takes over and the disturber tries to elevate their own position or influence. Jesus answered this problem by calling for a little child to be set upon His knee; He told the disciples to become like the child. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).
2. Love. The second key to peace in any local church is love. The child in Matthew 18:2-14 is analogous not only to the children of the church but to all disciples regardless of their age. Christ concludes the passage with an illustration: A man with a hundred sheep notices that one is missing, so he moves heaven and earth to find that sheep and bring it back into the fold. The peace of the church is disturbed when people are regarded as numbers and no one cares when one here or another one there wanders off. Truly caring about people preserves the peace.
3. Honor. The third key to peace in any local church is honor. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). Preserving the honor and dignity of someone who may or may not deserve that preservation is distinctly Christian. By speaking in private, “between you and him alone,” the reputations of both parties are protected. The peace of the church is disturbed when Christians start talking to each other about issues they have with another, rather than going to the person, “between you and him alone.” Jesus does provide further steps for resolution if the first step fails, but going one-on-one to the person with whom there is a grievance, and absolutely refusing to gossip about that person in any way, will preserve relationships and peace in the church.
4. Forgiveness. The final key to peace in the local church that Jesus gives us in Matthew 18 is forgiveness. Christians have to be expert forgivers. Jesus says the level of forgiveness He expects could exceed seven times per person to perhaps seventy-seven times! The implication is that it could be more. The reason for such a radically forgiving heart is the amount of sin that each of us have been forgiven by God. The parable of the debtor whom the King forgave but who turned around and refused forgiveness to someone else—who owed a lesser debt—concludes Matthew 18. This lack of forgiveness angered the righteous King who had modeled the way of forgiveness. Think about how much our King has forgiven us! When we are all quick to forgive, peace in the Church is as natural as a river’s constant flow.

I thank God that Cornerstone has been experiencing peace like a river for a long time now. It is because the Lord is keeping us humble, loving, honoring of one another, and forgiving.

If anyone holds a grievance with me or with any brother or sister in Christ, then go to that person, “between you and him alone.” For my part, I have no grievance to bring. If I felt wronged by anyone in the past, I want them to know: I forgive you.

I’ve been working my way through Matthew, and yesterday I came to chapter 18. It occurred to me that the keys to lasting peace in any local church are all right there in that prophetic chapter. It is prophetic because Jesus speaks ahead of time about the “church,” which was yet to be born. Today, on this side of Pentecost, we are gathered in local churches, and we have the keys to peace: humility, love, honor, and forgiveness. Let’s each take inventory of ourselves to make sure that we are practicing these four things, lest any of us become a disturber of the peace.

Satan is the chief disturber of the peace. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (Romans 16:20).

With Love in Christ,

Pastor Jeff

If we’re not paying attention, a glorious Spring season can come and go without reviving our souls or making us glad. After the cold of winter, one would think that Spring would bring a deep sense of gratitude and great joy alongside the greening of the grass and the blossoming of flowers. Unfortunately, some people hardly notice the glory of Spring. In the same way, a season of growth like what we are experiencing here at Cornerstone ought to make us glad; I hope none of us miss it.

I’m thinking primarily of the growth of our kids. I’ve been seeing the remarkable growth for years. I catch a glimpse whenever I pop my head into their classroom on Sunday mornings, just before the Sunday service starts, to greet the kids. And I’ve heard reports from the Sunday School teachers. 

But this Spring, I saw it for myself. I had the opportunity to teach them myself. Erin Hernick and Ayesha Dickerson were tremendous helpers that I couldn’t have done without. We spent three months together with about 15 of the kids on Tuesday evenings, getting to know them, and teaching them a Bible verse for every letter of the alphabet.

I am overjoyed by what I saw in our kids. They all did a great job memorizing all or most of the 26 Bible verses (A-Z) we covered. But more than rote memory, they also talked through the meaning of the verses and how they are applying the Bible verses to their lives. Watching them grow over the course of the three months was like noticing the Spring.

In addition to the Bible Memory Club that we had the privilege of teaching in the Spring, there are dozens of other Cornerstone kids who are growing right before our eyes here at our church. There is an expression about kids “growing like weeds,” but the kids of Cornerstone have been growing like beautiful flowers and strong trees. The girls and boys of Cornerstone are thriving. As a parent, that my own kids are thriving is all I need to make me insanely happy. In the same way, the thriving of the Cornerstone kids ought to make every spiritual mother and spiritual father (for that is what we are) full of the joy of the Lord.

It’s not just the little ones who are thriving either. Our Cornerstone teens and young adults are also getting rooted like trees (Colossians 2:8) and growing up right before our eyes (Psalm 1). I get to rub elbows with some of them on the basketball court. Others I see in groups that meet at the church or in houses. Still others we see as they go off to places like Costa Rica, Montenegro, and Birmingham, England on mission trips. I’ve even seen one of our college students on a Christian podcast. I see another meeting with some of his friends from High School to read the Bible with them. Another will be teaching a session at this year’s Men’s Retreat! Still others are preparing for ministry at Seminaries and Bible Colleges! Everywhere I look, I see Cornerstone teens and young adults growing strong in the Lord. 

Church, let’s rejoice in a season like this. Notice the weddings, the babies being born, the baptisms by the dozens, and the remarkable growth of our young people.

While we’re noticing, take a look at what God is doing in all facets of life at Cornerstone. The Women’s ministry has new fellowships, while the parking lot remains full on Tuesday mornings. Then you’ve got those Security Team guys; they’ve made this place safer than Fort Knox (they’re protecting more precious treasures!). The TDHP podcast has clips going viral and making a big difference in the world, especially in defense of Jews (Romans 11). The Truth Fellowship is now mentoring 5 young pastors. Cornerstone hosted a banquet for Handi-Evangelism to serve the needy. We largely funded the building of yet another orphanage in Malawi. ConnectCare has been serving needs right here in our own congregation. Marriage Matters just helped another group of couples. A new study on The Shared Life just helped a bunch of believers to abide in Christ. Behind the scenes, our Benevolence fund has helped our own through great difficulties. And I could go on and on for several more paragraphs just like this one. It’s remarkable.

Suffice it to say that Cornerstone is experiencing an incredible Spring. Rejoice in the Lord always! A dozen of our kids could quote you that verse, so I’ll say it again, rejoice! When God does great things for us (Psalm 126:3a), the appropriate response is to be filled with joy (Psalm 126:3b). If we’re not, then we’re like grumpy bears emerging from the winter but failing to see the beauty of all the growth of the Spring. We hole up in cave when we ought to be frolicking in the warmth of Spring. Don’t be a grumpy bear; rejoice in the season we are in.

Before the coming of the dark days of the Tribulation, the Church is destined to enjoy this season of growth. The mustard seed grows to become the largest garden plant (Matthew 13:31-32). And one wouldn’t expect a stone to grow, but the Kingdom of God is also like a stone that expands and becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth (Daniel 2:34-35). How could anyone miss that? Yet somehow we sometimes fail to see the glory of what we are living. Christ our Cornerstone is building His Church right before our eyes. Somehow we miss the growth of the Kingdom right before us like someone might miss the delights of the coming of Spring. 

When we come to church this Sunday, let’s not miss the faces. Philip the Evangelist, now also known as Philip the Preacher, made the incredibly insightful point in his sermon that people don’t have names in hell. The “rich man,” over against the man named Lazarus, doesn’t need a name, because in hell there is no fellowship. There is no recognizing faces. There is isolation. But when we come to Church this Sunday, let’s look at the glory of God in the faces of our brothers and sisters in Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

C.S. Lewis, in his book Til We All Have Faces, taught us to not be hypocritical, to take off disguises, and to see each other. We ought to notice the glory of God in every Christian we see. 

In the year I was born, Lanny Wolfe wrote “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. I can feel His mighty power and His grace. I can hear the brush of angels’ wings. I see glory on each face. Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.” I grew up seeing glory in the church (Ephesians 3:21). I’m seeing it now more than ever.

Let’s together give glory to God for the great things He has done and is doing at Cornerstone Church. Come and contribute your joy.

With Joy in Christ,

Pastor Jeff

Imagine eating the same exact meal, every meal of every day, for forty unrelenting years. What if this meal wasn’t your go-to plate from your favorite restaurant, but it was a pile of bread-like flakes that looked like coriander seeds and tasted like “cakes baked with oil” (Numbers 11:8)? If that was your portion for forty straight years, it would be a tough pill to swallow! But in the case of the Israelites, that indeed was their daily bread.

But which came first, the chicken or the egg? In the case of the Israelites, they were the ones that laid the rotten egg that caused their forty-year wandering in the first place. With the forty-year suspension came the monotonous diet. They could have enjoyed a gloriously short passage from captivity in Egypt to a land flowing with milk and honey. But they themselves created the forty-year ordeal. They set their own table.

How did they do it? How did they get stuck in the wilderness and stuck with the same bland meal for forty years? The problem that led to God’s discipline was that the people of Israel would bellyache about everything. Even the manna in the wilderness, which was originally received as a delightful provision, quickly turned into another thing for them to complain about. It turns out that forty years of manna was just what the Doctor ordered to cure them of this horrible disease in the camp. Israel did not suffer from a physical malady; they had a disease of the soul. It was their besetting sin—complaining.

Complaining is draining. It empties the love tanks of those who have to hear its constant dripping. Moses wanted to die after so many years hearing Israel’s constant complaining. “Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness” (Numbers 11:12-15). God didn’t kill Moses; He sent him seventy faithful men to help him carry the weight of the complaining nation.

But do you know what’s worse than the draining effect that complaining has upon others? It is the scorn with which it addresses God; complaining dishonors the God who is always providing everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). See how offensive it is to God when His people complain:

“And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them” (Numbers 11:1-3). “Taberah” means burning. Complaining is a constant drip against the glory of God that makes God’s anger burn.

So, God raised the young ones to know nothing but manna, and when their hearts learned to be thankful, He gave them better food in the Promised Land. But those who never learned to stop complaining, this entire generation of ungrateful Israelites, God would silence their complaining by making them fall one by one in the desert, until the nation was purged of this disease of complaining.

Lest we think that God no longer deals harshly with the particularly odious sin of complaining, read Hebrews chapters 3 and 4. God makes the point that nothing has changed with Him. In fact, the generation who fell in the wilderness is put before us as an example of what not to do, lest we suffer a similar fate. The warning is that complaining is a wandering step toward apostasy. Complaining is the opposite of gratitude; as soon as a soul stops praising and thanking God, there is a real danger of falling away altogether. God warns us not to be like the Israelites who fell in the desert.

So, if you perceive a complaining spirit in yourself, nip it in the bud. Kill it before it kills you, before it makes the people around you want to die. Moses himself failed to enter the promised land because of a creeping sense of entitlement and victimhood that finally resulting in him striking the Rock. That Rock was Christ, prophetically speaking (1 Corinthians 10:4), the very Rock that that gave him his manna and water. The constant dripping he heard from the people had made Moses himself a little bit leaky. Did you notice that Moses himself was complaining a little when he said he wanted to die because of all the complaining he had been hearing?

Complaining is sin. Just because it’s common doesn’t make it acceptable. Miriam complained and got hit with leprosy (Numbers 12). Aaron complained and suffered shame, not to mention the fear of seeing his sister afflicted with what would have been a preventable disease, had Aaron not joined in the complaint against Moses but counseled her to stop complaining.

It’s easy to complain, but it should be easier to maintain a heart of gratitude. After all, think about all that we have to be thankful for. Every day we are “better than we deserve,” as Dave Ramsey likes to say. We deserve eternal “Taberah” for our previous complaining, but here we are, alive. And not only alive, we are blessed beyond measure. God gives the sun to light and warm the earth. God gives clouds to water the earth and mute the overwhelming force of the sun, lest we be burnt. It’s only by grace all the time that we are not burned.

And God gave us better Manna from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. “‘For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst’” (John 6:33-35). How can we who have the Lord Jesus Christ ever complain?

How can we who have the abundance of food that we have in this country ever complain? The Israelites complained because they didn’t have “the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5). We complain because we have to eat our vegetables! Brothers and sisters, this ought not be.

When Jesus broke bread, He gave thanks. So, let gratitude be the defining characteristic of your life. If you are not sure that it is, just ask a few people around you, “do I complain a lot?” Others can see us better than we see ourselves. Hopefully they will answer that question honestly. If it turns out that complaining is a problem in your life, then make a practice of listing the things you are thankful for. Let those lists of thanksgiving be the carrots that attract you toward gratitude. And you also need a stick. Read Hebrews 3-4 every day until you stop complaining. Let God’s Word tell you how God feels about your complaining. Don’t let forty years of spiritual wandering go by. Let the Word of God be the tough pill that when swallowed delivers you from your complaining.

Jeremiah battled depression. He sat alone and wrestled with his thoughts. But in Jeremiah 15 we learn where he found his victory. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16). Eat the manna of God’s Word every day and find deliverance from complaining.

For The Joy of the Lord is Our Strength,

Pastor Jeff

The older we get, the harder it is to remember things. The processing power of the brain peaks in our late teens. The ability to remember names and faces peaks in our late twenties. Our “working memory” peaks in our thirties. Because of the fall of man, death entered the world, so the processing power of our brains begins to diminish as soon as we reach adulthood. With healthy aging, the hippocampus shrinks by about 13% from age 30 to 80. Chemicals in the brain, like dopamine, also reduce gradually over the years. The connection between cells (synapses) diminish over time. Let’s not forget to say thank you to Adam and Eve for all of this when we see them in heaven.

But the diminishment of our brain power does not mean that our intelligencediminishes as we age. Although the raw power of the processor may decline over the years, the data we download into the brain can continue to increase until the day we die. While the speed and working memory of the brain declines, our knowledge can actually keep increasing. Vocabulary, emotional intelligence, and other “software” we upload into the brain can keep improving until very late in life.

It appears to me that Donald Trump, for example, is a much better thinker as he nears age 80 than he was in his 50s or 60s. He has always been “big brained,” but he makes better decisions now. His thinking has even improved markedly in the last six years. The 2026 version of Trump’s brain is much better than the 2020 version. It appears he has learned a lot, even gaining the ability to course correct (a little bit).

By contrast, Biden’s cognitive decline while in office was legendary. The attempted coverup of his brain problem was one of the worst scandals in American history. What made his choices so disastrous for the country was actually not even the decline of the processor, which reached ridiculous levels for any sitting President. But it was the fact that he uploaded corrupt software into his brain for all the years of his public life. That was the real scandal. He imbibed the Democratic Party Platform (abortion, LGBTQIA, feminism, democratic socialism, big government control, etc.) for a lifetime, so when his processor stopped functioning properly and he was flying on autopilot, the autopen spit out the party line. The danger Biden posed to the country was actually a life-long software problem, not an end-of-life hardware problem.

What we put into our brains is what we become. What we put in is eventually what we put out into the world. If a guy listens to everything Joe Rogan has to say, then he’ll become a little funnier for it and he’ll probably develop some common sense, but he’ll also have the spiritual wherewithal of a fifth-grader in a CCD class. If a woman watches The View everyday, then she’ll develop a strong antipathy for masculinity, capitalism, and biblical Christianity. But if men and women listen to voices like Rod D. Martin and Wes Huff in the public square, they listen to their pastors in the pulpits, and they listen to the people God has placed in their lives—men being sharpened like iron by other godly men (Proverbs 27:17, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14) and women being counseled by other godly women (Proverbs 31:26, Titus 2:3-5), then the fruit of our lives will be good. You are what you eat.

Now, remind me why I decided to write about all this. Oh yeah, I remember. Church, we’ve got to get back to studying and memorizing the Bible. We need to keep memorizing Scripture until the day we die!

I have been amazed to watch the sheer brain power of our kids as they learn the A-Z Bible verses. Remember when our brains worked like that? But let’s say your brain’s processor has diminished 13%, or maybe 30%. So what? God has designed our brains to be capable of life-long learning. Of course, diseases like Alzheimer’s, which are a result of the fall of man, can disrupt our learning, but healthy brains keep adding knowledge. God designed the human brain to never run out of storage capacity. So, even if it takes us a little longer to cut new pathways in the brain, why should that keep us from doing so at all?

And here’s the kicker: Memory work actually slows the shrinkage of the brain! Some adults take to puzzles and gameshows to keep their brains sharp. That’s good. But how much better to use God’s Word, sharper than any two-edged sword, to keep the brain sharp?

Our kids are adding 26 verses to the unlimited storage of their brain’s capacity. We can’t beat them in the speed with which they will be able to do it, but why not join them? Print this email and start plodding. Your spirit will be better for it, and even your brain itself will retain more of its functionality for putting it to work. Make Bible memory a life-long habit, not a memory, fading into the past.

The memory work actually becomes fun as you get into it. Moreover, it becomes useful in a variety of ways. For example, when I get to the painful part of a run, my mind will naturally default to calculating how much distance and time I have left to go. That only makes me think about the pain. But if I control my mind to start quoting some verses, I get distracted from the pain and before I know it, there’s the finish line. Scripture memory can keep us healthy—mind, body, and soul.

Let’s get it:

A—All Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16)

B—Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31)

C—Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right (Ephesians 6:1)

D—Do everything without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14)

E—Every word of God proves true (Proverbs 30:5)

F—For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

G—Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)

H—He alone is my rock and salvation (Psalm 62:2)

I—I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)

J—Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)

K—Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies (Psalm 34:13)

L—Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30)

M—Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4)

N—No man can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24)

O—O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you (Psalm 63:1)

P—Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Q—Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19)

R—Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again, rejoice (Philippians 4:4)

S—Seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33)

T—Trust in the Lord with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5)

U—Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain (Psalm 127:1)

V—I am the vine; you are the branches (John 15:5)

W—Walk as children of Light (Ephesians 5:8)

X—Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior (2 Samuel 22:47)

Y—You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)

Z—Do not be lacking in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord (Romans 12:11)

Memorize the Bible. “Sin will keep you from this Book, or this book will keep you from sin.” I can’t remember where I heard that, but I know I heard that somewhere.

With Joy in Christ,

Pastor Jeff