…and…wait…Daniel can fly helicopters?Flights and evangelism!Before we get into what oral transmission is, I wanted to share an incredible opportunity we had visiting some friends at Ethnos360 Aviation! No, Daniel didn’t fly the helicopter, but we were able to catch up with some close friends who were visiting that I know from my former college, Ethnos360, at their aviation base in Arizona! And…we got a helicopter ride, along with SUPER encouraging fellowship and the excitement of seeing where missionary pilots are trained for Papua New Guinea, and many other countries! We also wanted to share about a great opportunity we had to share the Gospel at a local festival! One highlight is that we saw a booth on the country of Guam that had a Bible on it! When I asked about it, the lady running the booth had no idea what to say, because most of the people were busy reading folklore posters that they were handing out. Sometimes the unsaved have the answer right in front of them, but they continue to walk in darkness. It’s so sad! Though Daniel had to miss out on a lot of the fun because of studying, it was fun to tell him about how everything went, because it was a great time! I was so proud of Taliah for passing Gospel tracts through the massive crowds, especially after we were out late the night before sharing the Gospel near that same location! It’s always incredible to be able to walk through the Bible with someone through explaining personal sin (such as lying, stealing, etc.) and then the amazing news of the Gospel - the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh! The Gospel is truly the only reason all cultures have the hope of eternal salvation! Missions - us currentlyPapua New Guinea is where the need is, so that’s where we desire to go! As a small country just above Australia (where Daniel is from), Papua New Guinea has much need for the Gospel, to the point where they are begging for people to come and share with them the message of the Bible…because they have no Bible in their language and no one to teach them the Gospel. So, potentially living in a house like this, this country is where we would deeply long to have a Gospel impact, if that is what’s in God’s plan! Right now, Daniel is in his second year of seminary (his second out of four years. After that, we will see what God has for us! Missions - around the worldDo you have a Bible? I’m sure you do! You probably have multiple Bibles in multiple versions, in print AND endless resources on your phone. Did you know that you’re in the minority? More language groups don’t have the Bible in their own language than those that do. While English speakers have over 100 English versions of the Bible readily available to them, over 50% of languages in the world have NO completed Bible. Just by looking at the chart above, you could imagine how difficult some languages could be to learn, but isn’t it worth it when the unreached don’t have anything? Our culture is very focused on written text, so that’s why Gospel tracts are helpful, but other cultures are more orally focused. Tracts could still be helpful in those contexts, but it’s so important to consider the spoken Word of God. Taliah “focusing” :) A focus of every Christian should be the memorization of Scripture. One major thing I have learned from one of my classes is that simply reading the Bible doesn’t “hide it in your heart”. You’re not truly meditating on God’s Word if you’re not thinking about it through-out your day, which can only be done through Bible memorization. When God’s Word was given, it was mainly passed down through oral processes. Those who wrote Scripture were actually convinced that it was SAFER to have Scripture transmitted orally (by speaking from memory) rather than having it written down, because then it’s in the heart, and it can’t be take away. Isn’t that an incredible thought? As Christians, that’s what our focus should be on. Taliah’s learning!But before I get more into that, I will give a quick update on Taliah! She is growing up so fast! I have been SO excited to start a small form of “pre-homeschooling” for her. It’s been so fun to have more interaction with her as she grows. But how is Daniel doing…? Seminary highlights Out of Daniel’s six classes this semester, after asking him again his answer is the same: biblical counseling. Biblical counseling is something Daniel has already had experience in through classes at our church, as well as much of his own personal reading. You can never graduate from it though…but you can be proficient in having biblical answers for people who need help…and Daniel certainly does that for me frequently! It’s such a blessing to have his answers to Bible questions, general spiritual wisdom, etc. His counsel is better than any classes I have ever taken! My college workThis class is pretty great though… …at Shasta Bible College I’m taking a class on the oral transmission of Scripture, which means how Scripture was originally spread (orally). This class has a huge emphasis on Bible memorization, so I wanted to share 5 ways you could implement Bible memorization into your life practically! 5 Practical Ideas for Daily Bible Memorization:1. Listening to an Audio BibleYou could do this in your desired translation for free through simple apps like You Version. While you're driving, cooking, or doing other mainly mindless things, you could be listening to the Word of God! The thing we have found to be the most profitable is playing an audio Bible all night, so you can fall asleep to God's Word. Consider something like this: Ray Comfort Reading Romans link: youtu.be/eNGkwTHM-bQ 2. Musical Bible Verse MemoryConsider finding a style you like and listening to biblical music! Here’s an example of a girl who takes Scripture and makes her own melodies to memorize passages of the Bible: Melodically Memorizing link: youtu.be/tZHmnBFSUPE 3. Writing Out VersesHow long would it take you to write out one verse per day, or even one verse per week a few times a day? This practice could greatly impact your spiritual life, so I would encourage you to pick a book of the Bible and have a verse of the day or a verse or the week and start writing it out! 4. Reading out loud to your children What better opportunity to train your children in the Lord than to include them in your Bible memorization? Consider reading a book of the Bible consistently to your children. Your child may start to retain it even more than you do! 5. Daily MemorizationHow hard would it be to have a verse per day or per week in the back of your phone or in your pocket? It would be easy, and you could easily pull it out whenever your mind is idle! Consider trying one or more of this ideas today! Ministry Highlight The ministry I want to highlight in this blog (if you couldn’t guess it already) is my college professors’ Bible memory ministry. Psalm 119:11 reminds us to hide God’s Word in our heart. Why? “…that we might not sin against Him.” How much more importance can you put on everything else compared to your own sanctification? For further info, I would encourage you to look at this website: The Bible Memory Man link: www.thebiblememoryman.com/ Credit goes to my professor, Tom Meyer, for his amazing class at Shasta Bible College. He has helpful videos and resources on his site; he also speaks at churches, so you can keep that in mind! Don’t get discouraged if you can’t memorize something perfectly, or if you’re meditating on one verse for a really long time. The goal is to grow spiritually and glorify God! Could you consider doing this? Prayer RequestsAs for prayer requests, please keep these in mind! Time management can always be difficult with the demanding schedule of seminary. God’s will for future missions is also one of our top concerns. Evangelism, especially on our local college campus has been great, but specifically for more opportunities and fruit would be helpful! And of course, biblical marriage and parenting are essential as well! How practical is all this?I know, you have a busy schedule. You feel you need time to go to the park, to do good works within your church context, and you need time to go shopping. This blog post is not saying you should live like a monk and hide from the world, spending all day every day memorizing Scripture without human interaction, because evangelism is a command, so that’s clearly not an option. I’m also not saying that I do this perfectly, I definitely fall short of God’s perfect standard and fail to love God above all else every day. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t focus on Christ when you’re serving at church, that you can’t have a verse in your back pocket to pull out in the grocery line at the store, or that you can’t be in a prayerful, evangelistic spirit at the park. Doesn’t that sound doable? I pray it does, and that this was convicting and encouraging for you! If you’re interested in supporting our work, any donations go to help us with our current studies.
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AuthorsDaniel and Sarah Bruce desire to be missionaries to the unreached peoples of the world. Daniel is from Australia and Sarah is from Detroit, MI. They reside in Phoenix, AZ, where they are members at Shepherd's House Bible Church in Chandler, AZ. Archives
April 2024
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