Here is some scribbly artwork I drew tonight…inspired by Romans 8. As I start putting Romans 8 into my heart…I am going to try and journal my experience because I am expecting God to do something huge in my heart…and this is marking my entry into this journey….
I don’t know why I think of scripture memorization in such a narrow way…it means just sitting down in front of a bible and drilling myself on the words. Tonight I was talking to a friend of mine, Anthony, who came over for my husbands Tuesday night ‘Guys Night’…(where they sit around the outdoor fire pit and talk and pray at the end). Anthony doesn’t know Katherine….but has heard her story and is praying for her and deeply touched by her…he also signed up to memorize Romans 8…but when he looked at passage…he realized that this is a major deal. It’s long! Anthony probably represents so many of us who aren’t quite sure how we are gonna get through all 39 verses…but signed up by faith that God will get us through.
I want to chronicle my journey through Romans 8 and I want to hear what Anthony’s journey will be…and yours too. So please write down, blog, video, journal, or somehow document where you are today and what God is doing as you dive into Romans 8!
After talking to Anthony, I realize that I don’t have to rush…maybe I’ll spend weeks just soaking and focusing on the first six verses. Maybe I’ll get out my pens and paper and draw them, maybe I’ll draw and meditate on one word. I am going to give myself permission to sit in one verse for a while, breathe it and live it.
It might be interesting to find 5 different ways to experience Romans 8:1 and encourage each other in our creativity! Let us know what you come up with in the ‘comments’ section or let us showcase your video, poem, artwork, whatever……
LETS GET CREATIVE AS WE APPROACH ROMANS 8 TOGETHER!
Here is a new music player…you can also help us by posting it on your blog, facebook, myspace etc….
We are just barely scratching the surface!
This blog is one week old and we are sensing that this is just the beginning of a revival of scripture memorization. We have been in a rut too long…we have a creative God and we need to think outside the box and bring scripture memorization into the 21st century.
We want to use the latest technology for good things…for hope, for Christ. We want to help people put scripture in their hearts and minds by thinking ‘outside the box’. Memorizing scripture will change your life.
Visit our blog daily for inspiration, encouragement, and cutting edge tools to help you memorize Romans 8…
Join the movement and help us get the word out!
1. Email your friends…share the music by clicking the ‘share’ button on the music player above.
2. Listen to the music…learning the first 6 verses with song will help kickstart the process…
3. Download the flash cards in the ‘tools’ section
4. Watch the streaming videos in the ‘video’ section
5. Tell us how God is changing your heart as you memorize: write us, video yourself & upload it, journal
6. Video yourself reciting it and send it to us through www.e-zekiel.tv - a christian, safe site for videos
7. Come back regularly and see what else we have dreamed up!
It never would have occured to me to memorize Romans 8 if it weren’t for Katherine Wolf…and honestly, the crisis she is in. Big passages of scripture memory just seemed like something a certain type of ’super’ person could do…..a person who has a unique memory & ability…or it is for the young ‘kids’. So, this is a big deal for me! I am inspired by Katherine…and if ever I think this is ‘too hard’….I’ll just read her mom’s blog (there’s a link on katherinewolf.info) and that will stop those thoughts in their tracks. Katherine knows the power of God’s word and she wants her life to point people towards Christ…and ironically in her utter weakness, God is glorifying himself through her in extraordinary ways.
So, I am memorizing Romans 8 because I know God can do unimaginable things in my heart and my life when I unleash the power of the word of God….and in honor of Katherine.
Just so you know…. because it is so hard for me, I am highly motivated to re-invent scripture memory and find innovative and undiscovered ways to put scripture in my heart. I want us all to ‘think outside the box’ and share with each other new ways to memorize. We have a creative God and I think ’scripture memory’ needs a revival!
What will God do in your life as you memorize? Post your comments here so we can encourage each other!
The Romans 8 Flash Cards are here! Hot off the press! Memorizing Romans 8 couldn’t be any easier!
Just download the PDF, print ‘em, cut ‘em out, and keep ‘em with you through the day! Only 19 cards with all 39 verses of Romans 8 (NIV). More versions to come… just email us at info@romans8movement.com and let us know which ones you need.
Here I am in the car on my way to work with my notecards learning verse 1 & 2…Memorizing is not easy for me…so putting the entire chapter to music is as much for myself as it is to help others…so we are in this together…memorizing Romans 8 little by little.
Here is a local news story from Montgomery, Alabama about Katherine Wolf. If you need a little inspiration to memorize Romans 8….here ya go! She has Romans 8 memorized in her heart & mind and could recite it at the drop of a hat…certainly we can give it a go!
When someone commits to memorizing Romans 8 and signs up, I get an email that says ’subscribe’ and it tells me their name and where they are from (if they filled out the ‘location’ field). I haven’t been looking at each individual email…but this morning I saw that someone just joined the ‘movement’ and thought I’d just see where they were from. It was Danny from Germany. I sent him a quick note of thanks and he replied…I was so excited and encouraged by his reply that I wanted to post it! Colossians says…’all over the world…lives are changing’… I am so excited to see what God can do with all these people learning His word!
GO DANNY! Can’t wait to see this on YOUTUBE!
Hi Sydney
I was deeply moved by the account of that lady on the blog.
I will be memorizing the passage in German - once I have it down, I will recite it at a worship gathering and will post the video on youtube.
I have the feeling that romans 8 is gonna change my life. It is just sooo heavy.
*Go to the MUSIC section to download & get other songs for Romans 8*
So now we’ve got two songs and have covered Romans 8:1-6 with “There is Now No Condemnation” and “What the Spirit Desires”. Hope this helps all of us (myself mostly) get off to a good start!
This particular section was tricky because it isn’t a passage that one would naturally read and think…wow, this sounds like a song! When I saw words like ‘condemned’ and ’sinful’, ‘requirements’ and ‘accordance’…I felt like this would be a challenge. We actually turned the camera on as we ‘cracked the code’ and figured this song out….we’ll edit that footage and put it up soon, just for fun. You can see us struggling with phrasing and finally finding the groove. Here we go….enjoy!
By the way…these are rough demos (which is painfully obvious to a musician)…but, we are happy to put it all out there, faults and all, because the world should actually hear a ‘one take’ vocal without auto-tune every once in a while!
What The Spirit Desires (Romans 8 : 3-6)
And so He
Condemned sin
In sinful man
In order that
The righteous
Requirements of the law
Might be fully met in us
Who do not live
According to the sinful nature
What the Spirit desires…… But according to the Spirit
What the Spirit desires
Those who live
According to
The sinful nature
Have their minds
Set on what
That nature desires
But those who live
In accordance with
The Spirit have their minds set on
What the Spirit desires
What the Spirit desires
The mind of sinful man is death
But the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace
Here is a little kickstart in the memorizing process….this covers Romans 8:1-3! It is amazing how much easier it is to remember things when they are put to music!
*Download the mp3 in the ‘MUSIC’ section*
JT and I have felt called to find new and innovative ways to put scripture in people’s hearts and minds. Over the last couple of years we have worked on a project where we put the entire book of Colossians, from beginning to end, into a music format. It is a format we have been developing. So, Katherine has inspired us to do Romans 8. We thought we would video blog and give you a ‘behind the scenes’ peak into our creative process as we approach Romans 8 in the same way. We will post one of our writing sessions soon.
We recorded this last night and JT stayed up all night working on this (and another song) and he went straight to work this morning…Eventually we will put live drums and redo a lot of stuff….mix it ‘for real’.
I will be posting a song later from Romans 8:3-6- ‘What the Spirit Requires”….it is recorded and just needs a little mixing….
Here are the lyrics for “There is Now No Condemnation” (Romans 8: 1-3)
There Is Now No Condemnation
Therefore, there is now no condemnation
For those who are in Christ Jesus
Therefore, there is now no condemnation
For those who are in Christ Jesus
Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free
From the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do
In that it was weakened by the sinful nature,
God did by sending his own Son
In the likeness of sinful man
To be a sin offering
