Something wonderful has been happening. The world of Scripture memory resources has been growing exponentially. More blogs, more podcasts, more summer camps, and of course, more books! It’s been wonderful to see a rising interest in memorizing Scripture among Christians and the surge of fantastic resources to meet that need. One of the most fantastic is a book that has just been published by Scripture Memory Fellowship, written by SMF’s own executive director, Dakota Lynch.
First of all, if you haven’t heard of Scripture Memory Fellowship before, it is my pleasure to introduce you to this wonderful ministry. SMF has been around since 1977, glorifying God and serving His people by creating resources to support Scripture memory. One of the cornerstones of their ministry is the summer camp they host every year in Louisiana. Not only is the teaching centered around a set of memory verses, but also, the kids attending the camp can go for free if they have memorized the verses beforehand! SMF has published many wonderful collections of verses that are guided by devotionals to help maximize an individual’s or family’s memory effort. They have continued to produce resources that reach each generation, including their newer podcast with fabulous insight and interviews, and their wonderfully-designed Scripture memory app, VerseLocker.
I’ve enjoyed using many of their resources for myself and family, including their devotional memory journals for managing stress, learning the gospel in depth, and memorizing the book of Jonah. All of their podcast episodes have been rewarding, especially when I got to join them for an interview about Scripture Speakers. Most recently, I have been blessed and encouraged by Dakota’s newest book, “Remember the Words: Why and How to Make Scripture Memory a Way of Life.”
This book is so well-balanced, so well-designed, that you could literally hand it to someone who has never memorized before and trust that he will be fully empowered and equipped to memorize Scripture successfully. And what do I mean by successfully? I mean that someone who has never memorized Scripture before will be able, with the guidance of this book, to memorize Scripture with joy, purpose, and consistency. It helps the reader get started with inspiration to move beyond the myths that can hold us back. It goes on to instruct the reader with a solid foundation of understanding of how to memorize and includes plenty of tips for new methods to try. And then, it goes on to provide even more solid instruction and practical tips to help the memorizer sustain their success. These tips are so important for the reader to avoid burnout! I appreciated that Dakota took the time to write a full and balanced book for the new memorizer.
What is so fabulous about “Remember the Words,” though, is that it’s not just for the new memorizer, even though it’s such a perfect book for one. This book also has wisdom to share even with advanced and expert memorizers. In each of the chapters there are unique ideas to glean. Some of the ideas I especially appreciated: the argument for including topical memorization in your Scripture memory goals, the best way to handle making deadlines, the importance of accountability, the how-to for training our brains to have a better memorizing attention span, and genuine considerations for choosing a translation to memorize in. There was more I enjoyed and more for you to discover than just these!
My favorite chapter is “Getting Children to Memorize Scripture.” As a parent, this obviously stood out to me. Many books on Scripture memorization do not address this topic! And Dakota does so with grace and creativity. Parents, we should make sure our children are memorizing Scripture for their own spiritual health, just like we make sure they brush their teeth every day! I loved the strong call to action that Dakota gives to parents and his follow-through to help parents know how to rise to this call effectively with joy. I’m looking forward to implementing some of the ideas in “Remember the Words” to bless my own little wild cherubs.
You can get a copy of Dakota’s book, “Remember the Words” on Scripture Memory Fellowship’s website at this link: HERE. Don’t forget to leave a review when you do! This book is packed with wisdom but it’s also very affordable. It’s even free through the Kindle Unlimited program, if you’re a subscriber. And YES, for all you audiobook enthusiasts, “Remember the Words” is also available on Audible.
If you enjoyed this book review, you might also enjoy reading reviews for the book by Simon Camilleri, “Public Bible Reading;“Glenna Marshall, “Memorizing Scripture;” Jeremy Kluth from Scripture Alive, “Power to Remember;” and my own book, “Speaking Scripture: How to Memorize and Recite with Purpose and Delight.”