Swordsmanship Training

Malohaut

Malohaut

Moderator
I was reading this book on Shaolin Monks and how they incorporate martial arts in their Buddist religion. The Shaolin Kung Fu was a very powerful and deadly practice in ancient days, but many of its techniques had been lost over time. For example, many of the methods of the Shaolin art of cudgelling (A short heavy stick or club) have been lost, and only about 30 have been preserved. Such methods include "Eyebrow", "Wind-and-Fire", "Flying Dragon", etc. Each method consists of a series of leaping, somersaulting, and balancing to make it effective and deadly.

When people witness or share verses from the bible, they usually share them in 'methods' or groups of verses like the Roman Road to salvation. But instead of learning methods, it would be better to learn each verse separately and individually.

Shaolin was the walthiest monastery in Henan, and was a natrually targeted victim of those who sought to plunder the rich. But when the peasant army appeared before the temple gate, Jin Na Luo, a monk who tended the stove, grabbed his fire stoker and laid it about him with such fearlessness and vigor that the Red Turbans scattered in utter confusion. Jin didn't practice how to use a fire stoker. He just knew different ways to weld such objects in useful and deadly ways. He understood the elements and adaptivly applied it to the nearest object.

In the same way, we become more adaptive and flexable when we understand each verse because we know that a single verse of the bible does not just apply to one type of circumstances but to different situations and different needs. While Romans 5:8 is part of the Romans Road, it can also be used as encouragement to Christians who are wondering if God truly loves our disgusting, sinful selves, or it can be used to reinforce a sharing of God's grace. Once we memorize these verses (and many of these, you'll already know), you'll be able to pull them up in any and every circumstance.

So here I start, with my own practice and memorization of the scriptures. I'll start small, and add them from time to time as I progressively memorize them. And you can seek to memorize those scriptures that you're unfamiliar with, or refresh your memory of those you know. Its up to you.




Romans 3:10 "'There is none righteous, no, not one"

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
 
Does that mean I'll finally get the chance to hit someone with a red hot fire Poker while witnessing? (Looks around shyly)
 
Hehe. In reality, no. But in honesty, yes!! ANYTIME you notice the influences and corruptions and temptations of Satan, grab the nearest scripture and swing wildly!! Send a red hot poker into Satan's eye! You know you wanna!
 
Matthew 18: 15-17 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."

I've referenced this scripture numerous times in the past, but every time I've done so, I've never remembered where it was in Matthew. I was always good at remembering the basics of scripture, but not the reference or the exact wording. So that's what I'm working on now. This scripture is good when you're dealing with a corruption in the church, when a Christian brother or sister has offended you, or how to handle a 'friend' who seems to be doing bad things or who seems to be an influence. These passages remind us the importance of the following steps:

1. First discuss the issue with your friend/brother/sister privately. You will be better respected and heard that way, and you might even realize that you perceived something wrong and that what offended you didn't happen the way you thought. So a private meeting with the person is first and foremost.

2. If the person acknowledges their wrongdoing but refuses to change, the next step would be to try again in the presence of a couple of others that you both trust. For children, this could be role models, for us adults, it could be trust-worthy friends. By bringing this matter before friends, you're getting the Godly counsel of others (If those are the friends you selected.) And these friends can either agree with you and try to help you persuade your friend, or they can realize that maybe you're over-reacting or that the issue isn't as bad as it may seem.

3. If your friends agree that your one friend did the wrong, and that one friend doesn't care and refuses to change or repent, then the last step would be to bring them before authority. Now I'm not talking about law and courthouses. I mean church members, pastors, maybe even company managers, and in the case of children, the parents. You have tried to reason with your friend both in private and with the encouragement of friends to no avail. This is the last step in trying to reconsile (sp) things with your friend. If he remains stubborn at this point, even in the presence of authority, then the bible is clear that we are to no longer regard that person as a friend. Does this mean we stop being friendly to them? Of course not. We're to show love to everybody in all circumstances. But it means not associating with that person or counsel with them.

So what kinds of situations merit this? Well, in the example we just had in this household, little Amber has a friend at church who hates another girl. So Amber's friend is planning on doing mean things to this girl out of this hatred. We've advised Amber to try and talk to the girl first and see if she can't change. Amber loves her and wants so dearly to be her friend. But its a hard lesson to learn when you can't be someone's friend because they're so full of unrepenting anger and hatred.

Other cases may be when a co-worker harasses you perpetually, or when money seems to disappear whenever a friend is around.

I will close with another scripture, which I will memorize just like the one above, as it seems to close this point nicely.

1 Corinthians 5 : 11-12 "But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked man from among you.' "
 
Pop quiz! Hehe.

What is Romans 3:23?

Where does it say, "There is none righteous, no, not one?"

How many witnesses are suggested that you bring along in Matthew 18:15-17?

What does 1 Corinthians 5: 11-12 say?




Okay. I got all but the last question. I got an 80%. 'doh! Hehe. But it takes a little time for me to learn the larger scriptures. Perhaps that's because I haven't done it in so long a time and I'm not that good. Perhaps you're already absorbed all these scriptures and hundreds more just like them! That's awesome!

My intent in learning these scriptures is not just to memorize them or be able to repeat them word for word. While you don't want to share the scriptures too liberally, and we don't want to take them out of context, trying to memorize just word for word isn't helpful either. To memorize is to forget, but to understand is to learn. Even if you miss a 'the' here or there, it is the concept and the reference that is most important.

"The bible says that nobody is perfect, for we have all sinned. Read Romans 3:10 and Romans 3:23."

Or

"Romans 3:10 tell us that there is none righteous, no, not one. And 3:23 reminds us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

When you better understand the scripture that you're memorizing, you're better able to apply it to any circumstance that arises.

Now I'm still working on 1 Corinthians 5, for I've just finished Matthew 18. So for those of you who are done with these passages or who already know them, I'll go ahead and share a couple of simple verses while I work on finishing up 1 Corintians 5: 11,12


This pair of scripture is good for reminding us that as God's people, we are promised a future and good works. It makes for good encouragement for those who are down and feeling worthless.

Jeremiah 29:11 " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD , 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

(gotta love Romans. Lots of great scripture there!)
 
Can you give us some helpful hints on learning chapters at a time? I seem to do okay on some. Take Psalms 23, for instance. However, I have read it a million times! My Mom had a sympathy card she kept with our pictures when I was younger. It was close to the only Bible I got as a child! I would always read that card as I sat down to look at family pictures. Therefore, that verse came almost by osmosis, if you will! :) GP gave excellent advice that each chapter is a single word strung together! lol That does make it much less intimidating! I would love to absorb chapters to memory. However, my success has been nothing to write home about! Any suggestions? Can you take us step by step in your chapter memorization?
 
LOLLERSKATES!!!! HAHA! ::starts yelling out verses::

*phrases in the air flying like a tornado... satan getting hit constantly by flyign words.... oof!*
 
"Hey Satan! 'It is finished.' " oooh! Right in the Kaniki.




Ah. That's an excellent question. I believe that learning scripture takes three things.

First thing requires a baby-step approach. If you are new to memorizing scripture, or if you haven't done it in a long time like me, start off small. Memorize one passage scriptures like John 3:16 or Romans 3:10. Once you're able to easily memorize one verse scriptures, then move up a little bit. Do John 3:15-17 or do Matthew 18:15-17. Once you're able to memorize that fairly easily, move up. You don't want to go from never memorizing scripture to all of a sudden, trying to remember full chapters at once. You have to crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run.

Okay. So you've got some memorization down. You remember John 3:16. You remember Romans 3:10 and 3:23 and 3:28. You even remember the larger passages such as Matthew 18:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 (I think I referenced 11-12 above, but in the bible, its 11-13) Now you want to tackle longer passages. While the purpose of the swordsmanship training is to memorize scripture, it would be more accurate to say that the purpose is to absorb scripture. So in order to absorb scripture, you need the second thing: understanding. When you fully understand what a passage says, its easier to absorb and remember. Let's take the Matthew 18 passage for example.

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, just between the two of you." We start out with a condition. IF your brother sins against you, what do you do? It is a condition that kick starts this scripture. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault. In other words, go and talk to him about it. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, just between the two of you. So not only do you go and talk to him, but you talk to him privately so that in private, he will better listen. For if you chastise or try to share a brother's fault in front of others right away, it may become embarssing for him, and like Peter, he will fearfully deny. So the most brotherly thing for you to do if your brother does anything wrong against you is to approach him privately and try to sort it out. Ah. Now we better understand what this passage is saying and by understanding, we're better able to repeat it. "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, just between the two of you." With understanding comes wisdom as well as great memory.

The bible is broken down into books, chapters, and verses. But where a verse or a chapter may end, the idea contained in the passage may continue. The bible is a flow, like living water, and when you better understand that flow, its easier to remember which direction its flowing. We'll continue with the Matthew 18 example.

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, just between the two of you." Okay. You can picture your brother doing something wrong against you. The bible tells you to go to that brother (or sister) privately and try to reason with him. Now picture yourself with that brother reasoning with him. What happens next? Will he admit it and repent, or will he refuse? The story continues! "If he listens to you, you have won your brother over." yah! Happy ending. But wait. What if he doesn't listen? "But if he refuses to listen, bring along two or three others" Ah. So my brother sinned against me, and I went to talk to him one on one, but he didn't listen. So now, I'm bringing in some friends to help. I'm bringing in some fresh eyes. "bring along two or three others, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." Wait. What does the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses have to do with anything? Here's where a little study comes into play. In the Mosaic law, in Deuteronomy 17:6, it is written, "Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness." It is possible that if one person is mad at you, he may try and lie to get you in trouble. So the testimony of one witness may not be reliable. But if two or three people happen to witness the same thing, and they can all testify that this event happened, then it is more acceptable to believe by other people. So not only are you bringing in fresh eyes, but you're also establishing your brother's wrongdoing, or quite possibly your mis-interpretation of your brother's actions, by the witness of others. "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listsns to you, you have won your brother over. But if he refuses to listen, bring along two or three others, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." Okay. So your brother did something wrong against you. You approached him privately and he wouldn't admit or wouldn't repent. So you approached your brother again with some peers in hopes of reasoning with him. But he refuses to reason. Now what? "Tell it to the church." Ah. Go to a higher authroity. And what higher authority is there than God? And if he doesn't listen to the church? "And if he refuses to listen, even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." Though he is your brother, he cannot be fellowshipped as a brother and must be treated as though he were lost and in need of love and friendship and counseling instead.

Now. How do you know you've properly memorized scripture? Recite it back. Ah, but anyone can recite scripture, and most people do. Like a freight train!

"Ifyourbrothersinsagsinstyougoandtellhimhisfaultjustbetweenthetwoofyouifhelistenstoyouyouhaveoneyourbrotherover." Breathe man breathe!! When people recite scripture to me, its just one blast of air and it goes by so darned fast that I just can't understand what was just told me. Don't recite scripture like this. Recite it slowly. And as you memorized it and understood it narritivly, so also speak it as if you were narrating a bed time story to a child.

(take your time) IF your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault . . . (stress) just between the two of you. . . . if he listens to you (cheerfully) you have won your brother over. . . . But if he refuses to listen (uh oh) then bring along two or three others (slowly) so that EVERY matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. . . . (concern) if he refuses to listen to them (anger) tell it to the church! (concern) But if he refuses to listen . . . EVEN to the church, (sadness), then treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Make memorizing scripture fun and adventurous. Start off small with smaller passages, then work your way to larger ones. Understand the concept of each word and prase within the passage. Then notice and detect the flow the passage is taking, narrate that flow in your mind and heart. Then recite that passage in the same way. Even entire chapters have a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Find that flow, understand what its saying, and absorb as you do so, and you will find memorizing and reciting even entire chapters much easier and a lot of fun!
 
My oldest daughter has been referred to as "sponge brain," by her youth pastor. She is a testimony of the Word not coming back void, for years later, these things are in her heart and the Holy Spirit gently reminds her of Scripture. Great girl, but when I have asked her how she does it, she states, "You just do it!" lol You are a most wonderful teacher in the LORD, dear Malohaut! I appreciate you and the time you took for an explanation. That makes a lot of sense, thank you very much. But, I was wanting to memorize Psalm 119! :( Yes sir, I heard...baby steps!

I love the Word and this has to be one of my most favorite teachings ever! I don't think there is anything more important than having it hidden in our heart. I like your method of memorization, it seems truly a way to not only hide it in your heart, but to also apply the Word.
 
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