Wordsower International Ministries and The Living Word Outdoor Drama work together

| August 13, 2013
Tom Meyer

Tom Meyer

CAMBRIDGE – Sitting in the open air with friends and loved ones you hear crickets quietly chirping and feel a soft breeze as you hear and experience the Bible as never before.

Wordsower International Ministries and The Living Word Outdoor Drama are joining together to bring you this awesome opportunity to hear the Bible like none other. Tom Meyer, The Memory Man, of Wordsower Ministries has chosen to spread the Word by retelling the books of the Bible by memory. Imagine the powerful stories and history you will hear just as ancient Israelites did thousands of years ago.  It’s a wonderful way to help you and your families retain the history of the Bible and strengthen your faith.

Jeff Schapiro, reporter for the Christian Post writes;

The 35-year-old Meyer is just one of a handful of professional Wordsowers from the ministry, which is based in Nampa, Ind.  He has memorized Genesis and Revelation, but, these aren’t the only books Meyer knows in its entirety. He has also memorized the entire book of James, Ruth, Daniel, Jonah, a number of the books by the Minor Prophets (Joel, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai and Malachi) and a number of other passages from both the Old and New Testaments.

“I like this, this idea of the orality of Scripture and not just taking out a verse and breaking it apart and talking about it, but letting the actual oracle of the Word of God do the speaking,” Meyer told Schapiro.

He travels around the country and recites the Scriptures, from memory, to churches and other organizations “as often as humanly possible,” he said.

Meyer began devoting himself to the memorization of the Bible shortly before he left his home in Illinois to take classes at Shasta Bible College in Redding, Calif., where he serves as a professor and teaches memorization to this day. He had only memorized John 3:16 prior to leaving Illinois, but when a pastor challenged him to memorize part of the Sermon on the Mount, he began to enjoy it and went on to memorize even more.

The most requested book for him to recite, he says, is the book of Revelation.

When he recites passages from Scripture, he says, he tries to capture the emotions and expressions of the biblical writers and convey those things to his audience. He says it can be draining to recite books like Revelation, because he not only has to remember the words but he also has to speak them in a manner which accurately reflects what the writer was trying to say.

After graduating in 2006, Meyer spent four years overseas, mostly in Jerusalem but also in Egypt and Jordan, and learned about the oral transmission customs of Jews, Christians and Muslims while writing a thesis paper on the topic. During his time overseas he learned memorization techniques from monks, and found 60 different techniques ancient people used to help them memorize. He has since developed his own system of memorization, which includes writing and speaking the text at the same time. After he memorizes a passage, he says, the key to keeping it in mind is simply oral repetition of the passage.

Meyer hopes his ministry will not just be seen as an interesting trick, but he instead hopes to encourage others to memorize and take God’s Word to heart as well. “That’s what memorizing is all about at the end of the day,” he said. “To have a closer walk with God. To have His Word in your heart and to instruct you and to teach you. To be a doer of the Word of God.”

Meyer’s will be at the Living Word Amphitheater at 7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. Admission is FREE but an offering will be taken to help support the Living Word and Wordsower Ministries. For more information visit www.livingworddrama.org or call 740-439-2761.

 

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Category: Arts & Entertainment

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Article contributed to The Beacon.

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