Where do you turn when you are discouraged? Where do go when circumstances pile in on you? What do you do when your son/daughter is rebellious–seriously rebellious? Where do you look when your marriage is in trouble? What do you do when your baby has a fever and is throwing up and nothing seems to […]
Wayne knows I have NO sense of direction, so when I’m going somewhere I’ve never been, he pulls the map up for me on my phone. (I’m telling you this man is the best!) Yes, I know how to do it, but he wants to make sure that HE explains the directions to me. (That […]
That’s right. I don’t always WANT to read my Bible. So now, I’ve said it! Sometimes I have too much to do. Sometimes I’m just plain lazy. And sometimes a yucky feeling clouds my judgement and I just don’t want to do it! As a matter of fact, I haven’t always loved reading the Bible. […]
What we don’t know is hurting us- everyday single day! What we don’t know is destroying our culture. It causes us to make wrong decisions. It’s hurting our homes, our children. It affects our jobs, our attitudes…everything we do. What we don’t know is destroying our culture and sending people to Hell. That’s a scary […]
An evil eye? Are you kidding me? Those are the sweetest, most precious eyes in the world! Can’t you see the light of life in those beautiful blue eyes? But Matthew 6 tells us about an evil eye. “But an evil eye…” now that’s an interesting way to start a verse. I […]
I understand airplanes are faster and I enjoy flying—when I want to get there in a hurry or when I’m going to a place that is really far away. But the downside is you don’t see much scenery when you fly. Maybe a pretty cloud or a radiant sunset, but not much more. But traveling in […]
Church is important to me for so many reasons. I have friends at church that I look forward to seeing. There are people there that inspire me like Tommy McKnight, I want to tell you about him one day. He’s one of my heroes. There are people there that allow me to speak into their lives and pray and love on them. Then, there’s my pastor. I love Pastor Jimmy Wilder and his family. He is a true shepherd with a heart that loves and cares for his sheep. I love, love that about him. He communicates his love in a way that is so uplifting. He has a powerful anointing his life and besides that, he is a great speaker. I want to learn as much as I can from him so I take notes.
“The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory,” is an old, but true adage. I’ve asked way too many people, what did your pastor preach on last week, or yesterday and hear them give me a reply that was always very similar. “Ahhh. Ohhh? Ahhh. I forget, but it was good.” I am a very busy person. I have so much that I want to accomplish and if I don’t make the most of every opportunity, then I am wasting my time and for that matter, my pastor’s time as well. So I take notes.
I know there is a downside to taking notes. You gotta have paper and you gotta have something to write with. So you grab a gum wrapper. Tell me I’m not the only person that has taken notes on a gum wrapper. And I’ve taken notes on a tissue before too. What’s really bad is when you have to use the tissue and you get the blue ink from your notes all over your nose. Poor Wayne. He has to put up with me!
Of course many churches provides a church bulletin with a space for note taking. Some even provide an outline. While I love to take notes, I hate all the clutter that comes with note taking. Before I got serious about taking notes I had all these odd sized and colors of paper stuffed in my Bible. Sometimes my Bible got full of stuff. Wayne’s is worse than mine. He can’t stand to throw a single bulletin away, he still has the bulletin from the Sunday after the Titanic Sunk in his Bible. OK. So he doesn’t have that one, but he’s got a lot of bulletins in his Bible. My point is, sometimes I have so much stuff in my Bible I can’t find the verses I want to read. I hate that clutter. It distracts me. No, I didn’t stop taking notes, but I did get more strategic about note taking.
My Strategy
I got a notebook.
I labeled my notebook and date it.
I put it with my Bible.
I label the sermon. I date the sermon and who is preaching.
When writing a Bible reference he gives. I always put the chapter and verse in the left hand margin leaving room to come back and write the name of the book. I remember the book easier than I do the numbers, so I write the numbers while they are fresh in my mind.
I read my notes when I get home. I must admit this is one that I forget to do sometimes, but it is an important part in the process of acquiring knowledge, not just information. There is a drastic difference in the two.
Why is note taking important?
1. It keeps me focused. My mind is too little to let it wander off alone.
2. Writing is one more way to undergird the learning process.
3. I have something to review and reflect on when I get home.
4. The shortest pencil really is longer than the longest memory!
5. Because my pastor is an anointed servant of God, that anointing on him, jump starts the anointed creativity in my mind. I get awesome ideas that aren’t even related to the sermon, so I jot them down as well.
So happy note taking!
Do you have any ideas that you use for better note taking that you would like to share with us?
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
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