Don Arndt is speaker at fourth Lenten Luncheon

By Panzi Blackwell

The Rev. Joseph Havrilka  welcomed those present for the fourth Lenten Luncheon, hosted last week by Mother of Dolors Catholic Church. He asked the blessing for the meal prepared and served by the women of the church.

Following the meal, he introduced members of the Mother of Dolors choir –  Mariann Timmermann, Jennifer Erck, Wayne Erck, Pat Buscher and Bonnie Murray – who sang  “Jesus Walked the Lonesome Valley,” accompanied by Havrilka on the piano.
Havrilka then introduced Don Arndt, a seminary student who is a member of First Baptist Church. He chose to speak on Bible memorization in the "Disciplines of the Saints" theme.
Arndt began with statistics of the available translations of the Bible in the existing 6,900-plus languages spoken in the world today. Of those, there are almost 2,100 languages without a Bible translation, but with a possible need of a Bible translation to begin; There are 340 million-plus people who speak the 2,100 languages where translation has not yet begun. Arndt spoke of the fact that many of our homes hold several Bibles of different translations, but many take the Bible for granted.
He spoke of the value of memorizing Bible verses. He advised participants to memorize and meditate on the Scripture.
He likened these actions to the word marinate. When you marinate meat, it absorbs and draws in the flavor of the marinade, as meditating and memorizing Scripture does for us.
"Why memorize Scripture?"  he asked, and then he proceeded to give some reasons. The first of which is Scripture is inspired by God (referring to Hebrews 4:12). Also, Scripture commands us to memorize it (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
He referred to Matthew 4:1 – 11, when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and, quoting Scripture from memory, He put Satan to flight. Memorizing the scripture can give us daily triumph over Satan. It also gives us the words needed to comfort and counsel, to witness to unbelievers, and especially, become closer and communicate better with God.
In closing, Arndt gave a challenge to all present to memorize Psalm 103: 8-14, as he planned to do himself. The choir closed the service with a song.

Don Arndt