Aaron House has always had a passion for acting. In 2013 he found a way to combine his love for theatre with his strong faith in God.
He started up a ministry called Piercing Word.
"Piercing Word Ministry is a full-time non-profit based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We tour throughout the United States and beyond, bringing God's word to centre stage and igniting a passion for the Word of God and the art of the church," said Aaron. "We don't just perform scripture; we challenge everyone, everywhere, to memorize God's word for themselves."
In 2013, when Aaron took the ministry of Piercing word from part-time to full-time, he decided that if he was going to be travelling and challenging people to memorize God's word, he should probably do the same.
"I set out to memorize the entire New Testament in a year," said Aaron. "I didn't finish in a year. However, by God's grace, in the course of a year and a half, I was able to memorize and recite before a public audience 25 of the 27 books in the New Testament."
He says that was one of the hardest things he has ever done in his life yet one of the most rewarding.
"It's the only offensive weapon against the enemy that he gives us in the armour of God. We love equipping people to be able to do that," said Aaron.
For many, getting started can be challenging. Aaron says the first step to learning scripture is to try to understand why you're memorizing it.
"Is this a passage you're memorizing to grow closer to the Lord? Like the whole book of John, that seems like more of a knowing, just wanting to know him better, which is a great goal. But, you know, before that, you want to make sure that you've done something small," Aaron explained. "If you've already done single verses, maybe do a Psalm, which is like 8 to 13 verses."
From there, he says to move on to a favourite chapter. After that, a small book of the Bible, like Philippians or James. If you can do that, he says, move on to a large book of the Bible. Another step in Bible memorization is to find an accountability partner that can help you stick to your plan.
Together with his wife, Aaron has created a book and video series to help others learn how to memorize scripture. It's called Warriors of the Word.
"We challenge and equip one another to put on the whole Armor of God and fight with the Sword of the Spirit to win spiritual victories in our everyday lives."
He says the book was birthed out of their own experience and study, including the wisdom they gained as Aaron fought through the challenges of memorizing 26 books of the Bible.
Today on Connections, Aaron shares about his ministry and why it is so important to memorize scripture.