Sometimes it seems unfair that Memory Verses are only worth 20 points. After all, those quizzers who decide to invest their time memorizing 130-or-so Bible verses are competing for only 3 questions a game. Because of so few opportunities each game, fast pre-jumping at higher levels of competition results in a bit of guesswork, further suppressing a quizzer's individual points potential. At that level of quizzing, risk is simply part of the game. Additionally, if Memory Verses were worth more than 20 points more students would be incentivized to memorize God's Word!
​
To help reduce (but not eliminate!) the guesswork involved in pre-jumping of Memory Verses this season, the following deep dive into the 92 Memory Verses of Romans and James revealed a few words of caution: Do, For, Let, and Therefore.

​Though this topic was recommended to me by a subscriber to this blog, I am writing it as much as a reminder to myself as I am writing it to share with all of you.
 
After our November quiz, the weekends get very busy. First up is Thanksgiving. A week later, my District participates in the St. Louis Top 10 quiz tournament. Not too long after that is Christmas followed one week later by New Year’s Day. So, like many of you, our District does not have a December quiz. For our small District, the St. Louis Top 10 quiz is our December quiz. But as God continues to bless our ministry, we continue to grow in numbers. So much so in fact that for the first time ever we will have more teens not quizzing at the St. Louis tournament than those who will be quizzing.

​It happened a few years ago, but I still get triggered every time I think about it. 

I am coaching a team comprised mostly of first-year quizzers at an out-of-state mid-season invitational tournament. It has been thrilling for them to travel and meet other Christian teens from across the nation who share a passion for studying God’s Word. And despite our inexperience, we’re not embarrassing ourselves too often. Sure, we lost one game 350-10, but at least we didn’t go negative! In fact, that game was a real eye-opener of what we could accomplish with more experience and commitment to studying God’s Word! Later in the tournament we were put in a division of similar talent and we actually began to win a few games. 
​
But then we played the team from Sassafras (that’s not their real name) who was leading our division at the tournament. Things aren’t looking good. We’re down 110-170 after question #18. I’m already looking at the schedule to see which room we go to next. We’re playing Kentucky? Cool, that’ll be fun.

I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t like to improve one aspect of their life or another. Some people want to be a better friend. Or be a better writer. Or be more compassionate to those in need. Even the best athletes spend time practicing and learning ways to get better. That same desire to improve can be found in practically every Teen Bible Quizzer.

Now that the quiz season is over for most of you, it is common to think, “If I start studying next year’s material now, I’ll do better next season!” But my advice to you is: Don’t do it! Take a break and recharge your batteries! Enjoy your summer. Avoid the inevitable burn-out from a non-stop grind.  Quizzing is supposed to be fun, not a burden!

But at the same time, you shouldn’t put on hold your daily time in the Word. Growing closer to the Lord is the one thing that everyone should be working to improve! So there must be a way to avoid burn-out and yet expose yourself to the new quiz material as part of your continuing conversation with God during the summer.  

​Following are my 3 suggestions. Choose to do as many as you would like!

Are you the kind of person who believes that you are either good or bad at something and there isn’t anything you can do about it? Do you avoid challenges to preserve your dignity from failure? Are you tired of being stuck with whatever virtues and habits you have now? Want to improve in weak areas of your life and quizzing?

Then you need the Renewed Mindset® from the Apostle Paul!

(Your mileage may vary. Conditions apply. Operators are standing by. Batteries not included.)

Your Mindset is one of the most significant factors that determines success or failure in anything you try to do. According to Paul in Romans 12:1-2, there are two basic Mindsets: the World Mindset and the Renewed Mindset®.

By setting your mind to follow these 5 simple steps of the Renewed Mindset® methodology, you will learn that you can not only grow in character and abilities, but that God expects that you will! He designed you that way!

​I’ve been around quizzing virtually my entire life, and the most common problem I see with my fellow quizzers is mid-season burnout. For some reason, after all the holidays, quizzers start to drop out one by one. And for those of us who don’t drop out completely, mostly our averages drop because we don’t study as much.

​If I were to ask all the quizzers who experienced the infamous burnout what happened, I imagine the majority of them would say either, “I don’t have the time anymore!” or, “I got bored.” If you really want to be involved in this program and excel in it, then you need to do something about this burnout. There’s only so much your coach can do for you!

As a Bible Quiz Director I am always concerned about how many teens drop out of quizzing during the season. One year we lost so many teams by December I was legitimately worried that we might finish the year with just the teens from my church (and we practically did). I couldn't for the life of me figure out why some teens seem to can't get enough Teen Bible Quizzing while others lose interest over time. But that year I decided I had to do something to break the pattern. After all, if nothing changes then nothing changes.

As I tried to understand this phenomenon through personal observations and candid conversations with the teens and their parents, 3 common factors affecting season-long commitment emerged:

1.    Mid-year Burnout
2.    Lack of Success
3.    Uninvolved Parents

Knowing is half the battle. Armed with new intel, here are my suggestions to combat these 3 adversities: