Investiture Achievement/Companion/Spiritual Discovery

Standard Level

Requirement 1a

Memorize the Old Testament books of the Bible and the five groups into which they are grouped.

The Books of the Old Testament and the sections into which they are divided are as follows:

Books of Moses	History	Poetry	Major Prophets	Minor Prophets
Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Dueteronomy	Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther	Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon	Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel	Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

It is far easier to memorize these by song than by rote. There are many songs that go through the books of the Old Testament, and many of them can be found on Youtube. Listen to several and choose the one you like the best. Then teach it to your class, or add it to the songs you sing during your club's opening ceremonies. If your whole club sings the song at every meeting, by the end of the Pathfinder year, everyone in regular attendance will know the books of the Old Testament.

Requirement 1b

Demonstrate your ability to find any Old Testament book.

The first step in doing this is the know the order of the books and the section to which each belongs (see the previous requirements). Then if you open your Bible to the wrong section, it will be easy to flip forward or backwards through the pages until you get to the correct section.

A second tip is the know without having to think too hard if the book is before or after Psalms, which is right in the center of the Bible. Try opening your Bible to its center, and you should be looking at one of the Psalms. Now if you know that the book you are after is before Psalms, you know that it's in the first half of the Bible. Otherwise you know that it is in the latter half.

To get the Pathfinders to practice, have sword drills - you call out a text, and the first to find it indicates he or she has done so. Have them read the passage aloud to make sure they found it. Keep score, and offer a prize of some sort (it doesn't have to be much - kids at this age can be motivate by the simplest of prizes).

Requirement 2

Memorize a Bible text for the following subjects: Prayer Doctrine Behavior Salvation Relationships Promises/Praise Great Passages

Your Pathfinders are not restricted to these suggested texts.

Prayer

• 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray continually OR Pray without ceasing.
• Psalm 34:3-4
• Matthew 6:6
• 1 Peter 1:3
• 1 John 4:7

Doctrine

• Ephesians 1:8-10 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him

• Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

• Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Behavior

• 1 Samuel 15:22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

• Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

• Ecclesiastes 9:5-10 5 For the living know that they will die;

But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun. 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works. 8 Let your garments always be white, And let your head lack no oil. 9 Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

• Luke 2:51-52 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Salvation

• John 1:1-3 & John 1:14
• Luke 19:10
• Psalm 103:10-12
• Isaiah 53:5
• Ephesians 3:20-21

Relationships

• Isaiah 1:18
• John 1:12-13
• 1 Timothy 6:6-8
• 1 John 3:17
• Acts 17:26-27

Promises/Praise

• Psalm 56,35:7
• Psalm 37:3
• Isaiah 35:10
• James 4:7-8
• 1 John 2:17

Great Passages

• Psalm 119:11
• Isaiah 43:12
• Matthew 28:19-20 (The Great Commission)
• Luke 5:15

Techniques

There are several approaches to memorizing Scripture.

Erase the words

Write the Bible verse on a white board and have everyone read it aloud together. Then erase a word and have them read it again, supplying the erased word. Continue erasing words and reading the verse aloud until all the words are gone. At this point, the entire class should know the verse.

Hand write the verse

Write the verses down several times by hand until you can do it from memory.

In song

Many passages of scripture have been set to music. Memorizing the lyrics to a song is a lot easier than memorizing raw text, and the memory will last for years. If the verse you are trying to memorize has already been set to music, switch to the version of the text that matches the song. If it has not been set to music, make up your own tune. Explore different translations of the text to see which one lends itself best to your song.

Say it aloud

Hearing it and saying it will reinforce it much better than just "thinking" it will.

Say it with rhythm

This is similar to the "in song" approach from above, but it is often easier to make up a rhythm than it is to make up a whole tune. Clap your hands and stomp your feet at various places in the verse if that helps. Turn it into a clapping game like "pat-a-cake" and learn it with a friend.

Add action

How many songs do you know that have motions associated with them? If you're making up hand claps and foot stomps, it will help even more if you add other actions such as casting a fishing line, or tracing the outline of a heart in the air.

Make a rebus

A rebus uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. For instance, the word "I" is represented with a graphic depiction of an eye. If you spend enough time coming up with a clever rebus for your verse, you will likely have memorized it by the time you are finished.

Find structure in the verse

Write the verse out so that it highlights the structure. Recall that Hebrew poetry works by repeating an idea using different words. Line them up! We also find structure in New Testament verses. For instance, 1 John 2:3 could be written like this:

Now by this
   we know that
   we know Him,
if we keep His commandments.

This approach lines up the common words "we know" and helps the brain to organize the verse more effectively. It also lines up the third "we" with the first two, so that it's possible to memorize a shorthand for this verse - "we know, we know, we keep". This forms a skeleton upon which we can hang the rest of the words. Look for other structure as well, such as that the word following "we" always starts with a 'k' and has four letters.

Use a Puzzlemaker Online

to create written activities for scripture such as:

• Crosswords
• Wordles
• Fill in the blanks/Missing letters
• Blank out (Similar to Hangman)
• Scripture Scrambles

Step On It

Print out each word of a passage on paper, one word per page in large print. Lay the paper on the floor and step down on each page as you say the text. Remove words from time to time.

Writers Block

Write each word of a passage on blocks of wood, one word per block. Mix up the blocks and put the text back together. Two block sets of the same verse makes for an exciting game!

Do you know some approaches? Click here to add them!

Requirement 3

Participate in a skit on one of the following Old Testament characters: Joseph Jonah Esther Ruth

Below are some skits that you might consider using for this requirement. If you have written a skit of your own, please consider adding it to our collection.

• Ruth (puppet show)

Requirement 4

Research two early Adventist Pioneers (1844 to 1900) and present what you have learned.

There are Wikipedia articles on several Adventist Pioneers which make good starting points:

Ellen G. White

• Ellen G. White at Wikipedia
• Brief biography from the White Estate
• There is a 6 volume biography of Ellen White that naturally includes a lot of details about her husband James White too.
• Elmshaven site - her last home
• Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White (autobiographical)
• Early Writings (autobiographical)
• Life Sketches (autobiographical)
• books about Ellen G. White
• Ellen G. White: Prophet of Destiny

James White

• James White at Wikipedia

Joseph Bates

• Joseph Bates at Wikipedia

J. N. Andrews

• J. N. Andrews at Wikipedia

Uriah Smith

• Uriah Smith at Wikipedia

Hiram Edson

• Hiram Edson at Wikipedia
• Edson farm

Pioneers covered in Honors See the Adventist Heritage, God's Messenger and African American Adventist Heritage in the NAD honors for more information. Expanding on this requirement you can earn one of these honors.

Audio stories of the pioneers from the White Estate. Also check various books on Adventist Heritage. Bates wrote an autobiography.

The presentation can be made during worship during a Pathfinder meeting, at vespers during a camping trip, as a children's story during a church service, or during Sabbath School.

Trail Companion

Requirement 5

Complete Companion requirements.

These are the requirements listed above on this page.

Requirement 6

Learn about Ellen White’s first vision and discuss how God uses prophets to present His message to the church.

Autobiographical Sketch of Ellen G. White

My First Vision

On to Heaven

We all entered the cloud together, and were seven days ascending to the sea of glass, when Jesus brought the crowns and with His own right hand placed them on our heads. He gave us harps of gold and palms of victory. Here on the sea of glass the 144,000 stood in a perfect square. Some of them had very bright crowns, others not so bright. Some crowns appeared heavy with stars, while others had but few. All were perfectly satisfied with their crowns. And they were all clothed with a glorious white mantle from their shoulders to their feet. Angels were all about us as we marched over the sea of glass to the gate of the city. Jesus raised His mighty, glorious arm, laid hold of the pearly gate, swung it back on its glittering hinges, and said to us, "You have washed your robes in My blood, stood stiffly for My truth; enter in." We all marched in and felt that we had a perfect right in the city.

Here we saw the tree of life and the throne of God. Out of the throne came a pure river of water, and on either side of the river was the tree of life. On one side of the river was a trunk of a tree, and a trunk on the other side of the river, both of pure, transparent gold. At first I thought I saw two trees. I looked again, and saw that they were united at the top in one tree. So it was the tree of life on either side of the river of life. Its branches bowed to the place where we stood, and the fruit was glorious; it looked like gold mixed with silver.

We all went under the tree, and sat down to look at the glory of the place, when Brethren Fitch and Stockman, who had preached the gospel of the kingdom, and whom God had laid in the grave to save them, came up to us and asked us what we had passed through while they were sleeping. We tried to call up our greatest trials, but they looked so small compared with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that surrounded us, that we could not speak them out, and we all cried out, "Alleluia! heaven is cheap enough!" and we touched our glorious harps and made heaven's arches ring.

After I came out of vision, everything seemed changed; a gloom was spread over all that I beheld. Oh, how dark this world looked to me! I wept when I found myself here, and felt homesick. I had seen a better world, and it had spoiled this for me.

I related this vision to the believers in Portland, who had full confidence that it was from God. They all believed that God had chosen this way, after the great disappointment in October, to comfort and strengthen His people. The Spirit of the Lord attended the testimony, and the solemnity of eternity rested upon us. An unspeakable awe filled me, that I, so young and feeble, should be chosen as the instrument by which God would give light to His people. While under the power of the Lord, I was filled with joy, seeming to be surrounded by holy angels in the glorious courts of heaven, where all is peace and gladness; and it was a sad and bitter change to wake up to the realities of mortal life.

(Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White, pp. 59-61)

Here is an account of the Narrow Way vision in a video.

Ellen was only 17 years old when she had her first vision... not much older than most Pathfinders.

Discussion: God has used prophets since near the beginning of time to reach his people. Often prophets are very close and connected to God. The first prophet was likely Enoch because he walked with God, but God took him. Many Bible characters were prophets or possessed the prophetic gift among other gifts (Joseph for example). Prophets (and apostles) wrote much of the Bible, but not all prophets named in the Bible got their own Bible book or even are quoted in the Bible. God promised that in the last days that some would have the gift of prophecy, so it is not surprising that God choose Ellen White to minister to His church in the last days. Here is a good article on the Biblical foundations for Ellen White's gift.