CHAPTER 46: NOTE TAKING 2026
Understand where these chapters come from, where I was when starting out on this path the Lord threw me into. Corporate Turnaround. I was suddenly in the midst of failing businesses. People having made mistakes, people with no chance of success, good people acting badly in the name of everything good. It was madness. There was nothing that could stop them. Entitled to do it wrong, entitled to blow up their lives, entitled to judge me and every part of the process that could help. Argumentative, bratty, guided profusely by character flaws that I quickly realized, all of us have. And it kept coming, people would go through bankruptcy fighting and screaming, and succeeding only to fail again. With God, without God, whoever I was looking screamed for their right to be right, when they were dead wrong and it didn’t matter. For a short time many would comply and then lie, cheat and steal their way back to insanity, again in the name of whatever they could come up with. To me it was frightening. I saw myself in all of them. Furiously I began these notes, to remind me of these traps, behaviors, failure mechanisms. I had never been a note taker, ever. But, I wrote them because what I saw was damnation on earth, catastrophic failure that did not have to be, but it was and these character flaws were thrown out into the world as “sexy”, “brilliant”, “independent”, “entrepreneurial”, “a rebel”, and many other such words. In the end, it was nothing, deadly, lonely, a slow burn to nothing and all because of character flaws that are inherent in us all. Destined we are to fail, all of us, with God or without God. We all make up our own rules with God, or without God in the Word or in the world. This I faced when I began and the sadness felt overwhelms to this day and without these notes, that I made for myself, there is no chance any title of these 50 would not have smashed me into oblivion like so many who just will not yield to correct, and in sublime arrogance throw themselves into the fire. This chapter 46, is note taking, read it with as if the words are royalty. Many have fallen, few understood and were humbled by it.
Let’s begin. You’re not going to take notes unless you’re doing it for the love of God. You’re certainly not going to do it for me, unless I tell you it will guide you to a million dollars and then you do it, maybe, definitely half measures. For sure without these notes, whether it be a million dollars or just a paycheck, I would not be here now because I would have never remembered any of how exactly things happened and ultimately I would depend on how I feel and feelings mean nothing, pay nothing, do nothing good, cause major damage.
We are all familiar with terrible note taking. Most show up to service or bible study to be entertained under the guise of learning, maybe some make notes in bibles, not many. Business meetings we may take notes and then have no idea what the notes are about. Whether I like it or not, I don’t remember without notes and with stupid notes I don’t remember, anyway.
On the other hand, good notes are ammo against the same mistakes. Consider them live bullets, an arsenal against future errors and similar mistakes. The bible is a book full of notes, notes prepared by God. Where would we all be if any of those men who wrote those notes just said, I don’t have time to write it, I’ll just remember it. We’ve become the audience to the entertainment of God’s church or the world. We don’t work anything out, it’s not our first choice to be interactive in fixing our problems. Instead we say, “I’m not sure I liked the pastor’s message today, or the worship leaders selection of songs.” Or forget about church, I’m reading a book called “be a millionaire in thirty days,” or “life without taxes is possible,” there is all manner of self help, nonsense and the standard stupid statement in the face of “correctness.” “I’m not doing it, period.” Bad way of looking at things. Without notes, study and fellowship we will always fall into the loving arms of failure.
2 Timothy 2:21-26 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be an implement for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
For those who love entertainment, good. I got a great book for you. It’s a “notes taken” book. The bible may be the most extensive notes taken book in the world. Notes taken by people who had no idea who would read notes. Amazing! What do those notes have to say? A lot! In the Bible, there is love, war, monsters, horrible kings, romance, evil spirits, lost people, found people, hope for the future, direction for the present, secret messages from the most high, plots to avenge, talking animals, angels, demons, burning chariots, fire from heaven, heroes of all sorts and a powerful God presiding over it all, a frighteningly powerful Almighty who tells the future precisely, tens of hundreds of thousands of years before it happens. His story, His notes, the story of “God.” Written as a living testimony from those who saw it, heard it, experienced all of it, and kept for future reference to stand against evil. The Bible, a living, breathing set of notes, written especially for you, your story inside the words, secretly placed in time, waiting to engage, revealing destiny, since the beginning of time, waiting, waiting for you, put there by Him, a map to exactly follow the magnificence of God and things promised to come to you.
Romans 15:4 ESV For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Exciting, so how should all of us take notes!! I’ve observed four ways of people taking notes. Only one of them works, but, God love us, we continue to try and do it the wrong way and wonder why we underachieve after all of our hard, work. And I do say hard work. I’ve watched people incorrectly work very hard instead of just doing it right, because it needs to be done. Here we go.
- Listen and don’t write anything down. A slippery slope if
you actually want to remember or share them in the
distant future. - Writing too many things down. I can’t listen entirely, I can’t
write entirely. - Writing quickly and rewriting an expanded version later.
Depending on your level of skill in shorthand, this can be
pretty effective. Does anybody do that? Not very many. - Listen with a recorder and write notes later. Awesome!
Anybody do that? No. I do it for you and put it up on
Revelation2221.com. How many listen, take notes?
Luke 8:39: “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.”
Your story of life with God, all of it in your notes, what is learned from God, His Word, experience, sanctification and your walk with Christ. There are fifty chapters of notes here. They represent forty years of the Rettig Corporation and hundreds of clients trying to partner with God, all with the same short comings that continue to drag any of us down, unless we fight against them and ask God for the power to do so, day by day, hour by hour. Fifty chapters of information that is tried and true, has helped many, and will help you. Supported by the scripture that help me stay the course, pull together the right way, not a theory or a generality, the right, correct way. All that information just waiting for you.
Note taking. Let’s pick a regular guy like you and me. He was a home town Pastor, just a small church, I got his notebook here on my desk. He’s not famous, nobody remembers him except a few children that are left.
His diary is over 90 years old, and is right here in front of me, it’s the only diary, there are no more and I have it. Get it? I have it and now you have the quotes that were written in it. Handed down from helping him to helping you and I bet he never thought it would be here helping anybody. He wrote the notes for himself. Here’s two quotes written by Reverend Fred Eugene Berkley.
“A boy and his kite, I feel the pull. Heaven is real, I feel the pull.”
(2nd quote) “To Those who live longer, the race is longer, more responsibility, the competition is not with others, it is with self.”
Relevant completely, nearly one hundred years later. Why? Because Fred Eugene Berkley took the time to write it down in his “Minister’s Manual”, printed in 1919, and his notes written in his own hand are here for me to read and share them with you and his kid who is on this phone call right now. You and what happens to you is more important to God than any of us can imagine.
Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. (30) But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (31) Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Someday, someone in this life will ask you: “What is your name, and are you responsible?” It’ll be something like that. Either by a partner, a friend, a grown child, or by God himself. What will many say? I’ll tell you what I would’ve said without these notes.
“I don’t know, I don’t remember.” What if Jesus were to ask, “What did I do for you, tell me what I did for you?” What would you say? What about your children, same question? WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? Would I remember without my notes? I would not, period. “I’m sorry God, ..kids, I don’t remember what God did for me.” Wrong answer.
We have copious notes and manuals on company policies, quotable self-help novels, financials that are a note taking maze of historical evidence and all of it is essentially worthless and most of our financials, are done by ourselves, without competent professionals, and are generally incorrect and yet we pour over them only when trouble surely finds us, but not a moment before and none of these things help! If you have succeeded a bankruptcy or are now working through a turnaround, without notes, you will absolutely do it again and will look in all the wrong places for the answers that will not be there.
1 Corinthians 3:2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
Place your notes in a beautiful binder and title it, “God and me.” Never! Whose got time for that? I’ll tell you what we have time for. Time to forget and all of us have a problem with remembering. With that said, can I help myself, or another who needs it, not remembering all that the Word has accomplished in my life, in my business, relationships? Unfortunately, without notes, it is quite impossible to be of assistance in truly catastrophic events, either yours or someone you know.
Ecclesiastes 4:10 For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.
You know how you want to remember a good story and you can’t, so you tell it wrong and it doesn’t sound right? Makes you crazy, right? How do you think God feels, misrepresented, misquoted? He even says write it down correctly.
Habakkuk 2:2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
That means whoever reads it runs to tell everybody. Even somebody who runs past it could read it. Make it clear, make it easy to remember. Good idea, right? Yes. Without the Bible, the devil’s lies would stand as the only testimony. What do you think the devil is going to do with the good story about what God did for you? If you don’t write it down the devil will twist it up and make it hurtful and confusing when it was beautiful and loving.
Romans 1:25 – “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
When we all stand before Jesus and He asks why didn’t you share with others what I taught you? What sadness, …when the answer is, “I guess I just forgot to write it down.”
Chapter 46 Note Taking 2026 — It is very important. Amen.
