Everyone, please be in prayer for our brother and his family. His 5-year-old daughter was killed in a tragic accident on Wednesday when her older brother ran over her in their driveway. Here's a link to the article in The Tennesseean.
If you've been a Christian for a while and have paid even the scantiest attention to Christian music, you have been blessed, encouraged, and challenged by Chapman's music. It's amazing to me how bonds of love and friendship can be forged with someone you've never even met.
Please pray especially for the teen-age brother who was driving the SUV. It was a complete accident (no charges are being filed) witnessed by several members of the family. My gosh, what a burden he's going to bear.
My heart breaks for Steven and his family.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Would you recommend this guy?
Watch this if you can - I could only stomach it for a few minutes. This is zen guru Ken Wilber spouting typical New Age rhetoric. Here are a few of the spiritual activities that Wilber promotes: yoga, Zen, centering prayer, kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), TM, tantra (Hindu-based sexuality), and kundalini yoga.
Why is this posted here on Pastor Kip?
I want to expose a driving force behind the Emergent Church movement. In his book Velvet Elvis (p. 192, endnote 143), Rob Bell recommends his readers set aside three months to read Wilber's book A Theory of Everything for a "mind-blowing experience".
You may remember Rob Bell from a sermon I preached on April 20th. He's the Emergent Church leader Christianity Today called, "the mystical Billy Graham".
To show how pervasive this is in evangelicalism, I recently received an email from Group Magazine promoting Bell's Nooma video series. I've had a chance to preview some of the videos, and while they are well produced, they contain some serious doctrinal errors.
By the way, doctrine is a bad word in the Emergent Church.
Now, how could a Jesus-loving, self-proclaimed evangelical like Bell recommend a blatant New-Ager? Stay tuned . . .
Monday, May 5, 2008
What is God's Grand Plan for you?
I honestly believe that we are born with an innate sense of purpose. I believe God puts into the heart of every person the knowledge that He exists and intends to have a relationship with that individual. It’s up to us to seek Him out.
So how do we go about discerning God’s will for our lives? Look at Romans 12:2:
Romans 12:2 NASB
(2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Notice the two-fold method for proving God’s will:
Do not be conformed to this world
The phrase "this world" refers to that over-all life-attitude that is contrary to the Spirit of God and is best described in 1John 2:16:
1 John 2:16 NASB
(16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Paul admonishes us to not get caught up in this worldly mindset. It’s difficult to keep one’s mind and attitude right when we are bombarded every day by sinful appeals to the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. It permeates nearly every song we listen to and every television show we watch.
So how does one keep his or her self from being conformed to the world?
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind
You see, Christianity is so much more than avoiding the wrong things; it’s about doing the right things. As you immerse yourself in the Word of God and delight in obeying His commands, your mind is renewed. You find that the sinful attractions of the world system have less and less affect on you because your mind is occupied by the things of God. In short, to change the way you live, change the way you think.
And so, in fulfillment of the promise in this verse:
as you grow in your relationship with God . . .
. . . and your mind is renewed . . .
. . . and you resist the corrupting nature of the world . . .
. . . you will have a greater understanding of His will for your life!
So how do we go about discerning God’s will for our lives? Look at Romans 12:2:
Romans 12:2 NASB
(2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Notice the two-fold method for proving God’s will:
Do not be conformed to this world
The phrase "this world" refers to that over-all life-attitude that is contrary to the Spirit of God and is best described in 1John 2:16:
1 John 2:16 NASB
(16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Paul admonishes us to not get caught up in this worldly mindset. It’s difficult to keep one’s mind and attitude right when we are bombarded every day by sinful appeals to the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. It permeates nearly every song we listen to and every television show we watch.
So how does one keep his or her self from being conformed to the world?
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind
You see, Christianity is so much more than avoiding the wrong things; it’s about doing the right things. As you immerse yourself in the Word of God and delight in obeying His commands, your mind is renewed. You find that the sinful attractions of the world system have less and less affect on you because your mind is occupied by the things of God. In short, to change the way you live, change the way you think.
And so, in fulfillment of the promise in this verse:
as you grow in your relationship with God . . .
. . . and your mind is renewed . . .
. . . and you resist the corrupting nature of the world . . .
. . . you will have a greater understanding of His will for your life!
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