The Bible Sherpa

The World’s Top Seven Love Lies:  #7 Fall In Love, Fall Out of Love

Valentine’s Day is on the way and we’re talking about love again. In honor of that noteworthy saint of old and the day that honors his name, we’re counting down the top seven lies that the world tells you about love (you may want to read the intro posted January 28). Our hope is to debunk the myths and find the nature of true love as God designed it. Our guide, as always, is the Bible. So without further ado, I give you love lie #7.

The Idea: Love is something you fall into, and sometimes fall out of. You can’t control it, it just happens to you.

Why do fools fall in love?

The Source: This idea comes in large part from the language that we use. It’s a phrase that’s been around for ages. It’s a fitting one though, because many of us have had this very experience. Finding romantic love is a rush, and the sensation is not unlike falling.  

The Verdict: Part truth, part lie. The idea is only true for one kind of love – but not for the sort of love that really counts. You can’t fall into true love, and you definitely can’t fall out of it.

The Bible:  “This is how we know what love is, Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” - 1st John 3:16

 “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but in actions and in truth.” - 1st John 3:18

The Truth: The only kind of love than you can fall into is a feeling. It’s sort of a tingly, joyful sensation; sometimes described as butterflies inside.  While the feeling of love is fantastic and surely a gift from God, it can be deceving. What’s more, it’s not what the Bible calls for. 1st John 3:18 tells us that the deceptive sort of love is all talk, “love with words or tongue.” The real thing is love “in actions and in truth.” That’s the love that you can’t just fall into and out of. It’s a choice, an action, a sacrifice. “This is how we know what love is, Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.”

The Details: I like that verse in 1st John 3:18 because it talks about a love that is “in truth.” Maybe it has a little clue about that elusive true love that we’re searching for. Let’s dig a little deeper. (more…)

Debunking the Most Common Myths about Love and Marriage

In honor of Valentine’s day, I propose a question: Do you believe in true love?

That’s a tough question for some. I guess it depends on what you mean by “true.” It also depends on what sort of love you’re talking about. For now, lets say we’re talking about the romantic sort. Is there a real deal when it comes to love and marriage?  A lot of folks would say that it just doesn’t exist. At least, they’ve never seen it in real life. They write off true love as the invention of the clever folks at the greeting card companies – or maybe the people who make those little conversation heart candies. God knows they make a pretty penny off of our silly romantic notions this time of year.  

Kris & Andrea circa 2001. Was it the real thing - or did she just love me for my hair?

On the other hand, there seems to be something inside of us that just longs for true love. We feel like there just has to be something to this idea. Why else would so many people spend their hard earned money on absurdly cheesy romantic comedies?  What are we all watching for? Are we searching for some hint of the real thing? And if we’re all searching for it, why is it so hard to find?

The Opposite of True  Perhaps the real problem is lies – love lies. If there is such a thing as true love, then it is by its very nature true. What is the enemy of truth? Lies, of course. When it comes to love, (more…)

So this site is pretty new, and those of you who happen to stop by may be wondering what you can expect to see in the future. So here’s a basic overview of the big plan. Remember, all this stuff is in the works, so be patient as we move toward setting it all up.

The goal of the Bible Sherpa website is to guide you on your expeditions through God’s Word, one book at a time, one chapter at a time. We want to help you get the heart and soul of God’s message in each chapter. It comes down to a daily plan: you read a chapter of the Bible, we help you get what it’s saying. The next day, we hit the next chapter and do it again. 

PART 1: THE BIBLE SHERPA PODCAST  To guide you on your journey, we’re planning to provide a daily podcast with a ten minute intro to the day’s chapter. It’s not a full sermon or anything like that – just a short intro that’s fun and informative to give you the big picture and help you find the heart of God’s message for you that day. Subscribe to the podcast and you’ll get your daily dose automatically. That’ll keep you going on your reading. Once you’ve listened, you can read the chapter on your own, or for more help you can download … 

PART 2: THE DAILY BIBLE GUIDE  We are busy creating pdf Bible Guides that walk you through the chapters of the Bible one at a time. They’re designed to help you understand what you’re reading by giving you background info, pointing out key verses and connecting the chapter you’re reading to the bigger picture in the Bible. Like a good Sherpa, the Bible Guide will make your journey clear by explaining prophecies, pointing out (more…)

Welcome to the Bible Sherpa blog! This is post number one, entered while  just about no one in the world knows I’m here. If you’re here and this is the only post, I must say that you are dreadfully early. How did you get here so fast? Seriously, you’re like one of those people who show up for a dinner party two hours early. The host has to pretend that he doesn’t mind at all as he vacuums around you like you’re a piece of furniture. His poor kid has to keep you entertained while dad cleans the bathrooms and you eat all the appetizers. Thanks a lot!

Okay, just kidding – you’re not really that bad. And as long as you’re here, how do you like my site? I know, there’s not much here yet. In fact, this is about it. So I’ll try to make this one worth your while (then maybe you’ll come back when I have something decent).

I still have to wonder how you got here, though. I haven’t advertised the site yet, which means that you either know me, or you somehow mysteriously decided to search for the words Bible and Sherpa at the same time. What on earth would inspire you to search for Bible Sherpa?!?! On the other hand, you might ask me what on earth would inspire me to make a Bible Sherpa blog. Good point. If you’ll just give me a couple days to get my site in order, I’ll get to that. For now, here you are and here I am, and we’ll just have to make the best of it.  Hmmmm….

Alright, I thought of something to make your stop here worthwhile. (more…)