The Bible Sherpa

For those of you who just want to know who I am and what this site is really all about without any of the mountain climbing analogy stuff – here goes. My name is Kris Langham. I love God’s Word, and I love explaining it so that people can understand it. I also love working with youth. I taught  the Bible to teenagers at a great church called Refuge in Huntington Beach, CA for eight years. That’s right, I had the best job in the entire world – I was a youth pastor (ordained with Calvary Chapel). For whatever reason, God decided to give me the gift of teaching – the kind of teaching that regular people can understand. Actually, I used to be a rocket scientist (yeah, seriously). Then I taught Algebra to junior high kids. Turns out I had a knack for explaining the basic principles so that the little punks – I mean kids – really got it. Somewhere along the way my life took a turn from science and engineering. Some great preachers and teachers explained the Bible to me. Chapter by chapter they taught the Word, and it was powerful. I was floored – that book is amazing. I dedicated my life to studying it, living it, and teaching it (in that order – just like Ezra 7:10). So that’s how I became a Bible teacher. 

Fast-forward… In 2007, God moved my family to Bay St. Louis, MS – to a church plant at the heart of Hurricane Katrina recovery. Now that I’m here, I have begun work on theBibleSherpa.com, with the help of some amazing and gifted pastors and friends. We pray that this site will bless you and bring you to know God deeply through His Word. The Bible is awesome, in the truest sense of the word awesome. We are dedicated to creating guides that will help you understand the heart and soul of God’s message, one Bible chapter at a time. 

the fam

FAMILY: I am madly in love with my beautiful wife Andrea. We’ve got three awesome kids and twelve happy years of marriage goin’ for us, all thanks to the amazing grace of our good God. Ministry has always been a family thing for us, and we are all missionaries together here in South Mississippi.

PREACHIN’ AND TEACHIN’: I’ve been a speaker at youth groups, churches, camps and events for over nine years with audiences from ten to over a thousand. I enjoy every opportunity to preach the Word, and I would love to hear from any event planner looking for a speaker. Every message will be grounded in the Word and related to real life.  Click this link to get a pdf file with basic info for event planners: kris-langham-speaker-sheet. I also teach Algebra, but I don’t think that would go over well at a youth camp… maybe a marriage retreat… On second thought, let’s just forget the Algebra and stick to the Bible.

For testimonials about my writing and preaching (plus a funny story), just click this: TESTIMONIALS

To hear audio samples of my preaching, click this: AUDIOSHERPA

Anytime you’re going to let someone teach you about God or the Bible or anything important to life, it’s important for you to find out where that teacher is coming from. What are their core beliefs, their doctrine, their teaching influences, etc.? Even among those of us who claim to teach from the Bible, you get a surprising variety of teachings (surprising because a few of them downright unbiblical). If you are familiar with Calvary Chapel doctrine, what you find at the Bible Sherpa will line up with what you’ve heard there. For details, click here: STATEMENTofFAITH

To practice clicking on a word that looks like a link but doesn’t actually take you anywhere, click here: WORD

To click on a working link that takes you nowhere in particular, click this one: NOWHEREinPARTICULAR

To ignore the ranger’s advice and walk into the old abandoned mine, turn to page 74 by clicking here: ChooseYourOwnAdventure

A few notes for people who like to get picky about things…

PLEASE NOTE: TheBibleSherpa is not written by an actual Tibetan. We apologize if that comes as a disappointment to anyone. Nonetheless, we hold the Sherpa people in great respect, and we chose the name Sherpa in honor of that people’s remarkable abilities as mountain climbing guides. The use of the name Sherpa should not be construed as a reference to the Sherpa culture, religion, history or anything more than their amazingly awesome guiding capabilities. We are not attempting to be anything weird, Eastern, overly mystical, new age or whatever other strange thing you may read into the name Sherpa. Also, a Sherpa is not a goat, a piece of clothing, or a guru of some sort. Please try not to get confused. As far as mountain guides go, Sherpas rock. We hope to do the same. ( 8-D=

ALSO PLEASE NOTE: Sherpas are known as the world’s best mountain guides. However, neither I nor anyone working here at the Bible Sherpa claim to be the world’s best Bible teacher. Even if one of us was the best, claiming to be the best would be pride, and that would kill the whole thing. Anyone who provides teaching on this site will be someone who has explored the scriptures extensively, and who has dedicated himself to live according to God’s Word. Ephesians 4:11-12 tells us that God chooses some people in the church to be teachers, among other things. They’re not better or more important than anyone else – they just have a gift that God gives to some people. However, the gift is not for the teacher; it is a gift for the people of the church, so that they will be properly equipped for the work God has planned for them. Some teachers know more than others, and some disagree. Sometimes one is right, sometimes another. I’ll try to be right as often as possible, and always admit when I discover I’m wrong. In the end, God is always right, and He is truly the greatest Bible teacher in the world. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Every teacher has his teachers (and every sherpa has his sherpas). The teachers who have influenced me the most are from Calvary Chapel: Chuck Smith, Bill Welsh, Jon Courson and others. So it stands to reason that the doctrine you find here will match up with what they have taught me. However, I will strive to search the Bible for God’s message rather than simply presenting theirs or even mine. I will also work hard to find balance by listening to teachers with various points of view. In the end, I will strive to present Scripture as the highest authority.

Thanks for reading my author bio. Most people don’t bother – so I think you’re awesome!

Always in the unfailing love of Christ, 

 - Pastor Kris  ( 8-D=