Okay, this is a pretty big topic. I have actually been working on it for a while now. I even put together a book idea. One of my preliminary subtitles was “The Theology of Murphy’s Law.” You know the rule, if anything can go wrong, it will. The law is as widely accepted as gravity. Life is unceasingly frustrating. But what causes it? If God is in control… and if His plans for me are always good… then why is it that my plans never seem to work out?

For the record, I don’t recommend attempting to write a book about Murphy’s Law. Apparently old man Murphy declares open season on anyone fool enough to attempt to unravel the mysteries of his infamous law. The other day I called up the bank to follow up on a form that I had sent them in March. For about an hour, I was sent on a toll-free wild goose chase of 800 and 866 phone numbers and on-hold-elevator-music. “I’m sorry sir, this is the wrong department for your question. I will connect you with the refinance department. Hold please…” “Wait! I just talked to them! And they sent me to you!” Elevator music again. Too late. 

 Now I realize that this stuff happens to all of us, and it should come as no surprise (though I was a little surprised when I received two jury summons in the same month this year). What I want to know is why it happens; and I want to know where my faith in God fits in. 

Some of the frustrations are our own fault, to be sure. If you make foolish decisions, life will be more difficult. If you buy a fixer-up ‘93 Yugo, you shouldn’t expect to get to work on time every day. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the stuff that you just can’t control: traffic jams at the worst possible time; copy machines that run out of ink only on the day that important papers are due; that kind of stuff. Why does it happen, and how are we supposed to respond in faith?

So that’s my new topic. I have thought about this a great deal, and I have searched the Bible for answers. You may be surprised to find out just how much the Bible has to say about frustration. After all, we’re talking about one of the most consistent elements of life here. Our plans are constantly being foiled. Sometimes it’s big stuff, most of the time it’s just little – but whatever the case, things rarely work out the way we want them to. I am convinced that God is still in control, and that He has a very good reason for all of it. I won’t start in on any of the answers I have found just yet – but I will give you this one verse. It’s a big one, so it takes a careful read to really get it. When you do get it, a lot of life’s little perplexities begin to make more sense. Here’s the verse…

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” 

- Romans 8:20-21

Well, that’s it for today. As we continue with this topic, we’ll unravel that verse, and we’ll tackle questions like “Why does frustration bring out the worst in us?” and “How do I learn to trust God’s plans when none of my plans seem to work out?” I look forward to getting your input on this as well. Please send me your thoughts and ideas. Most importantly, send me some good frustration stories. They’re good for a laugh, and they’re even better for helping me write a good book! Until next time…

Always in the unfailing love of Christ, 

- Pastor Kris  ( 8-D=

1) I am now the senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Bay St. Louis. How exciting is that?! Sunday morning May 10th I preached my first message as the church’s pastor. I am so thankful to serve God with such amazing people in the midst of an awesome work of God’s love and power. Seriously, I love my church. Pastor Frank Griffin served faithfully with great integrity and sincere love over the past few years, and I am honored to take the baton and run the next leg of this awesome race. Thanks to all of you for caring and thanks for praying for me! If you ever find yourself in South Mississippi, come and enjoy some good old fashion southern hospitality at one of the friendliest churches you’ll find anywhere.

2) I just sent in my very first book proposal to a publishing house. Yes, it was the same week as the pastoral change. It’s been a busy week! The book is called, “Why Did God Make Life So Frustrating?” It’s about learning to trust God for His plans when yours don’t work out. In other words, it’s the theology behind Murphy’s Law. The book proposal was a pretty big undertaking, so I decided to take a break from the blog and focus my writing time on that. Now that the proposal is in, you should start to see some blog-posts on the topic of frustration pretty soon. As for the proposal itself, it is in the hands of the publisher now. Again thanks for praying for me!

3) I am still working on the chapter by chapter Bible Guides, and the podcast as well. Those are the main focus of the Bible Sherpa website, so stay tuned. The first guide that will be coming to you is Ezra. I keep you up to date as we get closer.

I guess that’s all the updates for now. I hope and pray that this finds you all well. I read all your comments so keep them coming. Your next real blog-post will be coming very soon. You’ll get the rest of the Love Lie countdown on the way, but first I want to introduce a new topic. See you soon (well, sort of).

Always in the unfailing love of Christ, 

 - Pastor Kris  ( =

The tricky business of asking for a testimonial…

So I was thinking to myself, “Hey Kris (that’s what I call myself when I’m thinking), what if someone comes to check out your website and they’ve never met you before and they just don’t know if they can trust you. You could tell them that you are someone they can trust, but that’s pretty weak – anyone could say that about himself. Why don’t you ask someone for a testimonial about you.” (A testimonial is a quote from someone who knows you, who vouches for you and basically tells people that you rock and they should buy your book or whatever).

Now this is sort of a funny business, asking for a testimonial. It’s sort of like saying, “Hey, would you say really nice things about me so I can tell everyone how awesome you think I am?” On the other hand, you folks need to know if you can trust me, and it just isn’t right to say good things about myself. After all, the Bible says,

“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips” – Proverbs 27:2

So I decided that it was an important thing to have someone else’s testimony on the website, so I decided to ask for one – trying to keep as much humility as possible (I was careful to ask only for honest testimony).  I asked Pastor Bill Welsh from Refuge – an outstanding Calvary Chapel fellowship in Huntington Beach, CA. He’s a great pastor and a good friend, and I worked with him for several years (he’s also on the radio on K-WAVE in southern California every day at 4:30 – or RefugeFM.com - check him out!).  Anyhoo – Bill was nice enough to send me back two options for testimonials I could use, and  this is the honest to goodness response that he gave. Enjoy…

“Kris Langham’s words are like verbal diamonds – gems that drip with radiant wisdom & effervescent profundity.  His writings vibrate with powerful truth that resonates with both man and beast.  I once saw a herd . . .no . . . it was a double herd of wildebeests pouring over his Ecclesiastes Bible Guide when one of them (believe it or not) speaking in a human voice with a slight Lugandan accent, exclaim “WOWIE WHY DID I NOT SEE THIS BEFORE . . . I HAVE WASTED MY EARLY YEARS WANDERING THE AFRICAN PLAINS . . . LOOKING FOR MEANING.”  He then trotted off to a far more focused life honoring God and living at peace with the Lions and crocodiles and pythons at the base of Mount Kilamanjaro.  So I would have to say . . . I AM SOLD ON KRIS LANGHAM’S DAILY BIBLE GUIDES.  And you should be too.”

or 

“Kris’s Daily Bible Guides were a huge blessing to our fellowship, providing families with common ground for the discussion of the truths of scripture.  Very practical, easy to use and Biblically sound. … And they come in 5 sensational flavors.  Get ‘em – use ‘em – share ‘em – collect ‘em – sell ‘em on ebay – send ‘em to Barak Obama.”

 - Pastor Bill Welsh of Refuge in Huntington Beach, CA                    

Thanks Bill. I think.

And thanks to the rest of you for tuning in to the Bible Sherpa! Please keep on praying for me and please share the website with your friends. Pray for the podcast as I begin recording the first episodes. Lord willing, you’ll see something in the near future!

Always in the unfailing love of Christ, 

 - Pastor Kris  ( 8-D=

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 important symbols, and connecting the chapter to related verses in other places. Most importantly, the guides will challenge you to take the message to heart, with questions aimed to help you examine your own life. In every chapter you read, there will be at least two messages for you to search for – the clear message of the text, and the deeper message that God wants to speak to your heart.  

PART 3: THE BLOG  The blog will have a little more freedom than the podcast and the Bible Guides. Sometimes it will be a great insight in a Bible chapter we’re studying; sometimes it will be ridiculous silliness (occasionally that silliness may even have a point). Other times it may be a story – something that has really challenged me in my life. I love telling stories, so if I have a good one, I’ll probably share it. Don’t worry, you won’t get a daily record of doing dishes or waiting in line at the DMV – not unless the dishes are stinkin’ hilarious one day. You may get the occasional anecdote about my kids – cuz, well, my kids are just plain funny sometimes. I may also challenge you with some bit of life or truth that I am wrestling over myself. I’ll try to make sure it’s a real thinker, and not just kid’s stuff. I may start a thread and ask you to respond, then develop it as time goes on and we all learn some life lessons and get some insights. If we’re talking about real stuff, we’ll always look to the Bible to find God’s perspective on whatever we’re dealing with. The blog should be lots of fun.

WHO’S IT FOR? The studies are for Christians who want to go deeper in their Bible study, but anyone can follow along. They’re geared for youth and young adults to really connect, but everything will be clear enough for all ages to follow. Some topics in the Bible are a little racy for kids, and we’ll warn you when those come up.

GROUPS: The Bible Guides will also make for a great guide for discipleship groups, youth groups, or families to study together. Tell your youth pastor about it and ask him what he thinks. Sometimes your church may disagree with us about some bit of doctrine or something, and it’s important for you to hear both sides so that you can make up your own mind. It’s always good to get an opinion from someone you trust, and youth pastors are pretty much the coolest people in the world . Discussing it with a group can really help too. A belief that can’t stand up to a challenge isn’t worth believing, and group discussions are great for challenging you. Members of a group can use the guides to study on their own time, then get together regularly to discuss what they got out of it. You can share what God has been speaking to you, discuss your answers to questions, and tell jokes about what a geek the podcasting guy is (totally uncool and proud of it baby). Getting together can be a powerful time, and don’t be surprised when you find that God has given you an insight that is meant for someone else’s life. He just loves to connect us together that way.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope that the few of you that have already found the site are excited about what’s ahead. Please be patient. For the next couple months you’ll probably just see the blog. I don’t want to launch the podcast until it’s ready to go and keep going strong. A bunch of the studies are ready, but only in draft form. We’re busy working on the finishing touches. Please pray for me and the folks helping out as we work on them.  Feel free to add a comment with your ideas and (hopefully) encouragement. May the Lord bless you and keep you always, and may the Holy Spirit lead you on the great adventure that is your life. 

Always in the unfailing love of Christ, 

 - Pastor Kris  ( 8-D=

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. My  little three year old girl walked into the office to ask for a snack. I’ll ask her to do a dance…

Did you like it?! Oh, no video, huh? Sorry – I must have confused blog with youtube or something. Too bad. She’s stinkin’ adorable, and she’ll totally do a snack-dance anytime she wants a snack. Your loss. I enjoyed it anyway. Okay, I have another idea…

Here’s a free tip that will totally help you in real life (the kind of thing that good blogs are made of, right?). I grabbed this excerpt from a book I’m working on about frustration (more on that later – stop rushing me already!). This is a tip for anyone who, out of necessity, must read long and boring texts. This will be especially useful for students taking tests of the SAT and ACT variety. Awful, right? Not any more. Here’s my tip…

Much of life is bound to be boring. That’s life. However, there is always something you can do about it. Laugh.

For example, if you find reading this book (or blog) to be a drudgery, might I suggest a good accent. After all, you are only reading it to yourself. Even if you can’t manage to imitate a good accent out loud, anyone can pull it off in their head. I was able to liven up a particularly monotonous four hour teachers’ exam by reading every question in proper British. Don’t believe it will work? Here – you try it with this sample test question. Pretend that you have been taking this long, boring state-required test for the last three hours. Suddenly you remember a great tip that you read in a book (or blog) somewhere! (Don’t forget – proper British for the whole question – and overdo it just for effect).

Question #54: Which of the following sentences best captures the theme of the excruciatingly tiresome bit of nonsense that you just read in the paragraph above?

a) Mister Collins feels envious of Captain Beauregard.


b) Mister Collins stole Captain Beauregard’s impressive stamp collection.

c) Mister Collins’ dream dog is a Yorkshire Terrier named Freddy.

d) Mister Collins believes that the true pioneer who brought parachute pants to the forefront of America’s fashion sensibilites was not MC Hammer, but was in fact a Yorkshire Terrier affectionately known as Captain Beauregard.

e) Mister Collins is a twit.

Now wasn’t that much better than taking a boring old test with no accent? Of course if you already have a British accent because you were born in England, that little exercise was probably not particularly amusing. However, you can always go back and try it with an Indian accent. That one is my favorite.

(Please note that I am in no way making fun of any person with an accent. On the contrary, I thoroughly enjoy listening to them. I find that people with accents bring beauty and flavor to our language, like foreign seasonings to our food. I often wish I had an accent, but I have none to speak of. Hey, that was a pun. Get it? “Speak of”… Sorry, not very funny. But try it again with a French twist and I am certain you will find it most delightful. If that doesn’t work, go Australian. That one never fails.)

Excerpted from (the currently unpublished draft version of)
FRUSTRATION! The Theology of Murphy’s Law
Learning to Trust God’s Plan When Yours Just Doesn’t Work Out
by Kris Langham
Coming soon…hopefully (You may notice that the above tip was also useful for editors at major publishing houses who have to read lots of long, boring manuscripts. See how helpful I am!  And for the folks who write the SAT, feel free to copy my question and use it in a real test.)

Okay, that’s it for blog entry number one. I hope you appreciate all the work I put into this. After all, I can’t imagine that there are more than two people in the universe who just happened to search for Bible Sherpa. So you’re pretty special. Please come back again when I have real content to add. Adios.

Always in Christ, Kris  ( 8-D=