Archives For Bogdan Kipko
Nothing will propel you into a deeper spiritual maturity than being a part of a community and nothing will propel you into a false sense of confidence about your level of sinfulness than being apart from a community. A community has an ability to speak into your life with biblical clarity and accuracy – in a way in which you are unable to, personally.
All ungrounded sentimentality and a seeking of spirituality collapses on days like this – because nothing can help or heal the hurting apart from Jesus Christ and His promise that He has overcome this world including devastating tribulations and senseless acts of murder.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” -Jesus (John 16:33)
Trust God in every tragedy. What should surprise us is not the presence of evil but rather that evil does not manifest itself more often.
Click here to read or listen to what I believe is a biblical and balanced commentary to the Connecticut massacre.
Here is an excerpt:
A tragedy like this cannot be answered with superficial and sentimental Christian emotivism, nor with glib dismissals of the enormity and transience of this crime. Such a tragedy calls for the most Gospel-centered Christian thinking, for the substance of biblical theology, and the solace only the full wealth of Christian conviction can provide.
In the face of such horror, we are driven again and again to the cross and resurrection of Christ, knowing that the reconciling power of God in Christ is the only adequate answer to such a depraved and diabolical power.
Last week, about twenty-five of us gathered together for an event aptly named “friendsgiving.” This was an opportunity for some close friends and team-mates in the ministry to gather for an evening of good food, fellowship and a giving of thanks. Before the holiday madness would commence, before the different families would come into town, we wanted to spend this time reflecting on the past year. It was a great setting.
Each person present was able to share with the entire group two things that they were thankful for. It is always a pleasure to hear how uniquely Jesus has been working in and through the hearts of the young people. The answers were diverse but the spirit was similar – it was a spirit of gratitude.
Last year, I wrote this post outlining one hundred things that I am thankful for. It was a fun exercise that challenged me in thinking past the regular platitudes. I read over the list. Chuckled at some things and had some good moments of nostalgia.
The bible teaches us to give thanks always and to give thanks for everything (Eph. 5:20). As I think about this, I cannot help but tether two important themes of the Christian life together: Gratitude and Worship. I am convinced that if you pursue perpetual worship, a spirit of gratitude will never leave your lips. Here is why this is the case: Continue Reading…
One of the great things about social media is that I have been able to meet so many awesome people – people that I might have otherwise never met – if it was not for the platform of blogging, facebook, twitter or instagram. These social networks make our world much smaller and we are all connected in a global village with various tribes. I love it.
Because I have been blogging and facebooking for a number of years, I sometimes forget what it means to be brand new in the social media scene. This scene can sometimes be navigated by some people in the wrong way. Two reasons for this:
- People do not really understand what social etiquette is and are innocently ignorant of it.
- People chose to be selfish by being content consumers without becoming content distributors.
If you were to ask me over coffee how you can maintain a healthy level of social media etiquette – and not stink at it, here are seven things I would say to you:
