Are divisions Biblically necessary?

1 Corinthians 11:18-19 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.

I'm not at all suggesting that we try and create factions in the body of Christ, but rather, is it God's design that a church have a certain amount of divisions for the purpose of exposing false Christians? - Christians who may look (and even act) the part, but are not truly born again.

What do we cling to when divisions are evident among us? Where do we look for answers? Do we look solely to the Word for it's wisdom, or do we think that our wisdom and what we value, personally, has some say in the matter?

I've found it good to consider these verses.

Free Shipping

This is a pretty neat tool, if you buy much stuff from Amazon.

If you spend more than $25 on one order from Amazon, they'll give you free shipping. This website allows you to type in the dollar amount you need to spend to get your cart up to $25 and then shows you a list of things that are exactly that amount on Amazon.com

http://www.filleritem.com/

Piper and Warren

Odd bedfellows? Perhaps not as much as you'd think.

A number of people have asked about John Piper's decision to invite Rick Warren to the national "Desiring God Conference". Here is a 12 minute clip from last night's "Ask Pastor John" session where he addresses that question and explains why he thinks it will be good for Rick to come.



If you can't see the video, you can check it out here, or here.

Ron Paul: What If...

http://lrknapp99.blogspot.com/2010/03/ron-paul-what-if.html

Art of the Steal

Really intriguing article about an ingenious thief.


The plane slowed and leveled out about a mile aboveground. Up ahead, the Viennese castle glowed like a fairy tale palace. When the pilot gave the thumbs-up, Gerald Blanchard looked down, checked his parachute straps, and jumped into the darkness. He plummeted for a second, then pulled his cord, slowing to a nice descent toward the tiled roof. It was early June 1998, and the evening wind was warm. If it kept cooperating, Blanchard would touch down directly above the room that held the Koechert Diamond Pearl. He steered his parachute toward his target.

A couple of days earlier, Blanchard had appeared to be just another twentysomething on vacation with his wife and her wealthy father. The three of them were taking a six-month grand European tour: London, Rome, Barcelona, the French Riviera, Vienna. When they stopped at the Schloss Schönbrunn, the Austrian equivalent of Versailles, his father-in-law’s VIP status granted them a special preview peek at a highly prized piece from a private collection. And there it was: In a cavernous room, in an alarmed case, behind bulletproof glass, on a weight-sensitive pedestal — a delicate but dazzling 10-pointed star of diamonds fanned around one monstrous pearl. Five seconds after laying eyes on it, Blanchard knew he would try to take it...

Does Theology Really Matter??

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

http://lrknapp99.blogspot.com/2010/03/does-theology-really-matter.html

Still Face Experiment

Interesting stuff.



http://lrknapp99.blogspot.com/2010/03/still-face-experiment.html

Bibles to the Persecuted Church

This is a really cool site my cousin made me aware of. Check it out. Add your "click-a-day". :-)

http://www.thebiblesite.org/

Spend some time clicking around the site. Read about how it works, and raise your awareness of the persecuted church.