bierkergaard

The apostle Paul called it like he saw it. Whether he was talking to the high and mighty, or the lowly and powerless, "Christ crucified for you" was his message. Like I mentioned in my last blog, this did not make Paul popular. In fact, it made him consistently unpopular and in danger for his life. But, Paul would have said, that "My life is not mine...it belongs to Christ." Paul loved people, whether they loved him back. He always remembered that once he was Christ's enemy and that God first bestowed love on him. So, he did the same. There is a reciprocity in human relationships...a quid pro quo as it were. That I often treat others, not as I want to be treated, but instead of how I am treated, is the case. If someone is respectful, I will be respectful back. Like an echo, I give back what has been given; sometimes fainter. Jesus said that there really was no merit in this. If someone is nasty to me, it is at least easy to flirt with the idea of giving it b...

Romans 3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we before laid to the charge both of Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin; (ASV) The word for better here is proechomai (pro-ekh-om-ahee). To hold oneself before others, i.e. (figuratively) to excel:--be better. The Apostle Paul, by this declaration, essentially indicts all of mankind of sin (himself included, as a Jew well-versed in the Hellenic culture). Paul never exuded self-righteousness and always included himself among the guilty. To the Jews, there were two groups of humanity: The Jews and the Non-Jews. The Jews had been given exceedingly great revelation of God throughout their history but it was not because they were intrinsically better as a group of people than any other ethnic group. They were chosen. Since Paul was writing to the Church in Rome, he specifically indicts the Greeks of sin also. In the Pagan world, then--as today--the Greek world--its language, its philosophy, its culture, was conside...

I know that I am hardly a foodie but I must pay homage to Vietnamese food. Lancaster actually kind of shines with several good to excellent Vietnamese restaurants. To be fair, there are also a couple of places that aren't too hot. There is also a decent Asian grocery store, run by Vietnamese, across from McCaskey High School. In all things Asian, we are way behind the chopstick curve, except the Vietnamese. Our Chinese, Thai, and Sushi, are far from stellar in the County (Shogun had been replaced with "Tsunami" which is a pretty sick/stupid name considering the massive tragedy just a couple of years ago). What next...a Cambodian place called Khmer Rogue? So, stick with the Vietnamese winner. It is the one horse in the race that can win outside of Lancaster/Central Pa. I do like Hong Kong Garden on 462 West of Lancaster, a Chinese place, which crushes Tony Wango-Tango's on 30. Vietnamese food is fresh, balanced, and just plain good eats. Tonight, Lina was coming back...

Paniym, (paw-neem) This word in the Hebrew means to beseech, countenance, edge, employ, endure, enquire, face, favour, fear. It is the word for prayer. I have been thinking a lot about prayer recently. Prayer to me, if I do it all, is kind of an endless loop of the same issues or sins (yup, still have an anger problem) or a PDA To-Do Prayer list of sorts where I ask God for wisdom about something, or to review what I am already doing to make sure that I am on track--a rubberstamp signature b/c I really don't want God to change what I am working on, do I? I want to get down to business and not just enjoy being in God's presence. Prayer is certainly about doing, the very act itself has doings (speaking, perhaps kneeling, bowing of the head). It also is "doing" in the sense that actions should often follow the praying (i.e. if I pray for someone to have food, I should see to it that they get fed). Yet, it is also about being; that is, "being" with God. The ...

Paniym, (paw-neem) This word in the Hebrew means to beseech, countenance, edge, employ, endure, enquire, face, favour, fear. It is the word for prayer. Paniym is used to describe the " face of the sky, the water, and the earth" in Genesis during the days of Creation. In Genesis 3:8, paniym is used when Adam and Eve, in the Garden, are hiding from the "face" or presence of God after the Fall. In Genesis 4:5, paniym describes the "countenance" of Cain falling when God did not accept his sacrifice (before Cain killed Abel). In the times of Noah, paniym is employed both to describe the wickedness of man on the "face" of the earth before the "face" of God. Truly a case of being double-faced (the all-good God and the all bad world) and not truly seeing eye to eye. In Genesis 17:1, Abraham (soon-to-be) and God literally have a face-to-face (paniym to paniym). Later, when Abraham's servant goes out to seek a wife for Isaac, the servant...

Acts 17:4 "And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. " In our "modern" age (and I do not use modern to suggest maturity or advancement in sophistication, instead I do so to connote the present day only) there is an idea that an individual can neither be for our against something and this "third place" is a logically legitimate posture. In considering this, it seems that this is the outgrowth of consumerism. Preference, or lack of preference for a service or product, suggests that all choices are defined self-preferentially according to that consumers' wants and desires. Does the Gospel permit such neutrality? No. This verse in Acts 17:4 shows that both some Jews and a good number of Greeks in Thessaloniki believed the message . In the verses that follow, it is clear that a lot of Jews and Greeks did not, and acted quite violently in their opposition. Any ...

Does anyone know where I can get a linguistic surgery, to excise a phrase from my elocutionary habits? The other day I was writing an email to Lina while she was at work and I typed 'To tell you the truth" as a way to emphasize the veracity of a statement I had composed. Then, I thought about it and added, "it is not like I don't tell you the truth anyway." So, I asked Lina to help me flag when I used this "To tell you the truth" stuff when speaking or writing because it is just stupid and redundant and sends the message that I might not be honest unless I utter these words. To tell you the truth, (there I go again) I employ this phrase more than a chain cigarette smoker goes outside to smoke at a workplace that has a no-smoking indoors policy. I almost regret telling Lina that I needed to have her help me; it is like I can't help myself and now she is flagging me every several minutes. I suggested she obtain one of those barking collars for dogs th...

I love the city of Philadelphia. I really do. Kind of in the same way I love beagles. We did a less than 24 hour "in and out" jaunt to Philly this weekend. Among the highlights: Reading Market, Monk's Belgian Brewpub, the Morning Glory breakfast joint, a Painted Bride modern dance performance Saturday night followed by an after-party close to midnight Caribbean dinner with Flying Fish brews, and perusing the Italian market Sunday morning with a delightful side visit to Whole Foods. Great! Plus, a wonderful Italian place, whose name escapes me, for a Saturday night early dinner with Lina where we enjoyed exquisite pasta dishes and good wine. Simply lovely... But, sometimes you have to say hard things to those you love. Philadelphia is one dirty, disgusting, and trash-ridden city. Everywhere we went and walked, there was trash and debris strewn about. When I worked at Glen Mills Schools as a teacher and counselor for juvenile delinquents, there used to be a saying along ...