bierkergaard

Mt 16:18 "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. {Peter: this name signifies a rock}" One could say that Peter was the Church's first "rock" star. Let us start off this blog with a brief "Pop Quiz" (one of those adrenaline stoking tools in a teacher's assessment arsenal...only effective on kids who care about learning and their grade). Q. Is the Church Jesus is referring to a: A. (1) Place (2) Thing (3) People Astute students sometimes can answer a question correctly by looking at the question for clues. The fact that Jesus says that He is going to build "my church" on Peter conclusively points to "people" being the correct answer. I kind of made it easy when I left this reference in: {Peter: this name signifies a rock}" There is another specific English word that should be used for a physical lodging and gathering place (...

Yesterday, that mini-firestorm on Facebook showed the Promethean blessings and dangers of social networking "fire." Heat and light are good in proper distance and measure and location. Too much light can blind and too much heat can burn (see yesterday's blog for the play-by-play.) My fire inspection after the event, like an arsonist investigator, suggests that yesterday's conversation got destructive. It probably did not help that I called Brian McClaren and Co. (a very specific tribe within the Emergent Church nation) "lightweights"...even though I think it to be true. Cutting many of the ropes and pulling out most of the stakes of Orthodoxy will make your tent more flexible and more loose for sure...but wait until the storms hit and see what happens. The lightness of your narrative will make your tent crash and then blow away like some kite without a string. The newer generations coming up do not respond well to accusatory finger-pointing and getting take...

Hmm... There has been one of those mini-firestorms on Facebook to a posting of a friend of mine. It is a video of a theological critique of Post-Modernism and the Emergent Church. I know two of the theologians (Ravi and R.C.---like I am on a first name basis with either one of them). I had to confirm, through some brief internet investigation, that the third is Albert Mohler. Ravi and R.C. have long been favorites of mine; I come across A. Mohler's work on occasion. I don't seek him out for whatever reason. Albert Mohler does take some unnecessary shots at the dress of adherents of the Emergent Church...that was uncalled for...although it seemed to be something the audience liked...and his general train of thought about "The Ooze." We have to be exceedingly careful and compassionate about what battles we pick here...and physical dress should come somewhere below on the list of number 178 "washing behind your ears." As long as the dress is not immodest, sacr...

Acts 4:27 "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together." Back in 11th grade of high school, I had a World Cultures class with a long-term substitute teacher who had us order and read the weekly issues of Newsweek throughout the school year. I think her name was Mrs. Brown and she was a kindly soul who had the difficult task of replacing the regularly scheduled teacher. The substitute teacher...can be one of the most stressful jobs in America, especially daily subs. I think the replaced teacher was very sick...I don't really recall the details as it was about 30 years ago. Every so often I am reminded how old I really am. The big story that year in the news was the Iranian Hostage crisis where 53 Americans were held captive for 444 days by Iranian student revolutionaries inspired by the Ayatollah Khohmeni...about the most misanthropic-looking Mull...