bierkergaard

The state of Israel is experiencing one of its worst droughts in history. A fire is presently engulfing the Mt. Carmel region of her land. Reforestation and lack of rain is a bad combination. Here is some video. As a historical parallel that is hard to dismiss as inconsequential, Mt. Carmel was the location of the "Firefight" between Elijah and Ahab, really God vs. Baal. Human actors in a divine drama (see 1 Kings 18). It is always necessary to be cautious when trying to connect the dots of the Almighty's actions to events on earth, yet the Bible is quite clear over and over again that God acts in real time in creation, not just providentially behind the scenes. If He appears to not be active, be careful in that conclusion. He is in the Fire. Recently, Lina and I watched the film Defiance about Jews in a forest fighting back against Nazi occupiers . It is based on a true story. God, in the film, is not portrayed as taking up the cause of the Jews in the sense that He ...

In a conversation with my wife the other night, she mentioned that the current hotel where she is staying in Mexico City lacks swag. On the other hand, the "W" hotel in New York City apparently has mad swag. A black girl at school the other day called me "Mad Tall" so now I am using mad as a mega-modifier. I went to the definitive Urban Dictionary to cop me a definition of swag since it is a word that we don't use much in my line of work with limited budgets, where we buy our own pens and paper to get stuff that actually works. We are swag-deprived. Here is the definition: appearance, style, or the way he or she presents themselves. The alternate definitions on Urban Dictionary get, let us say, more carnal as we descend down the page. One of the paradoxical realities of the Gospel is that Jesus, God, the epitome of authority, power, and possessions, comes to earth as a man and forgoes His swag. Philippians 2:7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he to...

The other night I was cleaning up the kitchen with Lina. She went outside to close up the grill and I continued to wash and dry the plates, pots, and the utensils. In the interim when Lina was outside, I cracked a large red Betty Crocker plastic spoon (see item on left). The clock ticked slowly... When she returned, I confessed my carelessness and expressed my sorrow. As of a couple of years ago, I might have said something along the lines of, "It is just a spoon" or "I didn't mean it" or something else less than sympathetic. Instead, I said "I am sorry" and I meant it. There can often be a strategic and tactical reason to apologize even if we don't mean it, but better in God's eyes to not pretend. Jesus was harsh on hypocrites. Best to be truly sorry. The spoon has been with Lina for over 13 years when she was 24, living in Minneapolis, and working for General Mills...all things I did not know until the spoon was broken. As such, the spoon ...