bierkergaard

Kobe Bryant received his 15th Technical Foul the other night and then called the issuing ref a "Faggot." In Liberal L.A., that has caused Kobe to be the recipient of a good deal of Gay-Righters wrath. For those not schooled in basketball, Technical Fouls in the NBA are defined in this section of the NBA website (I believe Kobe was in violation of Section 5--Conduct 7e): 7) Taunting e. Cursing or blaspheming an official shall not be considered the only cause for imposing technical fouls. Running tirades, continuous criticism or griping may be sufficient cause to assess a technical. Excessive misconduct shall result in ejection from the game. Basically, acting like an ass or transgressing a rule of the game that exist to protect the sanctity of the basketball court's operation and administration. I did not know that it was possible to blaspheme another human being, ref or otherwise. Count me advised. Maybe the whistle and the stripes connote godly powers. Apparently, Dwi...

Tonight at small group, I was asked to give my testimony. It wasn't a spontaneous request. I have known of it for weeks. We are Presbyterians after all... I have been feeling at odds recently with talking about myself based on some feedback I received about a book I am writing...too much of YOU one of my reviewers said. So, I tried to dodge talking about me and pass on testimony time but the host was insistent. I didn't do much official prep. I decided to wing it, while at the same time, pondering GOD the FATHER for days. His appointing JESUS (GOD the SON) to die for us shows Him to be both fully just and fully merciful. Never trust a man who subtracts from one to add to the other. I have tended to see GOD the FATHER as the stern Lawgiver and GOD the SON as the merciful one, somehow not keeping central that the FATHER sent the SON on our behalf. GOD the HOLY SPIRIT convicts us of our sin and of truth and righteousness, and of Judgment , and so empowers us to accept JESUS. It i...

I was reminded today, by a friend's post on Facebook, that it is Thomas Jefferson's birthday. So, I had a little party on my own of watching two documentaries on him through Netflix Instant. There is much I admire about Jefferson, there is much I dislike. He is polarizing figure. Besides the owning of slaves, the second most odious character flaw was his castration of the New Testament . See my slice of his slicing. Live by the razor, die by the razor. I did learn a cool new word call Amphiboligism which means ambiguity. The arrogance of Jefferson is astounding as if he had a more accurate vantage point of Jesus after 17 centuries than Jesus's own contemporaries and colleagues. In an empirical and scientific sense, he is at a considerable disadvantage in his postulations. When my wife and I visited Monticello on our Honeymoon, the most memorable moment there --besides my downing a can of Pringles all at once (in my own version of the "Pursuit of Happiness" w...

Well, it finally happened. There was a warning, an email that I ignored. The New York Times has totally locked me out of the Application giving me access to the newspaper. At first, I had totally free access. I could run around the NY Times like a kid in a playground. Then, the locks came out one after another. I was finally allowed access to only two sections (the magazine) and the most emailed articles. That was actually fine with me as I find reading the Times to be like taking a graduate class. A lot of work. The magazine was kind of distilled writing....something that has escaped the brief Cicada news cycle and deserved more attention and deeper examination. I thought that the arrangement could go on indefinitely. I didn't think they would pull the plug. They did. I like the New York Times, but don't love it. So, when they bring the locks out, like is just not enough. It can stay locked for all I care. So there. It is not worth paying for. Do you love God's Word? Or...

I came home today to see that Scott's Lawn Service had reseeded the front yard. I can't grow grass but do well with the garden. That is like being bad at Arithmetic but great at Calculus. I have delegated lawn care permanently to a third party contractor, so I can blame some else besides myself when the lawn dies. My ego can't take the futility of failing to try to create a sustainable lush lawn. I am the Suburban Sisyphus. As far as I know, that is a Bierkergaard original...see me pushing a lawn mower up a hill? Maybe I could sell tee-shirts? Thus, because of the seeding, I figured that I needed to water said lawn, but first made dinner on the barbecue. After dinner, I decided to fire up the fire pit so Lina and I could chill outside. Then, it started to rain. And lightening. We rolled inside. The good news, I no longer had to water the yard and got to enjoy the fire pit for a spell before the downpour. I will take it! Blessings are all around. It is just a question of w...

Friday morning, I had to rush to make a bagel run for a colleague's birthday celebration in the morning. As is often the case, when I am hurrying, I was less attentive and more careless. Always trouble these two. I tried to put my vitamin jar back in the cabinet without completing its placement on the shelf. I watched it fall slow motion to the ground and then shatter on the hard tile floor in an explosion of pills and glass. I found glass shards 8 feet away from the point of impact. Real life colliding into theology once again. Read this on another blog : “Whether the stone hits the jar or the jar hits the stone, it’s bad for the jar.” Same idea. I went quickly from being ten minutes ahead to ten minutes behind. And, I felt ten minutes behind all day. I proceeded to pick up all of the glass pieces I could find and then I vacuumed the whole floor. That got me thinking about humanity being made in the "Image of God." I have always been puzzled by what the Bible means w...