bierkergaard

It has been a rough week for anyone who has money in the market. Even more turbulent for those professionals who work in finance, like one of my brothers. During the week of "vacation" he had to drive 7 hours to the office during mid-week to help discern strategy and assist clients, and then he decided to drive another 7 hours back to Ocean City. At the beach house, CNN's minute-by-minute reporting on the wild market fluctuations created a whipsawing vibe. When the market was going up, I envied how high his cart got on the roller coaster. Now, that it is all taking a dive, I feel empathy for his predicament. I can see the stress of it all in his countenance. He works hard, tries to help investors be wise, and is not one of these creeps who finagled millions in profits at the expense of others losing billions. Woe to those Money-changers. Making rules, breaking rules. I started to get caught up in the stress of this last week, even though my livelihood and my wife...

So Bert and Ernie are just friends. Nothing more. Yet, that is quite a lot in a world where true friends can be few. This is an insightful article and one that addresses much about this recent campaign and what it tells us about our culture. We Conservatives get all jacked up about Liberal deviations from traditional morality. Yet, the best way to show the value of historically normative marriage is to not to posture from a podium, but to have a good marriage. The best way to show that two men can be true friends without it having a sexual orientation is to have such friendships. We can argue back and forth with words but we can answer definitively by example. 1 Sam 18:3 And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself.

I have been reading Moby Dick on my iPhone here at the Shore. Digital Moby Dick: It is an interesting concatenation between a classic novel decidedly set in the mid 1800's and yet timeless and 21st technology. I only have about 100 Chapters to go. The real issue is the content...not how it is delivered. I am not even sure that authors today are capable of writing like this any more. Not enough quality, knowledge, and the courageous integrity to present the biblical narrative without dilution. At least present Scripture straight. This is from Chapter 9 and is a sermon from the wayfaring preacher. "This, shipmates, this is that other lesson; and woe to that pilot of the living God who slights it. Woe to him whom this world charms from Gospel duty! Woe to him who seeks to pour oil upon the waters when God has brewed them into a gale! Woe to him who seeks to please rather than to appal! Woe to him whose good name is more to him than goodness! Woe to him who, in this worl...

I have been rooming with my Dad here at the Shore. The family configurations necessitate that this pairing happen. My Dad is the King-Kong of snoring... There is an old school Zenith clock radio on the dresser and the other night I perused the dial to see what I could find to create some white noise of sorts. I found a very soothing Christian station here in Ocean City, NJ. It is a mix of praise songs and preaching. I still am being kept awake by the sonic perturbations of my sleep arc. However, I have been very blessed by the encouragement availed to me at 3:00 am. White noise indeed. Psalm 119:148 I stay awake through the night, thinking about your promise.

There is a tenuous line in the water between riding the wave and being tossed like a rag doll. I think those in the stock market are feeling like the latter lately. The tides down here in Ocean City, NJ, are tropical storm-infused right now. More fun, more fury. Two days ago I boisterously surfed the waves. All fun and games until I got the snot knocked out of me a couple of times. The braggadocio tempered by the Tempest. It is not a particularly good feeling to know that the wave just doesn't give a damn. It throws me around indiscriminately. Nothing personal, but that is kind of the point. The sea weeps no tears. The waves measure our mettle. Probably the best thing that the waves teach me is my relative powerlessness. I think all of us stride around thinking that we can control a whole lot more than we actually do. One great wave proves that I am no Poseidon. God metes yet is not measured. Isaiah 40:12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off th...