bierkergaard

I was driving home from work feeling, well, somewhat forsaken. No details needed. On back roads I passed a sign that I see daily. It has been up for at least a couple of years. It is that verse from Hebrews "I will never leave you nor forsake you." It reminded me that often I take God's promises for granted until I life bruises me up a bit. The thousand times I have passed that sign I said "That's nice." Today, I was like, "That's necessary." Really necessary. The world fetches and forsakes in the same motion. One moment, it is "Come hither." Soon, it is like "Get lost." I am thankful that a brother or sister put up this sign in their front yard. It was a sign from God.

Today, I bid farewell to a pair of pants (why do we call it a pair? It is only one). They were getting frayed along the bottom which is apparently all the rage with blue jeans these days. Not so good when they are work Dockers. I was hoping to keep wearing them for the rest of the year as they are part of the four pant rotation with one pair pulling double-duty per week. But, it became harder and harder to see them deteriorate and not act. We spend a lot of time throwing things away. Toothpaste tubes, cartons of empty milk jugs, coffee grinds, newspapers, etc. This is a daily reminder that everything physical is passing away and we should not bind our hearts too much to such transitory material. Our hearts should not wind up in a trashcan or a recycling bin. Matthew 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

I made a comment a couple of weeks ago to a friend that one way to break down the wall between the churched and non-churched is literally to have no walls. Walls essentially serve two functions. To keep someone or something out OR in. The Communists tried to assert, for example, that the Berlin Wall was to keep the out the West. Instead, it was to imprison its own people. I am very concerned that we in the Church has all resigned ourselves to Jefferson's dictum of the "Wall of Separation between Church and State." We make offensive forays into politics or take up defensive postures in the pews. Yet, we are losing the ability to interact with non-Christians in a back and forth fashion. It is either tending to attack or retreat, while jettisoning the whole middle ground of relationship, communication, and even simply getting to know one another. And not just long enough to spring the Gospel on them like some evangelizing Jack-in-the-Box. When the New Testament writes o...

On Wednesday, a teacher and I took students to Philadelphia to visit colleges. It was a great day. When it came to dinner, I suggested a trip down to Chinatown. I loathed the idea of eating at a chain and consuming burgers and fries. I wanted my kids culinary and cultural horizons to be expanded a bit. My wife and I always go to Chinatown when in Philly to stock up on good Chinese food like roasted duck and Szechuan. Lancaster County just doesn't cut it, although there is a place--Hong Kong Garden--that is an interim which is better than most until we can get back down to Philly again. Or, my wife goes to China like she did last week. When the van parked on Arch Street I feverishly searched Yelp for an inexpensive Chinese place that was authentic but not overly so, like where the restaurant serves the heads to the bird and fish. When in Chinatown, eat where Asian people eat. If you see a joint stocked full of white people, don't enter. That is a bad sign. I located an eatery t...