bierkergaard

I was debating about weighing in on the Travon Martin tragedy. Wading into these waters of white vs. black has dangerous historical and contemporary undercurrents. You know when Al Sharpton comes to your town, it is now a circus. Just wish he had the same commitment of protesting black-on-black violence.  That just doesn't play as well with his narrative. Yet, I will save that blog for another day. When George Zimmerman pulled the trigger of his gun, it was the logical outworking of his aim in life. Worldviews matter. He did not have a spirit of compassion residing in his soul that night he was on Neighborhood Watch. Instead it was suspicion looking for a problem. He was in a default mode of expecting trouble and Travon became his target. Travon may have been guilty of reciprocating a spirit of distrust and anger and perhaps even violence towards Zimmerman, before his gun was pulled. As is often the case, two negatives hardly even make a positive, except in math--and the calcu

We have a mini white board on our fridge. I am a pretty absent-minded person so I use it to note things that I will forget when it happens to strike me. Oh yeah, like taking out the frozen sliced turkey lunch meat for my sandwich tomorrow so it can de-thaw. Nothing quite like sawing off a frozen block of turkey for a sandwich at 6:15 in the morning. Just thought of something. Dry Erase Markers are like Post-It Notes. Both are enough like their ink and glue siblings to do the writing and sticking functions...as well not alike, in that they are not permanent. In fact, the impermanence make them uniquely qualified for their respective roles. It was getting to the point the other day with the dry erase marker getting old and less firm in its darkness and the board itself having the swirled remnants of many notes gone by, that the writing was pretty much blending it with the dark hued back-drop. The best approach seemed to be to clean the white board with some rubbing alcohol and it

I have been reading a devotional based on the biblical commentaries of John Calvin. Do you know that he wrote a Commentary on every book of the Bible but Revelation? He isn't the only one befuddled by the book. Almost 2,000 years later (after the Apostle John wrote it) we are still screwing it up so maybe his silence was wise.   Calvin was not only a first-rate thinker, he was also quite tender and pastoral as a rule. His writings clearly extol the grace of God above all else. In that light, Calvin is among the most Christian of all historical figures. He makes Universalists looks graceless by comparison. For Calvin affirms in all of his work and preaching the reality that there is nothing humanity can do to curry God's favor but to depend on Christ. That is it.  I have been particularly impressed by Calvin's pure dependence on Scripture for his theological presuppositions. He truly was one that generally relied on the Bible to create his worldview. Yet, I read

I attend Veritas Church that meets in the City of Lancaster Sunday morning. Every week there is a time to share "In, Out, Up."   - "In" is our relationships with other Christians - "Out" is our ministry in word and deed to the world - "Up is our relationship to God and what He has been teaching us through the Bible, prayer, and the like.  The church is missionally-minded even more than the Mormons or Amway. We take the call seriously. I was getting weary of having nothing to show for my walk of faith than cancelled checks and sermon notes. I don't blame anyone else but me...  It is actually convicting every week to go through this Triangle. Like a gauntlet. It is also encouraging to hear the stories of others. So much of a church service can be pew passivity, this approach definitely encourages activity. And if not activity, really awkward silence. Really awkward silence...a shaming silence. I departed yesterday vowing t

  I was reminded of this saying the other day when I saw a car bumper had this festooned to it. Not sure where the heck festooned came from in the recesses of my mind but let's go with it.  Like most sayings, its universality raises questions. Anything positing as a Commandment must be true in every instance. Under the weight of this standard, the bumper sticker rips in half. Suppose for a moment that you are working with a menacing teenager who has threatened to kill his peers. Do you think it wise to let him continue listening to Death Metal or Gangsta Rap where the performer threatens to blow opponents' "F*cking head's off?"  Poor Liberals...reality always intrudes on their idealism. Don't give me the line that it is the parents' job to police the child's listening choices...the parenting of such kids is often the problem, or lack of parenting.  Allowing such children access to highly negatively charged musical messages is like puttin