bierkergaard

This morning, I was reading my devotional of 365 Days of Calvin. Not exactly Max Lucado. Calvin can be tender but he can also tear like a jagged rock. I had a series of To-Dos in my head and didn't feel inclined to fetch a post-it note that was all of five feet away. So, I wrote my To-Dos on my hand. I got most of the to dos done, except for one. I want to look up the John Donne Poem of the "World's Last Night" that C.S. Lewis mentioned in today's reading....I already have my C.S. Lewis devotional waiting in the wings and occasionally I will read Lewis in addition to Calvin. Like a chaser I suppose. C.S. Lewis is smooth, Calvin can be harsh. Only 250 or so more days to go of Calvin. It puts theological hair on my chest. Not recommended for women.  In Isaiah 49:16, God says, " Behold, I have engraved you upon the palms of my hands. " That verse came to mind as I was penning my To-Dos. Quite profound, and not an accident, that Jesus's hands were p

I work as high school counselor. To some Conservatives, I am a traitor. I have heard more than one Right-Wing speaker say that we have kicked God out of the Public School. Ummm, that is impossible. God cannot be evicted from His Universe. God is in the Public School. If He were to withdraw, like a black hole, the building would implode into itself. This is not to say that there is not a crisis in the public education realm. Questions of ultimate authority have practical consequences and they are dire. "Says Who?" is so much less sturdy than "Thus saith the Lord." One is a question with an uncertain answer, the other is a definitive statement. How can we assert the second without coming across as pompous know-it-alls, more self-righteous than anything? Give yourself away, serve cheerfully, show up daily, and do your best. Remember God works through you...your words, your attitude, your actions, and your life. Love all regardless of reciprocity. It is harder than

Here is a joke: Q. How many Ph.D.'s does it take to replace a light bulb? A. One. But hundreds can write a Dissertation about it. As far as I know, that is a bierkergaard original. I changed a couple of light bulbs in the house the other day. As a Ph.D., I have empirical proof, that it only took me to do so. I feel as if I have fulfilled my masculine duty to be a fixer-upper. That is about my upper limit. Light-bulbs. Lina's Dad is an Engineer by-trade so there is no way I can compete. I could probably beat him in hoops 1-1 though, being that I am a foot taller and decades younger. The Zen  Master might surprise me. He could have a sweet three-pointer.   With the passing of Chuck Colson recently, I was searching for an analogy. When I replaced the light bulbs, I saw a similarity of the passing of a great light. Colson did much good after falling from grace due to the crimes and misdemeanors of the Nixon White House. Colson did prison time and came out of the penal syste

The Apostle Paul prayed for God to remove his thorn in the flesh. Commentators have debated what that thorn was. See this link for some ideas . I think it was Paul's eyes because he alludes to eye problems elsewhere and often does not write in his own hand. That would have to be quite frustrating for a teacher and a preacher to not be able to see well, and perhaps there was a physical pain associated with  the debility. The cadence of his words would seem to indicate physical distress. Jesus acknowledges Paul's prayer and his pain but basically says "no." Only in the modern age to do we think a "no" is not answering prayer. Not answering would be no answer, like a phone ringing endlessly, with the receiver ignoring it. A "No" answer is picking up the phone  and saying "no" to whatever the caller wants. The best law ever? The "No Call" list! Thanks be to God that He permits us to call, even with our annoying and cloying pet