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Showing posts from July 29, 2012

Prison Praise

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Acts 16:25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them; Paul and Silas have been unjustly beaten by the magistrate mafia. They are put in jail with feet is stocks. No way to treat out-of-towners. What would the Visitor Bureau say: "Stay & Suffer?"  It is midnight. Time to pray and praise God.  If we are not convicted by Paul and Silas' praying and praising God, I think we really are not putting ourselves in their stocks. We somehow dismiss how remarkable their attitude is in the adversity they have experienced.  The Greek word for listening conveys a careful and concentrated intent hearing. Paul and Silas' disposition is literally earth shattering, with the earthquake to follow. The world takes notice. This ain't normal.     We have to be extremely careful in assessing God's character through the conditions of our circumstances. God attributes are not subject to the &

Redemption Bacon

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Luke 15:15 And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. Ah, the smell of bacon is wafting through the air of my house. Above are the strip of glory, marinating in their fat juices. It is all I can do to restrain myself and not eat it all at once. I am planning some BLT's today, so I must resist. Actually, I will be using spinach rather than lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is useless food. Good for nothing besides sandwich spacer; no taste and nutrition. So, it shall be BST, a healthier choice on sprouted grain bread. Be wary of modern wheat. Genetic freak food.  I have a homegrown luscious tomato ready to give up itself to the cause.     When I consider bacon, the first story of the Bible that comes to me is the "Lost Son" known more commonly as the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). This lost son was as low as a Jew could go. Working for a Gentile herding pigs. A one-two groin shot of utter humiliation. A

Peace Tomatoes

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We have lived at our home for about 6 years. There is a space out back for a garden. This year I was not going to have a garden and instead let the land lay fallow. But, then I thought, "Less is More." Have a couple of tomato plants, a couple of jalapeno plants, and some herbs in pots. Leave it at that. No fencing or major growing initiative and effort. It has worked out great. With the tarp weed-blocker sheets, the garden is going well. The land is to rest every 7 years according to Old Testament law, so if we are here in the house next year, I think we will  take a Sabbath. In years past, I grew a wide array of crops, almost all of which groundhogs enjoy eating voraciously (minus tomatoes and jalapenos). So, I would fence everything in but then the groundhogs would climb the fence like a Jungle Jim or dig under it as if escaping from East Berlin in the era of Communism. I would also plant a lot of crops to give a chance for some of the plants to survive, but all it did

Carpe Diem

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I am still trying to think through my perspective on posting photos if they are not mine. I make no money on bierkergaard (shocking!) and actually am perhaps encouraging others to solicit goods and services by posting a picture. For instance, I watched the film Dead Poets Society again yesterday for the first time in years. You should too! A tragic/comic and inspirational film, based a real life teacher but a fictional tale. The big line of the film is where teacher Keating (Robin Williams) admonishes the boys when they are looking a photos of prior classes of students from eons before, the following: They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable?

A Loud Hut Turns Away Wrath

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A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger . Proverb 15:1 I was helping a buddy move he and his family's stuff yesterday. Kind of opposite of the Jefferson's moving on up, he and his were moving on down...to a sketchy part of town, not a deluxe apartment in the sky but a street level domicile. They have had some trials and tribulations and need to build anew. He will be fine but in the mean time, he is living in a meaner part of Lancaster.  He and his wife and baby girl will bring hope to the block.   As we hopped in the U-Haul after completing the move he commented that some dude was walking up the street leading an informal parade of cars of sorts. He was drinking a can of beer and not getting the way out of the cars on the road. He was pretty drunk. My buddy adjusted the U-Haul's rear-view mirror and I saw his stumbling visage. Warning, drunken men are closer than they appear. The street was narrow, only letting one care pass at a tim