bierkergaard

Acts 2:17 In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will speak what God has revealed. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Went to a showing of the documentary about The Chameleon Club the other night at Lancaster Public Library on Duke Street. The Chameleon has been a Central Pennsylvania hotbed for music, with either nationally-known bands making a stop or local bands progressing up through The Chameleon to national status. LIVE of course is the obvious example. I have so many memories of so many great shows. The original owner, Rich Ruoff, who ran the club from its inception in the mid-80's to the early 2000's and sold the club soon after cops came in and raided the place and knocked out the deejay in a case of SS tactics. He had also married and wanted to have kids and leave the 24-7 nature of running a club behind. He made an interesting comment about ...

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. Walking through Lancaster City last evening, a woman asked me how tall I was--and whether I played basketball. She was parked in her car with her mom in the front seat. 6' 8", I replied. What ensued was a very interesting conversation where one thing lead to another. Used to be I'd get a bad attitude when someone asked me about my height and basketball. A career-ending knee injury made me salty and surly. Plus, the sheer repetition of the questions. Now, having left basketball behind, and God using that to teach me lessons I needed to learn,  I walk through that open door to get to know people. Questions about height and basketball welcome. Where can you connect with others?      

Romans 13:14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. It has been ordained by the fashionistas, probably uptight and anal women designers and their allies, the male chest-shaving, Rolex-sporting, pedicure-loving metrosexuals, that cargo shorts are no longer cool. So what? I wear them because I need pockets to store my cell phone, wallet, keys, glasses w/case, and occasional bags of Square One coffee. I leave stuff behind so it is best to keep it on the body. It is a functional decision, not only a fashion decision. Two extra pockets--it is not like those shoulder pads women used to wear for image alone--guess trying to look like a linebacker.  Trying to impress people who don't even care about us and probably don't even know us. Not a whole lot different than why we don't put on Christ. Good to think ab...

Matthew 14:17 "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. Been feeling convicted to not write long posts these days. Boil down the ideas to a few thoughts. Blog Bites. Here is my following of my own advice. Typically, we have a difficult time making major changes. Reading God's word can be like this. We know we need to read it but somehow feel that 5 minutes daily is not enough. But 5 minutes with God and His Word is better than 0 minutes, because that 5 minutes is a bridge to the eternal and infuses the rest of our day, as a ray of sunlight into the dawn. Just like the miracle of the bread and fishes. A little is a lot in Jesus's hands.    

I watched all 16-20 minute episodes of David Chang's Mind of a Chef  (he's owner of Momofuku) yesterday on Netflix. Watching what he and his culinary colleagues do taught me more about cooking in one day than I have probably learned in a lifetime. This week is do what I want week without guilt as I am heading back to the Guidance kitchen next week. Read a follow-up interview with Chang this morning about how he thinks an apprenticeship model would be a much more effective and much less costly training program than going to a Culinary Arts School for 2 or 4 years. Apparently, even the best trained chefs in New York start out at $10 to $11 dollars an hour which is barely a livable wage, especially if you figure in students loan debt of 25-50K. Chang instead he advises that future Chefs consider skipping school, start off as a dishwasher, and work their way up. Get paid to learn. He notes that 90% of work in restaura...

I am trending to get up earlier, since I am back at school full-time in about 1 week. I am a morning person with some swing sleep schedule where I can get up later. Thought it would be good to blog first thing with my end of summer report. And, keeping in short. -  The Book - Publishing my book has reminded me that big tasks are almost always harder than we expect. Add to this that they will often cost you more also. Often, much more time and much more money. Estimate how much time and money you think something will cost you. Times it by a factor of 2.5. If you come out ahead, all the better. Better to have slack in the rope than strain. - Fitness - Mountain-Biking has been the highlight of my summer. When getting exercise, there are two major principles: Make it fun and do it with friends. If an activity causes more aggravation and frustration--like oh, let's say golf--find a way to get exercise without making the results so feast...

I was reminded by a few people at Church of the importance of keeping blog entries short. Maximum message, minimum words. That should be the goal to aim for as a writer. For a writer without readers is like a pastor without a church, a dog without a bone, and actor out on loan. Bloggers on the Storm...