bierkergaard

There was an essay recently in Christianity Today   where the writer expounded on why she does not drink alcohol: She lives in an impoverished neighborhood where one of the variables of destruction is alcohol abuse. She felt that drinking alcohol in that context gave the tacit approval for abuse. She writes:  When we take Communion with our friends and neighbors, we use grape-flavored Kool-Aid as a symbol of Christ's blood, shed for us . Really...tons of sugar, artificial coloring? That's truly mendacious. A lot of Americans struggle with metabolic disorders and dietary issues such as diabetes, hypertension, heart-disease, and inflammation, by the over-consumption of sugar and simple carbohydrates. Probably even a lot of people in her 'hood. Not exactly a stumbling-free substitute. Ridiculous actually. Fork over the candy bars and soda, yo. Then, she went from there into a general commentary of how drinking Christians should avoid posting picture of beer, wine, a...

I was reminded last week of a concert by the band Aradhna , who are a syncrestic blend of Hindi musicality and Christian spirituality. The occasion for the remembrance was attending The Back Porch Fest brought to fruition by The Row House, run by my friend Tom Becker. I love the tagline of The Row House on its banner: Nothing Is Not Sacred . The Back Porch Fest was a cool musical event with a diverse line-up of bands set in a barn and bucolic farmlands. A beautiful day, even the flies fit the vibe. What would a concert set in a country scene be without the flies buzzing by? Stepping back from the Fest a bit, I thought how remarkably cool the scene was and how I really appreciated Tom's and cohorts vision in putting it on. I will return to Aradhna in a bit. Sometimes when we are too close to greatness we miss the glory. The Row House is doing cool and cutting edge stuff and Church-goers should pay it some mind. Evangelical subculture generally runs a parallel universe ...