bierkergaard

"The rich man takes a great deal of pains to get an estate together, and sits brooding upon it, but never has any comfort nor satisfaction in it; his projects to enrich himself by sinful courses miscarry and come to nothing. Let us therefore be wise in time--what we get to get it honestly, and what we have to use it charitably, that we may lay up in store a good foundation and be wise for eternity." M. Henry Jim Wallis in his recent book "God's Politics" asks a penetrating question. He inquires in the first paragraph of the first chapter of the book: "How did the faith of Jesus come to be known as pro-rich, pro-war, and only pro-American?" I don't fully suscribe to Wallis's perspective, but I think he raises valid points (God corrects imbalances by contrary imbalances--in this case Right and Left Wings). I am not discounting the dangers of living by the sword or nationalistic messianism, yet I think of the three, Wallis's comment about the ...

An Easter observation: I have tried to write on the Easter Story several times...trying to be succinct and profound at the same time. I keep getting bogged down...blogged down. "He is Risen" what else needs to be said?

I have been listening to the same section of Luke on CD my car going up to work for at least the last two weeks if not more. So, I have become much more familiar with Luke's Gospel. I'd like to say because it is because I wanted to delve much deeper into this part of the Bible. No, it is more due to my laziness of not wanting to have to take the CD out, put it in the casing, and put in a new Bible CD. Nonetheless, God uses my slackness for my good. I suppose it is a good sign that I am listening to the same part of the Bible over and over again rather than a stand-up routine from Larry the Cable Guy. As I have listened to the last days of Jesus, I have learned some new things. Like this: Jesus gave wine to His Disciple at the Last Supper and told them to drink it, then He broke bread, then He gave them wine again. Boy, that would really frost the legalists if we had wine twice in our Communion service (Yes, the church that I attend...evangelical...actually serves wine during Co...

It was really amusing. A kid had petitioned me to drop a course several weeks ago (a cooking class) and we approved it. I assumed he knew (I was wrong). The teacher asked me why the kid was no longer in her on-line gradebook. I said that he had dropped the class. She was like, "No he didn't, he's in my class right now. I will send him down to Guidance immediately." The kid showed up wearing his apron...a big burly 17 year old strapping young man walking down the high school halls wearing an apron on his way to the Guidance office. It is really great that amidst all the seriousness and problems in the world, that something funny happens and it is a bright moment of laughter.

Blogs are like old men...once young and vibrant and virile, full of grand ideas. Then, they slow down, start to wheeze, and hack. Soon their dead, like a bug on a car's windshield. Well, this one ain't dead yet...

Ever since breaking the picture frame glass on New Year's Day at IKEA I have been thinking through some issues. The first thing is the brokeness of the world; it is like glass. Especially, the cracked image of God in man. But, everything else is broken, too. There is a beauty yet still here but one must see the brokeness to then see the beauty. Second, I thought about how fire can remelt broken glass--or destroy it. Any self-repair with tape or glue is like "works" salvation. Makes it look worse. We don't have the skill or the tools to fix what we have broken. We can admit it is broken and that is a start. Third, that took me to the Epistle of Peter where he writes of the elements melting upon the return of Christ...melting, like glass. The glass itself is not sinful but it has been broken, like a precious gift on Christmas, by unappreciative brats. Many will remain cracked for eternity...eternally broken, "always dying, never dead" as the quote goes. The...

For about two weeks (from New Year's Day to last Monday) I was in a spiritual fever of sorts. I was all worked up, worried, and wearied. Kind of weird to be both worked up (anxious) and weary (tired) at the same time. The worst of both worlds emotionally. On Monday night, I was laying in bed sleepless going through some verses in my head like James "Count it all joy my brothers when you go through various trials" and "Lean not on your own understanding," Then God spoke, "Be still and know that I am God." I knew it was God speaking. This verse is not in my MP3 player of my mind. Stunned...the fever came to a halt and scampered away whimpering like a whupped and yelping (love this word...yelp) attack dog. He'll be back for sure. Then, in my devotional the next day, the writer essayed on Psalm 46. Yesterday, when listening to R.C. Sproul's "City of God" series (I am cutting NPR out in the morning...too much negativity that I don't ...