bierkergaard

Today, when I was completing the author biographical information for my book on Book Baby, I was tempted to list Lancaster, Pa. as my hometown. But, it really ain't the case. I live in Columbia, Pa., about 8 miles West, towards the river, with the van, a la Chris Farley. Columbia has seen better days. Lancaster is more literary. Columbia is more litter. Columbia missed being the nation's capitol by a vote. Since then, like most river towns that have not developed a commerce district, it has fallen on hard times. Now, it is a town of yesterdays and no tomorrows beyond the grace of God. I like to think it is like where Jesus was from...Nazareth....can anything good come from there? Here? I have toyed around with living in Lancaster city. As far as Central Pa cities go, it is the beautiful one. York, Reading, and Harrisburg, are towns that never were and never will be. Again, unless the grace of God falls down like rain. There is not much in these places that sho...

Psalms 42:7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. I have been sleeping with my Bible on my bed for the last month. It blesses me to be close to it in the night. I have been delving a lot into the Psalms recently and have found great comfort. Psalms is one of those books in the Bible that we know but don't know. So many of our songs in the Church have their origins in the Psalms. Makes sense because many of the Psalms were written to be songs. The Psalm above (Ps. 42:7) sounds threatening, and most commentators see it that way. I disagree. God's drowning, as in Baptism, sinks sin like a wicked slave ship going to take people captive, to the bottom of the sea. No great loss there.   I love the nature settings of the Psalms....the heavens, the sun, the stars, seas, streams, mountains, all declaring the glory of God. In our McWorld that has been subdivided, concretized, franchised, laced wit...

In a continuation of yesterday's blog on the people of Nazareth dissing Jesus. "Yo' miracle man, hook me up." The Bible is pretty blunt that those in the crowd were punks. They wanted Jesus to deliver miracles as Papa John delivers pizza. And they treated him like a pizza delivery boy. I have a friend who delivers pizza. He works another job, he goes to grad school. He is just taking care of his bills. He notes that richer the people are as a rule, the fancier the house, the nicer the car, the ruder and less generous tippers they are. Asses. So, Jesus tell the crowd that they are an unappreciative bunch. He calls them out. They don't accept it. They want to toss him of a cliff like a frisbee. You know, when I was sick with a ruptured appendix, my job was to shut my mouth and submit to the Dr, Surgeon, and other medical personnel. I couldn't fix my medical emergency. So, here is Jesus, the Great Physician of Souls, telling them that they are sick and on...

Luke 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.  I was driving back from my brother's yesterday. It was initially a gray day with sparse falling snow and a cold wind that etched my soul. Since I had camped out the night before and stuck around for the Popover breakfast, I decided to miss Church. I know that not going to Church is a bad habit to fall into. However, I don't want to get legalistic about it. I was an hour and a half from home and began the long drive westward. In an attempt to resolve myself of guilt for missing Church, I searched the AM dial for a religious service. I settled upon a broadcast of a Mass from EWTN which is the Catholic version of the 700 Club. It was kind of old school because the Mass was mixing both Latin and English. I found the mystery and the clarity of it intriguing. The English w...

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. I promise, only a couple more posts about Appendix-Apocalypse. I had to not drink beer or other spirits for 21 days post-surgery. Blessedly, coffee was still OK. I limped along liquid-wise and waded through the high waters of the recuperation without being swamped by infection. Both the surgeon and the pharmacist warned that the anti-biotic Flagyl and Alcohol were highly antagonistic. Like Wives and Mother-in-Laws. Cats and Dogs. Muslims and Muslims (to be fair Christians and Christians). So, me being the obedient patient, took the Flagyl like clockwork and kept the beer in the fridge. No trying to skirt the rules. Total abstention. It was the longest time I had been beer free since my conversion to Christ where I had to totally get off the track of the drinking cycle for years to establish more moderate consum...

My brother Matt and I were shooting the breeze on Saturday and I happened to mention that the antibiotic Flagyl that I had take after my surgery had wiped out both the bad and good bacteria in my gut. There is a lot of evidence these days that the over-usage of antibiotics, particularly among children whose immune systems are still developing, can be extremely harmful. It seems to be the cause behind highly increased incidences of food allergies, asthma, and other auto-immune diseases. Too antiseptic can be bad for antibiotics kill both friend and foe. Like being naive, being sterile invites danger. Good bacteria helps digest food, fight off disease, and enhance other bodily processes. In fact, without good bacteria, we would be dead. Matt mentioned a reference to a show on Public Radio about the benefits of sauerkraut as it is fermented and high in good bacteria. I have been eating probiotic yogurt because I can tell that the good bacteria in my ...

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. I have been thinking about this verse recently and what came to mind is that Peter, the former fisherman, is alluding to the heavy and wet nets that he used to toss into the Sea of Galilee, wondering and worrying if he was going to catch anything besides weeds and floating junk. In the verse before, Peter speaks of humbling ourselves, admitting that we are weak but that God is strong. It then follows to give Him our cares for He can bear them better than us. We hand over the nets of control, all the what ifs we hold, into His mighty hands and trust. When my appendix was, unbeknown to me, in the process of rupturing, the surgeon mentioned that I definitely had appendicitis (for he did not yet know of the rupturing either) and that we had to go into surgery asap. I asked him if there was any other treatment than the removal of the appendix. My Dad had mentioned to me over Christmas--with no awareness that...