The Rev. Dr. Jeremy Berg is the founding and lead pastor of MainStreet Covenant Church in Minnetonka Beach, MN, where he has served since 2010. He is an adjunct professor of Biblical and Theological Studies who has taught classes at Bethel University, University of Northwestern—St. Paul, North Central University, Crown College, and Solid Rock Discipleship School. Jeremy earned a doctorate in New Testament Context under Scot McKnight at Northern Seminary (Chicago). He and his wife, Kjerstin, have three kids, Peter, Isaak and Abigail.
Here is a statement from The National Association of Evangelicals that I can get behind. -JB As evangelical Christians, we are called by Jesus to love God and to love our neighbor. As citizens who follow this call, we must engage with humility, civility, intellectual rigor and honesty in the complex and contentious social issues that … More For the Health of the Nation
I went to the polling place to cast my votes, and ended up casting non-partisan prayers for all the candidates. As I stood over that ballot with pen in hand, looking at all the names and offices, tears dropped down indiscriminately on the ovals below. I turned that little space into a prayer closet and portal to the King of Kings. … More Prayers & Tears at the Poll
“O Gracious and Loving God, the ancients believed that writing is a sacred gift from you. Send me the gift of words so that I can say what must be said in a way that will cause as little pain as possible. Inspire me with your wisdom and guide my hand as I write.” ― EDWARD HAYS … More Wielding Words with Wisdom
Danny Evans is a modern-day psalmist and spoken word prophet with a message for this moment. His mission is to erase division, and awaken people to the love that can cover the multitude of societal sins that are beguiling us. … More Scandal Follows the Sandal
One of the most remarkable things about the Bible is that in it we find the narrative told from the perspective of the poor, the oppressed, the enslaved, the conquered, the occupied, the defeated. This is what makes it prophetic. We know that history is written by the winners. This is true — except in the case of the Bible it’s the opposite! … More My Problem with the Bible (Brian Zahnd)
While some people’s midlife crisis leads them to buy a motorcycle or start running marathons, my midlife crisis led me to stop chasing the fading glow of Sunday. … More Chasing the Fading Glow
“Give me liberty, or give me death!” said Patrick Henry in a famous speech in 1775 that helped ignite the American Revolution and the founding of this nation. Now in 2020, with a nation divided by ideologies and the masses unable to engage in a good natured civil dialogue, I want to yell from the rooftops a new rally cry: “Give us nuance, or give us death!” … More Give Us Nuance, or Give Us Death!
How can children of a wandering Aramean whose holy vocation is to “be a blessing to all nations” be comfortable with rhetoric so passionately America-focused? How can citizens of an “others-first” Kingdom rally around such an “us-first” platform? … More A Wandering Aramean Was My Father
Will the American church heed the Trumpet blast, or be animated instead by Trump’s twitter blasts? … More Trump’s Blasts, or the Trumpet Blast?
I discovered this poem I wrote in middle school. Was I reading Nietzsche in 7th grade, or just having a bad day? … More A Middle School Philosopher?
Lukanoff and Haidt contend that the emergence of a culture of “safetyism” has produced institutional practices that overreach in their goals of protecting children from harm. Instead, they are undermining our ability to solve important social problems. … More The Strangling of American Discourse
“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land of the so-called free. The prophets prophesy lies…and my people love it this way.” … More A Horrible & Shocking Thing Has Happened
The tell tale sign that someone has brushed up against God’s awesome presence is often this: They now walk with a spiritual limp. … More Wrestling with God
“I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we posted Christian memes and Bible verses on our Facebook page, we bashed the demons and online trolls, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking and tweeting about us on social media.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat.” -JESUS … More All Who Have Ears to Hear, Tweet This!
“Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans and Christian bumper sticker cliches and memes…Don’t paste what is holy on people’s pages who are unholy and unreceptive to spiritual things. Don’t throw your pearls and treasured convictions before social media swine! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you with their own strong opinions.” -JESUS … More Pearls Before Social Media Swine
“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister [on social media] is guilty of murder…Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister [via Twitter] and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.” -JESUS … More Jesus on Social Media
In this 4-part series we ask, “How would Jesus conduct himself on social media?” Listen to this adaptation of Jesus’ most famous teaching — Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) — applied directly to online interaction. … More Jesus on Social Media – Pt. 1
Every day we find ourselves back in Eden standing before the Tree of Temptation faced with two types of wisdom. Based on what I’m watching and reading in the media, we’ve set up a buffet line at the forbidden Tree. … More Satan’s Urinal & Forbidden Fruit
Let us seek to be a breath of fresh air with our words, not fire breathing dragons. As the wildfires burn uncontrollably across the west, we do well to ponder the fiery wisdom and warning of James on the power of the tongue. … More Don’t Fuel the Fire
“The monastery is a school of love because it teaches us to forget ambition, convenience and self-gratification in order to open our hearts to love.” … More Parenting — Domestic Monastery
Jesus offers more than a small puddle of spiritual refreshment that appears momentarily but vanishes quickly in the afternoon sun. … More When the Waters Stir
“Every step closer to my soul excites the scornful laughter of my devils, those cowardly ear-whisperers and poison-mixers.” -C. G. Jung “We are not unaware of the Devil’s schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11). In 1978, spiritual writer Richard Foster wrote: “In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep … More The Enemy of Our Soul
We live in rigid and graceless times. “Cancel culture” is the new fundamentalism, and fire and brimstone is preached from many media outlets. … More New Fundamentalism and It’s Cure
Last night my 5-year old asked, “Daddy, if Jesus lives in Heaven, and he’s going to bring us there when we die, then why did he put us on Earth at all?” … More Our Home in God, His Home in Us
Pop culture’s films and music give you the impression that love and romance is a young person’s game; but the truth is this: Love is like wine, and gets better with time. … More Better Than Wine: A Wedding Sermon
Jeremy Berg 