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.
“Sooner or later we must distinguish between what we are not and what we are. We must accept the fact that we are not what we would like to be. We must cast off our false, exterior self like the cheap and showy garment that it is. We must find our real self, in all … More The Cheap and Showy Garment
People often asked Dr. Jung, “Will we make it?” referring to the cataclysm of our time. He always replied, “If enough people will do their inner work.” This soul work is the one thing that will pull us through any emergency. -Robert Johnson, Owning Your Shadow (1991)
LECTIONARY REFLECTION | HOLY CROSS | SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 John 3:13-17 I have recently been emphasizing that much Christian teaching and practice today focuses on “right doing,” while other Christian teaching and practice (e.g., Contemplative tradition) throughout the centuries has emphasized the importance of spiritual “seeing” or illumination or vision. I have been re-reading John’s … More Look and Live
SOURCE What is the Enneagram? How can the Enneagram help me? Which number on the Enneagram am I? Does the Enneagram work? The Enneagram: A (Very) Short History The Enneagram is old. It has roots in several wisdom traditions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Seven of the nine Enneagram types are associated with the “capital” … More What is the Enneagram?
“My soul, where are you? Do you hear me? I speak, I call you – are you there? I have returned, I am here again. I have shaken the dust of all the lands from my feet, and I have come to you, I am with you.” … More Journey Back to the Soul (Carl Jung)
“Midlife is the time to let go of an over dominant ego and to contemplate the deeper significance of human existence.” -Carl Jung One thing turning 40 has meant for me is coming to terms with who I really am, owning my true self regardless of what the world around me thinks or makes of … More Midlife Wisdom & the False Self
“What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?” (Mark 8:36 MSG) We are pulling up the anchor and setting sail on a new adventure at MainStreet this Fall. To shift to a more earthy metaphor, we are putting on … More Pilgrimage of the Soul
Last night I sat by my boys’ bedside and after tucking them in I said, “Let’s start something new and special called, “God Talk.” I told them I spend much of my life thinking, studying and learning about God, and I would love to ponder questions they have about God, life and the mysteries of … More Stamped & Sealed with a New Name
“Justify my soul, O God, but also from Your fountains fill my will with fire. Shine in my mind, although perhaps this means “be darkness to my experience,” but occupy my heart with Your tremendous Life. Let my eyes see nothing in the world but Your glory, and let my hands touch nothing that is … More Prayer of Thomas Merton
One of my favorites…
LECTIONARY REFLECTION | Luke 13:10-17; Psalm 71:1-6 “Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, … More Childhood Wounds
‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels . . . I was a foreigner and you did not invite me in.” The Gospel lesson in this week’s lectionary reminds us that Jesus was no lap cat savior but the roaring Lion of Judah. He came … More Welcome the Foreigner: Fiery Words from the Prince of Peace
ISAIAH 5:1-7; PS. 80:1-2, 8-19; HEB 11:37-12:1 “They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground…Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is … More Treasures New & Old
When I began a doctoral degree in New Testament context a couple years ago, I never would have guessed my thesis topic would end up focusing on the role of “Letter Writing” in spiritual formation. Well, here I am reading all kinds of ancient, medieval and contemporary letter correspondences, and really loving it! Along the way … More Letters to a Godson
LECTIONARY REFLECTION| LUKE 11:1-13 NEWS FLASH! JESUS WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN! Most people, Christians and non-Christians alike, recognize that Jesus Christ is the center of the Christian faith. Even the name of our religion – CHRISTianity – reflects the importance of Jesus Christ to us. Christians, as a group, tend to forget that Jesus was a … More Jesus-Shaped Prayer (Mike Fox)
This past year of doctoral studies for me has been focused on two related topics — 1) Slavery in the Ancient World and 2) Race & Ethnicity in the Ancient World — both with an eye to how grasping the ancient past can help better inform our Christian witness in the present day. Along the … More Racialized Religion
LECTIONARY REFLECTION | COLOSSIANS 1:1-14 This week’s New Testament lesson comes from Paul’s letter to the church at Colossae. Read full passage here. Paul does a couple things here that we can learn from and imitate. First, Paul takes the time to say thank you. Paul affirms who the Colossians are right now – “To God’s … More Two Go-To Habits (Mike Fox)
As many of you come to celebrate my 40th and enjoy the deep, soul-full, and just plain fun music of Ben Kyle and Romantica tomorrow night (July 3), I wanted to share a bit of his personal story. Here’s a letter he sent a while back sharing his dark season, and I’m grateful he’s back … More The Man Behind the Music
“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.” -RICK WARREN
by Skye Jethani Jean Vanier, the founder of the L’Arche communities who died just a few weeks ago, often used a simple metaphor to explain his ministry with the mentally handicapped. With his hands cupped he would say, “Suppose I have a wounded bird in my hands. What would happen if I closed my hands … More The Space for Growth (Skye Jethani)
LECTIONARY REFLECTION | LUKE 8:26-39 In Western society the scientific method has been the standard for separating fact from fiction, truth from lie since the 1500s. For the last 500 years, anything that can’t be demonstrated in a controlled, repeatable experiment must not be true. Religion, faith, and belief in an unseen, spiritual world has been … More Fighting Demons (Mike Fox)
I’m concerned about the strong river current of ideas we are swimming against and the polluted atmosphere created by the larger cultural narratives we are breathing in uncritically. … More Happiness or Character?
I am just going to say it. I’m going on record. Even though I may need to cash in some “man chips” in doing so, Elton John’s “Your Song” as one of my all-time favorites. Not just Top 10. Probably Top 5. I’m gonna even risk losing friends and the respect of my musical comrades … More My Favorite Love Song
This Sunday I’m preaching a Pentecost sermon on our divided world, and the need for the church to learn, speak and embody a new language. I’m reposting an old seminary essay from 2004 on the same topic. (This one is for the Bible/Theology nerds out there.) “Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just … More The Church as God’s New Language
“These men who are turning the world upside down have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” (Acts 17:6-7) I spent some years as a youth pastor in a larger established church running a big youth program … More Plotting Revolution at Jason’s House
Kingdom Harbor 