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.
I’ve caught a little Beatles fever on the 50th anniversary of the British invasion. I enjoyed the CBS Grammy tribute last night. So, I’m trying to do the ridiculous, the impossible, the utterly absurd: choosing my top Beatles songs. Here are some of my favorites — typically happy, acoustic driven numbers. Ask me tomorrow and I’ll … More My Top 11 Beatles Songs
This is a repost from a couple years ago. -JB The Christmas story is all too familiar for most Christians today. We’ve seen two dozen pageants, have basically memorized Matthew and Luke’s accounts of wise men, shepherds, overbooked inns and barnyard manger scenes. The problem with familiarity, as Dallas Willard puts it, is that “Familiarity … More Merry Parachoresis! A Christmas Reflection
What do we make of the story of the wise men following a magical star from the East to the newborn king in Bethlehem? Sound a bit far-fetched and fairytale-ish? I used to think so as well. Many deny the possibility of a supernatural explanation to begin with. This is unnecessary. If God can bring … More The Star of Bethlehem: One Theory
A while back I picked up and read a couple lesser-known Christmas reflections written by C.S. Lewis compiled in the book God In The Dock. I found his little rant called “What Christmas Means to Me,” written back in the 1950s(!), quite spot-on accurate as I nursed a stomach flu on the couch all day … More “What Christmas Means To Me” (C.S. Lewis)
In the winter of 2000 my entire life was turned around, flipped upside down and spun inside out. I was a confused, well-intentioned, yet directionless 20 year-old sophomore at Bethel College decided to open up the Book of Acts in hopes of some general inspiration. Something remarkably simple yet profoundly powerful took place that evening … More A Powerful Collision: God, Bible, Authority & Narrative 1
It seems hardly necessary to make an argument for the universally experienced suffering and injustice prevalent in the world. If pain really is God’s “megaphone to rouse a deaf world”, as C. S. Lewis argues, then the message is deafeningly clear and God might consider turning the volume down a bit. When it comes to pain … More Crucified Justice 2: A Universal Yearning
“They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained … More Chained In or Out? (Mark 5:1-5)
I miss the iMonk, Michael Spencer, whose cancer diagnosis came around Christmas in 2009. He now celebrates Christmas with the saints above and One who came down to earth to save us that first scandalous Christmas two thousand years ago. Here’s an excerpt from a classic Advent sermon by the iMonk called “The Unlikely Outreach … More iMonk: The Scandal of Christmas
Warning: If you don’t want your traditional understanding of the first Christmas challenged then do not read any further. If you are a historically minded person who loves getting the real story behind the many popular myths, then Dr. Ben Witherington, a very reputable New Testament scholar and ancient historian, corrects some of our misconceptions … More The Real Christmas Story
“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, … More JONAH 6: Prayer & Vomit (2:1-9)
“Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17). Sinking toward the bottom. Overcome by despair. Near the end of your rope. At death’s door. Holding your breath and gasping for air. Jonah’s stubborn rebellion and insistence on … More JONAH 5: In the Belly of the Fish (1:17)
“Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that … More JONAH 4: Shoot the Skunk (1:11-17)
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones … More Water in the Desert 3 – Ezekiel 37:1-14
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,[e] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of … More Water in the Desert 2 – Gen 32:22-32
“So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So … More JONAH 3: Rude Awakening & Unlikely Prophet (1:6)
“But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had … More JONAH 2: Sinking Ship & Tossing Cargo (1:4-5)
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, … More Water in the Desert 1 – Gen 28:10-22
“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went … More JONAH 1: Where are you headed? (1:1-3)
I shared the following on the Caring Bridge for our dear missionary friends whose twin premie boys are fighting for their lives in the NIC unit in Managua, Nicaragua. -JB “So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, … More An Eternal Perspective on Life & Death
…and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a still small voice.—1 Kings 19:12 “The accent in the Church today,” says Leonard Ravenhill, the English evangelist, “is not on devotion, but on commotion.” Religious extroversion has been carried to such an extreme in evangelical circles … More More Tozer on Worship
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” —Revelation 5:13 The … More QUOTABLES: Tozer on Worship
From DesiringGod.org. Initially, it may be tough to tell the difference. A gifted Bible-expositor and an entertainment-oriented preacher, with a penchant for garnishing his ideas with some Bible, may not demonstrate much disparity at first. But give it some time. And check the congregation over the long haul. It will make a world of difference. … More Preaching That’s Tethered to the Bible
Kingdom Harbor 