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Jon Berglund

@jlberglund

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Bible Scholar
PhD @uniofaberdeen
Husband and Dad
Angeleno ☀️🌊

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#pch taken in Malibu, California by @jlberglund

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2 months ago

We got away to the mountains for a week before things get really busy and the weather was 👌 taken in Mammoth Lakes, California by @jlberglund

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2 months ago

“Serious believes in nothing.
It’s a nice day, what should we do?
What are you thinking?
What’s been bothering you?
What’s that you’re drinking?

Serious spreads the paper on his lap
To confirm what’s new under the sun,
Hears a tap, tap, tap
Against the windowpane.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained,
Floats up from childhood like a bit of ash,
And Serious, pausing, can almost see
His old preacher, that atom bomb of idiocy
Who every Sunday would explode.
Still, Serious thinks, there’s a truth to set you free.
But who could survive the blast?

Tap, tap, tap.”

Christian Wiman taken in Los Angeles, California by @jlberglund

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2 months ago

taken in Santa Monica,C.A. by @jlberglund

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2 months ago

I often find myself missing Scotland, especially the lochs in the Highlands. But I think I loved them so much because in part they reminded me of the lakes of the Sierra Nevadas. It’s good to be here again, even if the mountains aren’t covered with heather. taken in Convict Lake by @jlberglund

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6 months ago

We’re up in the mountains, so Easter morning meant in part reading our girls this beautiful children’s book by our friends @sarahshinauthor and @shinhappens . So let me take a moment and shamelessly promote this because it’s such a great way to talk to kids about Easter.

What I love about The Great Waking Up is not only the illustrations, which are really well thought through and drawn (I mean, every page is stunning), but the way the story reminds us that the Gospel came to a particular people in need of a particular deliverer. That makes the Bible scholar in me so happy. The good news that Jesus was raised from the dead blossomed in the arid land of Israel’s fragile hopes. When we peddle a deracinated and impersonal “gospel,” we lose contact with Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones and tears of Jesus outside Lazarus’s tomb. The Gospel means good news because there are real people crushed under the weight of life that know death in their bones and the one who promises them life has also shared in their death.

Sarah wonderfully captures all this in the life of her characters, who follow the Deliverer from the promises of the prophets, to his teachings and miracles, to the cross where the promises seem to fail, to the tomb where they are vindicated once and for all, and ultimately to the future that God holds out for all of us.

If you could use some help talking to a child about Easter, or the resurrection more generally (which we celebrate every Sunday), I highly recommend this. by @jlberglund

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6 months ago

PhDone.

It’s been a wonderful and difficult journey, and I couldn’t be more thankful. Thanks to so many of you for your support over the past 3+ years.

Shout out to my wife for all she has done over the years to help us not only survive but also thrive. Love you, @aeberglund. taken in King's College, Aberdeen by @jlberglund

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a year ago

Got my PhD viva (dissertation defense) tomorrow, so this was today’s prep… collecting my thoughts with an easy 7.5 mile walk around one of my fave spots in Eastern Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Not pictured here: the stress that’s about to hit. 🤪 taken in Loch Muick by @jlberglund

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a year ago

To the wife and mom who has carried us through a wonderful and trying season. To my companion in the hard days and long hours. To the listener of countless words. To the love that calls me back from every distraction. To the sign and the song that always point me to Christ. God gave me a good friend in you, Love. Happy birthday. ❤️ taken in Perth, Scotland by @jlberglund

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a year ago

Hadn’t caught a sunrise from a peak in a long time. I miss this. Also, I’m really grateful for my brother-in-law for walking Arthur’s Seat with me last week. taken in Arthur's Seat by @jlberglund

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2 years ago

Autumn in Scotland. 😍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 taken in Falls of Feugh by @jlberglund

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2 years ago

Back in Scotland and got out for some time to pray today about my chapter on slavery. It’s a history chapter, properly speaking, but it’s hard to be detached from this kind of history. I looked at a record of sale on papyrus for a 10 year old girl the other day. My daughter is almost 8. It wrecks me, and I’m reminded of why God wants righteousness (justice) from us. I simply can’t comprehend why people who say they know God aren’t moved by injustice.

But what’s striking me in this moment, standing in this beautiful place while thinking about slavery, is how God tangled himself up in such a horrible part of humanity at the very moment that He chose to save those oppressed by it. Some see this as an impossibility—either God must be detached or there is no God. Others a weakness—either God must not allow evil or there is no God. But in my view, there’s no loving a person without enduring with them the troubles of life—even the greatest of all troubles. What this means for theology is the question that has to be wrestled with.

What drew me, and still draws me, to God is Jesus crucified. He offered up his hands to the world and let the world penetrate his body—thorns in his head, a spearhead in his side, and nails right through his limbs. And in that very moment his blood is spilled out as a gift to this violent world. He exchanges peace for violence, goodness for evil, righteousness for sin.

I hope we’ll do right (justice) today, and I think, somehow, peace is how we’ll do it. taken in Cruden Bay by @jlberglund

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3 years ago