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Meet Luke, my son and my light…

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Allow me to introduce you to my son, Luke Mahnke Burkhart. Tomorrow he is getting baptized, so naturally it got me reflecting on these past three amazing, joy-filled, life-changing months.

Yes, all the cliches hold true: he’s unlocked depths of love I did not know I had; I’ve had all manner of bodily fluids deposited on me with nary a care rising within me; so many things I thought were so important have faded (oh wait–there’s an election going on?).

But there’s more to this new experience than I’ve seen plastered across cards, mugs, baby books, and shirts. He’s embedded himself into my heart in a way that haunts and follows me through my day. He’s re-oriented my affections, intentions, sensitivities, and practices. He’s changed the way I see my wife, our home, and our life together.

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The Eschaton | A Kingdomtide Negroni

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Recipe

  • 1.25 oz Apple Brandy
  • .75 oz Campari
  • .5 oz Rich Sweet Vermouth
  • .5 oz Pumpkin Spice Coffee Liqueur
  • .25 tsp Allspice Dram
  • Express Orange Peel
  • Garnish: Dehydrated Apple Wheel (Optional)

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until thoroughly chilled and diluted. Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube. Express an orange peel over the top of the glass. Optionally, garnish with a dehydrated apple wheel.

* * * *

I love Kingdomtide (read more about it here). It concludes the Christian Year by focusing on the Kingdom of God, Christ’s reign over creation, what it means to live as citizens of that Kingdom, and its culmination at the end of all things (the Greek term for this age is eschaton). It’s a beautiful way to end the liturgical year.

Throughout Scripture, the harvest is a recurring image of the end of the age. So I wanted a Kingdomtide cocktail that tasted like autumn, with more going on beneath the surface. Something rich and celebratory, holding together the sweetness of harvest, the bitterness of judgment, and the warmth of a Kingdom gathering all things into its final fulfillment. And so we have the Eschaton, an autumnal Negroni variation.

The apple brandy provides the foundation. It evokes autumnal sweetness, but also brings to mind our original sin in Eden. This is joined by the bitterness of Campari, reminding us that the final harvest is also a moment of reckoning.

The rich sweet vermouth brings some balancing sweetness, but also recalls the wine at the great banquet at the consummation of God’s Kingdom. The pumpkin-spice coffee liqueur adds some darker flavors of autumn. Coffee’s cross-cultural force also makes this a fitting ingredient to celebrate Christ’s reign over all nations and peoples.

Lastly, there’s a small amount of allspice dram. Allspice is actually a single spice, but one that brings together many, many flavors into one.

The resulting drink is rich, bittersweet, and well-balanced. The apple and Campari provide a bright, fruity bitterness up front, while the coffee and sweet vermouth lend a darker, deeper character. The allspice brings brings a slight Fall spice and complexity, tying everything together.

Kingdomtide refuses to let us think of the end as merely an ending. The Christian hope is not that God will abandon this world, but that He who created it, entered into it, and redeemed it through Christ finally will bring that work to completion.

That’s the hope of the eschaton. Not simply that all things will end, but that all things will finally become what God intends them to be.

And I think that’s worth raising a glass to.

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The Mountain Still Rising | Isaiah 2.2

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In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains…
—Isaiah 2:2 (NRSVUE; full passage)

My question: is this day that is being referred to just fulfilled in Christ’s first coming or second coming? The Reformed view is at the second coming. The view I have resonated with is that this is being established in Christ’s first coming. It has been made the biggest mountain. Or rather, the foundation of it has been established and it is ever growing in this world. Once it is the biggest mountain in the world, then Christ will return and it will be done.

For more on this theme, read: Advent & Politics: The Government Is on His Shoulders.

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The War Cry Before Victory | 1 Samuel 17.20

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David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the provisions, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry.
—1 Samuel 17:20 (NRSVUE; full passage)

I wonder what a war cry sounded like back then? And either way, it’s interesting that the last note we heard about them was dismay and fear, and yet every day they’re still going out and putting forth the war cry. I suppose in a sense that is what they were doing through the Psalms while in exile, and what we do in worship services each week.

Even as the enemy taunts us and haunts us, we come out regularly and offer our war cries against its siren song, acting as if its victory is not sure even though our salvation and deliverer has not yet arrived or fully accomplished the deliverance we are anticipating.

Death and sin taunt us and cry out to us, and we cry out right back to it as if its victory is not sure. In fact, we act as if it has no actual teeth or power over us. Even as it deeply shakes us and scares us, we still put out the cosmic war cry against it as if the rules it has set are not in fact in place.

Though it has said “this is how we are going to fight and divvy up victory and defeat”, we largely ignore that and still rally our troops and put out the war cry as if new rules of engagement are at play, and our enemy does not get the final word.

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A Mediator at the Edge of the Pit | Job 33.22–30

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Their souls draw near the Pit, and their lives to those who bring death.…
—Job 33:22–28 (NRSVUE; full passage)

This here is the entire Hebrew theology of salvation in just a few sentences. This is amazing. And it also points forward to Christ. The main theme of this book is not who suffers or why they suffer. It’s not even about how to suffer well. It is to say that that is the wrong question. The book declares that life itself will take you to the pit. You will feel the weight and sting of death. Whether God sends it or life does or our own sin does is not the point. Reality is that you will need a mediator. And further, this book presents this, not as Ecclesiastes does, as a lamentable and fearful thing, but rather as joyful good news. This book somehow has the audacity to declare that our need for a mediator is actually God’s love for us and is a reason to worship Him and humble ourselves.

God indeed does all these things, twice, three times, with mortals,…
—Job 33:29–30 (NRSVUE; full passage)

Again, see the note on the previous verse. But again, this declares that we suffer and experience the pit because God wants us to know life. I would go on to say that it’s precisely in the pit that we experience life because God himself is there. The pit is woven into the fabric of God’s nature and character. Death finds its home in God. Or rather, death finds its life in God.

For more on this theme, read: Dearly Departed | A Cocktail for All Souls’ Day.

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Grieving Toward Resurrection | 1 Thessalonians 4.13–14

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But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died…
—1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 (NRSVUE; full passage)

Our hope in death is not heaven, but Christ’s resurrection. That is our hope, and without that there is no other hope that can truly sustain. Christian lament and mourning are rooted in Christ and His resurrection, even as they experience the full range and depth of human emotion.

For more on this theme, read: My Grandfather’s Passing (Hope in Death?).

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Marginalia Weekly Round-Up | October 25–29, 2026

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Sometimes Scripture challenges our assumptions with an elaborate story or an unsettling command. Other times, it’s a single sentence, a strangely worded question, or a familiar verse that suddenly feels different when we notice its surroundings.

This week’s Marginalia moves between humor, trust, doubt, and some uncomfortable questions about how we read the Bible.

The Faith of an Unplanted Field | Leviticus 25:19–22

What happens when trusting God means leaving an entire field alone?

Purple Curtains and Golden Goblets | Esther 1:6–7

Gold couches. Purple curtains. A royal banquet described with almost suspicious enthusiasm.

A Hilarious Reason Not to Gloat | Proverbs 24:17–18

Apparently, there are consequences to enjoying your enemy’s misfortune that you might not have anticipated.

The Same Question, a Different Response | Luke 1:34

Two people question an angel. One small difference—or perhaps something much deeper.

A Beloved Verse in an Uncomfortable Place | 1 Peter 2:24–25

Sometimes the hardest part of reading Scripture is discovering what surrounds the verses we love.

From the Margins

Male Headship & Societal Injustice | Esther 1:17–22

Monday’s observation notices the lavish literary portrayal of Persian royal power. This older Marginalia follows the opening scene into the king’s response to Vashti and the consequences of his court’s authority.

Elsewhere in the Archive

An Open Response to Some Atheist Friends Regarding Slavery & Biblical Ethics (Part 1)

Thursday’s note confronts the unsettling context of a beloved verse in 1 Peter. This older essay explores the larger question of biblical texts that appear to accommodate practices Christians now condemn.

A Beloved Verse in an Uncomfortable Place | 1 Peter 2.24–25

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He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
—1 Peter 2:24–25

Wow. I never noticed that this verse that’s been so precious to me for so long is actually the concluding argument of this support for slavery and for slaves staying with masters even when they are evil. Shit.

For more on this theme, read: An Open Response to Some Atheist Friends Regarding Slavery & Biblical Ethics (Part 1).

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The Same Question, a Different Response | Luke 1.34

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Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
—Luke 1:34

What?! She expresses the very same question as Zechariah. Doubt is more than skin or word deep. There is a kind of doubting that takes you further away from God, and a type of doubting that draws you closer and draws God’s favor.

For more on this theme, read: Mary: Ordained as Prophetess, Priestess, & Queen.

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A Hilarious Reason Not to Gloat | Proverbs 24.17–18

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Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble, lest the Lord see it and be displeased and turn away his anger from them.
—Proverbs 24:17–18

The logic of this is hilarious. Don’t be too happy when your enemies are being punished, or else God will stop punishing them! Maybe this is talking about justice? Or maybe it is the idea that the punishment of the wicked is in response to the suffering of the righteous, and so if you become happy when they are being punished, your suffering is therefore not continuing and there is no longer a need for the wicked to be punished? I don’t know. I am stretching a little.

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Purple Curtains and Golden Goblets | Esther 1.6–7

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There were white cotton curtains and blue hangings tied with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and colored stones. Drinks were served in golden goblets, goblets of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king.
—Esther 1:6–7

Good gracious, this introduction and these descriptions are so embellished, detailed, and over the top, that this sounds a whole lot more like a story, or a composed piece of literature, far more than an historical account.

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The Faith of an Unplanted Field | Leviticus 25.19–22

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The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live on it securely. Should you ask, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will order my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will yield a crop for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating from the old crop; until the ninth year, when its produce comes in, you shall eat the old.
—Leviticus 25:19–22

Holy crap, what a way to force people into an act of faith. There’s literally no way they could hedge their bets. A year without growing food and just trusting God to bring the yield? Wow.

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Marginalia Weekly Round-Up | October 18–22, 2026

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Some biblical passages become stranger when we notice the reactions around them: the worship, the anger, the celebration, the reassurance, and the disagreement. This week’s Marginalia follows those reactions into questions that don’t always resolve neatly.

Worship Before Deliverance | Exodus 4:30–31

Why do the Israelites worship before they’re free?

Samuel’s Unanswered Anger | 1 Samuel 15:10–11

A prophet’s sleepless night raises a question we usually skip.

Creation’s Strange Celebration | Psalm 96:11–13

The forest starts singing at the moment we least expect.

A Strange Kind of Encouragement | Isaiah 8:9–10

Three familiar words sound unexpectedly different in Isaiah’s mouth.

When the Spirit Seems to Disagree | Acts 21:12–14

A prophecy, a journey, and an unsettling question about what obedience looks like.

From the Margins

Confirm Everything, Even the Holy Spirit | Acts 13:2–3

In this older Marginalia, the early church continues fasting and praying even after the Spirit has spoken. Read alongside Thursday’s Acts passage, it raises a question about receiving spiritual guidance and discerning how to act on it.

Elsewhere in the Archive

Make Kingdomtide Great Again

Tuesday’s Psalm reflection finds creation celebrating God’s coming judgment. This older essay considers why the church might need an entire season devoted to Christ’s reign, judgment, and the renewal of creation.

When the Spirit Seems to Disagree | Acts 21.12–14

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When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, “The Lord’s will be done.”
—Acts 21:12–14

I’m so confused here. Disciples (through the Spirit) and prophets and church leaders all tell Paul not to go, and the text seems to imply they really are speaking the words of God. So what is Paul doing? And isn’t the same Spirit also encouraging him to go in the first place?

For more on this theme, read: A Brief History of Christian Thoughts on Discernment.

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A Strange Kind of Encouragement | Isaiah 8.9–10

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Take notice, you peoples, and be dismayed; listen, all you far countries; gird yourselves and be dismayed! Take counsel together, but it shall be brought to naught; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
—Isaiah 8:9–10

He is telling people to be dismayed and that all will be for naught precisely because God is with them. The tone of these verses sounds like it is trying to strengthen and encourage even as it promises judgment. And the basis for all of that is God’s presence among them.

For more on this theme, read: Advent & Hoping for God to Be With Us.

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Creation’s Strange Celebration | Psalm 96.11–13

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Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all that fills it; let the field exult and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth.
—Psalm 96:11–13

All of creation is partying and celebrating because the Lord is coming to judge.

For more on this theme, read: Make Kingdomtide Great Again.

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