Christianity/Theology

Tyler’s comments

/ Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

Tyler wrote the following comment in response to my last post entitled “Engagement.” For some unknown reason, it is not showing up on the site, so to respect his thoughts, I’m posting it up. Also, my next post will be based on this; especially the last full paragraph. So enjoy; and, don’t worry, once exams are over, I will put the new post on the Psychotheology blog.
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I see what you mean about the religious studies department teaching fewer Christian courses here at VCU than Eastern Religion courses, but I guess at square one is more students’ knowledge of the Bible, the basic tenets of Christianity.

Christianity may not exactly be pop culture push-out fodder, but most people in the country (and the West for that matter) are familiar with the religion around here.

This bias is not simply limited to one against your beliefs, but also the English degree’s requirement and somewhat preference for “exotic” language classes. I still have to smack on some Caribbean literature courses.

Sure, fewer professed Christians teach Christianity here. However, the goal in even the Christian classes is to study peoples’ conception of God. After all, there’s always that personal Jesus stuff: someone to be your friend, someone whose there. I ask you to consider if more often Muslims teach Islam or if Taoists teach Taoism. I know of only two exclusively Islam-teaching professors here, and one is a Muslim unorthodox enough to recieve death threats and the other is a humanist.
I do not believe in the divinity of Christ, but I believe I understand, can relate to, and by moved to action by many facets of Christian philosophy and worldview.
In reference to the other guy who posted here, Paul is an incredible orator and debator. He quite regularly makes atheists his unholy bitches on the record. He’s as committed to his faith as Stephen was, but he is smart enough to take you through an interesting dive into Judaism. His site can link you to some of the best arguments against the Bible on the face of the Earth, but the man is such an intellectual juggernaut that he builds a scaffold around the detractors, prays and then floats his way to the top.

Any publishers out there, print this guy now, if just so I can write down his points to keep track of them.

Engagement

/ Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

Just recently, I got an interesting comment in response to my new blog on “Psychotheology.” Here, I wish to engage with that comment and provide some thoughts on the matter. Marc said the following, separated into the following outline by myself for help in responding:

(1) The only place something like this would ever be taught is in a seminary school or a private christian college.
(2) I am not a religious person, but I understand how religious thinking encompases every facet of your life, this just isn’t the way to attain higher learning in a non biased place such as a public university.
(3) The psychology of religion is taught, but you can’t create a branch like the one you’re talking about, it has inherently far too many biases. A private christian school will obviously ignore these biases.
(4) If you ever do complete your book I will not read it as I already disagree with the basic premise (and don’t give me that “you’re being closed minded” crap, you wouldn’t read a book on the psychology of man’s relationship to the God Thor because you would think it was just as rediculous)
(5) but in any case I wish you the best of luck in your research and getting such a thing published.

In response to point (1), my original primary intention was not for the topic to necessarily be a course to be taught, just more of a philosophical treatise people could approach, discuss, ponder, engage with, argue with, burn, or accept as truth – whatever they so desired. But, now that you mention it, one of my passions is teaching and this would certainly be fun to teach. Of course, this works on the assumption that I am able to figure out a systematic enough of an approach that this could be done at all. If I am led to teach in the university setting, though, I don/t think I would go to a christian school or seminary. Seminaries already have courses such as “Religion as Applied to Psychology,” and “Biblical Counseling.” The only difference with mine is that I hope Psychotheology would be used more as an apologetic (defense of God) approach. I was actually thinking about this today. It seems when it comes to the discussion of God, there are three grounds on which the battle is fought: scientific (the world out there), philosophical (the world up there), and psychological (the world in us). Extensive attention has been given in the past 15 years or so to the scientific realm (one can reference the links to the side, anything by Lee Stroebel or Josh McDowell, or just ask me and I will answer it to the best of my ability). Specific attention has also been given to the philosophical realm by masterpieces such as C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity,” or the works of Soren Kierkegaard (whom I disagree with on many theological points, but nonetheless defends Christianity philosophically). I believe there has been a neglect in the area of psychological defenses of God, which I hope to attempt to fill. This defense has historically been left not to psychologists, but rather to theologians and mystics such as St. Augustine and Karl Rahner who either base all their views on subjective personal experience or by tailoring the psychological views of other famous psychologists to “fit” Christianity. I hope to wipe the slate clean of these and just start with the human mind.

2 – My first response is to wonder if there is such a thing as a “non-biased” university anywhere, secular or Christian. I know personally that my university is very, very secular, humanistic, and liberal in every way, shape, and form. In the religious studies department alone, such attention is given to “diversity” that if you add together biblical studies along with all general religion classes (such as World Religions, Ethics and Religion, and Psychology and the Religious Experience), that total would be less than than the classes dedicated to any ONE other religious studies concentration. In other words, there are more classes dedicated wholly to just Eastern Religions than there is to all Biblical Studies classes and General Religion classes COMBINED. Also, on staff, in the entire department, there are only TWO professing Christian professors actually teaching Biblical courses of any kind. The rest are taught by non-Christians. This wouldn’t be a problem except these two professors ONLY teach Christian courses. You dont find Chirstians teaching other religions as you do find other religions teaching Christianity.
Also, I do not consider myself a “religious” person either. Religion is the social construct comprised of rules, regualtions, punishments; it’s the “establishment.” I am not a part of that. I am part of the “family” that is comprised of all believers. To me, “the church” is not supposed to be a building, but a group of believing Christians, wherever they may be. Religion says, “I obey what God wants, therefore I am accepted by God.” I say (and the Bible says), “I am accepted by God, therefore I desire to obey.” Very different.
On your last point, I remember the president of the Honors Program at this University speaking to us Honors students upon my first week at University. He said the primary difference between lower education and higher education was that “lower education strives regurgitation of knowledge by the student, whereas higher education strives for creation of knowledge by the student.” That is what I am doing. Taking my life experience, knowledge (both biblical and secular), and observations and trying to create knowledge and fill a void that exists. That is higher education.

3 – The fact that ther are so many types of seminaries and “private christian schools” shows how they do not ignore these biases. That is why I put out in the open every perspective I am coming from so everyone can view my words knowing my inherent biases, and thus take them as is, not fearing any hidden agendas. Also, any introductory psych course will show you that the enitre field of psychology is reigned by bias and preference. Justr a simple matter as how one views the nature of man will affect every component of one’s psycholgical theory including therapy, training, and communication style (one need only compare Freud to Carl Rogers). No field is completely void of biases, be it science, philosophy, art, medicine, or advertising; but beside that point, when did one’s preconcieved slant suddenly mean that what one said suddenly lost all authority. If we only sought out the words of those who were free of bias we would be a very knowledgeless people – the type that would use the word “knowledgeless” for example. I strive to not put the Bible through the filter of my bias, rather, I put my bias thourgh the filter of my Bible. Believing the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, means that if I make my bias the same as the bias that the Creator of the Universe onbiovusly has, I am on pretty authoritative and sound footing.

4 – First off, as I said in response to the priginal commment, I never use the whole “you have a close mind” cop out. I’d rather actually deal with whatever the real issue is at hand and potentially get messy. And actually, I have read up on the psychology of man’s relationship to ancient gods. I actually think Thor may have been one of the examples. It was from the perspective of explainign different views on the source of religious faith, be it in God or Zeus or Thor. It showed me that all through history man has had this inherent urge to worship one outside of himself. Now, most would see this as a crutch. People are afraid to die, so they believe in an afterlife; people are afraid of a purely random universe so they construct a big guy who can control everything. But, I ask you this: assuming that a Creator-God does exist that desires to have inimate personal fellowship with humans, how would you expect the psychologies of humans to be any different? If a God did exist, would man no longer ponder an afterlife? Would man suddenly not be most fulfilled when in union with the Creator of the Universe? Would he not desire, want, and need to lean on something (or Someone) more trustworthy, consistent, and strong than themselves? To put it in the words of C.S. Lewis: “How would one know the universe was meaningless if it really had no meaning?” Just like “how would we know that there was darkenss, without some knowledge of the existence of light?” Also, the Bible says that we are crippled and dead in our sin before an Almighty God. If I am crippled, I’m going to want a crutch to lean on. Lastly, maybe – just maybe – someone’s disbelief may be just as much of a psychological crutch to them as they think my belief in God is.

5 – Thank you, and Marc, if you do read this, I’m sorry I turned such a simple comment into such an extensive “treatise” of sorts. I can assure you, I realyl didn’t “snap” or get mad and angry at the words you spoke. They were very thougth provoking and provided a good outline to present some thoughts that had been running thorugh my head. I would love to know any thoughts, refutations, insults, mockeries, witicisms, or sincerities you may have toward what little you know of me, my blogs, my thoughts, or my faith. I would love to try and answer anything you write to the best of my ability, even if it is from the motive of pure interest, with no debate required. If you don’t mind, I’ll be praying for you and also, I’m sorry for any hurt you may have endured at the hands of Christians, Christianity, or the Church. I assure you, that is not the way true Christianity is supposed to be, and I wish to offer the idea to you that the
truth of a faith can stand independently of the actions of its supposed followers.

God Bless
–paul<

Just read this

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

In my Old Testament class, we just finished a unit on the prophets. During that unit, I had the privilege of reading Hosea. Now, I did my own personal study on the minor prophets a while ago, and by far, Hosea is my favorite. I think it may well be my favorite book in the whole Bible, and this is primarily because of Chapter 2. Thus, I wish to post may favorite selections of Chapter 2. Here, God is using the metaphor of husband and wife to show the outworking of his relationship with Israel: God is the husband and his wife is Israel. When Israel worships other deities (in this case, the Baals), God considers it adultery, but when they worship him, it is consummation. This parallels to the rest of the church today, so count yourself in the reciept of these words if you have been seized upon by the gospel of God.

CONTEXT: God has just called the prophet Hosea to act out God’s feelings towards Israel by marrying a prostitute and then sending her away after she cheats on him, just as God has done with Israel it this point. Just sense the passion God has as he says these things. The following are selections from Hosea 2. For the full text, click here:

Plead with your mother, plead–
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband–
that she put away her whoring from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts.
Upon her children I will have no mercy,
because they are children of whoredom.
For their mother has played the whore;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers.”
Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns,
and I will build a wall against her,
so that she cannot find her paths.
She shall pursue her lovers
but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
but shall not find them.

Then she shall say,
‘I will go and return to my first husband,
for it was better for me then than now.’
And she did not know
that it was I who gave her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished on her silver and gold,
which they used for Baal.

Therefore I will take back
my grain in its time,
and my wine in its season,
and I will take away my wool and my flax,
which were to cover her nakedness.
Now I will uncover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
of which she said,
‘These are my wages,
which my lovers have given me.’
I will make them a forest,
and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals
when she burned offerings to them
and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry,
and went after her lovers
and forgot me, declares the LORD.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of trouble a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.

And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on those I called ‘No Mercy’,
and I will say to those called ‘Not My People’, ‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.'”

**Some punctuation and preposotions have been changed for continuity.

–paul<

Biblical Psychology

/ Paul Burkhart / 3 Comments

For anyone venturing here for the first time, the previous two posts were merely to help host pictures to put on other sites. Go further back for actual blogging.

Also, I have a new blog up. This will still be the forum for my theological and personal “rants” and dissertations, don’t worry; but I do have a blog now for my thoughts, insites, revelations, and analyses on the interaction between the Psyhcologies of Human beings and their Maker. I call this “Psychotheology” and I am in the process of formulating the sytematic approach to it to write a book on that topic. This blog is to help create that. Here is the site:

  • www.biblepsych.blogspot.com

    • Make a note, make a bookmark and enjoy. As usual, I welcome thoughts, arguments, insites, and wit from those interested enough to give it. God bless and be edified (I pray).

    –Paul<

    Wow.

    / Paul Burkhart / 4 Comments

    Has it really been that long since I posted last? To anyone that does try to venture here on some semblance of a regular basis, I apologize. There have been several things getting in the way of it:

    (1) School – Exams were recently. I found I pulled another 4.0 for the semester bringing my cumulative to 3.957. That darn single B!!!!
    (2) Work – This has been huge. Because of it, I have lost every bit of a social life, especially the Christians I still hold so close in my heart but not in my life, it seems.
    (3) God – This blog has generally been a place for me to share what God has been doing in my life. Well, one of the reasons I haven’t been posting is that God hasn’t been doing too much. Or rather, I haven’t been looking, I suppose, or doing my duty and discipline.

    I’m having another spiritual slump, but it’s just more like weakness. I’m not steeped in sin over my head, or anything. It’s strange; God’s doing His part. He’s using me, moving me, working through me, even in spite of my lack of fellowship with him right now. I’m struggling a lot with doubt. A lot. I keep asking God for signs. I did always think this was wrong, until I looked thorugh John. MOst everybody in the book of John did not believe until, or only believed as a result of, a “sign” that Jesus did, so God has been telling me, I think, “dude, try Me.” I’ve told God, that I’m going to continue being faithful no matter what – no matter how crazy I think this all may be, no matter how rationalistic my mind starts becoming, no matter how much my faith dwindles, I WILL NOT stop just doing my duty and trusting God to pull through. I can’t. God has certainly seized me to the point that I am in His hand, and though He may give me up to periods of sin and faithlessness, I know He will never let me go. I am forever at his disposal to do with as he pleases. And he is.

    You know what? This reminds me of the story of the Prodigal Son, or rather, the more accurate title should be the story of the Older Son. The MAIN point of that story is when Jesus looks over and uses it to tell the Pharisees (who were complaining about Jesus hanging out with sinners) the same thing the Father told his jealous oler son, “All that I have is yours! You could have been rejoicing and partying it up this entire time because you were here! And now, because you decided not to partake in my joy then of knowing you, you complain now that the sinner that has been forgiven IS taking advantage of it!”

    I feel like the older son/pharisees. God has designed the Christian life to be simple: a reciprocal relationship where God’s ultimate joy is our ultimate joy and our ultimate joy is God’s ultimate joy. It’s kind of strange though, that as I stated above, God is working through me to HIS good pleasure. That means He is still working His will in and through me to His joy while I’m miserable. He keeps telling me, “Paul! Wake up, I’m having a party working in and though you! Come, partake in that with me and fellowship with me!” He is like the ghost of Christmas present: “Come and know me better, man!” That was a great random allusion.

    Can it be that there is this huge storehouse of joy, satisfaction, and contentment just a bible page away? How foolish am I to wallow in the death, destruction, and melancholy of the flesh and world when God Himself holds his hand out to me in love, kindness, power, mercy, and grace, wanting only to share His joy with me, for “His joy is me strength.” Paul, Paul, Paul. At this point in your life when you NEED to be as intimate with God as possible, why do you resist like the foolish human you are? Take hold of the grace allotted to you, and rise up and be the man of God you were meant to be!!!

    I shall end with the prayer I wrote in response to a meditation by John Piper about truly “loving” God:

    “God,
    I fear, I know I love you not as I should – as I need to. My zeal and dedication are there – and always with me. but love? Do I love thee with a fervor which compels my heart and mind and hands and soul and spirit to do only that which glorifies you? Frankly, no. What fear is it that binds my life in this seemingly stagnant state? Fear of being disappointed/disappointing to you and by you. There. I said it. Fan into flame the gift passed down to me from you. I feel you doing it. Continue doing it and make it hurt – to your glory and my joy be all things. I love you”

    –<

    A Portrait of the Artist as God

    / Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

    Summer is over. The autumn rains
    Have descended like tears from an invisible god.
    I lie on this rock, the ringing of the isle’s name
    drips off my ear
    along with the stampede of water rushing
    rushing through the silence

    Clothed with beauty,
    I began to understand,
    The source of Jupiter-Zeus
    And begin to form my own mythology
    Within the realm of reality

    I see the personality of the wind
    The fright of the trees
    the whispers of the water
    The art of the sky the song of nature
    My altar erected;
    I now understand

    My heart in one accord, in that which I was made for
    Worship of somethings someone anything
    never nothing
    In hopes of finding joy.

    But,
    As I lie in the midst of beauty’s nature’s beauty
    I grow sad because:
    For although they knew him,
    they did not honor him as such
    or give thanks to him,
    but they became futile in their thinking,
    and their foolish hearts were darkened.

    Claiming to be wise,
    they became fools,
    and exchanged the glory of the immortal for images
    resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

    Because they exchanged the truth about him for a lie
    and worshiped and served the creation rather than
    the Creator.

    And I am no different.

    thoughts as I sit under the skylight of my bedroom and it rains . . .

    / Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

    God is a strange dude.

    He is working something so deep within me, and it hurts so much, but I can’t see what He’s doing. I’ve never experienced this before, be it directly, or vicariously through someone else. It’s like a churning and burning deep deep within me and I can only see the fruits of it occasionally blip up into the natural world. I kinda see one’s relationship with God as a series of stairsteps; as you mature spiritually, you ascend the steps. I feel like right now, God has brought me to a step that is very tall and not as tall as any I have encountered before. In short, God is putting me through a spiritual maturation process that is so vital and so extensive, he has had to take it into His own hands. Does that make sense? (I’m sure it does to all of you good ol’ Charismatic Calvinists out there)

    In any case, whenever God is doing something like this in one’s life, Satan takes this as a chance to bring upon someone His greatest attacks. Thus, this has resulted in making me once more what I seem to be more often than I would like to be: broken, weak, attacked, and (in a word) “unspiritual.” Now, don’t worry, I am not falling into that victim mindset that so many of us fall into. After that night at Church hill (see May 30, 2005 post “just read”), I don’t think I could ever feel so victimized by God and/or Satan as way too many Christians usually do. The American church seems to live in a world that thinks Satan is sovereign and God is fighting a losing battle! Most Christians wouldn’t actually say they believe this, but their actions (and their eschatology) scream this. There is NO condemnation in Christ. One truth that is very comforting but hard to accept that I’ve been dealing with a lot recently is the truth that upon accepting Christ into your life, you are both as close to and far away from God as you will ever be. If our “closeness” to God was based at all upon our actions, it would remove the necessity for his grace at all. I’ve said this before, but we as Christians no linger preach salvation by works, but we are obsessed by sanctification by works. Both are lies of the devil. They are BOTH workings of Christ and Christ alone, not contingent upon our actions, positive OR negative. I see so many people falling into this vicious cycle over and over again of condemnation, stumbling, failure, condemnation, stumbling, and so on and so forth. The issue is we still think it’s a work of our own. Sure we have a responsibility, but the power and ability to make us into Christ’s image falls on God, not us. He “molds us,” and “purges us,” and “causes us to walk in His statutes.”

    The issue is Lordship; how much we accept the sovereignty, power, and authority of God in our lives so that He can mold us as he pleases. All we need to do is submit, and allow Him to work by staying in the Word, in worship, and in fellowship with other believers. If we focus on GOD, not our sin, HE does everything else. As stated above, the real issue is Lordship. In that case, I have arrived at my small little platform for the evening. I am convinced the primary reason we struggle with Lordship is that we think we began the process of it. A couple of unfortunate cliches show this:

    “I made Jesus Lord of my life”
    — Really? I am sure He appreciates YOU making HIM Lord over something as if it wasn’t His in the first place.

    “I found Jesus”
    — Really? He was lost?

    “Make a decision for Jesus Christ today”
    — 1 Corinthians 2:14; “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

    We (before salvation) are not ABLE to choose to accept the things of God, including salvation. There must be an effectual change by God in our very wills that causes us to draw near to Him and accept His word which will then build faith within us. If you followed what I said, then you will see the great mystery of this: HE affects our wills to give us the ability to choose that which we could not choose before, but the very work that he does to give us the ability to choose compels us in such a way to choose Him, there is no way a human being can not choose him if He has worked upon them in this way.

    On my last little note, This one truth, though I only spent a short time backing it up and explaining it is the foundation to all things in Scripture. Upon being asked his name, God said that his name was “Yahweh, the Lord” (Exodus 3). Of all his attributes, that which he chose to present as His proper personal name was that of LORD. This should not discourage but rather encourage us. The very fact that He is in Lordship over all things should be the one rock upon we which we build all other things. When we realize salvation, sanctification, evangelism, discipleship, worship, spiritual disciplines, etc. are all nothing more than the natural outflow of our extended realization of Christ’s Lordship in our lives, it makes the Christian life so much more confident, stable, and victorious. So here is my advice to all of broken, bereaved, downtrodden, weak brothers and sisters out there:

    Focus on God, not your sin, and He will take care of the rest. We have the victory over every kind of sin and evil power on this earth, we just need to realize and take a hold of it. The fact that “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to [Jesus]” (Matthew 28:18) is the realization that will set us free to do his will and finally get out minds and focuses off of ourselves and on where Christ commissioned them to be: on the world and the nations therein. So, let’s come together, body of Christ, in unity and power to set the nations free and stop worrying about our own little bit of sanctification, because we are as close to God now as we will ever be.

    “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming our Lord Jesus Christ. he who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

    “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” – Jude 24-25

    God Bless as always,

    –Paul<

    p.s. – I will expound on the events that transpired this evening that brought about these musings at a later time, for neither the length of this post nor the time allow me to do so at this time.

    p.p.s. – I must say, squeezable jelly is one of the greatest inventions ever, but the grape is too runny, and the strawberry is not runny enough.

    p.p.p.s. – “Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:26. hey, you can’t argue with the word of God.

    Mem’ries from beside the Water-bed

    / Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

    Crumpled bed sheets, crumpled life
    Crumpled woman upon the floor
    Another night, another fight
    Her son standing at her door
    Numb and tingling all at the same moment.

    Sobs and sucks of a snot stuffed nose
    Invites the child inside . . .
    To hold her, to love her, when no one else does.
    He can’t even look at her when she cries.

    The tears of mama are salt in the wound
    of his seven or so years of life.
    The smell of her Revlon-colored hair
    Recalls the essence of the source of her pain:

    Quote “marriage” to this weak quote “man”
    Takes happiness from her grasp
    The half-cocked smile of this half-cocked man
    Turns the knife . . .
    ever so slightly. . .

    What comes to mind upon first entrance
    of his face into my thoughts?

    A reed swaying in the breeze
    Dead chaff moving with the forces around it
    Weakness, passivity, and pissed-off pessimism
    Define that which I call “daddy” and what she calls “pain.”

    Sometimes God Doesn’t Just Manifest Himself as a White-Bearded Guy in a Robe Bowling During Thunderstorms

    / Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

    Church Hill – no where else, God only above;
    His warm arms hold me, His right hand leads me –
    into peace and security and satisfaction and joy.
    The personification and perfection of what is meant by
    Home, what is meant by security, meant by hope, sustenance.
    I feel His hands on my heart, my life, my strife,
    Everything.
    His warm arms surround every part of me.

    But does the child have that?

    In the Big Easy now the Big Difficult,
    Can the arms of mama make the world a better place?
    Will the waters recede at her touch? Only that
    Which flows from his eyes can, will she brush away
    With gentle tender arms, to
    Soothe her sobbing son’s visage: blood-
    Shot eyes peering from the black around.
    Hunger pains. Hunger for Home, Security, Hope, Food.

    Where are the arms of God there
    that hold me so close and dear on my Church Hill of Calvary?

    The arms of God are there in fact,

    with dark, bruised skin,
    a single shirt,
    mud-caked legs,
    tear-stained eyes,
    and pain-shod memories.

    He is there.

    In fact, in a more real way than on that Hill of Church;
    He is in every kiss of nappy head and ashy skin.
    Indeed, both on Church Hill and in those waters,

    there are truly just one set of footprints this day . . .

    “On Fuel & Family, and the Costs Thereof” (a poem)

    / Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

    The cell burns from within the pocket
    As the needle caresses the crimson “E.”
    Justice questioned of the Almighty God
    Over inevitability.

    Car slows down, it’s time again
    To press the speed dial “8;”
    Re-bridging two worlds, renewing the scab-
    Mom thinks all too late.

    The red of the nylon vivid in hue
    Tied to the basement rafter;
    The blue of the note written on the washer
    Heralding the hereafter;

    The white of the face of dear old dad
    Before kicking the chair from under him;
    The brown of the sheriff ,came just in time,
    To ring the bell and blunder him.

    The images haunt the every thought
    As gas necessitates the call
    $2, $2.07, $2.75, $3
    Causes this one to fall

    Back to memories of screams and fights,
    Of baseball bats and tears.
    OPEC forces one still a child
    To confront his darkest years

    First once a month, then once a week,
    Now once every couple of days.
    Mileage doesn’t mean so much
    anymore. . . .

    Crude incites cruel making distance hit home

    The sins of the father.
    Justification.
    All he’s good at – selfish ways.
    Never really seeking the God of this earth
    The only thing to save him.

    Laying down a family at the altar of his god:
    His excuse, his past, his illness, his, his his
    Never hers
    When she’s deserved it all.

    One desires not to talk about it, one never does. Living away, detached from the reality, still hurting.

    Pain. Pain. Pain. Tears of pain, fulfilling a role one never meant to fulfill:
    surrogate husband to a broken mother.

    Making a man of the child but still hurting her in the process.
    Just . . . don’t . . . know . . .

    Satisfaction and faith in Almighty God
    Restores order to it all.
    My only real Daddy in this entire world,
    No matter “what” I have to call.

    One strange paradox defining my world:
    Joy, satisfaction, abundant life!!
    Amidst all the pain of family hurt –
    The constant signs of strife.

    Provision not the source of belief,
    Rather a recent application.
    The value I hold, for my Lord, my God;
    Mirrors the gas price of this nation. . .

    Copyright© 2005

    Peace, Peace

    / Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

    The hard followed by
    The soft . . .
    Then the long . . .
    The pleasant crescendo of the hard.
    Ending on the candle going out (“ps”)
    Coming full circle once more.

    “Perhaps” is the most beautiful word in the world.

    Possibility, room to grow.
    Ambiguity, all we know,
    For now we look as in a tarnished mirror
    But then we will know fully.
    Until then, what can be achieved?

    “Perhaps” is the most beautiful word in the world.

    Depraved, Deprived, De-prosed
    The human condition not fallen
    Rather plunged to abyss.
    Redemption our only chance,
    But who can save oneself from drowning?
    Can salvation come when it’s against one’s nature?

    “Perhaps” is the most beautiful word in the world.

    Now sanctified, glorified, satisfied, beside you,
    Inside your glory.
    Wide-eyed to the sin inside I’ve died to
    in your name.
    Then one lost is now one found
    Wanting to worship, praise, adore, please, obey, trust, honor, love, sacrifice, just be
    for the mere fact of who He is. Nothing more. Nothing else needed.

    From the state I was can I please an infinite being?
    Be made into His likeness?
    Be molded to his purpose?
    Commune with him forever?
    Let him become my satisfaction above all,
    pleasure beyond pleasures,
    joy of joys?
    Can His joy really be made my strength?

    “Perhaps” is indeed the most beautiful word in the world.

    Selah

    Proverbs 28 musings . . .

    / Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

    this was the quick word from Proverbs 28 I wanted to give at Paedeia, but was not able to:

    “When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, people hide themselves.”
    — Proverbs 28:12

    This is what has happened to our country, our culture, and our campus. The last couple of generations of Christians, as a reaction to the “Great ‘Intellectual’ Awakening” of humans, withdrew themselves from the influential spots of society and culture. Used to, the brilliant thinkers, scientists, philosophers, politicians, and influencers of society were all God-fearing men. Brilliance is what faith is meant to evoke in us. We as a church withdrew from culture and allowed the wicked to rise as we hid ourselves in the woodwork, afraid of defending that which we are meant to defend. The Holy Spirit has been paving the road for this school year though. All last year and summer he has shown himself strong and true and prepared to work on this campus in a mighty way. God’s desire and plan for this year has been made clear. This is found later in Proverbs 28:28. he says:

    “When the wicked arise, people hide themselves, but when they persih, the righteous increase.”
    — Proverbs 28:28

    He wants the righteous to increase and the wickedness to perish. Hoe must we as Christians go about doing this? The answer is in verse 1 of Proverbs 28:

    “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
    –Proverbs 28:1

    This one verse hold many many impications:
    – The wicked do NOT flee as a result from any pursuit, be it an intellectual one, spiritual one, moral one, or political one.
    – The righteous, to make the wicked flee, need not DO anything, but rather BE something: that which God has called them to be. (One hearkens back to Ephesians where Paul says just to stand with the armor of God, not go fight.)
    – What makes the wicked flee? Our boldness.
    – Lastly, notice that it says “bold as a lion”. “A” lion, singular. not “bold as lions.” We are called to be unified in our purpose, demeanor, attitude, and boldness in this world.

    In short, wickedness has taken this campus over, God has said that this is to end this year. How? Wickedness is directly related to how much the people of God are unified in being who God purposes them to be. We haven’t been. Wickedness will decreases, as unification and righteousness increase. So the campus ministries at VCU (namely Every Nation Campus Ministries) serve the singular purpose of creating new Christians and equipping Christians new and old to be the people God desires them to be. It is only when an entire culture of Chirstians have been established as being who they are meant to be in God as one new man bodl as a lion, that the wickedness will decrease.

    i’m wet

    / Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

    as the title implies, at this very moment, I am soaking wet. It is currently 4:08 in the morning in Richmond, Virginia. I was sitting here all alone in my current apartment (Matt and Dan’s place, for those of you that know) when it started raining like crazy outside. Me being the romantic I am, I grabbed a lawn chair, took my Bible out there and started reading on the front porch. After finishing Proverbs 23, I, to be frank, felt led by God to spend time with Him in the rain. So, not wanting to disappoint Him, I went out. i was probably out there, in the pouring rain, all my clothes on for about 30 to 45 minutes, just pacing around the courtyard talking to God. At points I was on my knees, others I was kneeling, others bowing. He spoke to me about a lot of things, some I’ll share, others I won’t, but He just reaffirmed His prescence and authority in my life.

    For those of you who have tuned in maybe to catch the last part on my series on the Godly woman and Godly man in the Bible, I am sorry to disspoint you, but I will not finish it. As I was praying to God, or rather, as God was leading me in prayer (as is generally the case), he laid on my heart a new desire. I told him: “God, I don’t want a godly woman, I don’t want a woman, I don’t want a relationship, I don’t want marriage, I don’t want a wife, I don’t want love. All I want is you.” i was reminded of the prophet Hosea, who was called by God to love and marry an adulturous wife, knowing she would be unfaithful. Now, I don’t think God is calling me to that, but I was just reminded that Hosea’s primary concern was the will of God, not his desires. I could come up with the profile of the perfect woman, but to what end? For me to seek her? No! That is using the printed words of the Bible to comfort my own lack of faith rather than following the Spirit those words were written in. All I need to do is become the man I need to be and God will form my wife into who she needs to be and he will deliver us to eachother Then, and only then, when God leads me to, I will pursue her.

    My favorite passage in the Bible on a relationship is between Isaace and Rebekah in Gensis. Long story short, Isaac tells his servants to go to a neighboring town, seek out the woman that is the most self-sacrificing, and bring her back to be his wife. That is where I am. I am Issac, and God is preparing my wife until she is ready to be brought into my life by Him. In that story, when Rebekah is beign brought back to Isaac, what is Isaac doing? Is he writing blog entries about the way she needs to be? Is he getting his bed ready? Is he getting a haircut to get ready for her? No. Genesis 24:63-65 says, “Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. And Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, ‘Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?’ The servant said, ‘It is my master.’ So she took her veil and convered herself.”

    From this passage you can notice a few things: First, the Hebrew word translated here as “meditate” is the word “Suwach.” Most translations have a little footnote next to it in the Bible, saying “the meaning of this word is uncertain.” This is the only place in all of Scripture that this word is used. In other words, this word is special; used only here and is ambiguous in its meaing. I’m not an expert in Hebrew, but most translations make this word mean “meditate,” so I suppose there is a way to be uncertain about a meaning but know what it generally means. In short, Isaac was purely out in the field meditating on God. The Amplified version of the bible translates the word as “bow down,” obviously towards God. Whatever this word means specifically, generally it is definitely a verb of communing, speaking, musing and meditating on the higher power above. This is what Isaac was doing as he waited for his wife. The second thing to notice, is that from whatever Isaac was doing in the field translated as “meditating” the same Hebrew word meaning “to look up” is used to describe the action of both Isaac AND Rebekah upon seeing eachother for the first time. In other words, the exact same action used by Isaac to stop his “meditating” to look towards his future wife was the exact same action taken by Rebekah upon looking towards him. This makes me think she was also meditating in some way as well. Lastly, notice that when she realized this man was to be her husband, she “took her veil and covered herself.” I believe this symbolizes how the girl should guard her heart and not expose to much of herself to her husband. More specifically, I believe there is a part of you that you should only show to your spouse once married. An intimate, spiritual, deep part that should only be shown to and seen y your spouse. I believe this is what Rebekah was doing. This veil stood as a barrier between her and her husband that remained there until the moment they were married. It was only after that, he could see all of her.

    In short, I believe the first two posts on the godly woman were in fact led by God to be written, but I believe God has led me to end it where it was for whatever greater purpose He has. There is sufficient enough info for people to take the verses and do with them what they may, without my two cents of interpretation.

    Man, I really did not expect to write that much on relationships, AGAIN. I suppose that is an appropriate ending to the Godly Woman According to Proverbs. Well that’s it. This post is already so long; I had so many other revelations and musings from God from this awesome night, but it woudl seem so out of place with all I’ve written so long. So . . . I guess I will just save it for another night, at another time, or rather, as God inspires me to type.

    God Bless all of you always, and remember. He is God. HE is God. He IS God. He is GOD. And we have fellowship and communion with Him. Man, that’s good.

    –Paul<

    -P.S. in case you’re wondering, it is currently 5:09 AM