Prayer/Meditation

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.

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

just read

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

I couldn’t think of any non-cliche title for this post, hence the simple interrogative imperative (is that even a possible grammatical construct?). If anyone even considers reading this whole post, I encourage you to do so. It’s really not as long as it seems seeing as there are many quotes that take up a lot of space.

Any Christian out there knows that the Christian life is dynamic to say the least. The campus minister from my church is currently with many others from my church in Latvia doing missions work. We’ve exchanged a few E-Mails mainly about me mowing his lawn, but on the most recent E-Mail, I ended with this P.P.S.:

P.P.S. – On a personal note; Ryan, I need your prayers so badly. Today was one of the worst days of my life. Nothing huge huge occurred it was just the entire day was just BAD. On my way to work I got into an accident (nothing too serious), was at fault, got a ticket, the other guy involved said his arm was hurt (possibly broken), and I had the worst customers I have ever had as a waiter. Add on top of that I am so distant from God. I am becoming more and more worldlier everyday and am falling deeper and deeper into lust,worry, and my new sin that I never thought I’d fall into: DOUBT. The thoughts of whether all this (God, Holy Spirit giftings, salavation,etc.) is real or if everything I experience with the Holy Spirit is all emotional and made up within my head. The thoughts come and go ever so slightly and silently, but they are there nonetheless and I have never gone through it before. My soul feels like it is reeling and I am being attacked by so much all around me and everything but God has control over me. I haven’t read God’s word in days, and the last time I did, it was completely dead to me for the first time that I can remember. You know, I don’t even know why I am complaining; I know exactly how to get out of this, I’m just not doing it. All I can ask for is your prayers, Ryan. I feel so alone, restless, bereaved,downtrodden, lost, confused, and directionless. Each day I feel weighted down more and more with the further realization of my carnality and sinfulness. Everything is starting to fall apart all around me in my life, and I’ve just let it happen. I am so tired, so weak. I want to pray for you guys so bad, and I’ve tried, but I just feel like I’m spouting words – that’s it! Dead lifeless words that really mean nothing. I know you have so many things in your life to worry about, and you are on a missions trip,but just please do it. I need that strength. Sorry for being so unoriginally whiney. I’m sorry if I unintentionally put too big or distracting a burden on your shoulders with this. Just stay the course and do what you’re there to do.

That was probably last Saturday or so. Last Sunday I went to my church’s evening service still feeling this way. Before I walked in, I sat in my car and prayed to God to break me and do whatever was needed to get me where he wanted me to be. And let’s just say he did; big time. I’m not saying there was any completely life shaking truths revealed or that I realized I wasn’t saved, or I rededicated my life to Christ; we just had some good time together. After the normal sermon, the visiting pastor felt led by God to open the altar for prayer for anyone needing some for issues about there parents. It was so random and perfect (see the long post before the most previous short post) it could only have been God. I got prophesied over and really felt God’s reassuring nature over me and my life. God just showed me that he is still here.

After the service, I went to Church Hill in downtown Richmond, a hill that over looks the enitre city of Richmond (it is the best view in Richmond). I took my Bible out there and just had son Father/Son time with my only real “Daddy” (as I’ve so aptly started calling Him). It was then for the first time that I truly felt that adoption that takes place when one recieves Christ; when you are seen as truly one of God’s children. He led me to Psalm 63:

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”

I realized just how desperate I have been for God, and how He has answered that desperation: He has answered it with the very thing he promised to His belivers in His Word – more of Him. Man, He’s incredible. There is no way all this isn’t real. I’m reminded of the C.S. Lewis quote: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” Because I am a Christian, I take for granted all the things God has provided me and how He has shown Himself to be real. This is because the Christian life by definition is constant fellowship with the Creator of the universe. It’s sad to say, but this almost becomes too “normal” and “everyday” for some Christians and they forget all that they can see, sense, feel, know, do, and experience that non-Christians just can’t, or rather, don’t. I think that’s why in so many Psalms David wrote when he was in spiritual pain, he says things like “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” David kind of gives this as the prescription of getting through times when it seems God has withdrawn His prescence from you. As Matt said, He’s trying to show us if He is enough for us to be satisfied; if we can rejoice and praise in Him merely because He is God and not because of anything He has done for/with/through/by us.

I got to that point on Church Hill. God hit me with one really big realization that I just kept repeating over and over and over again to myself:

He
is
God.

He is GOD. As A.W. Tozer says, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of God is the most important thing about you. What does that word mean? GOD. We take that word so much for granted. Do we really understand how much weight that carries? This is the being that when asked who He was, He said, “I Am the I am.” He doens’t have to answer to us. We as humans should be satisfied just knowing one thing about God: He is. This is the Creator of the unvierse. In our English translation, during the creation account, our Bibles say that God said “Let there be Light!” But rather, the most literal translation of this phrase from the Hebrew is as an imperative where God more literally said:

“Light, be.”

That is strong. Just sit back and REALLY think of that: He is GOD. The very guy we worship and praise, and feel, and know, and have fellowship with is GOD. GOD!!! We think of the word GOD as being more of a name. No; it’s a title that GOD fulfills so much, it is His name. It’s like how every adhesive bandage is called a Band-Aid, when Band-Aid is a brand name, not what those things are called. The word GOD is the same way. The being that is GOD is the only thing that fully exhibits every charcteristic of the word so He is the only one that deserves the title. That’s why ever other god in every other religion is just god. Not GOD. There is no substitute, believe me. Believe me.

I’ll end on Ryan’s response to my E-Mail:

sorry things are down right now… Just remember, trials are part of the deal. They serve a very real purpose in our life of faith. Just keep puttin one foot in front of the other… When I am most down, I often try and remember a time when I was certin that God moved in my life… that usually builds my faith enough to not quit all together…

You are going to make it fella! A good meditation might be 2 corinthians 1. It helps gain perspective on tough times…

You are a mighty man. God loves ya, you are going to do mighty things… be strong friend(joshua 1.9 [“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”])

When I get back I am really gonna need to go to chipotle!

love ya man
_ryan

God Bless,
— Paul<

i just don’t know

/ Paul Burkhart / 3 Comments

well, as of last night, my parents are in formal negotiations to get a divorce.

This is a blessing and it hurts so much. My mom finally gets to get out of the Hell that is marriage to my father, but at the same time, you can imagine how much it hurts for her to pretty much say that the past 23 years of her life have been for nothing more than to raise two kids with great futures. She’s never been loved. My dad has stolen everything from her that every girl spends her entire life dreaming of. She didn’t get to plan her own wedding, her youth is gone, her vibrance is gone, her best chance at truly establishing herself in a career is gone, the submissive woman she was born as has been killed only leaving a hurting bitter woman. Chances are, she will never re-marry. She will never get to know what it feels like to be loved by a man that she can respect and serve. She will never get that.

I really feel like God has told me time and time again, and even now, that she will die a happy woman, proud of her life and satisfied, but with everything she’s been through, felt, seen, done, and lost, I just have no idea how that can be. Does anyone know how it feels to have to recieve calls at least two or three times a week from your own mother in tears? Having to come to you for spiritual, emotional, relationship advice because there’s no one else out there. Her dad is going through so much pain and could die any day now that her parents have even said they don’t want to be involved because it’s just too much to worry about, and they can’t deal with it. Her sister has changed over to my dad’s side, and so my mom doesn’t have her. In short, there are only a few people in my mother’s life that she can talk to. Her aunt, who is the outcast of the family, a cousin who she hasn’t seen in decades, a few people at her job that really don’t know details, they just love on her, and then there’s my brother and I. The only two people that can really be her knights in shining armor that she never had, and my brother is so young that he doesn’t get involved. So that leaves me. I have a full course load, full work schedule, church responsibilities, fears about money, a career I’m trying to establish, and my mother to care for. I single-handedly have to be the husband she never had. Teaching her spiritual truths, guiding her in Scripture, and bearing the greatest emotional burden I’ve ever seen on any one human being.

God has allowed this to happen to my mother for 23 years. WHY!!!!! The only way he has been glorified has been in the people my brother and I have turned out to be. We have broken the generational curse of my father’s family. It’s so easy for people to want to tell her to look at the blessings she doesn have and focus on those. Her children, her career, her . . . well actually that’s about it. It’s so easy for people to say that but what about faith? I was taught that faith was believing in the promises of God. The promises of God are that he wishes to prosper His people and many times through hard times. But he always gives people the grace and strength to remain strong through it. My mom wasn’t built for this. I feel I am the only person holding her together. She doesn’t have the strength for it any longer. She’s so worn out and tired. She lives everyday feeling the power of Satan within our household. She says it feels like this stench that just won’t go away, this slime that can’t be washed off. It permeates in everything that is said and done. She was made to be a loving, submissive, quiet Christian woman and was thrust into being the man of the house in everything because my father was so weak and unhelpful. She wasn’t made to do that. And people want to complain about her cursing and calling people names when she’s hurt by them. If you kick even the mildest dog long enough, even it will start to bite back after being hurt so much. Does that mean it’s the dog’s fault for being kicked? NO!!!! WHY ARE YOU LETTING THIS HAPPEN GOD!!!??? Where are you helping my mom? I love her so much, I’m caring for her so much. Don’t you see that if you save this marriage and end her pain now, you can be glorified so much more than if you let it die. WHY. why.

For anyone that does just happen to read this, this is not typical doubting of God. If anyone answers this, please don’t give any shallow cliche Sunday School answers, because this is so horrible of a situation, none of you could understand the depth, length, width, and breadth of pain that my mother has had to go through. I am quite literally, as a 19 year old freshman triple major in college keeping my mother alive in more ways than one. This is such a burden. It hurts so much. All I can do is cry. I feel guilty ever mentioning anything to anyone because this isn’t an easy situation to explain, and most people don’t want to take the time to understand; and that’s understandable. Believe me, I know how much of a burden it is to bear, and I wish it upon no one. I don’t know what I need. I need my mom to stop hurting. That is my only desire. the other day I was praying in the Spirit for her, and while I was facedown on my floor, I cried out to God, to put her pain on me so that she no longer had it. Instead of doing that, he gave me a taste of that pain. All of a sudden, I could feel the Holy Spirit within me, choking, gagging for air, and I felt like such a huge weight was on me, I couldn’t get up. That was only a taste of the pain my mom and her soul go thorugh everyday. Everything around her reminds her of the failure that is the past 23 years of her life. And she followed God every step of the way.

I’m not doubting God or losing faith in Him. I’ve seen His promises come true for everybody in my entire life, especially myself, except for my own mother. That’s what I just dont’ understand. She has been faith ful in every step God has called her to no matter how much more pain it put her in. She has been the strongest, most Godly woman I’ve ever known, and yet she is the most broken, bereaved, hurting, confused, dying, tormented, persecuted, lonely person I’ve ever known; and she just can’t do it anymore. Sh ejust can’t. She’s so, so very tired. I love her so much, I spend so much time talking to her, encouraging her, pushing her, trying to gove her strength, trying to sacrifice my life for hers the best I can as she did for me. Where is her reward. Not thorugh her sons, but HER reward. Where is her relief. She needs it. I want to take on her entire burden. I bleieve this has made me into a man that could handle it if I was able to. I feel like Joshua, having to hold up Moses’ arms with the staff during the fight. I wanna just hold the staff myself, and run down that hill and win the battle for her. I want to just give her the life she’s always dreamed of, the one she sacrificed for me. I want to be able to give her all that she’s never had, even though that’s not possible.

Please, no one try to help. There’s really nothing anyone but God can do at this point and he doesn’t seem to be doing anything right now. Don’t worry, neither of us are losing faith or love for God, we just don’t understand Him. No one can do anything but pray. Just pray. That’s all that can be done. Just pray . . ..

Just needed to vent and cry. Sorry for anyone that reads this and is burdened by it. That wasn’t my intention. I’ll wipe away the tears, and sleep, to wake up to one more day of smiling and telling everyone I’m doing okay, when I am so tired. But I’ve had 19 years doing it so don’t worry. I thrive on stress. Please just pray. Anyone and everyone. Just pray . . . That’s all that can be done.

Outward thinking

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

As most people know, I am a very dangerous mixture of a person.

First of all, I am an intellectual (this list is not in order of priorities of what I identify with more, it’s just for the sake of rhetorical flow) that feeds off ideas and knowledge; what makes me an intellectual rather than a pure nerd is that the knowledge I seek, discuss, and find I actually apply it to my life and adjust my behaviors accordingly. It’s not quite just simply memorizing useless facts. This gives me the storehouse from which I can pull info to tell people certain things.

Secondly, I am a Christian, which by its very nature gives me the responsibility and burden to tell people certain things.

Thirdly, my primary spiritual gift is as a teacher, which allows me the ability to tell people these things with a certain sense of authority (only from God, of course).

Fourthly and finally, the single adjective that can describe everything about me the best is the word “passionate” which gives me the desire to tell people certain things from that storehouse of knowledge in my head that so affects how I look at the world.

In short, I talk. A lot. I think I assume that others are like me and everything they hear they apply to the “big picture” of their worldview much like someone would apply a puzzle piece to a puzzle. That ‘s how I work. Don’t assume that I’m just constantly changing opinions. No, everyone knows that I have convictions. Rather, as is the case of spiritual truths, I believe the best way to understand God is to try to step back and apply each new truth you learn in your relationship with Him to the big picture of who he is. Most people hear a good sermon on God’s justice and then they proceed to fear Him until they hear a good sermon on His grace, after which they begin to just love Him and thank Him. I think in order to worship all parts of Him, we must be able to apply all truths, and all bits of knowledge to the big picture of who He is, not just as a long list of attributes on paper.

Anyway, my point is this. I have noticed in myself a definite spike in the level of discussions I’ve been having (both in quality and quantity) with Christians on deep theological concepts. a-millenialism vs. pre-millenialism and Charismatic/Pentacostal movements vs. Cessationsts have been the biggest topics. A lot of people don’t understand why I’ve been doing this; they continue to tell me that outside of salvation, this stuff doesn’t matter. That’s true and not true.

Where it is true that saving knowledge does not require a perfectly correct set of doctrinal beliefs, as I said above, each of these things affects our worldview – the filter through we which we see/feel/do all things.

So right now I am laying it all out there for everybody:
Though I spent most my life in a pre-millenialist, cessationist church indoctrination, I have since found those things to be unbiblical and incorrect. The truth, as I see it in God’s Word of a-millenialism and the full workings of the Holy Spirit have changed my walk with God in a way that I wish everyone could experience.

Finally, I come to my point of writing all of this tonight, including the preceeding poem (actually, they’re song lyrics, but I just put some loose structure on them and called it a poem). Those two theological things have for the first time began to give me the proper view of my spiritual walk: IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!! It’s about the Kingdom of God. Used to I was driven to evangelize out of fear for my friends, now I am driven by purpose – because to evangelize the lost is the only reason why I am still here on Earth rather in Heaven with God; it is my reason for living. That’s why I entitled this post “Outward thinking.” Because that is where we must all arrive; to a place of outward thinking where God will use the “foolishness of our preaching” even in spite of being “the chief of sinners.” God’s Will will be done in this Earth, and if I am to live up to my purpose, I must give God the chance for Him to execute that Will through me.

“I just want to be able to look in the mirror again and to see your face instead.”
“I will either fail or conquer, die or live, but either way I’m yours”
God I love you so much and fear you with all my heart. Help me not to get so wrapped up into intellectualism that it substitutes for you, because nothing can adequately do that. Help me be a true Christian that doesn’t obey you to get control or leverage, but rather obeys you to get more of You. Use me and my foolishness for your purposes O God.

Amen.

–Paul<

massive prayer request

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

Tonight was ENLI at Harvest. I got a word from God tonight that I just need to share. God really hit me with the fact that revival will sweep across this campus at the sight of a miracle; an outworking of His Spirit on this campus. Something big will occur. God really laid on my heart what that miracle could very well be, and that is what needs prayer. God thrust upon my heart a burden for a guy named Matt in my dorm. Matt has either Muscular Dystrophy or Multiple Scelerosis and is in a motorized wheelchair. He is not a Christian. God just told me that this guy will be healed and walk from his chair after an entire life in it and no prospect for the future. Right after getting that burden at the end of ENLI, I was walking back to my dorm and guess who crossed my path – Matt in his wheelchair. I was able to say hey and lay a hand on Him and whisper a quick silent prayer. I then proceeded into the elevator where I was just forced to begin praying in the Spirit and continued that in my room, followed by some pretty intense confessing of Scripture.

This is a huge test for my faith. I don’t know whether to ask God to heal Him, thank Him that He will, that He already has, or just believe it will be done. I’m really knew to this supernatural aspect of the Christian life, but I really believe that this can be the supernatural miracle God was telling me about that will finally set off the fire every spirit-filled Christian at VCU has been feeling and anticipating.

For anyone that reads this, please pass this on to anyone who has a gift of healing, or just anyone that is filled with the Spirit and has faith this can and will be done. This will need a great barrier of prayer. Something big is about to happen at VCU, I just know it. God is beginning to move supernaturally at UofR, and God is preparing to do so here at VCU. Everyone that reads this – just pray. Pray in the Spirit; He knows better than us what to say.

God Bless and have faith always,
— Paul <

I have kissed kissing goodbye . . .

/ Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

Some people may have heard, others may have not, but it is true: I, Paul Burkhart, am abstaining from the act of kissing until further notice from God.

Okay, so I have been telling people that I am not going to kiss another girl until my wedding day, but every time I’ve said that, I have felt like God was kinda telling me not to phrase it that way. I have realized, rather, that God is wanting me to abstain from kissing maybe until my wedding day, maybe not, but just until further notice.

It really is getting kinda annoying all the people that just don’t believe me, or the people that will actually get IN ARGUMENTS with me over this issue. That in and of itself is kind of strange, I feel. One good friend of mine even said, “Paul, this is just crazy, you’re throwing your life away!”

So, why am I doing this? First and foremost I want to tell everyone that this is not a “right or wrong” issue with me. Jacob in the Bible kissed his wife before they were married. I don’t think it’s wrong to kiss before you’re married; thus I shan’t judge anyone Christian couple that does. I am not abstaining from kissing because I think it is wrong, dirty, or not fun. My most vivid memory from my entire life is my first kiss when I was 15. Not only is it one of the most incredible things to do, but from the feedback I’vce recieved, it is kind of a gift of my own (a little bit ‘o humor there).

There are several reasons why I am doing this; or rather, why God is telling me to do this. Because of my own struggles with lust, I have seen in myself a lack of self-control atleast mentally and in some physical situations. This is a test and exercise in self-control to refine me just that much more to be a worthy husband for my wife, conformed just that much more to the image of Christ.

Secondly, I have definitely put women on a pedestal before God, and I don’t mean “before” as in in front of Him, but rather “before” as in priorities. I think about girls, relationships, my future wife, more than I think about God. It humbles me to relaize that one of the reasons Christ never sinned was because it was simply out of character to do so because it never crossed His mind because His mind was constantly and forever on nothing else but the will of His Father, just as my thoughts should be, but are not.

Next, I really see this as a sort of fasting, except of kissing, not food. This decision has not been made in order to be held above other Christians heads, or to make me look more holy, but rather to take the focus off of worldy desires and focus completely on God, and the woman He has planned for me.

Also, I was just thinking, “if I can save my virginity until my wedding night, what is preventing me from abstaining from kissing?”

This decision also serves another big purpose that I believe God whishes to accomplish in me. If I can successfully abstain from kissing, that will pretty much eliminate the oppurtunity for me to fall into sexual sin with someone else. If you ask a Christian couple if they have kissed, then ask them if they struggle with sexual sin in their relationship, you will see more often that not that people will answer yes to both questions, or no. As Matt Robinett says, “why preheat the oven if you can’t cook the roast?” Because of the way that my life was heading, I can definitely see oppurtunities that in the next couple of months I could have taken to “hook up” with girls that I should be ministering to instead. This commitment helps maintain my witness to them and others, and keep sme from stumbling in those sins.

This will also help to keep my next relationship with a girl in a proper perspective. Inevitably, with physical manifestations of emotions, come increased emotions. The Bible says in Proverbs that “the hearts of men are wicked, and their minds decietful.” Our emotions will always lie to us, be self-serving, pleasure seeking, and not within the will of God, thus, one should not base a relationship or relationship decision on “feeling” and “emotion.” This adresses another issue that a lot of poeple have been telling me. Most people in this day and age can’t comprehend knowing how you feel about someone until you kiss them. They think that it is not until you kiss a person that suddenly your true feelings will be awakened or known to you. This just simply isn’t true.

If you think about it, what is the point of kissing in a relationship? (1)To express your feelings in a tangible physical form? (2)To foster a sense of intimacy with a person? (3)To seperate that person from everyone else because you “do more” with them than other girls? (4)To have fun? (5)To feel that little “warm fuzzy” that comes from the end of an incredible soft, deep, kiss? All of these things are completely real and necessary points of kissing – in a non-christian relationship. I will proceed to discuss each one of the numerated points above.

(1)To express your feelings in a tangible physical form
———————————————
If the head of the relationship is not love itself (God and Christ), then it makes sense you will need a shallow human mode to express your feeling; you will need to kiss to create intimacy; you will need to kiss to make some differentiation between girls; you will need to do physical things to have fun; and you will need to find other ways to evoke the “warm fuzzy.” In a Christian dating relationship, on the other hand, the two people should trust God to provide the proper emotions to the proper person at the proper time, and just have faith that it is real; they don’t need to kiss to prove their feelings, they have faith in God and one another.

(2)To foster a sense of intimacy with a person
———————————————
The very nature of sin seperates man from God and man from other people. Thus, when someone is a Christian and doesn’t have that sin, they have an intimacy with other Christians (and other people in general) that is like no other. It doesn’t need to be created and reinforced by physical or tangible things as it surpasses the comprehension of the world and the flesh. A Christian couple even more can feel this intimacy based on the single fact that they don’t have that seperating sin within them. It doesn’t surprise me that non-Christians would absolutely need this kind of behavior to create intimacy.

(3) To seperate that person from everyone else because you “do more” with them than other girls?
——————————————–
A relationship between Christians, just by very definition should be completely Christ centered and thus be different from everyone else. You won’t need to seperate this person from others because your lifestyle and behaviors will do that by themselves.

(4)To have fun
——————————————–
This has many possible points to talk about. First, from a secular perspective, according to psychologist Dr. William Glasser, “fun” is “the genetic reward for learning.” According to him, it is a natural by-product of learning something. If that is true, what are you learning from kissing? The shape of their mouth? Secondly, from a Christian perspective, “fun” is merely a human construct for the feeling one recieves when something is done for the sole gratification of oneself. This goes against not only the very nature of God, but also the common sense of a successful relationship. A relationship is built on self-sacrifice, not self-gratification. Not that a relationship shouldn’t be fun. I really believe that a relationship needs to be that way to survive; I’m just saying that as Christians, our definition of “fun” should be modified into something deeper than the feeling experienced when one makes out with someone. (See response to #5 below for further expoundation [is that a word?])

(5)To feel that little “warm fuzzy”
——————————————-
Lastly, “warm fuzzies” are just special kinds of emotions that can change with the wind just as much as anything else. (one hearkens back to the Proverbs verse: “the hearts of men are wicked and their minds deceitful”) We should trust God can and will give us God-granted and God-willed emotions. These are the only true, real, pure, and long-lasting emotions worth trusting in and enjoying. Fun also applies to this as well.

Okay, so there you have it. My decision and some of my reasons why. I am so in love with my furture wife, not only do I want to save as much for her that I can give as much to her, but part of that I know entails me become a man completely focused on God in everything I do apart from my wife as well. Bottom line: this is what God has called me to right now. It may change in a week, when a meet a girl, or get engaged, but right now, God has called me to do this, so I shall.

On a side note, it’s really not like I have a bunch of girls to kiss or anything. I really haven’t kissed that many girls (compared to the world’s standards)and I don’t want anyone to think that I have this crazy past that God is delivering me from; it’s not like that at all.

Anyway, I suppose that’s it. Please pray for me, for I know that Satan is going to throw a lot of chances all of a sudden for me to fall. Whoever my future wife is, I love you. God, I love you more.

God Bless,
— Paul<

singleness revised . . .

/ Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

My campus minister read my previous post and had some really good thoughts that actually changed a lot of the way I look at this topic.
He said…
——————————————————–
Hmmmm…

Interesting thoughts. You bring up many points worthy of discussion (unfortunately, typing on a computer doesn’t constitute a conversation, so I will simply make some comments… my two cents, if you will).

I would argue that God’s pronouncement that man not having a “helper fit for him” was “not good” does not necessitate that Adam felt any “need” for a companion (or that he was lonely, sad, or any other related emotion). The text is silent as to the emotional state of Adam. I think it safe to assume that Adam had no emotional response for having no helper fit for him (or, at the very least, his emotion response was inconsequential… if it were not, surly mention would have been made of it). From a strictly logical standpoint, how can one miss (or yearn for) what he as never known. In other words, how can Adam desire a woman (wife) when woman didn’t exist? However, if by chance Adam was “feeling alone”, it seems unlikely (and against the nature of a Sovereign God) that He looked at Adam and saw him upset about being alone and this in turn caused God to say, “I guess it is not good what I made… Adam is clearly alone and he needs me to make him a helper.” If God is simply reactionary to our emotions (more specifically, the emotions of the first man) I believe this belittles God supremacy and places man at the center of all things (A place he was not created to occupy – ref. Romans 11.36). I think the safest exposition here is that God’s declaration of man being alone was just that, a declaration.

(ok.. I just had like an hour long interruption, so I have basically lost my train of thought… must go read again)

In paragraph 2 there seems to be a pre-supposition that singleness = pain. While I can easily remember the desire to find “the one” when I was single, I definitely do not think that singleness should be considered painful (Paul… uh, the apostle, obviously thought that being single was pretty great – ref. 1 Corinthians 7.7).

QUOTE: but rather only in looking towards God and seeking Him can we find the person that can fill that void. — While I don’t think there is a void, I do really like this point and believe it applicable to all areas of life (ref – Matthew 6.33).

So, the 20 million dollar question from the third to last paragraph is, “if the next girl you date is not going to be your wife… why date her?” :o) I couldn’t resist. the real question is what is the purpose of dating? In “the church” there are so many opinions and terms in relation to dating and courtship… I consider it most critical that all single men and women examine his or her approach to relationships and truly seek to come to what they believe is God’s plan. Society has really messed things up and I think it is time for our generation to regain a proper approach to relationships and end this culture of divorce that prevails everywhere.

QUOTE: As long as I seek His will, everything else will fall into place.

— “Amen”

Well, I’m going home. Thanks for making me think.

_ryan

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

~socrates

—————————————————-
I think he is absolutely right, actually. Usually I’m not so easily swayed in these kind of things, but after reading his response, I couldn’t help but rethink things. I guess that’s why he’s the discipler and I’m the disciplee. Though I would argue the purpose of dating to be to get to know people, learn the dynamics of relationships, help you learn how to relate to others of the opposite sex, and so on; I totally think that modern society has distorted its function and form. Personally, I’m more of a fan of the courting method, but seeing as it’s hard to find others that agree, I think the same goals can be served through dating if done correctly with God as the center of the relationship. I know there are exceptions to every rule, and my campus minister is an example of that. The story of how him and his wife got together is amazing, and I am persoanlly aiming for that kind of relationship with someone, completely grounded and founded in friendship, selfless love, and Christ as the head. Other than the dating point, I totally agree with Ryan. Having someone romantically in your life should not be necessary to effectively serve God. In fact, many times (as Ryan points out about Paul, the apostle) being single is exactly what God calls people to be because you can better serve God in that capacity. Ryan told me one of the most amazing things the other day as we left lunch at Chipotle (yeah baby!). I told him about the loneliness I was feeling and that I was such a hopeless romantic I had all this “romanticism” built up inside of me (not sexual tension, mind you) and I really wanted someone I cared about so I could just shower them with this. He asked me to consider what that meant. What did it mean to “shower someone” with that? Inevitably, I realized, the outworking of those feelings would eventually become a physical manifestation of them, which would cause the inevitable physical complications found in most relationsips that I, admittedly, thought I was above by now. This made me praise God that He has in fact kept me from a relationship in the past few years that would become prey to the same complications that evey “normal” and secualr relationship falls to. Even as I write this, dating, or rather, serious relationships, or seeming more and more useless and in fact harmful to my Christian walk. I want to thank Ryan for saying that and making realize that even that romance I should be saving for my future wife, not just the physical manifestations thereof, and want to thank God that he has kept me pure thus far, and will continue to do so for my future wife, whoever she may be. So, whoever she will be, I love you, and just know that all this is being done, said, and worked out in me so that I can give you the most of me that I can.

God Bless, everyone,

— Paul <

singleness . . .

/ Paul Burkhart / 3 Comments

God really hit me tonight with some realizations about singleness. It all started with “the beginning . . .”: Genesis.

Most everybody knows the creation story pretty well. Most people know that after each thing that God created, He said “It is good.” Well, I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this, but the first time that God ever says the phrase “It is not good” is in Genesis 2:18. The verse says:

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

This showed me a few things. Mainly, people are meant to be together. It is “not good” for people to be alone. We have each been created with that inbred desire for companionship. That pain of loneliness that we have all experienced at some point or another – some more often than others (speaking from personal experience) is a feeeling that comes natural to man. Notice also that God was saying this was “not good” before the fall of man. That means that the craving for someone to be with is a pain that is not a consequence of our sin nature.

Following this logic, it is not a bad thing to feel this pain and experience it; it is not an evidence of spiritual deficiency or lack in anyway. Also, if this is a pain that comes from being human, it is a hunger that can only be truly satiated by God. I’m not saying that God Himself is supposed to fill that need, but rather only in looking towards God and seeking Him can we find the person that can fill that void. That said, if we are trusting God, then we can know that if we are experiencing singleness and the pain that goes along with it, it is only because God can be glorified greater through us being single than with someone. Thus, (here I indict myself some) we should accept the pain for what it is and embrace it, because it will only be that much sweeter when we do find someone.

Also, these verses and the meditations reaffirmed even more my love and respect for women. Anyone that knows me knows the pedestal I put woman as a whole upon. I’m so old-fashioned, it frustrates some girls sometimes. Opening doors, doing the driving, and paying for them, is the proper way to treat a woman. Don’t worry, I’m not overbearing. I’ve always said that women were God’s greatest gift to mankkind. This verse supports that. John MacArthur said on his biblcal commentary on this verse that “This verse points to Adam’s inadequacy, not Eve’s insufficiency. Woman was made by God to meet man’s deficiency.” Amen. Psychologically speaking, women can set off chemicals and psychological responses in men that men could only dream about doing to women. The greatness of women are the reason they have my utmost respect and honor. I just can’t wait for my wife. I dream of treating her as much like a queen as I possibly can.

In response to that, I conclude with this verse (one of my new favorites):

For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

— Romans 8:24-25

I pray to God for my future wife every day, and I just want to thank Him for her now, whoever she will be. I may have met her, I may have not; but in the meantime I’m madly in love with her. Don’t think I’m this weird creepy guy. I’m not. I’m just an overly-romantic dorky guy. I’ll keep dating. I’m not expecting the next girl I date or even my next girlfriend to be my wife. God will lead me to her, I don’t need to hurry things along. Learning from my parents, I am not going to prematurely marry the next person I feel “warm-fuzzies” for. In fact, I sometimes fear I’m going to be too picky.

Right now, apparently God has called me to singleness and it definitely has glorified Him, even though it has definitely been painful. I’ve been ready for a relationship for a while, but I’m not going to look for it and end up screwing something/someone up. My creed when it comes to any realtionship is to take it slow.

Something inside of me though does feel like someone is coming my way. . . I don’t know. Whatever God wants. As long as I seek His will, everything else will fall into place.

God Bless,

— Paul <

some great quotes . . .

/ Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

I’m reading this book right now called “Desiring God” by John Piper. I just really started today and it has some incredible things to say. It’s basic thesis is that the pleasure we receive when we glorify God, is glorifying God. In other words, it is our duty and responsibility to take as much delight and pleasure in God, because that is what truly glorifies him in the end. It’s a concept called Christian Hedonism. It is full of amazing quotes and I’m just going to insert those quotes into this blog whenever I reach one to share them with the world!!

Quote from C.S. Lewis’ sermon “The Weight of Glory”:

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering anture of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

damage control . . .

/ Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

So, what do I say to follow up yesterday’s post? Maybe I should post a list of people that I will let into heaven and those who I won’t. Based on how some people are acting towards me, that’s exactly what they expect me to do. In response to some of the responses, it seems necessary to me, to tell everyone my true perspective on judging others. I thought I had expressed this enough, but apparently, people’s view of me is slightly skewed. Okay, here I go . . .

First, off, I want to complain to other conservative Christians today. Most Christians wander around in their little bubble judging all others who are outside of it. Christ explicitly gave a charge to all Christians to “be in the world, but not of it.” Most Christians today that aren’t bold about their faith generally are “in” the world and “of” it. Most Christians today that are bold about their faith, like me, have a tendency to be neither “in” the world nor “of” it. When Abraham was coming down down from I think Mt. Sinai, the road forked in front of him. He had a choice to make. First, to go down the left road to Ai, a city of lust, thievery, sin, and abomination, or go to the right to the city of Bethel, a city that was holy, pure, and God-honoring. Where did Abraham go? According to Genesis, Abraham pitched his tent “between Bethel and Ai.” We as Christians are not meant to spend our whole lives in the holy city, nor in the unholy city. You must find the balance between the two. It’s a very difficult thing to do, but it must be done. Many Christians follow what I was venting about in my previous posting: they change for the world. Many others, though do the opposite, they remove themselves from reality.

My dad refers to these Christians as those who are “too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly good.” I personally believe these Christians pose the biggest threat to Christianity as a whole. They not only have created the stereotype of Christians, but have reinforced it in every way. It is these Christians that prevent me from being able to put a post up on my site that expresses my opinions and not have everyone think it feeds right into the stereotype.

All my life, I have heard from every type of person out there that I am the only Christian they have known that is not at all “of” the world, but it also not completely “out” of it. Sensitive to others but not compromising to myself. Most people here at VCU also have said that, except for a few.

To all “the few”: as my Social Psych teacher said about the student evaluations of his course he received, “the majority of these are great and positive for me, with only some people giving a negative evaluation, of which there are varying degrees. So many opinions, yet I’m still the same person! I did the same things with all of you! thus, following statistics, my true abilities and evaluations must be based on the majority of evaluations, of which most were very positive!”

I don’t blame all those that may have received the wrong impression of the way I am, I really don’t. When most of your experience with bold Christians has been of a certain type, you will be looking for certain behaviors, and will just naturally put more emphasis on those behaviors that match your mental schema for Christians more rightly.

I am a Southern Baptist. At least when it comes to beliefs and doctrine, I am a hardcore Southern Baptist. When it comes to my practices, my way of carrying myself, and conduct myself, I am not the typical Southern Baptists. Most Southern Baptists that are strong in their belief can be characterized by how they judge others. They do it constantly, incessantly, all the time! They seem to have forgotten that in the Bible, God says that all sin is equal in the eyes of God. This one thing holds many ramifications.

One, it smashes the “i’m a good person, so i can go to heaven” myth. In God’s eyes, every sin is equal, so as long as you’re a sinning human being, you are on the same level as every one else on earth. The only determining factor for heaven is whether or not one has dedicated their life and faith to Christ and has fully accepted his forgiveness.

Two, it shows that no human has the right to judge another fro their sins. This especially applies to Christians, and definitely applies to me. Under no circumstances do I – can I – see myself better in God’s eyes than another person. Until I stop sinning, I am right there with every other person. When I put up things like that last post, it is done knowing full well my own faults and sins.

On the last post, I simply gave a commentary on my personal frustration in my relationships here at school with people that seem to be changing, actually, more like compromising within their lives/lifestyles. A couple of arguments I heard tonight against my post: This is the first time people are thinking for themselves, thus they will change. The change is inevitable. My answer: Yes, change, is inevitable, and it will happen and it should. But, if these kind of truly positive maturing changes would be made, the vast majority of college students’ standards would not be lowering dramatically. There would be mostly positive changes, or slightly lower standards as people try to see what things are “wrong” and “right.” This is not maturation, this is not experimentation, it is all out stereotypical rebellion against the way one was raised. It’s cliche by now. It’s so utterly predictable that it has become the norm. The general rule nowadays in college is no longer to try and rise above the faults of their parents, but rather to disregard their parents all together. Does no one else see this? Another argument I heard was that I was trying to impose my morality as a standard for all other to follow, and if they don’t follow it they are seemingly evil horrible people. First off, no, they are not seemingly horrible evil people, they have just become the norm. Secondly, recall that my commentary was on everyone changing, and those changes usually consisting of a lowering of one’s personal standards that they had before going into college. I don’t care if it’s from someone thinking it’s wrong to kiss someone to actually kissing someone, or someone believing it’s wrong to drugs and ending up doing them. In both cases, they fit my commentary on the lowering of one’s personal standards that they had before college.

The most difficult part of being a parent is getting your children to internalize the morals you teach them. Getting them to make your morals their morals. By the age of 18, when you enter college usually, you should have internalized those morals, or at least a certain set of morals even if they aren’t your parent’s. College should be after you know what standard your living by and any change to that standard should logically only be a change up. This is why I see people with very similar upbringings to me starting to lose their standards. They don’t seem to have internalized their moral system at all, thus they have none when they come to college. They are still living their life through their parents. No matter what anybody may want to think of me, one thing I am not is spoon fed to be a walking carbon copy of my parents. I know what I bleieve, why I believe it, and have tested those beliefs whenever I can, and every time they have come out right; and I’m willing to defend those beliefs at anytime to anyone.

Okay, that was a lot of damage control. Under no circumstances will I change what I have already typed previously. I’m not apologizing for any of it either. I just want to let everybody know I really don’t think I am more pure, good, or holy than any one else out there. I really do love everyone that I have a relationship with, and I just hate to see them change their standards – the very blueprint by which they make their decisions. Just remember that, please. I am not judging, only expressing concern for this apparent characteristic of our generation. I really think we can do more, and I hope to meet more people that only want to raise the standards of their behaviors socially, morally, spiritually, and personally.

Once again God Bless and please leave comments!!!

–Paul<

via rusticus temporis

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

Walking down my lonely wooded road.

The sun permeating all around.

My path diverges into two, both crying for my load.

All I can hear is the angry sound

Of superiors above using both their mouths.

And everyone else saying their piece,

While everything else cries in its state of inanimation.

Shouting spasmodically, piercing the silent shade,

I try to converge my divided thoughts.

But I can’t for at different feet they’ve been laid;

Two different feet which converge onto differing plots.

My feet while converging from one body, can be independent

But dependent on the whole at once

Just as the paths ne’er would exist without the first.

This bane causes pain which brings tears that stain

Every paper door that leads closer to my West.

This strain sees disdain at the feet of the one I’m lain,

As my blood shod eyes look up crying for his best.

He just smiles reassuringly, but the silence makes me shake.

Crippled with uncertainty, I can only trust his hands.

His hands so fair, though scarred; so light, yet so weighted . . .

by my every former worry and now’s. waiting for me to let go. . .

— Paul M. Burkhart

Copyright© 2004