jesus

Going Medieval on my Atheist Self (on art & assurance)

/ Paul Burkhart / 16 Comments

Even back in my hyper-Calvinist days–assured that I was chosen, secure, and Elected unto salvation–I recognized the reality that if I were not a Christian, I’d certainly be an Atheist. If there was some way that I could be convinced that Christianity was a fraud (and here are some ways), I would not face any temptation to be a Buddhist or New Age mystic or anything of the like. No, No. I would be a hardened, militant Atheist.

How do I know this? Well, Christianity has the idea that within each believer is the “Old Self” and the “New Self”. This Old Self is, essentially, who we are apart from God.

That Old Self, though we fight it our entire Christian lives, won’t actually be fully snuffed out until the end of all things. And so, in a sense, if we’re sensitive to it, we can sometimes “feel” that “without-God” version of ourselves rolling around in there somewhere in our hearts.
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Hey! It’s Still Easter!

/ Paul Burkhart / 4 Comments

When I had appendicitis last week, our preaching pastor visited me in the hospital. Having missed the service that Sunday–the first after Easter Sunday–I asked him what new sermon series he had started, now that Easter was over.

He looked at me a little surprised (as I’ve been so into liturgy and the Church Calendar the past couple of years) and informed me of something that I had apparently missed:

Easter is an entire season that is 50 days long.

(Wikipedia confirms.) Oh why do we shorten our time to rejoice and celebrate? This season is our excuse to go crazy and be joyful, bold, secure, and confident before our God and this world.

We have 33 more days before we celebrate Pentecost.
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Philly’s Outdoor Feeding Ban: Good for the City, the Church, & the Gospel (ii)

/ Paul Burkhart / 4 Comments

Yesterday I wrote a post about the Philadelphia ban on outdoor feeding of the homeless. I wrote about how the issue here is not about hunger, it’s about choice. It’s also not a religious freedom issue, as some groups say. These feedings have been one way that Christians have tried to accomplish their call to serve the homeless. Banning these outdoor feedings does not ban our service, just one particular way we’ve done it. Lastly, I talked about how honoring someone’s dignity is more about acting for their greatest good more than it is about creating space for them to choose whatever they want.

Today, I want to talk about how this ban is actually good for the Gospel in this city.
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{saturday} | prayer & readings for Easter Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

For Easter Week: reading sched/reflections + Easter Mixtape + Holy Day poetry.
{More on the why and how of Lent/Easter here.}

prayer.

We thank you, heavenly Father, that you have delivered us from the dominion of sin and death and brought us into the kingdom of your Son; and we pray that, as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his love he may raise us to eternal joys; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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{friday} | prayer & readings for Easter Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

For Easter Week: reading sched/reflections + Easter Mixtape + Holy Day poetry.
{More on the why and how of Lent/Easter here.}

prayer.

Almighty Father, who gave your only Son to die for our sins and to rise for our justification: Give us grace so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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{thursday} | prayer & readings for Easter Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

For Easter Week: reading schedule/reflections + Easter Mixtape + Holy Day poetry.
{More on the why and how of Lent/Easter here.}

prayer.

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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{wednesday} | prayer & readings for Easter Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

For Easter Week: reading schedule/reflections + Easter Mixtape + Holy Day poetry.
{More on the why and how of Lent/Easter here.}

prayer.

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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{tuesday} | prayer & readings for Easter Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / Leave a comment

For Easter Week: reading schedule/reflections + Easter Mixtape + Holy Day poetry.
{More on the why and how of Lent/Easter here.}

prayer.

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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{monday} | prayer & readings for Easter Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

For Easter Week: reading schedule/reflections + Easter Mixtape + Holy Day poetry.
{More on the why and how of Lent/Easter here.}

prayer.

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life- giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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readings & reflections for Easter Week (4.8-14.2012)

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scripture readings for the week.
as the week progresses, check back here and click on the appropriate day for the Prayer and Scripture text for that day

(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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HAPPY EASTER! Free Easter Mixtape Now Available!

/ Paul Burkhart / 4 Comments

Today, we usher in the season of Easter. This is a time that follows that mournfulness and quiet meditation that is the season of Lent.

During Lent, the tension and angst between who are and who we know we should be grows and grows. Good Friday is when Jesus bears the weight of this angst, Holy Saturday is when he enters into it fully, and Easter is when this tension breaks as we celebrate how Christ has overcome the weight and darkness of it all. This is meant to be a time of giddy joy and freedom and worship.

To help us in this time, I’m offering another mixtape. (I made some for both Advent and Lent.) I pray these songs and words are able to usher us into unfettered joy and gratitude to our God for all he has done, and all he has promised to do. As usual, you can both download and stream it for free. Here it is:

Click here for the Easter 2012 Mixtape

Feel free to download and share this as you like, and may it bless you this Easter season. Be sure to also follow the poetry, prayers, reflections, and readings I’ve offered for this season as well.

[Image Credit: the cover art above is an amazing piece by my favorite artist, Mark Rothko.]

{easter sunday} | prayer & N.T. Wright reflection for Easter

/ Paul Burkhart / 5 Comments

For Easter Week: readings/reflections + Easter Music Mixtape + Holy Day poetry.
{More on the why and how of Lent/Easter here.}

prayer.

O God, who has made this most holy night to shine with the glory of the Lord’s resurrection: Stir up in your Church that Spirit of adoption which is given to us in Baptism, that we, being renewed both in body and mind, may worship you in security and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.
(from the the Book of Common Prayer)

reflection.

Easter ought to be an eight-day festival, with champagne served after morning prayer or even before, with lots of alleluias and extra hymns and spectacular anthems. It is any wonder people find hard to believe in the resurrection of Jesus if we don’t throw our hats in the air? Is it any wonder we find it hard to live the resurrection if we don’t do it exuberantly in our liturgies? It is any wonder the world doesn’t take much notice if Easter is celebrated as simply the one-day happy ending tacked on to forty days of fasting and gloom? It’s long over due that we took a hard look at how we keep Easter in church, at home, in our personal lives, right through the system.

{holy saturday} | prayer & readings for Holy Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

For Holy Week: reading schedule/reflections + local Holy Week gatherings.
{More on the why and how of Lent here.}

prayer.

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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{good friday} | prayer & readings for Holy Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

For Holy Week: reading schedule/reflections + local Holy Week gatherings.
{More on the why and how of Lent here.}

prayer.

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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{maundy thursday} | prayer & readings for Holy Week (2012)

/ Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

For Holy Week: reading schedule/reflections + local Holy Week gatherings.
{More on the why and how of Lent here.}

prayer.

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

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