Personal

Catholics Aren’t Crazy: The Eucharist & Economics (pt.1 of ?)

/ Paul Burkhart / 11 Comments

I haven’t written a post in this series in a while, but I’ve been reading William Cavanaugh’s amazing book Being Consumed: Economics & Christian Desire as a counter to Jack Cashill’s Popes & Bankers, which I just finished.  It’s pretty remarkable.  Every Christian–nay, every person–should read this book.

Cavanaugh is a Catholic and this influences his thought greatly and wonderfully.  I’ve only made it through the Introduction and I already feel like I’ve been taken for a ride, with my economic thought swirling.  Once I’m done I’ll surely be posting a review here for all of you to enjoy.  He has this amazing paragraph in the Introduction I wanted to share here with all of you:
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Open Mic: the Blog Reset Button (I need your feedback!)

/ Paul Burkhart / 8 Comments

shrug

I need some help with this blog.  I don’t know what to do anymore.

There are a few reasons for the lack of posts recently here at the long way home.  My job and living situation notwithstanding, I really do feel my thinking, writing, and inspiration slipping through my fingers like sand with each passing month I go while not in school.  I really miss it.  Even my very ability to think deeply feels muddied by the monotony of having a 9 to 5 job.  The deepest, most meaningful things I’ve said or written in the past several months have only been regurgitations of things that I said or thought months ago.

The good news is this: this seems to be changing.  Or at least, the desire to see it change is growing. I’m finally finding the rhythm I need at work to find time to write.  I’m reading and listening to the right things that are spurring me to think once more– driving me to want to create again.  I seem to be hearing once more the whispers from all those albums, short stories, plays, blogs posts, articles, books, and even my forlorn podcast I was working on way back when.  It’s all pretty exciting.

But…
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Free Recordings from our Housewarming Show

/ Paul Burkhart / 3 Comments

A little more than an month ago, myself and my roommates held a Housewarming show to inaugurate our new presence in South Philadelphia.  In all, we had six musical acts play, 32 songs performed, and almost 60 people attend.  It was an amazing night.  One of the best I had had in a long time.  For all those that came, thank you again.

We also live recorded the music that night, and today, we are proud to officially release The Birdhouse Presents, Vol. 1: The Housewarming. Those recordings are now available for download for free (or donation, if you like).  The album comes in two editions.  The Color edition has the evening broken up by individual song; the Black & White edition contains each artists’ full sets, including the talking, joking, and intros between each song.  Just click on the banner below and pick your edition:

The recordings themselves are a bit quiet, but are fine with headphones or external speakers.  They came out really well.  As a preview, here were some of the covers and songs everyone seemed to enjoy a lot that night from each of the performers:

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“Inception and the Art of the Review”- PatrolMag

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Hello, I have about 5 or 6 separate articles/reviews I’m working on at the moment, and not just for Patrol Magazine, but also this site!  We finally have internet at my place, so if I can only find some time (and a little inspiration).  But, until those articles get up here, I have more Patrol articles to send you all (you can read my past articles here).  This week, I have a sort of review of Christopher Nolan’s new masterpiece Inception.  I say “sort of” because it’s more of a reflection on how the movie’s impacted me than an actual typical review.  Anyway, read and enjoy.

And see Inception. [Photo credit]

“Inception and the Art of the Review”- PatrolMag

Of Liturgy, Communion, and Relationship [a liturgy]

/ Paul Burkhart / 5 Comments

[This weekend, I had the privilege of helping lead the prayers and liturgy at my church. I thought I would post my manuscript up for all to read and take part in as well. I hope this blesses you to read as it blessed me to write.]

Greeting and Preparation

Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.

Hello, my name is Paul, and welcome to Liberti: South Philly. We are a community of people–people with struggles, doubts, addictions, and frustrations–who are still in the process of figuring out what it means to believe in this God we believe in, and relate to Him and others in a way that reflects that belief. This may be your first time here or your hundredth, but either way we want to welcome you all and we hope that your time here today is meaningful.

The part of the Christian faith we will be talking about today is that of community and relationships. Most likely all of us in here have our own sets of insecurities, uncertainties, and baggage concerning this topic. Our relationships seem to be the area that can frustrate us like no other; the area that it appears no amount of mere intellectual knowledge can change. It is often the source of our greatest joys, our deepest sorrows, and our most profound change.

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Free Philly Concert for the 4th: The Roots & Goo Goo Dolls

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fireworks

For those living in Philadelphia, tonight (on the 4th of July) will be what is supposedly the largest outdoor concert in the country (really?).  Last year they had Bruce Springsteen come in and play.

This year?  Well, the Goo Goo Dolls are headlining (I had no idea they were still around).  But that’s not why I’m writing this.

One of the other acts is Philly’s very own The Roots.  For much of the country, this band gained notoriety as Jimmy Fallon’s band on his late night show.  For me, they’re perhaps my favorite hip-hop ensemble out there.

Their new album How I Got Over came out a couple of weeks ago.  It is amazing; one of the best hip-hop albums released in the past few years, in my opinion.  I’m working on a review of the album for Patrol Magazine, so to prepare, I’ve been listening through The Roots‘ entire discography this past week.  Wow.  What a group.  I can’t wait to see them tonight.  And if you’re around, you should be just as excited to come out.

For Philly: Grad Hospital Rejoice! Honey’s 2nd Location @ 21st & South

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According to the Philly.com’s Insider blog, my (and most everyone’s) favorite breakfast diner, Honey’s Sit ‘n Eat, will be opening a second location.  And where does this bastion of greatness decide to place this most-coveted of second locations?  In Graduate Hospital.  Three blocks from my house. For those that know the area, the new location will be found at this corner of 21st and South St, across the street from the great bar Ten Stone and the great coffee shop La.Va. It will also have in it a branch of the dog shop, Doggie Style.  They plan to open in the winter.  (this story was found via Philly Grubstreet)

“BP, Obama, the Environment, and All That Other Stuff You’re Already Sick of Talking About”-Patrol

/ Paul Burkhart / 2 Comments

hayward

I have my newest article up on Patrol Magazine.  It is joining in on a discussion happening between a couple of the writers at the magazine concerning ways to approach this oil crisis.  My opinion?  Stop trying to destroy BP.  Why?  Read on to find out.  And please, give comments; I’d love to know what you all think.  Here it is:

“BP, Obama, the Environment, and All That Other Stuff You’re Already Sick of Talking About”–Patrol Magazine

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“Jack Cashill Writes a Good Book, But He’s Insane.” -Patrol Mag

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I have an original blog post I’m working on for tomorrow, but for now, I’ll promote my most recent article on Patrol Magazine.  It’s about a book I’m currently reviewing for Thomas Nelson publishers (full disclosure: they sent me the book for free).  It’s about the struggle I’m having after finding out that this otherwise enjoyable book is written by an author who is pretty crazy.  How?  Well, just read on.  Patrol even made it a cover story today, so I’ve provided the cover story picture as your link to the article.  Enjoy.  And leave comments!

cashill
You can read all my articles for Patrol right here.

“Okay, So Jack Bauer Didn’t Die”-Patrol Mag

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Another week, another article in Patrol Magazine. This week, I wrote a response to my article two weeks ago, “Jack Bauer Must Die“.  The response was needed because, as the title of my current article implies, the series finale of 24 happened and Jack did not indeed die.  Here’s the link:

“Okay, So Jack Bauer Didn’t Die”-Patrol Mag

Once again, just as the last article, this article isn’t even so much about the show itself as it is about what this show, and it’s ending says about our culture and what is profitable.  Please comment freely here and on Patrol.  I’d love your thoughts.  You can view all of my past articles for Patrol Magazine here. [p.s.-starting next week, I’m changing my blogging philosophy, which will result in a very different feel for this site.  More to come.]

Beauty: Revisited

/ Paul Burkhart / 3 Comments

Last year I gave a seminar/lecture/sermon thing at my old church, Epiphany Fellowship. The topic I spoke on was Beauty. I spent about nine months doing research, reading, talking, and thinking before ultimately delivering it last August. After the break is the full “Table of Contents” for each part of the blog series I did going through each individual part of the manuscript.  Those blog parts have not yet been updated.  Here are the the updated full written Manuscript, the audio of my “lecture”, and an appendix with the Greek/Hebrew breakdown of the words for “Beauty” in the Bible.

Full Talk
Full Audio
Language Appendix

Series Table of Contents:

Why do we long for Beauty?

What is Beauty?

What Things are Beautiful, and why?

How do we respond to this Beauty?

Conclusion

“Jack Bauer Must Die” -Patrol Mag

/ Paul Burkhart / 1 Comment

My original title for my article this week for Patrol Magazine (before the editorial chopping block) was I’m Calling It: Jack Bauer Will Die (On Morality & “24”).  The article concerns the television series 24 and it’s upcoming series-ending finale.  My theory?  They’re going to kill Jack Bauer, the show’s iconic main character.  Read the article to find out my reasons why:

“Jack Bauer Must Die” – Patrol Magazine

It’s far more philosophical than “televisional”, so don’t worry.  I did not intend to bog people down with plot minutiae and spoilers.  Speaking of, as far as spoilers go, there are only a couple concerning very recent episodes of the current season, and even though are fairly nebulous.  Besides, how the story is told is just as exciting (if not more) as what the story is.

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I’ve Moved to South Philly! (hence no blog posts)

/ Paul Burkhart / 3 Comments

Hey, this is one of those posts I have to put up every couple of months apologizing for not having updated things around here on the blog.  As anyone that reads this site knows, I don’t really do “personal” posts very often.  Sure, most every article is timely and has some sort of inspiration within my life, but the resultant product is still more “essay”-y and “article”-y.  This is just the way I am, and I’m fine with that.  But with the immanent demise of my “online magazine” (post on this forthcoming), I might have a place to put those “essays” and “articles” thereby reserving this space for “posts”: you know; quotes, links, quips, thoughts, witticisms, and the like, updated more than once a day.  But as I parentheticized earlier, all this will be talked about in the next week or so.  On to the personal stuff!

This past weekend I moved into my new place in South Philly.

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“If You Believe in Jesus, the Resurrection, & Evolution, You Are A Heretic” – Patrol Mag

/ Paul Burkhart / 6 Comments

photo from Wired Science

Well, my article for last week on Patrol took a little longer for me to submit it than usual so it only just got posted.  The article has to do with the recent situation involving Bruce Waltke, formerly of Reformed Theological Seminary.  The article is in response to a recent post by Rick Phillips of the site Reformation21, whose mission is “Encouraging biblical thinking, living, worship, ministry, and constructive cultural engagement.”  I believe the articles written by Phillips (and others) reacting to Waltke’s situation do not fall into any of those parameters set by that mission statement.  Here’s the link:

“If You Believe in Jesus, the Resurrection, & Evolution, You Are A Heretic”

Also, something that might be of interest to some, the article contains a very surprising and substantial list of names (and links to sources) of Christians throughout history whose view of Genesis either explicitly or implicitly allows for, encourages, or would have allowed for theistic creation by means of Darwinian evolution.  Check it.

You can see all of my past articles for Patrol here.