Chris Burkmenn's Blog

To get places you must have transportation in order to arrive at your destination. You can travel by car, train, plane, boat, bike, and etc... Some of the vehicles can get you where you are going a little faster, but they all have the ability to get you there. Transportation can occasionally allow you to get where you are going a little quicker than walking/running. When most of us want to get somewhere we usually think of the fastest way possible. Whether it be taking a short cut driving, flying a plane, or even a helicopter. Why is that? It's because we want to arrive as fast as possible, and we usually are in a hurry. Rushing just as quick as we can. Resenting any obstacle in our path along the way. Throwing our hands up in the air when we are cut off driving on the road. Because it set us back from getting to where we are ultimately are trying to get. Those things often serve as a distraction. Taking our attention off of the destination and onto the tiny situation that is...

Ever since I was a young boy I have been a big dreamer. Always believing that nothing could stop me. That there was not a goal to big. Nothing that could not be reached. Starting when I first saw the show on Nickelodean, Kenan and Kel. I believed that I could be an actor. And I knew that one day I would be on that show. Several of you know, that I used to pretend I was Carson Daly hosting TRL in the mirror when I was a kid. To be honest, Sometimes I still do. My dreams have always been so much bigger than myself, and at the time I thought I alone could reach them. Until one day I gave the Lord everything that I had. Every desire, goal, ambition, and my whole heart. Making Jesus my Lord and savior. He has taught me so much through my walk, teaching me patience and trust. Many other things he has taught me, and without him I wouldn't be anywhere near these goals. He is my all, he is my everything. He is the reason that I get up in the morning. If it had not been for Jesus ...

When you think of a story, the first thing you think of is a book. When you think of books, you may think of some of the greatest stories ever told. The Bible, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone with the Wind, Night, The Book Thief, and The Hunger Games. The one thing about these books, they all have stories to tell. They are filled with adventure, Love, Set back, Set up, Tragedies, Death, and Pain. The stories in these books are all worth telling. From the beginning to end they paint the picture of what the author is trying to convey. Stories can also be found in songs, and some of the greatest story tellers ever are songwriters. Our generation has been blessed with epic songs that will go on to be timeless. Taylor Swift, love her or hate her, has been blessed with the extraordinary talent of making you a part of the story. Her songs can make you smile, make you angry, and possibly even make you cry. Other greats Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, James Taylor, and C...

In life things will come against you, and the results will not always be what you hoped for. Being rejected for a role, Losing a job, a Car repair, or failing a class. These are just a few of the examples that life tends to throw us. Many times it's hard to accept. How do I proceed? How did I end up here? I am good person, how could God let this happen? So many questions with very few answers. It can be discouraging when all we see is what before us. The obstacles of life, and we often overlook the promises God has spoken over our lives. I can forget that God has told me so often in the Bible. One of my favorites is Psalm 23: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff t...

As an actor and a person, one of the hardest things to do is move on. Moving forward has always been a challenge of mine because I don't always adapt well to change. I think that I love change, but then when it gets here I do everything I can to avoid it. I have talked about this in past posts, but a reminder never hurts. That being said, this week I am moving into a new apartment. A new apartment with a new roommate. I have been packing boxes this evening and going through things that bring a smile to my face from the past. It amazing the things that you accumulate from different seasons in your life. It's even hard to decide what to keep and what to get rid of, especially when you are moving. In my current apartment I never really quite settled. I was never quite comfortable so there were a lot things that I never took out of the boxes. Since moving to Nashville, I have moved 8 times in about 4 years. I am quite ready to not have to move again for a little while. My ...

A wise man once said, Martin Luther King Jr. Reading this quote, it helps me quite a bit. When I visualize what is being said, I feel it was reminiscent of what Jesus told us. Love your neighbor as I have loved you. John 13:34 In a world where there seems to be not enough love at times. Where hatred fills the media painting a picture that makes it seem as though all hope is lost. As though we are on a deserted island away from Jesus. When we think about it, we should never feel as though all hope is gone because we are the hope. Jesus did not say that love cannot exist without him on the Earth, He said love your neighbor as I have loved you. Which means that we must live by the example that he set forth. To be the love of the world  through Him. This quote speaks to me so much because at times I can feel as though injustice can over take me or that someone is being rude to me for no reason at all. My first instinct is to throw rudeness right back at them(lets be hones...

Well it has been over a week since I last was able to gather my thoughts and put them together to produce something for you all to read. I needed sometime to just focus on the task at hand. #EncouragementWednesday is one of my favorite things to write for you all! It challenges me and makes me find encouragement for myself. It causes me to do some searching in who I am in order to give you the encouragement that you need.  So it can help you face your day. I am writing to you as a testimony of God's faithfulness today. As some of you may remember in May of this year, I left my full time job in order to pursue some new ventures in my life. Taking a step like that didn't hit me until my last day on the job. I had the "This is real life" moment. Especially as I walked out of those doors. After leaving, I began serving full time at Logan's Roadhouse in Cool Springs. It challenges me so much that you probably wouldn't believe it unless you came and worked ...

Life has gotten pretty crazy busy. I will be taking the next few weeks off. I am excited to return!! Thank you for your understanding!!  “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” -Mark 6:31

It's amazing to think that the problems of the world effect us so much. We often cannot see anything past our current situation. It sometimes it can take over every good thing that we have. No matter what we have we focus more on what we lack. Today I want to encourage you that God says you are capable and that he has placed you where you are. So when the enemy says to you about your weakness. God says that we are powerful truth in Ephesians 1 and so many other places in the Bible. Say to the enemy "my father thinks I am amazing, my father loves me." The enemy may say: Do you really think you're capable of fulfilling what God has call you to do? "My Father says I am. I don't know how I'm going to do it but the power if the Resurrection is in me. I don't feel capable. But my Father says I am." Do you really think you're going to make it through this trail? "My Father says I am." God has great plans for you, It...

Life can either be a grand adventure or nothing at all.-Helen Keller In life we make excuses, so many of them! I don't have enough time, I am running late, I will call them back, etc. We are thrown off if our day doesn't go our way. We are angered if our favorite place is out of our normal item. We get bitter if our friend cancels on us.  What if we looked at all of this as a grand adventure. When the obstacle arises we move forward in the sense of nothing is going to get me down, and I am going to live like there is no tomorrow.T urning our can't into opportunities to do great things. Changing the set back to a set up. As we are being postured into the ability to live for the moment we are in.  If we are running late then may we look at it with the possibility that you are being delayed from an accident. If you are behind and you are waiting in a line at McDonalds there may be someone you might need to bless for the day; maybe with your smile, your words, o...

Welcome to another Encouragement Wednesday! God is so amazing, the way he tests our faith. They are often a setup to something great! God is testing our faith constantly. He wants to grow our faith so that we can endure long. Whatever attack comes against us from the enemy God wants us to lean on him and trust him. Not all the time can we accuse the enemy often God is wanting to use the struggle for his glory.  Today I want to focus on Jesus sending his disciples out into the storm in Matthew 14. He sent them out knowing that there was a storm coming. Funny that God would send them out into a storm, it says in scripture that Jesus made them get in the boat. Today I want to focus on Peter's faith in that story. We often look at Peter with the attitude that he had no faith. We must think about this though, he had to have some kind of faith for him to have gotten out of the boat. He was the only disciple to step out of the boat. All the other disciples sat in the boat and watche...

photo courtesy of www.brainsonfire.com Welcome back for another Encouragement Wednesday today I hope you enjoy what I feel will help you be encouraged! When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up--one on one side, one on the other--so that his hands remained steady till sunset. -Exodus 17:12

"Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." Jonah 3:2 The Lord commanded Jonah to go to the great city of Nineveh. In Jonah's time Nineveh was an awful place it was filled with every kind of sin. They would skin people alive in battles and give their carcass to the families. They would rape innocent people just because they could.  Here is a brief description of the awful things done: Woe to the bloody city! It  is  all full of lies  and  robbery.  Its  victim never departs. The noise of a whip and the noise of rattling wheels, of galloping horses, of clattering chariots! Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.  There is  a multitude of slain, a great number of bodies, countless corpses; they stumble over the corpses; because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations through her harlotries, and families through her sorceries. ...