Chris Burkmenn's Blog

So often we go through life and have ourselves almost convinced that God has somehow forgotten about us. We confuse our finances with the notion that God is neglecting us. As if we had done something wrong to deserve a setback. I was at McDonalds this evening drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper and watching the people around me. I saw this woman sobbing and apologizing to her husband for how sorry she was. How she wished she could have changed their current situation. She had major dental work done today and was still in shock with the bill. She was standing at the Coke station and telling her husband that this was not what she had wanted, and that she would have rather gone on a trip. She seemed so convinced that this situation was bigger than God and that he had forgotten about her. That she was alone with no one looking out for her. I wanted to touch her hand and let her know that God had not forgotten about her. I overheard her apologizing to the cashier saying, "I am sorry I am so...

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...

How many of us tend to not be grateful what we have been blessed with? How about take for granted what we have been given? Today we have been given one of the greatest gifts of all, another day. For in a day the world can change. We often rush through not life and do not even realize how blessed we are. Passing through life without taking a moment to pause and be grateful for the life that we have. The family that we love, the friends that are ride or die, and the ability to be free. If we pass by life and don't take a moment to smell the roses we are not living for the moment. I know that I rush, rush, rush and don't ever really just take the day as it is and soak up God. For He created everything, and we are all living on his clock not our own. If we spend our whole life working what are really accomplishing, but work. We get so caught up in doing we often forget about being. Look at Martha and Mary: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a vil...

"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. ...

When I was young my mom and dad use to say, Christopher you are in such a rush to grow up. To be honest I was. I felt I was missing out on the action. I wanted the independence because I thought I knew it all. At a young age knowing it all is so far from the truth, if anything I knew nothing. Mom and Dad would always try and help and I would blow them off and shake it off as if I knew the answer. I would argue until I was blue in the face.  Today I stand here and fully admitt that I wish I would have savored more. Cherished the days of my youth because those care free days are over and grown up life has hit me. I have bills, a job, and adult responsibilities. I firmly believe that all of our decisions effect our reality. We cannot change the past all we can do is learn from our previous decisions. I am very thankful for where I am today and know that God's grace covers my life. The responsibilities of life can try and consume you. They can try and take over the freedom th...

What a year this has been, and what an amazing journey every step has been. I turned 24 this year, and as I reflected on the last year I realized how truly blessed that I am. I have such a loving family back home that is growing daily. I get to hear amazing testimonies from them which is so awesome and encouraging. It makes me smile. I Love that God has moved in so many amazing ways, and even though I am not there I know that the bond of family can never be broken. I have such amazing friends here in Nashville, God provided me some pretty incredible people. I had always prayed for a brother and feel that God has really provided there. I have been made feel like family at my church, and in our youth. The Oasis Church has truly given me so many things, and I am so thankful to God for providing that! I had learned so truly amazing things this year as I grow in the word and in the body. God has been with me every step of the way, and I think it's important to remember that becau...