Chris Burkmenn's Blog

Driving point to this post is that Purity paves the way to intimacy. Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”  So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one.  He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” This explains why a man leaves his father and mother...

Did you know that in the Bible, the NIV translation specifically the word hope is mention 159 times, must be pretty important to God if it is mentioned so many times.    Hope- the   feeling   that   what   is   wanted   can   be   had   or   that   events will  turn   out   for   the   best. So what does hope mean to you? What would you say hope is? Now there is such a difference in the Worldly sense of hope compared to the Godly Hope. How many of you enjoy hitting piñatas? We hit it several times before anything comes out of the piñata don’t we? How many of us know for certain there was going to be candy inside of it? Most of us aren’t able to see the person filling it, you all HOPE that it will be filled with candy but we really don’t know for certain. We aren’t certain how many hits it will take or even if we will hit it every time we swing, but the expectation is that th...

How many of you have ever had something valuable? What is something you’ve had that was/is valuable? How many of you have made sure that you took really good care of it so that no one would harm it or damage it. But you also wanted to make sure you showed your friends and family so they knew that you had it. When they were looking at it, you said be careful because I don’t want to damage the gift. When you were showing this gift did you want to make sure that the person knew how thankful you were for it and you made sure to let the people admiring know how much you VALUED the gift. Has anyone ever read the Parable of the Talents? 14  “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants [ a ]  and entrusted to them his property.  15  To one he gave five talents, [ b ]  to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.  16  He who had received the fi...

Where ever you may be finding this letter, may it be five years after I wrote it. I pray that it makes as much an impact as it did on me when I first discovered it. I pray that any situation you are in may God do wonders in your life, for His glory. I pray blessings and favor over your life. Nothing has made the impact on my life as Christ did the day I committed my life fully to him. If you have not accepted Jesus in your heart as your Lord and Savior I pray that today be your day. In life, we have the choice whether it be to conform to the world or help change it. Nothing can be done in our own strength we must first realize this, and from there everything else is by faith.  Have you ever asked yourself, "What kind of impact do I want to make on this world?" I know most of us have, most of us in vain. "How can I get people to know me" or "How can I live forever?" Well let me give your some relief to that question, and the honest answer is you can...

She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Matthew 9:21 I love this verse, I love that the woman's faith led her to be obedient and touch Jesus' clothing. To the world around her it was a crazy thought. Why would you want to touch Jesus' clothing?  If we read the whole story we see that she had been bleeding for 12 years. Now that is a lot of pain, 12 years of bleeding. I know that in my own life 1 day of feeling under the weather is enough for me, but to even imagine being sick for 12 years is beyond anything I can comprehend.  The woman was desperate, she was seeking the only thing that could make her better and that was Jesus. In our lives for things to get better it often takes Boldness, and Obedience in our faith. Think of how much guts it took for that woman to have touched this Man.  Jesus, who she had heard so much about and all of these miracles being performed. At the sight every knee shall bow and here this woman wants...

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...

As I think about my life, and reflect on all that God has given me the ability to do. So much has changed over the last couple of years, and what would make me think that things would stop changing because it is inevitable that things will continue to change. I look at my life and I am so thankful, God has given me so much and I truly believe that He has blessed me with so many amazing new opportunities! I have been blessed by my church, and the amazing family it has provided me. I have been given the ability to speak into peoples lives that I never would have thought would be possible. I am so humbled because that was never a goal for me, and yet it has blessed me beyond all words. Lately God has started to shake things up a bit for me as well, and I am still learning that I have so far to go. I am learning so much about where I am that it is crazy. But I am loving that God is providing so many people to speak into my life and stretch me so that I do not remain complacient. I ne...