Dave Burchett's Blog

Another Spiritual Insight From A Dog Disciple

The Epistles written by Paul are as impactful for today’s church as they were for his multiple church plants. Paul was dealt some pretty bad hands during his missionary journeys. I suspect it would have been easy for him to question God about his challenging journey. After all, it was God who very aggressively recruited Paul onto the team while he was traveling to Damascus. But Paul knew that difficulties are a vital part of the ­spiritual growth program. Here is what he wrote from prison. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in

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Time To Implement The Grace Rules of Engagement

I made a conscious decision a few years ago to focus on communicating the message of grace and identity in Christ. With that I decided to avoid the polarizing path of politics. Some have told me that is cowardly but I can honestly say there is no message more important to me than the liberating freedom of grace. I want to share the joy of living out of what Jesus has already accomplished and what God says is true about me.  That I am a saint. A new creation. A beloved child of God. I relate to the mission statement of Paul when he wrote these words. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. (Acts 20:24, NLT) I feel called to be a messenger of hope and grace. Plus I feel like

The post Time To Implement The Grace Rules of Engagement first appeared on Charisa Stories.

I Must Remember I Have A New Identity

I love the message Paul wrote to the Ephesian church. Paul had spent over two years teaching and discipling the new believers in Ephesus. Not long after leaving he received reports that those new hearts had reverted to old habits. Things were a bit of a mess and the word came back that the old behaviors of rage, immorality, lying, stealing and gossip were resurfacing. Paul wrote a letter to address this sad turn of events. The amazing thing to me is that the first three chapters never address those sins. Paul even greets them as saints for crying out loud! “From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], the faithful in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬ ‭NET‬‬) If I was writing that letter it would have had an entirely different tone. Something more along these lines. “What are you thinking? I am so disappointed in you. What is wrong with you?

The post I Must Remember I Have A New Identity first appeared on Charisa Stories.

Hannah Taught Me The Joy of Being Unleashed

It was thirteen years ago when Joni and I said goodbye to Hall of Fame canine companion Hannah. She was a unexpected rescued Labrador that God brought into our lives to help us through a challenging season. She inspired the initial book draft of Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace that included stories from another rescued Labrador named Maggie. Here is a chapter from the book remembering sweet Hannah. Hannah loves the morning walk. When she sees me grab my walking shoes, she begins to vibrate with excitement. If the Department of Energy wants to find an untapped green energy source, it should harness Labrador tails. I think Hannah could power a small apartment building when she gets excited and that tail starts oscillating. I love the morning walk as well. It is a time to meditate, pray, listen to good music, and enjoy God’s company. The walk is pretty much the same each day

The post Hannah Taught Me The Joy of Being Unleashed first appeared on Charisa Stories.

We Need To Comprehend That Words Matter A Lot

When it comes to social media some people seem to be in attack mode all the time. My heartaches because friends and colleagues of mine say truly ugly things and assign terrible motives to people they don’t even know. I quit going negative on social media many years ago. I affirm where I can and stay silent when I cannot. I just don’t understand what satisfaction people get from savaging someone from the safe bunker of the Internet. One word I choose to limit is hate. Hate is a powerful and deeply affecting word. But we toss it around so casually that it makes me wince. I am saddened, sickened, disturbed, and frightened at how the word hate is being hurled in our national discourse. Red-faced people of different viewpoints spew vitriol at those they disagree with. It can be an honest and complicated issue that people are reacting to, but they reduce the debate to hating their opponents instead

The post We Need To Comprehend That Words Matter A Lot first appeared on Charisa Stories.

One Secret To Navigating Life Is Counting Your Blessings

Life’s circumstances can be hard to accept for even the most mentally ­healthy—​­if such people actually exist. The truth is that many of us are dealing with frustrations and challenges everyday. It is so easy to get caught up in our own resentments that we lose sight of the sacred all around us. And it is very difficult to see challenging circumstances as critical building blocks to spiritual maturity. Paul was dealt some pretty bad hands during his missionary journeys. I suspect it would have been easy for him to question God about his lot. After all, it was God who very aggressively recruited Paul onto the team while he was traveling to Damascus. But Paul knew that difficulties are a vital part of the ­spiritual-​­growth program. Here is what he wrote from prison. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show

The post One Secret To Navigating Life Is Counting Your Blessings first appeared on Charisa Stories.

What Is The Reason To Attack Thoughts and Prayers?

I have written about this social media trend but I think it is worth revisiting. After a tragedy occurs it is a common social media reaction to attack people of faith for offering “thoughts and prayers”. These posters assume that anyone expressing those sentiments don’t really care about solutions to prevent future violence. Our culture seems to have lost the ability to recognize two things can be true at once. I honestly believe I can desire cultural improvement while praying for hope and comfort to victims and their families available through faith in Christ.  So here is the challenge for Christians in this season. How can we love those who assign terrible motives to what may be a completely sincere and caring response? Perhaps start by seeing if anything in the criticism is valid. I spent 40 years in television production trucks so rough language doesn’t impact me much. But I have to admit the language and anger directed toward

The post What Is The Reason To Attack Thoughts and Prayers? first appeared on Charisa Stories.

Has Satan Devised A Prevent Defense For Our Faith Growth Offense?

There is a question about grace that confounds me. “If grace based theology as the way to live out the Christian life is true then why is it not more popular in the church?” That is a great question. I have been swept away by grace. Everything in my life has been changed by taking away my performance based faith and believing in Christ’s performance for me. During a recent football telecast I thought about a parallel between one of my least favorite football strategies and this grace conundrum. Perhaps it was an insight from the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it was simply because my brain is not wired to factory specs. But this idea popped in my mind. A lot of football teams play a defense that is called the prevent defense. That style of defense is designed to allow the opponent short yardage gains as the defense tries to prevent big plays and long touchdowns. The theory is that if you can

The post Has Satan Devised A Prevent Defense For Our Faith Growth Offense? first appeared on Charisa Stories.

Did God Cue Up Carol King To Heal My Heart?

I love how God can connect with His children in creative ways. In recent days I went through a period of discouragement. My spiritual and emotional meters were registering dangerously low numbers. I grew increasingly disappointed with myself because none of the things I was dealing with were dangerous issues. I wondered why I was so down. There were several discouraging events but nothing major. I prayed to the Lord to get me back on the path of trusting Him as I drove to a meeting. I was listening to 70’s music when a song by Carol King popped up. I love her voice so I turned up the volume. The lyrics hit me between the eyes. When you’re down and troubledAnd you need a helping handAnd nothing, nothing is going right Hmmmm. Interesting. I can relate to those words for sure. Is this song a request someone made for my current journey? The song continued. Close your eyes and

The post Did God Cue Up Carol King To Heal My Heart? first appeared on Charisa Stories.

Considering Christianity? What Is The Most Important Question To Explore?

I know people who are considering whether putting their faith in the message of Jesus Christ is legitimate. I went through that same journey years ago. I had many doubts then but, to be honest, they often focused on the wrong issues. My uncertainty centered around people who brazenly wore the label of Christian but their actions showed little or nothing worthy of my commitment to their message. I had not done an intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually honest dive into the most important question. Is Jesus who he said he is? I wrote a book titled When Bad Christians Happen to Good People where I explored behaviors of people claiming to be followers that did not represent the message of Jesus. The proposed title of the book was “Don’t Reject Christ Because of Christians”. I got caught up on that worthless detour. Because of the influence of a few followers of Jesus who gracefully and lovingly influenced me I made

The post Considering Christianity? What Is The Most Important Question To Explore? first appeared on Charisa Stories.