Dave Burchett's Blog, page 10

Sit! Stay!

To celebrate the 9th anniversary of the publication of Stay here is a chapter on a lesson learned from Maggie. Maggie is a Labrador puppy mixed with some other mystery DNA. She is a bouncing, wiggling, sixty-pound bundle of unrestrained energy. Whenever she sees a new person, she cannot stop herself from jumping. Oddly enough, some people do not enjoy sixty-pound creatures hurdling pell-mell into their personal space. Weird. So we either need to fix this bad behavior or become hermits. Today we enrolled Maggie in puppy training classes. One of the first things the instructor, Tony, said was both apparent and profound.  “First of all, you have to teach her to sit and stay. When she is sitting, she can’t jump and misbehave.” Thank you, Captain Obvious. Wait a minute. Is this another lesson for me in my discipleship-by-dog journey? Maggie needed to learn to sit to avoid committing doggie offenses. I need to sit too, in a spiritual sense. The

God’s Under Appreciated Attribute?

My canine companion Maggie and I try to do a couple of walks per day. We have individual goals. She likes to sniff and I like to pray. On a recent walk it occurred to me how often I thank God for one particular response to me. Patience. For over four decades I have been responding to God’s grace and love in very inconsistent patterns. Sometimes I am grateful and serving. Sometimes I am selfish and frustrated. Yet His love for me never changes one bit. I sometimes imagine comparing my faith journey to being a new employee beginning an amazing and undeserved job. On the day I am hired and sign the contract I am excited and committed. I keep that excitement going for a while until I begin to encounter circumstances that discourage me. Instead of going to the boss or seeking solutions I begin to doubt the company and boss. My effort and trust fade rapidly. If

Don’t Let the Old Man In

Toby Keith wrote a song called “Don’t Let the Old Man in” that was inspired by Clint Eastwood. The song has incredibly helpful applications in my life as I grow older and as I grow as a Christian. Let me explain. Keith wrote the song after a conversation with Eastwood while they were playing golf. Clint was about to celebrate his 88th birthday by going to film a new movie. Toby Keith was blown away and asked him “how do you do it, man?” Eastwood answered, “I just get up every morning and go out. And I don’t let the old man in.” That stuck in Toby Keith’s mind and he penned the song that was featured in the movie “The Mule”. The lyrics are inspiring for me in this season of life. Don’t let the old man inI wanna leave this aloneCan’t leave it up to himHe’s knocking on my door And I knew all of my lifeThat someday

The Anticipated Joy of Heavenly Reunions Excites my Heart

Wayman Tisdale & Toby Keith I heard the news today that county music singer Toby Keith succumbed to stomach cancer at the too young age of 62. Toby Keith was a talented and imperfect man that had a huge heart for helping others. That is just about the best resume any of us could hope for. I wrote a blog about the things the church could learn from his song, “I Love This Bar”. But my favorite song from Toby Keith was written when his dear friend Wayman Tisdale passed away in May of 2009. Tisdale was one of the all-time great basketball players at Oklahoma University and had a distinguished NBA career. But his first loves were Jesus and music so he retired to pursue those. Toby Keith and Wayman became best friends along the way. Toby talked about his friend in an interview with newson6 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “Having a successful career, you meet a thousand celebrities and

Follow the Grace Rules of Order in a Divided Culture

When I became elder chairman at Waterbrook Bible Fellowship I had to learn Roberts Rules of Order. Not exactly my fastball but having that protocol in place helped the meetings proceed in an orderly fashion. Recently I have been pondering publishing the “Grace Rules of Order”. Seems a little odd because grace doesn’t depend on legalistically following rules and law but please hear me out. 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.  I feel called to be a messenger of hope and grace. Plus I feel

DIY is bad theology

Joni and I watch a lot of HGTV shows together. I love how they take a house that is dysfunctional and ugly and make it useful and beautiful. The process is intriguing.  Identity the problem. Come up with a new plan. Demo the old stuff. Rebuild with hard work.  Results? Amazing.  Too often we take that process and convert it into a do-it-yourself project to grow as followers of Jesus. The results? Not so amazing. I tried executing the DIY blueprint over and over.  I am dysfunctional. Check. I have identified the problem. I believe God has a plan for my life. Check.  Now I need to rebuild my spiritual dwelling place. This is where I veered off the Biblical script. I thought the self-demolition of my sinful behaviors and personal remodeling of my life would be based on my hard work. Bad plan. Jesus doesn’t remodel a messed up structure. He builds a completely new one on the day

We Should All Pray to be “Troublesome” Christians

Because of my career path in secular television I have a lot of people very dear to me who do not share my faith and hope in Jesus. Some are simply disinterested. Some think their good works will outweigh their bad deeds and they will be granted entry to Heaven. Some think that faith in God is a foolish pursuit that no intellectually honest person would consider. Some have witnessed horrible actions of people claiming to be Christians. Some have experienced harsh and legalistic religious types who make living a life of faith miserable and emotionally damaging. Some are pushed away by those who share sincere beliefs in a way that does not show the love of God. Any combination of these factors can cause people to step away or not pursue what it means to follow Jesus. I get it. I have struggled with many of those things over my long journey of faith. Brennan Manning wrote this very

Why Me Lord?

Why me Lord? I suspect that most of us have cried out to God with that question. I would also guess that approximately ninety-nine percent of the time we are asking God why some trial has come our way that we feel is undeserved. The same question has been asked throughout history. “Why me Lord? Why me?” A song by Kris Kristofferson cycled up on on my satellite radio today and reminded me of a better perspective. I have loved Kristofferson’s song “Why Me?” since I was a young believer and, if you do the math, you realize that I am not so young a believer anymore. The truth is I am still trying to apply the wisdom of these lyrics. Why me Lord, what have I ever doneTo deserve even oneOf the pleasures I’ve knownTell me Lord, what did I ever doneThat was worth loving youOr the kindness you’ve shown So true. What have I done to deserve even one of His blessings? I

Another Spiritual Hero is Heading Home

I have written tributes over the years to men and women who have significantly influenced my spiritual journey. Too often those tributes come after those inspiring followers of Jesus went home to Heaven. I have another spiritual hero who will soon be united with Jesus. My friend and my pastor Jeff Denton is near the end of his cancer journey. I wanted to write this while he is still able to hear what his testimony has meant to me because too often we save those words for memorial services. Waterbrook Bible Fellowship Lead Pastor Jeff Denton has been one of the most amazing leaders I have ever had the opportunity to serve under. His skill set would make me jealous if he wasn’t such a kind and grace filled friend. Jeff is a talented preacher, visionary director, administrator, counselor, creative writer, and inspirational leader. I know! How does a medium size church in Wylie, Texas find a leader like that?

Don’t Pack Joy Away after Christmas

This week we finished one of my least favorite tasks of the year. Taking down the Christmas decorations always fills me with melancholy. I love Christmas and the message of hope and joy it brings. That God entered human form and gave us hope in a Savior who understands our struggle. We packed up a treasured Nativity creche that has been a part of our family tradition for decades. That miracle in a Bethlehem stable is where I place my joy as I head into a very unstable New Year. I find my joy in the Messiah, the Lord – who was born in the city of David. It is so easy to remember the reason for hope during Christmas. It also easy to forget that when things turn dark.  We also packed away a decoration that spells out JOY. Now that we are past this wonderful season it would be easy to pack away joy in the attic and concentrate on cultural concerns.