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I have always proclaimed through good times and the Florida BCS debacle that I am a proud Ohio State Buckeye fan. This week I go back to my Buckeye roots to proclaim another proud association. My hometown of Chillicothe, Ohio is known to many Ohioans as the first state capital. Others know Chillicothe as the principal town of the great Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. Others remember Chillicothe as the place that Anne-Margaret tells Elvis she grew up in a brilliant scene from the cinema classic Viva Las Vegas. But now I have one more thing to put on the list. This past weekend the Cavaliers of Chillicothe High School won the Division 2 state high school basketball championship. I once played for the Cavaliers and for one of the great coaches that I have ever met, Tom Cuppett. Coach Cuppett put in place a winning attitude that I hope began to lay a foundation that eventually led to being state champs. Congrats to the Cavaliers! I guess you don’t get a ring if you graduated thirty-six years ago.

I am also proud of my later alliance with the Baylor Bears. This week the Bears complete a miracle comeback when they make their first appearance at the NCAA Basketball Tournament in two long decades. No matter what happens in their game against Purdue I will be enormously proud of Coach Scott Drew and this special group of young men. Hannah and I join in a hearty “Sic’em Bears”!

The lovely Mrs.Burchett and I have been enjoying a little time together this spring break week. A junket to beautiful Sedona, Arizona has been restful and restoring. Today we visited one of God’s masterpieces here in Arizona.

We paused during a hike to sit and listen to the sounds of a mountain creek. I happened to look up and noticed something unusual. The trees were completely barren except for one single leaf hanging onto a dead and lifeless branch. That one lonely leaf had attached itself to a source without hope of life and growth.

For some reason I began to think about how many Christians hang on to a dead and lifeless theology. There is no chance to grow and flourish.  I thought about how many sincere followers of Jesus accept the safe and familiar even if it is miserable and lifeless existence. They choose the safe instead of risking the vibrant and joyful adventure of fully trusting Christ.

Jesus gave a similar analogy when he described the vine in the Gospel of John.

I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. (John 15, The Message)

Still we too often hang on to a theology that ain’t workin’ and refuse to take the chance to graft into the vine that produces fruit. When we came to Christ we were grafted into this vine. I often quote the book TrueFaced and I am going to do it again. We were changed when we trusted Christ. When that occurs God is no longer interested in changing us. We are already changed and rewired with the identity of Christ Himself. For the Christian God is now interested in each one of us maturing into what is already true about us.

So we don’t need to hang onto a lifeless branch with no hope. We have been grafted into the living vine that produces fruit. The prayer is that we will trust that truth and mature into what is already true about us in the eyes of our Loving Heavenly Father.

 

A couple of years ago I saved an article from USA Today . The title, We are Easter People, was intriquing enough to merit a second look. Here is a portion of the piece written by Diane Cameron.

One of the lowest points in my life occurred years ago when I was living in Washington, D.C., at Easter time. My older sister had recently died and both of my brothers were seriously ill; my best friend was leaving town, and on top of that I was questioning my work. In my journal that April I wrote, “Am I depressed?” When I read those pages now I laugh and shake my head. “Depressed?” That I even had to ask. In that long year I thought I’d never laugh again, just as I thought I’d never again feel love, the joy of easy friendship, or the satisfaction of good work.

I went to church that Easter out of both habit and desperation. I had grown up in a church-going family. It was what we did. And so to honor the family that I was losing I went. Easter after all, is the centerpiece for Christians, honoring and recalling Christ’s triumph over death.

I chose a big downtown church for Easter services — one with hundreds in the congregation — not daring to visit a smaller church where I might have to speak to people or be embarrassed by my own tears. I wanted the paradoxical safety and anonymity of being in a crowd.

The minister that Easter Sunday said many things that I don’t remember, but one sentence has stayed with me all these years. He said, “We live in a Good Friday world.”

That I understood. A Good Friday world is a world full of suffering, questioning, unfairness, trouble, mistakes, hurts, losses and grief. Good Friday in the Christian faith is the day Christians commemorate Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. So that certainly made sense to me at that difficult time in my life.

“But,” he continued, “We are Easter people.” Those words stopped me cold. I was stunned to be reminded that painful morning that there was something other than what I was feeling.

Wow. What an amazing message as we head into the Easter week. We do live in a Good Friday world. How easy it is to stop right there,  just short of healing,  not realizing the hope of resurrection. The story of Easter week did not stop on Friday. The hope of this season is all about Sunday. Tony Campolo writes about a life changing sermon he heard in his book It’s Friday but Sunday’s Comin’. (Note to spiritual cyber hall monitors…I know Mr.Campolo is controversial. Just enjoy this illustration, take a deep breath, and move away from the keyboard). Campolo writes about hearing a wise African-American pastor preach about the events of Easter week.

For an hour and a half he preached one line over and over again…”It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin’!” He started his sermon real softly by saying, “It was Friday; it was Friday and my Jesus was dead on the tree. But that was Friday, and Sunday’s comin’!” One of the Deacons yelled, “Preach, brother, Preach!” It was all the encouragement he needed.

He came on louder as he said, “It was Friday and Mary was cryin’ her eyes out. The disciples were runnin’ in every direction, like sheep without a shepherd, but that was Friday, and Sunday’s comin!”

The preacher kept going. He picked up the volume still more and shouted, “It was Friday. The cynics were lookin’ at the world and sayin’ `As things have been so shall they be. You can’t change anything in this world; you can’t change anything. But those cynics don’t know that it was only Friday. Sunday’s comin’! It was Friday, and on Friday those forces that oppress the poor and make the poor to suffer were in control. But that was Friday! Sunday’s comin’!  

It was Friday, and on Friday Pilate thought he had washed his hands of a lot of trouble. The Pharisees were struttin’ around, laughin’ and pokin’ each other in the ribs. They thought they were back in charge of things. But they didn’t know it was only Friday! Sunday’s comin’!

Campolo continues, “He kept on working that one phrase for a half hour, then an hour, then an hour and a quarter, then an hour and a half. Over and over he came at us, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin!” By the time he had come to the end of the message…He had me and everybody else so worked up that I don’t think any of us could have stood it much longer. At the end of his message he just yelled at the top of his lungs, `It’s FRIDAY!’ and all 500 of us in that church yelled back with one accord, `SUNDAY’S COMIN’!”

A lot of people who stumble across this site might be in the middle of what seems to be an interminable Friday. It is hard to accept suffering and illness. Relationships that hurt us make Friday seem like it will never end. The trials of living on a fallen planet will make this seem like a Friday world at times during the journey. Two years ago Joni’s diagnosis of cancer put us into a Friday state of mind. But we trusted that Sunday’s comin’! As we told our wonderful sons, if your faith doesn’t work at times like this it is of little value for the rest of the time. And it does work. We have been blessed with healing for now but we have the greater hope of the resurrection of Jesus as we continue. We trust in a God that has been faithful to strengthen us for the battle, work through us for His glory, and teach us to be dependent on Him.

I believe the message of this week. Sunday’s comin’. And I believe that with all of my heart and soul. Paul wrote in Romans…

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”   Romans 1  NIV

I am not ashamed of the gospel. I fact I am excited about the gospel. Even though I may be living in a Good Friday world today I am convinced that Sunday’s comin’!

Today is a bit of deja vu for me. I am in the middle of my real job which is television sports directing. This week I am working at a college basketball tournament. You may know that some of the humble ramblings appear at Crosswalk.com. I look at the credentials of my fellow bloggers on Crosswalk and I have to chuckle. Lots of doctorates and titles. Perhaps they haven’t noticed that my bio is filled with items like, “Dave is a member of Sam’s Club.” 

The deja vu moment came from the realization that it was during a similar March madness basketball tournament that I got the inspiration for what would become my extremely modestly selling book, “Bring’em Back Alive“.  Here is an excerpt from the introduction.

My spiritual insights generally aren’t revealed during television broadcasts of women’s basketball. I suspect that hardly makes me unique. But inspiration came clearly and forcefully during a telecast of an NCAA Women’s basketball tournament game from Boulder, Colorado.

Let me set the stage for you. I am a television sports director. I call the camera shots that dictate what you see on your screen at home. Yes, I am the faceless guy you yell at to see this shot or that reaction. On this night an undermanned (or should I say underpersoned?) Louisiana State University women’s team was battling Colorado. And battling was the right word since LSU was down to only seven players who were dressed to play in the game. Five key players sat injured on the bench in civilian clothes. That was the background for my spiritual revelation.

I selected some shots of the tired players on the court. “LSU has fought gamely”, the announcers reported. “With only seven players on the active roster.” I took a shot of the five players in street clothes. “But when these five talented contributors are nursed back to health and you add a group of skilled recruits…LSU is going to be a powerful force next year.”  Then it hit me. We don’t follow that simple principle in the church. When we have injured and wounded players it is often too easy to ignore them and simply concentrate on recruiting new ones. I have watched dear friends walk away from my church “team” and I realized that my life and the body life of my church would never be quite the same. We lose the value of experience and depth that healing those wounded Christians would bring. I have wondered if we throw the term “church family” around a bit too loosely because I surely would pursue and attempt to heal a member of my genetic family that wanders away.

Do the math on my basketball example. If LSU returns seven players plus heals the five injured and brings in five recruits they have seventeen to choose from. If they discard the wounded they have only twelve players to enter the battle. How much talent and ability have we removed from the church by not aggressively seeking to find and heal our wounded lambs? And we must not ignore the uncomfortable fact that many injured lambs sit near us every Sunday. They have not wandered off physically but they have left us emotionally and are therefore rendered ineffective for the Kingdom.

That was written about five years ago. The volume of emails and notes that I get tells me we still have an enormous problem with our “injured” saints. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give us the heart to seek them and help restore wounded saints to the team. We need them. The body of Christ needs every single family member to be fully healthy.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son  into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  I John 4

Am I suffering from March “madness” to dream and believe this can really happen?

The verdict is in and I am a “bad Christian”. That is not who I am theologically or in God’s eyes but that is who I should remain for my tens of readers. The majority of you who responded prefer the old moniker. So the new name turned out to be every bit as popular as the New Coke. At least I took the risk. The demented minds at despair.com have this to say about risk. “If you never try anything new, you’ll miss out on many of life’s great disappointments.”

To be fair there were some who liked the new name but the trend was clear and one fact is obvious. “Bad Christians” are more vocal.

Reader Don understood the concept but offered a frightening prospect.

I think you will lose some readership, and turn away some potential readers with the phrase “…Saint Who Sometimes Sins.”

That scared me. What would be a smaller increment than tens of readers? Don also made this point.

I know fellow believers in Jesus who also cannot come to call themselves “Saint”, even though it is scripturally true. I think those folks would be turned off by anyone who does so.

I get that. I spent the first three decades of my walk with Jesus being that person. Finally I realized the stubbornness of my position as illustrated by this poster from despair.com.

Reader Cheryl offered this perspective.

I like the original “Confessions of a Bad Christian.” To me, that says it all, especially after reading about your own experiences with “good christians” in church. It brings humor to an otherwise very hurtful dysfunction. I felt like I had found a home when I found “Confessions of a Bad Christian” on the web. I am sentimental, I guess because I had spent so much time searching for understanding and healing after being disapproved of in my own church. Those of us who have been disciplined in church can see the irony in your title and how it reflects the inconsistency within places that are meant for worship.

Who knew that the name “bad Christian” could become sentimental? What several readers pointed out was that hurting and wounded Christians make their way to this site because of the name. God has given me a passion for those wounded souls. I do not wish to drive away anyone who does not understand or accept the theology of the term saint.

So I may be a bad Christian or saint who still sometimes sins but I am not blind to the wishes of my beleagured readers.

So I concede that the title shall return to “Confessions of a Bad Christian”. By the way, the winner of the “contest” for the autographed copy of “When Bad Christians Happen to Good People” is reader Andrea.

Hi, I am a relatively new reader to your blog (I think I read some articles by you at Crosswalk.com and found your blog that way) and I
vote to keep your old blog name, “Confessions of a Bad Christian.” “Bad Christian” has a simplicity that is easy to relate to. It
reminds me of when there are situations where there is a crowd of your brothers and sisters in Christ who you don’t agree with very much and
you blame yourself and think that you must be “bad.” Also, the words “saint” and “sin” have a weightiness to them that sorta takes the fun
out of thinking of yourself as a little “bad” and rebellious, lol. That is my vote on behalf of my own preference though I also vote for
whatever your preference is also because you are the one writing the kick butt articles and you know where you’d like to take a new turn so
more power to ya. Thank you for sharing your story and your insights, I look forward to continuing to learn from them!

If you people want me to embrace the bad Christian personnna then anyone who uses the phrase “kick butt articles” will move to the head of the class.

I will continue to explore the theology of my identity in Christ. The term saint is not reserved for special Christians. It is a term used to describe followers of Jesus over sixty times in both the King James and New American Standard translations. So we can explore what means together. I know I can count on you to keep me honest.

As long as we have each other this journey to be more like Jesus will be fun, authentic and “kick butt” in the most saintly use of the phrase. Reader Bridgette pointed out that I am number four on the list when you google “bad Christian”. With your help I believe I can be number one.

Thanks for participating in this failed experiment and I am glad we could reach a mature compromise.

Check out the whole list of “demotivators” at despair.com.  I get nothing out of this plug except depressed.

In a major shift, a group of Southern Baptist leaders said their denomination has been “too timid” on environmental issues and has a biblical duty to stop global warming. The Washington Times reported the announcement. The declaration, signed by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention among others and released today, shows a growing urgency about climate change even within groups that once dismissed claims of an overheating planet as a liberal ruse. The conservative denomination has 16.3 million members and is the largest Protestant group in the United States.

The signers of “A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change” acknowledged that not all Christians accept the science behind global warming. They said they do not expect fellow believers to back any proposed solutions that would violate Scripture, such as advocating population control through abortion.

My first reaction to the news was to start brainstorming ideas to help. For example, if Christian television preachers and hosts/hostesses voluntarily switched from hairspray to gel I think that would make a substantial impact on the ozone layer. Maybe the megachurches could start a hybrid bus ministry to save precious fossil fuel for the people that drive over twenty miles to go to their churches instead of local churches. Perhaps the biggest contribution the evangelical community can make is to reduce the volume of hot air generated over philosophical issues that are not critical to the essential message of Christianity. Like arguing over global warming.

It is okay to disagree about issues like global warming. Really. Global warning is not a part of the Apostolic Creed. I applaud the men and women who took the initiative to produce this document. Are they right about the danger of global warming? Who knows? But a call to action doesn’t seem too radical to me.  If these men and women who generated the document feel led of the Holy Spirit to take this action then I will support them. I am not as smart as some Christians who can apparently discern God’s will for everyone. Our Lord said that “wisdom is proved right by her actions.” Time will tell if the Lord is leading their actions.  I think that letting the culture know we care about the planet is a good message. And I don’t mean that just to be politically correct. Christians believe in a Creator and to proclaim that we must be excellent stewards of that creation is a logical response to that belief. To me this is a non-starter and not an issue worth having one of our family feuds over.

E. Stanley Jones succinctly noted that “when we talk about what we believe in we divide. When we talk about Who we believe in we unite.” When we disagree let it be gracefully. When Jesus prayed for us on the eve of his betrayal He spoke about unity.

I pray not only for these,
    but also for those who believe in Me
    through their message.
May they all be one, 
   as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You. 
May they also be one in Us,
   so the world may believe You sent Me.  (Holman Christian Standard Bible, John 17)

I am just fine with showing the planet a little love. A little love for one another wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Today is an important announcement for my tens of readers as we unveil a new name for the humble ramblings. There is no need to be concerned. My ministry of making judgemental Christians feel superior will continue intact. The reason for the new name was a gentle challenge from dear friend Angie. She has joined her hubby in going through the TrueFaced DVD with the charming Mrs. Burchett and me. My walk with Jesus has been transformed by this book and study. I have learned to really trust and believe who I am in Christ. One key lesson from the study is simple yet profound. When I put my trust and faith in Jesus that transaction changed who I am. I am no longer a sinner trying to be a saint. I am a saint who occasionally sins. That truth prompted Angie to ask this question.

“If that is your identity can you  really call yourself a bad Christian?”

Hmmmm. After some debate I have decided she has a solid point. The only dissenting vote came from my old nature. So here is the official press release announcing the new name.

Garland, Texas – Dave Burchett announced today the non-hostile takeover of his sin nature by Jesus of Nazareth. “This is part of a long and difficult process,” Burchett announced.

Burchett realized way back in 1969 that he had a sin debt that could never be paid and declared holiness bankruptcy. Jesus, representing the acquisition team of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, paid that debt and signed the deal with His work on the Cross. However, that began a protracted and often contentious period of protest and picketing against ceding control.

The Holy Spirit has operated out of a small office since 1969 but the new arrangement grants the Spirit unlimited access. Work has begun on cleaning out moldy baggage that has been inexplicably retained since the initial agreement. A secret storage room alleged to contain old sin was found to be empty. According to reliable sources that old sin has been gone since the first transaction but Burchett always believed it was still there.

“While I will still be DBA (doing business as) Dave Burchett I am clearly not who I was prior to this faith and trust deal with Jesus.” Burchett noted. “I am now a saint in the eyes of God, fully righteous because of Christ.”

Sources still expect an ongoing learning experience with occasional setbacks. When asked to describe in one word what happened to bring about this change Burchett offered this summation.

Grace.

(This is an update of an earlier post)

Today I voted in the Texas primary. At least for awhile we Texans should get a break from political ads. You would think with so many candidates possessing integrity that we should be in good shape for the future.

Most of the candidates promised change. It has been well documented that Barak Obama has been riding the hope train right into the lead in the Democrat race. His rallies look like the Beatles performing at Shea Stadium.

I was thinking that God must have a real sense of déjà vu as He watches the people clamor for a human leader to give them hope and change. Then I got sidetracked as I wondered if an omnipotent God can even experience déjà vu? That gave me tired head.

Would God look at these rallies and think of another group who had hope at their disposal but then chose to reject it? God wanted to bless His nation Israel. But they wanted a king who they believed would give them everything they wanted. Remember the story in Samuel?

Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”  (I Samuel 8, NLT)

God gave Samuel a warning to give to His people that this might not be the best idea. God warned them that the king would take a tenth of their crops and flocks. Actually I would think about clamoring for a leader that would only take a tenth. But I digress. God warned them about other consequences of putting their faith in an earthly king. Their response was typical.

But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

I see so many parallels in our culture to that story. We know that it did not work out like the nation of Israel dreamed that it would. I see many Christians in America falling into the same trap that Samuel warned about so long ago.

We think that hope lies in a leader or a political party. We believe that change will come because of kindred politicians or better laws or lawsuits that establish justice as we see it. We think that the right leader will help educate every child no matter their circumstance. We hope that this political savior will provide healthcare for every person at no cost to them. This leader will help the poor find jobs and realize their every dream. And I picture God looking at His millions of followers with a broken heart. Because He has blessed this country with so much in money and resources. So much of what we now demand our government to do could be accomplished if God’s people read, trusted and followed His Word. 

I can’t help but think that God has given us, the church, just about everything we need to make a huge difference in meeting the needs that we expect Washington to address. And that would give hope and change to people that obviously are looking for those elusive words in odd places.

What makes me most sad is that so many people really seem to be placing their hope for happiness on a political candidate. I do believe that leaders make a difference. I care deeply about making an informed and prayerful choice. But I never place my hope or desire for change on a politician. The word hope is used about 80 times in the New Testament. The first appearance of the word in the NIV translation pretty much lays out my belief.

 “In his name (Jesus) the nations will put their hope.”  (Matthew 12, NIV)

Paul wrote about the hope that I have in his letter to the Romans.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Colossians we read this praise from Paul as he relates how hope based on the eternal God should make a difference.

For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

That is a hope that I know will not disappoint. As for change, I would be pleasantly surprised if our leaders in Washington would work together for us. But I will not be surprised if they do not. The important change for me has already happened.

I have hope that is real. I am changed because of Christ. Because of those two facts I can deal with whatever happens in this election. I learned my lesson in previous elections. I thought our country was doomed because my candidate did not win. Yet God’s plan did not cease. People continued to come to faith, grow in faith and serve Him in ways that gave real hope and change to others.

This morning I voted in my heart to trust God for my hope and I thanked Him for the change that has already happened and is happening in my life. Then I went to the polls to exercise my privilege as a citizen of this country. Those actions combined made for a really good day.