full circle

in 1982 i went to Camp Ozark with my youth group. the story is long as to why i was able to go, but the bottom line is that i almost wasn't allowed — needless to say, i was a bit of a mess back then. i had a youth minister who took a bit of a risk and it turned out that God has been using his risk for over 25 years now.

that week at camp was incredible. God taught me how to spend daily time with Him — a practice that changed everything for me. i met a guy named Jeff Lake who hired me to the next summer to work as a counselor at Camp Ozark — an experience God used to inject me into full-time ministry. i met another guy named Billy Beacham — a man God used in my life then, and a man he still uses with me today!! God did something in me that week that changed me. He put me there and made me different. i will be forever thankful for what God did and how Camp Ozark played a role in my life.

tomorrow marks the beginning of another Burks encounter with God at Camp Ozark. however, this time its for my girls. through a set of very cool circumstances Bailey and Kori Kate are headed for a two week session at that great camp!! i don't know who is more excited, them or me — Camp Ozark has intersected my life once more!!!

i worked at Camp Ozark for one entire summer and part of two others. the first summer, one of the guys in my cabin was a 12 year old named Scott Torn who's dad happened to own the camp — at least i think he was 12 — anyway, God used our relationship in a lot of ways. now, after all those years I am helping Scott with graphic design and marketing for the Camp. we have spent the last several months working on a few ideas and publications hat are all designed to help the Camp move to a new level. through this re-kindled relationship and experience, my girls are getting a full on dose of what happens through the blessing of God at Camp Ozark.

its about to be full cirlce. God use the camp in my life. He used it in a really big way and i sense He is about to use it again. i am confident in my God. i have seen what He does and the way He moves. i am so ready to see how He uses this experience with my family.

i am so thankful for Camp Ozark and the faithful commitment to God and children those who lead that camp have. i am thankful God allows things to come full circle.

John 20 and 21

i finished another read through the book of John this week ... i am amazed at the great things i'm learning.

for me to say Jesus did amazing things is the understatement of the century ... but ... amazing is the word i want to use as i share with you a snapshot of what i'm learning right now.

amazing ... the way He appeared to people after His death ... amazing, the way He spoke to people who were so close to Him ... amazing, the way He demonstrated His power ... amazing, the way He showed His grace ... amazing, the way He inspired me with this revelation! i'm having so much fun with His Word right now.

the journey

well ... where do i start??? its been a roller coaster of a ride the last few months. today i feel like i'm coming down off the final loop and i can see the end of a really crazy ride in front of me. the end is near. and the cool thing — my stomach feels great.

as most of you know, i left the student life staff a few months ago and ventured out into the world of ministry in ymnow and back on staff at a church. its all really — really — good. i feel so blessed. i am amazed! once again, our loving God has proven himself to be the great God that He is.

as i sit here in from of my macbook, i sing His great praise! i want to say as loud as i can that He is the great God. He is the one worthy of our praise and worthy of our worship. He is truly God. He is the One. He is the Only. As Chris Tomlin wrote so well, He is is the Uncreated One.

i am sure other days will come and my tone will be different. i am sure there are doubt-filled days again. but let it be said that i love God. i truly worship Him and want to live the rest of my life following Him more than anything else.

praise be to the One True God.

check out my church at connectchurch.com .... and if you don't know about ymnow ... take a look at it as well ... ymnow.com

little by little ... part 2

I drove by my neighbor's house today and grabbed this picture. this entire story amazes me. for a lot of reasons, this story gets my attention. so ... it gets another blog entry.

as i said, i drove by today and there it was. an old antique car in the middle of a total model t makeover ... the ty pennington for this old car was not visible but his car was. he must have gone in for a drink, a break, more paint, another piece of sand paper or maybe even a chance to go in and look out the window as people drove by and admire his car. i have no idea what he was doing, but he had to be close. his project was out in the driveway with the doors open and was in full view of us all. his project appears to be moving slower again ... now he's working in the interior.

this story would have been perfect if he had fixed the inside first and then moved to the outside. then it would have been a true biblical lesson ... but ... he's writing this story and he's in charge. he decided to make the outside look new first. hey wait. maybe this is biblical. the Bible says God is in heaven and He does what He wants. could it be that God fixes some of on the outside first??? i know. its probably a bad question.

all theology aside, the man is making bringing this old car back to life ... little by little. i'll keep you updated.

Kobe, Tiger, Phil

what a weekend ... kobe and the lakers blow a 20 point lead friday, tiger makes 2 eagles on the 2nd 9 today, and phil makes a 9 on the 13th hole on saturday.

kobe — after the game kobe says he's going to go drink a lot of beer, wine and maybe 20 shots (not talking about bball shots either). i'm not a kobe fan, and i rarely write anything like this, but this really bugged me for some reason. i guess i just wish things in life were different and that people like him would lead better than they do. i know it was an interview and it was a raw moment talking with a very competitive person — but — come on ... oh and the nba sure didn't need a game like this in the middle of the swirling issues about fixing games. how is it kobe didn't even score in the first half? if the lakers come back to force a game 7, it won't be good for the nba

tiger — wow ... he shoots a 30 yesterday on the second 9. he makes 2 eagles on the back 9 to take the lead today. the shots he hit on 13 and 17 were amazing. i'm not a big tiger fan, but this was amazing/inspiring/unbelievable/on and on. "tiger woods will do something that will make you jump out of your lazy-boy, spill your beer and scare your dog" said one analyst today. i didn't do any of the above today, but i did sit up and shake my head. wow! how cool would it be to be able to do what tiger does??

phil — sigh. i'm a phil fan. for some reason i always want him to win. i like the way he plays. i hurt when he fails. but today was painful. it made me sick. it took 9 strokes for him to finally sink a put on the 13th. 9 strokes. i made a 9 last week at the broadmoor, but i haven't played golf all-year-long! phil has been targeting this tourny for 5 years and it all went down the drain today on one hole. nope. i don't get it.

not really sure why i'm blogging about kobe, tiger and phil. just felt like it.

maybe we can learn how not to handle ourselves as leaders from kobe, to be our best from tiger and how to fail from phil. kobe is sure showing how not to lead both on and off the court, tiger continues to display what it means to compete, and phil is telling us how he blew it yet again.

as a fan ... this has been a good weekend. as a man ... i'm trying to be my best. as a blogger ... i'm wondering if anyone ever reads these things :) i'm having fun.

Got this from Lanny earlier today

after you watch the video visit the official lanny donoho blog ... http://www.lannydonoho.com/

little by little

there's this man in my neighborhood. he's older. he's retired. for close to two years i've run by his house and watched him work on his antique car. its a model t. he stands in his driveway with sand-paper in one one hand a water-hose in the other. he uses the water hose to rinse off the dust he creates on the car with the sand-paper.

when you look at him you can barely see him moving. and as for the car ... you can hardly tell he's doing anything to it. i literally look at him every time i run by his house and think to myself that he's not making any progress. i'm serious, he's been doing this for two years! the car is faded ... covered in old paint ... covered in rust. you never see him make any progress.

then one day there was a change ... i was cooling down from a run, walking by his house, and i saw something different. there was paint on the car! i mean beautiful paint. the old car that was rusty and ugly for two years had paint on it. it was shining! a dark, rich, smooth paint job. i mean this car looks like new. the weird thing about it, the change just happened over night.

no wait ... the change took two years, it didn't happen over night. the change took two — long — years. this older man, living the last stage of his life, standing in his drive-way slowly brought this old car back to life. little steps, taken slowly made the difference.

as soon as i saw the change i felt God whisper in my ear that he wanted me to learn from this man. He had a great lesson for me. one of my takeaways was simple — God is working on me and He's in no hurry. time is in His hands and not in mind. the man in the drive-way never appears to be in a hurry, and please understand, he's living the last stage of his life. it seems like he would hurry up. maybe pay someone to do it for him. instead, he walks at a slow pace. he takes time and meditates on tiny little parts of the car he wants to improve. this cool old man is in control. i think God does the same thing with me.

i am extremely visual. i need God to draw me a picture sometimes and i think he did just that for me with this man and his car. i am learning so much about God and so much about me.

little by little he's making me like Him. i love the way He moves!

: Worship of Technology

Our God is in heaven
doing whatever he wants to do.
Their gods are metal and wood,
handmade in a basement shop:
Carved mouths that can’t talk,
painted eyes that can’t see,
Tin ears that can’t hear,
molded noses that can’t smell,
Hands that can’t grasp, feet that can’t walk or run,
throats that never utter a sound.
Those who make them have become just like them,
have become just like the gods they trust.
Psalm 115: 3-8, The Message

… the success of twentieth-century technology in providing Americans with convenience, comfort, speed, hygiene, and abundance was so obvious and promising that there seemed no reason to look for any other sources of fulfillment or creativity or purpose. To every Old World belief, habit, or tradition, there was and still is a technological alternative. To prayer, the alternative is penicillin; to family roots, the alternative is mobility; to reading, the alternative is television; to restraint, the alternative is immediate gratification; to sin, the alternative is psychotherapy; to political ideology, the alternative is popular appeal established though scientific polling. There is even an alternative to the painful riddle of death, as Freud called it. The riddle may be postponed through longer life, and then perhaps solved altogether by cryogenics. At least, no one can easily think of a reason why not.