Some of you may have noticed a big change at DennyBurk.com in 2016. I closed down comments on the blog. I didn’t make a big announcement or anything. I just did it. Why? The short answer is that Tim Challies convinced me. After a trial run of closed comments, I eventually wavered and opened them back up. But then I read this article explaining why NPR shut down comments on its website, and that sealed the deal for me. No more comments! I want to thank all of you who have read and interacted with this site over the last year. I am grateful for every one of you. For…
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Our Advent Calendar Tradition
Like many of you, my wife and I are trying to cultivate Christ-centered traditions in our household. And that is no less true during the Christmas season. I thought I would share one thing that we do that some of you readers might wish to incorporate into your family traditions—an advent calendar. We like the advent calendars because they are about advent—the first coming of Christ in fulfillment of God’s promises. Advent calendars are a way to mark every day of the Christmas season with that singular focus. In our house, the tradition is very simple. Beginning on December 1, we read a daily verse of scripture pertaining to advent…
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Louisiana Floods Before and After
Still thinking about my home state.
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A Meditation on Psalm 19
I thank You for this piece of sky Which often I’ve let fly right by Without a single thought from whence It came or by it what is meant. For day to day it pours forth speech In words within my soul’s short reach. And night to night its knowledge pours Of You Who reigns forevermore. Its line has gone through all the earth To tell Your glory and Your worth.
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A short remembrance of Dr. Charles Ryrie
I was in chapel yesterday when I learned that Dr. Charles Ryrie had passed away at the age of 90. Dr. Ryrie’s name is probably most familiar to evangelicals because of his best-selling Ryrie Study Bible. He is known to students of theology as an ardent proponent of Dispensationalism, a view that he cogently summarized in his popular book Dispensationalism and that he taught for many years at Dallas Theological Seminary. I will leave it to others to discuss Ryrie’s wider life and legacy. Sandra Glahn has penned a fitting tribute that is worth the read. I simply wish to share briefly about my own experience of the man. I…
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Top Ten Posts of 2015
I want to thank all of you who have read and interacted with this site over the last year. I am grateful for every one of you. For those of you who are interested, I give you the top 10 blog posts from 2015. This blog is a combination of content creation and content curation, which means that I sometimes write original material and that at other times I pass on to you items that I find interesting from elsewhere on the interwebs. Both kinds of posts appear on this list, but the vast majority are original pieces. Drum roll, please. 10. Bruce or Caitlyn? He or she? Should Christians…
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Obligatory Letterman Post: The time I almost got on the show…
In July of 2009, my wife and I were in New York City for a trip that was both business and pleasure. I had a meeting to attend in the city, and we came a few days early before my work began so that we could see the Big Apple together for our anniversary. We got into town on a Thursday morning, and one of the first things I did was to ask the hotel concierge how to get David Letterman tickets. I’m not much of a late night TV guy anymore, but I cut my teeth as a faithful Letterman viewer back in the 80’s. Letterman was still New…
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Another chance to catch a glimpse of what is coming true!
When I look in the rearview mirror, I see the years gathering up behind me, and I can hardly believe how quickly they’ve piled up. As life rattles forward, it seems the earth makes its annual journey a little quicker than the year before. Where has the time gone? It’s well past time to start wondering whether there may be more years behind me than there are in front of me. I don’t mean to be dour or macabre in saying such a thing. It’s just that pondering that possibility tends to focus the mind on what God wants it focused on. Numbering our days is how we present to…
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Top Ten Posts of 2014
I want to thank all of you who have read and interacted with this site over the last year. For those of you who are interested, I give you the top 10 blog posts from 2014. This blog is a combination of content creation and content curation, which means that I sometimes write original material and that at other times I pass on to you items that I find interesting from elsewhere on the interwebs. Both kinds of posts appear on this list, but the vast majority are original pieces. Drum roll, please.
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Top 10 YouTubes of 2014
It’s time for my annual posting of the Top 10 YouTube Videos of the Year (see last year’s list here). This ranking is totally unscientific. Only one person was polled to compile this list—yours truly (although my wife helped a little this year). This year’s slate of videos ranges from profound and poignant to downright silly. I have put the three serious videos at the beginning. The rest of the videos (numbers 4-10) are humorous. They’re not all actual YouTubes. They’re just internet videos. If you think I’ve left something out, let me know. I’ll think about adding it to the “Honorable Mention” category at the bottom. If you’re interested,…
