Matthew Burkholder

When I got home from work yesterday, my head was pounding - the kind of headache that pain killers don't touch. This was the moment my daughter unleashed a full on, 20 minute, scream competition winning, angry at the known world, tantrum. It all started because my daughter had barely been drinking all day. She has been just getting over a cold, and I, because I wanted my daughter to you know, "feel better", offered her a cup of water, even from her favourite Montreal Canadiens cup. She proceeded to show her gratitude by launching herself off the couch, and kicking the cup of water out of my hand with ninja like accuracy. (Dear Leaf fans, you can insert your joke here.) A few minutes later, after a mutual break from each other, I sat her down to eat dinner. She was hungry. I knew, as a parent, that she was pretty angry because she was hungry and thirsty. She needed food. I am afraid that my condition, which I like to call "Bruce Bannerism", a condition that t...

The whole, then, comes to this: As soon as the minutest particle of faith is instilled into our minds, we begin to behold the face of God placid, serene, and propitious; far off, indeed, but still so distinctly as to assure us that there is no delusion in it. In proportion to the progress we afterwards make, (and the progress ought to be uninterrupted), we obtain a nearer and surer view, the very continuance making it more familiar to us. Thus we see that a mind illumined with the knowledge of God is at first involved in much ignorance, - ignorance, however, which is gradually removed. Still this partial ignorance or obscure discernment does not prevent that clear knowledge of the divine favor which holds the first and principal part in faith. For as one shut up in a prison, where from a narrow opening he receives the rays of the sun indirectly and in a manner divided, though deprived of a full view of the sun, has no doubt of the source from which the light comes, and is benefited by...

Warning: The following is a brutally honest, religiously charged article about a 30 year old's Christian experience. I don't get it. I don't remember completely not believing it. I don't remember completely believing it. I've wandered away from it, beat others up with it, ignored it, immersed myself in it, been saved by it, been lost by it. I've learned from it, but it's confused the hell out of me (or into me). It keeps me up at night, it helps me fall asleep. It makes me angry, cry, laugh, cower and wonder. I love it. Part of me hates it. I've watched it bring people together, I've watched it tear people apart. When the Bible refers to itself as a "two edged sword", I can't think of a better metaphor. I've spent the better part of a decade slowly biting away in the form of a theology degree on the meal that is Holy Scripture. Last year I went back to college full time after a two year hiatus, and I've had more restless nig...

My good friend Andrew Barley is a huge Neil Young fan. He also happens to live in Fort McMurray and work in the energy sector. Here is what he had to say. Disclaimer: if you're interested in winning friends and influencing people, don't do what I'm about to do. Dear friends on both sides of the oilsands arguments, we all suck. If you aren't going to be objective in how you deal with the topic of environmental stewardship and the mining of oil, you should probably just stop talking about it. Yes, I get it, Neil young hurt your feelings or you applau d the things he's said. The good/bad news is that your emotions don't matter in the discussion. What Source: Financial Post matters is objective reasoning and sound science. People need to use FACTS not OPINIONS. Supporters of oilsands(I am one, for the record), you need to accept that there are LEGITIMATE concerns that HAVE to be addressed and stop shoving your fingers in your ears and singing lalala when f...

As some of you know, on a monthly basis I receive emails from a variety of people for people with the first initial of "M" and the last name Burkholder. Sometimes these emails contain pretty personal information, and I almost always try to contact the "mburkholder" and let them know they are using my email address. Sometimes I have a little bit of fun with them, and this was just too good to pass up. Start from the bottom if you want the context of my message. On Wed, Jan 15, 2014 at 3:25 PM, Matthew Burkholder  < mburkholder@gmail.com >  wrote: Please remove me from this conversation, you are using an incorrect email address. Please also tell Mike, or Meredith, or Merlin, or Mandy or whomever is accidentally using my email address to learn their address and stop using mine.  However,  if this was your way of letting me in on your secret government "Citizen Ninja" workshop, I would be honoured to train in the ways of ninjutsu.  I am...

One people group that Christians love to use as an exam ple of how not to live are the Pharisees. Jesus challenged their hypocritical lifestyle, and often went toe to toe with how they lived, eventually creating so much tension that these religious leaders sought his execution. It's easy for Christians to point fingers and play the "Pharisee" card when they feel others Christians have missed the mark of true Christian living. It surprised me to learn that the Pharisees actually were one of the most beloved and popular groups present in 1st century Jewish life. The Pharisees represented the idea that if the people of God lived a pure and holy life, God would rescue them from their Roman overlords. Consider the Pharisees the heroes of the "blue-collar", working class 1st century Jew - they held out hope that God would reward those who lived a righteous life, and punish those who didn't. To add to the confusion, the Pharisees and Jesus seem to have more in c...

It's been an interesting day reading all the comments, blogs, posts, arguments, picture captions and petitions today regarding the GQ interview with Phil Robertson. Some of them have been interesting, but for the most part, they have been down right disappointing. You can't help but notice the gigantic chasm between the gay community and the Church. Like most dysfunctional relationships, each group has attempted to paint a black and white picture of the (seemingly) high level of animosity between the two. From (some) of the church's perspective, the LGBT community is hell bent of destroying all of society, and ushering in an era of evil the world has never seen. What I find strange about this, is that if the Church is founded on the Holy Spirit, and has lived for two thousand years in almost every cultural context imaginable, I don't think we have anything to worry about. Furthermore, if you do a little bit of history on the Church, you realize that is has struggled a...