When God’s love makes a radical, life-changing impact, it can lead to living for Him in a radical way. This exemplifies the life of Eddie Burchfield, a chaplain, author, musician and evangelist.
In 1975, Burchfield was “living a crooked life.” He was selling drugs and doing drugs. He was playing in nightclubs. He hadn’t been raised in a Christian home. One night — after the hundreds of times his wife, Alden, had asked him to go to church with her and finally saying she would kick him out if he didn’t go — he agreed.
“On that Sunday night, I was high on cocaine and on marijuana. I was very high. I told her if anybody said anything about the way I looked or the way I smelled that I was out of there. She said OK,” he noted.
“But people came up, shook my hand and it blew my mind. That night, the Lord got a hold of me and got my attention. I was told in my spirit I am a sinner for the first time in my life. I was near 25 years old. … Everybody in the world tells you that you are a sinner but until God tells you, you don’t believe it.”
Called
Even after almost half a century later, that evening was the last time he desired drugs.
Burchfield had barely made it through school, but after God changed his life he wanted to learn. Heading to Jefferson State Community College, he majored in agribusiness and horticulture.
He also had a passion to learn about the Word of God and took classes at several Bible schools. Called to preach at 28 years old, he became a lay minister, was licensed in 1985 and then was ordained in 2008.
“If God can do it for me, He can do it for anybody,” he said.
After Burchfield was drafted to Vietnam in 1971, he served two years active and seven years in the National Guard. In the army he became a chaplain’s assistant and then acting chaplain to soldiers after training at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
In 2012, Burchfield took a class taught by Steven Wallace, the chaplain for Chelsea Fire and Rescue. Burchfield is now the head chaplain with four others under him.
Comforting others
There are other chaplains in Shelby County — those who primarily help sheriffs and those who work with those in jail. Both fire department and sheriff chaplains answer calls.
“A chaplain for the fire department can also be a chaplain for the sheriffs in certain situations. In addition to that, while the fire department fights fires, the fire chaplain does the heavy-duty work of souls — helping and blessing to encourage and to help find what they can do if there’s a need,” he said.
The chaplains are usually called to a life-changing tragedy like a burned-down house. They help with comfort and practical needs like housing, furniture and clothes.
They are also called to another kind of heartbreak when people are hurt or pass away.
“I got a call one time. It was a family who had a 14-year-old daughter,” Burchfield recalled. “The 14-year-old daughter had gained weight, and they were making fun of her at school. She lost her confidence and self-worth and she committed suicide.”
Her father found her. When Burchfield got there it was utter chaos. Her grandmother, who also lived there, was screaming, “Tell me, tell me she made it. Tell me, chaplain!”
“I didn’t know exactly how to handle this because I couldn’t tell her. I could not tell her that she didn’t. But I could tell her that God is a good God, a long-suffering God, and He understands more than we do about what she went through and that we can trust God.
“It calmed the situation down,” he said.
Joy of salvation
Before he got saved, Burchfield had seen suicides and overdoses. Back then, there was no hope. Now he can share the hope of Jesus through the main components of chaplaincy — a listening ear and a heart of compassion.
Sometimes that’s all he can do.
After intense times of ministering to the hurting, Burchfield has to spend time alone with God, knowing that the heartbeat of Christianity is being in that intimate place.
Other times, the joy of his salvation rings through.
When Burchfield ministers at the Alabama Therapeutic Education Facility prison, it’s completely opposite to when he responds as a fire department chaplain.
The services there include high-energy southern gospel versions of songs like “God is So Good,” “Amazing Grace” and “Jesus Loves Me.”
“There ain’t nothing better than worshipping God, amen! I love chocolate, and I love worshipping God better than I love chocolate, amen! That’s saying something right there!” he said with a big smile during a recent service.
“Why live your life with a hole in your soul when God can move in, kick sin out and fill your life to overflow with love and joy and peace?
“I just love loving Jesus. My life has been totally and miraculously changed, and my desire is to see someone else saved and set free by God’s amazing grace.”
Burchfield is a member of the Southern Christian Writers Conference and has written a book of poetry, “Words That Rhyme Worth Your Time: Faith-Based Inspirational Poetry,” which is available on Amazon. Burchfield is available for speaking engagements. Contact him at Pentecostaled@aol.com.
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