The Predestinated Free Will Paradox.

The sin of men "was rendered possible by the fact that God gave them free will" (C.S. Lewis in Miracles), however, "a man cannot rise of his own will as he fell by his own will" (St. Augustine in On the Free Choice of the Will). The first act was of free will, every act after, is in bondage to the fallen will. That is why a man cannot turn from his own sin, apart from the grace of God. Faith must be given for the dead to rise.

Genesis 3:6
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."

Ephesians 2:1-10
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

-burton 261e

ὐμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς, χάριτι ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ
"you were dead, by grace you are saved through faith in Christ Jesus"


[*Scripture quoted from the ESV translation]

Recent Quotes by me.

"It's not until everything of value to you is forcefully stripped away, or voluntarily pushed aside, or unexpectedly trampled upon by the foot of men, or suddenly removed; and all of your desires are strenuously cast down at the foot of the cross, that you begin to see, rather clearly, the invaluable and inimitable beauty of the precious Christ. His love truly is never ending and is always abounding." -August 12, 2009



"You are only entitled to what God has given you, and even that is to be received with thanks and even given back to God if He so desires. Nothing is yours. You have no rights that are not gifts from Him. You are his bondservant. But, He has given you... HIMSELF and He has even said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) Therefore, He is more than enough." -August 11, 2009


"How can a stubborn boy who has decided and purposed in his heart that "God is a fairytale" and that he hates the very idea of God come to the point of believing in God? The answer is: grace. And, I was that boy. It is an absolute miracle ...that I, a boy who turned his back on religion and a former atheist, ever became a "Christian." If you want proof of God's existence, look no further than that." -August 4, 2009


"Most people think that winning the argument is what matters, not learning the truth. I could care less about the argument, just give me the truth! I would rather be called an idiot and have the appearance of knowing nothing than live to portray to know all things and in the end have it shown to me that I am nothing." -July 31, 2009


-burton 261e

One Cliche with a Bite of Truth.

Unfortunately, for all of us sons, the cliche statement "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" is for the most part, painfully true and we are a lot more like our fathers than we ever may want to be. My dad used to always say to me that he "never wanted to be like his father," yet with his actions he would do just as his father did to him, to me. Discouragement and a spirit of criticism prevailed all throughout my childhood years, through high school, and even up to about a year ago and placed in me a severe lack of confidence resulting in much insecurity and a huge problem with performance. It wasn't until my father was diagnosed with cancer (at the end summer just before the Fall 2007 semester) that he began to see areas of his own brokenness and lack of forgiveness (harboring bitterness) toward his earthy father that he began to realize his need of letting God become a Father to him so that healing within himself could take place and restoration in his relationship with me might be possible. Jesus is more than willing to reconcile us to God, for He has already done so upon our believing in what He has done for us on the cross through faith in Him, and He is more than capable of reconciling us to any person where there might be much damage and destruction, if in the end it brings much glory to Himself. It's all in His timing and it's all about Him; for His glory. I'm so thankful that we have a Father in heaven who, no matter what our earthy father may be like, is always able to show us His love and provide for us the comfort and confidence we need in ways that we most need it, through His son, the Savior that has already done more than enough to make us perfect, without spot or blemish, in the sight of a holy God.


-burton 261e

A Wonder of God's Grace.

It is an absolute miracle that I, a boy who turned his back on religion and a former atheist, ever became a "Christian." It was not something I ever searched for or wanted for myself. In fact, I rejected it, ran from it, hid myself from it, and attempted to avoid God and all talk of God at all costs; blocking out all concepts and ideas of Him in my mind whenever a conversation with a "believer" would present itself; ignoring anything and everything that had to do with Christianity, and yet He still managed to overcome all of my disbelief, every bit of my hatred, and my rebellious shouts against His existence by stripping me of every silly argument, cutting me off from every form of worldly pleasure so that nothing could please me but would only reinforce my longing for something of a different sort, and by removing my thoughts of comfort and safety by my own means of self-sufficiency, He showed me what, or better, who, I really am. I was left barren, empty, discontent, helpless, hopeless, and alone. It was then, that I saw Him for the first time. And when I looked at Him, I saw my own brokenness, my own despair, my own weakness, my own inadequacy, my own heart in all its twisted and warped deceitfulness, and all of the destructive and corrupt practices that I had been living in, that had been controlling me, that I had been submitting to; I saw them as they truly were. I felt the weight of my sin, and it drove me to tears and moved my heart to utter grief. In the anguish of my condition, I cried out for mercy! At that moment, I knew that a most glorious Savior had come to rescue me, to save me from myself, to free me from a life of bondage. Apart from God we are left to corruption. Apart from God we are without hope. Apart from God we are without life. But it was then, and ever since then, that I have begun to know a most loving, holy, just, and gracious Father. Thank you Lord for both your mercy and grace! You have given me the very thing I do not deserve, the very thing that I could not deserve even if I tried, and although I at one point had tried, it was my effort that kept me from receiving from your hands true life. Thank you.

Hellish Thoughts.

For the Christian, a sinner saved by grace through faith in Christ, hell is a place that tells of Jesus' all-conquering and amazing love for him. Hell is a place that he deserves to fall into by the mere weight of his sin alone, yet, Christ bore all of his sins and satisfied the eternal wrath of God by dying in place of the believing sinner at the cross. When the Christian thinks of Hell, he rejoices that he does not have to endure it for all eternity, and that the only hellish thing he will have to experience is this brief life on earth which is full of many rebellious, God-hating, and hell-bound sinners.

For the sinner, a religious or natural man who rejects Christ and trusts in his own good deeds to propel him to heaven or denies the supernatural altogether, hell is a place that tells of God's terrible and horrifying eternal judgement and wrath meant specifically for him. When the sinner thinks of Hell, he either denies that Hell is a real place apart from the silly religious fanatics' imagination, thinks that a "loving God" would never send him there because he thinks it unjust for God to do so based on his own definition of "love", or believes himself good enough to avoid it. What he doesn't realize is that, by trusting in any of these things, he has denied his only way out of Hell, namely Christ, and will be thrown into the very place that he thinks himself free from.


-burton 261E

My Opinion of the Bible.

The Bible is the most extraordinary book of all time. Read it. Read it. Read it. And when you've finished reading it, read it again. And even after all of that reading, you won't be finished reading it, but will only have begun to read it for all it's worth.

-burton 261e

When the New is Old and the Old is New.

This world is marked with the forgetfulness of all of its inhabitants and embroidered with the worthlessness of human wisdom within it. Every road has already been trampled upon by those that came before us. Any new thought, any new idea, is just a an old idea that has been recently forgotten so that it appears to be something new and fresh, 'original' even. However, that same thought or idea can be seen written more freshly and newly on the pages of ancient history.

No man has in himself anything new, apart from God.

-burton 261e