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 From Two Perspectives.

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

Every Day.

How faithful is God?:

Every day, He has wholly provided for me.
Every day, He has been there with me.
Every day, He has fully loved me.
I, however, cannot say the same about myself.
Every day, I have refused to give Him all of my provisions.
Every day, I have left Him on numerous occasions.
Every day, I have at most only partially loved Him.

I am forced to hold fast to God because I know myself, and myself, I know I cannot trust.

In Christ alone.

-burton 261e

Aristotle and God.

We have no record of Aristotle writing anything. All we have is the lecture notes of his students. We have recovered nothing, whatsoever, that he wrote himself, yet we still believe he exists, without question. Philosophers do not dare to question the existence of Aristotle. We have the writings of his pupils, his students, and that's all that is needed to know that Aristotle did in fact exist and he did in fact establish the foundation of logic and reason and that he was, in fact, a man that lived long ago.

Do we not also have writings from Jesus Christ's pupils, his students? If I'm not mistaken we have 4 accounts of men that documented the ministry of Jesus and the most important times of his life. Do we not also have records, and much more numerous in number and stronger in validity and reliability, of what the God of the Hebrew Bible did in relation to all of humanity over a period of thousands of years and with various authors that do not contradict one another? And yet, the most brilliant philosophers would never dare acknowledge the existence of such a God based on this evidence, even though it is even stronger than that of Aristotle, because the documents that we have talk about a man who claimed divinity and the documents that we have tell of a God who brings both justice and mercy. Could it be His judgement that men fear, and that's why the idea or mere concept of such a God must be eliminated and wiped away from all of true history? The claim often made is that there is no evidence whatsoever for His existence, and if there were any, then there is not enough to draw such an absurd conclusion. Yet, we did so with a man...why can't we do so with a man who was God?

That amazes me. It simply amazes me...but at the same time it doesn't surprise me...

Unbelief doesn't surprise me, it doesn't shock me. Men will always find every reason to doubt, and men will ignore all of the reasons to believe.

------------
Lord, help this unbelief. This society is treacherous. It hates you and it despises you. It tries to do everything it can to undermine you, to question you, to ignore you, but God, show them mercy. Open up the eyes of men and women who have the ability to make history and bring truth back into this godless culture.
Amen.

-burton 261e

Eternal man. Eternal God.

I have confidence in one thing, that there is life after death and that my soul is eternal. That being said, your soul is eternal as well.

I know that I am an eternal being, because nothing on this earth satisfies my longing soul. Nothing here brings genuine satisfaction. Every passion I pursue and every desire that I crave, once it has been obtained, leaves me with the same feeling of utter disappointment and dissatisfaction which I formerly had before the pursuit and before the craving. It might as well have been that I had no passion or desire in the first place, so that I wouldn't end up with a bitter taste in my mouth, but that is not how things are. No. Every craving that we have and every passion that we feel, has been placed on our hearts for a purpose. That purpose being there to show us that nothing in this life brings true satisfaction. Nothing in this life can bring us to perfect completion for the very reason that this life is imperfectly incomplete, and there lies a perfectly complete life beyond this one. There is more to this life, there is a hereafter, because this life is unsettling. In this life, we run around aimlessly in circles, learning something and relearning that very thing over and over again, until the day we die as if nothing mattered in the first place. But that, right there, that yearning for something more, is what matters most. The fact that we have a sense of longing and a sense of yearning means that there truly is something that belongs after us, waiting beyond the small horizon set before us to meet us. I know that I have a soul that outlasts this miserable body because every pleasure that I have felt has left me without peace, without happiness, without joyfulness, without love, without all of those things that my mind and my heart and my soul cry out to the great beyond with such assurance and confidence for! We would not grab for these things if they were to always remain out of our reach. I know this because, if I am hungry, I can find something to eat. If I am thirsty, I can find some water to drink. But when I desire love or want joy, I cannot find these things anywhere in this visible world, in this present life. They are nowhere to be found here, and for that reason they must be found somewhere else but here, and most probably over there, with God! We have these longings, they are without a doubt there, and for no other reason than to show us that they do exist, but cannot be fully experienced until this life is over and the next is eternally lived out, and then our souls will be satisfied, for God satisfies the longing soul.

"He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without which man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end." -Ecclesiastes 3:11

I am also convinced, that God has done so much from before time existed until it's present and past it's end that we would be unable to fully grasp it unless we had all of eternity to be with Him in order to understand it.



-burton 261e

Worldly Systems Will Never Reach the Heights of Heaven, So Why Try To Do The Same In the Name of Jesus?

If the scientist cannot rise above rational probability by any and all means of his empirical investigation, why should the Christian attempt to do more using this same method?
If the philosopher cannot rise above reason and logic itself by any and all methods of his rational inquiry, why should the Christian think he can reach any higher using this same process?
If the moralist cannot rise above the universal ideal of ethical theory that governs society by any and all means of his own system of knowledge, why then, should the Christian try to prove a God that transcends the constraints of the universal box by using this same set of rules?
Why do we try to fly higher than the systems of men in order to reach the heights of heaven when the wisdom of God has been unleashed by the power of the gospel of Christ in simplicity and foolishness at the base of the ground?

We attempt to rise higher than other men, only to find that by rising above we have not risen at all, and have lost all power that is capable of bringing life to the spiritually dead, including ourselves. We may be waging war with more advanced natural weapons, but they are nonetheless, natural weapons and are not spiritually empowered. Natural weapons that, no matter how far advanced, are useless and ineffective in bringing about the salvation of souls. Our attempts are weak, futile, worthless, human, and the only thing that stems from these things is impossibility, especially when it comes to fighting the darkness of the world. The main problem with our attempts is that, no matter how high they may fly, they can never go beyond the heights of what is reasonable or what is probable. The problem with what is reasonable or what is probable is that, no matter how convincing anything may ever be, it always ends with a "probably." Now, a "probably" that results when considering the subject of God's existence or the subject of Christ Himself, means that God or Christ and any of the presumed works that they have done (Either in Creation or Redemption) all hinge on what is “probably” true. This means that, when we fly, we are basing the foundation of our faith, that which we label truth, on what is not explainable by the methods of our attempts and expect it to yield fruitful results, when in fact the opposite is the only reality. A proof can neither prove that something is true, nor can it prove that something is not true, it can only prove that a "probably" is probably true. Truth that is probably true is just as much truth that is probably not true, and therefore, is no standard of measurable truth at all. No, truth that is probably true is indefinitely no truth at all. A truth such as this cannot rest on what is probable. It must be definite. What is definite cannot be proven true by any given "probably."
So, why then do we fly?

We fly because we think that we must. We think that we must because we do not trust. We do not trust because we suffer from lust. It's the same lust that took Eve and ensnared Adam. The same desire that has captivated all of humanity and has manifested itself as a four letter word: P-R-I-D-E and the sinful nature that we all inherit. Our pride causes us to fly. We think that we can do this on our own, and in that we fall and fail at bringing others into the obedience and humble submission of Jesus Christ. We have fallen and continue to fall. We think our power is still found high up in the sky of human discovering and human reasoning and human governing, when in fact it is found at the base, the foundation, the very cornerstone of Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:18 "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise."

-burton 261e

Unexpected Expectations.

One of the greatest discoveries that I have ever had in my short 2 1/2 years of following Christ is also one of the most grievous discoveries that my heart has ever felt. I have noticed, that the more time elapsed with my nose pressing hard against the rich pages of the biographical accounts of Jesus' life [the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John] and the numerous hours my mind has spent twirling in certainty and uncertainty over what is clearly and plainly written before my eyes, the more I have begun to realize how far away this world of Christendom that I have both involuntarily been surrounded with and voluntarily immersed myself in truly is from "the way" that is depicted in the teachings and revelations of this remarkably divine text. It is evident that the culture in which the bible was written is nothing like today's culture, and yet, so many are guilty of reading a twenty-first century framework into each author's first century intent, contorting the pure form of Christ on the basis of presumption and presupposition, and thus, leaving behind an impure distortion of what one chooses to think of Him under false pretenses which ultimately and undoubtedly creates an alternative form of Christ that fits neatly and cozily into one small compartment of the large complex of a twenty-first century Christian mindset. Beyond and also in the midst of this obvious cultural contextualization puzzle lies the grievous discovery that I am referring to in the first line above: that we are recklessly guilty of doing just as the Jews did upon the long anticipated first coming of the Messiah--Jesus Christ. The Jews, using their own human ingenuity, generally (I say generally because of the four known major sects of Judaism at the time [the Sadducee's, Pharisee's, Essen's, and Zealot's] each independently desired a different form of Messiah, each wanting one pertaining to their own idealized persona which naturally resembled their own style of community of righteousness and I have lumped these four into one category: the Jews) anticipated a Messiah that was to come in power who would descend from the line of King David, restore the sovereignty of Israel, gather all of her people back into the promised land from every dispersed region of the earth in which they lived, recommit to total observance of the Law [the Torah], and bring peace to all of humanity. Due to the Messianic standards that the Jews had preconceived, when the Messiah [Jesus of Nazareth] had finally come to gather his lost and scattered sheep, he was, to them [the Jewish religious leaders of the time], altogether unrecognizable. He was not seen because they did not have the eyes to see Him, for their eyes were shut by their own predetermined and obstinate biases. In a similar way, I'm afraid that far too many Christians, myself included, are guilty of not seeing Jesus for who He really is and for who He says (and others say) He is. The mistake that the Jews had made in reference to the coming Messiah was basing the total focal point of who their Messiah was on one aspect of Messianic prophecy when there are undeniably numerous aspects that the Messiah has and each of those aspects are not determinate on any specific group or individual's own expectations of the Messiah. Christians do this exact thing by grabbing hold of one aspect of the character or teaching of Christ and advocating for that precise thing without taking into account the whole of who Christ is and what He taught. What is so treacherously terrifying about this is that far too many Christians are guilty of adhering to only some part or parts of Jesus' teaching while, at the same time, they neglect the rest of His teaching, and some even do this intentionally based on personal discomfort or a reluctance to change! Too often Christians read what the sacred text says and only adopt those sayings or teachings that fit into the preconceived belief system that they already have, and in so doing, either consciously (If willfully one is to resist the teaching at hand) or unconsciously (If unknowingly one resists the teaching at hand by not investigating due to laziness or apathy) pervert the beautiful portrait of Jesus Christ. It would be as if a skillful artist were to place a freshly brushed painting in front of a small child, only to have the child smear the finished work all over the floor and thus, blemish the painting right in front of the master. Although the small child would gain two hands full (and then some) of paint immediately, the child would never have grown up to witness the beauty and glory of what the master had done for him and would never be able to properly receive the gift that was already given. Unfortunately, it is inevitable that many will continue to view Jesus in this way. If you are reading this and are among the many, I implore you to consider asking yourself if your own expectations are in the way of you seeing Jesus, and if they are, then you must look to see which teachings of His you are playing down and which teachings of His you are accentuating too much. If you are guilty as the Jews were and as many Christians are of having unexpected expectations about Jesus, you must also carefully search for the truth and never cease to ask Jesus to show you more of Himself. We must not be lazy any longer. We must not neglect full knowledge of the truth when the truth is right before us and even within arms reach. Ask, seek, knock. The door will be opened fully, but, in His due time and in accord with His glorious grace.


For a rather scary, but sobering reality that is only slightly related to the condition mentioned above:
"If one wanted to be brutally honest and reflect the dynamic of the first century, one would have to say that the conservative, evangelical Christian, the one who today has a very high view of Scripture and wants, in detail, to apply it to every aspect of life, is probably the closest parallel to the ancient Pharisee. How shocking, then, when such people at times fall into legalism and are accused of perverting what is intended to be a vibrant relationship with God into a religion of a long set of dos and don’ts."
--"What Life Looked Like In Jesus' Time," Dr. Craig Blomberg, a distinguished professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary in Littleton, CO, USA

I am quite sure that Jesus wasn't a huge fan of the Pharisee mentality and posture in relation to the kingdom of God. One quick skim through any one of the gospels will convey that fact. Jesus was not against the Jews. He was a Jew, however, He was against the attitudes that the Pharisees had acquired and came to lay down and become the very foundation of truth which was strongly opposed to such attitudes. Check yourself, repent, and begin to pursue and believe in the One who is truth.



-burton 261e

The Human Heart In All It's Glory.

The human heart is dark, disillusioned, distant, and alone. It cares not for anything other than grabbing hold of its own disturbing desires. It seeks after pleasure and cannot remove its eyes from her smooth skin. Its vision is so narrow that it cannot even conceive of any other possible routes other than the one it's on. Unable to turn a degree to the left nor the right and with no lever to change direction in sight, it tramples upon everything that gets in its way and travels without mercy. It has one purpose: to bring pleasure to itself. It has one method: consume, use, take. It has one thought: mine. Fueled by obsession, the human heart seemingly stops at no end. As it gains speed down the long, stubborn terrain it enters into a tunnel. At first the lights of the tunnel shine fairly bright. One light after another goes zooming by. After just a short while, each tunnel light becomes more and more dimly lit, until quite suddenly the last light goes out. Racing at a great speed down the dark tunnel, the human heart knows not where it's headed. Blindly moving through absolute darkness at its own presumptuous pace, it becomes complacent, helpless, and ignorant of its own condition. There the human heart lies embodied in its own deception. Thinking of itself to be paramount in its own existence, it travels deeper into a highly distorted and sickly deformed dimension of human selfishness. This is the state of the human heart at it's highest.

-burton 261e

Percieving The Bible As The Word of God.

The Bible contains within it the very mind of God himself. When opened, one is immediately lifted up into the benevolent thoughts of the Narrator who has by His own soft words spoken the greatest and most powerful love story ever told. Each and every part within this great masterpiece contains within it the most resounding and astounding message of hope that could ever be offered to all of mankind. If then, such a book is within the reach of any man or woman here on earth, and whether this book be found on an old dusty shelf or on a freshly swept desk, one might care to listen to the kind voice offering to him the salvation of his soul, saying, "Take and read; meditate on my ordinances, my law, my commandments, my truth, my revelation, my beauty, my heart, my mind, and come to know My Son, who has died and risen just for you, please, meditate both day and night on these things, that your life may be made complete, that you might have unending joy in this life and in the life to come."


Perceive the Bible in a way such as this, and you will most certainly experience Jesus much in the same way as that generation of men who personally encountered him face-to-face:

"...what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life..." - 1 John 1:1


-burton 261e

Abandoning the Tool Shed and Leaving All the Tools Behind.

It has been said that with intensively laborious effort we are to strive after holiness. We are to seek after perfection using all of the tools within reach of the tool shed next to us. If we use the right tool at the right time, that is, if we can find the right tool at the right time, we might hope to take one more step up this dysfunctional ladder that leads to perfection by fixing the step right above us, resulting in one stride nearer to that one area we are explicitly told that we cannot reach, even while using all of the right tools in the tool shed at once, at the right time, in the appropriate manner. If we accidentally grab the wrong tool, we rightfully accuse the tool for our own lack of reaching perfection. If we happen to grab the right tool, or the tool that we are convinced to be the right tool, and the tool again [to our own astonishment] fails us, we instead blame the tool shed for our inability to reach this standard of ultimate perfection. We "ought to" rigorously pursue the unobtainable, and when we fail to reach the apex of this incomprehensibly impossible pursuit, we slip down from the lowest point of the ladder to the base of the ground [which to our surprise wasn't as far down as we had thought] and feel a superb sense of overwhelming frustration and anger at the current position of helplessness and abasement that we find ourselves in. When we hit rock bottom, we are forced to see that no tool or tool shed could ever elevate us to the height of the top of this unpleasantly tall ladder, for the top of the ladder is simply too high, the only way to the top has too many steps to remodel or fix with our inadequate tools, and we are incapable of accomplishing this eminent achievement with all of the determination and idolization that could ever be mustered, tried, or admired with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. After the cloud of frustration has cleared away and every method of human pride has been tested and has both miserably and irrefutably failed, we are then susceptible to a small bit of humility to enter into the core part of our inner being. It is all now too clear: The only way to the top of this ladder is through another possibility that was formerly unseen, one possibility that has the potential to lift us up to the top without much goodwill, without any laborious effort at all. It is when we see this possibility that the door behind the base of the ladder is opened and we are given the opportunity to walk down the short hallway and step into the elevator that effortlessly rises to the height of the top of the ladder outside. This process is the stepping stone into a new way of life. We must realize that the Christian life is a life lived not in the flesh, not in a life domineered by the law, but through the outpouring of the Spirit which empowers us with a supremely boundless life. We ought to not strive harder, we ought to not try fancy new tools with the same basic function as the former, we ought not to draw from an old, outdated tool shed, but we OUGHT TO cease striving and know that Jesus Christ is God and let His Spirit reign in our lives. If only we allow it to happen...if only we rid ourselves of all pride and do away with the old way of living...the old way of habitually thinking...we would then reach the epitome of present joy and peace of mind, and would truly partake in the easy yoke, where there is true and immediate rest for the soul.

--Psalm 46:10--



burton 261e

Playing By the Rules Won't Cut it.

One of the most difficult things to comprehend as a Christian is the simple fact that when you seem to do everything by the book, follow every principle or guideline that exists, and attempt to obey all of the rules, you still find yourself sick, unfulfilled, and still somehow missing the mark (Note: A surprisingly short self-checkup is needed to notice this if you are currently unaware of it's deep manifestation). After scanning through every list, principle, or rule possible, you realize that all of that is not only not enough, but it isn't even the point at all. You can't possibly measure up to those things and even if you could you wouldn't be following them with the right motives to drive the action. And that's when the world as you so surely thought you had "figured out" may come crashing down. It is then that you realize the only reason that you are a Christian is because He first called you child, because He suffered for you, and because He is fighting for you. And that's precisely when Christianity begins to make sense. It begins at the cross, it suffers with the cross, and it lives in light of the cross. He promised that He would send us His Spirit. He did. He promised us a life of abundance. It is here, and it can be experienced now. All that is required of us is a redeemed and willing ear that is ready to listen to the whispering call of the Father. This life was never meant to be lived out by playing off the instructions of an owner's manual. What's abundant about a to-do and not-to-do list? This life is meant to be lived out by conversing with the Maker of the game.


-burton 261E