Archive for August 2024
Blind Egos
Nobody wants to admit it, but everyone struggles with it. Our ego challenges our faith every day. On the one hand we desire to be like God. On the other hand, our ego helps us forget we are not God. When we assert ourselves to know better than the Church, we can blame our ego.…
Read MoreCommon Life
In every Divine Liturgy we proclaim our common life in Christ when we pray, “Let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.” We do not commend our unison lives to Christ. We commend our life, singular, to Christ. That should mean something. Brethren, let any one who thinks…
Read MoreDon’t Allow Yourself to be Tripped Up
I was once taught the first step to any sin is to believe I would always be able to ‘say no’ to temptation. Instead of counting on my willpower, I was taught to do whatever I could to set up protections against temptation. That way I would increase my chances of avoiding sin. Brethren, God…
Read MoreSign of the Times
With modern technology it is just about impossible to not know where you are located. GPS in our phones and even our watches leave us with a false sense of security that we can never be lost. If you’re like me, you have found yourself in that one place with no signal and no location.…
Read MoreNever Good Enough
Here is one saying nobody ever wants to hear, but always needs to hear. You can never be good enough to ‘get in’ to heaven. You are never good enough isn’t a judgment. It is an honest expression of the truth. Even the saints knew it about themselves. We need to know it too. Brethren,…
Read MoreThe Work Goes On
Part of every person’s personal mission is to accomplish something in life. Whether it be some rare scientific discovery or merely being known for great art, all human beings are driven by accomplishment. The problem is, we are so focused on our accomplishments that we forget God’s work. In those days, the apostles returned to…
Read MoreRemain or Repent; Which is it?
It has become popular to use the expression, “God made me who I am,” as an excuse toward all sorts of behaviors the Church teaches against. “God doesn’t make mistakes,” is another excuse. I say excuse, because we never want to remain how we are if we don’t like who we are. Brethren, in whatever…
Read MoreIt is Good News for a Reason
There are two things that indicate a growing Church. First, the people are excited about their Church. Some even produce bumper stickers to share their joy with the world around them. The second indication of a growing Church is how many new people come to stay. If we are not excited enough to share our…
Read MoreMind Your Business
We all like to think we are successful Christians. We all like to think we ‘know what we’re doing’ when it comes to how to live our Orthodox Christian Faith. If that weren’t bad enough, we all also like to think we ‘know better’ than other people how to be ‘good’ Orthodox Christians. The sad…
Read MoreEpisode 431 – United in Faith for the Forgiveness of Sins
When Christ saw the faith of the friends of the paralytic, He said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven.” Christ didn’t heal the man until He wanted to show His power to forgive sins. When we are united in the faith of Christ, our sins can be forgiven by God. When we pray each…
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