Archive for September 2025
Bearing Fruit
I enjoy gardening as a hobby. I admit I am not the greatest gardener, but I love spending time in my garden. I love watching things grow. I love eating the fruit of my garden. The only problem is, I don’t get much fruit because I am not a good gardener. I have a few…
Read MoreEating or Fasting
As Orthodox Christians living in a secular world, fasting takes on an additional burden. It is easy to fast when we cook for ourselves, but when others are doing the cooking, things get a bit sticky. When the ‘others’ are not Orthodox, fasting sometimes becomes optional. Now, you must understand that I would never characterize…
Read MoreMany Chances to Repent
The sense of guilt can be a strong and even crippling emotion. When we sin once or twice, it is easy to return to God. But when we sin multiple times, guilt can get the best of us and we often choose to stay away from God. Thankfully, God gives us as many chances as…
Read MoreChildren of God
We all come from someone. We all have a mother and father, though sometimes we may be estranged from them. As adults we remember what it ‘was like’ being children. I think maybe that is why we don’t understand what it means to be children of God. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the…
Read MorePleasing to God
It can be difficult going through life always trying to please other people. Most of our time is spent trying to please those in authority. Our boss at work, our teacher in school, even our spouse, are all the object of our devotion to please them. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either. At…
Read MoreEpisode 460 – Do You Desire to be with God
Christ invites us, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow,” Him into heaven. As long we desire to be with God, then we can move the first phase of our journey. We must learn how to deny ourselves before we can ever follow Christ into heaven.…
Read MoreFocus on Today
A recurring theme in my conversations with Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike is an obsession with the ‘end times’ and what the Church has to say about the end. Whether it is the myth of the rapture or the anxiety of the tribulation, everyone seems to panic about the end. At that time, Jesus’ disciples came…
Read MoreGod’s Calming Presence
In more than thirty years of ministry I have had the distinct blessing to be present with families during grief and tragedy. I will never forget the first time I experienced this blessing. I was called to a hospital after a serious motorcycle accident. I was blessed more than the family that day. About an…
Read MoreGod Always Has Time for You
We all know the feeling. We have all experienced that time when we felt alone in our struggle. Even though we were surrounded by people, we felt alone without anyone to help us. Just when we think we are out of time, just when we think we have nobody, God is there. At that time,…
Read MoreThe New Covenant
Our attention has been on the Holy Cross this week. Just a few days ago we were blessed to gaze upon the Cross of Christ, hear the story of His crucifixion, and hope for a better future with Him in heaven. We cannot ignore that everything that happened on the Cross was new. The Cross…
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