Archive for January 2026
Do Unmercenaries Still Exist?
The other day I blogged about rewards. The only true reward we receive from God is to live with Him eternally. How do we balance between waiting for God’s rewards and accepting rewards now while we do the work of Christ? Today the Church commemorates two saints known as unmercenaries. Saints Cyrus and John used…
Read MoreRewards
From childhood we are taught to expect a reward for our ‘good’ behavior. We clean our room, eat our dinner, and finish our homework, and we get rewarded. Do all those things without complaining and our reward is greater. Sound familiar? Brethren, recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard…
Read MoreInward Beauty
Morning routines are a part of everyone’s day. We awake with ‘just enough time’ to be ready for our day. We bathe and feed our bodies before spending time making ourselves presentable for our coworkers and friends. If we have time, we may even say our prayers. No surprise. The way we present ourselves is…
Read MoreA Different Kingdom
Many non-believers accuse the Church of wanting to control our lives. They believe our ‘rules and traditions’ are designed to keep us down in the world. It would be much easier if we just gave in to the world and ‘blended in’ more to those around us. Then we would succeed. This logic is lacking…
Read MoreIn my Prayers
I blog about prayer often. It is, after all, a central part of our Orthodox life. It is also one of the most underutilized spiritual tools in our Orthodox tool kit. Even when we pray, we rarely give our prayers the attention they deserve. Worse, we rarely give others the attention of our prayers. One…
Read MoreAdvance the Gospel
If someone were to ask you how your life advances the Gospel of Christ, what would you say? Does your career advancement bring the truth of the Gospel to new believers? Does your summer cottage or beach house inspire believers to live for Christ? Here’s what is strange about my question. For many Christians, a…
Read MoreUnderstanding is a Gift
Try as we might to understand God, it is ultimately impossible. Jesus Christ is both God and man. The Father is the source of all things. The Son is begotten but has always existed. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father but exists everywhere and fills all things. WHAT!? At that time, a lawyer came…
Read MoreEpisode 470 – Come to God with Gratitude
Every time we ask God, He blesses us, but we don’t properly thank Him. In the story of the Ten Lepers, we learn the proper way to thank God for His blessings. It isn’t enough to say ‘thank you’ standing in front of our icons at home. We must come to spend time with Him,…
Read MoreDoes Your Life Convert Others?
We’ve all heard about the recent trend of people converting to Orthodox Christianity. Seekers, many of whom are frustrated with their own Christian past, begin to watch videos, and read books and blogs about Orthodoxy. What happens when they show up at your parish? Will the seekers find a church filled with faithful followers of…
Read MoreAll Authority is from God
In our human understanding, authority is equal to power. Whoever has authority has power. Since we like power, we love when we have authority over others. The sad truth is that we have no authority that was not given to us by God. Let’s face it. We barely have authority over ourselves. At that time,…
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