Faith is an Internal Thing

Silhouette with "FAITH" at sunrise background.

Is it good works or faith that saves us? This has been the debate for centuries among Christians. My answer has always been, “Well, even atheists feed the poor.” If atheists do good works, does this mean faith saves us? Then again, “Faith without works is dead.” Hmmmm Brethren, he is not a real Jew…

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Ungodly Behavior is a Choice

Excuses like ‘the devil made me do it’ and ‘I’m not a saint’ just won’t cut it when we stand in front of the Judgement Seat of Christ. Every time we ignore the joy, mercy and grace of God we ignore the possibility of heaven. Brethren, since the ungodly did not see fit to acknowledge…

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Belief is not Enough

We all know that being a Christian isn’t easy. There are teachings to memorize and rules to follow. For Orthodox Christians there are Sacred Traditions to keep and spiritual disciplines to practice. Is all this necessary? Why can’t we ‘just believe’ in God? Consider today’s lesson from Saint Paul. There were many who knew God,…

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Truth is not Subjective

Signs pointing to lies and truth.

Music can be defined as a series and combination of sounds pleasing to the ear. Music is subjective. What is a masterpiece to one, is garbage music to another. Nonetheless, music brings joy to every human being. The same can be said about God, but for a different reason. Some love God while others think…

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Know Your Audience

It won’t matter what we have to say if the person we speak to is deaf. This is also true if we are speaking a foreign language. If we want our message to be understood and embraced, we must know our audience. This is most important when it comes to evangelism. Saint Paul was an…

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Take No Offense

We’ve all said it. We’ve all had that moment when we needed to tell someone the truth, but we knew it would hurt to hear the truth. So, we soften it with a simple warning. “No offense, but…” Let’s face it, with the wrong heart, hearing these words are always an offense. We take offense…

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Episode 479 – Knowing God in Communion

Priest speaking with text "Live a New Life.

When Christ was about to be crucified, He prayed for the Church. He prayed that we might know Him. He prayed that we would have life in Him. He prayed that knowing Him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit would mean eternal life. The Church has protected that truth ever since. Transcript: My brothers and…

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On the Throne of God

On the Feast of Ascension, the Church commemorates the triumphant return of Christ to His Heavenly Throne. His return is more than just His journey home. His Ascension is our journey too. With the completion of His earthly mission, He takes us with Him to His Throne. While the Church stood staring into heaven on…

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Have I Changed Yet?

Today is the Leave-taking of Pascha, the last day of the Feast. It is the final day we greet each other and sing Christ is Risen, until next year. Last year in my blog “Christ is Always Risen” I wrote about reviving the fervor of Pascha. Today, I still wonder about my fervor. Every year…

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