Posts by Be Transfigured Ministries
The Church and State
As Americans we live by the standard of separation of church and state. This uniquely American ideal has its benefits for sure. Historically, though, the Orthodox Church has not been free of civil interventions, and today is only the most recent example. Today the Church commemorates Saint Photios the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople. His life…
Read MoreSalt Accents the Truth
I have always loved to cook. Since I was a small child, I would make my way to the kitchen to learn what ingredients worked and what ingredients did not work. I was always confused why people added salt to cakes and cookies. They never tasted ‘salty’ but I knew the salt was in there.…
Read MoreEpisode 417 – Learning to Love
When Christ was asked which law was the most important, He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these…
Read MoreThe Reward of Righteousness
We’ve all heard it before. Good guys finish last. Watching just a few minutes of the nightly news and you might agree. Let’s face it. Our society rewards choices and priorities that we as Christians don’t follow. We choose to be righteous in the eyes of God but is that good enough. Since yesterday was…
Read MoreGod Never Walks Away
We all have that one person who has always been there for us. No matter what we did, or what he or she did, we were inseparable. Then one day, something changed. Suddenly we no longer spoke. We no longer had the person by our side. We grieve the loss mostly because we can’t understand…
Read MoreThe Value of Love
Free this and free that. They say nothing is free, but ‘they’ are wrong. Love is free. It costs nothing but pride. It costs nothing but the willingness to not be loved back. On the other hand, love is what gives everything else value. Brethren, you are the body of Christ and individually members of…
Read MoreRemember Your Conversion
Whether we were ‘born into’ the Church of became Orthodox later in life, each of us has a conversion story. We can remember that day, or season, when we realized our faith in Christ was something that we were serious about. We also can remember days or seasons when that faith waned a bit, and…
Read MoreEpisode 416 – Planning to See Christ
When we want to be in Church, we plan in advance. When we want to see Christ, we also need to plan. Just like Zacchaeus planned in advance to see Christ, we need to clean our hearts, make plans for him, and be ready for Him. We do this by confessing our sins to the…
Read MoreCalendar Celebration
The Orthodox Calendar is much more than a tool to determine the date for Pascha. It is May 5th this year, by the way. The Calendar is a way for the Church to remember our history and faith. It is a way for us to tell future generations what was important to us and our…
Read MoreGod’s Work
As Christians, we are called to be coworkers with God. Practically speaking that means that the work we do is supposed to be part of the work God does. You cannot be a coworker and work on a different project. Then you are just colleagues. Coworkers have a shared vision. Brethren, we are God’s fellow…
Read More