Serpents and Doves

This year I was blessed to return to my home in Colorado for a family vacation. We visited all the ‘normal’ places I wanted to share with my family. The mountains of Colorado are wild, yet tame. Around every corner you risk being buried under a rockslide or in the presence of any number of…

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Avoid Temptation

Temptation Ahead sign

Every day we pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Sit back and ponder over this verse of the Lord’s Prayer. We are asking God the Father, not just to keep us free from temptation, but to lead us away from temptation. God knows how much temptation we can handle. He…

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Why Do You Believe?

Pieces of paper with the word Why

It always intrigued me to hear what people believed and what they chose not to believe. Belief isn’t about physical proof. We believe things every day we have proof of. They say ‘seeing is believing’ but we believe things every day we do not see. As I wrote the other day, we also choose not…

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Healing is about Mercy

Clock hands pointing to the words Time to Heal

We live in a society torn apart by anger and division. We listen to the words of politicians as if they are enemies. We doubt the ability of anyone, except ourselves naturally, to repent. We call vengeance by another name, pretending it to be justice. We admit the world is sick, but they are the…

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Spiritual Glasses

A man handing eyeglasses

The past couple of days I have been focusing on the choice between the world and the Church. For some people, it can be difficult to distinguish between the world and the Church. Temptation is experienced. It is not imagined. What the world uses to tempt us can be so convincing, we are blinded to…

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Share the Secret

A boy whispering secrets to another boy

There is a saying that really disturbs me. People say, “The Orthodox Church is the best kept secret.” If this is true, it is quite unfortunate. A secret is something that should be kept private. The Church is the Body of Christ and has come for all. It is time to share the secret. The…

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In Front of Your Eyes

A woman covering her eyes

Many times, we are faced with facts we just do not want to believe. Sometimes the facts make us sad. Sometimes the facts make us want to crawl under a rock and hide. The only way, we think, to survive is to deny the facts in front of our eyes. At that time, the Pharisees…

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Spiritual Fasting

Steak and rosemary

I hear it so often I can’t count. “It’s not what goes into the mouth, but what comes out!” Every time I talk about the importance of fasting, this argument is taken like an arrow from its quiver. I wonder if people understood that Christ used this comment in reference to the hypocrites, if they…

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Sex and Spirituality

The word Self Control written on a chalkboard

It is the ‘hot topic’ in our society these days. It seems like everyone is talking about sex. Around every corner, lurking to attack our attention, is the topic of sex. It is one of the strongest animal urges that our bodies experience. It is also an important part of our spiritual journey. Sex is…

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God is Never too Busy

A piece of paper torn to show the words And One More Thing

There is no doubt that it can be difficult to fall short of our goals. This is especially true when it comes to life-changing events. We desire a God-loving spouse. We want to work in a job that honors God. These are common to most of us. We also desire good health, a good job,…

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