Losing the Church

What does it mean to lose the Church? What does it mean to have the Church taken away from you? We live in a society which believes the church belongs to us. Our parents started the church. Our ancestors built the church. Parish councils over the years hire and fire clergy. With such a strong…

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Man of Your Word

Integrity is ‘everything’ today. If people cannot trust that we will do what we say we will do, things begin to collapse. We see this to be true, especially in politics. Politicians rarely do what they say. Instead, they say what they think we want to hear, then do what they want to do. It…

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Guilt by Association

When I was young, I was spending time with a friend when we found ourselves in a bit of trouble. We were walking past a swimming pool where a group of people had jumped the fence for a night swim. We knew the group of people, so we were chatting with them when we were…

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I Prefer Christ

Inside View Of A Church With Jesus Christ Idol

Drive through any American city and read the signs in front of Churches. You will find that many of the signs focus on the benefit of being a Christian. Want a better life? Join a Church. Want to find peace after suffering trauma? Join a Church. Want to have healing from your addiction? Join a…

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Episode 401 – The Light of Christ

People along with the priest worshiping in the church

On the Feast of Transfiguration, the Church celebrates the Light of Christ. On Mount Tabor Christ appeared as bright as the sun, but the disciples were not harmed because God protected them. God allows us to see His Light as much as we can bear. The world is competing with God by showing us images…

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Now Serving

Continuing where we left off yesterday with accusations against the Church about ritual, today I want to discuss what I sense is a growing conflict between being in Church for Divine Liturgy and being outside the Church service others. There appears even among leaders of the Church that serving others is more important than attending…

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Order VS Chaos

I hear it often. The Orthodox Church is accused of worrying more about ritual than ‘The Word’ when it comes to worship. True, our Liturgy is filled with ritual elements. The same can be said for our protestant brothers and sisters who indict us. Just because something has ritual doesn’t mean it isn’t based on…

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Empty Words

Whether you understand it or not, your faith speaks aloud to those around you. There is a reason the old saying is, “Actions speak louder than words.” It rarely matters what we believe if our actions are not generated from that belief. If our words have no meaning, they are of no benefit to those…

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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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