Authority is for Good

As human beings we are consumed with power and authority. Our politics reflect it. Our personal relationships reflect it. Even our home life reflects the desire for power and authority. The problem is, we don’t use our power and authority for good. Brethren, let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is…

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Blind Egos

A blind young man wandering alone

Nobody wants to admit it, but everyone struggles with it. Our ego challenges our faith every day. On the one hand we desire to be like God. On the other hand, our ego helps us forget we are not God. When we assert ourselves to know better than the Church, we can blame our ego.…

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Common Life

In every Divine Liturgy we proclaim our common life in Christ when we pray, “Let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.” We do not commend our unison lives to Christ. We commend our life, singular, to Christ. That should mean something. Brethren, let any one who thinks…

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Don’t Allow Yourself to be Tripped Up

I was once taught the first step to any sin is to believe I would always be able to ‘say no’ to temptation. Instead of counting on my willpower, I was taught to do whatever I could to set up protections against temptation. That way I would increase my chances of avoiding sin. Brethren, God…

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Sign of the Times

With modern technology it is just about impossible to not know where you are located. GPS in our phones and even our watches leave us with a false sense of security that we can never be lost. If you’re like me, you have found yourself in that one place with no signal and no location.…

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Never Good Enough

Here is one saying nobody ever wants to hear, but always needs to hear. You can never be good enough to ‘get in’ to heaven. You are never good enough isn’t a judgment. It is an honest expression of the truth. Even the saints knew it about themselves. We need to know it too. Brethren,…

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The Work Goes On

Part of every person’s personal mission is to accomplish something in life. Whether it be some rare scientific discovery or merely being known for great art, all human beings are driven by accomplishment. The problem is, we are so focused on our accomplishments that we forget God’s work. In those days, the apostles returned to…

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Remain or Repent; Which is it?

It has become popular to use the expression, “God made me who I am,” as an excuse toward all sorts of behaviors the Church teaches against. “God doesn’t make mistakes,” is another excuse. I say excuse, because we never want to remain how we are if we don’t like who we are. Brethren, in whatever…

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It is Good News for a Reason

There are two things that indicate a growing Church. First, the people are excited about their Church. Some even produce bumper stickers to share their joy with the world around them. The second indication of a growing Church is how many new people come to stay. If we are not excited enough to share our…

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Mind Your Business

We all like to think we are successful Christians. We all like to think we ‘know what we’re doing’ when it comes to how to live our Orthodox Christian Faith. If that weren’t bad enough, we all also like to think we ‘know better’ than other people how to be ‘good’ Orthodox Christians. The sad…

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