Posts Tagged ‘1st Corinthians’
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…
Read MoreI Prefer Christ
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…
Read MoreOrder 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…
Read MoreEmpty 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…
Read MoreAvoid Temptation
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…
Read MoreShare the Secret
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…
Read MoreSex and Spirituality
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…
Read MoreHow are you Using Your Gifts?
We hear about Stewardship all the time. The problem is, we only ever hear about money. What is worse, we only hear about how much money the Church needs. We might hear a token mention of time and talents in the annual stewardship pitch. We hardly ever hear about stewardship outside of the Church’s needs.…
Read MoreWhat Happens to One Happens to All
It is easy to look at the persecution of others from a distance and be thankful we are not the ones being beaten and tortured. It is easy to hear about abuse of Christians in a distant country and be thankful we can freely walk the streets of our nation proclaiming our faith in Christ.…
Read MoreTotal Repentance
Repent! We hear the carillon call all the time. We accept the idea of repentance on the surface. Beyond giving it lip service, we rarely give repentance much consideration. Let’s face it. We all would rather just keep going like we are going. Unfortunately, without repentance we will be destroyed. At that time, there were…
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