Posts Tagged ‘Bible’
A Confusing Lectionary
If you are in the habit of reading the Holy Scriptures everyday using ‘The Readings of the Day’ you may have been a bit confused today. You may be wondering ‘which’ reading for today is the correct reading. You may be wondering how the Church chooses the readings it chooses. As Orthodox Christians, reading the…
Read MoreSpiritual Maturity
There is an old joke that says, “Everything I needed to know, I learned in kindergarten.” It is a joke because even teenagers know they didn’t know enough after kindergarten to ‘get along’ in the world. How much is enough? High school? College? It isn’t about learning. It is about maturity. If all we needed…
Read MoreMercy is God’s Choice
Two people can hear the same words and understand something totally different. Each person will hear what they want to hear, regardless of accuracy. I find that true almost every day in the Church. We all hear God’s word through Holy Scriptures, but we don’t all understand the same. Brethren, it is not as though…
Read MoreEveryone’s Savior
Are you saved? Orthodox Christians have been struggling over this question for years. We struggle not because we fear judgment. We struggle because confuse judgment with salvation. We are all saved and yet we are all judged. Before you get upset that I am teaching ‘universal salvation’ take a moment and read what Saint Paul…
Read MoreJudgment is Inevitable
We hope to avoid it. We pray to escape it. The last thing we look forward to is Judgment Day. Alas, everything we know about God, from the Old Testament, New Testament and Church Fathers, tells us that Judgment is something we cannot avoid. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To…
Read MorePredestination
What if I were to tell you I believed in predestination? Would you call me a heretic? Would you say I have abandoned the ancient faith? Maybe you would say I finally fell over the sola scriptura cliff. Of course, none of these accusations would be true. The truth would be that we are required…
Read MoreYou Can’t Read Your Way into Heaven
We are a highly educated society. Literacy rates are higher today than ever in the history of the world. Bibles are printed daily and sit, even if collecting dust, on almost every bookshelf in America. We love to read, and we love to learn. There is only one problem. We can’t read our way into…
Read MoreSent by God but Commissioned by the Church
We are taught to read the Holy Scriptures as God speaking directly to our hearts, and we should. What makes this difficult, and at times spiritually dangerous, is when we read into what we hear. When we hear about God speaking directly to the Saints, we think He also speaks directly to us. If God…
Read MoreA Lost Opportunity
Today is known in the Church as “Wednesday of the First Week of Luke” as it pertains to the liturgical cycle. In practical terms that means this week we begin reading from the Gospel According to Saint Luke. Each year on the Monday following the Feast of Holy Cross we begin a new season by…
Read MoreOrthodoxy 101 – The Bible, Prayer and Fasting
Orthodox Christianity teaches that there are three pathways that lead to God and a personal relationship with Him: The Bible, Prayer and Fasting. The how and why of these three pathways will be discussed.
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