Music Charms the Soul

Around every corner and in every place, music is either grabbing our attention or whispering in the background. When we hear it, our hearts recall something deep within us. Many of our deepest memories are ‘attached’ to music because music and memory share brain space. So, it should come as no surprise that the Church…

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No Law Against Kindness

I hear it all the time. Be kind. What does it mean to be kind? Is it kind to allow people to think they are something they are not? Is it kind to tell someone they are going to hell if they don’t change? Some say yes. Some say no. Brethren, the fruit of the…

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Insatiable World

Throughout history the Church has been faced with extinction from the world. We are always under attack by those who either do not believe in God or believe differently about God than we do. We do our best to live peacefully among them, but alas, we are always under attack. Jesus was constantly asked what…

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Spiritual 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…

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Christians in a Foreign Land

We have been spoiled as Christians for many centuries. Secular society has ‘more or less’ lifted our Christian morals. Through decades of public schools our Christian morals have been reinforced. That has all changed in the past few decades. Schools no longer reinforce Christian standards, and society no longer pays attention to our standards. It…

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God’s Work

As Christians, we are called to be coworkers with God. Practically speaking that means that the work we do is supposed to be part of the work God does. You cannot be a coworker and work on a different project. Then you are just colleagues. Coworkers have a shared vision. Brethren, we are God’s fellow…

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Pro Life Church

The Orthodox Church was pro life before there was such a term. Long before Roe v Wade, and long before so-called reproductive rights, the Church honored the conception of children as a blessing from God. There are references to conception in the Scriptures and even the daily calendar honors conception as a thing to be celebrated, not destroyed.

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Save our Children

children putting hands on each other shoulder

The other day I went to see the movie Sound of Freedom and was profoundly disturbed. Knowing what happens to children in the wickedness of the slave trade was not the same as watching it. We are supposed to protect children. We are supposed to honor children. We are not supposed to harm them. At…

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Run to God

It never ceases to amaze me how many people outright ignore God until they need Him. We go through life ‘minding our own business’ until suddenly something takes place that we cannot control. It can be a natural event like a hurricane. It can also be the actions of other people. Either way, because we…

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Minimizing Sin

It can ‘be cute’ when a little child looks straight at his mother who is holding a broken lamp, “Nope! It wasn’t me.” Forgetting there is nobody else in the house, and that his mother watched the whole episode on the baby-cam, the little child insists he did nothing wrong. It may be cute to…

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