Posts Tagged ‘Fasting’
Temporary Holders of Tradition
We all have traditions we hold important. Some traditions are from our families, some from our society, and some from our faith. Not all traditions are equal, but all traditions come from before us and are handed down after us. We are just temporary holders of tradition. Timothy, my son, be strong in the grace…
Read MoreEating or Fasting
As Orthodox Christians living in a secular world, fasting takes on an additional burden. It is easy to fast when we cook for ourselves, but when others are doing the cooking, things get a bit sticky. When the ‘others’ are not Orthodox, fasting sometimes becomes optional. Now, you must understand that I would never characterize…
Read MorePleasing to God
It can be difficult going through life always trying to please other people. Most of our time is spent trying to please those in authority. Our boss at work, our teacher in school, even our spouse, are all the object of our devotion to please them. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either. At…
Read MoreEpisode 460 – Do You Desire to be with God
Christ invites us, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow,” Him into heaven. As long we desire to be with God, then we can move the first phase of our journey. We must learn how to deny ourselves before we can ever follow Christ into heaven.…
Read MoreBind Sin to Destroy Sin
A Christian’s duty is to love God more than anything else in creation, but especially more than we love ourselves. When we sin, we turn away from God and toward ourselves. When we sin, we serve something other than God, but we must destroy sin. By ‘definition’, sin means to do something (anything really) that…
Read MoreO God Save Your People
The Church teaches that everything in life is about our salvation. Our job, our free time, even the food we place in our stomachs are about our salvation. It isn’t because God cares what we eat, but because God wants to save us from ourselves. So, today we begin the fast. Today is also one…
Read MoreWhat is Your Plan?
As the saying goes, ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’ Nothing is truer when we speak about our spiritual life. We simply will not make much progress in our journey to God if we wake up every morning and just ‘do life’ as it comes. We need a plan if we want…
Read MoreHonor God with Your Heart
It is a longstanding tradition for people to accuse the Church of hypocrisy. I can’t say I blame them. Just look around the Church and you will be hard-pressed to find many people living the words they preach. It is much easier to talk about God than to love Him in your heart. One of…
Read MoreSpiritual Burnout
It’s more common than you might think. You read a ‘few compelling’ articles online and you’re convinced you must become Orthodox. Next thing you know, you purchased a few dozen icons, three fasting cookbooks, and were baptized. Fast forward to today, and you lost your passion. Your pray but can’t remain focused. You keep forgetting…
Read MoreHomage to Freedom
Today is the celebration of freedom in the United States. It is a day on which all Americans celebrate a ‘system’ dedicated to freedom. The ‘system’ may not be perfect, but commitment to freedom is what keeps us going, day by day, year by year, generation after generation. The Declaration of Independence wasn’t the first…
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