Posts Tagged ‘Fasting’
Just Hold on and Climb!
I believe it is part of the ‘fallen’ human condition. Generally speaking, we do not like to take blame for our shortcomings, let alone our mistakes. Take any young child caught eating something forbidden. With total confidence in the ‘blame,’ a typical child with either blame the dog, claim that what was eaten was not…
Read MoreBeing Saved is Hard Work
The idea of working out our salvation is foreign to most Protestant Christians. We have been taught that salvation is a free gift from God. Nothing we can do can ‘earn’ our salvation, so there is ‘nothing’ to work out. That would be nice if it were true. Yes, salvation is a gift from God,…
Read MoreBe a child of faith, not a check box
We all know that living the Orthodox Christian lifestyle is difficult. I won’t say it can be difficult. I will say it is difficult, if done properly. Between prayer schedules, fasting schedules, bible reading schedules, and services schedules, and not to mention the intricate system of sacraments and blessings, we have inherited a very complex…
Read MoreA Single Book is Never Enough
As I wrote in “Our Own Church” yesterday, there are many other things that are not included in the Scriptures. We simply cannot limit our experience of God to one book, even if that book is the Bible. It doesn’t make everything true. In the same token it doesn’t make everything false. There must some…
Read MoreZero to One Hundred in a Lifetime
I remember when I was young and ‘cared’ about cars much more than I do now. It seemed like every conversation about a car included “How fast is it?” Even in commercials the answer was in terms of zero to sixty. How fast could the car get up to speed in other words. It might…
Read MoreRules are Tools
The other day I was at a party and was asked, “Can you eat this today?” It was Friday and the person asking knew I would be fasting on Friday. I replied, “I CAN eat anything I want. I choose not to eat certain things.” That is the essence of fasting. If you think we…
Read MoreEpisode 374 – Prayer and Fasting Nurtures Our Faith
When we turn to God in prayer and fasting, our hearts are changed to better understand God’s desire for us. Faith the size of mustard seed is enough to move mountains, but every seed needs to be nurtured to produce. When we pray and fast, our faith is nurtured. When we bring ourselves and others…
Read MoreAre We Killing the Church?
Sometimes I wonder what the effect of our indifference to the Church may be. It seems every time I turn around another ‘good one’ has turned away from fervent faith. Maybe he doesn’t leave the Church completely, but the comes when he frequents the movie theater more than the Church. The effects of this behavior…
Read MoreHoly Apostles Fast
Today we begin another fast on the Church calendar, this time in honor of the Holy Apostles. In preparation for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29 and the Synaxis of the Holy Apostles on June 30, we are asked to pray and fast. It isn’t a strict fast like the Great…
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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