Posts Tagged ‘Judgement’
Morning Prayers Part Two
Yesterday’s Daily Lenten Journey touched on the traditional morning prayer you find in every Orthodox Christian prayer book. These prayers are the foundation of a solid prayer life, sometimes called a prayer rule. Today, we will discuss an ‘extension’ to these prayers. Rising from sleep, I thank You, Holy Trinity, for in the multitude of…
Read MoreMorning Prayers Part One
As Orthodox Christians we begin every day with prayer. Before anything else takes place, before we wash ourselves, before we feed our bodies, we feed our souls with prayer. Immediately upon waking, we approach our icons and pray. As I mentioned yesterday, the Trisagion Prayer begins every prayer session. The following prayers come immediately after…
Read MoreLenten Prayer of Saint Ephraim
This year’s Daily Lenten Journey will be about prayer. I have written extensively on fasting over the years. Other years the Daily Lenten Journey has been about the daily scripture readings. All the fasting and all the bible reading is useless without prayer. So, we will spend the next 40 days discussing various prayers. Today…
Read MoreBetraying God
When we think of betrayal, we often think about how Judas teamed up with the elites to arrest and kills Jesus. We think about how the elites willingly chose to release a murderer from prison and kill Jesus. We never think of how we betray God. We betray Him all the time. At that time,…
Read MoreEpisode 444 – Loving Others As Christ
The Parable of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25 can confuse us into believing that our actions will save us. Our judgment isn’t about the works that we do, but our ability to love others as if we are loving Christ. Even our giving to the Church should be out of love for God and…
Read MoreEpisode 443 – A Real-Life Prodigal Son
When someone who has wasted everything and lost everything, or has strayed away from God, chooses to return in repentance, it is a blessing to witness. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is much more than just a story about repentance. It is also a story of the ‘one left behind’ and being too cold…
Read MoreGod Didn’t Return Last Night
Growing up, we are taught to live as if Christ is going to return at any moment. It could be tonight, is the lesson each year especially during Holy Week. Well….if you are reading this, He didn’t return last night, and He didn’t for your sake. Beloved, this is now the second letter that I…
Read MoreLove Bears all Things
Today is the last day of January. It is a good day to evaluate our New Year Resolutions. Looking around your town you will probably notice much of life has reverted back to where it was in December. Fitness center parking lots aren’t full anymore, but neither are Church lots. Evaluating our spiritual progress is…
Read MorePlanning the Unplannable
Do I invest in a retirement plan, or live paycheck to paycheck? As Christians we are expected to live in the moment and let the future worry about itself. What happens when the future comes, and I am not ready? That doesn’t sound like ‘fun’ to be out in the cold if only I had…
Read MoreCoexist
There is a popular bumper sticker which uses symbols of different religions and cultures to spell the word ‘coexist’ that I see often on the road. On the one hand, the bumper sticker expresses the desire to be ‘left alone’ to ‘live and let live’ those around us. On the other hand, it is truth.…
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