Posts Tagged ‘relationships’
Counterculture of Love
You hear it all the time. We’re supposed to be counterculture as Christians. We’re not supposed to be like the world. Yet, we spend most of our time being ‘just like’ the world when it comes to our personal relationships. Brethren, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we…
Read MoreEpisode 461 – Become Children of God
It is only natural that we become our parents. When God calls us to become children of God, it isn’t so natural. In the Gospel of Luke we hear, “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” The human way is to love those who love us back. To become children…
Read MoreThe Face of Opposition
Imagine walking into work every morning and being face-to-face with your opponent, someone who was just waiting for the chance to betray you. He plans this in secret, all the while smiling and telling you how great you are. What would you do if you already knew who it was? Most of us would plan…
Read MoreBearing Fruit
I enjoy gardening as a hobby. I admit I am not the greatest gardener, but I love spending time in my garden. I love watching things grow. I love eating the fruit of my garden. The only problem is, I don’t get much fruit because I am not a good gardener. I have a few…
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 459 – Climbing to Heaven Together
When we think of making our way up to heaven, we must first descend into our hearts. We must stop looking down on others as not being worthy. Christ descended to our level to show us the way to heaven. He came down to lift us up with Him. Our job is to get down…
Read MoreAuthority is for Building Up
We live in a world built by powerful people for powerful people. Just open any news source and read of the battle for power. One side claims the other side doesn’t deserve it. One side uses it to rule over the other. For many people life isn’t about working hard for the sake of hard…
Read MoreAlways a Chance
In my more than thirty years of ministry I have met too many people who have given up on God. They have given up on their ‘chance’ for a better life. They have decided they are not worth anyone’s time, let alone God’s time. In each of those moments in the past thirty years I…
Read MoreEpisode 458 – Learn to Forgive
It can be difficult to forgive those who use their free will to hurt us. It might be difficult but as we learn in the lesson of the Master who forgave 10,000 talents teach us, we will only be forgiven the sins we commit against God if we forgive even the smallest sin someone else…
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