Posts Tagged ‘Sacraments’
Repent and Believe
The message from God is as clear as the fresh water in the Holy Water Font used this week for Theophany. When Our Lord began His ministry, He called everyone to repentance and belief. The message was clear then, and it is clear now. We must change the way we think about God. In those…
Read MoreEpisode 464 – The Bittersweet Pill of the Gospel
When we enter the doctor’s office, sometimes we need to be willing to swallow a bit of bitter medicine, but the pill will heal us when we swallow it. The same is true about the Gospel. When we hear the Gospel, we hear our own mistakes and our own sinfulness. The only way the Gospel…
Read MoreThe Fruit of Repentance
The Church is always talking about bearing fruit, so today I thought I would write about the fruit of repentance. Fruit always starts with a seed which is planted, nurtured, and eventually harvested. Where is your seed of repentance? At that time, there were some present who told Jesus of the Galileans whose blood Pilate…
Read MoreLoss is Gain
It is impossible to read the writings of Saint Paul and not be convicted every time. One benefit of the daily readings of the Church is the daily reminder of how we fall short of God’s glory. Even Saint Paul admits his loss to his spiritual children. His loss is our gain. Brethren, I count…
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 MoreGod’s Calming Presence
In more than thirty years of ministry I have had the distinct blessing to be present with families during grief and tragedy. I will never forget the first time I experienced this blessing. I was called to a hospital after a serious motorcycle accident. I was blessed more than the family that day. About an…
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 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…
Read MoreIt’s Not You; It’s Me
Made popular by a famous TV character, this saying has deep truth. It isn’t about breaking up or cancelling a date. What makes this saying true is the relationship between me and the Church. We like to blame the Church for being too strict and chasing me away, but that isn’t true. Brethren, I am…
Read MoreThe Return Home
Today is the Feast of Ascension, the day on which Jesus Christ returned physically to His Throne in Heaven. It has been forty days since we celebrated His Resurrection but today is no less important than Pascha. Today is the day on which we celebrate our return home to God. As we state in the…
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