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Ancient Faith Blogs presents a select group of writers and thinkers who regularly post on matters of theology, culture, art, parish, and family life.
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Eastern Christian Insights
"Eastern Christian Insights" is Moving!
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Faith Encouraged
Asleep To Gratitude - Sunday Homily
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We live in an affluent age, to the point that this abundance has blinded us to the need to be grateful for God’s goodness to us. How do you react when God is good to you? Are you even attentive to the Goodness of God? In a time when we have more than we need and, frankly, pretty much all we want, we must be challenged to have a life of gratitude…
Walking an Ancient Path
"Walking an Ancient Path" Is Walking On
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After Ancient Faith Ministries closes its blog platform, the Walking an Ancient Path blog will continue on its own website, with an easy-to-remember name: www.walkinganancientpath.com. It’s not up and running yet, but the next biweekly blog post for October 4th will appear there, along with all my archived content from the past five years. Subscribers should continue to receive notifications of new posts. The blog can also be accessed from…
Faith Encouraged
Blessed Are You
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One of the greatest consequences of our modern world is that we moderns have been convinced that egalitarianism and individualism have been elevated to the highest good. We insist on a definition of “freedom” that means “I want to do what I want to do!” But the problem is if I do what I want to do, my desires have to be disciplined and mature or what I want to do quickly…
The Word of the Day
The Mature Have a Compass (Thurs. Sept. 28)
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The word of the day is “truth.” In today’s reading of Ephesians 4:14-19, St. Paul speaks about maturity in Christ. The Apostle recognizes that the  Ephesians are being “built up” as the Body of Christ (vs. 12). By the spiritual gifts of ministry, they are advancing toward the “unity of faith and the [full and perfect l] knowledge of the Son of God” (vs. 13). Becoming Full Grown in Christ When they reach the standard of the “fullness of Christ,” they will become full-grown and complete (vs. 13; Strong’s 5046, 248). To attain this end, St. Paul advises that they should “no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine…” (vs. 14). Rather,…
Glory to God for All Things
A Transition for the Blog
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Glory to God for All Things! I began writing this blog in late 2006 and have continued ever since. There are over 2,500 articles and around 90,000 comments (some say the comments are the best part). In 2014, Ancient Faith invited me to move the blog from its private hosting to become part of Ancient Faith and its array of ministries. I was very glad to do so and have enjoyed that…
Faith Encouraged
Pitiful Perpetual Adolescence
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Tom Stoppard once said, “Maturity is a high price to pay for growing up!” While that really is funny, it is also a painful splash of reality. It really does take time to become mature. Sadly, I’ve known men who were older but never mature. And one of those older men was the guy I look at in the mirror every day! Maturity is the ability to embrace wisdom and deal with…
The Word of the Day
A Majestic Prayer That We Can Make Our Own (Wed. Sept. 27)
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The word of the day is “pray.” In today’s reading of Ephesians 3:8-21, Paul makes known his prayers for the churches of the region of Ephesus. The apostle says that he wants to encourage the Ephesians despite his imprisonment.  Therefore, the apostle writes, “For this reason, I bow my knees to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 14 and 16.) The Majesty of Paul’s Prayer for the Church The prayer soars in majestic phrases. Paul asks for their “strength” “in the inner man” (vs. 16), the indwelling of “Christ in their hearts,” and their “foundation in love” (vs. 17).  The apostle goes on to pray that his flock might comprehend with the saints “width and length and height” (vs. (18), referring…
Glory to God for All Things
The Sweet Smoke of Prayer
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Let my prayer arise in Your sight as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.  Psalm 141 My parish has a fairly steady stream of visitors from outside the Orthodox experience. Among their first questions are ones concerning the use of incense. There is virtually no Orthodox service that does not include the burning of incense, with the priest or deacon making the circuit of the Church swinging…
Remembering Sion
Farewell to Ancient Faith Ministries
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Earlier this month, I received an email from Bobby Maddex addressed to all Ancient Faith bloggers informing us that AFM will be shutting down its blogging platform at the end of this month. I am tremendously grateful to Bobby, to Fr. Andrew Damick, and to all the staff at AFM who have worked tirelessly over the past nine years to publish these blogs for the English-speaking world. I am saddened that this…
Faith Encouraged
Knowing Your Limitations
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I don’t like to admit my limitations. In fact, one of my besetting sins is seeing a Speed Limit sign and thinking of it as more of a “suggestion.” Admitting that I really struggle with this is an absolutely essential part of maturing and growing in self-awareness. This maturing process is vital to my spiritual health. It means that you are able to know yourself in an honest and straightforward way without…
No Other Foundation
Baptism by Pouring?
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The practice of baptism is a complicated one, with questions being asked about the legitimacy of infant baptism, about what is accomplished in baptism, and about how converts to Orthodoxy should be received—i.e. must all be received by baptism or is reception by chrismation alone allowed? Here I would like to focus upon a different and much simpler question, one which has not often been asked. The question is this: what do…
Faith Encouraged
What Are We?
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There was a stunning article in the January 2013 issue of Boston Magazine. It was entitled “Losing Our Religion” and the article begins by telling the story of a mother and her 9-year-old son watching a procession of the faithful from the Greek Orthodox church across the street from their home on our Great and Holy Friday. It’s worth reading the whole thing, but I wanted to show you this part of…
Eastern Christian Insights
The Patient Obedience of Letting Down our Nets: Homily for the First Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church
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Luke 5:1-11            Many people today scroll quickly through the many options they have in choosing how to identify themselves and live their lives. It easier than ever before to try out all kinds of choices and to disregard those that we do not find immediately appealing or fulfilling. Not only has our society formed us as consumers who want our immediate preferences satisfied, the digital age has made it even easier to…
Faith Encouraged
A Small, Shallow, Inattentive Life - Sunday's Homily
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The paradox of the Orthodox message concerning the Holy Cross uniquely reveals the deepest weakness of we humans, our self-centered pride. The cure for this deep, human, sickness is the paradox of “if you want to save your life, you have to lose your life.” The Cross of Jesus undoes the slavery of arrogance and pride by killing the ego of human inattentiveness, and burying the old fallen man so that the…
Glory to God for All Things
What Happens When We Play (Pray)
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In my previous article I compared children’s use of play to the place of ritual words and actions in the life of the Church. I absolutely did not mean to imply that one thing is like the other. I mean to say clearly that they are very much the same thing. And I say this both to change how we understand play as well as how we understand ritual words and action.…
Faith Encouraged
A Special Message
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Dear Faith Encouraged Daily Family, Since late 2012, we have partnered with Ancient Faith Ministries to distribute the Daily Devotionals from Faith Encouraged. We started this Daily Devotional ministry to encourage our Orthodox Faithful to read and apply the Holy Scriptures to their everyday lives. Since then, thousands of folks have read and used these daily devotionals to be a part of their spiritual growth. Starting October 1st, Ancient Faith Ministries will…
A Lamp for Today
Light from the Psalter 6: Robed in Majesty!
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Psalm 92/3, Isaiah 6, Genesis 3, Isaiah 51:9, cf. Isaiah 27:1, Ezekiel 29:3, Psalm 88/9:10 Having entered into God’s holy presence in Great Vespers, by means of the Lamplight Songs, and the ancient Hymn, O Gladsome Light, we are given a vision of the LORD, robed in majesty. It is as though we are tracing the experience of the prophet Isaiah in the Temple, when he saw the LORD high and lifted…
Faith Encouraged
Do You Know Your Inheritance?
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The great American Founding Father, Patrick Henry said “This is all the inheritance I give to my dear family. The religion of Christ will give them one which will make them rich indeed.” Henry understood the relative uselessness of temporary material things and the true value of a spiritual inheritance that lasts forever. But the only way we ever really truly value our spiritual inheritance is by understanding what that inheritance is!…
The Word of the Day
The Disclosure of the Mystery of God’s Purpose (Friday, September 22)
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The word of the day is “mystery.”  In our reading of Ephesians 1:7-17 today, Paul lifts his eyes from his concerns for his churches, and he gazes into our hope in Christ.  The Apostle speaks of the “mystery of His [God the Father’s] will.”  It is the revelation of what God “purposed in Himself according to His good pleasure” (vs. 9). The Greek word for “mystery” is derived from the sense of stopping the mouth or being silenced. The term implies that a mystery is a secret that is being kept until the proper time.  Even then, it can only be disclosed by revelation and known by those whom the Spirit enlightens (Strong’s #3466 168).  The mind of the Almighty is inscrutable.  His judgments and “ways are…
Glory to God for All Things
Playing with God
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There are things that children understand instinctively. And the things that children know and understand are worth consideration. They have much to teach us. Among the most natural things children do is play. Depending on how you define play, it is among the first activities in which we engage. It comes to dominate the lives of children and is the hallmark of their existence. Play is what children do. It is quite…
Faith Encouraged
What Does "Holy" Mean?
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OK, so one of my favorite movies in the whole world is “Princess Bride” and one of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Vincent keeps using the word “inconceivable!” Finally, after so many times of hearing this word from Vincent, Inigo Montoya responds “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” The truth is words matter, and the meaning of words matters.…
The Word of the Day
Chosen in Christ Before the Foundation of the World (September 21)
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The word of the day is “chose.” Today we begin reading Paul’s letter to the Ephesians with Ephesians 1:1-9. Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. It was the residence of the proconsul and the seat of the courts of justice for the whole region. According to tradition, Paul wrote to this vital center of ancient Christianity while imprisoned in Rome from 61-63 AD (OSB “Introduction to Ephesians”). At the mouth of its harbor stood one of the “Seven Wonders of the World,” the Temple of Artemis (the fertility goddess Diana) (OSB fn. Acts 19:27). Paul spent almost two and half years there, the longest he would stay in one place in his missionary journeys. In today’s…
Walking an Ancient Path
The Sanctity of the Human Body & the Church’s Stance on Cremation
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Quick announcement: Walking an Ancient Path is available in both blog and podcast formats. The blog has been hosted on the ancientfaith.com website for almost five years now, but Ancient Faith Ministries will shut down its entire blog platform on October 1st. I will continue the blog by migrating it over to a Facebook business page. I have a very short time to figure all that out, but I hope to have…
Faith Encouraged
Armored to Fight The Real Enemy
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I love this Armed Forces Motto: “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.” Isn’t that great? In other words, when you put the time into preparing for battle, you are more ready to face the fight. And what is true for physical fighting is also true for the spiritual battle each of us faces every day! What? You didn’t know this was going to be a fight…
The Word of the Day
A Word of Wisdom Used in Two Senses (Wed. Sept. 20)
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The word of the day is “bear.” Words must be understood in context. A single word can have different meanings depending on the situation in which it is used. Today in our reading of Galatians 6:2-10, St. Paul seems to contradict himself.  He writes, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (OSB vs. 2).  But then he writes, “For each will have to bear his own load” (OSB vs. 5). We learn from our study that these verses are not opposed to each other. They refer to different points that Paul is making. Bear One Another’s Burdens The first statement is that we should “bear each other’s burdens” (OSB vs. 2).  The word, “burdens” here refers to what is “heavy,”…
Faith Encouraged
Simple Or Easy But not Both
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“It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones, after all.” So says the author of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder. But life is so very often not simple. It’s complicated and difficult and filled with so many motivations all mixed together and hard to tease out the good from the bad. I was having a recent discussion with my daughter and we were talking…