Faith Encouraged
Bitter Medicine
·
My best friend in the world died of a brain tumor many years ago. Anyone who has either struggled with cancer or knew someone who did, knows the radical nature of cancer treatment. Chemotherapy is literally poison used to kill cancer. But it’s still poison. Many have wondered if the cure is worse than the disease. And yet, modern science sees us surviving cancer at higher percentages every year. So, how do…
Word of the Day
How to Make Wise Choices: Prudence (Mon. March 29)
·
The word of the day is “prudence.”  At times, we face the uncertainty of what to do. How do we know what course of action is in line with the will of God?  Today we read  Proverbs 8:-21.  In this passage,  we find that the way to choose the right path is to use the wisdom of prudence. The wise sage writes, “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge and discretion” (NKJV vs. 12). Today, our topic is the virtue of good judgment, that is, prudence. The word “prudence” has changed in both use and definition.  The term comes from the 13th century. But it has gradually fallen to misuse, as we can see from the frequency that…
The Morning Offering
Avoiding Hypocrisy
·
We must avoid hypocrisy on our journey to God It is very easy to live our lives in hypocrisy if we are not mindful of the pitfalls of the spiritual life. We can become Pharisees without even noticing, if we let our Christianity be artificially lived. Living our lives as though we have been rehearsed by a stage director, we…
The Morning Offering
Abbot Tryphon's Sunday homily YouTube (click here)
·
Word of the Day
The Word of Salvation, Not the Words of Angels (Sun. March 28)
·
The word of the day is “angels.” So many voices are shouting at us these days that we are bound to distrust, discount, distrust, and disregard them all.  But do the words of the Lord also get lost amidst all the messages that assail us?  Today in our reading of Hebrews 1:10-2:3, the apostle compares the word of angels with the Word of the Lord. He writes, “If the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord” (NKJV 2:2-4). Today’s reading gives us reason to pay careful attention to “every word…
The Morning Offering
Our Lenten Journey
·
Our transformation through the Lenten Journey The Byzantine Court was filled with sycophants, busying themselves with building alliances that would help them rise in status and influence. During the thousand years of the empire, a few emperors were tricked into believing these sycophants were truly their friends, and could be trusted, when in actuality they were being played, and these…
Eastern Christian Insights
Becoming Like Christ by Obeying His Commandments: Homily for the Second Sunday of Great Lent and Commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, in the Orthodox Church
·
Hebrews 1:10-2:3; Mark 2:1-12        It is no surprise that many people today do not identify with any particular religion. They can have friends, get help from counselors, follow a moral code, and become respected members of society without membership in any faith community. If people lose interest in Christianity for those reasons, however, they have missed the point. For Christ did not offer Himself on the…
Every Thought Captive
Orthodox Social Thought and Biblical Theology
·
To search the Scriptures is a work most fair and most profitable for souls. For just as the tree planted by the channels of waters, so also the soul watered by the divine Scripture is enriched and gives fruit in its season, viz. orthodox belief, and is adorned with evergreen leafage, I mean, actions pleasing to God. – St. John of Damascus Growing up Evangelical (I’m a convert to Orthodoxy), I sang a lot of songs about the Bible. In principle, there’s nothing wrong with that—the Bible is great! (Turns out, we Orthodox have one, too.) However,…
Word of the Day
Beware of Over-Confidence (Sat. March 27)
·
The word of the day is “beware.” “An evil heart of unbelief:” who among us would admit that we are susceptible to having such a hardened heart (OSB vs. 12-13)?  After all, we are members of the Body of Christ and are “partakers of Christ’s nature” (OSB vs. 14). But in our reading of Hebrews 3:12-16, the apostle warns about possessing a heart that has “departed from the living God” (OSB vs. 12). He writes, “Beware,.. lest anyone of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (OSB vs. 13). We Can Possess and Lose It Our reading today warns against over-confidence.  False assurance treats faith as a permanent possession, something that cannot be taken away from us. Yes, we…
The Morning Offering
Taste the Presence
·
Taste the presence of Christ beside you We all need a good dose of silent prayer each and every day. Finding that perfect place in our home that can become our cave, or prayer closet, will afford us that sacred space wherein we can go deep into the heart and connect with God. That place wherein we can close off…
Glory to God for All Things
Following a Conversation with a Tree
·
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but…
A Lamp for Today
Lighting up the Apocalypse 5: One for All, and All for One
·
During Lent, we are reminded day by day and week by week of the importance of endurance—of being in this race for the long haul. In the prayer of St. Ephraim, we ask for God to give us the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love. These four characteristics, it seems, were both lacking and demonstrated in the first church whom the risen Lord addresses in Revelation 2 (verses 1 through 7):…
Faith Encouraged
Sinners in the Hands of A Loving God!
·
An Optimist says the glass is half full; A Pessimist says the glass is half empty; A Realist says the glass has water in it; An Opportunist drinks the water while the other three are arguing! Let’s face it; life is complicated and perspective makes a difference in practically all situations in our lives. But getting the proper perspective at the right time always strikes me as a real challenge. I’m so…
Word of the Day
How To Fight the Fires of the Passions with Fire (Fri. March 26)
·
The word of the day is “burn.” Today in our reading of Proverbs 6:20-7:1, we hear a graphic bit of wisdom, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? (NKJV vs. 27). We shudder at the thought. We feel the fiery heat burning through our clothing into our chest. We smell the searing flesh. We feel the pain of a thousand knives slicing into our tender body. Who would do such a thing? The wise sage of Proverbs observes that getting involved in an adulterous affair is like clutching live coals to our chest.  Those who commit adultery, the sage promises, will be severely burned. Adulterers will earn  “wounds and dishonor,” “reproach that will…
The Morning Offering
Our Free Choice
·
We are not compelled to love God We are not compelled to love God, having been created with free will. God does not, nor can He, compel His creatures to love Him. Mutual love requires, by its very nature, freedom to either respond in love, or not. Yet when we respond to God’s love with love His mercy leads us…
No Other Foundation
For Thine is the Kin-dom?
·
Several times a week I drive past a certain church, and recently I was moved by curiosity to find out what their services were like. Since our province is currently under lockdown and gathering for Christian worship inside is against currently the law (yes, you heard that right), many churches make their services available through live-stream. This church did too, which allowed me to visit them online and observe their services. At…
Faith Encouraged
Mary Gives Her Free Yes!
·
Right here during our Lenten journey, the Church brings us to one of the six feasts of the Theotokos, the Virgin Mary. And it is the Feast of the Annunciation. Of course, you know this story well. God sends the angel Gabriel to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph and the angel (interestingly, the Greek word for “angel” is literally “messenger.” That’s a big hint by the way!) tells this…
Word of the Day
How to Wake Up from the Slumber of Sloth (Thurs. March 25)
·
Feast of the Annunciation The word of the day is “slumber.” Most have times when the fervor of the faith dies down, and we find that we are just going through the motions of religious practice. In those times of spiritual lethargy, we are sleepwalking in the Spirit. Today’s reading of Proverbs 6:3-20 includes a warning against the lethargy that rests and sleeps when it is time for activity and work. The sage writes, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man” (NKJV vs. 10).  Today, we will apply this admonition to the spiritual vice of “sloth.” …
The Morning Offering
The Heart
·
An ignored heart is a lost heart It is important that we direct all our thoughts, all our actions, and all our desires towards a burning love for God. Our heart must become inflamed with the love of God, and all our intellectual and emotional striving must be directed towards the development of the heart, for the Kingdom of God…
Glory to God for All Things
Join Me for a Webinar
·
Ancient Faith has started a new series of webinars and has invited me to be one of their presenters. Join me for this evening of thought and conversation. Your participation will help us continue this venue in the future! I have had wonderful conversations on the blog regarding the topic of shame. This webinar will look at the role of “healthy shame” in the experience of encountering God. We will look at…
Walking an Ancient Path
What a Priest Really Thinks about His People during Confession
·
In my previous blog post, “Cautious about Confession,” I ended with the personal questions that many of us wonder: Can I really be honest with my priest? What will he think of me? What about the habits and sins—the passions—that I just can’t seem to get past? I thought it would be a good idea to go directly to an experienced priest and father confessor to see what he has to say.…
Faith Encouraged
The Sins of Our Fathers
·
The old saying is “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” And then there is “He’s a chip off the old block.” When I was a young man I feared these old sayings, terrified that they were right. You see, I didn’t want to be like my dad. Don’t get me wrong, my dad is a sweet man, but his choices in life have had consequences beyond just him. I guess…
Word of the Day
Why Nothing We Say and Do is Insignificant (Wed. March 24)
·
The word of the day is “eyes.”  We attribute importance to the events which advance the course of the world’s history.  And we count the occasions of births, graduations, weddings, and funerals as having special meaning. But do the seemingly trivial moments of our lives have any lasting significance? Does what we say and do on ordinary days count for anything?  In our reading of Proverbs 5:15-6:3, the wise poet teaches that the Almighty sees all we do from day to day.  Nothing escapes His scrutiny. The sage writes, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths” (NKJV vs. 2). Today we consider what it means for God to see…
The Morning Offering
Ascetic Struggle
·
Living our lives in total commitment Christianity is a religion of asceticism, instructing us to store up our treasures in heaven, where the benefits have eternal value. Throughout the New Testament we read of the importance of struggle, where focus on the acquisition of a humble and contrite heart is paramount to what it means to be a Christian. The…
Faith Encouraged
"Fairness" Is A Trap
·
“But it’s not fair!” You could hear the pain and anger in her voice. You could see her face was contorted and shaped in a way that communicated just how upset she was. Hey, get used to this if you have children! My daughter was indignant that her sister got to do something she wasn’t able to do as well. And her insistence that “it’s not fair” was somehow to insist the…
Word of the Day
Water from Our Own Wells: Healing Envy and Covetousness (Tues. March 23)
·
The word of the day is “cistern.”[i]  In today’s reading of Proverbs 5:1-15, the sage warns against the seduction of loose women and urges the chastity of a faithful marriage. But to picture his counsel, he uses a striking image, “Drink water from your own cisterns and running water from your own well” (NKJV vs. 15). There is no reason to draw water from someone else’s supply when we have our own. Of course, that applies to sexual relationships. But like so many folk sayings the maxim  has a wider application.  Today we will look at covetousness and envy as overweening desires for the possessions of others. The Social Context of Covetousness and Envy Covetousness is such a serious a…
The Morning Offering
Our Divided Society
·
A healthy society values both their old and their young There are two major populations within our society that are seeing a statistical rise in the number of suicides. At a time when a growing body of research shows that people with the most social power pay scant attention to those with little such power, our nation’s youth, and the…
