No Other Foundation
(Another) Merry Hipster Christmas!
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The Hipster Nativity Set is (sadly) back in the news. A year or so ago, some enterprising entrepreneurs created this Nativity set, which includes the traditional figures, but all in a distinctly hipster form. Joseph has a man-bun and is taking a selfie. Mary is holding a Starbucks latte in one hand, making a peace sign with the other, and is making a duck-face. (The selfie, when she sees it, will reveal…
Glory to God for All Things
Faith, Doubt, Theology and Suspicion
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I have been slowly reading my way through John Gray’s book, Seven Types of Atheism. It is not an argument with Atheism so much as a study of its underpinnings, strengths and weaknesses (Gray himself is an atheist). Apparently, what someone does not believe in is just as important as what someone does believe in. Not all atheisms are equal. I was particularly struck by this note regarding the non-belief of…
Time Eternal
Two Orthodox Devotionals I'm Reading in 2019
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How are we holding up, Time Eternalites? It’s kind of an interesting point in the Nativity Fast–the messy middle is slowly starting to give way to something else. The light at the end of the tunnel can be seen–for better, for worse. The “crunch time” of holiday deadlines is becoming real, but so too is the immanence of…
Faith Encouraged
When Will Jesus Return?
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Sometimes you have to wonder why we so easily miss it. You know, the obvious stuff that, once we see it, we wonder how we missed it in the first place! My girls like those puzzles where you are suppose to find the hidden pictures in a larger picture, but invariably I hear this little voice beside me say “Daddy, help me find the sock!” And, once we do, we both say…
The Morning Offering
Faith
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The enemy of faith is pride “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”” (John 6:29). The absolute necessary element for salvation is faith. Faith alone will save us, for only faith brings us into communion with God. Faith is a free gift, for nothing we can do…
Time Eternal
Waiting for the Mother of God: Hope and Mystery in the Ultrasound Room (Guest Post)
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This morning I’m delighted to welcome Caroline Langston to the blog. Caroline and I met a year and a half ago at the 2017 Ancient Faith Conference for Writing and Podcasting and have continued to spur one another on in matters of writing and faith. Today Caroline is sharing a slice of her journey waiting for her youngest…
Faith Encouraged
The Last Faith Encouraged LIVE Show
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This past Sunday night, Fr. Barnabas made the big announcement that the Faith Encouraged LIVE Show on December 23rd will be the final show. In 2014 we launched Faith Encouraged LIVE on Ancient Faith Radio and our very first show was about becoming a Welcoming Parish. Since then we’ve done 79 Faith Encouraged LIVE shows and we’ve talked to some of the most fascinating people and covered some important subjects, all surrounding Father’s dream…
Faith Encouraged
Being Filled with The Spirit
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Hey, we were kids! And it was Christmas morning AND our parents were still asleep AND it was a snow cone maker AND there was sugary syrup packets! What did you expect was going to happen? Well, let’s just say that after THAT Christmas morning a general rule was firmly established: No opening presents UNTIL the adults are awake! What a sticky morning that was. But kids will be kids. They are…
The Morning Offering
Correcting Others
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Correcting the stumbling of others The use of force in the correction of those who are living in opposition to the laws of God is often a temptation for Christians, yet it must be remembered that the sins of others is better corrected by lovingly demonstrating their value in God’s eyes. Demonstrating our own love for them by refusing to…
Time Eternal
Top 5 #TemporalTuesdays Posts of 2018
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Happy Tuesday! Most Tuesdays of the year, I run a series on Facebook (and, to a lesser extent, Twitter and Instagram) called #TemporalTuesdays. It features a quote that somehow inspires awe an humility in the face of time or eternity, usually from a theological source but sometimes also from literature. I love these quotes not only because it…
Faith Encouraged
God's Generosity
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Listen to St. Poemen. “As far as you can, do some manual work so as to be able to give alms, for it is written that alms and faith purify from sin.” Why? Why does almsgiving and faith purify from sin? By the way, this is a big deal! Look at our Gospel Lesson for today in Mark 8:22-26: At that time, Jesus came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him…
The Morning Offering
We Are Not Alone
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We are all in this struggle together, united in Christ As we struggle in this life, it is good to remember that we are not alone, but together with countless others in this life. We find our place of silence, where we encounter God, but even in this place set apart, we are together with others. In our journey to…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Angels Who Left Their Former Estate
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In a previous post, the giants of the Old Testament, who came into being through demonic sexual immorality, were discussed. Only brief comments were made at that time about their angelic “parents”. These angelic beings, however, play an important role in the unfolding of the Old Testament and in New Testament theology. In another post, the three events of Genesis 1-11 which might be termed a ‘fall’ of humanity were discussed. It was commonplace in the Fathers and other early Christian writers to speak about the sinful state of humanity remedied by Christ in terms of one of these three events, with the other two subordinated, but which event varied. St. Irenaeus sees all three in terms of the sinful…
Raising Saints
Of Grave Blankets and Prayer for the Dead
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Every Christmas, the cemetery where my son has been laid to rest sends a mailer offering to place Christmas decorations on his grave for me. Throughout the year, I think of my son as being alive in Christ, present in the chalice, and always available to respond to prayerful requests (Luka, run and help her!) Then the annual mailer shows up, and I am reminded of the other truth: my son is…
Faith Encouraged
How About Giving FAITH For Christmas?
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Why not give a Christmas Gift to your family, friends, or even parish that fosters consistent Faith? Fr. Barnabas’ book “A Faith Encouraged” invites the reader to a daily encounter with Scripture and Tradition. And our Intro to Orthodoxy video series and workbook – “A Journey to Fullness” – would be a perfect gift for the parish library or a seeking friend or family member! Just go to store.ancientfaith.com and look for…
Time Eternal
"Or rather...": Reframing Our Suffering Through the Language of Liturgy
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Yesterday morning, the third Sunday before the Feast of the Nativity, a phrase I’ve heard on countless occasions rang in my ears as though for the first time: “… or rather…” It’s a tiny but profound phrase that occurs in a sentence sandwiched in the middle of the Eucharistic canon: In the night in which [Christ] was given…
Faith Encouraged
You're Misunderstanding
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Why is it we humans struggle with understanding certain things about life, technology, relationships, politics, and the list goes on and on? Well, it’s got everything to do with different experiences, different upbringing, different priorities, and so on. But what if there was a basic understanding that was fundamentally common to all humans? Misunderstanding something that basic could have huge consequences! And, you know what, there is something that is fundamental to…
The Morning Offering
Happiness
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The formula for happiness When suffering hardships and sadness, we must remember that we have much to rejoice about. We should rejoice that God had given us life, and that we were baptized into the Orthodox Church. We must remind ourselves that as believers we should embrace pain and suffering, because we have a Co-Suffering Saviour standing with us. We…
Eastern Christian Insights
Liberated from Bondage and Barrenness: Homily for the Conception of the Theotokos by Righteous Anna and the 10th Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church
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Galatians 4:22-27; Luke 13:10-17 A few months ago I pulled a muscle in my back that hurt for six weeks. It happened when I bent over just a bit to pour water in our cat’s dish. That was just a nuisance in the larger scheme of things, but it complicated everything from standing up to sitting down or even walking around. Even small ailments can be very…
No Other Foundation
The Saints as Real People
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You have probably all seen certain pictures of the saints—usually Western pictures—in which all the saints look more or less the same: the same doe-eyes, the same piously folded hands, the same soft, feminine features found on both women and men. These images offer a particular view of sanctity, proclaiming sanctity as soft, meek, harmless, quiet—and utterly ineffectual. Looking at these pictures you would never guess that those saints were real people,…
The Morning Offering
Not About Religion
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Orthodoxy is about Christ, not religion Orthodoxy is not a religion, but a way of life that is centered in Jesus Christ. Orthodoxy, as a way of life, has the cure to what ails us and can return us to that state of wholeness that was God’s original intent for human kind. Because Orthodoxy is not about religion, it can…
Faith Encouraged
Faith Encouraged LIVE Show HAS BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
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Glory to God for All Things
The Demons of Our Time - Within Us
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In 1872, Dostoevsky published his novel, The Demons [Бесы]. It demonstrated in a microcosm, the insanity that lay within the revolutionary movements of 19th century Russia. That insanity broke upon the world in 1917 and has remained present with us, in one form or another, ever since. The madness that he describes takes place in a small town, away from the great capitals of Russia. It involves a relatively small cast of…
Time Eternal
The Fruit of Waiting: Advent Through a Doula’s Eyes (Guest Post)
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In this unique guest post, doula Laura Jansson reflects on the connections between Advent and the kind of waiting and her work helping mothers birth their infants into the world. What a timely perspective! ~*~ Advent – a time of waiting. But if we’re honest, what are we waiting for? What are you most looking forward to about…
The Morning Offering
A Compassionate People
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We Christians must be a compassionate people It is right that we consider the teachings of the Orthodox Church concerning our duties to those who have less then we. Saint John Chrysostom taught that, “the poor are not the spectacle of human misery and suffering that evokes compassion or disgust, but they are the icons of Christ, the presence of…
Walking an Ancient Path
Pondering the Nativity through Iconography
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Over the years, I’ve heard variations of a particular message from Christian friends: Icons were created for an illiterate population, but once the Bible became available to the masses and people learned to read, we no longer needed pictures to communicate truth. The reference to the irrelevance of religious art, or “icon worship,” was often accompanied by a patronizing tone of voice that implied that pictures are for children, not for those…
Father Bill's Blog
95. Is Christmas a Fairy Tale? Part One - The Necessity for Facts, The Evidence for God
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Four years ago, along I-94 west of downtown Milwaukee, these words were on a billboard sponsored by a local atheist group. I read that these appeared in other places too. Well, it’s a free country… …and if this challenges Christians to think it will be a good thing. I suspect more than a few of us are afraid to think about the Faith, and especially the Christmas stories, for fear they might…
