No Other Foundation
Understanding the Bible: Recognizing Genre
·
Odd as it sounds, the first step to understanding the Bible is to realize that there is no such thing as The Bible. Or, to state it somewhat less paradoxically, we must realize that the Bible is not a single book written by a single author, but a library of books written over a number of centuries by many authors. The word “bible”, though singular in form, comes from the plural Greek…
Frederica
Establishing Your Prayer Rule
·
[2021-10-28] Here’s my strategy for making a prayer rule. A prayer rule is the plan you make about saying your prayers and reading Scripture every day. You might do it all at once each day, or you might (like me) split it up into many shorter times during the day.…
Faith Encouraged
Faith Encouraged TV - Have You Subscribed?
·
Faith Encouraged
Orthodox Spiritual Warfare Parts 1 and 2
·
On Tuesday, October 19, and Tuesday, October 26 I was honored to be the featured speaker at St. Innocent Orthodox Church in Macon, GA. Annually they have speakers come and speak on a topic that is open to the public and advertised heavily in the area. The parish has a meal and then offers church tours to open their community to the surrounding area. This year I was blessed to be asked…
Shepherding our Little Flock
For November - (Finally) Starting with the Saints
·
I have avoided diving to deep into saints with my children for so long. I know why! I am completely awed and intimidated and sometimes – Lord forgive me – disquieted by them. I feel completely and utterly inadequate in my faith when compared with any of them. This is especially true of those who were tortured. I just can’t imagine having to live (and die) th rough what so many of…
Praying in the Rain
The Problem with Plumbing
·
Does a spring pour forth from the same opening freshwater and brackish water? (James 3:11) Can you imagine what it would be like to live your whole life in a world where water had to be drawn by hand fifty to a hundred metres from your home and carried into your house? All the water you use in a day, for cooking, drinking, bathing and cleaning, all of it had to be…
Faith Encouraged
Pitching The Tent For Worship in Your Own Heart
·
I’m not a big, outdoorsy, guy. So, camping out was never something I really enjoyed, except for this one time. Me and my best friend, Mark, had a great “fort” in the woods near our apartment complex in Orlando when I was about 11 or 12. Being central Florida, the pine trees in these woods were kinda scrawny and they were lots of palmettos. But the clearing we had made seemed perfect…
Word of the Day
Living in the World but Not for the World (Thurs. Oct. 28)
·
The Word of the Day is “flesh.” In our reading of Philippians 1:20-27, we find that St. Paul’s life is suspended while he waits for his trial before the Roman Emperor. Paul continues to proclaim the Gospel with such power that the whole palace guard and others know about his suffering for Christ. Moreover, his example has emboldened his associates and even his opponents to preach Christ freely. Torn Between Life on Earth and Life in Heaven But Paul cannot see too far ahead, because at any moment the guards might take him to his day in court—maybe to his death. Thus, Paul is torn. He does not know whether he will live or die. And he is unsure about…
Walking an Ancient Path
Liturgy Quick-Start Guide # 1: Introduction and Trail Map
·
For newcomers exploring the Orthodox Faith, the Divine Liturgy can seem long, meandering, long, repetitive, and . . . long. It can also feel this way for those who have been born into the Church. As I began attending liturgies at a local parish, I remember multiple instances of thinking, “Wait. Didn’t we just pray that same prayer a little while ago?” Yes. Yes, we did. More on that in a moment.…
Faith Encouraged
My Eager Expectation And Hope!
·
What if every time you turn around, no matter what happens, it ends up helping you? It seemed like it was one of those days. All the traffic lights were green. Even the cars in front of me were moving along at a good speed. My favorite song came on the radio in just enough time for me to hear the whole song before I arrived at my appointment. And then, when…
Word of the Day
Only That Christ Be Magnified (Wed. Oct. 27)
·
The word of the day is “magnified.” St. Paul writes our reading of Philippians 1:12-20 as he faces his trial and possible execution. Paul spent two years under house arrest. Yet at any time while he was “in chains,” Paul could be taken to court before the Roman Emperor. Our reading suggests that Paul waited in uneasy anticipation throughout those years. He hoped and prayed that God would be magnified by his inevitable ordeal, whether in life or death. In our reading, the Apostle states he is “appointed for the defense of the gospel” at his trial (vs. 17). Therefore, he asks for the prayers of his beloved congregation. Because of their prayers and the work of the Spirit, Paul hopes that the…
Glory to God for All Things
Goodness and a Word in Due Season
·
There is an old mystical Jewish belief that when God created all things, He did so by speaking their names (in Hebrew, of course). It was further believed (and here’s the mystical part) that if you could manage to speak that name in the right way, you, too, could cause it to be. The instinct behind this is true, regardless of our inability to do such a thing. That instinct is that…
Faith Encouraged
Don't Get Jesus Wrong!
·
At a recent spiritual retreat, I was asked to conduct, I was asked how one should prepare to deal with questions about the faith when others ask about it. Usually, many of our Orthodox brothers and sisters get very nervous when somebody asks them about our Orthodox Faith. It’s a good question, but it points to a deeper challenge – like most good questions do! While it may be satisfying to get some basic…
Word of the Day
Making the Witness of Faith Evident (Tues. Oct. 26)
·
The word of the day is “evident.” There is something enticing about secrets. In our time, spiritualism, theosophy, New Age spirituality, and the occult claim hidden knowledge and connections to the supernatural. From the beginning Christianity has opposed these esoteric ways of false spirituality.. It rejected what are now called “secret” Gospels that hid the truth from the faithful. Instead, it preached an open Gospel and a faith that was clear and evident to all. Paul wrote his letter to the believers in Philippi when he was under house arrest in Rome. In today’s reading of Philippians 1:18-14, Paul writes, “…it has become evident to the whole palace guard and all the rest that my chains are in Christ” (vs.…
Faith Encouraged
Are You Sure?
·
“You sure are sure of yourself.” She said it like it was a bad thing to be confident and act on that confidence. And it really confused me, until a wiser man pulled me off to the side and told me that confident people make people who lack confidence nervous. Sometimes that’s understandable, but sometimes it just reveals the lack of faith and a life driven by fear instead of faith. That…
Word of the Day
God Does Not Need Our Offerings: We Need to Give Them (Mon. Oct 26)
·
The word of the day is “gift.” St. Paul closes our reading of the Philippians with our reading of Chapter 4:10-23. This passage is a skillfully written thank you note for the generosity of Paul’s favorite congregation. To conclude his letter, Paul expresses his exuberant gratitude for the gift of monetary support that the Philippians have sent. Somehow something must have held up that donation’s arrival. But Paul graciously overlooks the delay. The Philippians “lacked the opportunity,” he writes (vs. 10). But now Paul is pleased that their concern for him has blossomed like the flowers of spring. Accomplishing Everything Through Christ Yet Paul wants his favorite congregation to know that the important thing is not his need. He knows…
Word of the Day
Abounding in the Grace of Giving (Oct. 24)
·
The word of the day is “abound.” People give to those in need with various attitudes and for many reasons. But we learn in today’s reading of 2 Cor. 9:6-11, that we should give aid generously and with singleness of purpose. In this passage, St. Paul speaks about his collection for relief of the fellow Christians who are starving in Jerusalem. The Apostle compares giving to the needy to sowing see ds, and he says that the harvest depends on the sower’s liberality (vs. 6). One More Thing to Be Added Note that God provides the seeds in the first place (vs. 9). The Almighty, who is rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4), has already made the faithful in Corinth rich…
Eastern Christian Insights
Mindfully Becoming Who We Are in Christ One Day at a Time: Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost & the Sixth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church
·
2 Corinthians 9:6-11; Luke 8:26-39 “Remember who you are.” That was common advice from parents to children in previous generations when they would go out on their own away from the family. Implicit in that advice is the recognition that it is dangerous to lose a clear sense of one’s identity and character. More common today is the perspective that young people must “find themselves” by exploring…
Glory to God for All Things
The Singular Goodness of God
·
From the Archives: It has long seemed to me that it is one thing to believe that God exists and quite another to believe that He is good. Indeed, to believe that God exists simply begs the question. That question is: Who is God, and what can be said of Him? Is He good? This goes to the heart of the proclamation of the Christian faith. We believe that God has revealed…
Word of the Day
The Glorious Resurrected Body and the Renewal of Creation (Sat. Oct. 23)
·
The word of the day is “incorruption.” In today’s reading of 1 Corinthians 15:39-45, we turn our attention from material things of the present to the futures’ spiritual things. In this passage, St. Paul speaks of our bodies’ transformation when God raises them from the dead. He writes that in the resurrection, “the body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption” (vs. 42). The Glorious Resurrected Body The Apostle describes how glorious our recreated bodies will be (vs. 42-45). Now they are subject to corruption; that is, they are infected with inevitable decay and destruction (Strong’s #5356 & 5351, 263). They are dishonored; that is, they are debased with shame and indignity (Strong’s #819, 46). They are weak;…
No Other Foundation
Re-Discovering Mary: The Orthodox Understanding of the Mother of God
·
This is a quick note and unashamed announcement that my book on Mary the Mother of God is now available for purchase. It can be found at Amazon and also and also at Sebastian Press. Dr. Bradley Nassif wrote of it: “In just a few short pages, Father Lawrence explores difficult questions that have surrounded the biblical and patristic understanding of Mary’s place in the Church. These include such issues as Mary’s…
Growing the Church
Remnant Activities: Rediscovering the Felt Presence of God, Part I
·
In recent posts we have been considering the need for gathering a remnant of committed believers in order to recover some of the spiritual treasures that have been lost to the prevailing moral darkness. Once gathered, the remnant’s primary task will be remembering, that is, deliberately relearning elements of the faith lost to neglect or supplanted by other interests. This will be done, in large part, by intentionally and systematically reviewing and…
Beyond the Bars
The Person In Front of You
·
When seminarian Brad Given first got involved with prison ministry this year, he found he had to “deprogram” the ideas he had about prisoners from the media. “Media portrayals are understandably very negative because someone may commit a crime and is unrepentant,” says Given, who is a third-year student at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. “But I was surprised to discover that they were just people dealing with people’s problems…
A Lamp for Today
Lighting Up the Apocalypse 18: The Bitter-Sweet Scroll
·
Revelation 10; Ezekiel 3:1-3; Daniel 9-12 We have come in chapter 10 to the point in John’s vision when we expect that we will finally hear the seventh trumpet sounded, and reach a conclusion of sorts. Instead, for the next few chapters John will tell us about important signs, keeping us in suspense for that final trumpet call. The voice of the angel in this chapter says that “there will be no…
Faith Encouraged
We Need The Lord
·
Several years ago there was a song that was popular on Christian radio stations that still strikes me as a powerful reminder of a central truth: People Need the Lord. “Every day they pass me by, I can see it in their eyes. Empty people filled with care. Headed who knows where. On they go through private pain. Living fear to fear. Laughter hides their silent cries, only Jesus hears. People need…
Word of the Day
On Guard Against Satan: Watchful Prayer (Fri. Oct. 22)
·
The word of the day is “watchful. ” St. Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians with insights on prayer in today’s reading of Ephesians 6:18-24. Just before our reading, Paul described the weapons that believers should use against the forces of wickedness (vs. 12). Then fully armed, the believers must stand guard, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (OSB vs. 18). They must be “watchful” as the Lord admonished Peter in the Garden on the night of His arrest (Matt. 26:41). The Greek word for “watchful” refers to being awake and alert, not merely to ward off sleep but to achieve a purpose (Strong’s #69, 4). Thus, we must stand in prayer like the guardians…
Every Thought Captive
The Catholic Church in Pagan Rome
·
More than by words, Christianity was served by the actual renewal of life which appeared in the Christian community and was in the final analysis alone capable of proving the life-giving force of the Gospel. ~ Fr. Alexander Schmemann In 1941, the liberal biblical scholar Rudolf Bultmann asserted, “We cannot use electric lights and radios and, in the event of illness, avail ourselves of modern medical and clinical means and at the same time believe in the spirit and wonder world of the New Testament.” To Bultmann, one must get beyond this primitive worldview to its…
