Faith Encouraged
Countless Guides But Not Many Fathers
·
So, why is it so easy to take advice from a stranger, but not your own family? Alright, I’ll confess to being a bit frustrated. Here’s the story: I had a dear family member bend my ear for several hours about a problem. At the end of this marathon, I gave what I thought was some wise counsel. This precious one listened and thanked me and then promptly ignored my advice for…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Here There Be Giants
·
In recent times, the rediscovery of the original ancient context of Genesis 6:1-4 has led to a fascination with the subject of the ‘Nephilim’, who are here said to be produced through sexual immorality involving angelic beings and human women. In some quarters, this has been developed into full-fledged conspiracy theories regarding these ‘Nephilim’ still existing in our world today. Those fascinated by crypto-archaeology produce doctored photos of what they hold to be gigantic human skeletons, the remains of these people. This near obsession has exploded as a counter to a re-reading of the Genesis and later texts, begun by St. Augustine, which reads these texts in a de-mythologized way, seeing all involved parties as human. The interpretation of these…
The Morning Offering
Our Bishops, Our Fathers
·
Praying for our bishops, while loving them in Christ The bishop is both servant to his people and father to his flock. He represents Christ in the midst of his diocese, and his compassion, sweetness, longsuffering, and kind heart, flows directly from Christ Himself. As Christ among us, the bishop is our father, and like all fathers, sometimes we, his…
Time Eternal
What Does it Mean to Be Human? Engaging Orthodoxy Panel Discussion
·
Hi Time Eternalites! Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving to all! May we be creatures of response and thanksgiving to God for His seen and unseen providence in the moments of our lives… This past weekend, I was blessed to participate in the third annual Engaging Orthodoxy panel discussion held at North Park University in Chicago. This year’s topic was “What does…
Faith Encouraged
Work-out Your Own Salvation
·
My little brother and I were typical brothers growing up. We would engage in “sibling rivalry” now and again! But we were being raised by a single mother who worked fulltime and cared for us full time as well. One such event when we were a bit older elicited a phrase from my mom to us both that really stuck with me. I don’t even remember what we were fighting about but…
The Morning Offering
Persuasion
·
Christians are forbidden to correct 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…
No Other Foundation
Love, Peace, and Joy
·
With its multiplicity of rules, canons, and liturgical stipulations, one might be forgiven for thinking that Orthodoxy is primarily about rules and regulations, coupled with a corresponding fear of breaking the rules and regulations. Orthodoxy therefore would then involve going through life fearful of infraction, mistake, misstep, and contamination from the world—“Want to go through life terrified? Good: become Orthodox!” This is not much of an evangelistic strategy. But thankfully Orthodoxy is…
The Morning Offering
Helping the Vulnerable
·
Authority comes with responsibility When people are hurting, and seeking professional help, they are vulnerable, and the trust they place in the professional makes them particularly open to exploitation. This is why we must have institutions and lines of authority that hold professionals accountable. We can not allow anyone who is vulnerable, be they a child, or an adult, to…
Eastern Christian Insights
Healing our Weakness Through His Strength: Homily for the 19th Sunday After Pentecost and the 3rd Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church
·
2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9; Luke 7:11-16 People often go to extraordinary lengths to hide their weakness from others and even from themselves. Out of insecurity and fear, we do our best to appear before our neighbors as self-reliant and strong, even when that is very far from the truth. Perhaps we think that, if we can fool others, we can even fool ourselves. One of Saint Paul’s greatest…
The Morning Offering
Racism
·
Racism has no place in the life of a Christian It is important to understand that genetically, all humans are of but one race. Indians, Arabs, Jews, Caucasians, Africans, and Asians, are not different races, but rather, different ethnicities of the human race. God created all humans with the same physical characteristics, with only minor variations. Furthermore, He created all…
Orthodox Reformed Bridge
Review: GCTS Prof. Ryan Reeves’ lecture: “Great Schism (1054)”
·
On several occasions, I have read comments by Calvinists and Evangelicals who expressed anger and disappointment on not being taught about the early Church and Orthodoxy while in seminary. I was fortunate that I had more than a little exposure to the early Church and the Church Fathers at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. So I was intrigued when a reader brought to my attention Gordon-Conwell professor Ryan Reeves’ lecture on the Great…
The Storyteller
The Mythology of Water: Living and Dead Water
·
Have you ever seen photos of Russians getting in long lines in the middle of winter only to jump into a cut-out in the ice? Have you just thought that they were all crazy? Well, turns out that this fascination with the power of water is something that goes very far back into Russia’s mythological consciousness. As you read these fascinating historical and cultural tidbits, maybe you’ll recognize something from your own…
Father Bill's Blog
86. The Seven Deadly Sins: #1 - Pride
·
A Description of Pride “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people except Christians ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do…
Faith Encouraged
Wisdom is Justified By All Her Children
·
My very best friend in all the world died of a brain tumor several years ago. I know, a weird way to begin a devotional, but I wanted you to know the end of the story so you will value it as much as I do. You see, Rod was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam war, but he went and served anyway as a medical corpsman. He rarely spoke about his experiences there…
The Morning Offering
Thank You!
·
Thank you for your continued prayerful and financial support. Now you can support us and shop for Christmas at the same time! Click on this link to see what we are offering for Nativity season. Soaps, ornaments and coffee all make great gifts! All-Merciful Saviour Monastery is a non-profit, 501 C3 organization, under IRS regulations. All donations are therefore tax…
Faith Encouraged
To Live IS Christ!
·
St. Paul tells us today that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I confess, every time I read this passage and contemplate this phrase, it always drives me to reconsider my own life. Can I really say this along with Paul? Of course, the answer is “no,” but before I let myself off the hook here, I want to confront the all too easy cop-out I sometimes allow in…
The Morning Offering
The Church Calendar
·
The Church Calendar and our spiritual maturation One of the most spiritually profitable discoveries for me, personally, was when I started, as a new Orthodox Christian, the observance of the liturgical calendar. Each day of the year I was carried along with the cycle of commemorations that brought to life various events in the life of Christ. The calendar provided…
Glory to God for All Things
Strange That Our Money Says: In God We Trust
·
There are two great money problems in the Scriptures: too little and too much. The theme of the poor is a constant throughout both the Old and the New Testament. They tend to be cast as victims – easy prey for the rich, often exploited, and particularly beloved of God. He is the protector of the “widow and the fatherless” and clearly favors the poor. The rich come in for scathing…
Faith Encouraged
Provoked!
·
What provokes you? Politics? Religion? Race? Inequity? Violence? Chaos (OK, this one is a personal provocation!)? No matter what might provoke you to action, if you allow the provocation to be your primary motivation, you are sure to always be provoked. You see, provocation is a “result”, not a motive. And learning what is behind the reaction is key to being able to discern if the reaction is appropriate or not, healthy…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Genesis and "the Fall"
·
The first eleven chapters of Genesis have long been seen as a literary unit which serves as a sort of prologue to the rest of the book of Genesis, the Torah or Pentateuch, and the whole of the scriptures. Within these chapters, we read of the creation of the world and of humanity, the expulsion from paradise, the descent of man, the flood of Noah, the descent of the nations, and the tower of Babel. Theologically, particularly in the Late Antique West, Genesis 3 and the expulsion from paradise became the site of major focus, defined as “the Fall” of man. Debate began as to what precisely this fall entailed and what it represented. It was taken primarily as a…
The Morning Offering
Intercessory Prayer
·
It is our duty to pray for others When we first become aware that someone we know is suffering, we must begin to pray for them. We must pray with much sincerity, and with tears, knowing that our brother is being tormented, and is filled with despondency. As Christians we must believe that intercessory pray, when spoken with love and…
Faith Encouraged
I Am the Chiefest of Sinners
·
He was actually bragging about being the best at being the worst! I’m not kidding! I sat in front of him staring in absolute disbelief at what I was hearing. I was lamenting the shallow commitment of my own heart to the rigorous practice of the Faith when he chimed in that “his people” were even more shallow in the practice of the Faith. I would bring up examples of my own…
The Morning Offering
Submitting
·
Do we think ourselves wiser than the Church? In an age of unbelief it can be a struggle to submit to the laws of the Church. When the society around us regards the Church’s laws and traditions unfavorably, we can easily give in to thinking the same thing, and disregard the canons and statutes of the Church of Christ. If…
Faith Encouraged
Do Good to Those Who Hate You
·
Let’s face it, grammar wasn’t my best subject in school! I’ve always been impatient with the rules, wanting to get to the end without having to mess with all that “process” nonsense! And yes, that is a problem because the process is part of the solution! A bit of wisdom that has cost me quite a lot in my life! Now, having studied other languages, I have a growing appreciation (if not a…
The Morning Offering
Freedom
·
We were created with freedom to choose, or not choose One of the primary differences between Islam and Christianity has to do with the basic view of the nature of God. Islam teaches total surrender to a god who demands submission. There is no invitation to enter into a relationship, freely, nor is there room for an individual to choose,…
No Other Foundation
The Light of Your Countenance
·
In the translation provided in our official OCA Divine Liturgy book of the festal material for the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross there exists a puzzle. All of the material there is quite appropriate to the feast—the psalm for the First Antiphon is Psalm 22, which begins with Christ’s cry of dereliction from the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”, the refrain for the Second Antiphon…
The Morning Offering
Theosis
·
The meaning of salvation in the Ancient Church According to Protopresbyter George Metallinos, Dean of the Athens University School of Theology, “For we Orthodox the unique and absolute goal of life in Christ is theosis, our union with God, so that man – through his participation in God’s uncreated energy – may become “by the Grace of God” that which…
