The Morning Offering
Salvation
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More than acquittal and justification Salvation can not be explained in legalistic terms of acquittal and justification, for salvation is much more than simply being forgiven and getting into heaven. The close tie between faith and works, when it comes to the Orthodox view of salvation, is not about being “saved” by our works, for this is impossible. Works do…
Faith Encouraged
He Ascended Into Heaven
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Today is the Feast of the Ascension, and this Feast begs the question: What is this whole ascending from the Mount of olives all about? Why didn’t Jesus just “POOF” disappear and go to the Father’s side? Why all this theatrics? It is almost axiomatic that any truth or tradition sufficiently removed from its Source or Cause tends toward superstition and nostalgia. And given enough time and thoughtlessness, it can even become…
The Morning Offering
Submitting
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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…
A Light So Lovely
Orthodox Liturgical Music as an Experience of Culture
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After I published my Call for a New Christian Culture, I received much positive feedback. But lurking behind it all was the heavy question: how? Well, I hope we’re all learning about the how together as I post more and more on this blog. But in the meantime, I’d like to offer one avenue that isn’t often considered as ripe for culture creation. Liturgical music. Too often the world of liturgical music…
No Other Foundation
The Ascension: a Beginning, Not an Ending
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If one read the four Gospels as if they were four separate biographies of Jesus, one might be forgiven for thinking that the Ascension narrated the end of the story. We have read narratives of Christ’s birth, His baptism, His temptation in the wilderness, His ministry, His crucifixion, His resurrection, and now at the last we come the narrative of His ascension, concluding the story of His life with a heavenly happy…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Creation and Ascension
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The feast of Christ’s Ascension represents one of the most important liturgical moments of the Christian year. It is, unfortunately, generally under-appreciated. Due to where it falls in the cycle of feasts, it is sometimes seen as a sort of epilogue to Pascha. In our modern life, it falls in the summer which has become a time for vacations, time off from work and school and even sometimes church. It falls in mid-week, which in the modern working world makes its participation more difficult for many people. For ancient people, however, the feast of the Ascension of Christ would have been intuitively the most important. The Ascension represents the culmination of the gospel which was proclaimed throughout the world by…
Faith Encouraged
He Who Believes in Me
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Christ is risen! What does it mean to “believe in” something? I confess most of my life I’ve just taken for granted that I knew, and everyone around me knew, what that meant. I was wrong. The word “believe” means so much more than just agreeing that certain ideas are correct. The Greek word used in the New Testament for believe is πιστεύω (pistevo). It comes from the noun πίστη, which means…
The Morning Offering
My Garden
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Cultivating my own garden I teeter on the edge if I let myself be concerned about my neighbor’s garden rather than focusing on the cultivation of my own garden. Judging another person’s spiritual life is one of the most dangerous things we can do, for judging another distracts us from fully living a life of repentance. The importance of this…
Faith Encouraged
Once, and For All!
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Christ is risen! In World War 1 the two opposing armies would dig in and conduct what was then called “trench warfare.” The land between the two armies entrenched for the fight was called “no man’s land” because anybody who tried to attack would be shot by the other side! Not a pleasant place to be. But recently I was teaching after our regular Wednesday night service about the unique place the…
The Morning Offering
The Two Great Commandments
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“Love thy God with all your heart, mind…” and secondly, “Love thy neighbor…” We live in a world bombarded with thousands of messages, some subtle and some not-so-subtle, of merchandising that impact the way we interact with others, and the way we relate to God. Much of what we glean from these messages is narcissistic in nature, estranging us from…
Glory to God for All Things
Just Say 'Yes'
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For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you … was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God …. (2Co 1:19-20) +++ It is very hard to say “No,” despite the fact that we say it all the time. The reason “No” is so hard is that it…
Faith Encouraged
You Know Nothing At All
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Christ is risen! “You just don’t know what you’re talking about!” He was pretty upset over what I had to tell him. But sometimes, for a person’s own good, you have to say plain things plainly so that there will be no misunderstanding. And, in spite of my attempts to soften the blow of these plain truths, he still simply insisted I didn’t know enough facts to say what I said. And…
The Morning Offering
Divine Warmth
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The Divine Flame will consume you At the very first moment you decide to turn to God, your heart begins to be warmed by the action of the Holy Spirit. Your heart is kindled with the divine flame that will transform you. This flame will consume you completely, and will melt everything of a fallen nature within you. Once this…
Orthodox Reformed Bridge
An Orthodox Response to Michael Reeves’ “Eastern Orthodoxy: An Evangelical Assessment”
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Protestant conversions to Orthodoxy are attracting the attention of Evangelicals, prompting their leaders to examine it and critique it. Recently, Michael Reeves, President of the Union School of Theology in London, gave a presentation on Orthodoxy. His Evangelical credentials are impressive. He has served as a minister at All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London and has served as Head of Theology for the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship. [Source] Prof.…
The Morning Offering
Orthodoxy and Beauty
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Orthodox Christianity attracted me from my very first encounter with the magnificence of its churches and the grandeur of her divine services. Having grown up amid the natural beauty of Northern Idaho, with mountains and lakes that could take our breath away, I’d previously found inspiration primarily in the world of nature. Orthodoxy and beauty are inseparable because God and…
Eastern Christian Insights
Hope for Us Who Dwell in Darkness: Homily for the Sunday of the Blind Man in the Orthodox Church
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Acts 16:16-34; John 9:1-38 Christ is Risen! It is usually a good idea to follow the old saying, “Look before you leap.” We can get into a lot of trouble by acting before we have a good understanding of our circumstances and of what is likely to come from our actions. The blind man in today’s gospel reading, however, was in a very different situation. Because of blindness, he could not…
The Morning Offering
Imparting Our Faith
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Imparting happiness and true joy, grounded in Orthodoxy As a former teacher I can still remember, with great fondness, many of my students. Although I loved them all, I did have my favorites, especially those who challenged me with their inquisitive minds. These students kept me on my toes, and forced me to be fully prepared for each class. They…
A Light So Lovely
Is Realistic Fiction or Speculative Fiction a Better Form of Culture Creation?
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This past week, I was at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania engaged in a work of culture creation. Benedict Sheehan, the director of the music program at the seminary, recently completed a new liturgy that a professional choir performed, then recorded. I was involved in both, to my great joy. But the time commitment for both was significant, and so I have no new post this week for my readers. However, I…
No Other Foundation
Self-righteous Rage
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In 1986 the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association organized a conference in Amsterdam which brought together over 9000 people who came to learn how to present the Gospel in Billy Graham style to those around them, most of them from Third World countries. By all accounts, it was a resounding success in accomplishing the goals it set for itself. And outside a large hotel adjacent to where the conference was being held sat…
Father Bill's Blog
128. War and Peace, Part Three - The Orthodox Priority of Creating Peace
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Christ is risen! Truly he is risen! Here’s what we’ve covered so far: In Part One we looked at New Testament and Patristic teaching, and then at the Western Just War Theory by which wars may be judged to be good or bad. In Part Two we saw the classic Orthodox approach: Father Harakas said Eastern Orthodoxy had no theory for evaluating wars, but instead emphasized making peace. Dr. Steven Runciman on…
Faith Encouraged
How Long Will You Keep Us In Suspense?
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Christ is risen! The great American author Lewis B. Smedes once said “Seeing reality for what it is is what we call discernment. The work of discernment is very hard.” And the Orthodox Fathers would agree. In fact, it is the gift of discernment that we are constantly called to develop and embrace in the writings of the Orthodox Fathers. Being able to tell reality from delusion isn’t nearly as easy as…
The Morning Offering
Greater Virtue
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The great virtue of forgiving our enemies There is the story of Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus who invited Hilarion the Great to dinner, and in order to show his hospitality place fried chicken on the table. Hilarion, when he saw the fried chicken, asked forgiveness, but said he had not eaten meat since his tonsure as a monk. Saint Epiphanius…
Behind the Scenes
The Body Grateful: A Review of Garden in the East: The Spiritual Life of the Body by Angela Doll Carlson (audiobook)
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“The body is a garden,” proclaims Angela Doll Carlson in the opening lines of her book, Garden in the East: The Spiritual Life of the Body. It is a declaration that should make any reader pause, particularly anyone who has ever struggled with body image, chronic illness, or immobility. It’s the line that immediately pulled me into the rest of Carlson’s poetic exploration of the relationship she has with her body and…
Walking an Ancient Path
Liturgy Survival Guide: Journeying into the Liturgy of the Faithful
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Faith Encouraged
We See! Yes And Your Guilt Remains
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Christ is Risen! This thought haunts me. All I’ve preached, all I’ve taught’ all I’ve said, will one day be used as a comparison with the way I’ve lived, the choices I’ve made, and the priorities I’ve set. No wonder the Church teaches me to say over and over again “Lord, have mercy!” But I won’t seriously learn how to truly repent and change the way I think if I ignore this…
The Morning Offering
Microcosm
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Humankind is a microcosm of the universe It has been said that humans are a microcosm of the whole universe because we have within ourselves the entire material world, and with it the noetic powers of the cosmos. Created as we were for immortality, it is our fallen nature that has separated us from that which God had intended. When…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Calendars Old and New
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One piece of recent Orthodox history and continued current controversy that often strikes those first learning about the church as odd is the controversy between the old and new, or Julian and revised Julian, calendars. For those outside the church, and even some inside, this controversy may seem odd. The difference in celebrating the immovable feasts two weeks earlier or later may seem almost irrelevant. The tenacity with which people hold to one calendar or the other and the vehemence which the arguments between them can reach may seem strange or misplaced. The idea that it is one date for everyone else in the world and a different date at church in an old calendar parish may even seem fanciful…
