I understand that some people believe that one should simply never, ever even talk to people who say things that are false, that doing so constitutes endorsement of their teachings, and they believe that this is the Orthodox way. But as someone who knows Church history pretty well, I know that that is not the Orthodox way. Indeed, some of the most prominent momentsâŠ
We have every right to feel that we may be at the beginning of a golden age of Orthodox content creation in the English language. But at the very same time that a renaissance of Orthodox content creation is happening, expanding into new platforms and providing insight and challenges for new fields of human life, there are marginal, extreme forces seeking to pierce into the middle.
I recently asked in a couple of Orthodox clergy groups on Facebook about whether they have seen what I have seen and heard about anecdotally -- an unusual number of inquirers and catechumens showing up to the parish within the past year.
Having been given this outpost of Paradise, this place where Godâs holiness may be encountered with preparation, where the cherubim with the flaming sword welcome us in instead of turning us away, we are commanded to expand this Paradise into the world.
I refuse to participate in cancel culture of any sort. And I refuse to let it govern any of my advice or decisions. For me, the question is always whether what we are doing brings people to be faithful to Christ.
Just because something is conventional doesn't mean that it's the whole of Orthodox Christianity. Let's break the false domes of our conventional universe of discourse and look up to see the very dome of heaven.
Mankind is suffocated by his idolatry. If we want to breathe, to breathe again the Holy Spirit, it begins with repentance. It begins with sacrifice. It begins with worship.
After almost 11 years of partnering with Ancient Faith Ministries as a content contributor for their podcasts, books and blogs, Iâm being hired! I will be taking the newly-created position of Chief Content Officer.