Author: Fr. Barnabas Powell

You've met those folks, they just "go along to get along" as my mawmaw would say. They take on the opinions of those around them and whatever the crowd does, they do. I guess that's fine if you're in a good crowd, but if not, well...

I'm not quite sure what to make of all this talk about "privilege" nowadays. If they mean that some folks were born with advantages, well it seems that's always been the case. If they mean that those born with advantages are responsible for realizing that truth, then that's OK too. What concerns me most is the easy way all this jargon always descends into excuses not to think.

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Fr. Lawrence Farley joins Fr. Barnabas as special guest on this Sunday’s Faith Encoraged LIVE program on AncientFaith.com. We will be discussing demons, spiritual warfare, and Halloween. Listen and call in with your questions as we deal with the unseen world from an Orthodox perspective. That’s this Sunday night at 8 PM Eastern on Faith Encouraged LIVE! Pass this on to your friends!

Today we see the extreme effects of allowing darkness to influence a man’s thinking that reduces him to a mere beast! What are the influences on your thinking creating in you? Are you in your right mind? P.S. Tonight join me and my special guest, Fr. Lawrence Farley as we talk about demons, spiritual warfare, and Halloween. That’s tonight at 8 PM Eastern on Faith Encouraged LIVE on Ancient Faith Radio!

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 peole 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.

Frankly, it was uncomfortable. This was the first time I was back at the church I was raised in since I had become Orthodox. And what made it more disconcerting was they had asked me to speak at a Sunday night service. Let me set the stage for you. This was the Pentecostal church where I was raised since I was a boy of 6 or 7 years of age. This was the church where I would sing onstage as a little boy with the assistant pastor and his guitar. This was the place where I was baptized and "got the Holy Ghost ( a term I don't expect non-Pentecostals to understand and please know that is completely OK!). This was the church where I recei.ced my "call to preach (see above), and the church that sent me to my first church assignment as an "ordained" preacher. It is also the place where I was youth director AND youth choir director.

"What you thought I said was not what I meant!" And with that, a whole series of choices, decisions, plans, and events were called I.nto question simply because I had misunderstood our initial conversation. Having to walk back all that work was both embarrassing and frustration.

She looked at me with a pinched face and said "I really didn't get much out of the service today!" She had that disapproving look that said "and it's your fault!" Imagine her surprise when I told her sincerely "well dear, that's OK. We weren't doing the worship for you anyway!" And yes, that didn't make her happy either.

All I can say was it was embarrassing! I could have sworn the person I ran up to in the store was a buddy of mine from High School. I just knew this was going to be a fun reunion, and we'd laugh about that time we all... and we'd talk about the old days and comment on how hard that Algebra class was and how the teacher was so difficult, and then we'd go have lunch together and catch up. But it wasn't him. And all my mental joy in anticipation of a reunion with an old friend evaporated in a moment of clarity. Sorry, fella. Don't you just hate it when that happens!