Author: Fr. Barnabas Powell

Fr. Barnabas is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, Georgia. He is also host of Faith Encouraged Live on Ancient Faith Radio and author of the Faith Encouraged podcast.

When God Speaks

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
If this world is ever going to recover what we have trashed by falling for the delusion of materialism, we are going to have to start with the idea of Logos. It is this precious and vital fundamental understanding of human reality that locates true meaning in God’s Word. And I’m not talking about the Bible. Though the scriptures are treasures without compare, the true rediscovery of real meaning in the world…

All For Your Sake

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
Why do you do what you do for your children? I can’t tell you how many parents have shared with me the notion that they would do anything for their children. And I get it. I would do anything for my children as well. But why? Are you hoping they will be grateful and take care of you in your dotage? Perhaps you are motivated by having such good tax deductions from…

The Antidote For Ungodly Passions

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
I wish I would have learned this sooner! The power of the Faith to transform me into the man God has created me to revolve around the ascetical timing of my passions so that they become servants to me instead of unruly masters. Learning to tame my “ungodly passions” means an attentive practice of the spiritual disciplines enshrined in our annual entry into the “Arena of the Virtues” of Great Lent. This…

The Trembling Fearful Day of Judgement – Sunday’s Homily

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
The purpose of the Sunday of the Last Judgement is to arrest you in your rhythm of life to remind you that there is going to be an ultimate Judgement of your life, and it will be a judgment of how your life was shaped by eternal values and how you put those values to use in treating others. But make no mistake, bad theology produces an enslaved person gripped by the…

Sanctify A Fast

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
It set off the alarm. And with that, I about jumped out of my skin! Actually, I set off the alarm by accident and the next thing I know I hear sirens of police cars headed my way and the phone ringing from the alarm company asking if I was alright. Man, what a ruckus. But that’s what it is designed to do, shake up the pattern and disrupt the routine. It’s…

Acting Like Irrational Animals

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
In 1896, the author H.G. Wells wrote a horror story he called “an exercise in youthful blaspheme.” The title of the book was “The Island of Dr. Moreau” and it was a science fiction story about a mad scientist who was creating sentient animals and how the animals became so aware they were saying the humans were more like animals! The book is a true masterpiece of storytelling and quite revealing on…

Becoming Real

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
In the 19th century an Italian writer, Carlo Collodi, penned the classic Pinocchio about a wooden puppet who dreams of being a real boy. His creator, Geppetto, is a wood carver and he carves out this wooden puppet and names him Pinocchio, and the fairy tale takes off through learned lessons and hardships and deceit and joys and even tragedies until Pinocchio becomes a “real boy” and saves his maker from a…

She Gave All She Had

· Fr. Barnabas Powell 1 Leave a Comment on %s
What is it about giving money to the church that always seems to rile up folks? Do people think the parish runs on good intentions? Why is this topic one of the top subjects in the scriptures and one of the most controversial topics even today? To be honest, it has little to do with actual giving, and even less to do with money itself. The reason financial support of the Church…

Are You the King of the Jews?

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
“Free advice is worth every penny you pay for it!” With that, the old man proceeded to share with me some pearls of wisdom that I remember to this day. Isn’t it funny how much we already know? I mean the truth is I pretty much know how I should live and what decisions are best and what decisions are destructive to my life. In fact, it was a bit of a revelation to me…

The Kiss

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
Everybody seems to have the same dream at one time or another. For me, it was a dream where I had a big presentation in front of a large crowd, and in my dream, I forgot my pants! Embarrassed and humiliated, I ran off stage wondering how I could have made such a mistake! All of us fear being humiliated and embarrassed. It’s a natural fear and it uncovers ( forgive the…