Blog entries - October 2008

Whom Do You Trust?

Jason Barker — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Click here to listen to this week's episode of Jason's Get Wisdom podcast, and click here to download the free study guide for this episode.

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Imagine that your world is falling apart around you: you are receiving failing grades at school; you are about to lose your after-school job; you learn that someone you do not like has been spreading lies about you. As you look at your circumstances, a question comes to your mind: whom can you trust to stRead More...

A Fragrant Legacy

Fr John Parker — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

It was on Miodrag's account that he and Drazen visited our church on this sad day. Miodrag's brother, Aleksandar, a long-time resident of Mt. Pleasant, had died-alone-and Miodrag had just arrived from his home in Europe to tend to the affairs of his departed brother.

I had not known Aleksandar in this life. Still, it is our custom to care for the dead and their survivors, the weeping and the grieving, who are looking for the consolation of Christ. We put a planRead More...

OCN Gives Orthodoxy a Voice in Today's World

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

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OCN is at the forefront of using modern media to bring the riches of the historic Christian faith to the world.

Homily for an Infant Baptism

Priest Matthew Jackson — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

I think my favorite service, as a priest, to serve, is the baptism of an infant. It's one of the most magnificent events in all of the life of our Church. To add another member to the Body of Christ; to call on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide this new person through their whole life and eventually into the Kingdom of Heaven. Every time we're present for a baptism, in thinking about the transformation that the baptized has just undergone [so wonderfully spoken of by St. Paul in hiRead More...

The Passions

Jason Barker — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Click here to listen to this week's episode of Jason's Get Wisdom podcast, and click here to download the free study guide for this episode.

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Overcoming the passions is one of the central foci of the Orthodox life. St. Maximos the Confessor defines passion as “an impulse of the soul contrary to nature, as in the case of mindless love or mindless hatred for someone or for some sensible thing.” The passions are, for lack of a better teRead More...

Am I a Slave to Sin?

Jason Barker — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Jason's Get Wisdom podcast, and click here to download the free study guide for this episode.

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In Romans chapter six, St. Paul presents the issue of being either dead to sin or alive in Christ. He is very clear that Christians should no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). At the same time, however, he tells us to “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” and to “not let sinRead More...

Am I Excited About God?

Jason Barker — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Click here to listen to this week's episode of Jason's Get Wisdom podcast, and click here to download a free study guide for this episode.

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In Romans 5:13, the Holy Apostle Paul abruptly stops discussing the entrance of sin and death into the world; in fact, he stops in the middle of a sentence and leaves the thought uncompleted. He then discusses how sin was judged before God gave the Law before returning to his original subject. Fr.Read More...

When Prosperity Fades - Will the Gospel?

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

My family members are Evangelicals of the Pentecostal variety. I was raised in that faith, but being Orthodox for almost 10 years has distanced me quite a bit from the world of megachurches and televangelists. Still, visiting home frequently means coming face-to-face with it, as my retired dad usually watches several hours of televangelism a day. He's good about keeping theRead More...

"Workers together with Christ"-Our life as a revelation of Christ to the World

Priest Matthew Jackson — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

St. Paul begins this morning's Epistle reading, a letter to the Christians of Corinth, with a plea-"We then as workers together with Him (Christ), beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain" (2 Cor. 6:1). The Corinthian Christians are workers together with Paul and the Apostles with Christ; all sent out (which is the meaning of the word ‘apostle') into the world to gather the harvest. The Church is sent into the world to preach the Gospel of Jesus ChrRead More...

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

Fr John Parker — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Riot shields. A ray of light beaming from the dome of the Church of the Resurrection down into the nave. A Berlin-ish Wall running over the hillside, dividing families. The Great Walls of the Old City. Women bearing machine guns in the streets. The angelic voices of the nuns at the Russian monastery at En Kerem. A late night talk with an Orthodox Rabbi who has a well-known radio program broadcast world-wide. A Palestinian Roman Catholic guide oRead More...