Blog Entries for Jason Barker

New Bible Study on John

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0100

My new Bible study on the Holy Gospel according to St. John the Theologian has launched at www.orthodoxyouth.org/john. The study contains full-color study guides, quizzes, and the homilies by St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel.

There is currently only a study guide for the first chapter - I'll add more study guides through the first few months of 2009 as the youth in Teen SOYO go through the Gospel to prepare for the 2009 Bible Bowl .

I'll begin a new series on John [...]

Love Your Enemies

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Click here to listen to this week's episode of Jason's Get Wisdom podcast, and http://www.orthodoxyouth.org/romans/pdf/chapter12.pdf to download a free study guide for this episode.

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Our love for other people should be not only for those with whom we have good relations, but also those who hate us. Our Lord states:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love you [...]

Do I Tithe?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:00:00 +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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There are few areas of life that are more problematic for the spiritual life than those that involve money. St. Paul teaches that the love of money is the root of all evil, “for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows& [...]

Is God Unfair?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:00:00 +0100

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

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Romans chapter nine deals with the issue of God’s fairness: is it fair for God to extend His mercy to some people, but refuse to extend it to others?

It may be easy for you to read St. Paul’s explanation that God is free to bring anyone He chooses into relationship with Him, and to condemn any [...]

Whom Do You Trust?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +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 st [...]

The Passions

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +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 te [...]

Am I a Slave to Sin?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +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 sin [...]

Am I Excited About God?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +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. [...]

Do I Believe God's Promises?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:00:00 +0100

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

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Have you ever become impatient waiting on God to act to help you in a situation? Perhaps you have struggled in school, and prayed that God would help you with your studies. Perhaps a friend or a family member has been sick, and you’ve become discouraged when, despite your prayers, that person [...]

How Can I Control What I Say?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:00:00 +0100

You can listen to this week's episode of Jason's Get Wisdom podcast by clicking here , and you can click here for the free study guide for this episode.

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Have you ever said something that deeply hurt another person? Have you ever told a story about someone, and learned later that the story had spread around the school? Have you ever been caught lying, or had someone tell you that you complain too much?

If you think about it, your mouth [...]

Am I Judgmental?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Click here to listen to this week's episode of Jason's GET WISDOM! podcast on Romans chapter two, and click here to download the free study guide for this episode.

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Have you ever expressed disagreement with a person’s position, or disapproval of a particular type of behavior, and one of your friends responded, “How can you be so judgmental? Didn’t Jesus say you shouldn’t judge people?”

Many people are [...]

How Do I Pray for Others?

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Click here to listen to this week's episode of Jason's GET WISDOM! podcast on Romans chapter one, and click here to download the free study guide for this episode.

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Orthodox Christian worship involves praying to God; in fact, as Vasili Rozanov writes, “The soul of Orthodoxy consists in the gift of prayer.”

According to St Luke, the point of the Parable of the Persistent Widow is “that men always ought to pray and [...]

Growth in Internet Radio and Podcast Audiences

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Sat, 03 May 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Edison Media Research has released several studies over the last two months that demonstrate the growing use – and therefore the potential for widespread outreach – of Internet radio and podcasts.

According to Edison's 2008 edition of the annual Infinite Dial: Radio's Digital Platforms, 33 million people aged 12 and above listen to Internet radio each week. This means that approximately 13 percent of Americans listen to Internet radio each w [...]

Collecting and Organizing Orthodox Quotes

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:55:43 +0100

The work I do requires a fair amount of organization - I have numerous different projects on which I'm working at any given time for different organizations, departments and/or ministries. I've therefore developed reasonable (for me) systems of organizing my time, my different projects, theresources for the different projects, and resources (such as Lingo scripts for Director) that I share between projects.

An area in which I tend to fail dismally, however, is in organizing my n [...]

Podcast Audience is Increasing

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:41:31 +0100

eMarketer published an interesting article on Monday noting that the current active podcast audience (meaning people who download one or more podcasts per week) is 6.5 million, while the total audience is 18.5 million. They estimate that 2008 will see a 54 percent increase in active listeners (up to 10 million), and a 51 percent increase in total listeners (to 28 million). The total increase by 2012 is estimated to be 251 percent, with an active audience of 25 million and a total audience of [...]

Creating an Audio Program: Music

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:39:14 +0100

As I continue this miniseries on equipment choices I've made in creating GET WISDOM (I previously covered - starting with the first article - choosing a microphone , an interface , a channel strip , and recording software ), I'd like to briefly address the importance of using podsafe music in your program.

As with the earlier articles, I need to emphasize that this discussion is purely my personal experience and opinions, and does not imply any formal recommendation from the De [...]

Multimedia for Teens

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:39:32 +0100

A few days ago, my Orthodox Christian Bible Studies Blog reached its first anniversary (the OCBS Blog discusses - in addition to other things - developments in my free online multimedia Bible studies for Orthodox teens ). The first real post I wrote for the blog was a brief reflection on whether I should create a podcast for Orthodox teens.

Regular readers and/or listeners will know that I finally decided "Yes," and in October launched GET WISDOM - The Orthodox Bible Study P [...]

Creating an Audio Program: Software

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:24:55 +0100

In my previous articles in this series on creating GET WISDOM I've discussed selecting a microphone , interface , and channel strip . I'd like to continue the series by discussing the software I use for recording and mixing my program.

As with the earlier articles, I need to emphasize that this discussion is purely my personal experience and opinions, and does not imply any formal recommendation from the Antiochian Department of Youth Ministry or the Orthodox Christian Network [...]

Creating an Audio Program: Channel Strips

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:09:43 +0100

In the first two articles in this miniseries, I've written about the criteria and processes I used in selecting a microphone and an interface to create GET WISDOM . In this article I want to briefly discuss the channel strip I use, as well as reasons for not using a hardware audio processor.

Before continuing, I want to emphasize - as I have in my other articles - that the choices I've made are based upon my personal preferences, and are not indicative of any official recomm [...]

New Bible Study on 1 Corinthians

jasonjbarker@gmail.com — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:33:01 +0100

My new interactive multimedia Bible study, Life Together: An Interactive Bible study of 1 Corinthians , is now available on the Orthodox Christian Bible Studies website. The study currently goes throughchapter ten of 1 Corinthians, and the remaining chapters will be added in the next few weeks.

You might also be interested in my podcast and radio program for The ARK, GET WISDOM , which is also going through 1 Corinthians.

GET WISDOM is featured by the OCN as part of the par [...]