One Desire

Now being in a Russian Diocese under our blessed Bishop Agafangel and our blessed priest, Father Gregory Williams, I have submitted all of my blogs and Internet activity to their wisdom and advise. So it is with fear and trepidation that I post this, for I know that Father Gregory likes to remain "off the radar" and is not comfortable when anyone would highlight him in any way. I look forward to the day when I might kiss the hand of my Bishop, but I am honored to kiss the hand of my priest every week. I am so honored that Father Gregory recently mildly rebuked me for asking for his blessing so often.

Under my blog photo, which was taken in front of our home altar, is the scripture that best reflects my heart. In all of my Journey To Orthodoxy, my heart has yearned for only one thing:

"One thing have I desired and that will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house of the lord all of my life and inquire in His holy temple. "

As I sit here blogging, my mind must catch up with the fact that the desire of my heart is being fulfilled. I entered the Agape Community/Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church, one year ago this month, only with a desire to serve, to fill in the gaps of need in this small community of believers. If that meant to only fix a broken cabinet, polish the brass, repair a lectern, or cabinet door, then my joy would abound. During liturgy, I was content to stand in the corner and worship the God. I found, however, a priest, who, in his wisdom and need, allowed me to chant the very first vigil we attended. In his wisdom he also gave to my wife his holy vestment to repair, trusting us, though he had just met us. It was that discernment of the spirit, that knowing, that our souls had been so oppressed by two former priests, that that trust, that putting us to work of the Kingdom, was the fulfillment of our hearts.

I so fear the thought that I might be accused of self-promotion, that I have the tendency to stand back and wait. The discernment of our blessed Matuska Anastasia, Father Gregory's wife, drew me to out of my waiting when she told me, "Father will not ask for help but needs it and would welcome it." This is how I now find myself assisting my priest at the Holy Alter. I told him I so desired to assist him if he needed me, and he has allowed me to do just that. Through the years, in this small community of Orthodox Believers, he has had to "do it all". But why should an arch-priest, a faithful servant of God, these 30 plus years, have to do it all? Why should he have to trim the wicks, light the incense, move a table,  prepare the blessed prosphora, especially if there are faithful men in the church to assist?

There are moments during the Liturgy, when Father is in the nave and I am awaiting him to returned to the altar, that I look at the holy altar and suppress the tears of joy, for it is an awesome thing to know that I, yes I, in my sinfulness and weakness, am allowed to stand in the presence of the King of all creation. I am humbled. God be merciful to me a sinner.

The Useful Idiots

From http://www.therealcuba.com/index.htm

"Through the years, many famous people, including politicians, sport figures, millionaires and Hollywood luminaries have been going to Cuba and allow themselves to be used by Castro's propaganda machine. Many have done it out of sheer ignorance; some have done it because they are dumb; and some others because they are benefiting economically from their association with this brutal dictator. 

 

It is a great propaganda tool for the Castro regime. Cubans who are enslaved by this brutal dictator are told that they can't expect much international help when all these famous people are going there to make jokes, play games or show their support for the dictator. Some day, these people will have to hang their head in shame for having used their names and fame to support Castro's genocide against the Cuban people.

Here is what some of the useful idiots have said:

Supermodel Naomi Campbell said Fidel Castro was "a source of inspiration to the world. "I'm so nervous and flustered because I can't believe I have met him. He said that seeing us in person was very spiritual," said Campbell after meeting with Castro, according to the Toronto Star.

Comedian Chevy Chase, at Earth Day 2000 in Washington D.C., said he believes "socialism works" and explained that "Cuba might prove that."

Kevin Costner after going to Cuba in 2001 to preview his film "13 Days": "It was an experience of a lifetime to sit only a few feet away from him and watch him relive an experience he lived as a very young man."

"He is a genius. We spoke about everything," actor Jack Nichols after meeting with Castro in 1998. Saul Landau, an Emmy award-winning filmmaker: Castro "has brought a greater equality in terms of wealth distribution than I guess any country in the world today."

Film director Steven Spielberg visited Cuba and met with Castro in November of 2002 and dined with the dictator until the early morning hours. Afterward, Spielberg announced that his dinner with Castro "was the eight most important hours of my life." Not the day of his wedding. Not the day that his kids were born. The most important hours of his life was the time that he spent with this criminal. Click here to read more about Spielberg's visit to Havana.

Ralph Nader: "Nader also spoke in favor of abandoning a 40-year-old US trade embargo against Cuba, saying the United States should treat Cuba as it treats China. He said the two nations should also launch a dialogue on the meaning of democracy." Click here'

The most recent Useful Idiot? 

[Idiot: Informal: an utterly foolish or senselesserson.]

August 13, 2011 23:30

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill congratulates Fidel Castro on his 85th birthday anniversary.
  
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."

 Monsieur Fidel Castro   
Dear Comandante!

What Is Orthodoxy?

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH: HEAVEN ON EARTH

"We knew not whether we were in heaven or earth...We only know that God dwells there among men, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations."

With these words, envoys sent by pagan Russian Prince Vladimir in the year 987 recorded their impression of Constantinople's awesome Orthodox Cathedral, the Hagia Sophia. They had been sent to search for the true religion. Within a year of their report, Prince Vladimir and the Russian people were baptized into Christ by Orthodox missionaries.

Today, as in Prince Vladimir's time, the Orthodox Church-fully aware that man is a union of body and soul-uses all the beauty of creation to move her faithful children to prayer and worship: icons (holy pictures), beautiful singing, sweet smelling incense, and majestic services.

Yet if the visible beauty of the Church is dazzling, her unseen beauty and glory are even more compelling, for the Orthodox Church is the Bride of Christ, and within her shelter we can begin to struggle for our salvation.

ORIGINS OF ORTHODOXY

The Greek word Orthodoxia means "correct praise" or "correct teaching" and in Orthodox worship the praise and teaching are closely interwoven. If you attentively follow the prayers and services of the Church, you can learn from them all her teachings and rich spiritual experience. The services trace their beginnings back to the Old Testament rites of the Hebrews. They are a treasury of Scripture readings, prayers, hymns and canons composed by the Saints and pious Christians throughout the ages.

Pascha (Easter in western parlance - a name derived from a pagan goddess) is the Feast of Feasts, the high point of the Orthodox year. During Pascha, the Church shines with the glory of Christ's resurrection. Clouds of fragrant incense accompany prayers heavenward; choirs and bells sing out the triumphant news; the faithful greet one another with the holy kiss of peace and the greeting, "Christ is risen!" The altar doors are left open all week to show that the Gates of Paradise are opened by Christ for us sinners to enter in for eternal life and joy in heaven.

SACRED TRADITION

Just as the Grace of the Holy Spirit which descended on the Apostles at Pentecost flows in a living stream down through today's bishops and priests, so Sacred Tradition carries the spiritual life of the Church in an unbroken stream from the time of the Apostles down to Orthodox believers today.

Sacred Tradition includes the unwritten acts and teachings of Christ and the Apostles which the Church preserves unchanged for us all. (John 21:25; 2 Thess. 2:15; 2 Thess. 3:6)

The power of Sacred Tradition is the power of the Holy Spirit as it influences Orthodox Christians in all ages. Through Sacred Tradition we are in communion with the spiritual life of all preceding generations back to the Apostles.

ORTHODOX BELIEFS AND SACRAMENTS

We worship God in Trinity, glorifying equally the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, begotten before all ages, and that He is of one essence with the Father. We believe that Christ incarnate is truly man, like us in all respects except sin. We worship the Holy Spirit as Lord and Life-giver who proceeds from the Father.

We honor and venerate the saints and ask their intercession before God. Of the saints, Mary, the Mother of God, holds a special place "More honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim."

Baptism and Chrismation are the two sacraments essential to enter into the saving shelter of the Church. Baptism by triple immersion washes away our sins and restores the image of Adam. With Chrismation, we receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, becoming partakers of the fullness of Christ.

In the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we partake of the true Body and Blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine for the remission of sins, the healing of body and soul, and for life eternal.

Confession is the fourth essential sacrament for the life of all Christians. In confession, Christ gives us, through our father confessor, the forgiveness of the sins we commit after Baptism if we truly repent of them.

Ordination, Marriage, and Holy Unction complete the central Mysteries of Orthodoxy. By the laying on of hands, a bishop transmits Divine Grace to the person being ordained, linking him-through the continuing flow of Grace that descended on the Apostles at Pentecost-to the uninterrupted succession of Orthodox clergy.

Divine Grace sanctifies the union of two people in matrimony. (Orthodox parish priests are usually married; bishops now come from the Church's monastic tradition.)

The sacrament of Holy Unction heals infirmities of body and soul.

CHURCH SYMBOLS

Virtually everything you see in an Orthodox Church symbolizes and calls to mind some aspect of our meeting with eternal Divinity.

The Domes. The peaked Russian dome draws our yearning and aspiration upward toward God and spiritual life. Like its ancestor the round Byzantine dome, the Russian dome celebrates in architecture what is accomplished by the Eucharistic Sacrament-the communion of heaven and earth. A single dome symbolizes the One Head of the Church, Jesus Christ; three domes stand for the Holy Trinity; five domes point to Christ and the Four Evangelists.

The Russian Orthodox Cross. On top of every dome, and throughout the church, you see the unique Russian three-bar cross. The top bar bears the sign "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews," reminding us that Christ is the King of Glory. The footboard, which was used by Roman executioners in Christ's time, is slanted up on the right for the thief who repented and down on the left for the thief who railed at Christ.

An Open Church. There are no pews or chairs in most Orthodox Churches. We stand during worship services out of reverence and humility before God. The absence of rigid pews gives us freedom to move about the Church and feel at home. We are free to venerate icons and light candles, as well as to bow and do the prostrations necessary at times of worship.

Candles. Candles burn before the icons and on the altar, signifying the light of truth given by the Lord, illuminating the world with spiritual radiance. Candles also symbolize our soul's burning love of God and the spiritual joy and triumph of the Church.

The Sanctuary. Raised above the nave (body of the Church), the sanctuary is where the Church's consecrated clergy perform divine services. The altar in the center of the sanctuary is known as the Holy Throne because the Lord God Himself is present on it.

The screen (called iconostasis, or image stand) is not placed in front of the altar to hide it, but to emphasize the inner mystery of the sacraments.

ICONS

On small stands, on the large iconstasis (icon stand) in front of the sanctuary, encircling the walls, and even up to the highest dome-holy pictures draw you into the spiritual life of the Church like silent, ever-preaching sermons. Called icons, from the Greek word for image, the holy pictures of Christ, the saints, and martyrs have deep significance in Orthodox life.

Because the Son of God took on human flesh and became incarnate as the God-man Jesus Christ, it became possible to portray the glory of God incarnate. "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!:" (Luke 10:23).

The icons' style may seem austere and strange at first; they do not depict the natural beauty of the material world, but the spiritual beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven. Icons are venerated, but not worshipped, by Orthodox Christians.

Free from the subjective, sentimental, and fleshly quality of Western religious art, the true icon is part of the Church's Sacred Tradition. A true icon, painted through the power of the Holy Spirit, is in communion with the spiritual life of the Church back to its earliest days.

Because of the unity of Sacred Tradition, icons-like Orthodoxy itself-exist as unchanging and ageless windows into the spiritual world. As you gaze into an icon, the calm eye of eternal truth falls upon you. And you begin to realize the true beauty and order of all things visible and invisible.

THE CATACOMB CHURCH

The 1917 revolution destroyed the Russian Empire and plunged the world, and especially the Orthodox world, into darkness. The Church in Russia was subjected to vicious persecution by the atheist Bolsheviks.

Patriarch Tikhon, Head of the Church, anathematized the Bolshevik rulers and suffered imprisonment and torture for his refusal to submit to their demands. However, his successor, Metropolitan Sergius, gave in and with his notorious Declaration of 1927 made the church in the Soviet Union a political tool of the atheist government. The majority of the clergy vehemently protested against this concordat, but they were systematically killed. Not only the clergy, but Orthodox throughout the land suffered incredibly. According to the Soviet government's own statistics, there have been over 20 million new Christian martyrs who have died for the Orthodox Christian Church. Sorrowing for their suffering but rejoicing in the strength of their faith, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the millennium of Russian Orthodoxy (988-1988) by glorifying her Holy New Martyrs.

Even after the collapse of the Bolshevik state, large numbers of Orthodox Christians continue a catacomb existence within post-Soviet Russia and other former Soviet states. Far too frequent attacks on the visible churches of Orthodox Christians who refuse to submit to the Moscow Patriarchate, the successor to the Soviet Church created by the subservience of Metropolitan Sergius and his successors, bear witness to the wisdom of those who prefer to remain barely visible.

THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ABROAD

Millions of Russians fled their homeland and settled in exile after the Bolsheviks established their control of Russia. On 7 November 1920, Patriarch Tikhon issued an Encyclical ordering all Russian Orthodox leaders outside Russia to organize a supreme Church authority and establish Church life and order independent of the church in the Soviet Union, which was and remains under communist control. Thus the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad was organized under the senior hierarch outside Russia, Metropolitan Anthony.

After the submission of most if its hierarchs to the Moscow Patriarchate on Ascension 2007, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (including Agape Community/ Church of the Annunciation and a large number of priests and parishes around the world) continues under the omophorion of Bishop Agafangel of Odessa, chairman of the Provisional Higher Church Authority, pending consecration of additional bishops and formal re-organization at the anticipated 2008 Sobor.  It continues in communion in prayer with the Old Calendar Church of Greece (Met. Cyprian of Fili), Romania (Met. Vlasie) and Bulgaria (Abp. Photi).

An unexpected action of its first Conference in Astoria NY, July 2007, was the establishment (pursuant to never-implemented resolutions of the All-Russian Sobor of 1917-18) of a Department of Missions, with an administration specifically for non-Russian/Slavonic missions throughout the world.

From http://www.annunciation.us/what_is_orthodoxy.html

Quit Acting Like A Baptist

Even though the Baptists provide a written statement refuting all systems of theology that would "deny the supernatural elements of our faith", in fact, with few exceptions, they relegate those elements to the New Testament days and cast great suspicion on any and all who claim that God speaks, moves, or works through them in a demonstratively supernatural way today.

I was delighted along my Journey To Orthodoxy to discover all of the supernatural elements of the Christian faith, alive and well in the orthodox Christian Church.  I have also been surprised lately to discover a propensity in many orthodox Christians to act like Baptists. It seems it is acceptable to talk of Saints and other dead believers to whom God spoke and demonstrated his power supernaturally, but let such happen to a living person and immediate condemnation occurs.  There seems to be a little more room to accept that an aesthetic, a monk, or a clergy has such a relationship with Holy Trinity, but should a layman experience a like walk with God, he is likely to be accused of being deceived by demons.  I have been the subject of such accusations, not for anything I have said or written, but simply for advocating that our God speaks to and through us in supernatural ways that can transcend the natural human experience. One JTO reader, after having read my some of my posts, affirmed me in that he saw nothing erroneous in any of the posts or words. He later, after talking to a few people, decided that I was influenced by demons. I was also chided, and even hounded by another JTO reader to the extent that I had to block all further e-mail correspondence from him, only the second person I have had to deal with in such a manner.

I wonder what these opponents, these Baptistesque, purveyors of the existence of only a humanistic relational Christianity, have to say to Saint Symeon The New Theologian.

"Believers acquire the knowledge of God by means of various and divers signs: mystical and unutterable workings, ambiguous sayings, divine revelations, flashes, contemplation of creation and many other means to increase the faith of such believers and raises them to the love of God. Not only this, but God informs them, as he did the Apostles, through the bestowal and presence of the Holy Spirit, and they are illumined more fully and are taught by the light, since God is ineffable and inexpressible, uncreated and eternal and incomprehensible. We are able to possess all knowledge and every word of wisdom and word of more mystical science. Furthermore, we are able to manifest the working of miracles and the grace of prophecy and diverse kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues, helps and the administration of cities and people, and the full knowledge of  future blessings, and the gaining of the Kingdom of Heaven, adoption and the putting on of Christ and the knowing of the mysteries of Christ and His mystery of dispensation toward us and, simply, all things which the unbelievers are ignorant of. We who are believers are able to know and to believe and to say these things, being taught by the Holy Spirit alone." 

Would anyone care to pray to Saint Symeon and tell him that he, too, was deceived by demons?  Quit acting like a Baptist.

As Wise As A Serpent, As Harmless As A Dove

Okay, I am afraid I got the scripture backwards today when two teen females attempted to snap a photo of me in a shopping mall. I became as wise as a dove and as harmless as a serpent. I was accosted by two girls who thought it an important part of their life experience to participate in the fad of planking. 

As I was sitting on a bench in the food court, enjoying some tabbouleh and rice, the young lady came and lay beside me with her head not 10 inches from my waist. It took my brain a few seconds to grasp the strange event. When I saw her accomplice snapping the photo, I immediately jumped up from the table and got away from the planker. I proceeded, in no uncertain terms, to inform these two immature, subculture, fad-driven, Internet influenced, teens, that what they were doing could destroy a person's reputation and good standing. As they tried to leave, I demanded that they stay. I called a mall security guard to come and assure that they had erased the photo, which they described as "an Internet thing." The young ladies' greatest concern was that they might be banned from the mall, not that they had caused a stranger harm, and in her defiance and rebellion, the planking girl exclaimed, "you are not my father." Of that there was no doubt.

I heard the story years ago of the evangelist, Billy Graham, arriving at his hotel room to find a woman in it. Sensing the set-up that it was, he immediately bolted out of the room and ran down the hall. I always appreciated the wisdom of that reaction. Sometimes fleeing the very appearance of evil requires a quick sprint.

A Blessed Land

We were blessed this week and so was our land and the house that sits on it. It must have been a strange sight, to those passing by, to see a tall, bearded man, dressed in a cassock, walking barefoot, swinging a censor. This is especially true since my wife and I have recently acquired a property in a small community in Tennessee, that still has the old country store and "fillin' station", the small post office, and the staple southern protestant churches, Baptist and Church of Christ.  What an honor it was to walk with our beloved priest as he prayed prayers of blessing and dispelled any demonic forces that may have made the place home over the years. With this blessing came notice to the heavens and to the earth, that there are new inhabitants now, orthodox Christians. 

Our four walls were anointed with oil,  covering the East, West, North, and South. Since our priest had not been able to find his "regular" anointing oil as he was heading over, he grabbed a bottle of oil that he had obtained some thirty plus years ago. It was not until he started making the sign of the cross on the walls, with the oil, that he informed us that the oil was from the vigil lamp of Saint John the Wonderworker. It was those many years ago that our priest had sojourned, at the suggestion of Father Seraphim Rose, to San Francisco, to the church and tomb of Saint John. There, he was allowed in alone, at night, and filled his vial with the precious oil. It was later that Saint John was canonized.

I pray that the land and house, with which our Lord has entrusted us, will be a place of healing and peace to all to step foot here, for we are stewards of His gracious gifts. 

"Owning nothing but possessing everything."

What's a Musician To Do...in the orthodox Christian Church?

Early in my Journey to Orthodoxy I noticed that the word orthodox was used more often than the word Christian in referring to a baptized person in the Church. It is understandable that the term orthodox is needed today to distinguish between those in the original church, established by Christ, and those in the myriads of pseudo-christian groups claiming to be churches. In fact, the word orthodox, meaning "right teaching" or "right glory", was first used in the early centuries of the church to distinguish between those who adhered to the faith of our fathers and those who were given to heresies. "We are orthodox Christians," one might have said.

Though the word's usage started as an adjective, today it is erroneously used more often as a noun; the Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, the "Orthodox" church, and the like. The fact is, we are not Orthodox, we are orthodox. We are not part of the Orthodox Church, we are part of the orthodox Christian Church. It is easy to clear up the misunderstanding with non-orthodox people, but it seems a little harder to clear it up with the orthodox faithful. The word orthodox has become so synonymous with Christian, that some very important lines have become skewed. We are actually orthodox Christians not Orthodox Christians.

I often hear the phrase, "that's not orthodox", but rarely hear the phrase "that's not Christian." The phrase, "that's not orthodox", is often used in reference to doctrines, but I have discovered the phrase is more often used in reference to a cultural tradition or practice. This is where the Orthodox and the orthodox can get skewed. A case in point is the use of songs of praise with musical instruments. Are songs of praise and musical instruments un-orthodox? Are they un-Christian?

When musicians come into the orthodox Church, they learn very quickly that there is no room for their instrumental skills in the Temple worship. They also learn that their vocal skills even must be tweaked to sing and chant according to the byzantine or other liturgical traditions. The "o" and the "O" becomes skewed when musicians are told or made to feel that their instrumental or vocal talents are not orthodox. This is where one must be careful to respond, "Yes, but is it Christian"?

There is and should be a place for musicians in the orthodox Christian Church. It may not be orthodox in the Temple but it is Christian to use instruments, lyrics, melodious songs of praise and joy to worship and praise our God in other venues. Would it be un-orthodox to allow such expression of praise in the coffee hour or in another venue? No. Would it be un-Christian? Certainly not.

We often hear the phrase, "passionless worship", to be practiced within the Liturgy. There is great value in this and it is orthodox to refrain from human passions in that context. However, one must not skew the Christian faith to say, "that's not orthodox", to the orthodox Christian musician who would, with great passion, sing and play songs of praise to our God outside the context of the liturgy.

I encourage all of the orthodox Christian world to encourage the musicians amongst them to write, play, sing, and record songs of praise. Why? Because it is both orthodox and Christian to do so!

1. Ephesians 5:19
   Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
   
2. Colossians 3:16
   Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
   

1. Psalm 7:17
   I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
   
2. Psalm 9:2
   I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
   
3. Psalm 9:11
   Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
   
4. Psalm 13:6
   I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
   
5. Psalm 18:49
   Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
   
6. Psalm 21:13
   Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
   
7. Psalm 27:6
   And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
   
8. Psalm 30:4
   Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
   
9. Psalm 30:12
   To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
   
10. Psalm 33:2
    Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
    
11. Psalm 33:3
    Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

How To Get Enough

There are two ways to get enough. One way is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.

G.K. Chesterton 

 You know you have enough when you 

are able to live and to give.
Nathan Lee Lewis

(Okay, so I am not  G.K., but his quote inspired me.)

My wife and I have been downsizing for the last few years. With every move, we have gotten rid of more furniture and more possessions. We will downsize once more very soon and give many of our items to the church or to charity. To do so is not a reflection of our generosity or giving nature, rather, it is because we have enough. Having enough means you are able to live and give. Our dwellings over the years have gotten smaller and smaller. Now, being empty-nesters, once again, we can downsize and give. We will very soon move into the smallest dwelling in which we have ever lived, and have fewer possessions than we have ever had, and we have never been more content.

One of our fellow parishioners was surprised recently to discover that we did not own a house. I imagine the parishioner made the same assumption about us that many do. They see our contentment. They see the dependable car we drive. They see we are able to give to the church and to tithe on a regular basis. Based on this standard, they assume we are wealthy or at least well-to-do. We are neither. We are just blessed, regularly, by our loving God who knows what we have need of before we even ask and is able to give to us more than we could ever ask or hope. He gives good gifts to His children and allows us to do the same.

A good friend of mine used to sing the old negro spiritual which adequately states the life we lead:

You can't beat God giving, no matter how hard you try. 

And as sure as you are living, and the Lord is in heaven on high. 

The more you give, the more he gives to you. 

So keep on giving. 

Why? Because,  it's really  true. 

It's true that you can't beat God giving no matter how hard you try.

"Give and it shall be given unto you. Pressed down, shaken together, running over shall men pour into your bosom."

We live and we give. We have enough. How about you?

If Captain Kirk Were Orthodox...

My wife and I have been learning to chant all of the Orthodox services. We had to sleep all of Bright Week after participating in Pascha week. As our beloved priest was patiently giving us another lesson today, I could not help but think of a clip from the television series, Star Trek. If Captain Kirk were Orthodox, he might explain the process of learning to chant the services something like this:

Maybe it would be a relief if someone just gave me the Vulkan Nerve Pinch!

Lights! Camera! Religious Pluralism! Part Two

This week I talked with a young man who said he was interested in becoming a Christian and being a part of the Orthodox Faith. Knowing that he had tried several Christian sects and denominations, and thus, was not unfamiliar with the Christian life, I approached him as did Christ to the Rich, Young, Ruler. I told him that it was a hard life and that he had to give up everything he was and had in order to follow Christ, and that few find the narrow path. Time will tell as to whether he will come to Christ or go away sorrowful as did the Rich Young Ruler.

Mark 10:17-27"And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why call thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honor thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. 21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lack: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked round about, and said unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again, and said unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? 27 And Jesus looking upon them said, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."

Hearing today of the untimely, accidental death of Evangelist David Wilkerson I came upon this You Tube video. I could not help but think of my recent post, in which the Southwest Church of Christ, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, promoted a video to entice people to come to their church. The video gave licence to anyone to come as they were no matter what their sin or stated belief. There was not one mention of the required repentance or the rigidity of the Christan life that is required to follow Christ. Perhaps this church should make Wilkerson's video mandatory viewing for all of its members and especially its staff. Perhaps this is the video they should show to prospective members of their church.

God bless David Wilkerson. May the truth of his words bring change to the hearers, especially Southwest Church of Christ in Jonesboro, Arkansas.