Please Pray For Me

To all JTO readers: Please pray for me. I am spending the month of March in the Los Angeles area. I am pursuing the success of several important film projects and am in the middle of an intense collaborative screenwriting session. Pray for all Orthodox believers whom GOD has called into the film industry. If we won't go, who will? "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." For it is "Christ's love that compels us..."

Poll 2 For Orthodox Christians

In this unscientific poll, the question was: "Should Orthodox Christians Work In The Film Industry?"

Out of 33 respondents:

29 (87%) said YES
 4  (2%)   said NO

Assuming that all of the voters were Orthodox, what do you think this poll says about Orthodox Christians? Are you surprised or concerned about either of the percentages?

Leave Your Comment Below

The Christian Filmmaker's Creed

We believe the authentic art of filmmaking has intrinsic value and is divine in its origins.
We believe art does not earn value just because it serves some human intent; rather, it is inherently valuable because the very act of creating is a reflection of the Creator.
We believe there should be no segregation of "religious" and "secular" artistic subject matter, for reality, like God, is One.
We believe the depiction of debase human behavior as gratuitous entertainment is destructive to the individual and to society as a whole.
We believe the realistic, germane, artistic depiction of debase human behavior is not inherently the endorsement of it.
We believe "Adventiat Regnum Tuum" as an infinite truth.

Poll 1 For Orthodox Christians

In this unscientific poll, the Question was: "Has God ever spoken to you directly?"

Out of 173 votes:
109 (63%) said "Yes"
22 (12%) said "No"
15 (8%) said "No but God does speak directly."
27 (15%) said "No God does not speak directly."

Assuming that all of the voters were Orthodox, what do you think this poll says about Orthodox Christians? Are you surprised or concerned about any of the percentages?

Leave your comment below.

The a-MAZE-ing Orthodox Church

Having been traveling in the ecclesiastical maze of the Orthodox Church for eight years, half of that being in the Old Calendar maze, some air of reason has filled my lungs. This deep breath has given me the strength to ask a question in this public forum: What does the ecclesiastical disunity, independence, battles, conflicts, secluded sects, disputes over which bishop/jurisdiction is authentic and which isn't, say about the claim that the Orthodox church is that true, unified expression for which Christ prayed? 

The heart of my question is better illustrated, not by me, but by a convert to the Catholic Church. His article compares the disunity of Protestants with the central unity of the Catholic Church. Could the same be said of Orthodox disunity? Here is a section of his article with my contribution:

Unity: Jesus’s fervent prayer

Thirdly, the prayer of Jesus in John 17 had long haunted me as I surveyed the state of the Protestant [Orthodox] world. It records that Jesus intercedes for His disciples and repeatedly prays for their unity – a required ingredient if the world is to know the Gospel as truth. Consequently, unity and authority are of paramount concern, for unity is sustained and directed by authority. A Church led by the Holy Spirit, made up of Spirit-filled people, would by definition be consumed by these prayer concerns. There is then an inconsistency in claiming to be Spirit-led while furthering disunity and rebellion.

I once read the words of Sagoyewatha (ca. 1758-1830), also known as Red Jacket, a chief of the Seneca tribe. He responded negatively to the request of a Protestant [Orthodox] missionary to work amongst his people by saying, in part, “Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agree, as you can all read the book?”

He further stated, “[Also] we have been told that you have been preaching to the white people in this place … we will wait a little while and see what effect your preaching has upon them.”

Sagoyewatha intuitively understood a painful fact: disunity and increasing fragmentation is a witness that brings disrepute to the Gospel. Jesus established a Church that was united under a hierarchy of bishops, whose authority is traced to the Apostles, and focused in its message and purpose, not a fragmented, chaotic entity that communicates to the unbelieving that the love of God is weak and His purpose in the Gospel is a failure. Those who remain divided are unwilling to consider how disunity has worked against the growth of the Kingdom. +

Well, I too have "waited a little while" in the doors of the Orthodox Church and I am not sure I am as settled in this question as I once was. What say you?

Pope Benedict XVI

Lighting strikes on the day of the announcement.

Do Good To Your Enemies

The exhortation to love your enemies is especially important for the self-appointed defenders of the orthodox faith, who have a presence on the internet. I have seen the propensity of some, especially in Old Calendar jurisdictions, to not only isolate themselves from others, but to consider others their enemies. In doing so they publicly and malevolently attack others in the name of righteousness. They do ignore that, though we may have enemies, and our God may have enemies, we are specifically instructed as to how to respond. 

Matthew 5:43-48
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect

Try doing good to your enemies, and in so doing, you will be more like the Christ you claim to defend.

I continue to pray for those who personally attack me publicly on the internet. I pray, and do not engage them. I do appeal to my priest and my bishop, not on my behalf, but on the behalf of others who must similarly endure the malevolent character assassination from other orthodox people. I pray for these clarions of hateful diatribe, but, rather than hope for their demise, I fear that the outcome may be that their own judgment will fall upon their own heads. May it not be so. May their hateful words be silenced by allowing the love of Christ to dwell richly within them. Only in this will they, themselves, find joy.

Has God Ever Spoken Directly To You? Part One -Updated

Just days after posting the JTO poll, "Has God Ever Spoken Directly To You?", The Blaze.com, a political news website, posed the same question to it's readers, "Has God ever spoken to you directly?". Could The Blaze editors be reading JTO? In any case, It seems timely to allow JTO readers to comment further than a click on a poll.

After voting in the Poll on the right column, go to the Comment section below and voice your opinion and experience. 

Has God Ever Spoken Directly To You?

UPDATE: The poll to the right show signs of being swarmed by Intergnats. These Intergnats apparently are voting more than once to attempt to prove their point. Such multiple voting is not honest, is evidence of the insecurity of their position, and only skews what is already an unscientific poll. To assure that the poll is balanced, please take time to click on the comment section and share your view and experience.

Part two: http://journeytoorthodoxy.blogspot.com/2014/06/has-god-ever-spoken-directly-to-you.html

The Art Of Questioning

Lesson # One: A question is not a statement.

A question is not a statement. It is a question. It does not conclude nor suggest a conclusion. It is a question, quite often to provoke discussion or to reason out a matter. A question is also not a doubt. It is a question. God loves those who diligently seek Him. To question is a vital part of that process. It is okay to question. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." Those who fear or are offended by questioning are either insecure or prideful in their knowledge or position.

Learn the art of questioning.

Grace Greater Than Our Sin

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,

Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!

Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,

There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Refrain:

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God’s grace,

Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,

Threaten the soul with infinite loss;

Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,

Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide;

What can we do to wash it away?

Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,

Brighter than snow you may be today.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,

Freely bestowed on all who believe!

You that are longing to see His face,

Will you this moment His grace receive?

Julia H. Johnson 1910

Orthodox-o-meter: If you see doctrinal error in these lyrics or you are disturbed that they were penned by Protestant woman, rather than being moved by the thought of God's grace, perhaps you are Orthodox and not orthodox.