I Know What I Know What I Know...

It is unthinkable to think that what you think now will not be what you think in the future, especially where it comes to your doctrine, denomination or basic religious upbringing. But, alas, things change and we find we are not as knowledgeable as what we thought we were when we were thinking those thoughts. Ya think?

Thanks, but NO THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been inundated with e-mail forwards to almost all of my e-mail addresses. It seems the Evangelicals make best use of this impersonal method of communication. I try to take time to personally answer these forwards, especially the ones that are most provoking. I think it shocks the senders-they certainly don't expect to hear back from anyone when they push that forward button. Out of sight out of mind- no responsibility or accountability. My message to them...Quit it if you don't want to hear it! Here is my latest retort to someone who thought I might be inspired by anything Rick Warren says:

Dear Friend,

The Rick Warren update forwarded to my KFI Business account is an unfortunate substitute for a personal message. I have no interest in what he says or "thinks" (a word he uses often). I do care about what you think. I met Rick when he was a skinny newly graduated religious diatribe at California Baptist College. My cousin also is on his staff. Warren has already admitted the hollowness of his own ministry and church. It is regretful he couldn't have learned that in 1974 when I met him. Could have saved he and thousands of people from entering the mire of the western evangelical church which is a far cry from the original church of the Apostles-The Orthodox Church. He has sold a lot of books though. Rick Warren is a flash in the evangelical pan. I would rather quote men like St. Ignatius who lived and walked personally with the Apostles and Christ himself. But I'd be willing to bet Rick's followers have never heard of St Ignatius, Iranaeus, Justin Martyr, Clement of Rome or any of the Early Church Fathers who were too busy getting torn apart by lions to negotiate a book deal. They would have very little in common doctrinally or method-wise.

Please forgive my strong response, I seem to get more than my share of forwarded evangelical tripe. You are not the first one who has had both barrels let loose on them for not thinking through to whom they are communicating. I am not an evangelical, protestant or western Christian. I am part of the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church- Eastern Orthodox of Antioch, where we were first called Christians. The undivided, unbroken, original Church for over 2000 years. It took me 50 years to wade through the Warrenesque noise and find the faith of our fathers. I think I'll stay. When it gets too noisy for you I invite you to join me. www.journeytoorthodoxy.blogspot.com

Saint Rozella Pray For Me

For years as a Protestant I was confused about the immediate destination of a loved one when they departed this life. Somewhere along the line I was influenced by the idea of Soul Sleep. Soul Sleep is the idea that the soul of the departed immediately goes to sleep to await their bodily resurrection which occurs at the second coming of Christ. At the same time, I was told to rejoice because those that had gone on before are that "great cloud of witnesses." I couldn't resolve the question as to how the departed souls could witness anything if they were asleep. Nevertheless, as I Journey To Orthodoxy, I continue to be delivered, disconnected and defused from many heretical teachings that I once held, or more accurately, that once held me.

Purgatory is a wholly Roman Catholic doctrine. The Church Orthodox has never held that an unregenerate individual has a chance for salvation after death thus the idea of a state of waiting, to be prayed or paid out, is totally foreign and heretical. However, the Church Orthodox has always held that salvation is a process not an event and that process continues after physical death. Orthodox Prayers for the dead, which is such a difficult subject for the western religious mind, are not because the departed are not His, but because they are His. (I'll let you do a more thorough study on the theology of that one. Click the blue link above.) We pray for the departed and we pray to the departed, because the only thing they have departed is their physical bodies.

A quick semantics observation for the non-orthodox and the English illiterate, the definition of "pray."

prayed, pray·ing, prays. v.intr.

1. To utter or address a prayer or prayers to God, a god, or another object of worship.
2. To make a fervent request or entreaty.

v.tr.

1. To utter or say a prayer or prayers to; address by prayer.
2. To ask (someone) imploringly; beseech. Now often used elliptically for I pray you to introduce a request or entreaty: Pray be careful.
3. To make a devout or earnest request for: I pray your permission to speak.
4. To move or bring by prayer or entreaty.

[Middle English preien, from Old French preier, from Latin precārī, from precē, pl. of *prex, prayer.]

So pray tell, in case you have a problem with the thought of anyone praying to anyone other than God, simply answer this question: "Have you ever asked a human being anything?" If the answer is "yes" then you prayed to them. Is there a difference in asking/praying to God and asking/praying to a departed saint? Of course. God can sovereignly move on our behalf and change events by His own hand. The only power that a departed saint has to effect events is in His prayer to God on our behalf. They have lived this life, have left this life and are today with the angels and all the saints of the ages around the throne of God.

It is with this in mind that I found myself at Morning Prayers recently. As I paused to add personal petitions (prayers) I saw, in a new and dynamic way, in the debths of my spirit, that my mother, Rozella, who left this life in 1980, is still alive, is conscious, can hear and see me, and is present with the angels and the saints of the ages worshiping around the throne. I spoke to her. I "prayed" to her to beseech the Lord on my behalf for the salvation and theosis of my soul and I prayed to God for the theosis of her soul. I cannot explain, I only can say, my mother was with me and I was with her. She was where I was and I was where she was for the first time since 1980. The realm of the Spirit is as real as the physical. It's the same but different :-). I communed with the saints. I communed with Saint Rozella and who better to pray for me than the one who knows me so well?

The Problem With Semantics Part 4 Hearing What We Think We Hear

Hal Smith was the choir director at church. His wife Tilly, was the organist. As Tilly was practicing one day, a fellow church member came up behind her and asked her a question having to do with the choir. Not having the answer and raising her voice above the organ, Tilly replied, "Go to Hal!" The church split soon after that. To this day no one knows why.

Alternative ending: Hal and Tilly were asked to leave the church soon after that. To this day they don't know why.

The Problem With Semantics Part 3 Hearing What We Think We Hear

A hillbilly man from the hills took his first trip to the big city of New York. He was absolutely mesmerized by the sites and sounds. He gazed into windows and watched the different characters pass by, even saying an occasional "How U?", getting no response. A nearby police officer watched the hillbilly with suspicion. As the hillbilly fixed his eyes on the heights of a tall building the policeman decided to confront him. "Got an ID?" the officer asked? "About whut?" came the reply.

The Problem With Semantics Part 2

A conversation with Jesus.

Many times when I am troubled or confused, I find comfort in sitting in my back yard having an iced tea and a quiet conversation with Jesus.

This happened to me again after a particularly difficult day.

I said “Jesus, why do I work so hard?”
 And I heard the reply: “Men find many ways to demonstrate the love they have for their family. You work hard to have a peaceful, beautiful place for your friends and family to gather.”

I said: “I thought that money was the root of all evil.”
 And the reply was: “No, the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money is a tool; it can be used for good or bad”.

I was starting to feel better, but I still had that one burning question, so I asked it. “Jesus,” I said, “what is the meaning of life? Why am I here?”
He replied: “That is a question many men ask. The answer is in your heart and is different for everyone. I would love to chat with you some more, Señor, but for now, I have to finish your lawn.”
(borrowed- origin unknown)

The Problem With Semantics

In case you can' t read this, the posted sign reads:

"Bill Stickers Will be Prosecuted"

The graffiti response reads, "

"Bill Stickers is innocent."

In case semantics has gotten in your way:

Orthodox don't worship Mary, we venerate her.

Praying to saints is "asking them to pray for us", not attributing to them the power and ability of God to change things in our lives.

Kissing the hand of the Priest is honoring what that hand does in offering the Eucharist, not worshiping the man who owns the hand.

And so on and so on...

Do you really want to know what the Church has always held or will you continue to diatribe and be dogmatic to the detriment of your own soul?

Blowing Off Steam-Cover Your Face!

I received a forwarded video smearing Barack Obama today. There was nothing in the words of this Church Of Christ Brother that was heretical, however the commentator of the video, with an obvious agenda, attempted to make it seem so. I am afraid I came close to sinning. I refuse to post the video here for you to see so you will just have to get the gist from my words. Here was my rambling my response:
I am weary of these conservative evangelical fundamental misconstruers of Barack Obama. There are negatives about Obama but this video is dishonest. If you have ears to hear, listen again to what he is saying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is doing anything but mocking! He is pointing out the hypocrisy of the Government. Obviously the books of the law are not applicable to us today! So what part of what he said do you not agree with ???? I am a Christian and heard no heretical teaching coming from his mouth. It is a sin also to falsely accuse a brother in Christ. Shame on the promoter of this video. He is a liar and a deceiver and those who promote this video are just as deceived. Stop it! You keep voting for so-called "pro life" politicians and "how's that working for you?" Why do we still have Roe V Wade and abortion on demand after all these years? Could it be that you Evangelicals are just being used? If you want to do something really constructive, invest or send investors to my pro-life film Ausrotten. (See link below.) Put your money where your mouth is! Help change the hearts and mind of the world by supporting a feature film that reveals the murderous spirit of the Pro Choice, Planned Parenthood driven extermination machine. Austrotten is German for "Extermination." Come on you heartless diatribes! I am offering you an opportunity to actually effect the spiritual realm by getting physically involved. But I doubt many or any will take me up on this offer. Look at all the non-profit pro-life groups you think so highly of and probably support. They are so concerned with paying the salaries of all their myriads of employees that, in comparison, they could care less how many babies have been ripped apart, limb from limb today. They will go home and sleep just fine having deposited their paychecks that day. Quit wasting your time telling lies about Obama and ignoring the self righteous, unstable, war mongering, adulterer, McCain just because he said the right words to Rick Warren. "Professing themselves to be wise they become fools."

God Bless you. I look forward to hearing from you on my BLOG.

www.journeytoorthodoxy.blogspot.com
UPDATE 12/2011: Support our current feature film!
Moses The Black-The Movie

Why Orthodoxy Trips Up Religious Dogmatists

"If you teach a man to think he is thinking, he will love you.

If you teach a man to think, he will hate you."

Drifting Or Drawing?

I was a drifter from an early age. No, I did not drift from faith in God nor of the unshakable drive that the whole of my life and soul was in pursuit of knowing my creator and of doing His will. I was only a drifter in the sense that my perceptions of certain elements of faith and practiced were being refined. Such refining put me out of compliance with the religious structure in which I was raised. Where I knew I was intentionally pursuing, those around me not so inclined, perceived that I was drifting. To them there was something wrong with me. I was drifting, off base, being led astray, in rebellion, in sin, leaving the faith, in fear of eternal damnation, misguided, confused, ignorant, unlearned, immature, in need of understanding, stubborn, independent, wrong, deceived, lost, compromising, had gotten off the "straight path or narrow road", lacked wisdom, full of the devil, heretical, wrongly influenced and/or [add your word or phrase here...].

I was a drifter not because of any of the before mentioned items, but because my pursuit of God had required that I step outside of a doctrine, practice, belief, standard, method, church tenant that those around me held. I was a drifter. There was something wrong with me that those around me, sincere in their love, would by compulsion, come to my aide to throw a rope and dive into the water if they had to. They were determined to rescue me. A good rule in point is to make sure a person is drowning before you yell, "man overboard". If he isn't going under, he's still talking, his arms aren't flailing, and there is a smile on his face, maybe the water he is in doesn't present an immanent danger. All I knew was that there was more and that, until I found it, I was just a sketch of what I was to be.

When I had drifted enough for my father to have exhausted all means to "save" me, except one, I found myself at a Christian Counselor's Office. I was not dragged there kicking and screaming, in fact the meeting was my idea. Parent's love runs deep and religious faith is too often so intertwined that the two cannot be separated. It is too easy for parents to base their acceptance and opinion of their drifting child on a tainted love. Allowing for the possibility that the religious system in which they were raised, no matter how many positive elements it contains, is not the original, unchanged, Faith of our Fathers, that which was given by Christ, taught by the Apostles and preserved by the Church, parents act on what they know-and God bless them. This being said, they can still make the process of becoming Orthodox quite trying. But if Orthodoxy is the faith and God wills that all should be a part, then someone in each non-Orthodox family must be the first. Someone must be Adam.

I requested to meet with my father and the counselor of his choice. My father's conclusion that I was out of compliance had evolved to such an extent that he saw the destruction of my soul as a great possibility. He could not understand why I reacted so strongly to his intrusion into both my spiritual and personal adult life and why he couldn't "help me." The fact is, I was a college graduate-religion/pastoral ministries- from his Alma Mater, I was a licensed and ordained minister, had never been in trouble with the law, had never tried drugs of any kind, was a virgin when I married, was happily married, had served on several church staffs, was raising my children in the faith and respect of God, and had devoted my entire life and being, not to greed or avarice, but to the sacrifice of holy living and the service of God. However, there was one thing I lacked, one that made me a drifter in his eyes- I was leaving my Baptist roots.

I sat in that meeting for an hour without one question ever being addressed to me, for the counselor was focused on my father. My father had chosen a Baptist friend of his who read the matter well. The context of the conversation was the fact that my father's son, who sat there next to him, was an adult and was not being treated or perceived as such. The son of my father (me) had a heavenly father also who loved him and was able to do what needed to be done in the life of that son. My father's somewhat self-appointed patriarchal view was an intertwined combination of his self-image and his religious convictions. Even though my pastor father had served the Heavenly Father well all of his life, the matter of correctly aligning his earthly role was skewed.

Do we raise our children in the fear and admonition of the
Lord or in the fear and admonition of the fact that we raised
them in the fear and admonition of the Lord?

In other words: Now that they are adults,
Who do you want them to fear, you or God?

 

I have had five children with my wife of 28 years. There have been times when I have had to be concerned for their souls because their drifting was rooted in the very fabric of what constitutes a holy life. Those times differ greatly from the question of whether or not they are in line with my religious tradition. Make no mistake: I believe that the Orthodox Faith is the original Christian faith with no adulteration of doctrine. I hope and pray daily for my children, who are not yet Orthodox, to come all the way home to the Church, however, I do not doubt their salvation nor the ability of God to be a better parent to them than I ever could. My children are no longer children. They are adults and I must have faith in the God I say I serve that He is totally capable of taking it from here! He can complete the work he has begun.

Anything else is self-serving, faithless, manipulation for selfish fulfillment.

The odds are not high that you will readily accept the possibility that God has heard your prayers and those of your parents, concerning your own spiritual walk and faithfulness and that His answer is coming through your own children who now Journey To Orthodoxy. How is it that so many in America now find themselves returning to the Faith of our Fathers- The Apostolic Faith-The Orthodox Faith? The sovereign hand of God is drawing.

Yes, God is drawing, they are not drifting and you too are being drawn.

As I was writing this article, my 18 year old, newly graduated daughter, came and asked for my blessing for her to go out with a friend. It seems it was dark, kind of late and her mother had concerns. Well, so did I. Much of our parenting has involved keeping our children safe and one of the ways to do that was to not allow our children to be in situations where things could happen. But, this was my eighteen year old standing in front of me. Next week I will take her to college in a different town. A State University, a big campus, night life, a college town and all that goes with it. So, she asked me for my blessing to go out. I looked at my new adult and said, "You will be spending many nights out. You will have many decisions to make. Be wise and be careful." I reached out and kissed her hand. She responded by embracing me with, "I love you daddy." To which I responded, "May the grace and protection of the Lord go with you." And that prayer is sufficient for the future.