Balancing Protestant Ignorance

With TV controls in hand, I was recently speed-flipping through the "Christian channels". My finger must have slipped, for I paused for a second on the James Robison show. There, something caught my ear. A guest on the show was talking about Apostle Peter. The guest was remarking on how Peter was, "out of sync, making a completely out-of-sync decision, totally out of God’s will", in leading the other disciples to cast lots to replace Judas Iscariot with a man named Mathais. "The guest's reasoning was the fact that, "We all know that God doesn't pick Apostles through a lottery system", and "You never hear his (Mathais) name again the rest of the Bible". So, how is it that a man (in this case, a "best selling author") in 2012, can cast such dispersion on the entire group of Spirit-breathed Apostles who were acting only days after the resurrection of Christ, and only days after Christ had commissioned them?

^"19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled,  for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

²¹ So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” [John 20]

How can a man in 2012 make such an assertion? Sola Scriptura- the Protestant view, that if it isn't in the Bible, it didn't happen. Two phrases come to mind that might be of help in correcting such thinking: 

"To be deep in history, is to cease to be Protestant", 

 and , 

"Everything in the Bible is true, but not everything that is true is in the Bible."  

Sola Scriptura, or "Bible Worship", keeps the Protestant masses from viewing the 2000 years of church history. Another phrase comes to mind: 

"The Church gave us the Bible, the Bible didn't give us the Church." 

It is still astonishing that the protestant world so reveres the Bible as the only source of faith and practice, while ignoring the tradition that canonized it. They pay heed to the translated words of the text but ignore the fact that it was the orthodox Christian Church that gave them the scripture. They can trust that they have the right scriptures, but give no heed to the words of the spirit-breathed Bishops who determined what scriptures they would have. And thus the ignorance of the James Robison guest is displayed with his absolute obliviousness of Apostolic Succession.

It is true that Mathais is mentioned but once in the scripture and that without a biography. But, do we know who he was and how he lived his life? Yes, the original apostolic church knows and has always known. I fear doing the Robison guest's homework for him, or yours, but, I will direct you to one of many links that provide some of the  historic record of the Apostle Mathais, and I will post a short portion here: 

1. Apostle Matthias was born at Bethlehem of the Tribe of Judah. From his early childhood he studied the Law of God under the guidance of St Simeon the God-receiver.

2. When the Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself to the world, St Matthias believed in him as the Messiah, followed constantly after him and was numbered among the Seventy Apostles, whom the Lord "sent them two by two before His face" (Luke 10:1).

3. After the Ascension of the Savior, St Matthias was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve Apostles (Acts 1:15-26). After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Matthias preached the Gospel at Jerusalem and in Judea together with the other Apostles (Acts 6:2, 8:14). 

4. From Jerusalem he went with the Apostles Peter and Andrew to Syrian Antioch, and was in the Cappadocian city of Tianum and Sinope. Here the Apostle Matthias was locked into prison, from which he was miraculously freed by St Andrew the First-Called.

5. The Apostle Matthias journeyed after this to Amasea, a city on the shore of the sea. During a three year journey of the Apostle Andrew, St Matthias was with him at Edessa and Sebaste. According to Church Tradition, he was preaching at Pontine Ethiopia (presently Western Georgia) and Macedonia. He was frequently subjected to deadly peril, but the Lord preserved him to preach the Gospel.

6. Once, pagans forced the saint to drink a poison potion. He drank it, and not only did he himself remain unharmed, but he also healed other prisoners who had been blinded by the potion. When St Matthias left the prison, the pagans searched for him in vain, for he had become invisible to them. Another time, when the pagans had become enraged intending to kill the Apostle, the earth opened up and engulfed them.

7. The Apostle Matthias returned to Judea and did not cease to enlighten his countrymen with the light of Christ's teachings. He worked great miracles in the Name of the Lord Jesus and he converted a great many to faith in Christ.

8. The Jewish High Priest Ananias hated Christ and earlier had commanded the Apostle James, Brother of the Lord, to be flung down from the heights of the Temple, and now he ordered that the Apostle Matthias be arrested and brought for judgment before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem.

9. The impious Ananias uttered a speech in which he blasphemously slandered the Lord. Using the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Apostle Matthias demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the True God, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, Consubstantial and Coeternal with God the Father. After these words the Apostle Matthias was sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin and stoned.

10. When St Matthias was already dead, the Jews, to hide their malefaction, cut off his head as an enemy of Caesar. (According to several historians, the Apostle Matthias was crucified, and indicate that he instead died at Colchis.) The Apostle Matthias received the martyr's crown of glory in the year 63. 

I have two more phrases that might help Protestant pundits such as Robison's guest: 

"Separating Scripture and Tradition, is the height of academic ignorance", 

and finally, for the "best selling author", when all else fails,

"Google is your friend."

Ten Ways To Love

When I saw this on the internet, I immediately thought I would share it, especially with those orthodox Christians who deem it their mission to publicly point out, highlight, or judge, the faults, failures, spiritual state of other orthodox Christians. If such people would incorporate only half of these scriptural principles of love, then the vitriolic nature of public discourse would be tempered and the body of Christ would BE more like...the body of  Christ. For my part, I repent of not always following these principles and I will continue to adhere to the scriptural admonition: LOVE (EVEN) YOUR ENEMIES.

Still Critical of the Copts?

Are the Copts Monophysites? They sure don't sound like it to me:

12 minutes to a better understanding...

So the question remains: Is Miaphysitism orthodox? Hmmm...

Moses The Black The Motion Picture UPDATE 4/18/12

After ten years of research and one year of writing, the rough draft of the feature film screenplay for Moses The Black is complete. Now, on to the fine tuning and rewrites, then pre-development.  

The writer and producer still welcomes participation inquiries in this pre-development phase. Visit our website for more information.

www.mosestheblack.com

Nativity Epistle

Dear Fellow Archpastors, most honorable pastors,

God-loving monastics and laypeople!

Since ancient times, the lives of communities have been interwoven with various historical periods, rises and falls that have their beginnings, their everyday life and continuation. Some gather to form nations, confess various faiths, live according to different calendars and ways to denote the passing of the years and have different spiritual destinies. For some, life is wrapped up in ongoing activities and busy concerns, while others believe in the existence of other worlds and an other life. For some, the entire world surrounds them is limited to the frame of life and death, while others contemplate the infinite nature of life and existence. In this realm marked by enormous diversity of people’s lives and their understanding of creation, we Christians are also included. We are few in relation to the total number of people on earth (especially if out of those who call themselves Christians you only consider the Orthodox who live by the “old” Julian calendar and the teachings of the holy forefathers), and Christianity itself no longer determines the trajectory of human development. There was a time when Christianity subdued and vanquished paganism, but now we live in an opposite time, when paganism in its many forms is foremost in people’s minds. We constantly see proof of more divergences from Christ, but these divergences are not the result of people acquiring new knowledge and are not characterized by a new, higher plane of spiritual development. Just the opposite, these divergences are proof of the loss of faith and the debasing of mankind to the level of being driven by its instincts. 

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8) is not a rhetorical question, but constitutes a fact of what will occur and what is already occurring. All those on earth commonly believe that Christianity certainly cannot pretend to be more dominant above all other faiths. Just the opposite, Christianity as a whole surrenders its principles and attempts to strengthen its place in society with the desperation of a drowning person by, on the one hand, promoting the ecumenist movement among Christians and on the other hand, by the deadly policy of eliminating differences with other religions. Unfortunately, as a result we now have so-called “World Orthodoxy,” which has not been Orthodoxy for a long time already, and the “modernized” Christianity, where Christ does not exist.

Globalism, which has overcome all of mankind, does not provide and cannot provide a different ideal other than the traditional humanistic ideal, that is, mankind itself, temporal and helpless before even the simplest of cataclysms of nature. The foundation of globalism includes one common keystone that distinguishes its essence – unbelief. That is why it is inevitably doomed, because it leads to a dead-end and cannot lead to anywhere else. Unfortunate are those who succumbed to the spirit of the modern world and do not trust in God in this life!

In this circumstance, it is faith that distinguishes us Christians – faith in Christ. Faith that God became incarnate and came to this world, bore witness of Himself through many miracles and His Holy teachings, died, resurrected and promised eternal life to all those who believe in Him. All the many different societies and worlds are bound up in one Figure, in Christ, and these words will remain real for us for eternity, “I believe and confess, Lord, that You are truly the Christ, Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners.” Only those who confess Christ will live on for eternity. The entire point of creation is bound up in this belief. Our lives, really our own, do not begin when we appeared on earth, but when we consciously utter the words, “I believe!” Therefore let us always hold on to the faith of the Holy Fathers, which is the beginning and essential condition of our entire lives!

I congratulate everyone with the Nativity of Christ and wish for all of us to grow and strengthen in the faith, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

The Most Reverend
+AGAFANGEL
Metropolitan of New York and Eastern America
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
Odessa, Nativity of Christ, 2011

Divination And Prophecy

Is there a difference between divination and prophecy? 

The knee jerk reaction, of some orthodox Christians, to immediately attribute to demons anything having to do with the supernatural elements of the faith, is alarming. The alarm is not over the fact  that the church needs to be reminded that Satan roams to and fro, about the earth, seeking whom he may devour, and his sights are always set on the people of God, for Satan would diminish the capacity of the church to move through time, equipped with the demonstrated power of God. One of the ploys of Satan is to mimic the gifts of God. Moses saw this in Pharaoh's court, when the magicians were able to reproduce the staff-to-serpent trick. We see it also today, as there seems to be a satanic supernatural counterfeit gift to every one of God's gifts. Cloaked as an angel of light, Satan would lure seekers and orthodox faithful, by offering them supernatural demonstrations. Through this deception, Satan would have even the faithful following signs and wonders, which he controls. "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." This is indicative of the modern, so-called, Charismatic Movement. The end of this path is spiritual and physical death.  

There is another deceptive ploy, however, for which the alarm must be sounded, for its fiery dart is aimed at the heart of the Church. Alarming, is the propensity of some to so fear the satanic supernatural, that they ignore the fact that the Christian faith is inherently, divinely supernatural. In their initial, sincere effort to keep the false gifts out of the Church, they become unwitting emissaries of resistance to God's good gifts. In this, they have become unwitting emissaries of Satan.  Even with several biblical lists which contain specific, demonstratively supernatural gifts, that God instills in humans, and the clear warning from Saint Paul not to dismember the body by removing any gift, these emissaries relegate those gifts to another time or place. They suggest that such gifts are "not common" or are only seen in "very holy" people, such as monks, bishops, or those who have long since died, and never in contemporary laymen. To bolster this view, the emissaries, will quote their preferred Church Father, with little regard to the context in which the Father wrote. They will find Church Fathers who warn about deceptive supernatural practices or cults. They will ignore, or cast dispersion on saints such as Symeon the New Theologian, who was very specific concerning the ethereal means by which God communicates His will to the "brethren". Then, the emissary will add to their charge, many anecdotes of people who have been deceived, or a gifted person who turned out to be demonized. Some of these things may be factual, however, the emissary ignores the fact that no Church Father ever denied the existence, or operation, or dispensing of all of the gifts of the Spirit as God chooses.  The emissary's conclusion, and his core motivation, is the dogma that anyone who believes in, operates in, or supports the more demonstratively supernatural gifts today is demonized, and must be denounced and silenced. In this, the emissary does the work of Satan, when they attack the Holy Spirit's work in and through His people. The scripture says to "test the spirits to see if they be of God", but the emissaries ignore this God-given method of determining the origins of a gift, and go straight to denouncement.  The emissary, themselves, are deceived into thinking they are doing God's work, as they aggressively attack and isolate even orthodox Christians, making charges, judgments and character assassinations. They lump all supernatural gifts under the term, "charismatic movement", and, in effect, throw the authentic Gifts of God out with the proverbial bathwater, making the gifted person, suspect. In this, they feel justified to make public their accusations and have no remorse toward the destruction they do to the individual on whom they have set their sights. This is demonstrated most often in the attack on God's prophets in the Church. The emissaries will denounce the current authenticity of God's prophets by calling the gift, "divination". But, is there a difference between Satan's diviners and God's prophets?

Divination and Prophecy

"Similarities between inspirational divination and Old Testament prophecy ought never to be allowed to blind one to their radical and essential differences. It is true that both take into account the human instinct for secret knowledge, especially that appertaining to the future, and they agree in the conviction that such knowledge is possessed by certain spiritual beings who are willing, upon certain conditions, to divulge it, and that such secret information is imparted to special classes of men called diviners, seers, and prophets. But the likenesses end here. All the rest is in fundamental contrast.

The Old Testament prophet believed in a personal God. uniquely one, infinitely holy, righteous, and powerful, whose spokesman he claimed himself to be. When he spoke or wrote, it was by direct inspiration from the Spirit of God. "Thus saith Jehovah" was the authoritative formula that stamped his message with finality and infallibility of divine truth. The Greek and the Roman "soothsayer" (mantis), on the other hand, having no sublime ethical God, but gods many and lords many, went through various crude contortions, until he worked himself up to the necessary pitch of ecstasy, by music, drugs, sacrificial smoke, and similar helps. When, finally, in his insane excitement, he did speak, it was not truth by divine power, but error and deception by demonic cunning." (Unger, Biblical Demonology)

Rather than rightly divine the difference between God's prophets and Satan's diviners, the unwitting emissary for Satan challenges the very existence of the Holy Gift and those whom God has gifted. 

The test of a true prophet of God is very specific.

"You may be privately wondering, 'How are we to tell that a prophecy does not come from Yahweh'? When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh and the thing does not happen and the word is not fulfilled, then it has not been said by Yahweh. The prophet has spoken presumptuously. You have nothing to fear from him."

"This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus, that spirit is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world"

The test of a false prophet is very specific,

 "...the prophet who presumes to say something in my name which I have not commanded him to say, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die."

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."

"At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. . . . For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time"

"Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets"

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping"

 ***

The work of the people of God, concerning prophets, is to, first, hear their words. Then, ask, "are their words true and do their words bear fruit?" Testing the truth of a "Thus saith Jehovah" word, often takes time, but Satan's unwitting emissaries are quick to speak and slow to listen. These emissaries, left unchecked, become the real enemies within the gates of the Holy Church, by calling unholy, that which God has called, holy. These emissaries are empowered by the Spirit of Jezebel. They would silence the prophets for they know that,

"...He Himself gave some to be prophets...for the Lord does nothing unless he reveals His instructions to His servants the Prophets." 

In these spiritually perilous times of great apostasy, when supernatural forces of darkness are being unleashed in an unprecedented manner, to deceive, "if it were possible", the very elect, God's prophets are anointed to expose and bring down the strongholds of the enemy and protect the body of Christ. They are diviners of God's will, equipped to root out the diviners of darkness. The irony exists in the fact that it is God's prophets who often expose the false prophets! Satan is working, through his unwitting emissaries, however, to cut of this vital gift, dismembering them from the body. Brethren, let it not be so!

"He who receives a prophet, will receive a prophet's reward."

*COMING NEXT: The Jezebel Spirit, enemy of the prophets of God, and infiltrator of the Church.

Related Articles: Is Orthodoxy Charismatic?

RIP Cheetah

I just learned that Cheetah, the chimpanzee sidekick to Tarzan in the 1930's movies, died today‎. It is interesting to note that he was indeed a Protestant Ecumenist as any good chimp would be. Here is the proof:

"Cheetah moved to the sanctuary around 1960, where he remained the most famous of its primate residents until his death. His interests included finger-painting, watching football and nondenominational Christian music." 

(Come on folks...lighten up!)

JTO Recommends

Ron Paul was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s. He and his wife Carol moved to Texas in 1968, where he began his medical practice in Brazoria County. As a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies! He and Carol, who reside in Lake Jackson, Texas, are the proud parents of five children and have eighteen grandchildren.

While serving in Congress during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dr. Paul’s limited-government ideals were not popular in Washington. He served on the House Banking committee, where he was a strong advocate for sound monetary policy and an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve’s inflationary measures. He also was a key member of the Gold Commission, advocating a return to a gold standard for our currency. He was an unwavering advocate of pro-life and pro-family values. Dr. Paul consistently voted to lower or abolish federal taxes, spending, and regulation, and used his House seat to actively promote the return of government to its proper constitutional levels. In 1984, he voluntarily relinquished his House seat and returned to his medical practice.

Dr. Paul returned to Congress in 1997 to represent the 14th Congressional district of Texas. He serves on the House Financial Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. On the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Paul serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology. He continues to advocate a dramatic reduction in the size of the federal government and a return to constitutional principles.

Dr. Paul is the author of several books, including The Revolution: A Manifesto, End the Fed, Liberty Defined, Challenge to Liberty; The Case for Gold; and A Republic, If You Can Keep It. He has been a distinguished counselor to the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and is widely quoted by scholars and writers in the fields of monetary policy, banking, and political economy. He has received many awards and honors during his career in Congress, from organizations such as the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, the Council for a Competitive Economy, and countless others.

Dr. Paul’s consistent voting record prompted one Congressman to comment that “Ron Paul personifies the Founding Fathers’ ideal of the citizen-statesman. He makes it clear that his principles will never be compromised, and they never are.” Another Congresswoman added that “There are few people in public life who, through thick and thin, rain or shine, stick to their principles. Ron Paul is one of those few.”

See Ron Paul's Statement of Faith. HERE

Put A Bit In It

"Someone who does not trip up in speech has reached perfection and is able to keep the whole body on a tight rein. Once we put a bit in the horse's mouth, to make it do what we want, we have the whole animal under our control..."

As one might understand, in having a presence as a blogger on the Internet, I am subject to various responses, comments and conversations with people all over the world. Some are civil and know the art of discussion. Others are more venomous and have little restraint in their verbiage, often getting off topic and resorting to impugning my character or analyzing my emotional or spiritual health.

Occasionally, I will have an opportunity to have an off-site dialogue by e-mail with a JTO visitor. It was one such dialogue recently that followed this unproductive and divisive pattern:

1. The blogger writes  a discourse disagreeing with something I have written.
2. I write back a gracious response, showing that the disagreement is not actual, but a result of semantics.
3. The blogger pushes back harder, dumping on more disagreements and adding more to the topic, before resolving the first issue.
4. I attempt to cut through the increasingly confusing blogger communication, by asking civil, but direct questions, so as to understand the blogger's true motivation.
5. The blogger reacts strongly at having been questioned and a personal attack ensues.

This "Orthodox" blogger said I need to undergo an exorcism. This, because the blogger took exception to my use of the phrase, "prophets speak when they are inspired by God..."  This blogger did not like the word, inspired, and thought it was too charismatic, protestant, or some other such negative, and the blogger's conclusion is that I have demons. It is a fearful thing to cast such judgement on a brother, and arrogant to usurp the authority of one's own priest in his spiritual life.

"...but nobody can tame the tongue-it is a pest that will not keep still, full of deadly poison. We use it to bless the Lord and Father, but we also use it to curse people who are made in God's image: the blessing and the curse come out of the same mouth. My brothers, this must be wrong..."

"Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? It is not precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves? You want something and you lack it; so you kill. You have ambition that you cannot satisfy; so you fight to get your way by force." 

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." 

Real wisdom, and that which comes from God, is knowing when to bridle your tongue.

PUT A BIT IN IT.

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.