report

Why do you make it so hard to become Orthodox? – part 03

OK, I understand much of what you have been saying, but why must I have a sponsor, or why is a baby expected to have godparents? Well, in the book of Hebrews, it says: For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled... [Read more]

Why do you make it so hard to become Orthodox? – part 02

So, why is a catechumen encouraged to take on a “new” name when they are chrismated? What’s in a name? Taking on a new name is not necessary, but it is highly encouraged. The background to a name change goes all the way back to the beginnings of God’s special interactions with Abraham and continued all the way through the New Testament. There is a long list of people who had... [Read more]

Why do you make it so hard to become Orthodox? – part 01

St. Augustine with catechumens Last week one of my readers asked me to comment on the year-long process to become Orthodox and be allowed to participate in the sacraments. Let me begin with a bit of contrast. Recently, an evangelical who worked on the Mike Huckabee presidential campaign, and is a blogger, wrote a posting listing ten problems with evangelicalism. Let me pick up on just one of them as... [Read more]

news

Why don’t we reach out to the inner city?

A fellow blogger has asked the question as to why non-inner city Christians do not do more inner city work. I was going to answer his question, and then I realized that my answer would be too long for a simple comment, so I decided to put it here. There are a complex of reasons why non-inner city Christians do not reach out to the inner city. It does not boil down to just simple sin, although,... [Read more]

Description of too many Christians

Sometimes, the world of fiction gives us descriptions that are more incisive than many a theological description. Read the following excerpt from a fiction book that I am reading. The book is based in very early 20th century England, before WWI. But, see if the description does not actually fit far too many Christians of whatever stripe. Fortunately, in the case of Terrance . . . he believed in God... [Read more]

tools

Christians behaving goodly

Today the New York Times has a story on the Roman Catholic school system in France providing sanctuary to Muslim students. You can read it here. The schools are still overtly Roman Catholic, with crucifixes in every room. But, they also allow respect the Islam of the students, and, as the article points out, they provide a spiritual atmosphere. I congratulate the Roman Catholics of France on their... [Read more]

guidelines

Christians persecuted in Indonesia

Attack forces Indonesian Christians off campus from Associated Press faqSHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Christians persecuted in Indonesia", url: "http://www.orthocuban.com/2008/08/christians-persecuted-in-indonesia/" }); Read More →

Church planting

I was talking to an old friend of mine tonight. — Yes, an old friend, he is retired now and was best man at my wedding 30 years ago. — He happens to be a church growth statistic geek. When he was young, he was involved in a college campus ministry. After that, he spent the rest of his life church planting, although he did spend nearly 15 years at his last church. He has ghost written books... [Read more]

Inflatable Church, part 2

When our family first arrived in Bolivia, we ended up at an Anglican parish that was not even called a church. It was called the Centro Cristiano de Guapay, that is the Christian Centre of Guapay. The pastor/priest there only ever wore open-necked shirts, used minimal, if any liturgy, and followed an older pattern of having communion once a month. He went as far as setting up on one of the longer... [Read more]

support

Inflatable Church, part 1

Blow-up church looks to lure Italian beachgoersTue Aug 05 18:21:08 UTC 2008 ROME (Reuters) – Catholic nuns and priests in Italy are following their flocks to the beach this summer, establishing an inflatable church and a beach-convent in the sands to lure sunbathers. The 30-metre (98 ft) long blow-up church — staffed by priests ready to take confession — will debut on Saturday on... [Read more]