Preaching is a frightening task. On the one hand, God warns you that you will be responsible for what you teach and preach, to the point that in one of the Gospels he comments that it would be better to tie a millstone around your neck and drown yourself rather than to cause one of […]
Archives for May 2016
Orthodox and conversion
This is not a thought out theological reflection. I simply want to point out that the Old South, at its best, pointed out theological themes that had either been ignored in history or had lessened in value below what the Scriptures and Holy Tradition would hold as their true value. Among those diminished values is […]
Denial or reality?
I do not have a very profound point to make today. The problem with our reality is the problem of how often we are wrong. Any policeman can tell you, and has been able to tell you for decades, that eyewitness statements are notoriously unreliable. Between the stress of the moment, and the assumptions that […]
Parental love
We talk about love being a sacrament, but so often we miss the practical aspects of that sacramental life. We often, and only, see it as a sacrament in terms of the unity of man and woman. We get all excited in speaking of this mystical union which we do not understand. But, we miss […]
Who are we? — really
This post is inspired by a post on Internetmonk.com found here. In that post he quotes from the Epistle to Diognetus, Pros Diognhton Epistolh, a second century product that defends the faith (apologetics). The author is unknown and simply calls himself, a disciple. In it is found the following quote: “For Christians cannot be distinguished from […]
On cultural integration
Cultural integration is always a difficult subject. Yesterday, I posted a soundtrack of an Appalachian-style megalynarion sung by the monks of Saint John of San Francisco and Shanghai monastery. It has an Appalachian sound, but conforms to all the tonal rules of the OCA. Today, see this video from New Zealand. It gives a great […]
More Appalachian Orthodox music
No, there is no such thing as the Appalachian Orthodox Church. However, there are people that have considered what an Orthodox hymn would sound like that follows the tonal rules but has Appalachian harmonies. About a year ago, I posted a “Christ is Risen” sung to those harmonies. Today, I am posting a megalynarion sung […]
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Comment 1: “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.” A recent article commented, “And he [Trump] was able to exploit their resentments and frustrations because those same Republican leaders had been nurturing those feelings for years with attacks on Mr. Obama, Democrats, illegal immigrants and others.” Part of the establishment Republican […]
Re-Introducing Christianity: An Eastern Orthodox Apologia for a Western Audience
The book above is found either on Amazon here or from Wipf and Stock Publishers here. This book contains great authors, such as Fr. John Whiteford, Dr. Eugenia Constantinou, Mother Melania, etc. Twenty-one authors have come together to address a variety of topics in Christianity from an Eastern viewpoint. The purpose is to explain to the […]
The fallacy of small business
We have a fallacy in this country about small businesses. We love to speak about small businesses as the avenue to new job growth. We speak about small businesses as though the people involved were these independent self-sufficient people who have built their businesses without any help. But, that is very far from the truth. […]
