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Shame and Envy – Our Secret Sins
Read more: Shame and Envy – Our Secret SinsSeveral years back I stumbled on a book about the sin of envy. I was struck by what I read and realized that I had never heard a sermon on the topic (nor preached one). Though a number of the Fathers cite envy as the first and greatest sin, it never seemed to come up […]
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Contradiction and Paradox
Read more: Contradiction and ParadoxThe following quote is taken from a letter by Mother Thekla (sometime Abbess of the Monastery of the Assumption in Normanby, England) to a young man who was entering the Orthodox faith. Some of her comments drew my attention. +++ Are you prepared, in all humility, to understand that you will never, in this life, […]
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Today – the Scriptures are Fulfilled
Read more: Today – the Scriptures are FulfilledStanding in the synagogue in Nazareth, Christ reads from Isaiah (61) the passage: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to […]
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Fulfilled – The Christian Reading of the Old Testament
Read more: Fulfilled – The Christian Reading of the Old Testament“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet…” This is a familiar line in the gospels – particularly in St. Matthew. It signals a moment that the gospel writer (and thus the tradition) sees an action or saying of Jesus as somehow being a “fulfillment” of something within the Old Testament. For […]
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Angels Sing – Merry Christmas!
Read more: Angels Sing – Merry Christmas!A Serbian Christmas Song – lyrics by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Andjeli Pevaju Noć prekrasna i noć tija, nad pećinom zvezda sija, u pećini mati spi, nad Isusom andjel bdi. Andjeli pevaju, pastiri sviraju, andjeli pevaju mudraci javljaju: Što narodi čekaše, što proroci rekoše, evo sad se u svet javi, u svet javi i objavi: […]
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The Fire of Christmas
Read more: The Fire of ChristmasAs a child of the South, accustomed to the tones and the tales of my region, I was well aware of the”fires of hell”. Roadside signs proclaimed the eternal destiny of those who were not saved. I have discovered in later years, that many adult Christians remain committed to the most literal possible version of […]
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The Time Lords versus John Nelson Darby
Read more: The Time Lords versus John Nelson DarbyA timeline stretched across the front of the classroom, presenting a quick glance at the world and all that was fit to know. The subject was “World History,” and the year was some point in my early teens. The “World” in those days was a standard recitation of the canon of the West – Sumeria […]
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Love Has No History
Read more: Love Has No HistorySt. Nikolai Velimirovich’s Prayers by the Lake are a theological feast. St. Gregory the Theologian wrote wonderful theological poems – it is a form deeply suited to theology but too little used. I first heard this poem on a broadcast from Ancient Faith Radio – it came at a very timely moment and allowed me […]
Jenny, It’s not a problem. God give us all grace.