“They have to keep the rules, just like us!” Yeah, that’s true. We should all be held to the same standard. But wait a tick, have you kept the “rules” you expect others to keep? I know it’s hard to get your mind to shift from “what should be” to “what is,” but that’s what…
Fr. Barnabas Powell
Today is the Feast of the Ascension, and this Feast begs the question: What is this whole ascending from the Mount of olives all about? Why didn’t Jesus just “POOF” disappear and go to the Father’s side? Why all this theatrics?
It is almost axiomatic that any truth or tradition sufficiently removed from its Source or…
Christ is risen!
What does it mean to "believe in" something? I confess most of my life I've just taken for granted that I knew, and everyone around me knew, what that meant. I was wrong.
The word "believe" means so much more than just agreeing that certain ideas are correct. The Greek word used in the…
Christ is risen!
In World War 1 the two opposing armies would dig in and conduct what was then called "trench warfare." The land between the two armies entrenched for the fight was called "no man's land" because anybody who tried to attack would be shot by the other side!
Not a pleasant place to be.
But recently…
Christ is risen!
"You just don't know what you're talking about!" He was pretty upset over what I had to tell him. But sometimes, for a person's own good, you have to say plain things plainly so that there will be no misunderstanding. And, in spite of my attempts to soften the blow of these plain…
Christ is risen!
The great American author Lewis B. Smedes once said "Seeing reality for what it is is what we call discernment. The work of discernment is very hard." And the Orthodox Fathers would agree. In fact, it is the gift of discernment that we are constantly called to develop and embrace in the writings…
Christ is Risen!
This thought haunts me. All I've preached, all I've taught' all I've said, will one day be used as a comparison with the way I've lived, the choices I've made, and the priorities I've set. No wonder the Church teaches me to say over and over again "Lord, have mercy!"
But I won't seriously…
Christ is risen!
Alexander the Great is reported to have said "Nothing is impossible to him who will try." Yeah, try telling that to a group of people who refuse to try. I remember having a conversation with a man about building a new church building on our property and he told me to my face…
Christ is risen!
Ok, I admit it. As a public speaker, I have often used the outlandish statement as a rhetorical device to get or keep an audience's attention. It reminds me of one dear person who looked at me once and said "Father, I can't tell if you're serious or not." Bingo!
If you are going…
Christ is risen!
Soren Kierkegaard, than mournful Danish theologian, once said "There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true."
For me, I find the most difficult deceptions to fight are the ones I tell to myself. It's easy to spot errors…