Author - Fr. Barnabas Powell

Armored to Fight The Real Enemy

I love this Armed Forces Motto: “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.” Isn’t that great? In other words, when you put the time into preparing for battle, you are more ready to face the fight. And what is true for physical fighting is...

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Simple Or Easy But not Both

"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones, after all." So says the author of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder. But life is so very often not simple. It's complicated and difficult and filled with so many motivations all mixed together...

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Christ Has Set Us Free

I've never yet heard a politician boldly proclaim "Vote for me and I'll take away your freedom!" They are always going on about "protecting democracy" "restoring your freedom" or "protecting your rights." Even those politicians bought and paid for by special interests are desperate to tell you they aren't...

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As Sheep Among the Wolves

Don't kid yourself, the spiritual life is no cakewalk. And by that I mean there is a real struggle involved. To put it like our Orthodox Fathers said - it is war. But not the war we think of nowadays. No, this is a "war" with myself where I have...

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If I Be Lifted Up

The old saying is "There ain't no way to put lipstick on a pig." It meant that no matter how hard you try, you can't make a horrible situation better by pretending it isn't "all that bad." It just doesn't work. It's like the awkward conversations with those who...

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Cure for the Troubled Soul

In our nihilistic age, with all the turmoil of our society from pandemics to politics to violence in the streets, we moderns seem to be having a crisis of purpose, a crisis of meaning! I was having a conversation the other day with a dear, educated man, who also...

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Knowing Your Freedom in Christ

There was a day when I relished a good theological argument. Jousting with this or that “opponent” over this or that doctrine was as much fun as it was challenging. My favorite fights were over questions about the Trinity or predestination or even the very question about what was...

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