Fr. Barnabas Powell, Author at Faith Encouraged Ministries

Chaos Is The Enemy of Peace

BlogAugust 12, 202218Views 0Likes 0Comments

Newspaper words texture Isaac Newton once said, "Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things." How I resonate with that. Simplicity is the enemy of confusion and chaos. I'll never forget the story of a Third world visitor to the US being overwhelmed by her first trip…

Is Speaking in Tongues Real?

BlogAugust 11, 202240Views 0Likes 1Comment

It's one of (if not the) fastest growing forms of Christianity in the world, and it's the movement I came from when I converted to Orthodoxy so many years ago. I'm talking about the Pentecostal movement. And one of the most distinctive aspects of Pentecostalism is something called "speaking in tongues." Every month I get…

To Love Is To Understand

BlogAugust 10, 202214Views 0Likes 2Comments

"Oh, come on. You know good and well I didn't mean that the way you are taking it!" Frankly, I couldn't get over that this person so misunderstood me. It almost felt like it was on purpose to discredit what I was saying. After a few deep breaths, and dialing back my wounded ego, I…

The Power Of The Eyewitness

BlogAugust 9, 202214Views 0Likes 1Comment

Ask any police officer or investigator and they will tell you having an eyewitness to an event is great, and not so great. The reason is eyewitnesses are notorious for filtering what they see through what they think they remember. So, we were trained how to weed out what they thought they saw from what…

What Idols Lead You Astray?

BlogAugust 8, 202219Views 0Likes 1Comment

Alexander Solzhenitsyn once said, “We always pay dearly for chasing after what is cheap.” I wish I had learned this earlier in my life. I would have avoided some painful idolatries. But we humans are slow learners. And over and over again we come to the end of what we thought we could not live without…

Normal Orthodoxy Invites Us to Repentance

BlogAugust 5, 202214Views 0Likes 0Comments

If you had to choose between self-esteem and self-awareness what would you choose? By the way, it's a trick question! I remember when there was this emphasis on self-esteem becoming so very central to our educational process for children. And I remember when there were even public service announcements during Saturday morning cartoons like "The More…

Normal Orthodoxy Reveals Your True Potential

BlogAugust 4, 202216Views 0Likes 0Comments

It was a bit of a significant moment between me and my daughter. We were at the Mall and went into a store for her to buy some of the pins and stickers she loves and behind the counter was a young person with piercings on his nose and ears and eyebrow. Half his hair…

Normal Orthodoxy Creates a Well-Lived Life!

BlogAugust 3, 202217Views 0Likes 0Comments

I love this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." In an age where it seems narcissistic Nihilism has come to dominate society, ideas,…

Made To Be Like Christ – Sunday’s Homily

BlogAugust 2, 202212Views 0Likes 0Comments

The Christian Faith is meant to transform you into a "new creature." You are made to become like Christ. In fact, the purpose of the Orthodox Faith is to have you enter a lifestyle that remakes you from the inside out. And it will be as we bend our will to the "steadfastness of the…

Normal Orthodoxy IS Marvelous

BlogAugust 2, 202215Views 0Likes 0Comments

Welcome to the second day of the Dormition Fast! The wisdom of the fasting disciplines of the Church is meant to reinforce the reality that unless the faith is holistically practiced, that is it affects every aspect of your person, the real danger of compartmentalization exists! One aspect of Orthodoxy that first caught my attention was…

Author page: Fr. Barnabas Powell

Fr. Barnabas Powell

Chaos Is The Enemy of Peace

Is Speaking in Tongues Real?

To Love Is To Understand

The Power Of The Eyewitness

What Idols Lead You Astray?

Normal Orthodoxy Invites Us to Repentance

Normal Orthodoxy Reveals Your True Potential

Normal Orthodoxy Creates a Well-Lived Life!

Made To Be Like Christ – Sunday’s Homily

Normal Orthodoxy IS Marvelous

Office

Links

Get in Touch