Fr. Barnabas Powell, Author at Faith Encouraged Ministries

Normal Orthodoxy Honors Mary

BlogAugust 1, 202215Views 0Likes 3Comments

Everybody else was squirming. They were obviously having a hard time with the information and seemed to rather have been elsewhere. But I was at peace. It just made sense to me, I guess. Some of you know the story of how I entered the Orthodox Church. I was a pastor of a growing Pentecostal church…

Normal Orthodoxy Always Chooses Better

BlogJuly 29, 202211Views 0Likes 0Comments

There's an old saying, "Life is simple, we make it complicated." And what complicates our lives the most? Well, if you'll allow me a bit of meddling, may I suggest it is our untamed desires. What I want, undisciplined and unmanaged sends my life down paths of consequences that make my life complicated. When I…

Normal Orthodoxy Handles Conflict Well

BlogJuly 28, 202212Views 0Likes 6Comments

It seems we humans have an ingrained "love" of fighting, defending ourselves, and drama. We are really good at it. Just look at the conflicts that are raging today in our world. We seem to love to fight, and that, in itself, should be a sign of deep brokenness in us. Our impulse to fight,…

Normal Orthodoxy Leads to Freedom AND Responsibility

BlogJuly 27, 202214Views 0Likes 1Comment

"My Want-To is broke." With that, my grandmother gave me another insight into real life. She was describing a very common problem all of us face. We know what we should do, but we don't do it. Why? As my grandmother said, our "want-to" is broken. One of the central revelations to me when I was…

Normal Orthodoxy Produces Wisdom, Not Laws

BlogJuly 26, 202212Views 0Likes 0Comments

It took me a long time to finally get my mind and heart around the profound difference between wisdom and legislation. For most of my life, I spent most of my time being a rule-keeper. After all, I was the firstborn son. I was responsible to obey the rules. I was supposed to be the…

Normal Orthodoxy Produces Light

BlogJuly 25, 202210Views 0Likes 1Comment

St. Porphyrios said "Do not fight to expel darkness from the chamber of your soul. Open a tiny window for the light to enter, and the darkness will disappear!" What a contrast to our current cultural chaos where it seems all sides want to "fight" all the time. We are driven by our egos to "defend"…

Normal Orthodoxy Produces Generosity

BlogJuly 22, 202213Views 0Likes 1Comment

You may have seen a trend this week in our daily devotionals. I am using the phrase "Normal Orthodoxy" on purpose because we live in an age and society where our faithful struggle with a lack of robust catechesis. What too many think of as "normal" Orthodoxy is too small. So, I'm trying to reset…

Normal Orthodoxy Is Discerning

BlogJuly 21, 202214Views 0Likes 1Comment

Here's my biggest problem: I can't tell a weed from a good plant. So, when I discovered that my smartphone could help out with this, I was ecstatic! Maybe now I'll stop overlooking plants that are choking out my flowers! But that's one of the benefits of attentiveness - it creates discernment. St. John Climacus says…

Normal Orthodoxy Leads to Knowing Yourself

BlogJuly 20, 202213Views 0Likes 0Comments

Every wisdom literature of every ancient culture has a form of the wisdom "Know Yourself." The ancient Hellenic philosophers were all focused on developing that kind of self-knowledge to cultivate ways to live life well. But self-knowledge isn't very helpful if you don't have a reference point. What is a healthy person? Is it mere…

Normal Orthodoxy Leads to Growth

BlogJuly 19, 202211Views 0Likes 3Comments

I'm not a gardener. I'm just not good at it. But the reason I'm not good at it is that I don't take the time to get good at it. Like any discipline, it takes perseverance to build proficiency. And, another problem I have is that I really don't know the difference between a weed…

Author page: Fr. Barnabas Powell

Fr. Barnabas Powell

Normal Orthodoxy Honors Mary

Normal Orthodoxy Always Chooses Better

Normal Orthodoxy Handles Conflict Well

Normal Orthodoxy Leads to Freedom AND Responsibility

Normal Orthodoxy Produces Wisdom, Not Laws

Normal Orthodoxy Produces Light

Normal Orthodoxy Produces Generosity

Normal Orthodoxy Is Discerning

Normal Orthodoxy Leads to Knowing Yourself

Normal Orthodoxy Leads to Growth

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