St. John of Damaskos says: "Without attentiveness and watchfulness of the intellect we cannot be saved and rescued from the devil, who walks about ‘like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour’."
Sounds pretty serious. And yet, the virtue of attentiveness is so very difficult and elusive. I guess it's so difficult because it is…
For centuries and across all cultures and languages, the idea of "Don't shoot the messenger" prevailed. In the days before our modern communications technology, the rulers would use the "town crier" to make announcements and even convey bad news to the village. It was considered treason to harm the local town crier.
But what about Messengers…
"Early is on time. On-time is late. Late is unacceptable!" These were my words, but they were coming out of my daughter's mouth! She was giving a friend of her's a hard time about being late to dance practice. We don't "do" "Greek time" "Country time" or any other ethnic excuse for being late in…
My hometown is Atlanta and the Coca-Cola company reigns supreme. Why, any self-respecting Atlantan wouldn't be caught with a Pepsi in his hand! But we all had to cringe a bit during the "New Coke" craze. Frankly, it was embarrassing. Thank God it didn't last too long and the tried and true "Original Formula" was…
It scared me to death! I was convinced something was lurking in the dark in my room, and I wasn't about to shut my eyes! After all, it was only my constant vigilance and watchfulness that was keeping whatever was "out there" away from me, right? Imagine my surprise when sleep finally took me and…
Dear Ones, I have followed Jonathan's career for many years and had the honor of having him on my old Faith Encouraged LIVE show on AFR.
This speech is important for you to navigate the chaos of our current age. Show this to your children. Show it in your Sunday School class. Make sure your friends…
There’s an old story about a British journalist visiting the library of one of the ancient monasteries on Mt. Athos in Greece. He was walking among the stacks with the monk librarian and the old monk was talking about this and that saint or writer and telling stories about the people who wrote the books…
One of the first jobs God gave Adam was to name the animals. To name things is the key to knowing that thing. And this is the importance of knowing yourself so well that you can accurately name your strengths and weaknesses. Names matter. So, how do we become so discerning and insightful that we…
An ongoing joke among church families is how long it takes to get ready for church on Sunday mornings! Of course, this isn't true of going to work or going to school, or going to a game, or a dance, or most other social and work-related events. It seems we always find a way to…