It's amazing how powerful even a little light is when it's dark. A small, flickering flame can brighten a dark room, and, amazingly the darker the room, the more powerful even the smallest amount of light!
I remember visiting Ruby Falls as a little boy and going into the underground caverns with the tour, holding my…
The old Chinese curse says "May you live in interesting times." Call me old-fashioned, but I think now qualifies as "interesting times."
And when your life or my life is surrounded by chaos, confusion, disappointment, or unmet expectations, the temptation to panic or thrash about can certainly take over and my life becomes intoxicated with…
The American golf pro Tiger Woods once said "Sensationalism sells; don't let the facts get in the way of a good story." It seems our modern age is awash in "storytelling" and narrative all too often at the expense of a sober look at the reality of the situation.
But sensationalism does sell. We humans seem…
“I’m their leader! Which way did they go?” I have a cap with two bills on it, one in the front and one in the back with that slogan on it. It’s funny because it’s so often true.
Leadership is always such a rewarding and challenging calling. In fact, if you could get most leaders to…
Thank You!
Thank you for supporting Faith Encouraged Ministries for #GivingTuesday this year! We had a goal of $1000 for that day and we raised almost $2000 between our FaceBook efforts and our PayPal donation button! This was so Encouragd=ing to Fr. Barnabas and the whole Faith Encouraged Team!
We are continuing our end-of-year donation push…
I was blessed to be one of the guests on a recent Stewardship Calling podcast on Ancient Faith radio. My friend and parishioner, Bill Marianes, invited me to speak about the theology of the Orthodox Church regarding abortion, and we had a lively discussion about this very passionate and painful topic.
I invite you to listen…
It was insulting. It was hurtful. And, to make matters worse, it wasn't fair. I was shocked when someone I truly cared about started saying some very hurtful things about me to someone else. I guess my ego was so big that I believed no one would ever do such a thing to me. But…
He loved scaring me. I had a buddy of mine who thought it was hilarious to sneak up behind me and yell as loud as he could. Of course, I'd jump two feet off the ground and he'd just laugh and laugh. After I stopped shaking, I'd laugh with him. It was fun. After a…
The word Holy means "set apart for a specific and exclusive use." Something or someone who is holy is singularly dedicated to a single purpose and action. No wonder the Church gives us the gift of marriage as an icon of faithfulness and dedication to teach us about our true purpose in belonging only to…
I've been saying "Orthodox on Purpose" for so long that sometimes I wonder if I've grown deaf to the wisdom behind the words. After all, the danger for any minister is to keep all the words of his purpose and forget the meaning behind them. Terrifying!
But I've discovered that most of us struggle to…
