Written Devotional
Jesus Speaks the Plain Truth
Today is the Feastday of St. Spyridon, the Wonderworker, and I always love the common scripture passages the Church gives us during these commemorations of the heroes of our Faith. Mainly because I get to learn about the saint remembered and I get to revisit familiar scriptures in light...
Rejoice O Barren Woman…
It's always so fascinating to me to see the wisdom of the Orthodox Church year. Here we are approaching the birth of the Messiah, the God-Man, the Savior of the World, and today we celebrate the miraculous Conception of the Theotokos by St. Anna, her mother. Of course, you...
Leaders, Be Serious!
Bookstores all across the country have hundreds of books in the "Business" sections talking about how to be a good leader. They have lists and lists of characteristics and behaviors that a "good" leader has or needs. And they sell well because most of us who are leaders really...
Created To Be A Copycat! Sunday Homily
https://youtu.be/vnyj7I_POKw The hunger hardwired into each of us for community or intimacy AND the opposite fear of intimacy are at the root of our internal and even external conflicts in our lives. Until we understand how to tame our desires and our natural tendency to mimic others is solved in...
Wage the Good Warfare
Let's face it, we live in a society that has exalted radical uncertainty to a virtue. Where the "really sophisticated" people pride themselves on being able to "see all sides" of an issue without ever coming down clearly on a position. Modern thinkers fear being labeled "fundamentalists" or "close-minded"...
St Nicholas, the Servant-Leader
“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...
All Things
I remember the look on his face when I told him that Orthodoxy is "maximalist, not minimalistic." And then I reminded him of years of government promotion of the "minimum daily requirements" of this or that vitamin to be healthy. He slowly began to understand what I meant when...
The Flattery of Imitation
One of the Substacks I read regularly is Common Sense, and recently they had an article by Luke Burgis entitled "Why Everyone Wants the Same Thing." It was absolutely brilliant. Sadly, it's behind a paywall but the gist of the article is "Human beings are expert imitators (mimetic comes...
TRADITION!
What do we mean when we use the word "tradition?" To many, especially the millions of American Christians formed and shaped by popular Christianity, it is usually seen as a negative. You know, the "traditions of men" that Jesus warned us to avoid (see Mark 7:8-9). For others, formed...
How Do You Use Media in the Church?
Recently a pastor in a Protestant denomination called The Church of the Nazarene ask me to be with him on his podcast as he explored using media and live streaming in the Church. He had been watching our sermons on Faith Encouraged TV on YouTube and reached out to...