Trust is a foundational building block of any relartionship. Without it there simply is no way to have anything more than some superficial connection. But trust requires risk. And we humans avoid risk most of the time. Jesus challenges us to risk trusting Him.

When faced with a life-changing forgiveness of a huge debt, this man in our Gospel Lesson revealed his own wicked heart by not showing that same forgiveness and mercy to his fellow servant. It did not end well for that wicked servant. And it won't end well for we who refuse to forgive from the heart!

Why does the Church offer us the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross? Because the Christian faith is about dealing with reality and having our all too easy temptations to delusions and the fantasy of what I'm afraid of or what I wish for blind us to the reality God wants us to embrace! Waking up is hard, but it has to be done!

Isn't it interesting after the Lord blessed Peter and his partners in their fishing business, Peter saw himself as a sinful man and asked the Lord to leave him? But that's the risk of standing so close to the Light. It reveals who you really are! But Christ invites us to be close to Him without fear or shame and allow His Light to set us free!

We have all heard the Golden Rule, but there is so much more to this passage and it has everything to do with a very serious challenge to the status quo of our lives. After all, even sinners love those who love them!

A Servant owes his Master millions and he's forgiven. Then this wicked servant turns on a fellow servant who owes him a few dollars and he throws his co-worker in prison! The Master is not happy and takes His servant he had forgiven such a great debt and throws him into prison too! So shall the Father do to everyone who doesn't forgive "from the heart."

There wasn't a Jew within the sound of Jesus' voice when He said if any man would be my disciple, he must take up his cross... You see, there's only one use for a cross, and that's for an execution. The Christian message invites us not only to follow Christ but to die to everything that isn't like Christ in our lives. That's what it means to "bear your cross!"

On the second Sunday of Great Lent the Church focuses our thoughts on the paralyzed man whose four friends tore a hole in the roof of the house where Jesus was and let their friend down before the Lord so that he could be healed. Everyone, including the paralyzed man, was surprised when Jesus said his sins were forgiven when they expected the Lord to heal his physical paralysis. It turns out the Lord wanted to heal both his spiritual AND physical illnesses. And the Lord wants to do the same for us, if we have the faith!

St. John the Baptist declared he was unworthy to untie the sandals of the Lord. He also promised that, while he baptized with water, the Lord Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit! And this is both Good News AND terrifying News! Especially because Fire does more than illuminate!

Sunday of the Prodigal Son.

The two seas in the Holy Land are both fed by the Jordan River. One sea is alive with all kinds of fish and plants and birds, and the other is Dead! The reason why this is so is the same reason why some people become saints and some don't!

The work of the Faith is meant to cleanse your spiritual eyes so you have 20/20 vision about what's most important in your life.

Jesus confronts the people and the disciples when they can't heal a little boy!

We are at the start of a new year. We celebrate the circumcision of the Lord and the life of St. Basil. By doing this, the Church offers us a challenge to change the way we think about time!

On this Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, we are confronted by the Scriptures with the dangers of distraction. By avoiding being distracted by life and focus on our Christian living we will avoid the pitfalls of distraction.

The current delusion of our day is that life should be free of suffering or struggle. But that lie is actually leaving people in a perpentual adolescence that is destroying lives. The Faith offers us another path where we expect struggle and have Joy THROUGH it!

Jesus tells the story of the Vineyard Owner and his problems with the workers he's hired to take care of his vineyard. Why do you think these wicked servants thought they could get away with this behavior?

Are you able to have such inner peace that outward circumstances are powerless to disturb you? Well, that's exactly the kind of peace Jesus Christ wants to give you.

Today’s blog post will reveal my biggest goal for 2016, nine niche ideas with huge potential and the most effective productivity technique I’ve used over the last few years. Let’s begin by talking about the productivity technique which is often referred to as the Pomodoro Method. If you’ve followed any kind of productivity guide online […]

The post How a Simple Productivity Tool Helped Create the World’s Best Marketing Blog appeared first on ViperChill.

On the 15th of January 2008 the domain name Groupon.com went live for the first time. 2008 was also the year that IndieGogo became one of the first ‘crowdfunding’ websites. A year later, the biggest rivals of each would launch in the form of Living Social and Kickstarter. At the start of 2012 Uber – […]

The post How to Steal the Next Billion Dollar Website Idea: A Case Study appeared first on ViperChill.

In the Academy Award-nominated film Food Inc, filmmaker Robert Kenner reveals how the varied choice of items we see on the shelves of supermarkets is actually a false presumption. Instead, that seemingly endless variety is actually controlled by just a handful of companies. Today I’m going to reveal how the huge diversity we perceive in […]

The post How 16 Companies are Dominating the World’s Google Search Results appeared first on ViperChill.

Do private blog network’s still work? Does a higher word-count help your pages rank better? Did Glen really spend 60 hours on this article? I hope to answer all of these questions and many more in my new behind the scenes report on the current state of link building. I can clarify I did spend […]

The post The State of Link Building 2016: What I Learned Manually Analysing 1,000 Search Results appeared first on ViperChill.

As this site slowly crumbles and falls apart, it’s about time I made a small announcement as to where you can find me. 99% of my audience should know I’ve already moved to Detailed.com and Gaps.com, but if you didn’t, then here we are. I’m secretly hoping this might go out to some RSS feeds […]

The post I No Longer Blog Here: Please Join Me on Detailed.com and Gaps.com appeared first on ViperChill.

Michael offers in-depth thoughts on death from an Orthodox perspective.

Michael explores the source of our inspiration when we create for the glory of God.

In the Book of Genesis God says not to eat from the Tree of Life, yet in Revelation He invites us to eat from the Tree of Life. Michael explores the reasons why from an Orthodox Christian perspective. He discusses the sinfulness and sacredness of eating and hunger as taught to us through the Scriptures, specifically Genesis and Revelation, and our Holy Tradition; and what we are really doing when we fast and prepare for and receive the Eucharist.

Racism is a serious wrong that no one should argue. However, from an Orthodox Christian point of view, it is a far deeper wrong than is ever portrayed in the public debate. Join Michael as he explains why racism goes against the core of Christianity, and through story and anecdote describes why it seems is so hard for us to celebrate and embrace differences.

Comfort, and feeling comfortable, is a desire all of us have and we strive to fulfill this desire. But it can come at a cost because the root of our desire and the means by which we achieve it are not always in our best interests. Join Michael as he explains why comfort can lead to spiritually harmful complacency and blind us to the real purpose of our faith.

In Orthodoxy we often hear and read about the Uncreated Light of God. What is this Uncreated Light? Can we experience this Divine Light or is it something only Saints can experience? Join Michael as he explains certain Scriptures that illuminate our understanding of God’s Uncreated Light, and shares thoughts and experiences that demonstrate how all of us can partake of the Divine Light and experience the Transcendent in our ordinary daily lives.

In conjunction with the Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, Michael shares some thoughts about what we can teach our young people about the Cross and our personal transformation; the Cross and Understanding Christ as our doctor rather than our lawyer; and the Cross and the Commandments.

One of the big challenges we face in today’s post-Christian era is the near complete erosion of seeing and understanding reality sacramentally. So how do we teach this reality to our young people who live in a society that rejects it? Focusing on the sacramental reality of sin, sickness and spiritual growth, Michael uses simple examples from everyday life and popular culture to offers strategies, thoughts and lessons that can help guide us to meaningful conversations with our youth.

Many of us can remember when we learned the truth about Santa Claus, but what truth did we learn? Using examples from J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, the Polar Express and our Orthodox Christian understanding of mystery, join Michael as he shares a recent conversation about Santa and what the story of the Christmas gift giver may actually be teaching us.

Exploring the characters of Frodo, Gollum, Harry, and Voldemort from these two great works beloved by millions, and what they remind us about concerning love, sacrifice, choice, and more.

Dealing with the negative voice in your head that holds you back, causes doubt and anxiety, and robs you of your peace and joy.

Michael offers thoughts and personal reflections of his recent experience with the miraculous icon of St. Anna at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Waymart, PA, and the Kardiotisa, “The Tender Heart” myrrh-flowing, miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary at St. George Orthodox Church in Taylor, PA.

Sometimes our lives are in such chaos and darkness it is hard to believe God is in control and is loving us and caring for us. Join Michael as he dramatically recounts the story of the Gadarene Demoniac told in Mark 5:1-20, unlikely though it would seem, to demonstrate God’s providence in our lives.

Join Michael as he explores the webs and patterns of our life, and uses poem, story, myth, metaphor, and examples from his own life to show how we can recognize God and continuity within our myriad choices, and know His peace.

We have all heard the phrase “culture of death.” Many use it to describe the culture we live in, especially when it comes to current social issues. Join Michael as he talks about life and death, what we as Orthodox Christians need to do to continually bring life to a world riddled with death, and why our understanding of life and death needs to be understood in a much broader and deeper sense.

The St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral has been holding nightly classes/discussions, seven days a week at 7 PM EST. Led by Father George Kokhno and Father Valery Shemchuk, each night either one of them, or guest speakers such as Michael Haldas, Archimandrite Sergius of St. Tikhon's Monastery, Father Maximus Urbanowicz, and others have led discussions. Michael recently led a class in which the topic was Fear and Control. All are welcome to join future classes. Download the Zoom App to your smartphone or tablet, or join through the web at (https://zoom.us/j/2100687480). If you use the app simply open it, use code 2100687480 to join.

Join Michael as he discusses what it really means “not to lose heart” according to Christ and St. Paul, examines the scriptures where these words are used, looks at their meaning in the original Greek, and why we actually have a responsibility to others not to lose heart.

Great Lent is a holy and sacred time of year yet we can turn it into a secular practice and experience if we are not careful. Join Michael as he discusses our understanding and participation in Lent, and how to avoid subtle ways that lead us to experience Lent less than how we should.

Join Michael as he expounds upon these words we sing and chant between Pascha and Ascension Thursday and what they should mean to us even as we continue to face the reality of death.

Inner darkness. We all have it whether we admit or not. How do overcome it? How do we find our way to Christ the Light and master our inner darkness? Join Michael as he addresses these questions in-depth and shows we can find our way to the Light no matter what darkness we are in.

Join Michael as he discusses how we should understand God’s authority versus secular notions of authority, and why rejecting and tearing down authority does not result in liberation and freedom but rather the opposite.

Join Michael for a discussion on why forgiving ourselves is often so hard and what we need to understand and do to open our hearts to self-forgiveness.

Join Michael as he recounts a story of a good friend’s nervous breakdown and his experience of theophany, theosis, repentance, and God’s beauty amidst his trauma and suffering.