anything out of frame is immediately forgotten, making it very dream-like and surreal to explore #

Fr. Lawrence says the Nicene Creed was created to exclude which goes against the grain of our modern secular society, where the word “inclusive” has become a magic word, conjuring up warm feelings of virtue, righteousness, and goodness.

I have been reading liberal theology since my college days—i.e. theologies which deny many, most, or all of the major tenets of the traditional Christian Faith. The theologies are as many and as varied as their authors, but they all share a conviction that Jesus of Nazareth didn’t say and do all the things which the New Testament recorded that He said and did, that the Gospels are not to be trusted as history, and that therefore the basic dogmas of the historical Church are wrong. The late Bishop John Spong (inset) is a modern and sterling example.

G. K. Chesterton wrote that he once left fairy tales lying on the floor of the nursery and hadn’t found any books so sensible since (from his Orthodoxy, “The Ethics of Elfland”). I suggest that Christianity is one such fairy tale, and also that it is a myth. But it is a fairy tale come true, and a myth that became a fact.

There is today in the Orthodox Church a cult of personality—or, more precisely, of personalities, in the plural. That is, there are a number of men, mostly monastics and wearing the badge of “elder” who have set themselves up as judges and arbiters of Orthodox praxis. Most of the hubbub is over matters of ecumenism. Drawing upon the Fathers (often ripped from their historical context) these men declare that outside the Orthodox Church there is little or no grace and salvation. Accordingly, everyone who comes to Orthodoxy from another Christian confession must—not should, but must—be received by baptism, so that those who were received by chrismation must “correct” this “error” and be again baptized.

I am told on good authority that it is offensive to invite people of other religions to convert to Christianity. Thus it is offensive to say to a Jew, “Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God and so you should be baptized and become a Christian”. It is similarly offensive to say to a Muslim, “Jesus is the divine Son of God and Muhammad was not a true prophet, nor is Qur’an His Word, and so you should be baptized and become a Christian”. It is also offensive to say to a Hindu, “Those whom you worship as Gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, and Krishna are not true Gods, but idols, and so you should be baptized and become a Christian”.

Commenting on the epistle reading of Paul to the Colossians, the Very Rev. Dr Bogdan Bucur concentrates on the idea that the passions we struggle with also lead us into idolatry. For “when Christ who is our life appears,” we either die to the passions, or we choose them over Him.This is a battle which happens in our hearts every day, as Christ has already appeared to us through our baptism, and continues to appear to us through our every encounter with Him spiritually and physically in the sacraments and the body of the Church.

I have just finished reading Crisis of Confidence: Reclaiming the Historic Faith in a Culture Consumed with Individualism and Identity, by my friend Carl R. Trueman. Dr. Trueman is professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College, and a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (which, despite the title, has no connection with our own Eastern Orthodox Church).

The feast of the Ascension is a feast of comfort and consolation for the people of God. But it can for some people represent a stumbling block. Looking at the ascension of Christ as it is narrated in Scriptures, does the Church then really believe that accepting the Ascension also involves accepting a literal three-storey universe?

In my last episode, I examined Paul’s words in Romans 9 and their bearing upon the classic Reformed teaching about predestination—i.e. the notion that before the creation of the world God had already chosen some to be saved and some to be damned, and that these choices were based solely upon His sovereign will, and that furthermore, our human choices to accept or reject Christ were simply the outworking of God’s primordial decisions. Those whom He chose to be saved He would draw to Himself so that they would accept Christ, and those whom He had chosen for damnation He would harden so that they would reject Christ. Those teaching this often refer to Paul’s words in Ephesians 1 in support of their views, so we will examine that passage here.

Fr. Apostolos asks the most important question that each of us must answer in this life: What comes next?

Fr. Apostolos reflects on Zacchaeus's desire and how this powerful force can lead to salvation or destruction.

Fr. Apostolos shares on All Saints Sunday, "The memory of all the saints, those who we know and those whose names only God knows, may be we inspired by their witness and their confession from all of those from ancient times to more recent times for whom there was no turning back."

Fr. Apostolos talks about the dangers of confusing externalism with spiritual fruit.

Fr. Apostolos asks, "Of what value is our life in Christ?"

As we approach Great Lent, Fr. Apostolos reflects on the stories of Jason Gibson and Zaccheus. "As we apply the energy of our will and labor to tame our desires so that they serve us and as we avoid the trap of being enslaved by our desires, we can overcome our wounds and learn how to soar in the spiritual life."

Fr. Apostolos shares on the Sunday of the Paralytic. "Once healed and loosed from his paralysis, the paralytic took up his mat and started walking. So too must we shake off whatever form of spiritual paralysis has us in its grip and start walking actively, energetically, and intentionally in the Holy Orthodox faith God has given us."

Fr. Apostolos shares the story of the Nativity of Christ, interspersed with Christmas carols.

Fr. Apostolos shares from St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, "We are the temple of the living God."

Fr. Apostolos speaks about repentance as healing from the cancer of sin. Sin is that foreign substance in us which, if left untreated, will produce in us spiritual death, and God provides the treatment.

Fr. Apostolos shares from the Parable of the Prodigal Son

Fr. Apostolos reflects on the story of the Blind Man (John 9:1-38), and how it should remind us not to become spiritually blinded.

Fr. Apostolos delivers a timely reminder to bear good fruits and tend the garden that we have been given.

Fr. Apostolos Hill discusses the role of confession in maintaining a healthy spiritual life.

After the recent news of Robin Williams' untimely death, Fr. Apostolos talks about depression and suicide, and the hope offered by Christ and His Church.

Fr. Apostolos Hill talks about deconstruction of determinism on both a personal and corporate level. The change Jesus invites us to experience is one He Himself provides. To suggest that real change is impossible, as determinists insist, is to abandon the path of salvation.

Fr. Apostolos Hill shares a short homily and prayers for the back-to-school students. The first prayer at the end for parents to offer for their children is from Fr. James Meena of blessed memory which was written in 1978 and printed in the Word magazine. The second prayer is one that Fr. Apostolos wrote for the Cathedral students.

Fr. Apostolos Hill discusses the phases of crisis and the importance of wisdom to cling to the One who gives us hope.

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers an offering on All Saints Sunday, a reflection on the gritty reality of the saints in all three dimensions of life and not the two-dimensional caricatures to which we often reduce them.

Fr. Apostolos Hill speaks about the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the image of the man beset by robbers on the road down to Jericho. This is about the lethal reality of sin as the Prophet Ezekiel stated "the soul that sinneth, it shall die," and the totally effective cure available in the blood of the Christ.

In this inaugural episode, Fr. Maxym addresses the question "How can we see our sins in humility and how can we fight despair?”

Part 1 of a 2 part series on prayer.

Part two of a two-part series on prayer.

The price to be paid for unceasing prayer.

Fr. Maxym Lysack addresses a question about the Jesus Prayer.