The Mother of our Lord is often a stumbling block for Protestants who are exploring Orthodoxy. Frederica Mathewes-Green discusses how to disregard medieval excesses, and see how the early Christians saw her.

As human beings, we find that we are surrounded by relationships everywhere we go. Could it be that relationality is something about what it means to be human? Join Christian as he discusses what it is to be human through the lens of being relational beings made in the image of a relational God.

This week, Christian is joined by his wonderful wife, Michaela. Together, the two reflect on what marriage has taught them both about an experience of God's Love.

In the final episode of The Trench, Christian explores how what we love orients our way of being in the world and how what we love is shaped by what we do. Join Christian as he says goodbye to the series by asking, "What do we truly love?"

On the second Sunday of Great Lent we remember St. Gregory Palamas and Fr. Tom instructs us on why he is so important in our theology about knowing the unknowable God.

As we continue to remember the significance of the Annunciation, Fr. Tom gives a helpful reflection on the Magnificat.

Fr. Thomas contrasts the story of the fallen, then raised Mary of Alexandria with that of another Mary - the Theotokos.

What does this miracle of Christ tell us about the blind man, about God, about Jesus and ultimately, about us?

Fr. Thomas relates the story of the icon not made by hand which is celebrated each August after the Dormition of the Theotokos. Could it actually be the shroud of Turin?

With the Feast Day of the Beheading of St. John approaching (August 29), Fr. Thomas examines the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptizer, John.

In commemoration of the Feast of his beheading, Fr. Tom continues his discussion of the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptizer, John.

Following his two part series on the Wrath of God, Fr. Tom turns his attention to our own anger and wrath and how that differs from God's.

God grieves, we grieve, and life is often permeated with sadness. What does this mean when we also contemplate the "joy" of the Christian life?

Father Thomas educates us on why the Sunday a week after our Lord's Resurrection is also called Antipascha.

Fr. Thomas addresses a listener question on the often misunderstood admonition in the Gospel of Matthew to call no man father.

In this next episode of the series on Bishops, Fr. Tom reflects on 4th century Bishops, Monks, Martyrs, and Saints.

To what lengths will a true saint go to defend pure doctrine? Fr. Tom tells the incredible story of St. Maximus and St. Martin.

Fr. Thomas talks about one of the most important books in his library and strongly encourages everyone to read it for an eye opening revelation on today's society as we know it. The Abolition of Man by CS Lewis.

In Psalm 118 (119 in the Hebrew text), every verse references the commandments or precepts of God. As Christians, how are we to look at God's commandments in the light of Christ and His "New Commandment?"

St. Paul's letter to the Romans is critical to understanding the Gospel of Christ. In this episode, Fr. Thomas gives us a helpful overview of this letter and its central theme.

After listening to an AFR Commentary by Fr. Lawrence Farley and a sermon by Fr. Andrew Damick, Fr. Thomas offers some additional and personal thoughts on the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. We also encourage you to listen to the comments by Fr. Tom Soroka.

Following his recent podcast on the virtue as well as the pitfalls of zeal, Fr. Thomas talks about where our zeal should be focused. He uses a 19th century book entitled The Arena by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov to help us understand.

We have just finished the month of January where many of the heroes of the Faith are remembered. One of them is St. Maximus the Confessor who paid a price for resisting bishops and emperors when he thought they were promoting false doctrine. Fr. Tom teaches us what can we learn from this humble and brave saint.

Fr. Thomas Hopko calls the Reformation one of the most impactful periods of Church history on Orthodoxy. Learn about how the Orthodox were influenced by Roman Catholic and Protestant thinking.

Fr. Tom talks about what happened in the 17th Century, when Orthodoxy in both Constantinople and Ukraine were influenced by non Orthodox thinking.

Fr. Tom takes up his series on the bishops and structure of the Church and moves to the 19th Century fall of the Ottoman Empire.

In light of the debate in the Roman Catholic Church about divorce and re-marriage, Fr. Tom offers the Orthodox view of this topic as well as an explanation of the fundamental difference in how marriage is viewed in Orthodoxy. We are so happy to have Fr.Tom back recording podcasts. Please continue to pray for him.

Today, Jeannie begins her look at the Roman Trial, and, once again, we have divided it into two parts for easier digestion and download.

And, here is the continuation of Jeannie's study of the Roman Trial of Jesus.

As Jeannie continues her series on the Introduction to the Bible, she begins a three-part subset on Bible manuscripts.

What are the Dead Sea Scrolls and what do we need to know about them?

As Scribes copied the biblical texts, what affect did this process have on words, phrases, or theology?

Dr. Constantinou takes a break from her introduction to the Bible to address a question that is making headlines around the world: Was Jesus married?

Dr. Constantinou continues her discussion of the recently discovered square of papyrus that supposedly proves that Jesus was married.

In August I published a post examining a common question in email marketing – do email subscription pop-ups work? The post detailed how I went about implementing pop-ups via OptinMonster (affiliate), as well as the results I attained in using them on two separate sites. Despite “most people” claiming they hate them, the results were…

The post Comparing Email Subscribers Acquired from Pop-Ups vs. Other Methods appeared first on Sugarrae.

I've become obsessed with site speed over the last six months, systematically working through each of my sites to improve their speed. Supposed SEO benefits aside, the faster your site is, the better the user experience. And the better the user experience, the higher the conversion rate – sales, leads or newsletter subscribers; whatever a…

The post 10 Simple Ways to Make Your WordPress Site Faster appeared first on Sugarrae.

This past weekend Google sent out a round of manual penalty notices citing “unnatural outbound links” – later confirmed to be targeting sites publishing compensated content and reviews where the blogger is linking out to the brand or site that compensated them. If your site received the notice, you'll find some advice for fixing your…

The post How Bloggers Can Fix a Manual Penalty Caused by Compensated Content & Reviews appeared first on Sugarrae.

I get a lot of newer, aspiring affiliates on the Sugarrae site and when you've never done affiliate marketing before, all of the terms can get a little confusing. So I created this glossary of affiliate marketing terms to help newer affiliates and bloggers understand the terminology used within the industry. Above the Fold The…

The post Understanding Affiliate Marketing Lingo (Glossary of Terms) appeared first on Sugarrae.

If you've looked into search engine optimization as a promotional technique for your website, you have likely come across the advice to make your website secure (having an https:// appear in front of your URLs instead of http://). Google has been very vocal in pushing for all websites to make the move to being secure,…

The post How to Make Your WordPress Website Secure (SSL) in 6 Steps appeared first on Sugarrae.

I tried several different ways to begin this post, but it seemed only fitting to be as blunt in this announcement as I have been during my entire SEO and affiliate career, thus the title of this entry. It's been an amazing ride In 1998, after my oldest son suffered a massive bilateral stroke, I…

The post Peace Out to My Digital Marketing Career – It’s Been One Hell of a Ride appeared first on Sugarrae.

Fr. John Finley visits the St. Paisius Mission in Yuma, Arizona, on the Sunday of the Canaanite Woman.

In part two of Fr. John's visit to Yuma, he might step on a few "Christian" toes.

At St Simeon Mission/Santa Clarita, California, Fr John delivers a teaching sermon on the season of Pascha and how it relates, every Sunday, to baptism -- for the newly illumined and all who are baptized into Christ. Christ is Risen!

Fr. Finley, with reference to potential “mass conversions,” explains what we must do to prepare.

Fr. Joseph interviews Fr. Matthew Snowden of St Nicholas Mission/Jackson, Tennessee—on the struggles and joys of shepherding a fledgling Orthodox community

Can you say Yakima? Ever been? Fr. Joseph affirms the latter; still not sure about the former. (What about Wapato?) Here's a little history of Holy Cross Church/Yakima, Washington. No matter how you say it, it's well worth a visit!

Fr. Joseph chats with newcomer Chris Shin, a tattoo artist and onetime street preacher.

This "Mission Recipe" mixes loss of vision, retirement, 20-20, homeschooling, and a local bookstore. Fr. Joseph chats with Fr. Paul Solberg of Christ the Good Shepherd Mission in Concord, North Carolina.

Can you imagine for a moment that all this revealed religion stuff is really, really real? Fr Joseph speaking at Christ the Savior/Chicago, 2010.

Fr. Joseph sits down with Deacon Damian Oweis and members of the new mission of St. Basil the Great in Bismarck, North Dakota.