Fr. Ted concludes his series on Orthodox life.

Fr. Ted discusses the importance of what we wear when we go to the House of God.

Fr. Ted speaks about the importance in our participation in Holy Communion when coming to the House of God.

Fr. Ted reminds us of the important role of parents and godparents as the "Good Teachers" of the faith in the lives of our children.

Fr. Ted differentiates the deacon's vestments from those of the reader and the priest, and then explains why vestments are worn.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos gives the homily on the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman about the need to speak truthfully to one another.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos calls us to bear with humility all that comes our way, following the example of the Holy Unmercenaries.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos encourages us to resist the fear of revealing our weaknesses in order to find healing in Christ.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos encourages all of us to participate as fully as we can in the Nativity Fast as we prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ, saving our feasting for after our fasting.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos helps us to discover the true meaning of Christmas through the life of the Orthodox Church.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos explains the meaning of the two Great Blessing of the Waters during the Feast of Epiphany or Theophany.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos reflects on the Gospel reading from the Sunday of the Canaanite woman, and her perseverance to overcome the barriers she faced to reaching Jesus.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos calls us to prepare ourselves to stand before the Uncreated Light of God, either in joy or sorrow.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos describes the irony in the Palm Sunday story.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos preaches on the healing of the paralytic.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos explains the meaning of the parable of the Good Samaritan through the lens of church leadership and hypocrisy.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos calls us to endure the struggles of life during Holy Week in order to see Christ's glorious resurrection.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos calls us to keep focused on the eternal kingdom even in the midst of the distractions of this life.

Questions evangelicals want to ask the Eastern Orthodox, with Fr. Michael Reagan.

Continuing the discussion with Fr. Michael Reagan, about questions evangelicals have for the Orthodox.

Here's a hint: It's wrong! Great stuff as Kevin Allen interviews this popular Orthodox priest, a senior editor at Touchstone Magazine.

Part One of Kevin and Steve's in-depth interview with esteemed Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary, Fr. Thomas Hopko, on the important subject, "The True, Visible Church: Is it Eastern Orthodox"? Download this one friends--and wrestle with it at the gym!

Here’s Part II of Kevin and Steve's fascinating interview with Fr. Tom on the True Church. Lots here to digest, friends! Download it and put it on your favorite player to listen to over and over. Have fun!

Fr. Ted Pulcini, ex-Roman Catholic and now Eastern Orthodox priest and long-time Orthodox participant in Orthodox-Catholic ecumenical dialog, discusses the Vatican's recent document on the doctrine on the Church. He and Kevin Allen discuss the timing of its publication, what it really means, what it says about the current and future state of relations between the two oldest branches of Christianity, and what the divisive issues are.

Dr. Mary Ward (PhD.), a life-long member of the Roman Catholic Church and professor of Theology at a major Jesuit University, tells us why she left the church of her youth and joined the Orthodox Church (Greek jurisdiction) as an adult.

Kevin Allen talks with Fr. Tom Hopko about the significance of the incarnation.

This week Kevin re-conneects after 35 years with his old college dorm neighbor, Conservative Jewish Rabbi Alan J.Iser, about Judaism, the Jewish roots of Orthodox Christianity, and how religious Jews understand the Torah verses what Christians interpret christologically in this frank interview. Rabbi Iser is the spiritual leader of Congregation OR SHALOM in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. 44:05

In this encore presentation, Kevin talks with Fuller Theological Seminary professor Dr. Paraskeve (Eve) Tibbs about the essential differences between the ways the Christian East and West understand the fundamentals of the faith, worship, and sacraments. A great introduction to East-West Christian distinctives!

In this episode, Kevin and Father Steven C. Kostoff discuss two views of the afterlife that separate the New Age/Eastern/Gnostic from the central historic Christian belief.

Host Kevin Allen and Father Michael Reagan continue their conversation about this most important of topics: Knowing God. Next Illumined Heart: Friday, September 24, 2010

In this inaugural episode of the new season of The Illumined Heart, Kevin Allen welcomes Father Michael Reagan to discuss a long-standing conversation between the Eastern Church and the Western Church: can we know God directly and what does this mean? The perspective in this conversation is practical, not academic. In this new season of The Illumined Heart, Kevin will be providing interviews every other week. However next week (Sept 10) he will have part 2 of his interview with Fr. Michael Reagan.

On this encore program from 2008, Kevin speaks with Fr. Jonathon Ivanoff, Secretary of the Department of Evangelization of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) about the "life cycle" of parishes and how to know whether your parish is thriving, dying or dead on the vine -- and what can be done about it!

What began as a conversation with Fuller Theological Seminary professor Dr. Paraskeve (Eve) Tibbs over coffee, becomes an interview on the essential differences between the ways the Christian East and West understand the fundamentals of the faith, worship, and sacraments. A great introduction to East-West Christian distinctives on this encore presentation of The Illumined Heart with Kevin Allen!

What can Evangelicals and Orthodox learn from each other is the subject of the 2nd section of our interview with His Eminence.

There are over 20 ancient Eastern Christian churches in communion with the Pope of Rome whose liturgies and "ethos" are more "Orthodox" than their Latin-Rite brothers. Some of them claim to be "Orthodox in communion with Rome". Some Orthodox disagree, calling them (pejoratively) "Uniates" or Eastern Rite Catholics, who have made significant compromises to come into such communion. In this episode host Kevin Allen speaks with Melkite (Eastern Catholic) priest Father James Babcock about the similarities and differences between Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholics and the Roman Catholic Church.

We ask God to forgive our sins and God tells us that His forgiveness is conditional on our forgiveness of others. But what does forgiveness really mean? Does it mean forgetting the offense entirely, or is it the intention to forgive that matters? What if we forgive, but the bitterness or the memory of the sin or offense comes back - have we not truly forgiven? Are we to repent of our sin once, or is it a continual process? These and other questions are the topic of the next Illumined Heart with guest Rev. Fr Tom Soroka.

In this episode, the microphone is turned as AFR General Manager and founder John Maddex interviews host Kevin Allen on the catechism module he developed (with his priest's blessing) specifically for inquirers coming from New Age and Eastern spiritual backgrounds. Is the entrance of New Age and Eastern seekers perhaps a trend the Church needs to prepare for? Are the issues, concerns, and paradigms of these seekers the same as those inquiring from Evangelical backgrounds? Must the catechist know something about New Age and Eastern religions in order to catechize effectively? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this program. You may download an attachment of the course outline here.

Host Kevin Allen speaks with Father Steven Tschlis about the role of the spiritual guide - father or mother - in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, and how such a guide may differ from one's parish priest or sacramental confessor. Should we look for a "spiritual father or mother" in a monastery? What role does the parish priest play? These and other questions will be addressed in this conversation.

Fr. Thomas Hopko, Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir's Orthodox seminary, addresses the controversial subject of "toll houses" in this highly animated half-hour discussion with our co-hosts.

In this edition meet post-modern John Ma'ae, who looked for truth in Theravada Buddhism and eventually found the fullness of Christ as the head and body of the Orthodox Church.

Fr. John Whiteford and host Kevin Allen speak about one of American Christianity's defining doctrines—Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)—and why it is a flawed and non-biblical notion.

The Death To The World crew reports back on their week at Cornerstone 2009 - the largest Christian rock festival in the world. This is the third year DTTW has set up shop in the exhibitors area as an Orthodox outreach at this largely Evangelical youth gathering. John Valadez, Gary Allen and Julia Gatalskaya report to host Kevin Allen that the 'times they are a' changing' in the world of contemporary Christian youth, reflecting a broader trend towards ancient faith!

Today Andrew continues his practical advise for freeing ourselves from addiction by offering St. Theophan's four spiritual weapons for our contimplation . Read the transcript HERE.

How talking about anything — including violence and sexuality — can lead to consequences in others’ lives, intentionally and unintentionally. Read the transcript HERE.

An interview with Fr. John Finley (www.sacredmeals.com)

Steve and Bill finish the mini-series on the liturgical prayer life of the Church. For all the teaching and talk about fasting on the program, the Church's liturgical calendar really focuses on the 12 Great Feasts and fasting is our preparation for the Feasts of the Church. In the third segment of the program, Steve and Bill tag team wrestle a glossary of liturgical terms and show once again that two lightweights are no match for the 2000 year old Tradition. They deftly handle the Troparion, they almost pin down the Kontakion, but the Canons and Exapostilarion finally throw them. The Church's liturgical terms win by a unanimous decision. A rematch may be scheduled in the future.

With the reading of the Gospel and the homily that often follows it, the Liturgy of the Catechumens is concluded, and we transition to the Liturgy of the Faithful - The Communion Service. The Eucharist has always been the central focus of the life and worship of the Church from the beginning. Here we try to convey, by way of the Cherubic Hymn and the priestly prayers, the meaning of the Great Entrance - the journey of the gifts from the Prothesis table to the Altar. This is the life-journey of Christ in the world on his way to His Life-Giving Death, and the faithful are eyewitnesses to this - as the lines between heaven and earth are blurred in the mysterious and sacred space of the Kingdom.

In the last program of the End Times series, Steve and Bill try to tag team wrestle "the Beast" and the "Antichrist." It was a tough match-up, and the they left some marks on them, but not the trademark "666." And just what does "666" mean anyway? Tune in and see who has been marked as the Beast and the Antichrist through history.