Fr. John Whiteford helps us to understand how to receive suffering in a way that is redemptive in our lives. (Acts 14:19-22)

Fr. John Whiteford discusses true and false prophecy and the telling of difficult truths. Passages discussed are Jeremiah 26:11-19 and Matthew 19:16-26.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from April 21, 2024.

In this episode of The Wilderness Journal Angela continues her conversation with Summer Kinard, Jamey Bennett and Geoff Thompson about things we wish we had known about Orthodoxy before entering into the faith, including talk of Spiritual Fathers and people made of cheese.

The start of a new year brings us to a point of clarity– a starting point, an ending point. It is in these moments that we can choose hope as we look forward, or regret from looking back. What does the New Year represent to you? “I wish I had” or “I hope I do?”

When the disciples were confronted with the impossible task of feeding 5,000 men plus women and children, they forgot that their Lord was all they needed!

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!

All great religions have a form of the Golden Rule. But in the Christian Faith this wisdom has specific wisdom on not only how to actually follow the Golden Rule but to share this faith with others.

What a very familiar passage is this passage about a sower planting seed! We've heard this message forever, but I wonder, do we know how to cultivate "god soil" in our lives so that the seed of the Word of God will grow within us?

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!

On this Forgiveness Sunday, the Church draws our attention to a passage in Matthew's Gospel that offers us a Warning, some Wisdom, and the Way! Entering Great Lent without these insights will hamper your ability to truly celebrate the Resurrection. Suffice it to say it has everything to do with being forgiven and extending forgiveness!

The central truth of the Orthodox Christian faith is Gratitude. If we can learn to live a grateful life, we will truly be shaped into the character of Christ and will reflect the life of Christ i.n our lives as well. But this life of gratitude is difficult in a world where we so easily dismiss our faith or reduce our faith to smaller ideas. How do we escape this all too easy temptation? By observing what is our initial reaction to being blessed with God's grace! What is our initial reaction to God's kindness to us? What is our reaction to the benefits of gifts? This internal clue reveals our true character!

The celebration of the Enfleshing of God at Christmas is nothing less than a Divine Invasion of Creation by the Creator for the purpose of rescuing all of Humanity.

On the first Sunday of Great Lent the Church calls us to recall the victory of Orthodoxy over the heresy of an invisible God! Now that God has become visible for our sake, we are invited to Come and See!

On this Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, it's time to stop being amazed by God's consistency and power!

On the Feast of the Transfiguration, Jesus reveals the very central purpose for our existence and our true goal for our lives!

Jesus thanks Peter for the use of his boat the Lord used to preach to the people by telling Peter to push out further and let down his fishing nets. Of course we know the rest of the story.

On this St. Thomas the Believer Sunday, we are invited to grow beyond our doubts.

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.

Today I’m going to reveal some of the most interesting online niches where there is a lot of money to be made. These are niches which have a level of competition that allows you to compete, and fast. In other words, I wouldn’t expect to be waiting years (or even months, in many cases) to […]

The post 51 Profitable SEO Niches to Dominate with Low Competition appeared first on ViperChill.

If we are honest, we will all admit that we struggle from time to time with doubt. Michael reflects on that reality and helps us understand the meaning of doubt as well as faith.

Michael challenges us to avoid the extremes as we attempt to live in an increasingly dark culture as Orthodox Christians. Christ has given us the example.

Michael helps us understand the critical difference between intelligence and wisdom. In this episode, he references Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon's book Wise Lives: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Wisdom of Sirach.

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.

Life’s often not fair and we all suffer from illness and affliction at times that are not of our own making. It is then we are often confronted with a choice – to continue to want to be with God even though we don’t understand why certain things are happening to us; or to let the seeming unfairness of our circumstance drive us away from Him. Join Michael as he uses a whimsical episode of the Brady Bunch to illustrate and discuss this profound truth we all experience.

CDC reports that suicides have increased 25% since 1999 in nearly every state and recent celebrity suicides have cause a renewed focus on this issue. The CDC report further lists reasons, warning signs, and who this is affecting most. What can everyday ordinary Orthodox Christians do, who are not clergy or mental health professionals, to help combat this tragedy. Join Michael Haldas as he shares his personal experience and offers some thoughts on this topic.

Join Michael for an in-depth discussion of healing, what Christ demonstrates in the Gospels, and some surprising reasons why we are and are not as open to healing as we’d like to think.

Join Michael as he discusses what we should do when we feel like God is absent from our lives, and how we can overcome the tyranny of our negative thoughts and feelings that create this false sense of separation.

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.

What do we deserve in life? Anything? Everything? Join Michael as he addresses the various ways we can focus on what we deserve and how most of them lead us in the wrong spiritual direction.

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 as he examines what it means to experience true freedom, and why what we think is freedom is a form of bondage we don’t recognize.

Join Michael for a discussion on how to avoid being paralyzed with guilt and shame over our worst failures, and experience God at work within them.

Join Michael as he shows why restraint is Christ-like and liberating, and the path of ultimate freedom out of the self-inflicted tyranny of our own thoughts and behaviors.

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.

Fr. Seraphim explains what it really means to be free to become who you are.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea exhorts his listeners to fight for faith in the living God during this challenging time.

After we sin, our hearts freeze. For a while, we stay away from God on purpose. We need time to heal, we need some sort of ritual of cleansing, some manner in which to make ourselves (in our own eyes) acceptable again to God. But the way back to prayer must begin as soon as possible, if possible even during the act of sin itself. The sooner we turn ourselves back to face Christ's Light, the sooner we shall drag ourselves out of the depth of our fall. Remind yourself of those who were waiting in the darkness of hell for Christ's Descent - ask for their desperate desire to be forgiven, pray for their unceasing hope that Light WILL one day find them and bring them back to Life out of the death of their hell. For those who put their trust in Christ, there is always Hope, there is always Love, there is always a way back to repentance and Life.

Why do we forget all the beautiful things God teaches us in our life? How come we cannot hold on and remember all the advice God speaks to our hearts, either in prayer or through the people and circumstances of our lives?

Don't look for the easy way out of pain. Do not deny the reality of your doubts, your struggles and your sins. Be who-you-are before Christ, so that He may save the truth of who-you-are.

We sometimes pray very hard for Christ to release us from our sin, but it feels as if He just looks away and doesn't want to help. Almost always, this betrays a much more serious sin in us, hiding underneath the one that troubles us. Pride, judgement, and condemnation of others can prevent Christ from releasing us from our sin.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea reminds us to keep ourselves grounded in humility, so we may fight pride and hypocrisy, and prevent them from staining our spiritual struggle before the Lord. When you are at the beginning of your spiritual life, you need to prioritize your ascetical works, because they will eventually help you open up to receive God's Grace.

Fr. Seraphim encourages us to avoid false faces and the havoc they wreak.

Don't Hide You from Christ (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

What Does an Orthodox Holy Altar Look Like? (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Having Constant Spiritual Ups and Downs? (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Don't Let Expectations Define You (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)