Five types of Christians. A nice summary.

I could not have stated this better

I have been, and continue to be, baffled as to how "quiet" the Eastern Orthodox Church is. Until five years ago, I really had not even heard of the Church. Thanks to an outstanding member and GoArch.org, I began learning of the beauty the Faith.

Kevin Allen from the Antiochian Church wrote a wonderful article. Read the entire piece here.

Church Growth Orthodox Style

by Kevin Allen

Church growth has become a buzzword in the Protestant and Evangelical Christian world. Being “evangelical” has tended to become a numbers game, and a virtual cottage industry has emerged to figure out how to grow churches. Books, seminars, research companies, seminary classes and church growth “experts” have developed strategies and marketing plans to reach demographic sub-groups like “seekers” and “post-moderns.”

Churches often change or modify their approaches to accommodate these demographic groups and their perceived “needs.” I recently received an attractive, glossy postcard from a local community church, for example, promising Sunday services would be “fun for the whole family!” It is now quite common to see, as another example of this trend towards “user friendliness,” “coffee bars and kiosks” inside churches, serving free latte and crumb cake! The philosophy seems to be, “If you want to hear the sermon, fine! If not, come and have cake!” Church services often include elaborate, high-tech musical presentations to connect with the MTV generation. You hear of skits and short performances being offered — instead of sermons (let alone liturgy or communion!) — in the attempt to create “seeker friendly” church environments. In the frenzy to grow the numbers, many churches are even leaving their traditional denominations, dropping (even) the words “Christian” and “Church” from their names, for cooler ones like “The Rock” or “The Flow.”

Obviously, these contemporary marketing strategies are not the approach the Holy Orthodox Church should take to draw people to the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” Becoming an Orthodox Christian is a serious commitment to live in community with the faithful according to the apostolic tradition, which is not subject to change in order to accommodate the needs of our fallen culture. Choosing to become Orthodox is not a decision that should be encouraged to be made lightly. Our tradition, our liturgy, our rubrics, our theology, our faith must be understood and internalized. It takes time and effort to adopt the “mind of the Church.” As our Bishop JOSEPH has reminded us time and again, “Our goal must be on quality, not quantity.”

Read the entire piece here.

"Surprised By Christ"

I'm reading a wonderful book, "Surprised By Christ," by Rev. A. James Bernstein. In the book he quotes a sermon by Bishop Kallistos Ware, entitled "Has God Rejected His People, the Jews?"

Let us all inscribe these words of St. Paul (Romans 11:29-32) upon our hearts indelibly in letters of fire. Never for one moment let us forget the incalculable loss which Christianity has suffered through the early separation between the Church and the Synagogue. Let us long, as Paul does, for the ending of that separation, and let us keep steadfastly in view his confident expectation that, willingly and by their own free choice, the Jewish people as a whole will eventually accept Christ as God and Savior. And, until that happens, let us never by deed or word show the slightest disrespect or hatred for the people of Israel. They are still God's Chosen People.

Antisemitism, in all its expressions is the work of Satan.

I beg you, then, to make your own St. Paul's 'great sorrow and unceasing anguish,' and I ask you also to hold fast to his ultimate hope that 'all Israel will be saved'.

As we enter into Passover and Holy Week, my prayers are that all Christian not forget their heritage.

(Delieverd by Bishop Kallistos on July 13, 1996, during the annual pilgrimage of the community of St. John of Kronstadt at Bath to the Saxon Church of St. Laurence at Bradford-on-Avon).

Holy Trinity

We were discussing the nature of the Holy Trinity in a book study last year: How can One Essence have three distinct forms? My parish priest gave an excellent description: H₂0 can be a liquid, a solid, a gas — all three forms have the identical chemical makeup. It’s the best description I’ve heard.

Let's see how this goes

I rant and rave all the time. I've kept a journal (off and on) since age 16. This will be the digital version.