SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“At the tower of Babel, a ziggurat temple, the world’s people sought to bring God down and make Him take up residence in the tower where they could ritually control and manipulate Him.” (Father Stephen De Young) “Enforced prayer produces only hypocrisy, makes man listless even in the fulfillment of his duties, a slave to ritual, leading to Pharisaism and an insincere offering to God of an established rule.” (St. John of Kronstadt) “Love and Liturgy must not and cannot be sepa

“God permits the devil, our fellow men, and even ourselves to make wrong and evil choices (2 Thes 2:11). Let us not be shocked at this divine permission, for He extends freedom of choice to us all (Gn 2:16-17). We must choose to exercise our hearts and minds to embrace His truth, rather than seeking “pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thes 2:12).” (Dynamis 11/14/2018) “God lets “the devil loose up to a point and for a specific time, so that the devil can help us with his malice,

“Even if we only grope, only feel around, trying to find God, the promise is that we shall find Him. Sometime my life feels as if I’m just feeling around for a God whom I don’t see or experience. I’m groping in the dark. Even when we feel as if we are in darkness and are feeling around in the dark room of our lives, if we keep going the promise is that we shall find Him. Even when we are confused and struggle with doubt, if we keep up the struggle, the promise is that we shal

On Friday, May 22 at 7 pm, Michael taught a Zoom class to more than 30 people for the St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral Community called, God, COVID-19, and PTSD. The class lasted 90 minutes with an opening prayer service, lecture and then interactive discussion. Michael told the story of a family who all contracted the virus, what they suffered, what medical experts and articles are saying about COVID-19 and PTSD, and how we can understand this spiritually.

“This unique reality that constitutes our true self, is, in its most foundational aspect, a gift. We never “create ourselves”…We are not the makers of our own reality. There is such a wonderful liberation in this when we begin to truly understand it. We do not bring ourselves into existence, nor do we form and create our world. Our present reality is not the result of some chain of decisions and consequences. Such naive reductionism (often posited by many religious people) si

“Why did He not say, ‘Before Abraham was, I was, but I AM [John 8:58]. Christ used this expression, for it signifies continuous Being, removed from all time…He says, ‘Before Abraham was, I AM.’ ‘Before’ indicates past time, ‘I AM” present time. Because divinity does not have past and future time, but always IS, He did not say, ‘I was before Abraham.” Hence it is said to Moses, ‘I am the Being [KJV translates ‘I AM WHO I AM’]. Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, ‘Th

On Friday, May 14 at 7 pm, Michael taught a Zoom class to more than 30 people for the St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral Community called, Imposer Syndrome and the Enemy Within. The class lasted 90 minutes with an opening prayer service, lecture and then interactive discussion. Michael led an in-depth discussion about the self-defeating voice in our head that makes us feel like imposters who we will be discovered a frauds, the internal and external influences that feed this nega

“If you abide in My word,” the Lord Jesus tells them, “you shall know the Truth” (John8:31-32). The verb “to know,” when used in the context of Scripture, expresses a relationship, as in knowing a person rather than simply acquiring information about him. Because the Lord calls Himself “the Truth” (John 14:6), to know the Truth means to know Christ Jesus through our relationship with Him.” (Dynamis 5/16/2020) “Now we come to the one additional matter of truth which is of spe

“Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin (John 8:21); “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24). Note the singular of “sin” in verse 21, but the plural here. How they are used in each case is explained by St. Chrysostom –– “For this is the reason He [Christ] came; in order to take away the sin of the world; and if it is impossi

“We must remember that both in St Paul’s letters and in Hebrews, there is no playing off of Father and Son. Some have wrongly drawn a cartoon of a vengeful Father unjustly demanding the blood of His Son. No, God initiates, offering His best gift, and Christ takes on death, willingly atoning for sin by His suffering…God does not demand blood for His own arbitrary purposes; yet He does not simply declare us forgiven without the crucifixion and descent into hades. We remain in t