Life and Death
“Why was the entire dispensation of history and work of Christ necessary? Could not God simply have saved humankind by fiat?...The solution God has provided is to heal our nature from the inside out. By joining His divine, eternal life to human flesh, Jesus Christ has overcome the power of death; hence mortality will be abandoned in the grave when the universal resurrection dawns. If this explanation is not sufficient for the inquirer, ‘Say something like this to reasonable p
Kingdom of God/Heaven
“Seeking the Kingdom of God isn’t a retreat into the wilderness or a complete renunciation of the world; withdrawing from the world for...
Prayer (and Focus)
“The Gospel is very simple, and yet we don’t understand it. I’m not impressed with overactivity in the Church, and I’m not impressed with...
Thoughts (Battling Them)
“I once confessed to an experienced priest that sinful thoughts were torturing me, and this is what he advised me: “Think of the thoughts...
Spiritual Warfare
“So, attention is the central point of spiritual warfare, the focus of Christian life, the criterion and measure of salvation of the...
Self and Self-Will
“But Nietzsche, madman and destroyer of faith, fascinated me. His work was twisted and imaginative, truthful and awful and compelling; he...
Crosses to Bear
“ “Take up your cross,” says Jesus Christ. He didn’t say to create or construct yourself a cross. Christ also didn’t choose or build...
Prayer (Being Prayer and Living Prayer)
“Prayer is an encounter with God. It’s not just a question of sacred duty, not some kind of religious obligation, and even less is it...
Heart (Good and Bad)
“Real life is lived in the depths of our heart, as is our hell and our paradise. That is where the battle is fought between our good and...
Captivity
“Our reading [Romans 6:18-23] presents a different understanding of freedom than the view of our society. This contrasting perspective...