Fasting
“Fasting needn’t be limited to abstinence from food alone, because true fasting is departure from evil deeds. Forgive your neighbor any insult, abstain from causing your neighbor offence, abstain from irritation, from senseless sorrows, from fear, wrath, and so on. ‘True fasting is alienation from evil, temperance of the tongue, setting aside of wrath, casting out of lust, idle talk, lies, and oath-breaking’…This is a true and pleasing fast for the Lord. Departing from these
God's Will vs Self Will
“…we are content to say that God has no place in our lives. We think we want to be left alone to figure it out for ourselves. We have all seen how well this is working out!...Devotion to God’s will is the peaceful and restful haven in all temptations and sorrows, while reliance on one’s own powers is destructive.” (Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, D. Min, St. Ignatius Brianchaninov) “The spiritual disease of the last times is the weakening of our will and determination. It
Witnessing
“…the witness of Christians generally is seriously hindered in the modern secular world by the great variety of voices that all claim to speak authoritatively for Christianity.” (Dr. Mary S. Ford) “Christ is giving a humbling lesson to His chosen Apostles about how difficult evangelism will prove to be. Even if you are offering people eternal life and entrance into God’s Kingdom, they may not believe you or may not be interested in your offer. Evangelism must be done in love,
Busyness
“The waves of change in our society threaten to make our sea legs wobble as we are buffeted from all sides with moral chaos, antisocial...
Rest/Renewal/Restoration
“What is spiritual renewal? It is when you are no longer weighed down by the burden of past traumas and mistakes, your present is filled...
Healing
“…Church is a hospital. The model of a courtroom or a business or even a social club is misguided and lacks the heart and the purpose of...
Sloth
“Sloth may seem like a trivial fault compared with sins against the Ten Commandments or impure thoughts and atrocious deeds. But...
Healing Presence
“When we are a healing presence to others, we are, in some sense, a healing presence to Christ Himself, who resides in others. Better...
Joy and Happiness - Part 1
“…we have a misleading idea at the very head of our Constitution: the pursuit of happiness. One can not pursue happiness; if he does he...
Acedia
“We all make leaps of faith. We put our life on the line. We make decisions and choose direction in our lives. We choose to go to school....