SACRAMENTAL LIVING

“Faith is critical if we are not to remain earthbound. Divine matters cannot be comprehended with the mind, but we are conditioned in our Western society to believe that the highest level of comprehension is intellectual…the highest level of understanding is not intellectual but spiritual, and spiritual realities are beyond reason, since God’s ways are beyond human comprehension…Intellectual answers are limited and partial at best. It is truly tragic if we willingly remain at

“We go to church… in order to have our eyes opened to see the goodness which God bestowed upon creation… We begin to see God revealed in and through God’s own creation… It is this vision which we lost through sin – it is not the case that the world is totally depraved because of sin but rather that we have lost the ability to see and to have our proper place in creation.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh) “We see the world of God’s creation spread before us, its splendor awakening us to offer

“Today’s business climate puts a premium on efficiency. Management models focus on ways to save time and energy to increase profits. However, efficiency does not equal effectiveness. One can be most efficient, but our work may not be worthwhile. Today in our reading of Ephesians 4:14-19, Paul warns his flock against living as other Gentiles do in the “futility of their mind” (vs. 17)…The Greek term translated as “futility” refers to what is empty, meaningless, and in vain…Fro

Quotes of the Day for July 23, 2021 – Thoughts on challenging our understanding of true morality “The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which He rules. At the same time His holiness encompasses His moral authority, which derives from His royal position. As King He has the right to d

“Reading the Scriptures, studying the church fathers, attending worship, praying, and meditating are all good and godly things. But they are not ends in themselves. When we engage in these holy activities, our sincere and fervent goal should be to encounter the Lord Jesus Christ. We may be the most informed and even enthusiastic students of the Word. We may be devoted to the teachings of the church. We may excel in Christianity as Paul excelled in Judaism. But all that we thi

“Redemption has a technical meaning relative to the freeing of slaves. Here, the bondage is to sins; the act of releasing is forgiveness; the price of redemption is blood—the human life of Christ given over to death for the sake of new life. This beginning of life in Christ is not merely legal, nor instantaneous, but living and dynamic.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Ephesians 1:7-8) “Forgiveness of sins follows redemption, for there would be no forgiveness of sin for anyone before

“The secular worldview says there is only this world. The here-and-now material universe is the only reality. The natural is real, there is no supernatural. The immanent is real, there is no transcendent..." (Pastor Timothy Keller) “The “modern” mindset also holds that “…as our knowledge becomes both broader and more unified, we will experience continued progress (and they have in mind not only technological progress, but also social, political, and moral progress)….In the mo

“It is not those who begin the race who are seen as champions, but only those who finish the race. As Jesus taught us in Matthew 10:22 – “… he who endures to the end will be saved.” So too, in the spiritual life it is those who persist in the faith to the end who partake of Christ. (The rest abandon Him sometime along the way).” (Fr. Ted Bobosh) “The spirit of persistence springs from an inward conviction that life is but one single way that leads to the kingdom of heaven. Pe

“The crisis in contemporary civilization stems from the conflict between man's rational and non-rational activities and self-transcendence will be the only way to overcome the conflict.” (Andrew J. Sopko, Ph.D) “People gradually transferred the purpose and meaning of their lives from the internal world to the external—matter became most important, and spirituality stopped being valued. Everything was reduced to the earthly—the heavenly realm stopped attracting eyes and hearts

""Independent thinking is an important goal of our education system. We want our children to grow up thinking for themselves so that they can make rational judgements and not be led by the impulses of emotion. We want them to question the information placed before them and weigh up evidence in order to reach conclusions. This applies to the Christian faith as much as to anything else. We do not want what is sometimes called “blind faith” from our congregations, where anything