“The adversary sows his half-truths in any of us who are willing to listen.” (Dynamis 1/9/2021)
“Truth or Consequences was an old humorous TV game show that originated in 1940 and ran in various versions off and on until the late 1980s. But Truth or consequences in reality is more serious than a game show and much bigger than a city. It’s a condition of life. Christ is the truth and choosing anything less than Him to include half-truths and lies opens us up to the consequences of our wrong choices – the choices Christ wants to save us from.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“Why is listening to Scripture so important? Because every day we are bombarded with propaganda, with lies and half-truths (or as one wag said, “lies, damn lies, and statistics”), distortions which would turn our hearts from God and His righteousness. Like all effective propaganda, it is does advertise itself as such…We are constantly bombarded with such secular brainwashing. I remember a story once told by Barry McGuire, famous for his sixties’ protest song The Eve of Destruction. After his conversion to Christ, McGuire was derided by some unbelievers who said, “You Christians—you all been brainwashed.” He replied, “That’s true. But let me tell you, so have you. The only difference between all us Christians and you is that we’ve all at least chosen Who we want to wash our brains.” (Fr. Lawrence Farley)
“…modernity must be understood as a fundamentally religious phenomenon, and that secular humanism is in fact actually a forerunner of the religion of the Antichrist. This new religion is disguised from appearing as such, mainly because it professes not to worship any gods. But in reality, it is the worship of man. Its chief dogma was laid down by the Devil at the dawn of history: “ye shall be as gods.” And if modernity is the Religion of Man, then it is evident that its theology consists in nothing other than a new anthropology. And although this new anthropology is profoundly hostile towards Christianity, it is nevertheless unavoidably derived from it as well. This is because, as Richard Pevear once wrote, “Demons are unoriginal. They cannot come up with anything new or real. Their lies are copied from sacred truths.” Indeed, it is precisely this core of sacred truth that gives Antichristianity all its seductive power and beauty. Antichristianity is not a lie, but a half-truth. Once again we see that Antichristianity means not merely “against Christianity,” but also “in place of Christianity.” (Hieromonk Gabriel)
“…here again we have another half-truth. Christianity in its essence is not about “arguments.” Christianity is about the gift of God signified by the true meaning of Christmas. It is a message about faithfulness to Christ, loving your enemies, praying for those who persecute you, taking care of the needy, and in all things honoring the loving and merciful God as Christ revealed Him. Christianity proclaims a joyous invitation, based on free and resolute commitment, to a clear way of life defined above all by the person, example and teachings of Jesus. Christianity includes profound wisdom for those who seek it that, coming from Jesus, has nothing to do with fundamentalism. But the truth of Christianity is not dependent on intellectual arguments as much as the direct experience of a transformed life of love and forgiveness in a loving and caring Christian community. If this spiritual reality of God’s grace and mercy does not radiate from Christians and the Christian churches today, no amount of “arguments” could fill the gap.” (Rev. Dr. Theodore Stylianopoulos, Th.D)
#Dynamis #SacramentalLivingMinistries #FrLawrenceFarley #HieromonkGabriel #RevDrTheodoreStylianopoulosThD
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