“‘Which jurisdiction do you belong to?’ I answered to all: ‘To Christ’s jurisdiction!’” Fr. Gerasim of Spruce Island.

We must be digging deep into the Rock of our Salvation, our Lord and God Jesus Christ. The winds are blowing and the storm only seems to be growing. The Lord knows, He will use all things for the good of those who love Him (cf. Rom. 8:28).

The enemy is constantly scheming; he seeks to disintegrate and fragment people. Most of all those who call themselves Christians and specifically Orthodox. Christ Jesus gathers together into unity and the devil scatters into disunity. Of course, true unity is found only in the Truth of Jesus Christ; the revelation of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ. This is the only eternal foundation, all other ground is shifting sand.

This unity is not founded upon a disregard or a minimization of Truth, which is relativism – what can we compromise so that we all can just get along? How can any unity be substantial if is is stripped of all vital substance? How does Truth remain Truth if it is cut back to a supposed minimal and bare necessity? It cannot be. Thus when a person strives to walk and hold to the Truth of Christ and others find that offensive, he in no way is obligated to compromise the Truth for the sake of a false peace. But diligence is needed, we must hold to the Truth in all love. The two are vital to each other. St. Theophylact teaches, “Only later did this praise worthy division appear among the rulers. I call it ‘praiseworthy’ because there are good separations and justifiable schisms. The Lord says, ‘I came to send a sword on the earth [see Matt. 10:34].’ The sword means salutary divergence of opinion that may arise when true reverence for God is at stake” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, pg. 156). St Theophylact says this about the blind man who was healed in John chapter 9. A division emerged as to whether Jesus was of God or a “sinner.” The healed blind man could not join in the unity of proclaiming that “we know this man is a sinner.” His refusal to confess falsely caused a schism, which in reality led to true unity with Jesus Christ.

Our Lord warned us, “Many will come in my Name, saying: ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many people astray” (Matt. 24:5). Our Lord tells us not to be troubled; let not our hearts be troubled or afraid (cf. Jn. 1-3). Rather we are called to watchfulness and hope in the Lord Jesus. We are in times when there are wars and rumors of wars and nation rising against nation. Yet the Lord tells us, “You will be hated by all nations for my Name’s sake. Many will stumble and will betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will arise and they will lead many astray” (Matt. 24:9-11). It seems evident that the many of whom the Lord speaks are Christians. It is terrible when those who profess the Name of Jesus betray and hate each other.

“It is not everyone who tells Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ who will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Even the working of miracles is not a substantial proof of a true life in Christ, in fact it is “lawlessness” if one is actively living against the will of the Father.

As troublesome as wars and other tragedies are, it seems that one of the most terrible things that happens in the ending of time, is that true Christian love grows cold. This has happened before. But it seems the magnitude of the cold will only grown.

The Lord Jesus testifies clearly that His Kingdom is not of this world (cf. Jn. 18:36). Some kingdoms of this world have worked to guide themselves according to the Gospel but they are not ultimately the Kingdom of Christ our Lord. All earthly kingdoms have an end but His Kingdom shall have no end.

When members of the Church of our Lord lose the vision of Christ’s Kingdom, a profound freezing happens. Hearts become hard and cold. The structure of the Church is used as a means to promote earthly agendas and power. Sometimes agendas that are in fact very contrary to the Kingdom of Christ. The Church in Her essential reality is always the living Body of the Lord, this can never be altered. But, as I’ve written before, the outward structure can be detached from the living inner reality and then utilized for a cause other than the Kingdom of Christ. The Pharisees did this very thing with the Law and were severely rebuked by the Lord Jesus for it.

Remember, our Lord told us that this world – that is the fallen system of man – will hate us if we strive to follow after Him. There is no peace between the fallen sinful system of man and the Kingdom of Christ, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility with God? Whoever wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (Jacob 4:4).

Worldly glory, praise, prestige, affirmation, and so forth act as a cancer that eats away at authentic life in Christ. Then the Christian begins to lord it like the Gentiles and disdains to be like a little child, called not to be served but to serve. The desire to take even the place of Christ then swells in the heart and such begin to equate themselves with salvation itself – without me you cannot be saved. This is terrible pride. For it is only Christ Jesus who is Lord of His Church (all pastors are there to care for Christ’s flock but the flock is not theirs) and He is the only Way of salvation.

The world does not disdain to utilize the outward form of Christianity, even Orthodoxy, to advance its own agenda. Ultimately, this is a spiritual issue. The enemy seeks to scandalize and divide. Yet, we see certain manifestations of this spiritual reality at work in the world around us. Yes, for those who have read a bit of my writings, you will know that I have touched on this subject a number of times. I believe it to be very important. The world – the fallen system of man – seeks to co-opt the structure of Christianity so to promote its own message, the anti-gospel.

Betrayal will come from even supposed brothers and sisters because they have given place to this anti-gospel. It provides for them a worldly place of “honor.”

Modern secular governments are very ready to weaponize religion. Looking to my own nation first, the USA has a long history of doing this. It developed into what is known to some degree as the “Doctrinal warfare program.” If you are not familiar with the practical implications of this agenda then I recommend that you read this article, “Institutional Capture Explained.” It outlines in concise strokes the basic agenda. I’m addressing only my nation in this article and by doing so I do not rule out the reality that other governments also try to utilize religion in a similar manner.

If we believe that the Orthodox Church, generally speaking, is not a subject of this sort of agenda, then we are being quite foolish and naive. The US State Department is very interested in the Orthodox Church. Its interests are not of a beneficial nature. It seeks to, as it were, capture the majority of Orthodox authority and utilize it to be a mouth piece for its own agenda. Its agenda is very far from the Gospel.

Sadly, we witness certain even hierarchs in the Orthodox Church beginning to speak in the terms of the new anti-gospel rather than from the eternal foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The new “dogmas” of tolerance, acceptance, and syncretism (ecumenism) are avidly preached. Of course, traditional Truth is not tolerated or accepted because it is bigoted and full of “rigorism and fundamentalism.”

You may already know, but the group in Ukraine that calls itself the “orthodox church of Ukraine” (OCU) is a direct State Department project. Its purpose is to erode the Orthodox Church and erect a parallel group that outwardly appears “orthodox” but is a vehicle for the anti-gospel. I have written about this quite a bit, but here is one article that touches upon this issue – Ukraine, America, and the subversion of Orthodox Christianity.

The project of the State Department in Ukraine, with the support of the Ecumenical Patriarch, is performing fairly well and causing the division and scandal that is desired. In the past I have said that this model will be applied in other areas of the world. In Bulgaria, for example, there is at current an attempt to utilize the passing of the late Patriarch as a means to spread a similar agenda as applied in Ukraine. A Bulgarian source itself notes, The role of the U.S. in this process of controlling the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is evident. It’s clear that this is being done with the cooperation of the Ecumenical Patriarch and some Bulgarian metropolitans and bishops who violated the canons and served with schismatics in Turkey. It further states, The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, like the Bulgarian state, is being led according to the Ukrainian scenario. Our Church is being led into schism like the Ukrainian Church, and our state to war like the Ukrainian state. If we want to assess the consequences of this schism, each of us can carefully examine the schism in the Ukrainian Church, the persecutions, and physical attacks on the priests there. The US State Department is interested in creating chaos and disorder in the Orthodox Church. The persecution and disorder in Ukraine are very purposeful. It views religion as an earthly tool to be exploited for its own agenda and power. On a base geopolitical level this is understandable. It has no reverence for holy things or fear of the Lord. Its vision is totally obsessed with earthly power and glory.

The agenda to recognize the OCU is being fully funded and pushed by certain US government powers. They have no concern for Orthodoxy or life in Christ Jesus, rather they seek to destroy, through the building of a false-church, the Holy Orthodox Church. Of course, when clergy and people in the Orthodox Church begin to aid in this endeavor because of the promise of worldly power, that is very tragic. We should all be mourning this. Yet, betrayal of Christ Jesus for silver goes back to the very beginning. May the Lord keep our hearts!

Met. Luke of Zaporozhye in Ukraine, a courageous defender of the truth, wrote these words that are well worth heeding regarding the growing agenda and pressure from the world on certain Orthodox churches, In particular, this concerns the recognition of a certain religious structure (that is the OCU, my note). A structure whose supporters seize other people’s churches, beat and maim Orthodox Christians. A structure where apostolic succession is absent, and the consecrations of its senior leadership are void from a canonical point of view. A structure whose leaders express their readiness to follow the path of a new union and integration into the anti-Orthodox world.

A structure that is a white-washed tomb. But this is exactly the goal, shinny on the outside and full of death on the inside. I’ve expanded on this in articles such as – Rome, Constantinople, Kyiv, and the Union of Man.

Met. Luke continues with a very serious warning, Dear fellow bishops! As we know, “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:17-18). That is why I implore you, in the days of Holy Pentecost when we all celebrate the birthday of our Mother Church,  to do what is right in accordance with the doctrinal truths of Orthodoxy, the canons and the conscience. After all, much will depend on your decision. First and foremost, the future path of our Church: whether towards a grandiose schism, which will be far worse than the schism of 1054, or towards purification and healing through the restoration of broken unity. Let us not transgress what must not be transgressed.

It seems there will be two unities taking place, a uniting into the new ecumenism that seeks to eradicate the revealed Truth of Jesus Christ, which is in reality a false unity. Or we will remain in the authentic unity of the Body of Christ that stays faithful to Her Lord and Savior. The Lord is King and He knows all things. We must remain faithful to Him. There is a very clear agenda to destroy the Truth of Christ in His Church, this is not a new agenda. It has been around for a long time. But it is, I believe, prudent to be at least aware of the tactics being used in our days. We don’t want to be obsessive by any means, but we should be diligent and faithful. The Lord knows, but it seems that we may need to enter into that praiseworthy division of which St. Theophylact speaks, for indeed, true reverence for God is at stake. Let us pray for purification and healing. May the Lord Jesus keep us in His jurisdiction.