“If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain by the sword, with the sword he must be slain” (Rev. 13:10). True Christianity calls a person to total faith in God. A Christian must believe wholeheartedly that his life and his bodily death are in God's hands. …
Continue reading The Masters of Death Are Now the Ministers of Life?
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” John 14:15. A true Christian is one who is striving to abide in the commandments of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. For the one tasting of the goodness of God, even just a little bit, the commandments become “good and light” (cf. Matt. 11:30). …
The Christian life must be one that is lived in Truth. By dwelling in Truth we are set free, as Christ said, “if you abide in my words you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (Jn 8:31). This experience of truth is not simply that …
“Little children, it is the last time” (1Jn. 2:18). True Christianity is a pronouncement of the end, the last of time; not an end unto death but an end unto never-ending Life. What is this end? The definitive end of the corrupt system of sin and death that is proliferated and energized through human rebellion against …
Know thyself. The Christian understanding of self-knowledge is substantially different from that of the world. The Christian call is not one of egocentric self-fulfillment or self-gratification. The danger of a quest to “know thyself” outside the bounds of revealed truth manifested in Christ Jesus is that, to some degree or another, it has elements of …
The West is not failing but has failed. All its promises of freedom, happiness, rights, equality and so forth have been found to be but lies and falsehood. I live in one of the golden experiments of European “values” – America. The festering wounds of “freedom” from God begin to bear more and more fruit, …
Continue reading The Protocol of the Court Case between Western Society and Christ
Of great relevance to contemporary issues is the following incident from the life of Archbishop Theophan of Poltava of blessed memory. Such an incident gives guidance to lovers of truth in the midst of certain unstable situations. An evident example is the situation in Ukraine (which affects America too) and the establishment of a pseudo-church …
“Christianity must remain eternally unchanging, in no way being dependent on or guided by the spirit of each age. Instead, Christianity is meant to govern and direct the spirit of the age for anyone who obeys its teachings.” St Theophan the Recluse Millions upon millions of martyrs; a concrete number is hard to ascertain. Indeed, …
Continue reading New Martyrs of Russia: An All American Feast Day
In true Christianity, Orthodoxy, right faith and living go hand in hand. For instance, a person cannot confess that Jesus Christ is not God and be an Orthodox Christian, in confessing something contrary to the revelation of God in His Church such a one is setting himself at odds with that revelation. Of course, one …
“They stumble at the word, being disobedient, in regard to that which they were appointed.” 1 Peter 2:8. Humanity is appointed to know God and, by grace, have fellowship with Him. Humanity was created for communion with God, this is its natural state. This state was corrupted by sin, which entered through the free choice …
