A Jolly Little Song To Help Cheer Everybody Up For The Holidays !

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


Happy New Year, Everyone!

King Herod Slew 14,000 Babes Once And Is Called 'Inhuman'...

...while pro-choice policies responsible for millions of abortions each year are labeled as 'humanism'...

Christ Is Born In The Filthy Stables Of Our Sinful Hearts

When I was in jail I fell very, very ill.
At my right hand was a priest by the name of Iscu. He was abbot of a monastery. This man, perhaps in his forties, had been so tortured he was near to death. But his face was serene. He spoke about his hope of heaven, about his love of Christ, about his faith. He radiated joy.

On my left side was the Communist torturer who had tortured this priest almost to death. He had been arrested by his own comrades. Don’t believe the newspapers when they say that the Communists only hate Christians or Jews—it’s not true. They simply hate. They hate everybody. They hate Jews, they hate Christians, they hate anti-Semites, they hate anti-Christians, they hate everybody. One Communist hates the other Communist. They quarrel among themselves, and when they quarrel one Communist with the other, they put the other one in jail and torture him just like a Christian, and they beat him.

And so it happened that the Communist torturer who had tortured this priest nearly to death had been tortured nearly to death by his comrades. And he was dying near me. His soul was in agony.

During the night he would awaken me, saying, “Pastor, please pray for me. I can’t die, I have committed such terrible crimes.”

Then I saw a miracle. I saw the agonized priest calling two other prisoners. And leaning on their shoulders, slowly, slowly he walked past my bed, sat on the bedside of this murderer, and caressed his head—I will never forget this gesture. I watched a murdered man caressing his murderer! That is love—he found a caress for him.

The priest said to the man, “You are young; you did not know what you were doing. I love you with all my heart.” But he did not just say the words. You can say “love,” and it’s just a word of four letters. But he really loved. “I love you with all my heart.”

Then he went on, “If I who am a sinner can love you so much, imagine Christ, who is Love Incarnate, how much He loves you! And all the Christians whom you have tortured, know that they forgive you, they love you, and Christ loves you. He wishes you to be saved much more than you wish to be saved. You wonder if your sins can be forgiven. He wishes to forgive your sins more than you wish your sins to be forgiven. He desires for you to be with Him in heaven much more than you wish to be in heaven with Him. He is Love. You only need to turn to Him and repent.”

In this prison cell in which there was no possibility of privacy, I overheard the confession of the murderer to the murdered. Life is more thrilling than a novel—no novelist has ever written such a thing. The murdered—near to death—received the confession of the murderer. The murdered gave absolution to his murderer.

They prayed together, embraced each other, and the priest went back to his bed. Both men died that same night. It was a Christmas Eve. But it was not a Christmas Eve in which we simply remembered that two thousand years ago Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It was a Christmas Eve during which Jesus was born in the heart of a Communist murderer.

These are things which I have seen with my own eyes.

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, With My Own Eyes

Atheism

A Heart-Warming Christmas Post

And it happed this Night that all the sodomites that did sin against nature were dead and extinct: for God hated so much this sin, that He might not suffer that human nature, which He had taken, were delivered to so great shame; whereof Saint Austin said that it lacked but little that God would not become man for that sin.

Jacobus de Voragine, Golden Legend,
On the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ

Desperate Orthodox Housewives: On The Unspeakable Ordeal Of Having A Pious Orthodox Christian For A Husband

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More information on this topic can be found here.


Every Orthodox Housewife's Holiday Nightmare...

Where Our Strength Comes From

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A Brief And Pious Advice Now That Fasting Is Drawing To An End

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Saint Peter on Ascetic Struggles

2 Peter 2:19 For by whom a man is overcome, by the same is he also brought in bondage.

Sometimes I Just Don't Know What's Worse...

The fact that I am going to Hell, or the fact that I haven't yet been able to stop anyone from joining me there...

Virtue Is Fleeting, But Vice Is Forever !

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

True Abolitionism

Dispassion.

Shattering the chains of passions, and being freed from under the bondage of sin.

The State of Virginia: A Staunch Supporter of Ascetic Struggles Since 1776 AD !

Romans 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if through the Spirit ye mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Colossians 3:5  ¶Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

1 Corinthians 9:26  So fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27  But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

On Slavery

Slaves of sin and prisoners of passions,
devoured by desire, lashed by lust, tormented by temptation, and tortured by insatiable cravings:

Prayer of Manasses 1:10

I am bowed down with many iron bands, that I cannot lift up my head, nor have I any release.

Ascesis: The American Thing To Do ! (As I'm Sure Thomas Jefferson Would Agree...)

I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man...

Thomas Jefferson

Goethe on the Necessity of Ascetic Struggle

Have you been set free from under the tyranny of sins and passions ?

John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Romans 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Romans 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

What Consumes Us ?

Our zeal for Christ and His Gospel, or the lusts of our flesh ?

The Fires Of Hell Are The Flames Of Passions...

...which burn unextinguished in the hearts of sinners, ceaselessly consuming and devouring their souls, without ever being even remotely stilled or quenched...

Your Best Life NOW !

Galatians 5:24

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.

A Thoughtful And Pertinent Observation From My Reader(s) About The Subtle Irony Of Me Posting Articles On Abstinence

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A Bit of Constructive Criticism and Positive Feedback are Always Appreciated...

How Sin Takes Over Our Lives

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We All Want To Break Free...

...but from what ?

From under the tyranny of passions?

Or from under the yoke of Christ and the burden of the Gospel?

Compulsion is Idolatry

...and the idol in question is the object of one's own craving and addiction.

Do You Have Sex ?...

...or does sex have you ?

The things you own end up owning you.

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club

You May Drink Alcohol, But You May Not Become An Alcoholic

The same holds true for sexual intercourse and meat-consumption.

Other religions (like Baptists, Adventists, Jews, and Muslims) forbid the ingestion of alcohol and/or certain kinds of meat in a purely Judaizing fashion. Gnosticism also forbade both sexual intercourse and flesh-consumption on the grounds of matter being intrinsically evil and unredeemable. But Orthodoxy doesn't do that. Coupled with the fact that the vast and overwhelming majority of Orthodox Christians world-wide are at the very best nominal and lukewarm in the practice of their faith, not to mention that many of them don't even give a rat's posterior about some of the very basic moral teachings of their own religious belief, this creates to outsiders, both Orthodox and un-Orthodox, the illusion or false impression that our faith is very 'friendly' and permissive: it is not, I assure you! Why? Because, though allowing all these things and viewing them as being clean and permissible, at the very same time Orthodoxy also teaches its faithful followers that their hearts, minds, souls, and bodies are not to become enslaved by any of these things, through the tyranny of lusts, passions, cravings, addictions, and compulsions, all of which are forms of spiritual idolatry:

1 Corinthians 6:12 ¶All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Sex: It's a Part of Life !

...but it's NOT a part of eternal life...

A Comparison Between Three Great Religious Figures: Christ, Muhammad, and Myself

I crave. I lust. I covet. I desire.
I crave women.
I crave the beauty of their face.
I crave the form of their body.
I crave the sight of their skin.
I crave the touch of their flesh.
I crave their presence in my life.
If I were to imagine the pleasures of Paradise, I would picture them as carnal and sensual delights.



Mohammed craved. Mohammed lusted. Mohammed coveted. Mohammed desired.
Mohammed craved women.
Mohammed craved the beauty of their face.
Mohammed craved the form of their body.
Mohammed craved the sight of their skin.
Mohammed craved the touch of their flesh.
Mohammed craved their presence in his life.
Mohammed is well-known for depicting the pleasures of Paradise as carnal and sensual delights.



Christ did not crave. Christ did not lust. Christ did not covet. Christ did not desire.
Christ did not crave women.
Christ did not crave the beauty of their face.
Christ did not crave the form of their body.
Christ did not crave the sight of their skin.
Christ did not crave the touch of their flesh.
Christ did not crave their presence in His life.
Christ did not envision the pleasures of Paradise as carnal and sensual delights. (Quite the contrary, actually...)


Guess the Muslims are right after all: we're all born Muslims...

None of those bound by passions and lusts are worthy to approach Thee and to serve Thee, for to serve Thee is fearsome and dreadful even for the Heavenly Powers...

From the Holy Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom

Christmas Is NOT the Christian Hanukkah !

Today's Feast is !

On Sin And Its Side Effects

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Proverbs 14:12 , 16:25

¶There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

I Want To Break Free...

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Luke 9:62  And Jesus said unto him: No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Genesis 19:17  And it came to pass, when They had brought them forth abroad, that [ the Angel ] said: Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed! 26  ¶But [ Lot's ] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Revelation 3:14  ¶And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: 15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Matthew 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.

Let us now lay aside all earthly cares, so that we may receive the King of all, invisibly surrounded by Angelic hosts: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia !

The Cherubic Hymn

My Hope is the Father, my Refuge is the Son, my Shelter is the Holy Spirit: Holy Trinity, Glory to You!

The Prayer of Saint Ioannikios

Why Fast ?

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Mark 9:28  And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately: Why could not we cast out this demon? 29  And He said unto them: This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

I Am The Lord Your God

You shall have no other gods before Me.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

Amen !

The Dilemma That Puzzled The Minds Of Scientists, Philosophers and Theologians For Centuries...

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In a romantic relationship between two women, which one is wearing the pants?

How Many Angelic Orders Are There?

Why it's always so much better to just steer clear of sensitive religious topics while on a date...

Gracefully Accepting That Your Former Girlfriend Is Getting Married To Someone Else

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Lack Of Communicating Affection For One Another Can Ruin A Relationship

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More information on the non-verbal communication of affection mentioned in this video can be found here.

Everything is evolving, everything is falling apart...

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club

Every Relationship Has Its Ups And Downs...

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No matter what hurdles a couple may encounter in life, the important thing is to overcome them...

Why Orthodox Christians Should Whole-Heartedly Support Gay Adoption-Rights

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Because NOTHING can ruin a perfectly happy and committed post-modern homosexual relationship better than a cute and constantly-crying little angel, in permanent need of one's unlimited care and attention... :-)

And God Said: It's Not Good That Man Should Be Alone...

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True Love Comes Softly...

Well... I'm Just Glad To See That At Least Some Homosexuals Don't Try To Deny The Truth Of Their Eternal Damnation...

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I recommend NOT watching this video before viewing the previous one first...

After All: Homosexuals Deserve What's Coming To Them... Right?

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The Morning After

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Last Night Together

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Everything That Has A Beginning Has An End...

Redeeming The Time, Because The Days Are Evil...

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Somehow, I don't really think that that's quite what Saint Paul had in mind...

( More information on how NOT to interpret this particular Pauline passage can be found here ).

A Word From Our Sponsor...

So...
I see my readers have slowly but surely grown increasingly weary of watching my tediously-tiresome videos, constantly revisiting the same-old, lame-old theme... Maybe they're bored... Maybe they've simply lost interest... Maybe they just don't care anymore...

Well... I'm sorry if other people's unceasing, heart-wrenching, mind-harrowing, soul-crushing, excruciating existential pain isn't entertaining enough for you... Please forgive me for bothering you with it... How silly of me to think you'd even care... ( Here: take the blue pill... )

The above painstakingly-awkward and disturbingly-inappropriate message has been brought to you from the abysmal pits of my deeply disturbed and tremendously troubled psyche...

Spending Quality Time With One's Loved Ones

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I recommend NOT watching this video before viewing the previous one first...

On Being Gay

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It's good to see that at least some homosexuals are seriously worried about the severity of the eternal consequences of their spiritual condition...

It's Not That Homosexuals Fail To Acknowledge Or Understand The Oddity Of Their Condition...

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A Story of Forgiveness and Reconciliation

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I recommend NOT watching this video before viewing the previous one first...

Trouble in Paradise...

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More information on the topic of relationships can be found here.

It's... Complicated

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Fighting Off Temptation

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


The Art of Softly, Gently, Delicately, and Elegantly Declining

the Enticing Offers and Alluring Proposals

of Young, Attractive Women

More information on this topic can be found here.

I Think This Is The End Of A Beautiful Friendship...

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I recommend not watching this video before viewing the previous two first...

Guess not all love stories are meant to be Casablanca...

Thinking "Straight"

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...can be apparently very hard for some people...

Just Two Lost Souls Finally Finding Each Other...

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Key word here being "lost"...

Well, I'm Sure It's All Just A Phase... Right?

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More information on the feelings in question can be found here.

Spending The Night

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More information on their relationship can be found here.

Friday Night Out

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Resisting Temptation

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The Art of Softly, Gently, Delicately, and Elegantly Declining

the Enticing Offers and Alluring Proposals

of Young, Attractive Women

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are...

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Looks Like I'm Not The Only One Sensing Some Strange Vibes Here After All...

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Hmmm... Wonder what might've gotten into them...

What Friends Are For: A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed

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I mean... they're just friends... right?

Fighting the System: On the Legacy of Certain Left-Wing South-American Artists of the Previous Century

I recommend NOT watching this video before viewing the previous three first...


John Norman being his old puritanical self again...

John Norman Trying to Reach Out and Engage in Dialogue with Members of the Gay Community

I recommend NOT watching this video before viewing the previous two first...

( More information on the pain and struggle mentioned in this video can be found here ).

The Scarlet Letter(s)

I recommend NOT watching this video before viewing the previous one first...

Starting Off the Week on the Wrong Foot...

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Looks Like Things Are Heading Up To A Rough Start...

Those Lazy Sunday Mornings...

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Driving Home (The Point)

This Is NOT What It Looks Like...

...OK ?

Boldly Going Where No Man Has Gone Before...

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Struggling With Same-Sex Attraction

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Quite frankly, I seriously doubt that most people will ever be able to either truly understand or fully appreciate the tremendous, heart-wrenching sacrifices involved in this intense, soul-crushing battle...

On Homosexual Husbands

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Homophobia and Misogyny all rolled up into one...

Orthodox Mothers on Homosexuality

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Young Men's Christian Apologetics

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The lead singer is obviously John Norman...

Finally Someone Who Truly Gets My Sense Of Humor!

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Why I Should Probably Discontinue Posting On The Main Topic Behind My Last Two Weeks Of Articles

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People are slowly starting to wonder...

On the Meaning of Life

Warning: Mature Content! Viewer Discretion Advised!

( The prequel to this post can be found here ).

On the Gay Life-Style

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When Orthodoxy Meets "The Matrix"

Agent Smith on the Closing of the Church Year:

Everything that has a beginning has an end.

Agent Smith on the Beheading of John the Baptist:

The purpose of life is to end.

The Church Year begins with the Birth of the Mother of God on September 8 and the Conception of Saint John the Baptist on September 23, and ends with the Repose of the Holy Virgin Mary on August 15 and the Beheading of John the Baptist on August 29.

This is inherited from Judaism, where the Ecclesial New Year began on the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, the equivalent of September-October, as it does until today in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Know Thyself...

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

A Question From My Reader(s)

A little bit of feed-back is always appreciated...

On Gay Marriage

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The Orthodox Stance On Homosexuality, Against Opposing Waves Of Both Right-Wing Hate Speech, As Well As Leftist-Liberal Orwellian Newspeak

Saint George, Pray for Us!

Coming Out

Closeted and In Denial

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Why Women Should NEVER Be Ordained to the Priesthood

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Contemporary Worship 101

John Norman's Reaction To My Previous Post

I Was Too Cool For My Previous Blog Anyway...

Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked: Oh, you aren't even ripe yet! I don't need any sour grapes!

Aesop, The Fox and the Grapes

Easter in August

1.

Christ died on Friday, the fourteenth of Nissan. On the evening of Great and Holy Friday, the Requiem of our Lord is sung in the Church, commemorating His repose.

On the evening of the fourteenth of August, the Requiem of our Lady is sung in the Church, commemorating her earthly departure.


2.
The two Requiems themselves are very close in style, structure, and content to one another, and share the same melodic line.



3.

Three days later, Christ's body wasn't found in the Tomb.

Three days later, Mary's body wasn't found in the Tomb.


4.
After His resurrection, Christ made Himself known to two of His Holy Apostles in the breaking of the bread while they were sitting together at the table having supper, and afterwards appeared in the midst of all Disciples saying to them: Peace be unto you! (Luke 24:30-43)

After her Ascension, Mary appeared in the midst of the Holy Apostles at the breaking of the bread while they were sitting together at the table having supper:

As the Apostles, the God-bearing heralds, after the departure of the Theotokos into the world above were sitting as usual at table to eat, and as they lifted up a piece of bread in the name of the Lord, they suddenly beheld the Theotokos coming from above, surrounded by radiant angels, and heard her imparting to them "Peace" from her Son and God; and so they exclaimed: Alleluia !

The Sixth Kontakion of the Akathist of the Dormition of the Theotokos

5.
The Holy Apostle Thomas was conspicuously absent from both of these miraculous events, and had to be personally convinced by having Christ appear to Him after His resurrection from the dead, asking Him to touch His wounds, and by entering into Mary's Tomb only to discover it empty, as the two other Holy Apostles, Peter and John, did with Christ's Tomb after His glorious resurrection.

Orthodox Snake-Handling 101

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Eastern Orthodoxy:

Teaching Pentecostals Lessons In Snake-Handling Since 1700 AD !

A Friendly Advice To The Orthodox After Two Full Weeks Of Fasting...

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


Oh, my!... Just look at that unshaved beard!... Whatever happened to Matthew 6:16-18?...

On Creationism & Intelligent Design

The High Priest of Atheism

Protestant Iconoclasm 101

On Christ's Atoning Sacrifice

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


The Suffering Messiah

On Taking The Easy Way Out

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

On Fasting, Abstinence and Self-Discipline

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


On the Necessity and Relevance of Ascetic Efforts

in Today's Materialistic and Consumerist Society

Our Enemy Is NOT Our Enemy

...but rather our own anger and hatred towards him...

On Our Encounter With Christ's Gospel

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

On the Holy Liturgy

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Eastern Orthodoxy: Brutally Disrupting Pious Protestant Services Since 1600 AD

The Passion of the Christ

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

On Christ's Second Coming

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On Ascetic Efforts

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

On Adam & Eve

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Genesis 3:1 ¶Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman: Yea, hath God said: Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Stretching Out...

John 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee: When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

Serene Words of Comfort and Encouragement for the Feeble and Faint-Hearted

The High Priest of Atheism

A Sacramental World-View: On the Sanctity of Marriage

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

On the Resurrection of the Dead

On Christ's Second Coming

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

On Divine Providence: God's Wonderful Plan For Your Life

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Theodicy and the Problem of Evil: Solved!

Shakespeare and Picnics: Successfully Planting Orthodox Ideas on American Soil Since the Seventeenth Century AD

The Heavenly Banquet: the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

King: Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?
Hamlet: At supper.
King: At supper? Where?
Hamlet: Not where he eats, but where he is eaten.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene III.

Protestant Liturgical Piety Circa 1960

On one hand, the traditional Mass is still in place; on the other hand, we can already witness the phenomenon of empty Churches and -later on in the movie- the infiltration of skepticism and religious indifference into people's hearts.

The Aftermath of Vatican II

The Novus Ordo: Just Say N.O.

Lvka-Warm

Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Living In Harmony With Nature

We confess that therefore did the heavens close and became like unto brass and copper, for our hearts were closed to the mercy and true love for our neighbor.

Therefore did the earth dry and become unfruitful, for we have not brought to our Lord the first-fruits of good deeds.

Therefore doesn’t He give us rain and dew, for we did not have tears of humility and the life-giving dew of our minds and thoughts towards God.

Therefore did all food sear, and all the grass of the field wither, for all good thoughts in us have dried out.

Therefore did the sky darken, for our mind has been darkened by evil thoughts, and our heart has been stained by unlawful lusts and defiled by wicked desires.

From a Prayer to Saint Elijah

Orthodox Ecumenism 101

1 Kings 18:40 And Elijah said unto them: Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

The Pilgrim's Progress

The sad reality of our spiritual 'life'...

Luke 12:49 I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?

My Hardened, Unrepenting Heart

Brave New Church

What I'm up against...

A Second Attempt By Calvinists Elders To Convert Matt Damon And Draw Him Over To Their Side

Calvinism 101.

Our free-will has destroyed us.

Tatian the Assyrian, Address to the Greeks, Chapter XI.

Tulips And Tetragrams: Matt Damon Being Proselytized By A Calvinist Elder

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).


If man is made in the image of God, and God is the "I Am Who I Am",
then just how exactly are change and repentance even possible?

Darn! Poor Matt sure looks smitten by what he's hearing...
Don't think he'll be joining an Orthodox or Arminian congregation anytime soon...

Satan's Puppets

...controlled by the Master Puppeteer through the invisible strings of passions,
with which he binds us and holds us captive.

Orthodox Worship 101

Most of the females in our parish were breasty and liked to flaunt it. [...] It was always an odd phenomenon: the Pantocrator staring at me from the ceiling as I was staring at the young Greek women. Not only were there no head-coverings, but...

Source.

No wonder the Russian envoys of Prince Vladimir of Kiev were so impressed by Byzantine worship!...

What Those On The Left Side Will Say To Christ At The Last Judgment About Their Unrepenting Sinful Lives And The Fate That Awaits Them

Repentance is SO overrated...

Eastern Orthodoxy: THE Family-Friendly Faith !

Eastern Orthodoxy: reuniting all your little ones with the Lord since 170 BC

In a time and age when so many religious faiths exclude women and children from martyrdom, we here, in the Orthodox Church, are proud to announce you that we make no such sexist and ageist discriminations ! Quite to the contrary, the motto by which we gladly stand is: Women and children first !

2 Maccabees 7:20 But the mother was marvellous above all, and worthy of honourable memory: for when she saw her seven sons slain within the space of one day, she bare it with a good courage, because of the hope that she had in the Lord. 21 Yea, she exhorted every one of them in her own language, filled with courageous spirits; and stirring up her womanish thoughts with a manly stomach, she said unto them: 29 Fear not this tormentor, but, being worthy of thy brethren, take thy death that I may receive thee again in mercy with thy brethren. 41 Last of all after the sons the mother died.

On Orthodox Apologists

On Human Weakness & Demonic Temptation

Oh, well... the devil makes us sin...
But we like it when we're spinnin' in his grip...

On Paradise, the Afterlife, and the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Mark 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

Luke 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them: The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: 35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

For instance, take this sample: he [mortal man] has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the heart of every individual of his race -- and of ours -- sexual intercourse!

It is as if a lost and perishing person in a roasting desert should be told by a rescuer he might choose and have all longed-for things but one, and he should elect to leave out water!

His [man's] heaven is like himself: strange, interesting, astonishing, grotesque. I give you my word, it has not a single feature in it that he actually values. It consists -- utterly and entirely -- of diversions which he cares next to nothing about, here in the earth, yet is quite sure he will like them in heaven. Isn't it curious? Isn't it interesting? You must not think I am exaggerating, for it is not so. I will give you details.


You know what the human race enjoys and what it doesn't enjoy.
1. First of all, I recall to your attention the extraordinary fact with which I began. To wit, that the human being, like the immortals, naturally places sexual intercourse far and away above all other joys -- yet he has left it out of his heaven! The very thought of it excites him; opportunity sets him wild; in this state he will risk life, reputation, everything -- even his queer heaven itself -- to make good that opportunity and ride it to the overwhelming climax. From youth to middle age all men and all women prize copulation above all other pleasures combined, yet it is actually as I have said: it is not in their heaven; prayer takes its place.

That rich gift [intercourse] which, possessed as we possess it, makes all other possessions trivial and not worth the trouble of invoicing.

Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, pp. 8-11

We're all Muslims deep inside...

Is it any wonder then that Muslims believe that everybody's born a Muslim, that Islam is man's original religion, and every conversion to Islam is actually a "reversion", even if that person has never been a Muslim before?... They even go so far as to fancy themselves to be monotheists, when -in fact- the only God they truly serve is their flesh, their bellies, and their loins. -- But at least they have a very good excuse, come Judgment Day: they lacked God's revelation... which is something that many Christians such as myself cannot -sadly- use in their defense...

Why Roman Catholics Should Follow Me Instead of the Pope

Because I'm just like Saint Peter !

Good when it comes to professing dogma, lousy when it comes to professing Christ.

The Two Ways That Are Acceptable To God

Childbearing and virginity.

Peter was married, and Paul was celibate. Mary was both a Virgin and a Mother.
Christ was at once unmarried, and the mystical Bridegroom of the Church.

The First Words From The Apostles' Lips:

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The Patron Saint of Protestantism

In sweet ecumenical fashion, the Orthodox Church celebrates today the Patron Saints and Founding Fathers of Catholicism and Protestantism: namely, the Holy, All-Praised, and Fore-Most Apostles Peter and Paul. :-)

On Orthodox Fasting Practices

Read more about it here.

Fasting and Social Life

The First Words From The Forerunner's Lips:

Matthew 3:1-2 ¶In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying: Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The Holiest Man That Ever Lived

Matthew 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Luke 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

...because the Baptist himself was never "born again from water and the Spirit", let alone "baptized with the Holy Ghost"...

On the Holy Spirit

Why is the last -but not least- Person of the Holy Trinity called the Holy Spirit?

Why isn't He simply called Spirit, for instance?

Or why aren't then the first two called Holy Father and Holy Son as well?

Because the Spirit (breath, respiration) is the element of life, and, if sin and death are umbilically connected (Romans 5:12), then the same can be said about life and holiness as well.

God's Wonderful Plan For Your Life

Galatians 5:24

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

The Son's Role in the Procession of the Holy Spirit

About the same as Seth's role in the creation of Eve from Adam's side.

On the Shortness and Shalowness of My Posts

Wisdom 1:4

For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter; nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin.

The Sin Against the Holy Spirit

Removing the Epiclesis from Mass.

The Blasphemy Against the Holy Ghost

Filioque.

Why the Son and the Spirit Are Not the Same Person

Because Christ called Him "another Comforter".

On the Personhood of the Holy Spirit

The Scriptures call Him "Comforter", not "Comfort(ing)".

Talmudic Trinity

"I was looking down until chairs were set down, and the Ancient of days seated himself" (Daniel 7:9)

"The chairs": Why are they in plural? One for Him and one for David. So Rabbi Aqiba in a Boraitha.

Said Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah to him: "Aqiba, how do you dare to make the Shekhina common? It means one chair for judgment and one for mercy".

Did Aqiba accept this, or not? Come and hear the following Boraitha: "One for judgment and one for mercy". So Rabbi Aqiba.

Said Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah to him: "Aqiba, what hast thou to do with Haggada? It means one for a chair to sit upon and one for a footstool".

Babylonian Talmud, Tract Sanhedrin, Haggadah

Now:
Is it only me, or does the imagery of God standing between His enthroned attributes of Justice and Mercy not help his case?...

As for the two thrones being one for sitting down and one for resting one's feet upon, then -according to the Holy Prophet Isaiah- these are Heaven and earth: which would support the Incarnation, especially in the light of Psalms 99:5 and 132:7, where His footstool, the earth (from which Man / Adam was taken), is being worshipped.

As for the second throne belonging to King David, whose son was the Messiah supposed to be?

On The Great Schism (With My Previous Blog)

Here's how it didn't happen... :-)

Pious Patristic Prayer

Lord, grant me chastity and continence! – but not yet...

I Have SO Much In Common With Saint Augustine !

...except for brains and sanctity...

I'm Just Like Saint Augustine !

...before he repented and became a Saint...

My Patron Saint

Saint Augustine,

Patron of depraved and debauched intellectuals,
pray for us and our filthy, rotten souls.

Amen.

On My Years As An Orthodox Blogger

A Question To The Reader

How then shall I be delivered from the enemy, being such a great lover of sin?

Second Stanza of the Second Antiphon on the Sixth Voice

(As usually, Damascene sees straight through me...)

Christ Is Risen!

...but we're still dead in our sins...

A Friend Wrote My Autobiography In His Name

For so long, I attempted to justify myself.

I was on the shoulders of men I considered holy, and I sought to follow their example. Yet come sundown, I was nothing more than a fraud. I was one of the whitewashed tombs to which our Lord compared the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23:27).

I was the apathetic Christian and a hypocrite, conforming to the church when I was in the church and conforming to the world when I was in the world.

I had plenty of supporters, both in person and online. I had people regularly complimenting me, saying how smart I was and that I'd make a good church leader. In truth, maybe I rode on that. Maybe it felt good. It made me feel justified in my faith, and ultimately it was this earthly praise that became the treasure I was storing up.

My ears hungered for the wasteful food of praise, and they were being fed.

Tony Allen, Design of Providence,
My Confession

Why I Own A Blog, While Monks And Other Deeply Pious People Spend Their Whole Life In Total Anonymity

Pearls rest on the bottom of the sea, and corpses float at the surface.

On My Break-Up With My Previous Blog

Inception

There where it seems there is no hope, that's when the true creation and the life of the faithful begin. When all the earthly powers crumble, that's when the church is born.

G. Pap, Why I Converted To The Orthodox Faith

Confession: The Eternal Battle Between Saving Face, And Saving One's Soul

About my last three weeks of postings...

Romans 2:21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself ? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? 22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? 23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Two Songs Side By Side

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

As In Heaven, So On Earth

Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ,

King of Heaven and Earth



Helen, the Mother of Saint Constantine the Great,

Emperor of Byzantium

The Latest Orthodox Convert-Winning Strategy

Orthodoxy: The Forbidden Fruit

The Voice Of My Dying Conscience

I Wouldn't Even Hurt A Fly...

The real, hidden reason behind my last two weeks of postings...

On My Resignation From My Previous Blog

On My Vast Theological Knowledge And Religious Erudition

The REAL Me: An Attempt At Clearing My Good Name (Or What's Left Of It, Anyway...)

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

The eternal battle between saving face, and saving one's soul...

(Hey, I only said that it was an attempt, NOT that it was successful...)

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Misquoting Jesus: Alternative Manuscript Version of Matthew 25

Matthew 25:41  Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels! 44 Then shall they also answer Him, saying: Lord, have we not blogged in thy Name? 45 Then shall He answer them, saying: Verily I say unto you: Go away, I never knew you!

My Good, Dear, and Close Friend, Robert Paxton, Wrote a Book About Me and My Apologetic Efforts !

Names were changed, of course, out of personal courtesy towards me, my privacy, and my reputation (or what's left of it, anyway):

Giving up this sin would be the best thing about going back to [Romania]. He felt like a hypocrite, going out to revivals with [Father] Greg and talking about Jesus, knowing that, at least once a week, he would take the wrong bus downtown to see Senora Menjivar, a young widow. She hadn’t accepted Jesus into her heart when they met a few months ago, but she had told JD that she would accept him into her apartment any day of the week. Once he got out of here, he wouldn’t be susceptible to that temptation anymore. He knew some girls in [Arad] that would be dazzled by his missionary stories. And he had his degree. It was time to think about settling down, starting a career, having kids. Maybe he would enter the ministry. Of course, he had considered staying at the mission, marrying a local girl, becoming his own Abraham, a man faithful to God in a foreign land. He had even thought of saving Claudia and marrying her, or vice versa. But that situation was just too complicated. As it neared his stop the bus passed the cathedral. A number of people on board made the sign of the cross [backwards]. JD shook his head. He was a sinner, but at least he wasn’t a [papist]. Really, I ought to look at it that way, he thought, trying to cheer up. It wasn’t so bad, what he did. It wasn’t like he was a sodomite. She was a grown, healthy woman. Besides, he always wore a condom.

Robert Paxton, American Gospel

The Story of My Life: Now Available at Amazon!

The Easter Song

Cargo featuring Dorin Teodorescu


Those who still have God,
Those who know what love is,
You who care about your neighbor...

Come, reach me your hand, and wipe off the tear from those sad eyes...

This night shall put an end
To the madness and hatred that beset us;
The wheel of time stood still...

And in the windows, one after another, the candles were lit...

Today is the day we've been waiting for,
Today is the moment we've been dreaming of,

Today is the great day, and let us witness how Jesus shall vanquish now death and evil from the world...

Come, let us sing, let us rejoice, let us worship, come on!

Leonard Cohen Wrote A Song About Me !

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

Famous French Philosopher On The Sublime Thoughts And Noble Ideas Expressed On My Blog

Between ourselves, I have ever observed supercelestial opinions and subterranean manners to be of singular accord.

Michel de Montaigne,
Essays, XXI, Of Experience

Famous Greek-Orthodox Theologian and Priest Exposing the REAL Reasons Behind My Blogging

Because man is afraid of becoming meaningless, he is constantly endeavoring to prove, to himself and others, that he is worth something. He thirsts after compliments and is afraid of insults.

Father John S. Romanides,
Original Sin According to Saint Paul

Famous Romanian Intellectual And Spiritual Father On My Blogging-Endeavors

To Satan they consecrate their sinful life, and to Christ their speeches and writings praiseful of the purity most refined.

Father Nicolae Steinhardt,
The Diary of Happiness

Jesus Christ On My Impeccable Taste In Clothing

Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

On My Departure From My Previous Blog

Here is how it didn't happen... :-)

The Historical Jesus and the Christ of Faith: An Orthodox Approach to Bultmann

Both Bultmann and the Orthodox agree that One of Them is alive only in religious myths and legends.

Where they differ is in that the Eastern Orthodox believe that the One alive in religious myths and legends only is the Christ of Faith, Who still lies dead in our filthy, rotten, unrepentant hearts, buried under layers upon layers of sin and evil, while the real, historical Jesus rose from the dead some 2,000 years ago...

Saint Paul On My Abstinence-Related Articles

Romans 2:21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? 22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

I Know You're Glad That Lent Is Over...

...but what you don't quite seem to understand just yet is that the Kingdom of Heaven has NO end...

Eastern Orthodoxy: Taking All the Fun Out of Holidays Since 1,500 BC

Exodus 19:15 And he said unto the people: Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. 16 ¶And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

1 Samuel 21:4 And the priest answered David, and said: There is no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread ; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him: Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. 6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

Fasting Is Dead !

Long live abstinence!

Speaking Of Resurrections...

( You may wish to turn up the volume on your computer ).

See You In Hell !

...to save you from Gehenna!

God Is Dead !

...and we have killed Him...

Friedrich Nietzsche

People like to wash their hands of the violence. But we all wash our hands in blood.

Arturo Vasquez

Fasting: Bringing Out the Worse in People Since 1,500 BC

In vain were you brought out of Egypt, if Egypt wasn't brought out of you...

Exodus 16:2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them: Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Numbers 11:5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

Psalm 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said: It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him: Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die!

The Price Is Right !

We interrupt our usual series of boring, ethereal Lenten posts to provide those of you struggling with the current economic recession and financial crisis with a few practical, down-to-earth business tips, which we believe to be right on the money:



Judas sold Christ for thirty silvers.

Adam and Eve traded Paradise for apples.

Esau gave up his birthright for a plate of porridge.

What price tag do you put on your soul?

The Waxing & Waning of Ascetic Enthusiasm During Great and Holy Lent

Luke 22:33 And [Simon Peter] said unto [Jesus]: Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. 34 And [Christ] said: I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.