No Longer Sola

Increasingly I find myself losing interest in politics, especially as the volume gets louder. This is fresh on my mind because I just voted in the Colorado primary back on the 26th. I see a steady trickle of articles implying violence and similarities between our time and the 1850s just before the Civil War. No matter what side of the aisle you find yourself on, politics is problematic and frustrating, angering even. Right now the thoughts of so many are destructive, focused

This post is part of our No Longer Sola Series. "The Orthodox Church is evangelical, but not Protestant. It is orthodox, but not Jewish. It is catholic, but not Roman. It isn't non-denominational - it is pre-denominational. It has believed, taught, preserved, defended and died for the Faith of the Apostles since the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago." - Steve Robinson and Bill Gould Today is the anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession. On this day 488 years a

This post is part of our No Longer Sola Series. One of the most prolific arguments against praying to the saints is this idea that they are a distraction from Christ. That if we spend our time asking for the help of intercessors other than Jesus Himself, we are not putting all of our trust in Him. We are not focusing on Him. We are being distracted by lesser things. Most Protestants, in fact, seem to have this mentality that we should be in a spiritual hermitage of sorts.

“If you want to serve God, prepare your heart not for food, not for drink, not for rest, not for ease, but for suffering, so that you may endure all temptations, trouble and sorrow. Prepare for severities, fasts, spiritual struggles and many afflictions, for “by many afflictions is it appointed to us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Acts 14,22); ‘The Heavenly Kingdom is taken by force, and the who use force seize it.’ (Matt 11:12) - St. Sergius of Radonezh Many of the saints

Christine is about 4 months old now and although she's not talking yet, I love talking to her and for her. Yes, I said for her! You only have so long before they start talking for themselves! One of the unique things I've always done is talk for the babies, eventually Amelia and older kiddos have adjusted to the little game I play and now they even expect it! Sometimes the other kids will talk to Christine and ask me to "make her talk". It's one of my ways of playfully enga

Have you ever wondered what lead up to the Reformation? It's a question I obviously thought about a lot. While I still believe there are legitimate complaints by the Reformers of the 16th century about the state of the Church in their day, I also see the Reformation as tragic. In my view, the way things unfolded was not necessary but between corruption in the Papacy and Luther's scruples tragedy came about. The video I'm sharing today is part of the story that culminated w

This is one of my favorite stories. It is indicative of how Orthodoxy handles pastoral care and besetting sins. Also highlighted is a caution I've seen many times in Orthodox literature against judging others. May it be a blessing to you today! "Once on Mount Athos there was a monk who lived in Karyes. He drank and got drunk every day and was the cause of scandal to the pilgrims. Eventually he died and this relieved some of the faithful who went on to tell Elder Paisios that

A couple months ago our parish had a visitor, a monastic, Fr Seraphim Aldea. He told us about his vision for bringing Orthodox monasticism back to the British Isles. While at our parish he told us that there might be three nuns joining him at the Mull Monastery of All Celtic Saints. He was cautious about the opportunity but he recently posted to the Monastery Facebook page that it has come true and the monastery has grown from only one monastic to now four. If you know anyt

This is part of our No Longer Sola Series. I used to say and believe that there is nothing in the Bible about asking the saints in heaven to pray for us. I've realized that was the case because I read the Bible with the glasses given to me by the Lutheran Church. The problem with those spectacles is they weren't strong enough to see everything on the page clearly. Today's resource shows how the Bible says an awful lot on the intercessions of the saints. The difference is that