There’s no such thing as private prayer
Modern Christians have a tendency to view their prayer life as a private matter. But as I discovered while researching my book Lifted by Angels, our counterparts in the early church assumed the active...
View ArticleCelebrating Michael and the archangels
On November 8 the Orthodox church celebrates Michael and the archangels. The full title for the feast is “Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers: Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel,...
View ArticleWhere you go to meet with God
During the Last Supper the disciple Philip asked Jesus show him God. “Lord,” he said, as recorded by John’s gospel, “show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied” (14.8). Did Philip know what he was...
View ArticleWe are all Protestants now
“[D]o nothing apart from the bishop. . . .” – Ignatius of Antioch, Magnesians 7 One of the more intriguing narratives flowing out of the election concerns Roman Catholics bucking their bishops’...
View ArticleThe battle for your heart
There’s a battle for your heart. The only question is whether you’re going to join the fight. To understand the battleground and the nature of the fight, I think it’s useful to take two things Jesus...
View ArticlePat Robertson, Petraeus, and sexual infidelity
Groan. So here we have an unfolding scandal involving infidelity in the highest reaches of the U.S. military and intelligence community, and what does Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson say about it?...
View Article‘Proof of Heaven’ echoes ancient insights
When the neurosurgeon Dr. Eben Alexander slipped into a seven-day coma, he could scarcely imagine the visions that awaited him. Bacterial meningitis had attacked his brain and shut down his neocortex,...
View ArticlePreparing our hearts for the birth of Christ
Today marks the start of the Nativity Fast in the Orthodox Church. Like Western Advent, it is a time leading up to Christmas for the faithful prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. The period of...
View ArticleVarious and sundry No. 1
1 Don’t do it this way. Frank Viola has a worthwhile post on avoiding certain pitfalls in your Christian walk. But — and this is fun — he presents it all in the negative, offering 10 things you can do...
View ArticleEgyptian Christians enthrone new pope
On Sunday Egyptian Christians enthroned their new patriarch, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II. The service was several hours in length, and the daring are encouraged to view the video of the event below....
View ArticleGiving thanks for C.S. Lewis
Besides Thanksgiving, November 22 this year marks the 49th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ death. I read a newspaper obituary about Lewis that my grandmother kept. She preserved the entire paper. The event...
View ArticleWhat it means to come to Christ as a child
One after another the kids kept coming. Parents were bringing their children to Jesus for his blessing, and Jesus was happy to comply. The disciples, however, were less accommodating. As the gospels...
View ArticleDon’t ask God for justice
When we are wronged, do we ask God for justice? Maybe we should reconsider that impulse. After descending the mountain of the Transfiguration, Jesus sent some messengers to a village to prepare for his...
View ArticleForget your legacy, just do the right thing
My wife and I spent part of Tuesday in Atlanta with Alveda King, the daughter of A.D. King and the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. During our time there we visited Ebenezer Baptist Church, which...
View ArticlePro-life activist Chen Guangcheng named ‘rebel of the year’
While the gentlemen’s glossy is best known for featuring models and celebrities draped in high-priced clothes and others draped in barely anything, the current edition of GQ has taken the surprising...
View ArticleFollowing Philip and Andrew following Christ
Today the Orthodox church commemorates Jesus’ first disciple, Andrew, a celebration that follows by two weeks the commemoration of his fellow disciple Philip. The stories of both men are captured in...
View ArticleLet the Bible elevate your mind
There’s a conversation running right now on the relative value of certain Bible translations. Depending on who’s talking and for what purpose, it might strike some as tedious. I happen to enjoy the...
View ArticleSt. Nick’s best gift
The memory of few saints is as cherished as that of St. Nicholas. Known as Nicholas the Wonderworker, he is remembered in the church on December 6 and closely associated with the Christmas season....
View ArticleIt’s the little sins that kill you
Judas Iscariot didn’t begin with betrayal in mind, and David didn’t intend adultery and murder. But then one day they sat alone, their minds consumed with guilt and recrimination, the deeds done. How?...
View ArticleHow the Lord’s Prayer brought Dave Brubeck to the church
Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck died earlier today at ninety-one, just a day shy of his ninety-second birthday. Known for his ability to make magic happen with unconventional meters, Brubeck...
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