ORTHODOX TIDBITS 1

ORTHODOX   TIDBITS 1

INSANITY CAUSED BY A STOLEN OXEN

     St. Ammon of Nitria was living in the Nitrian desert, and had acquired the  gift of discernment and insight and became a wonder-worker. A man and his wife came to him with their insane son, seeking his help to cure their son by his prayers, but he would not do this. He told them that “the illness of your son is in your own hands. Return to the widow the ox that was stolen from her and your son will be healed.” They promised him that they would do as he said. 

WHOEVER SHALL HUMBLE HIMSELF AS THIS CHILD

   Our Lord took a small child and placing him among His disciples, said: “Whoever shall humble himself like this child, he is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 18:4). This same child grew up and became the Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer of Antioch, who was called Godbearer because he always carried the name of the Lord in his heart and on his lips. A supernatural wonder  took place at Ignatius’ martyrdom where he was devoured by wild beasts. Only his bones werer left and his heart. A Roman soldier cut it open and they found inscribed in gold, JESUS CHRIST.

PHYSICAL PHENOMENA CONTROLLED BY GOD

   During the Isaurian  dynasty (717 - 802), in the reign of Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isaurian, a  continuous and terrifying earthquake was rattling the great city of Constantinople. Many people began to pray to the Theotokos and St. Demetrios. Then, realizing that the earthquake was a chastisement for their sins with sincere  repentance and tears  they entreated God, who showed His  mercy and the earthquake ended because of their prayers.

THE TRISAGION HYMN

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, Have mercy upon us.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, Have mercy upon us.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, Have mercy upon us.

During another severe earthquake in Constantinople and the surrounding area, many of its building fell, among them were the most beautiful, and lives were in constant danger, causing the populace to  be filled with fear. The Emperor and Patriarch, many bishops, priests, led the people, and were making  numerous processions, entreating the Lord for relief, for this quake was long and severe. People were afraid to go into buildings, and many had gathered at the shore, away from structures.

   As they were offering heartfelt and tearful prayers, a small boy was wondrously taken up from them into the air and disappeared into the heavens,  becoming invisible to the eyes of the people.  Later he returned and landed gently on the ground. When they asked him where he had been, he said with the angels, and this is what they sang: Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, Have mercy upon us. When the procession resumed they all sang this hymn glorifying the Holy Trinity and the earthquake immediately stopped! St. John Chrysostom’s disciple Proclus, after  becoming Archbishop of Constantinople, placed the Trisagion hymn in the Divine Liturgy.

DANIEL IN LION”S DEN WAS HUNGRY 

PROPHET HABAKKUK PREPARES DINNER

   We hear from Church hymns of  the three servants, who were thrown into the roaring furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar, after refusing to bow down to his idol. They were singing hymns in the midst of the flames, and  were delivered unharmed, without smelling of smoke or fire.  Daniel who was in captivity with them in Babylon, was left to die in a lion’s den with seven lions. The Prophet Habakkuk was far away from Babylon, for  he did not get taken in the captivity.   Having prepared a meal with bread, the prophet was walking toward the fields to bring it as dinner for his laborers who were reaping.  At that time an angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk:  “Take this dinner that you have fixed to Daniel in Babylon, who is in the lion’s den.”  The prophet protested that he never had seen Babylon and did not know the location of the lion’s den. The angel took up Habakkuk and carrying him by his hair and brought him to the den where Daniel was.  Then Habakkuk cried out: “Daniel, take this dinner which the Lord has sent you.” Daniel said to the Lord: “You have remembered me O God, for you do not forsake those who seek you and love you." Daniel did eat and the angel brought Habakkuk back home. In his written prophecies,  Habakkuk,  foretells the coming of Christ and His incarnation, the Holy Apostles, the Cross and the Ascension, and that “the just shall live by faith in me.” Of Christ, “You went forth for the salvation of your people, to save your anointed ones (Hab.2:13)

THERE IS ONLY ONE SOURCE OF TRUTH

THERE IS ONLY ONE SOURCE OF TRUTH

“I am the way and TRUTH and the LIFE

ALSO THE TRUTHS OF GOD IN OUR CREED 

True God of True God, begotten not made!

“Let God be true and every man a liar!”

     The world is a stranger to truth, for if truth ruled the world, nation would not rise against nation and peace would reign supreme. Truth brings peace and love, also truth brings eternal salvation, for without truth, man walks about as a blind man.  The Truth who came from heaven is the moral guide of the human race who seek Him.   Truth is definable as  “the exact representation of a being”, a being meaning anything that exists. Jesus Christ is the Truth because He exactly depicts God the Father, hence he said to Philip: “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”  An accurate depiction of anything in creation is considered true.

   All divine truths originate from the living Truth, which is constantly under attack by opposing lies. These lies derive from the father of the lie, the Devil or Satan.  It was the Satan while in the form of a serpent,   who introduced the lie to the first woman and she to her husband, the purpose being to  poison her mind by mixing his lie with the truth of  God who warned them concerning the tree: “You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it that you may not die”.  Satan, hating God and the new creatures made in His image, responded to the woman:  “You will not surely die. For God knows that in whatever day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you would be as gods, knowing good from evil.” This lie mixed with  truth is now swirling around in her mind.  The woman had been gazing at the forbidden fruit on the tree,  contemplating  it.  Filled with desire and confusion she ate, gave to her husband who also ate.  The devil, first learned of God’s truth from the woman and then poisoned her soul with the false  promise that they would become like God. Clearly falsehood or partial truth mixed with falsehood are the devil’s strategy by which he poisons the race of man. This is a continual account of sin in humanity, God speaks in the right ear and the devil speaks in contradiction through the left ear. Our duty is to find who is our friend and who is our enemy,  who seeks our salvation and who seeks our destruction. 

  In our days many Orthodox leaders, by their words and actions, present a false picture of the One true Church, ignoring its total exclusivity.  When someone rises to declare this truth, they attack that person, calling them different names. They do not use Orthodox truths against the many heretics surrounding Orthodox Christians, which cause many to go astray.  Such corrupt teaching mixed with others now appear in the Church harming the faithful. 

     These leaders do not follow Christ’s  commandment to guide and shepherd their flocks, which are already rapidly diminishing in many churches. Instead of educating their flock against the heretics that surround us, they enthusiastically engage in illicit conversations concerning union with others and a common cup between Orthodoxy and heresies. They do not reprove the  many heresies, and struggle to bring each of them into Orthodoxy.  Those engaging in these talks, should be challenging the many Catholic and Protestant heresies, and then persuade them by the truths of Orthodoxy to baptized by the only true baptism.

NEW HERESIES

NEW HERESIES

By Metroplitan Augoustinos (Kantiotes) of Florina

“We will not deny you, beloved Orthodoxy.”

(Joseph Vryennios Spiritual Father of Mark of Ephesus)

     Of late, certain theologians, under the influence of contemporary world-wide currents, have begun to savor the words “ecumenism”, “ecumenical spirit,” and “ecumenical movement”, as if  they were hard candy.  Ecumenicism, what a beautiful word!  And yet, behind those words, lay hidden a most fearful danger for Orthodoxy.  What is this danger?  We will show you by means of an example.

    Imagine a beautiful woman faithful to her husband,  a woman who will allow no third party to  enter into their relationship, ever mindful of the promises that she made before God and before men.

She is a woman of exceptional beauty drawing the eyes of many a man. On account of her uprightness, however anyone who dares to touch, or proposition  her, immediately meets with her anger.  Should such a one persist, this honorable one will deliver a strong slap to his face in order to bring him to his senses.

  Those men who learned this vile business, however, will try another method.  They will try to uncover what the woman likes; does she perhaps love poetry, or philosophy, or art? By means of these things, the secret admirer will trap her. With deftness he will begin having innocent conversations on those subjects that are beloved to her.  “What a wonderful poem!”  A beautiful painting!”  What a wonderful play!” “How sweet a piece of music!” And thus begins the dialogue. Gradually the unsuspecting woman is lured into longer conversations with the deceiver who, while his tongue speaks of philosophy and art, his heart leaps at the thought of taking the woman for himself.  Finally, after an air of great familiarity and mutual understanding has been achieved  through these conversations, the door is open to the foul deed, the shameful union.

MEET YOUR SISTER!

To Readers of this Blog,

I published  a series of these MEET YOUR SISTER articles 15 years ago and am republishing them on this blog, and see what was going on then, and what is going on today in the Orthodox World. If Orthodox Christians do not awaken, while sleeping heir faith will vanish, as they fall under the slipper of the Popes of Rome.  For our Faith is a living Faith and requires spiritually alive people to preserve everything that  was handed to  us, without additions or subtractions.

MEET YOUR SISTER!

Ralph J. Masterjohn                                                           Volume 1 Number 1

RMOrthodox@AOL.com                                                           October 1999

Following the Balamond Agreement the unionists have adopted new language. Patriarch Bartholomew has done the same. The papacy is no longer an enemy, but is now rewarded for her heresies, torture racks, inquisitions, bloody  crusades, sack of Constantinople, usurping the position of Jesus Christ. How is she rewarded?

Patriarch Bartholomew addresses the Roman Church our Sister Church

For Orthodox  who accept  this it would be  well  to  get  to meet and  know  your  sister.

Roman Church Today

   In Sacramento, CA, the RC Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament held an interfaith prayer service.  The ceremony included prayers to Buddha, Aztec Indian rituals, non-denominational Christian songs, candle and incense rituals, and the calling of names. It concluded with a procession to the nearby regency led by an Aztec princess bearing incense, accompanied by drums and feathered Aztec cultists, to view 700 panels of the AIDS Quilt.

   In Sacramento, CA,  RC Parish St. Francis hosted special homosexual Mardi Gras before Lent. 

THE GLORY OF CHRIST

THE GLORY OF CHRIST

Christ is All-knowing

Christ is All-powerful

Christ is the Alpha and Omega

Christ is the Amazement of Angels

Christ is the Apostle of the apostles

Christ Ascended in Glory

Christ is the Author of our Lives

Christ is the Beauty of All Creation

Christ is what we must become

Christ is Before the Ages

Christ is the Beginning and the End’

Christ is Born of the Virgin

Christ is the Bread from Heaven

Christ is our Breath

Christ is the Bridegroom

Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church

Christ is the Bright Morning Star

Christ is the First Cause

Christ is the Coeternal Logos

Christ is the Chief Cornerstone

Christ is the Conqueror

Christ is our Creator

Christ endured the Cross for us

Christ is the Crucified

Christ is the Deliverer

Christ Delivered us from Passions

Christ is the Deposer of the Devil

Christ destroyed the dominion of Death

Christ nullified the Devil’s Authority

Christ is the Divine Logos

Christ is the Downfall of Demons

Christ is our Drink

Christ is Emmanuel

Christ is the Enlightener of those in Darkness

Christ is Eternal

Christ is Eternally born of the Father

Christ is the Eucharist

Christ is the Everlasting Father

Christ is our Existence

Christ is our Exultation

Christ is in the Father

Christ has the Father in Him

Christ is the First and the Last

Christ is the Firstborn of Creation

Christ is our Food

Christ grants Forgiveness to all the World

Christ is the Foundation of the Church

Christ is the Fountain of Immortality

Christ Freed us From our Sins

Christ is our Future

Christ is God

Christ is the Good Samaritan

Christ is the Good Shepherd

Christ is the Source of Great Mercy

Christ is our Happiness

Christ is Head of the Church

Christ is the Healer of Souls

Christ is our High Priest

Christ is our Holiness

Christ is the Holy One

Christ is the Holy on of Israel

Christ is our Hope

Christ is the I exist ( I am)

Christ is the Illuminator of Souls
Christ is the Image of the Father

Christ is the Image and Likeness of God

Christ is Invincible

Christ is infinite

Christ brought Joy into the World

Christ is our Judge

Christ is the King of Glory

Christ is the King of Israel

Christ is our King

Christ is the King of Angels

Christ is King of the Jews

Christ is King of kings

Christ is the Lamb of God

Christ is the Last Adam

Christ is the Law

Christ is the Lawgiver

Christ is the Legislator

Christ bestowed Life to Those in the Tombs

Christ is our Life

Christ is the Lifegiver

Christ is the Light of the World

Christ lives forever

Christ is the Lion of Judah

Christ is the Living Truth

Christ is the Lover of Man

Christ is the Lord of All

Christ is Lord of lords

Christ is Man

Christ is the Messiah

Christ is the Mighty God

Christ is a Nazarene

Christ is the New Adam

Christ is the Offering

Christ is the Offspring of David

Christ is the Holy of the Holy

Christ is One with the Father

Christ is the Only Godman

Christ is the Only-begotten

Christ and the Father are One

Christ is One of the Trinity

Christ is the Opener of Paradise

Christ is our Peace

Christ is the Peace of the World

Christ is the Pearl beyond Price

Christ is Our Perpetual Sacrifice

Christ is the Physician of Souls and Bodies

Christ is the Prince of Peace

Christ is our Propitiation

Christ is Rabboni

Christ is our Ransom

Christ is the Redeemer

Christ is the Resurrection

Christ is risen from the dead

Christ is the Rock of Life

Christ is the Sacrificial Lamb

Christ is our Savior

Christ is the Second Adam

Christ is Son of David

Christ is the Son of God

Christ is the Son of Man

Christ is the Son of Mary

Christ is the Son of the Virgin

Christ is the Source of Knowledge

Christ is the Sun of Justice

Christ is the Sunrise from on High

Christ is our Sweetness

Christ is our Teacher

Christ is True God

Christ is the True Light

Christ is the Unwaning Light

Christ is the True Vine

Christ is Vanquisher of Hades

Christ is the Victor

Christ is the Way the Truth and the Life

Christ is Wealth

Christ is our Wedding Garment

Christ is Wisdom

Christ is the Wisdom of God

Christ is the Wonder of the World

Christ is the Wonderful Counselor

Christ is the Word

Christ is the Word of God

Christ is the Word of Life

This is a partial List. If anyone will add to it by notifying me I will expand and 

republish it again RJM.

THE BRIDEGROOM AND HIS BEAUTIFUL BRIDE

THE BRIDEGROOM AND 
HIS BEAUTIFUL BRIDE

     There exists many beautiful stories, both true and novel, which have been written and many historical accounts exist, concerning noble  and gentle bridegrooms and their betrothal and marriage to  gracious brides.  Those who remember such happy marriages, appreciate reading about the bride and groom’s mutual love and fidelity and happily observe  its continuity through the years.  

Such most fond memories are even more appreciated among those who  themselves  experience the same sweetness in their own betrothal and marriage, and who through faith and hope in Christ, have remained faithful and true to each other, with harmonious years in happiness  and eventually growing old together.    For them their sharing and mutual love is a foretaste of Paradise which was lost and the eternal Paradise.  However, no matter how wonderful and worthy it may be, even this marriage is inferior and is a type of another more beautiful marriage. 

     The most beautiful betrothal and marriage story of all,  is even now being written, and does not concern a  marriage of man and woman, which even when enhanced by offspring,  always ends in death – not exactly a happy ending, but inevitable, with only nice memories remaining.  Even the secular  saying “till death do us part” has a hollow ring, and sounds more like a threat than a promise.

THE DIVINE GLORIOUS CHAMPION OF THE FAITH AND GUARDIAN OF ORTHODOXY ST. MARK OF EPHESUS

       THE DIVINE GLORIOUS CHAMPION OF THE FAITH AND 

GUARDIAN OF ORTHODOXY

ST. MARK OF EPHESUS

January 19, 2014

    St. Mark of Ephesus, defended Orthodox truths single-handed prevented the Orthodox from being swallowed up by the Pope of Rome. 

     Mark was born in 1392 in Constantinople and from his youth yearned for monastic life which he embraced at the age of twenty-six, having abandoned a budding secular career that would have elevated him highly in the government of the Emperor. His name had been Manuel, but after becoming a monk he took the name Mark, which one of the Apostles is called,  symbolized by a lion.  Mark, like a roaring lion, dispersed all the unionists along with the papists. He prevented the union which would have destroyed the entire Church of Constantinople by placing it under the slipper of the Pope. The Orthodox were much like Esau, ready to sell out the truths of Orthodoxy not for lentils, but to save the City.

   It is not beneficial or lifegiving but is suicidal to harbor a desire to surrender Orthodoxy, abandon Christ and choose the Pope as head of the Church. Orthodoxy stands with the whole truths handed down to her from Christ and the Apostles, and the Holy Fathers which are safely secured in the Church by the Holy Spirit. Christ does not desire the union of His Church with anyone, rather He calls all mankind to “Come unto me . . .”, that is, unite yourselves to me, for I am your Head, your Teacher and your only Hope. The Papacy does not seek unity with Christ but chose to substitute a vicar in place of the Godman. 

   Returning to Mark’s background, he reluctantly accepted ordination out of obedience to the Patriarch, and was elevated to Metropolitan at the age of forty-six.  When preparations were made to meet with the Latins to attempt a reunion, Mark held high hopes that such a union would take place. At his time in history, the Byzantine Empire had been reduced to the City of Constantinople, and the enemy was making preparations to grab that prize.  The Turkish threat was a serious menace, and many knew that  it was only a matter of time before the city fell into the hands of the Moslems.

GREAT MYSTERY OF THE EUCHARIST ORTHODOXY’S GREAT TREASURE

GREAT MYSTERY OF THE  EUCHARIST

ORTHODOXY’S GREAT TREASURE

“Take eat, this is my body which is broken for you . . .”

A Commentary on the references to the Eucharist.

Belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Trinity of one nature and one essence, this is part of our primary belief and knowledge of God,  but belief is only a starting point of the journey of faith which leads  to the eternal kingdom.  We repeatedly seal ourselves with the sign of the Cross invoking the names of the Father Son and Holy Spirit which  identifies us as Orthodox Christians. We learned from unwritten Holy Tradition, dating back to the fourth century , how to make the sign of the Cross. Without our sacred tradition we would make no progress toward the ultimate goal which is everlasting life. 

     The evil one raises every type of obstacle to hamper and scuttle our  progress, for he is the hater of God and man.  He is maliciously skilled and extensively experienced , and  performs his deceptive work of hampering our progress, and we could not prevent him ourselves,  for we could do nothing without Jesus Christ, who has already fought and won the victorious battle. He overthrew and despoiled the authority of the Evil One. He is the only God man, the Head of the Church, the good and kind Savior, who out of  sacrificial love, taught us genuine love and He remains the  all-powerful ally, of those who approach him with fear, faith and devotion.

     Christian life does not stand still and we must make progress. Progress can best be understood, as a starting point and a known goal at the outset.  We may fall but we must always get up and get back on the royal path.  In Orthodox life, we can either progress toward that goal, or we can stagnate,  retrogress, or go astray, but we can return  and remain on the right path and strive toward our goal which is: “to  reach the stature of the fullness of Christ,” For this we need help, hence Paul writes: “ Come unto me all you who are weary and heavily laden and you will find rest for your souls. Learn of me for I am meek and humble in my heart.”

NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PAPACY DANGEROUS AND IMPOSSIBLE!

NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE PAPACY

DANGEROUS AND IMPOSSIBLE!
It is time to get out!

  There has been a great deal of conversation, and Orthodox negotiators have made concessions, incurred large expenditures for hotels, air travel, food, etc.,  and poorly informed clergymen have been engaged  in  illicit negotiations for  union (denomination) with/by the Popes of Rome.  The papacy is not  really seeking union and they admit it, for it is their firm desire for total domination, hence the great importance of  the destruction of Orthodoxy which stands in its way. How can any form of union benefit the Orthodox, which the last Pope says “has everything”?  Rather union would strip her of divine grace  and  merciful help, leaving her naked and ugly and a lifeless corpse.  An important question needs to be brought up:  Why does the Pope seek union when he has over a billion subjects?  The truth is the papacy abhors union but desires  something else, which is “just commemorate my name.”  This is how the Pope stripped the Uniates of their Orthodoxy and their salvation. These former Orthodox who keep their “Orthodox” traditions, became Orthopapists, and only commemorate the name of the Pope, but are no longer Orthodox and are not in communion with the Orthodox Church, in fact they treat it with contempt. For they have bowed to the Pope and accepted him as Christ’s representative.

 The previous Pope Benedict said this: “The Orthodox have everything, but they are defective as  they do not have me.” All the Pope wants is commemoration of his name. All the Devil sought from Christ was even less, just a single bow!

CONCERNING POOR MANKIND AND WEALTH THAT AWAITS HIM

CONCERNING  POOR  MANKIND

AND

WEALTH THAT AWAITS HIM

    All humans are mortal, and all humans desire to avoid death wherever possible, and here is the  dilemma, that even though we love life above everything, there appears to be no possibility to escape the constant threat and certainty of death. The media repeatedly reminds us of death, citing many caught up in death by terrible accidents, devastating storms, tragic plane crashes, by vicious criminals and the threats of enemies. These all bring to the forefront the incessant threat of death and remind us of the ultimate end of our existence. Seeing only with his physical eyes, man observes the constant inflow of births, and outflow of deaths, realizing that  as quickly as men are being born, others are dying.  On the subject of death many think they have established that we differ little from animals, and we like our animal forbears just return to the earth.  

  Men see themselves as species of some animal from whom we descended, the difference being that we invented tools and became educated, established schools, advancing ourselves but always remaining the same perishable flesh as animals. However, holding such ideas they deny the spirit and the true spiritual nature in man, and his creation by God, who breathed His spirit into Adam.  They consider this and the scriptural account of Adam and Eve, the first created pair, as a myth with the conclusion that there is no spirit in man. Thus there is no God or anyone one superior to man, for he just evolved and has no master because he is free. 

HERETICAL TEACHINGS OF PATRIARCH ATHENAGORAS

HERETICAL TEACHINGS  OF PATRIARCH  ATHENAGORAS 

WHICH UNDERMINE THE TRUTH OF THE CHURCH

FIRST ABOUT DEFENDERS OF ORTHODOXY

     Orthodoxy is the  divine-human Body of Christ, was founded by our Lord Jesus Christ and is guided by the Holy Spirit whom He sent from the Father to both comfort and  remind His followers of all that He had taught  them.  There is no other entity like the Church because it is headed by the Godman. Therefore we cannot possibly  examine the Church and speak of it or its members as if it were a secular organization.  The Church is the source of all truth and the fountain of holiness which sanctifies our spirits, souls and bodies. It is unique and remains far above everything else, the holiest place on earth. For the Church’s members are vessels of Holy Spirit.

   Some people have been heard to address members of the Church as being either liberal or conservative, but these are misnomers which cannot be inapplicable to defenders of truth.  In Orthodoxy liberal or conservative factions do not exist, because there are only extreme viewpoints in one direction or another. We completely believe Christ is God or we deny Him. We believe, not on multiple churches, but only  “in One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church or we believe in no church. Either we keep every commandments, preserve all sacred tradition and respect all holy canons or we don’t.  Christ says that if you break one of the least of these commandments you break them all, the same is true of truth, denying one truth, is denying all truth, for Christ is the Truth from heaven. 

THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD AND 

SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

Today the Virgin gives birth to Christ the Godman. 

What we can experience if we also give birth to Him.

      The shepherds were watching their flock by night, when suddenly standing still, they  looked up, as  heaven was suddenly filled with radiant light, and standing there was  an even brighter shining Archangel. Struck with great fear, the shepherds trembled  seeing such a sight, for  the heavens with the glory of God had opened up just for them. The angel spoke to calm them, saying:

  “Do not fear, for behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born upon this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with him a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will among men”   (Luke 2: 10-14).

  What the shepherds witnessed and we  all witness is a new and world-shaking event, announced with glorious light and angelic song!  This song is still sung in the Church and we will hear it again and again: “Glory to God in the highest, peace and good will among men!”As we, the church,  gather together to celebrate this joyful Feast, our souls become filled with  blessedness as we join the shepherds welcoming the New Child who is born, he is the Logos God who has chosen to descend and become one of us.  His purpose for becoming like us should fill our hearts with joy, for it His great desire and plan to raise everyone one of us from earth to heaven to a more perfect life where there is neither pain no sorrow nor the threat of death, but eternal life. 

THREE GREAT TRUTHS DEATH – BURIAL – RESURRECTION

THREE GREAT TRUTHS

DEATH  – BURIAL – RESURRECTION

This treatise will make anyone’s Christmas more beautiful, 

looking to the future of the Child lying in a manger, 

for He is the Truth that came down from heaven!

   Christ’s death upon the Cross, His burial by Joseph and Nicodemos in a new tomb, where no other body had ever been placed, and His Resurrection on the third day after the crucifixion, are three great historical events, bound together and inseparable, whose historical truth no one can deny or doubt,

unless he has lost all logic and reasoning.

     Christ was crucified in Jerusalem by the high priests and elders of the Jewish people on the day of the Jewish Passover sacrifice, and His crucifixion is a historical event which no one can deny or doubt, for the first who bore witness that Christ did indeed die which was their desire, this being a work of their own hands.  Their cries of: “Away with Him! Crucify Him!” still are clearly recorded in Holy Scripture, and to this day the Jews believe that He deserved to die.  Also they persecuted the disciples of Christ, then called, Nazarenes, for believing in the crucified one!  

PROTESTANT GREAT ERRORS AND GREATER HERESIES Part Three of a series

PROTESTANT GREAT ERRORS

AND GREATER HERESIES

Part Three of a Series

   Christ our Head, proclaimed  that  the embryonic Orthodox Church must “go forth and preach the Gospel to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and the Holy Spirit”, that is by three immersions and emersions.  All who enter the Church through the door of baptism rid themselves of all sins in the grace-filled waters, but most of the time, converts are cheated by not being baptized at all.  Baptism is done in the name of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, and in Orthodox Baptism we effectively die into a death like His, and we  certainly rise into a resurrection like His. Both the smallest and the greatest of sins   are washed away in the baptismal waters.  Who would not desire baptism such a cleansing  baptism knowing that they were never really baptized by the Church’s baptism? 

   The preaching and baptizing performed by heretics, outside the Church, cannot save a single soul. Christ issued His great command of preaching and baptizing, to cleanse the souls of converts so that they shine like a fresh cut diamond, readying them for the precious seal of the gift of Holy Spirit.  Here in the west, we are among people where there are many different christs being preached. 

PROTESTANT GREAT ERRORS AND GREATER HERESIES Part 2 of a Series

PROTESTANT GREAT ERRORS

AND GREATER HERESIES

Part Two of a Series

Sola Scriptura or Only Scriptures

    It is not our intention to engage in a dialogue, but simply to speak the truth, however sincere dialogues are welcome.  Those who seek and yearn for truth will see its presence in these series.  When the reformation began, most of its participants believed, and maybe still believe, a gross falsehood,  which brought about disastrous results. For some reason, many Orthodox leaders do not address these issues, when they engage those who are still being mislead. For the consequences of the reformation not only did not bring truth or happiness to participants, but brought them from one falsehood to another; from Papism to Protestantism, not from the Papacy to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church – Orthodoxy.  They failed to realize how far they went from truth and the correct understanding of Holy Scripture.  Having erroneously believed the Papacy to be the true church, they believed that the Church Christ founded was corrupt.  Based on this falsehood, the early reformers were not planning to leave the Roman Church, bot to correct and change the many evils, for it had become a den of thieves and a mud pool of immorality, which history confirms. 

  The truth is that the Papacy had not been the true church for the previous  five to six hundred when the reformers went into action. The Papacy separated themselves from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, because they were unable to dominate it. The consequences of this apostasy was that they were now separate and free from the  censure of the Church. Thus countless errors and heresies to enter the papacy, piety was left behind, criminal men entered the papacy and many became popes, true Christianity disappeared.  

PROTESTANT GREAT ERRORS AND GREATER HERESIES

PROTESTANT GREAT ERRORS

AND GREATER HERESIES

Part One of a Series

     The purpose of this treatise is not to criticize but to speak the truth to anyone who is interested, and  our motivation for doing so is love. The  meaning of love is to give all the good you possess to those whom you love. There is nothing we can give that is more precious and beautiful than the true Christ and His true Church – holy Orthodoxy!  She is the continuation of the ancient Church founded by Christ and the Apostles, she is one and the same throughout the world, and the true faith has been preserved in all her churches, not by the rule of a central man, but by the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent as Comforter and Guide of His Church. We desire the salvation and eternal life of every man, but especially for those who will see their errors or heresy and abandoning their sinking ships, come  into the arms of holy Orthodoxy, wherein there is certain salvation.

    The fundamental Protestant error is their belief that they are in an imaginary church but they are far outside the true Church.  Because the plurality of many differing factions does not constitute the church for in the Church everyone must have the mind of Christ.  All those who are outside of the Orthodox Church, are not walking on the path of salvation. Christ established His Church on the fundamental doctrinal fact, which was uttered by Peter and confirmed by the other disciples: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Mat. 16:16). It is important to note, that this is the fundamental law upon which the Church is built, the belief that  Christ is the Son of the Living God. The fundamental law of the papacy is that the Pope is the head, and all must recognize his authority and infallibility. The Baptists who do not want to be called Protestants have also formed other churches leaving them outside the true church. The fundamental law of most of  Protestantism is Sola Scriptura or Scriptures alone.

CHRISTMAS IS ONLY ABOUT THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

CHRISTMAS IS ONLY ABOUT THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST

      During this holy season we hear some Christmas songs like Silent Night, Holy Night, Away in A Manger, Come All You Faithful, Jingle Bells, I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas, Santa Claus is coming, and others which after a few days are soon forgotten by most people.  There is a difference in how divinely inspired Orthodox hymns reach the depths of minds and hearts, filling them with  the good news of the Birth of Christ, not easy to forget. Orthodox hymnology is a special grace, and is the  richest source of hymns of praise which narrate, all the aspects and events of the Nativity of Christ. Orthodox Christmas hymns are filled with the spirit of Christmas and remain indelibly written in many hearts.  Also, the fact that the Spirit inspires many hymn-writers is another reason for their beauty; here are a few samples.

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

Christ comes  from the heaven,

Go to meet Him!

Christ is on earth; Be exalted; 

Sing unto the Lord all the earth;

Praise Him in gladness O people, 

For He has been glorified!

   This Christ-centered hymn is used in Orthodoxy from mid November until Christmas, the Feast of Christ’s Birth.  Orthodox Christians observe a moderate fast beginning on November 15th and ending with the Feast Day of Christmas. This hymn begins November 21, which is the Feast of the Entrance of the Virgin  into the temple and the holy of holies where, at the tender age of three, she begins preparation that will be completed when she is betrothed to Joseph. By prayer and fasting, rejoicing in the Lord, by communion with angels, she  prepared to fulfill her awesome destiny which will cause her to become the best and  greatest person ever to come from the human race.  The greatness of her birthgiving can best be expressed in these words.  Our Father who is in heaven is giving birth and the Virgin gave birth to the same Son, our God, Jesus Christ!  At the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel joyfully bestowed upon her a new name saying Rejoice: “Full of Grace” and in her wondrous birthgiving she receives another name, the Ever-virgin Theotokos, for she gave  birth to God in the flesh, our Savior Jesus Christ!

THE HERETICAL TEACHING OF BISHOP KALLISTOS WARE

THE  HERETICAL TEACHING OF 

BISHOP KALLISTOS WARE

IN HIS BOOK THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

       I knew Bishop Kallistos Ware, when, as a very young man, he came to our youth meetings held at the Greek Archdiocese in NYC,
which was in the nineteen-fifties, we knew him then as Timothy Ware.  This article is about the re-publication of his book, “The Orthodox Church.”  Timothy Ware converted to Orthodoxy, and rose to the bishopric, and is now famous. Sadly, he has publicly surrendered the most fundamental beliefs of Orthodoxy and embraced falsehood. He is a gifted and effective speaker, which is what prompts me to write this exposure. Although a Bishop, Kallistos surrendered basic Orthodox beliefs. His high rank elevated him to chief shepherd, but now with his false teachings he is leading many sheep astray,  taking them into dangerous waters where many may perish. (RJM)

THE ORTHODOX CHURCH  Penguin Books UK

Quotes from his book are italicized. Remarks are mine.

“ Orthodoxy has been grievously impoverished by the separation.” P 61

  (RJM) There has never been an “impoverishing by the separation,”  except that of the Papacy which chose power and authority, over the humility and meekness of Jesus Christ,  and they are impoverished by the separation.  But it is impossible for Orthodoxy to be impoverished by the separation because she always remains the body of Christ, the one holy, the treasure house of divine truth and love, constantly producing saints and sanctifying her people. Filled with Holy Spirit, Orthodoxy is always enriched, and will remain so because she avoids the terrible pitfalls of  heresy and especially that of subjection to the Pope,  who claims to be the one and only source of salvation, and the infallible representative of Christ, but he is not the good shepherd. 

SECURITY-- INSECURE AND PERMANENT

SECURITY

INSECURE AND PERMANENT

   Few do not know of the federal Social Security Act, which was designed to give people security when they reached  advanced age, by  financial support. Starting  with one penny on each dollar earned, it was quickly accepted by people.  The Social security system in this country started in the 1930 period, and was touted as security for old age.  Obviously security is important to men, for real security if perfect would give us total comfort without anxieties.

   The first created, Adam and Eve, enjoyed such perfect security in Paradise where there was no opposing power or storm threatening them. So long as they obeyed the law of God they were free and secure in Paradise, having everything they needed.  Nothing could harm  them for they were secure and happy, living in the grace of God. They felt even more secure when God visited them for they delighted in His sweetness, love and beauty.  But after they sinned, everything changed, for they became criminals, having broken the law of God, and now, instead of Paradise, everything changed to bitterness, for they were threatened by the penalty of death which hung over their heads like a  sword. Instead of rejoicing and running toward Him as they always did, now when God called out to them, they hid, trembling in fear, because they were guilty and filled with shame. Sadly having lost their innocence they also lost sweet Paradise.

PROTESTANT DECLARES ORTHODOX BAPTISM IS CORRECT

PROTESTANT  DECLARES

ORTHODOX BAPTISM IS CORRECT

BAPTISM MEANS TOTAL IMMERSION

PROTESTANT RESEARCHER OF 1860

SUPPORTS ORTHODOX TOTAL IMMERSIONS

     One-hundred and fifty-three years ago, in 1860,  a Protestant scholar, named T. J. Conant D.D.,  after complete and extensive research, published the results of his efforts in a book entitled: “The Meaning and Use of Baptism, published by the  American Bible Union, 350 Broome St, Bible Revision Association, Louisville Kentucky, 1860. (entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860.  By the American Bible Union. In the clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York).”  This is taken from the book which lies before me.

     He researched in detail every possible source, hoping to solve a major denominational dispute which had arisen among Protestant sects.  This concerned the meaning of the Greek word baptizeis (baptize). Some considered immersion to be of no consequence, and others deemed it most necessary,  the author, however,  strongly supported the correct meaning, that baptism  always means immerse. Confounding the dispute was the biblical passage incorrectly translated:  “baptize with water”, instead of “baptize in water.”