Cycles of Newness

This week I have been reflecting on what brought me into the Orthodox Church. The Church lacked anything characteristic of a western church that I was used to – no list of doctrines to compare to a denomination or non-denominational church and no worship band to play with. At the…

“If we say we have koinonia with Him and walk in the darkness we lie and do not practice the truth.” (1 John 6) Last week I wrote about my talk with Matt and Chu and our innate desire for communion as our true salvation. That’s a bold claim. What…

This weekend my parents and I traveled up to Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho to spend some time with my sister and her family. On Sunday I went to church with Matt, a friend from Pocatello and was blessed to listen to him teach about Mormonism in his Sunday school class.…

Bless the LORD oh my soul, oh my soul, worship his holy name.  In Christianity’s struggle to be united, we have lost much of our holy language. We no longer sing songs for the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three in one and blessed Trinity. Contemporary worship is inspired by…

Today is the Feast for the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, when Saint Simeon held Christ in his arms and declared, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of…

For anything unchangeable is not us. The soul is healed as she lays aside garment after garment and “presents herself naked and pure in spirit to the vision of God in a divine vigil.” – Hans Urs Von Balthasar commenting on Saint Gregory of Nyssa I have been reflecting on…

I want to invite everyone to join me for Saint Ephraim’s feast day on January 3rd this Saturday. Friends are coming over from the Serbian Church and we will read Saint Ephraim’s Akathist at 6:30 PM MST. the Akathist is at the bottom of this article if you want to…

We can only escape shame by shame. The way down is the way up. – Saint Sophrony of Essex My last month as a staff member for CrossRoad has been a series of miracles strung together. My last experience with a program like this was in Vienna as a missionary…