Fr. Ted talks on the importance of Pentecost—a feast that many refer to as the "Birthday of the Church."

Fr. Ted encourages us to pace ourselves in this, our second week of Lent, as temptations from the evil one can thwart our efforts to be closer to God. He also reminds us to be patient with others as each path is different and we are not to judge.

Fr. Ted reminds us that Palm Sunday is actually a tragic event because the people recognize the Messiah not as He is, but as they want him to be.

Fr. Ted calls us into the daily work of cleansing our lives so that the Holy Spirit might come and live within us.

Fr. Ted calls us to become like the Father who was ready and willing to welcome those who return to the life of the Church, rather than the big brother who was judgmental towards his returning brother.

Fr. Ted speaks to us of the wall of faith that cannot be destroyed.

Fr. Ted explains the meaning and significance of the Greek Oxi Day.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos challenges us to consider our own preconceptions about God and how we live in relation to our belief in God.

Kevin and Steve discuss the rich array of interpretations of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross with Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Dr. Joel B. Green, of Asbury Theological Seminary (Methodist-Wesleyan), and why the reduction of this variety to a single, exclusive view of the atonement - "the "penal substitutionary model" - poses its own scandal, one that is foreign to the New Testament! Buckle up your seat belts!

The Orthodox Church is seeing an influx of graduates from Evangelical Christian colleges and universities, exploring traditional forms of historic Christianity. In this program Kevin Allen discusses this trend with two graduates of BIOLA University (Jesse Cone and Michael Unruh) who were recently chrismated.

Kevin interviews Robert Meyering, the former moderator of the Calvin Forum, now Orthodox Christian.

The past few years have seen their controversies within the Self Ruled Antiochian Archdiocese of North America. On September 30, 2010, Kevin Allen and John Maddex traveled to Englewood, NJ to visit the headquarters of the Antiochian Archdiocese and the home of it’s Archbishop Metropolitan Philip Saliba. Our purpose was to seek clarification on several key areas that have become a concern to many, and fodder for the blogosphere. His Eminence warmly welcomed us and gave Kevin the freedom to ask any question he thought would be helpful to our audience in understanding several critical issues. There were four specific topics we wanted him to address: 1. The meaning and future of self rule in the Antiochian Archdiocese. 2. The status of the Bishops in North America and the meaning as well as the ramifications of the title “Auxiliary Bishop.” 3. The finances of the Antiochian Archdiocese and in particular the status of an audit. 4. The view point of His Eminence on the Episcopal Assembly, SCOBA, and the future of Administrative Unity in North America. We have left the Metropolitan’s remarks intact and unedited to make them available to the audience for their own evaluation and conclusions. This episode provides the entire interview. If you are interested in listening to the individual topics, we have also divided it up into 4 sections and those are available on The Illumined Heart page of Ancient Faith Radio. A free transcript is also available.

Meet Father Paisius Altschul, the priest of Saint Mary of Egypt Serbian Orthodox Church and the Executive Director of Reconciliation Services/FOCUS Kansas City. Kevin speaks with Father Paisius about his community’s unique ministry of racial reconciliation and ministry to the poor and homeless in the inner city of Kansas City. (USA).

In a very special edition of The Illumined Heart, we have an extensive conversation with His Eminence Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, Professor Emeritus in Eastern Orthodox Studies at Oxford University, and Bishop of Diokleia. Metropolitan Ka!istos is widely regarded as perhaps the world’s leading theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church today. We present the entire interview here but also offer it in bite size pieces below. Kevin Allen's guest host is John Maddex.

The Saint Vladimir's Seminary community entered into its annual two-day Lenten Retreat March 2 and 3, 2020. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada (Orthodox Church in America), delivered four reflections over the two days loosely built around his own experience of life in community.

Dn. Michael concludes his series on reconciliation with advice on when and how to confront someone.

In part 2 of his mini-series during this Nativity season, Dn. Michael Hyatt works through the Matthew 18 principle of reconciling with our brother and uses his own family to help illustrate the point.

As we enter the week of celebrating our Lord's coming to earth, many of us will have family members visiting or we will be visiting them. For some, this means inevitable conflict. In this final episode of his series called Peace On Earth, Dn. Michael Hyatt addresses The Persistence of Reconciliation - what happens when you've tried everything?

Padre Nicolás predicó sobre los premios que Dios nos da cuando aguantamos las dificultades. En nuestra fe Dios nos recompensa. Él compartió la historia de San Jacob el santo Ortodoxo indígena de Alaska. (Gálata 3:23-4:5) Fr. Nicholas preached about the prizes that God gives us when we endure the difficulties. In our faith the Lord truly rewards us. He shared the story about San Jacob the Orthodox indigenous saint of Alaska. (Galatians 3:23-4:5)

Listen to excerpts from this past Sunday's bulletin at St. John the Compassionate Mission, serving the most vulnerable in Toronto.

Here are some more stories, written by Brother Luke, of those who are part of the St. John the Compassionate Mission community.

Fr. Nicolaie writes about language and communication--reflections on the Friday before Pentecost at St. John the Compassionate Mission.

How can poverty, hunger, and mourning be considered "blessed?" Father Nicolai looks at the Beatitudes through the lens of the community, revealing the "Good Word," "Bene Dicere," or "Blessing" that is poured out in and through someone with a sincere heart.

research and short essays about cultural loss and the critical importance of preservation and access #

Ada Ada Ada is documenting her transition on Instagram, uploading shirtless photos weekly to test their nudity guidelines #

In the late Metropolitan’s Kallistos Ware’s classic The Orthodox Church, he describes the Church as “a continued Pentecost”. This is true, but it is important not to misunderstand his meaning.

It has been suggested to me that in many (most?) Evangelical circles one becomes a Christian “by accepting the finished work of Christ”—i.e. by believing and accepting as true that on the cross Jesus paid the full price due our sin and by saying a prayer acknowledging this.

Recently I have come across an anti-Orthodox polemic which rejects our veneration of icons on the grounds that venerating an image painted on a board of Christ, His Mother, or His saints is contrary to the practice of the apostles and of the earliest Church. The objection is stated with some sophistication, and is not the usual fundamentalist reference to the Mosaic Law’s proscription of carved statues used in worship (e.g. Exodus 20:4f). This more sophisticated objection acknowledges that there were indeed images of Christ, His Mother, and His saints used in the early Church such as can be found in the funerary art of the catacombs and on the walls of churches (such as that of Dura Europos). But, it points out, there is no evidence that these images functioned as anything more than mere decoration. That is, the people did not come up to the wall to kiss the wall art or venerate the images.

Fr. Apostolos Hill homily about the parable of the unforgiving servant.

Great Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit

In the gospel reading for the second Sunday of Great Lent, Christ heals a man of debilitating paralysis. But Fr Tom reminds us that Jesus reveals something even more important, that He forgives sins as the eternal Son of God. (Second Sunday of Great Lent - Healing of the Paralytic)

On the Sunday after Pentecost we celebrate the life of the Holy Spirit in all those who have become sanctified by God's Grace. Fr Tom reminds us that all Christians are called to be holy, as he expounds on the teachings of our Lord to His disciples.

On the great feast of Pentecost, guest homilist Fr Basil Biberdorf teaches us the importance of knowing Who the Holy Spirit is, and of His role in our Christian life.

On the first Sunday after Pentecost, the feast of All Saints, Fr Thomas teaches us that, because we are created in the image of God, we have the calling to become Saints who have grown in the likeness of God.

On Christmas Eve, Fr Thomas reminds us that Christ came as a human to restore the image of God in us and show us how to become what we were always meant to be.