Fr. John comments on Ephesians 2 and James 2, and the role of faith and works in the mystery of our salvation.

Fr. John Whiteford discusses 1 Timothy 5:3-16, and notes that "We can’t call ourselves Christians if we don’t care for our own."

Fr. John Whiteford talks about the ungodly society around us.

Fr. John Whiteford discusses the parable of the rich man and Lazarus and how we must apply it to our own lives.

During this difficult time, Fr. John Whiteford gives a message of hope in God, using the challenges of the life of St. John of Shanghai.

Fr. John Whiteford shares about the life of St. Innocent of Alaska.

Fr. John Whiteford uses Psalm 66 to instill the importance of sharing our light with the world.

Looking at verse 13 of Matthew 6, Fr. John Whiteford concludes his series of the Lord's Prayer.

Fr. John Whiteford delivers an exhortation to learn from this quarantine and use that spiritual wisdom in life moving forward.

Fr. John Whiteford's homily speaks about the anxiety we rightfully feel during this election season but reminds us that our kingdom is not of this world. We must remember to keep our trust in the Lord, lay aside our earthly cares, and look to Him, and not politics, for our deliverance.

In preparation for the coming Lenten period, Fr. John Whiteford encourages us to keep our spiritual fires burning strong.

Fr. John Whiteford addresses what we know and do not know in our understanding of who God is.

Fr. John Whiteford uses verses from Matthew 9 and Luke 11 to remind his congregation that Christ will be with us through every trial we encounter, if we let him in.

Fr. John Whiteford preaches about the restoration of icons.

Fr. John Whiteford shares the story of Hieromartyr Joachim of Nizhny-Novgorod.

Fr. John reflects on the way that suffering can help us to grow spiritually in Christ.

Fr. John reflects on his visit to the country of Moldova, and the state of the family.

Fr. John Whiteford reflects on the call to trust in God and how we can 'fret not' when the wicked parish. (Psalm 36[37]:1-11)

Fr. John Whiteford continues his exploration of the Psalms of Ascent with Psalm 123.

As the light of the Nativity comes closer, how does silence fit into the last minute rush for gift buying, baking, caroling and office parties? In this episode of The Wilderness Journal, join host Angela Doll Carlson in the second half of her conversation with author Summer Kinard as they talk about Advent, silence, self care, and Amish/Alien romance novels.

From the outside, the practice of Orthodoxy seems rigid, complicated and intimidating. In this episode, Angela explores how Orthodoxy cannot be fully understood until it is fully experienced. Like a spiritual Tardis, it’s bigger on the inside.

What is stirring when we meet our rebel self? And when that rebel self shows up, what wisdom will we find there? On this episode of The Wilderness Journal, Angela explores the familiar landscape of rebellion, its role in conversion and in deepening our journey of faith.

When faced with a life-changing forgiveness of a huge debt, this man in our Gospel Lesson revealed his own wicked heart by not showing that same forgiveness and mercy to his fellow servant. It did not end well for that wicked servant. And it won't end well for we who refuse to forgive from the heart!

We hear it all the time - God loves you - but our modern world has so lost the depth and beauty of God's love, we are in danger of emptying this profound truth of its powerful meaning. Today we look at a familiar passage of scripture with new eyes, with God's eyes, and what we discover is life changing!

Jesus promised His disciples that He would transform them from fishermen to "Fishers of men." How does that apply to us today as Orthodox Christians? In fact, why are you Orthodox?

The central truth of the Orthodox Christian faith is Gratitude. If we can learn to live a grateful life, we will truly be shaped into the character of Christ and will reflect the life of Christ i.n our lives as well. But this life of gratitude is difficult in a world where we so easily dismiss our faith or reduce our faith to smaller ideas. How do we escape this all too easy temptation? By observing what is our initial reaction to being blessed with God's grace! What is our initial reaction to God's kindness to us? What is our reaction to the benefits of gifts? This internal clue reveals our true character!

The celebration of the Enfleshing of God at Christmas is nothing less than a Divine Invasion of Creation by the Creator for the purpose of rescuing all of Humanity.

When Jesus shares the parable of the man who invited his friends to a banquet and they all made excuses as to why they couldn't come, the Lord put's these words in the man's mouth: "None of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet." When God invites you to be at His Banquet, will you make an excuse?

The Sunday of the Samaritan Woman sees the Lord gently confront a dear lady who didn't realize Who she was speaking to, and this blindness to just Who Jesus is means she is missing the real point of her life!

The work of the Faith is meant to cleanse your spiritual eyes so you have 20/20 vision about what's most important in your life.

Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath Day and this reveals the hypocritical hearts of those around Him!

St. Paul tells his faithful in Collasse that the Good News of Jesus means no more divisions between Jews and Greeks, between slaves and free men. Christianity is the death of racism!

On this Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, it's time to stop being amazed by God's consistency and power!

On this 5th Sunday of Matthew, St. Paul tells the Roman Church that if anyone is going to be saved we have to confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord AND believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead!

On the Feast of the Transfiguration, Jesus reveals the very central purpose for our existence and our true goal for our lives!

The current delusion of our day is that life should be free of suffering or struggle. But that lie is actually leaving people in a perpentual adolescence that is destroying lives. The Faith offers us another path where we expect struggle and have Joy THROUGH it!

Jesus thanks Peter for the use of his boat the Lord used to preach to the people by telling Peter to push out further and let down his fishing nets. Of course we know the rest of the story.

I would argue that when it comes to making money online, the most important skill you need is not in being able to find untapped niches, knowing how to do A/B testing, creating attractive websites or even having a great ability to write. Instead, the most sought after skill in my eyes is being able […]

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As this site slowly crumbles and falls apart, it’s about time I made a small announcement as to where you can find me. 99% of my audience should know I’ve already moved to Detailed.com and Gaps.com, but if you didn’t, then here we are. I’m secretly hoping this might go out to some RSS feeds […]

The post I No Longer Blog Here: Please Join Me on Detailed.com and Gaps.com appeared first on ViperChill.

Michael shares two different experiences from his own life when desiring a word from God.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48 to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. But how is this possible when we know we are sinners? Did He really mean this? And if so, what exactly did He mean? Join Michael as he discusses what it means to be perfect from an Orthodox Christian point of view and shares a story that illustrates and addresses the difference between being perfect and perfectionism and why “good enough” is actually okay.

Michael describes his recent experience, while recovering from a concussion, of viewing key scenes from the Academy Award winning movie Good Will Hunting through an Orthodox Christian lens. Using these scenes and their circumstances as illustrations, he discusses understanding sin as sickness, condemning self-judgment and judgment in general, the fine line between our sense of personal accountability and self forgiveness, and both God’s love for us and our love for each other as it should be.

Being spiritual and having no religious affiliation is a rapidly increasing segment of society. We hear people say they’re spiritual but religious all the time, but what does it really mean? How do people understand “spiritual” and “religious” when they describe themselves this way? Join Michael as he thoroughly explores this topic and shares personal examples and insights to help us understand this growing movement.

Making extensive use of the Scriptures, join Michael Haldas as he teaches an in-depth Bible lesson on the truth about truth; the truth about the real gravity and depravity of lies and lying; and what Christ means when He talks about the “father of lies” and “the ruler of this world” who was “a murderer from the beginning.”

Join Michael as he discusses what it really means “not to lose heart” according to Christ and St. Paul, examines the scriptures where these words are used, looks at their meaning in the original Greek, and why we actually have a responsibility to others not to lose heart.

Join Michael as he discusses how we should see and experience ourselves and others as living icons of Christ, and how we achieve this through the difficult task unknowing ourselves.

Join Michael for a discussion of the primacy of focusing on loving more not sinning less and why this will be the basis of how God judges our lives.

Join Michael in a discussion about what well-being and non-being really mean, and how we often do things we think are beneficial but really are not in our best interest and lead us father from God rather than towards Him.