I always run my affiliate links through redirects – also referred to as cloaking affiliate links – for several reasons: Running them through my redirects means I have a click count to match up to the one the merchant is reporting. Affiliate links are usually ugly and impossible to remember without doing a copy/paste. Redirects…

The post How to Cloak Affiliate Links (& Why You Should) appeared first on Sugarrae.

If you've looked into search engine optimization as a promotional technique for your website, you have likely come across the advice to make your website secure (having an https:// appear in front of your URLs instead of http://). Google has been very vocal in pushing for all websites to make the move to being secure,…

The post How to Make Your WordPress Website Secure (SSL) in 6 Steps appeared first on Sugarrae.

Fr. John shares from Matthew 6:14-21 encouragement as we begin Great Lent.

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?

Jesus confronts the people and the disciples when they can't heal a little boy!

Updated: August 10th 2016 As we enter the first week of a brand new year, your motivations are probably higher than ever to make 2016 the year to finally achieve all you’ve been dreaming of. Whether you’re starting a brand new foray into making money online or you’re hoping to take your current income to […]

The post How to Make Money Online in 2016: An Unexpected Approach appeared first on ViperChill.

On the 15th of January 2008 the domain name Groupon.com went live for the first time. 2008 was also the year that IndieGogo became one of the first ‘crowdfunding’ websites. A year later, the biggest rivals of each would launch in the form of Living Social and Kickstarter. At the start of 2012 Uber – […]

The post How to Steal the Next Billion Dollar Website Idea: A Case Study appeared first on ViperChill.

Join Michael as he explores the webs and patterns of our life, and uses poem, story, myth, metaphor, and examples from his own life to show how we can recognize God and continuity within our myriad choices, and know His peace.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea shares practical insights about developing a relationship with a spiritual father.

This is the prayer of one who is still in the world, but no longer of the world. When despair and anxiety bite they feel like a little death. When your tiredness, your sin or your despondency collapse over you, you need to pray with the prayer of the dead, the prayer of our nothingness silently hoping against hope, silently crying out for Christ, silently waiting for the Resurrected One to be risen from our own tomb: our body and our soul. This is not abandonment, but the exact opposite: this is the prayer which is proper to our fallen nature, the desperate cry for Life of one who is made of nothing, but does not belong to nothing. This is the prayer of one who is still in the world, but no longer of the world - instead, they now belong to Christ

When your heart and your mind are suspended, when there is no life in you, how do you find your way back to Christ, back to Life? How do you pray when you feel dead inside?

Every Lent is an opportunity to START ANEW, to shine in Christ, to do the things we only think about doing the rest of the year. We can go deeper in our faith, we can create secret 'signs of love and faith' with Christ, we can re-shape the courses of our thoughts and emotions so they once again flow in the direction God intended them to flow when He created us.

Why can't we just focus on the spiritual side of life and live as spiritual beings? Why is the Church so keen that we should learn to control our bodies and their passions? Does God even care what we do with our bodies?

Hope and repentance are the two wings of spiritual life.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea reminds us to keep ourselves grounded in humility, so we may fight pride and hypocrisy, and prevent them from staining our spiritual struggle before the Lord. When you are at the beginning of your spiritual life, you need to prioritize your ascetical works, because they will eventually help you open up to receive God's Grace.

It is easy to ask for God's Word, but it is difficult to listen and accept His answer. That is because His answer reveals His Divine will and once we know that, we need to silence our own will and follow Him.

How to Fight Evil from our Hearts in a World of Lies and Confusion (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

You can run into the most amazing and interesting blog on the web, only to find out it’s a chore to navigate. When it comes to websites, good content alone doesn’t make for success – the entire experience needs to be enjoyable. Think about your blog as a library. It needs to be inviting, easy […]

The post How to Design a User-Friendly WordPress Blog appeared first on Leaving Work Behind.

These days, anyone can start a blog or create a simple website in a matter of hours. However, getting that website to work and look just the way you want it to takes a lot more time. Most people don’t realize that and end up giving up long before the work is done. If you don’t have […]

The post How to Create a Blog or a Freelance Writer’s Portfolio Using Propel Site appeared first on Leaving Work Behind.

Keyword research is a lot more difficult than you might imagine. Finding popular keywords is only the start. You also have to be able to spot which keywords your blog can realistically rank for and where your competitors are vulnerable. If you want your blog to grow organically, you have to play the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) […]

The post How to Find High-Value Keywords For Your Blog appeared first on Leaving Work Behind.

In this podcast, we see how the teachings of our holy tradition guide us in understanding our relationship to health.

Rita Madden shares some reflections from the book titled, "How to Live a Holy Life."

On this Sunday of the Cross, Fr. Andrew discusses what it really means to 'Take Up the Cross'.

Fr. Andrew reflects on the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant and how it reveals how we can see God and sense His presence.

This episode includes an interview with Benedict Sheehan, the Director of Music at St. Tikhon's Seminary and the author of The Music Stand blog with Ancient Faith. He shares his thoughts on the state of our music and makes suggestions on how to improve it.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony talks with Fr. Theophan Mackey of St. Job of Pochaiv parish in Los Alamos, NM (stjobla.org). He's only been a priest for three years, but he really hit the ground running (glory to God!). In this "live" episode, he shares his experience serving God as a priest (and jack of all trades) in New Mexico. Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony as he talks with Fr. Gregory Jensen, PhD, to get some advice on the role of the priest/pastor in crazy times. It's a difficult conversation, but it's important for us to have trusted friends in our lives who will tell us things we don't want to hear. Fr. Gregory is wise, experienced, and courageous enough to say things that will satisfy precisely no one. Enjoy the show!

We tell them that God is Love, but do we go a step further and teach them what it means to actually love other people? Literally, how do we show love? I think we assume that people know that already, but maybe they don't—or maybe we could do better.

Are you keeping your eyes on Jesus when the stormy seas of life stir up the fear of death?

We have all had experiences in which we have learned uncomfortable truths about ourselves. When that happens, we have a choice about what to do next. It is possible to recognize a weakness or failing and then to do what we can to overcome it. Too often, however, we give up hope and fall into despair due to our hurt pride. That is precisely what the man in today’s gospel lesson did when Jesus Christ gave him a commandment that he lacked the strength to obey: “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

In today’s gospel lesson, there were people so used to focusing on their daily routines and worldly responsibilities that they had lost the ability to recognize something new and joyful. One owned real estate, another had animals, and a third was married. Even though these are commonplace conditions, they used them to justify their refusal to accept the invitation to the great party. No one forced them to do so; instead, they excused themselves. As a result, the master commanded his servant to “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.” Because there was still room, the master ordered him to go out even further to “the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”

The Lord said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The only way to shine like a city on a hill or a lamp on a stand in a world darkened by sin is to live in a way that provides a beacon of hope for the fulfillment of the human person in God.

It is easy for people to fall prey to the passions of fear, worry, and anger in response to the great challenges that our nation and world face today, as well as to those we encounter in our families and in other areas of our lives. In such circumstances, we must not ignore the importance of one of the most basic virtues necessary for human flourishing, namely, gratitude.

Let us become transfigured in holiness as we pray, fast, repent, and give generously to our neighbors as we become living icons of the Savior’s fulfillment of the human person in the likeness of God.

Unlike the rich man, we must not walk away in sadness when our weakness before our passions becomes apparent, especially when we realize how far short we have fallen of the holiness to which Christ calls us.

We must devote ourselves to prayer, fasting, almsgiving, forgiveness, and other forms of repentance in the weeks ahead if we are to open the depths of our brokenness to the healing of our Lord’s humble, suffering love. That is the only way to become like the tax collector in spiritual clarity, for he was aware only of his sin and need for God’s mercy. We must know the true state of our corruption and weakness as he did, if we are to enter into the joy of the Lord’s resurrection.

Fr. Josiah Trenham speaks about catechism at a clergy retreat for the Carolina Deanery of the Orthodox Church in America.

Dn. Michael Hyatt begins a new series in his class going through the book by Dr. Peter Bouteneff entitled How to Be a Sinner. Discovering ourselves as sinners is a first step.

To see ourselves as God sees us is real truth and part of that is to see ourselves as sinners when revealed by the divine light. Dn. Michael Hyatt is teaching through How to Be a Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff.

Before communion we declare that we are the chief of sinners. But is that true? If so, how are we to interpret that claim? Dn. Michael Hyatt continues going through the book How to be a Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff.

Dn. Michael Hyatt continues going through the book How to Be a Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff. In this lesson, he speaks about the importance of self-awareness.

As sinners, how are we to look at ourselves? Dn. Michael Hyatt continues going through the book How to be a Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff.

What is the difference between mercy and grace? Dn. Michael Hyatt continues going through the book How to Be a Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff.

In this concluding episode in the How to Be a Sinner series, Dn. Michael Hyatt interviews the author, Dr. Peter Bouteneff.

Guilt, shame, and compunction. What role do they all play in the acknowledgement and treatment of our sin? Dn. Michael Hyatt continues going through the book How to Be a Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff.

you'll just have to trust me on this one; recommended for desktop browsers #

Fr. Apostolos continues his homiletic series on prayer.

Fr. Apostolos addresses sin as the animating principle behind the blood-letting we are witnessing around the world. References are drawn primarily from the Prophet Isaiah whose insights are as relevant today as they were 2,700 years ago.

Fr. Apostolos talks about the true worship of God, "This week, as we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord of glory into the Temple, may we be reminded that we come into this holy place not in a state of mere passive observance, but in one of active, noetic worship of the One who alone deserves all glory, honor, and worship: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now until the ages of ages."

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a homily about the belief that leads to salvation as opposed to a nominal "belief" that does not.