Podcasts about Orthodoxy

Once the largest Jewish denomination in America, the Conservative movement is now experiencing a dramatic decline while Reform Judaism, Orthodoxy, Chabad, and independent Jewish communities reshape American Jewish life.Rabbi Daniel Levine sits down with Jay Sanderson, President and CEO of American Jewish University and former President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, to discuss the future of Conservative Judaism—and whether Jewish denominations themselves are becoming obsolete.They explore why younger Jews are increasingly reluctant to identify with a denomination, whether Reform and Modern Orthodoxy have absorbed Conservative Judaism's most successful ideas, and why Chabad has become so appealing to Jews who once might have joined traditional suburban synagogues.The conversation also examines interfaith marriage, Zionism and anti-Zionism in rabbinical schools, the rising cost of Jewish participation, and whether Jewish institutions have become too focused on fighting antisemitism at the expense of building meaningful Jewish life.Topics include:• Why Conservative Judaism is shrinking• Whether Jewish denominations still serve a purpose• Reform Judaism, Orthodoxy, and the disappearing Jewish center• Why Chabad continues to grow• Intermarriage and welcoming interfaith families• Zionism and anti-Zionism in rabbinical schools• The changing role of American synagogues• Whether America's Jewish “golden age” is ending• The Jewish community's focus on antisemitism• Why Jewish education, synagogues, and summer camps cost so much• How Jewish institutions can remain accessible and relevant⏱️ Timestamps00:00 Is Conservative Judaism collapsing?01:39 The history and purpose of Jewish denominations03:47 Why denominational Judaism is declining06:46 The changing meaning of American Jewish identity09:04 Intermarriage and Jewish belonging10:08 How Reform Judaism and Orthodoxy have changed11:04 Did Conservative Judaism succeed by influencing the other movements?13:23 Synagogues, independent minyanim, and the future of Jewish community15:25 Do Jewish denominations still serve a purpose?18:54 Israel, Zionism, and rabbinical schools22:48 What should the role of a rabbi be?23:39 Conservative Judaism and interfaith marriage25:53 Is Chabad replacing traditional synagogues?27:18 Why Chabad's financial model is so appealing29:19 Chabad as a “family bakery” rather than a franchise31:27 Is the American Jewish golden age ending?32:30 Is fighting antisemitism consuming Jewish institutional life?34:34 Building Jewish life instead of focusing only on antisemitism36:20 Antisemitism and Jewish life on college campuses38:50 Why is participating in Jewish life so expensive?40:00 Is cost really the main reason Jews disengage?41:06 Why Jewish institutions refuse to reduce expenses42:23 How much should the Jewish community spend fighting antisemitism?42:58 The most important challenge facing Jewish lifeIf you enjoyed this conversation, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone interested in Judaism, Jewish identity, American Jewish life, Zionism, religion, or the future of the Jewish community.#ConservativeJudaism #AmericanJudaism #JewishIdentity #Judaism #JewishCommunity #Chabad #ReformJudaism #OrthodoxJudaism #Antisemitism #Zionism #InterfaithMarriage #JewishHistory #RabbiDanielLevine #JaySanderson

#Logos #America #Christianity This video is a clip from my stream "Religion and Nothingness: Buddhism, Nihilism, and Christianity." If you would like to watch the entire stream please click the following link. https://www.youtube.com/live/5RJLsT6CKsU?si=0q1OXsdUE95zecpb

Inspired by the work of various philosophers who have become orthodox (ex: Nathan Jacobs), among other things, I have recently taken on the project of working to bridge my metaphysical model explicitly into orthodox christianity

#Logos #America #Christianity This video is a clip from my stream "Open Debate Panel: Why Do Men Love the Eastern Orthodox Church?" If you would like to watch the entire stream please click the following link. https://youtube.com/live/dnO0ZiWsdN4

We wrestle with the moral cost of war through a modern Odyssey lens, especially what it means to see the divine image in people you might be ordered to kill. We ask whether “necessary” violence can ever be clean, and why the ones who protect everyone else often carry scars the rest of us never have to bear. • Athena's beheading as a symbol of desecration and conscience • war as ugly even when defense feels necessary • Zeus's law of hospitality set against survival and self-defense • the fog of war and our limited moral vision • Plato's Euthyphro as a test for confident moral claims • the “dark knight” role and taking blame for the public good • Oppenheimer parallels and the burden of consequential choices • film critique on flattened characters while still recommending it Please, if you're enjoying this content, give this video a like, hit that subscribe button, and most importantly, if you can, ring that bell. You can go see the full thing over on our Patreon right now. It is the best way to support Cotta Witnesses. Please share with friends and family.Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/jRXxRaqK9Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.Audio: https://cloudofwitnessesradio.buzzsprout.comPlease leave a comment with your thoughts!

00:00 Introduction01:14 The History of the Collapse of Western Christianity29:11 The West doesn't have to become The East to be saved34:14 You Need a Genuine Hospital & to be a Good Patient38:00 There's No Gap Between Second Temple Judaism, Apostolic Christianity & The Church43:46 The Councils Were About Avoiding Schism & Heresy, Not Punishment46:31 Modern media Combined with Ignorance of Orthodox Ecclesiology Breeds Confusion49:21 Apostolic Succession Is Supported & Validated by The Historic Choir of Saints52:58 To Prove You Can Heal, You Need Verifiable Patients Who Aren't Sick Anymore55:25 How We Strive for Unity Amidst Conflict IS our Salvation60:44 The Enlightenment Dream Is Only Possible Through The Church, Not Reason63:09 Our Culture Is Redefining Intrinsically Christian Terms In Pursuit of Utopia65:52 Closing~~~How to Understand The Collapse of The West Apostolic SuccessionS8E6~~~In this episode, Fr. Symeon Kees & James John Marks discuss the history of what we call The West from the birth of Christianity in The Acts of The Apostles up through the Great Schism, the rise of the papacy, & how the collapse of Western Christianity shaped modern civilization from an Orthodox Christian perspective.~~~Reference materials for this episode: Against Heresies by St Ireneaus - Book III, chapter 3, section 4 - succession of St Polycarp - https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htmScripture citations for this episode:Acts 2:46Acts 3:1Acts 5:42 - The continuation of Torah worship~~~Subscribe for more conversations on Orthodoxy, theology, Church history, the lives of the Saints, and practical Christian living.~~~#orthodoxchristianity  #OrthodoxChurch #ApostolicSuccession #ChurchHistory #ChurchFathers #GreatSchism, #RomanCatholicism #EarlyChurch #Pope~~~The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis PavilionOur hosts are Father Symeon Kees of Iowa City & James John Marks of ChicagoParadosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://x.com/podcast_saintshttps://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcasthttps://bsky.app/profile/xtiansaintspodcast.bsky.socialIconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these images. Prints of all of Nick's work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.comAll music in these episodes is a production of Generative Soundshttps://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.comDistribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative SoundsCopyright 2021 - 2026The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion. Our hosts are Father Symeon Kees of Iowa City & James John Marks of Chicago.Paradosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://x.com/podcast_saintshttps://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcasthttps://bsky.app/profile/xtiansaintspodcast.bsky.socialIconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these imagesPrints of all of Nick's work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.comAll music in these episodes is a production of Generative Soundshttps://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.comDistribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative SoundsCopyright 2021 - 2026

Jay Dyer, Owen Benjamin, Eastern Orthodoxy, alien disclosure, MKUltra symbolism, and Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day collide in this episode of Neph 2 America. David Lee Corbo, Top Lobsta, Matthew from Straight Bible, and Nancy deliver uncensored cultural commentary, comedy, conspiracy analysis, and Biblical discussion through a Christian worldview.The conversation begins with the proposed Jay Dyer vs. Owen Benjamin debate and the events that allegedly caused it to collapse. The hosts examine their previous interactions with Jay Dyer, Owen Benjamin's controversial Orthodox-themed artwork, accusations of blasphemy, the proposed Trinity debate, and the internet culture surrounding Christian apologetics. They also question Eastern Orthodox claims about salvation, church authority, icons, tradition, debate culture, and whether Christians should be known primarily by arguments or by how they live.The discussion expands into Timothy Alberino's appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience and the responsibility Christian researchers have to proclaim the gospel when given access to major platforms. The hosts ask whether talking about supernatural phenomena is enough when Jesus Christ and the message of salvation remain secondary.The second half features an extensive Disclosure Day review and Biblical breakdown. The hosts explore possible MKUltra and Project Monarch symbolism, butterfly imagery, psychic abilities, childhood trauma, intelligence agencies, the year 1947, Catholic involvement in alien disclosure, red cardinal symbolism, and the Alfa Romeo serpent logo. Revelation 12:4 is examined in connection with the dragon waiting to devour the child.The episode also analyzes regressive hypnosis, alien-abduction trauma, sleep paralysis, Disney and Snow White imagery, demonic oppression, starseeds, indigo children, Gnostic teachings, and attempts to portray alien entities as humanity's benevolent saviors. Job 4:12–17 is compared with modern reports of terrifying spiritual encounters, while Zechariah 11:17 appears during a discussion of the so-called Black Eye Club.The show closes with Super Chats, Messages From Mom, AI data centers, surveillance fears, strange food-technology claims, and the usual audience-driven chaos.What do you think caused the Jay Dyer and Owen Benjamin debate to collapse? Does Disclosure Day prepare audiences for alien disclosure, spiritual deception, or both? Share your analysis in the comments.► Subscribe for more Biblical analysis, Christian worldview discussions, and conspiracy research through a Biblical lens.Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere podcasts are available.00:00 Intro and Show Announcements04:14 Austin Picard Episode Recap05:56 Jay Dyer vs. Owen Benjamin Dispute08:17 Trinity Debate and Orthodox Salvation Claims14:00 Can Salvation Be Found in Orthodoxy?16:41 Jay Dyer Debate Challenge Backstory25:43 Blasphemy, the Gospel, and Christian Conduct29:17 Hearing God and Obedience to His Calling35:05 Why the Jay Dyer–Owen Benjamin Debate Collapsed42:33 Timothy Alberino, Joe Rogan, and the Gospel46:30 Disclosure Day Review Begins50:04 Sports Rituals, MAGA Imagery, and Kayfabe52:52 MKUltra and Project Monarch Symbolism56:47 The 1947 UFO Files and CIA Storyline59:00 Psychic Powers and Disclosure Propaganda62:38 Catholic Cardinals and Alien Disclosure63:23 Alfa Romeo Symbolism and Revelation 12:471:00 Demonic Imagery Hidden in the Movie76:12 “God Isn't Divine” and New Age Theology84:23 Jesus Imagery, Possession, and Spiritual Inversion87:36 Regressive Hypnosis and Childhood Trauma91:05 Alien Abduction, Snow White, and False Comfort95:51 Job 4 and Terrifying Spiritual Encounters97:43 Why the Aliens Become the “Good Guys”101:24 Gnostic Messages, Starseeds, and Chosen Ones107:27 Snow White Humming and Occult Programming108:11 Super Chats and Audience Questions122:52 Messages From Mom125:10 Black Eye Club and Zechariah 11129:22 AI Data Centers and Surveillance Fears135:01 RJ Reynolds, Food Technology, and Final Reactions136:24 Final Super Chats and OutroBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/nephilim-death-squad--6389018/support.☠️ Nephilim Death Squad — New episodes 5x/week.Join our Patreon for early access, bonus shows & the private Telegram hive.Subscribe on YouTube & Rumble, follow @NephilimDSquad on X/Instagram, grab merch at toplobsta.com. Questions/bookings: chroniclesnds@gmail.com — Stay dangerous.

A major thank you to Robert for sponsoring today's stream, in it I die deep into the history and persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church during the communist era of the Soviet Union. Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless Join Logos Cinema Here: https://www.logoscinema.com/cotel

In this episode Rachel is joined by her friend Eitan! Eitan tells Rachel his weirdest dating stories! Eitan and Rachel then discuss the importance of being hashkafically compatible when it comes to Jewish dating. Since when did Orthodoxy get so unorthodox? What really defines someone as being Orthodox these days? Does it really need to align for a successful relationship? This is definitely an episode you don't want to miss!Shticky Situations is sponsored by CoronaCrush. To find out more information about CoronaCrush visit their website and coronacrush.co. Also join the CoronaCrush Facebook group and sign up for speed dating events!Remember to like the Shticky Situations page on Facebook, follow @shtickysituationspod on Instagram, and follow @shtickysituationspod on Tiktok! And make sure to join the Shticky Situations Loop Group:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://loopmein.app.link/invite?uuid=7bd5252c-c1ff-47fc-938b-1c319c57354e⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Want to be a guest and hang out with Rachel and discuss your own dating stories? Apply today https://forms.gle/FhwZs74JBTJgGpw8A! Want to try your luck at dating Rachel or any of her guests? Also apply today https://forms.gle/J31HUQ5aYTzjz5Bv6! You can also send an email too shtickysituationspod@gmail.com or DM @shtickysituationspod on Instagram. Serious inquiries only.Shticky Situations is sponsored by Primrose Flower Shoppe! Primrose is located at 2922 Avenue M, Brooklyn, phone number 929-376-9815, and follow them on Instagram @primroseny.

We connect headlines, books, and everyday dating talk to one repeating theme: we blame the world to avoid looking at our own hearts. We argue that Orthodoxy answers secular modern habits by restoring a sacramental view of worship, marriage, and repentance. • praying for peace while discussing the damaged Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv • Metropolitan Saba on secularism shaping prayer, fasting, marriage, and death • challenging materialism and “Western baggage” that flattens spiritual life • Southern Baptist Convention vote on women pastors and how Orthodoxy honors women • A Confederacy of Dunces as a warning about pride without self-examination • why being correct can turn into cruelty without humility and repentance • the marriage and dating crisis as a symptom of Enlightenment rationalism • marriage reduced from covenant to contract and people treated like counterparties • “dating market” language and ROI thinking as a form of dehumanization • Orthodox marriage as martyrdom through crowning, sacrifice, and theosis • comments on worship music, entertainment, and why Orthodox chant feels sacred • latria and the Divine Liturgy as the missing category in many Protestant frameworks Please do leave us a comment down below. As you can see, we may read some of these on air in the future. If you haven't already, give this video a like. Please go check out and subscribe the various channels represented here in this episode. Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/jRXxRaqK9Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.Audio: https://cloudofwitnessesradio.buzzsprout.comPlease leave a comment with your thoughts!

Steven Christoforou joins the pod to talk about Orthobros, internet Orthodoxy, Charles Taylor, cradle ethnic Orthodox, and other Orthodox things.Check out FOCUS https://focusnorthamerica.org/And Steven's page https://stevenchristoforou.substack.com/And follow our Substack https://cracksinpomo.substack.com/

Steven Christoforou joins the pod to talk about Orthobros, internet Orthodoxy, Charles Taylor, cradle ethnic Orthodox, and other Orthodox things.Check out FOCUS https://focusnorthamerica.org/And Steven's page https://stevenchristoforou.substack.com/And follow our Substack https://cracksinpomo.substack.com/

Today countless people, especially the younger generation, are being seduced into Catholicism and Orthodoxy, not realizing they are headed right toward the final system which will enforce obedience. A great part of this deception is the veneration of Mary as the “mother of God” or “queen of heaven” and intercessor for mankind. Today we will look at history and scripture and determine what is actually true about Mary, the mother of Jesus. * 00:00 - Introduction* 09:44 - FACT 1: Mary is dead and waiting to be resurrected* 48:40 - FACT 2: Mary is not interceding for anyone* 1:14:50 - FACT 3: Mary was caused to obey* 1:40:30 - FACT 4: Mary was the mother of Jesus, not of God* 1:59:09 - FACT 5: Mary was not a perpetual virgin * 2:24:48 - FACT 6: Mary needed a Savior* 2:41:03 - FACT 7: Mary was a good role model* 2:46:04 - Final Thoughts This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.danceoflife.com/subscribe

This video is a clip from my stream "Finding the Royal Path: Hyperdoxy, Psychedelics, and Masculinity with Fr. Moses McPherson." If you would like to watch the entire stream please click the following link. https://youtube.com/live/6Ws5nukxAYI

Welcome to the Inverted Orthodoxy Podcast! We're Blake, Kyle, and Doug the pastors from Living Springs, here to take you on a weekly adventure through the twists and turns of faith. Got questions? We've got answers, and sometimes more questions! Join us as we explore, celebrate, and embrace the beautiful complexities of belief. Let's dive in!(2:11 into episode)can you help me with another podcast title? thank you!! 702. April 17- Jesus said, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”' John 20:15–17. It strikes me that Jesus is still half human. Does that automatically make a hierarchy between him and the Father? Is he still answerable and obedient to the Father as we are (or should be)? (33:13 into episode) May 1- When Jesus returns and we get our new bodies and there will be no more pain or tears, what would happen if you jumped off a cliff or in front of a train or something? Assuming laws of nature still apply like gravity then you'd think you'd be Injured but if there's no more pain or tears what do you think would happen?Do you have a question you've been wanting answered? Head on over to our website www.invertedorthodoxy.com to submit a question. You can find us on Wednesdays on Youtube, or wherever you subscribe to podcasts. To learn more about our church, you can visit www.livingspringsairdrie.com

“What divided us from the Orthodox Church?” This question opens a discussion on the historical and theological rifts between Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The episode also addresses which non-Roman rite churches maintain apostolic succession, the validity of Orthodox sacraments despite schism, and how to respond to Eastern Orthodox interpretations of early Church Fathers regarding papal authority. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 02:26 – What originally divided us and the Orthodox Church? 11:00 – Which Churches outside of the Roman rite have apostolic succession and how are they traced? How are orthodox sacraments valid even though they are in schism? 18:23 – How do we respond to EO who use early church fathers on Matthew 16 and Isaiah 22 and claim it’s not about the papacy? 22:54 – What’s the difference between Orthodox Church and orthodox teaching? 28:51 – My brother married a Greek Orthodox woman. Does one have to be baptized in order to remarry there? I'm worried that he might have committed apostasy. 31:47 – Eph. 4 says to walk in unity. This episode is causing disunity by dissing the orthodox. 41:29 – The gates of hell will not prevail. If the Church were to proclaim error, what should the faithful do, go underground, go orthodox or what options would there be? 47:50 – I’m a southern Baptist. John 15 seems to support that the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father. Can you clarify? 51:35 – I recommend William and all his listeners to read the Alexandria document and the Chieti Document.

How we speak about our faith matters. How we describe what we do and do not believe matters. In this summer's sermon series, our pastors will explore different words of faith that come to us from a variety of places—scripture, theology, culture—in hopes that we might broaden our vocabulary and deepen our faith. Support the showContact Village Presbyterian Churchvillagepres.orgcommunications@villagepres.org913-262-4200Have a prayer request?  congregational-care@villagepres.orgFacebook @villagepresInstagram @villagepreschurchYouTube @villagepresbyterianchurchTo join in the mission and ministry of Village Church, go to villagepres.org/givingWe are a Presbyterian (USA) congregation located in the greater Kansas City area. Join us any Sunday for worship at our Mission Campus in Prairie Village at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., or at our Antioch Campus in south Overland Park at 10 a.m. Services are live-streamed at villagepres.org/online and on YouTube.

The movie many are hating on for the wrong reasons!  This is not the movie they think it is.Cloud of Witnesses, Jeremy Jeremiah, James St Simon, Michael, and Mario Andrew, break down the most unforgettable moments from Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and why the homecoming story hits harder when the music, visuals, and symbols keep pointing back to love and loss. We wrestle with the film's biggest moral turn: the fear of an outside enemy flips into the recognition that we might be the problem.• the siren song motif returning at the reunion with Penelope• Odysseus holding on to the pin as a symbol of home• the dog recognizing Odysseus and what that reveals• the claustrophobia and horror of the Trojan horse• Nolan's visual storytelling through light, color, and disorientation• “the people from the sea” as a mirror for self-deception• Nolan's modern guilt theme contrasted with Homer's cosmic order• mythic heroes with clear morality versus modern conflicted heroesQuestions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/jRXxRaqK9Please prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.Audio: https://cloudofwitnessesradio.buzzsprout.comPlease leave a comment with your thoughts!

Job 5: Orthodoxy -vs- Lived Experience.KINGDOM ETHICS PODCASTHosts: David P. Gushee, Jeremy Hallmusic by taketones: Sunsets

What if prayer, fasting, confession, and Holy Communion are not assignments from a strict schoolmaster but the ordinary practices of life in our Father's house? Reflecting on Galatians 3:23–4:5, this homily invites us to see the Christian life as a journey from guardianship to sonship, from preparation to fulfillment, and from obedience to loving communion with God. --- Galatians 3:23-4:5 In today's Epistle, Saint Paul says something that has puzzled Christians for centuries. He tells us that "before faith came, we were kept under guard by the Law." Then he says that "the Law was our tutor"—our guardian—"until Christ came." That naturally raises a question. If Christ had to come, then why did God give the Law in the first place? Was the Law a mistake? Did Christ come to replace what God had already done? Not at all. Saint John Chrysostom says Paul isn't criticizing the Law. He's defending it. The Law accomplished exactly what God intended it to accomplish. The problem wasn't the Law. The problem was thinking that the Law was the destination instead of the journey. Perhaps an example will help. Imagine someone saying, "Elementary school is useless because you can't become a doctor unless you go to medical school." Well, of course you can't. But that doesn't make elementary school a failure. It was never meant to produce physicians. It was meant to teach you to read, to write, to count, to think, so that one day you could become something greater. You don't despise elementary school because you've graduated from it. You honor it because it accomplished exactly what it was designed to do: it prepared you for something greater. That is exactly what Saint Paul is saying. The Law was God's elementary school—or, as Paul says, the guardian who escorted His children until they were ready for Christ. It taught His people who He is. It taught them holiness. It taught them justice. It taught them mercy. It taught them that sin separates us from God. It taught them that sacrifice is necessary. It taught them to long for redemption. Every commandment, every sacrifice, every feast, every priest, every prophet was preparing Israel for Christ. The Law was never the destination. It was preparing God's people for the One who is. That's why Paul calls it a guardian. The Greek word is paidagōgos. It doesn't mean a classroom teacher. It refers to the trusted servant who escorted a child to school, watched over him, corrected him, and protected him until he became an adult. The guardian had an important job. But no loving parent intended for the child to remain under the protection of the guardian forever. The goal was maturity. That is exactly what God was doing with His people. The Law guarded Israel. It preserved them. It protected them from idolatry. It formed them into a people through whom the Messiah would come. And when Christ came, the time of preparation gave way to the time of fulfillment. That is why Paul goes on to say something astonishing. He does not merely say that Christ forgives us. He says that "God sent forth His Son... so that we might receive adoption as sons." Notice how much greater that is. God's purpose was never merely to produce well-behaved servants. His purpose is to raise sons and daughters. He doesn't simply pardon sinners. He adopts us as His children and welcomes us into His household. That is why the Christian life is so much more than rule-keeping. Rules can regulate behavior, but they cannot create love. They can restrain evil, but they cannot heal the heart. Only Christ can do that. Through the Holy Spirit, He writes God's Law upon the heart. Only the life of Christ dwelling within us can make us into the kind of people who naturally love what is good. This is why Orthodoxy speaks so often about salvation – theosis – as a process and a way of life. God's purpose is not simply to forgive sinners. His purpose is to unite us to Christ so completely that we begin to share His life. As Saint Athanasius famously said, "God became man so that man might become god"—not by nature, but by grace. That is what Saint Paul is describing. We are no longer merely subjects obeying a king. We are children living in our Father's house. And that changes how we understand the Christian life. Many people imagine Christianity as an endless list of religious obligations. Pray. Fast. Confess. Attend services. Receive Holy Communion. Read the Scriptures. Give alms. Sometimes it can even feel exhausting. But what if we've misunderstood all of it? What if these are not assignments given by a strict schoolmaster? What if they are the ordinary practices by which children grow into the likeness of their Father? A child becomes part of a family in a single moment. But learning to speak like the family, to think like the family, to love like the family, takes years. So it is with us. The moment we are united to Christ, we truly become God's children. But growing into that reality is the work of a lifetime. As we discussed last week, that is why we return to church week after week. Why we pray the same prayers. Why we fast. Why we confess. Why we receive the Holy Mysteries. Not because we are trying to earn God's love, but because we already have it. These are the ordinary means by which the Holy Spirit forms us into the people God created us to be. Again, little by little, almost without noticing it, our desires begin to change. The sins we once loved begin to lose their attraction. The virtues that once seemed difficult begin to bring joy. We become more patient, more merciful, more truthful, more generous—not simply because we are trying harder or following more rules [even Orthodox rules], but because Christ is living His life within us. But this also comes with a warning. It is possible to remain spiritually immature. It is possible to spend years in the Church and still prefer the security of the guardian to the intimacy of the Father's house; to imagine that God is keeping score instead of raising a family; to measure our faith by checking boxes rather than by growing in love. Saint Paul calls us beyond that. He calls us into maturity. Into sonship. Into freedom—not the freedom to do whatever we please, but the freedom to become what we were created to be. And if we were to keep reading beyond today's Epistle, Paul brings his argument to its beautiful conclusion. He says, "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'" Abba. That is the goal. Not merely that we obey God. Not merely that we fear God. But that, in Christ, we know God as our Father, and by the Holy Spirit we begin to love Him with the very love of the Son Himself. That is the fulfillment toward which the Law was always pointing. That is the life into which Christ has brought us. So let us not become discouraged if the road sometimes seems long or the growth seems slow. No child becomes an adult overnight. Formation takes time. God is patient, and He is faithful. As Saint Paul says elsewhere, "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, let us press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." For this is the good news of today's Epistle. The Law brought God's people to Christ. Christ brings us to the Father. And the Holy Spirit patiently raises us into the mature sons and daughters we were created to become. That is the Christian life—not merely obeying God's commandments from the outside, but gradually becoming the kind of people in whom those commandments are fulfilled by the life of Christ Himself, until we can truly call upon God with confidence and joy, "Abba, Father."

Telling the Story: Part 3 Acts 7:35-53 by William Klock “Made by hand.”  When we see that, it usually means something good, doesn't it?  Someone careful hand crafted this thing.  Carefully stitched it together.  Put care into baking it.  You can probably trust it, because it was well made.  And, of course, it was made with love. But if we went all the way back to ancient Israel, “Made by hand” had a very different meaning and connotation.  For us it (usually) signals something good; for them it signalled idolatry.  “Made by hand” said that this thing was not made by God or that God had not commanded it to be made, but wicked humans made it anyway.  And when it came to things involved in worship, it meant idolatry. This idea has come into our language too.  You'll sometimes hear Christians—usually on the Puritan end of the spectrum—talk about this or that thing in worship or this or that doctrine being “man-made”.  The Puritans called it the “Regulative Principle” and the idea was that everything Christians do in worship should either be something God explicitly commanded (like reading the Bible or singing or preaching) or something that good and necessary consequence demands. We Anglicans follow what's called the “Normative Principle”, which means that we have freedom in our worship, as long as what we do is not forbidden by scripture or goes against biblical principles.  But you'll often hear folks who follow the Regulative Principle say things like, “Your liturgy or your hymns are ‘man-made'” or “Your traditions of using musical instruments or observing Easter, Christmas, and other holy days are ‘man-made'” and by that they mean that they're unbiblical and wrong.  Some would go so far as to call these things “idolatry”. The “RP” isn't our tradition, I think more than anything else in Protestantism it has led to sinful, ungodly, and unwarranted schisms, but I do respect the fact that it grew out of a commitment to take worship very seriously.  People who follow it understand that how we worship God is serious business, not something frivolous.  I think most Christians today err in taking zero care in how they worship God.  But you can't read the New Testament and you certainly can't read the Old Testament without realising that how we worship is serious business.  God takes it seriously and so should we.  I'll come back to this, but keep it in the back of your mind as we work through the end of Stephen's speech. I want to pick up where we left off in Acts 7.  We've been making our way through Stephen's speech before the Sanhedrin—the body of Jewish elders.  He's been accused of blasphemy and of speaking against torah and the temple and Moses.  And instead of defending himself, what he's done is to tell the story of Israel and Israel's God.  He's telling it in a such way that they should—hopefully—see that he's not speaking against any of those things that defined them as Jews.  He's telling the story in such a way that they'll see—hopefully—that the gospel is not a departure from Israel's story, but rather the very culmination of it—the very thing that torah and temple and Moses were pointing toward all along.  And so he began with Abraham and the call of Israel, and then Joseph, and then Moses.  And as he's telling not just the story, but their story, he's highlighting its themes of forgiveness and grace and also that when God acts, when God does new things, it's almost never what anyone expected—but afterward you can always see that, in fact, the signposts had always been pointing to that new thing.  Like I said last week, the figure of Moses towers over the story of Israel and Stephen knew that.  But he also knew, as Moses towered over the story, he did so like a signpost, with his arm outstretched, pointing the people straight to Jesus.  He knew, you can't use Moses to argue against the gospel. So let's pick up at Acts 7:35 where we left off. [Page 1087 in the pew Bibles, way down in the very bottom right corner of the page.] “So,” Stephen continued, “this same Moses—the one they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler or judge?'—this is the man God sent as ruler and redeemer, by the hand of the angel who had appeared to him in the bush.  He did signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and led them out, through the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.  This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers.'  And this is the one who was in the assembly in the desert with the angel who had spoken to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to give to us.” Stephen's continuing the story of Moses he began in last week's text.  Moses was rejected by his own people—at least at first.  And there was nothing controversial in telling this part of the story.  And there's nothing controversial in his reminding the Sanhedrin that despite that early rejection, Moses was indeed the ruler and redeemer the Lord had sent to his people.  Moses did signs and wonders in both Egypt and in the wilderness.  He's the one who parted the Red Sea.  He's the one who met God on the mountain and came down with God's living words, with the torah and with the instructions for the tabernacle.  And—Stephen makes a really important point here—Moses was also the one who told the Israelites that he was not the end-all-be-all of rulers, redeemers, or messiahs, because one day the Lord would raise up a “prophet” from amongst them—a prophet in comparison to whom Moses would pale. The Sanhedrin knew he was talking about Jesus.  The people had already suspect that Jesus was this greater prophet whom Moses had prophesied.  More than once he was asked, “Are you the prophet who is to come?”  So Stephen's making it clear, just as Moses had been rejected by the Israelites of his day, so Jesus was rejected by the Israelites of his.  We've touched on this last week. But now Stephen takes it a step further.  Look at verse 39.  It's not just that Moses was rejected by his people in the days before he was actually called by God.  The more embarrassing thing for Israel was that they'd rejected Moses after he'd been called, after they'd been through the Red Sea, after they'd seen the signs and wonders and had the torah and the tabernacle.  Stephen goes on: “This is the one whom our fathers had not wanted to obey, but instead rejected him and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, by saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us; for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt—we don't know what has become of him!'  They made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice to an idol. They celebrated things their own hands had made.” Remember what happened in Exodus?  Moses went up the mountain to meet God.  And he was up there for forty days and nights receiving the law.  And the people became afraid.  They thought that Moses surely must have died on the mountain, so they gave Aaron their gold and implored him to make a golden calf, an idol, so that they could have a god who would protect them.  It was a shameful moment for Israel.  They'd just received the Ten Commandments.  They'd just been told by God: You shall have no other gods.  You shall not make a carved image.  And Moses had asked them, “Will you do all these things?  Will you give yourself to the worship and service of the God of your fathers, the God who has saved you from Egypt?  The God who has decalared, ‘I will be your God and you will be my people?”  And the people had enthusiastically declared, “We will!  All this we will do!”  And just days later, they didn't. As eating the forbidden fruit was the primal sin of the human race, idolatry was the primal sin of Israel: worshipping something as if it were God when it wasn't.  Aaron had tried to explain to Moses that he'd merely thrown the gold into the fire and that the calf had formed and jumped out of its own accord, but everyone knew that's not how it works.  Idols are made by human hands and the prophets drove that point home over and over down through Israel's history.  To worship an idol was absurd.  The pagans were fools for doing so.  First, you create a god with your own hands and then you worship it.  “How stupid is that?” the prophets asked.  And yet the golden calf wasn't the last time Israel would worship an idol.  That primal sin came back over and over and over.  When Jeroboam rebelled and led ten of the tribes of Israel to form their own nation, he set up two golden calves, one at Bethel and one at Dan to discourage his people from going to the temple in Jerusalem.  No matter how devoutly Israel worshipped the Lord, idolatry was never far off.   Look at verse 42: “Then God turned and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it stands written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring sacrifices and offerings to me in those forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?  You took up the tent of Moloch, and the star of your god Rhephan, the carved images you made to worship! I will remove you beyond Babylon!'” Stephen quotes Amos 5.  Even during Israel's honeymoon period with the Lord, Amos condemned them.  Even then, while they brought their sacrifices to the Lord, they were worshiping pagan gods like Moloch and Rhephan and all the “host of heaven”. So the Jewish priests and rulers have charged Stephen with blasphemy and now he turns the tables.  He never actually defends himself.  Instead, he retells the story of Israel from the beginning and shows how it leads straight to Jesus and now, again, he turns the tables on them.  He accuses them of the very thing they've charged him with.  Just as Israel had rejected Moses, so Israel's priests and rulers have rejected Jesus.  And—since their most significant charge seems to have been that he was speaking against the temple—and that was precisely the same charge on which Jesus was arrested and crucified—Stephen makes his second point or his second charge against them.  Verse 44: “Our ancestors had the ‘tent of meeting' in the desert. [That's another name for the tabernacle.] God had commanded Moses to make it according to the pattern which he had seen.  Our ancestors in their turn brought it in when, with Joshua, [meaning they brought it with them into Canaan, the promised land] they dispossessed the nations whom God drove out before our ancestors, and it was there until the time of David.  David found favour with God, and requested permission to establish a Tabernacle for the house of Jacob.  But it was Solomon who built him a house. [Stephen is referring to the permanent temple in Jerusalem.]  Now his key point: “The Most High, however, does not live in shrines made by human hands. The prophet put it like this: ‘Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool! What sort of house will you build me, says the Lord, Or what place will you give me to rest in?  My own hand made all these, did it not?' Yes, David planned the temple.  Solomon built it with the Lord's blessing.  But Stephen quotes Isaiah 66.  The Prophet Isaiah had rebuked the people using the very words that Solomon had prayed at the dedication of the temple.  It is God who has made all things.  The idea that human beings can make anything—even the temple—that can contain God, well, that's the real blasphemy.  Solomon knew that with this glorious temple on the mountain top, that with God's presence manifest in a cloud of glory, that Israel—always prone to idolatry—would start to think that they had God in a box—to put as we might put it.  Solomon warned them.  Isaiah warned them.  And now Stephen is pointing his finger at the Sanhedrin and is saying, “When Jesus said he'd tear this building down and rebuild it in three days, he wasn't blaspheming it.  When I said that this is precisely what Jesus has done and when I say that Jesus has, indeed, built a new temple by purifying a new people and filling them with God's own Spirit, I'm not the one blaspheming the temple.  No!  You're the one's blaspheming God!  You think you've got God in a box.  You're thinking like the pagans.  You've gone back to our people's primal sin!  Heaven is God's throne and earth his footstool.  The entire cosmos he's made cannot contain him.  What fools you are to think your puny temple can contain him!  The temple was the signpost pointing the way to what God's done in Jesus and the Spirit.  It was the signpost telling us all along that God's plan was one day to enter this world as one of us, as the Righteous One, so that he could rescue us—from sin, from death, from the idolatry that has plagued us from the beginning—by filling us with his Spirit and turning our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.  By filling his people, not so we can guard it a box of stone, but so we can carry his presence to the ends of the earth.  But just like our ancestors, you refused God's redeemer because you couldn't let go of your building, your box made by hands.” You can almost imagine Stephen standing there in front of the Sanhedrin and with him stand Moses and Isaiah and Amos and all the other prophets nodding at his words.  He closes his speech in verses 51-53: “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are uncircumcised! You always resist the holy spirit, just as your ancestors did before you!  Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? And you killed those who announced in advance the coming of the Righteous One—and now you have betrayed him and murdered him.  You received the law at the command of angels, but you didn't keep it!” They were the people God had chosen to steward his glory.  They were the keepers of the great story of God and his redemptive plan.  They, of all people, should have known better, but when the story came to its climax, they refused to listen.  They'd stried to slam the book shut.  It's not just that they rejected the Messiah and handed him over to the pagan Romans to be crucified.  Stephen's point is that they were doing what idolatrous Isreal had always done.  Even though the kind of obvious idolatry that had got them exiled to Babylon had been rooted out since their return to Judaea, they were still at heart idolators.  As Stephen recounts the story of Israel, what we find is that it's not just a story of redemption.  It's also a story of rebellion that reminds us how desperately humanity needs God's redemption.  Even the people with the law and the temple, even the people with Moses and the Prophets suffered from the same rebellious attitude that infects the human race.  As Calvin once put it, the rebellious human heart is a factory of idols.  We can take even the good things of God and turn them into idols as the Jews had done. Stephen takes the high ground.  He stands with Abraham and  Moses, with Solomon and David, with Isaiah and Amos.  The Sanhedrin, for all their moral posturing and charges of blasphemy, Stephen opens the book they'd slammed shut and shows that in reality they stand with Joseph's wicked brothers, with the Israelites who rejected Moses, with the Israelites who had given their gold to Aaron to cast a golden calf, with Jeroboam and all the others who had set up idols throughout the land.  The temple was good, but it was made with hands.  God had promised through the Prophets that one day he would make another, a better temple—and it would be better precisely because it wasn't made by human hands. Brothers and Sisters, that's us.  And as I was thinking and meditating on this over the last few weeks, I was wondering what this means for us.  I think the biggest takeaway from Stephen's speech—at least this part of it—is simply to hear him proclaim the glory of the God who has become present with us in Jesus, the Righteous One.  Jesus has, like a greater Moses, delivered us from our bondage to sin and death.  I don't think it's likely that we're going to end up like the Sanhedrin, rejecting Jesus and the Spirit in favour of the temple and the torah. But, I do think there's a warning here, even if it's a little oblique.  Brothers and Sisters, it can be very easy for us to make idols out of otherwise good—and even essential—things.  In an age of apostasy—and especially for those of us who came out of the battles for orthodoxy within Anglicanism, it can be very easy to make an idol of our theology and of our orthodoxy.  We can make idols of the traditional Prayer Book, of the old hymnals, of our classical Protestant worship.  Good things.  Orthodoxy—right doctrine, right theology, right understanding of God and of ourselves—is absolutely essential.  But Brothers and Sisters, none of these things stand in place of Jesus; none of them stands in the place of the Spirit; none of them stands in place of the Triune God.  None of them ought to undermine the unity that Jesus and the Spirit have given us with other believers.  Bp. Cummins understood this and it's why the Reformed Episcopal Church exists: because Bp. Cummins knew that Christian unity is rooted not in bishops or in sacraments, but in Jesus the Messiah.  It's good to be right in our doctrine and practise.  We should take theology and worship seriously, but we should also be humble about them.  We should acknowledge that despite our best efforts, none of us will ever—at least not this side of eternity—have a perfect theology or perfect worship.  And we ought always to guard against pride, because being proud in our imperfect theologies and imperfect worship inevitably causes us to treat them as idols.  We lose our focus on Jesus.  And no matter how right we may be, we lose our witness and cease to give glory to God. So let Stephen be a reminder to us to keep Jesus at the centre of our being and of our life together, at the centre of our church.  Let our good doctrine and our good worship be the things that keep him there.  But let him always be our God, let him always be the one we worship and glorify.  And, I think, if are faithful in that, we will be faithful in giving glory, not to ourselves, not to our theology, not to our Prayer Book, not to anything made with hands, but to the God of glory. Let's pray: God of glory, as we hear your word, as we learn the story of redemption, teach us to see and to keep Jesus, the Righteous One, always at its centre.  Give us the grace and wisdom necessary for sound doctrine and worship, not that we be “right”, but that we might always keep Jesus at the centre of our life together, that we might worship you and faithfully make your glory known to the ends of the earth.  Amen.

Zalman Newfield joins Abigail Pogrebin to discuss "Brooklyn Odyssey," his poignant memoir of growing up in the Chabad-Lubavitch community, questioning faith, and forging an identity beyond Orthodoxy.

#Logos #Orthodoxy #Christianity In this stream I discuss the popular argument going around social media and among a few academics such as John Marco Alegro arguing that Christianity is in origin a fertility cult that mythologized Jesus Christ from the ancient inebriating rituals surrounding psychedelic mushroom use. When placed into historical context, I argue that all the visual evidence for this theory fails to have significant merit and may very well been part of a esoteric gnostic ritual. Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless

Mother answers questions on:  how to speak about Catholicism and Church teaching to non-Catholic family members;  whether the Mass in English is a problem;  homeschooling vs. Catholic schools;  Eucharistic Ministers;  the "superiority" of Catholicism;  the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit;  learning Latin for the Mass;  and Orthodoxy vs. Catholicism   Recommended links from Mother: https://latinliturgy.com/index.html https://www.baronius.com/fundamentals-of-catholic-dogma.html https://dn721805.ca.archive.org/0/items/AssortedCatholicBooks/Fundamentals_of_Catholic_Dogma_Ludwig_Ott_text.pdf

#Logos #Orthodoxy #Christianity In this stream I am joined by Dr. Daniel Cantey to discuss the historical and philosophical problems of Reformed theology that apologist like Gavin Ortland fail to fully recognize. Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless

What happens when Orthodox Christians stop simply criticizing culture and start creating it? In this episode, Buck chats with his good friend Mano Elia—host of the Study of Stuff Podcast, founder of Spoon Records, and one of the driving forces behind the Bored No More movement—to discuss what it means to reclaim culture by creating art, music, film, and authentic community centered on Christ and His Church. Mano shares the vision behind Bored No More, a growing network of Orthodox Christian creators dedicated to producing meaningful media, cultivating community, and encouraging artists to create work rooted in Christ. He also discusses Bored No More's partnership with Logos Cinema, where the network's growing catalog of content will soon be available alongside a broader streaming platform devoted to faith-centered films and entertainment. Rather than merely reacting to a culture in decline, Mano challenges Orthodox Christians to what he calls "inverting the inversion"—reclaiming the very spaces that have been distorted and restoring them to the service of God. Buck and Mano also discuss the spiritual condition of Canada, the growing sense of isolation and nihilism they see throughout the country, the expansion of medically assisted suicide, and what these trends reveal about a society that has lost hope. They also explore the blessings and pitfalls of online Orthodoxy, why internet debates should never replace life in the parish, and why our hardworking priests deserve far more grace and gratitude than criticism. Topics include: * What "inverting the inversion" really means * Why Orthodox Christians should create culture instead of merely critique it * The vision behind the Bored No More movement * Bored No More's partnership with Logos Cinema * Spoon Records and cultivating meaningful music * Canada's growing spiritual crisis * Loneliness, nihilism, and medically assisted suicide * The strengths and weaknesses of online Orthodoxy * Why faithful parish life matters more than internet arguments * Showing grace and appreciation for our priests Learn more about Mano's work: Bored No More Community Support the mission Bored No More Study of Stuff Podcast (YouTube) Study of Stuff on Instagram Logos Cinema Sponsor: Donate to the show here: https://www.patreon.com/counterflow  Podsworth App: https://podsworth.com  Code: BUCK50 for HALF off your first order! Clean up your recordings, sound like a pro, and support the Counterflow Podcast! Full Ad Read BEFORE processing: https://youtu.be/F4ljjtR5QfA  Full Ad Read AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/J6trRTgmpwE Visit my website: https://www.counterflowpodcast.com  Audio Production by Podsworth Media: https://www.podsworth.com  Leave us a review and rating on Apple Podcasts! Thanks!

Deplatforming is real. So two Orthodox filmmakers built their own infrastructure: “an Orthodox Netflix” designed to outlast trends and serve truth, goodness, and beauty. You can feel it the moment you walk into an Orthodox church: beauty isn't decoration, it's a doorway. That's the thread we pull with Logos Cinema (https://www.logoscinema.com/) founders Zachary Delaney and Andrew Stokich as they explain why they're building what many are calling “an Orthodox Netflix” and why it has to be more than a content library.• Beauty as a window into the divine through moving images• Why simple stories can carry the deepest Orthodox meaning• The hero's journey as a pattern that resonates with the Gospel and the lives of the saints• How COVID-era cultural pressure and distribution dead-ends sparked Logos Cinema• Orthodox phronema on screen, from saint stories to everyday sacrificial love• A convert filmmaker's struggle with “in the world, not of it” and the parable of the talents• Building independent infrastructure in response to censorship and demonetization• The bigger vision: networking creators, an Orthodox economy, and expanding beyond videoJeremy Jeremiah talks with Logos Cinema about icons as stories that are written, and how filmmaking can become “moving iconography,” a window into the divine without turning into preachy, low-quality Christian media. From Dostoyevsky's line “beauty will save the world” to the hero's journey that shows up across cultures, we explore why the most powerful films often plant a seed and let God do the slow work in the heart. Along the way, we get concrete: how distribution questions kill promising projects, why great films can still go unseen, and what it means to build a platform that can actually support Orthodox Christian filmmakers.Then we go deeper into the realities of the modern internet: demonetization, deplatforming, and the risk of building your creative life on platforms you don't control. Logos Cinema is aiming for independent infrastructure, global reach, and a growing Orthodox economy that supports creators and Orthodox-run businesses, while still refusing to become an echo chamber. We also dig into their curation criteria, including a priest advisory board and the careful, nuanced line between mature storytelling and spiritually harmful content.Can a streaming subscription become a counterculture act? Logos Cinema says yes: support creators, grow an Orthodox economy, and connect artists worldwide.If you care about Orthodox storytelling, faith and culture, and a serious future for Orthodox films, podcasts, and media, hit subscribe, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it.Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdhPlease prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.Audio: https://cloudofwitnessesradio.buzzsprout.comPlease leave a comment with your thoughts!

An Eastern Orthodox caller asks, “On what standard do you say Orthodoxy is false?” Joel Settecase turns the authority question back around, pressing whether councils, synods, Church Fathers, and tradition can define their own limits. This intense theology and apologetics exchange ends with a clear Gospel presentation: salvation by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone, according to the Bible alone.===================================================Download your free apologetics guide here: https://thethink.institute/store/p/transcendental-argument-for-god-tag-cheat-sheet-downloadable-pdf Men: Want to become the worldview leader your family and church need? Join the Hammer & Anvil Society. We provide in-depth education and community for Christian men: https://thethink.institute/society===========================================================Think Debates is a ministry of the Think Institute, NFP. We rely on the generous support of our Ministry Partners to pursue our mission. Your financial contributions help equip Christian fathers and their families with the education, resources and community needed to stand firm on God's word in today's challenging climate. Thank you for your help in preparing thousands of regular believers to explain, share and defend the Christian message all over the world.The Think Institute, NFP is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN: 88-3225438). Donations to The Think Institute are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.Donate now: https://thethink.institute/partner

Another dive into embracing the void by Richard Boothby. In this episode, Jay explores the complex relationship between faith, belief, and orthodoxy, drawing on philosophical and theological insights from Boothby, Lacan, and others. The discussion challenges traditional views and encourages a more inclusive, love-centered approach to spirituality.revolutionchurch.cominstagram.com/revolutionchurch94x.com/Revolution_199www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcastinghttps://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Evangelism 101, Fr. Matthias Shehad explores the calling of Levi (Matthew the Evangelist) and the essential qualities of evangelism in the Church. He highlights how Levi's immediate response to Christ's invitation to “follow me” and his willingness to leave behind his old life demonstrate the true spirit of an evangelist. Fr. Matthias discusses the challenges of sharing faith, including the necessity of prioritizing others' salvation over personal comfort, the importance of loving and respecting people, and the patience required in nurturing faith. Fr. Matthias also addresses the mindset differences between Pharisees and Christ's approach to sinners, emphasizing that evangelism involves inviting others to “come and see” rather than judging them. He shares practical habits crucial for effective evangelism such as believing in Orthodoxy's truth, understanding human nature, clear communication, humility, and joyful living. This teaching encourages believers to embody these principles as they share the message of hope and salvation. #Evangelism #ChristianDiscipleship #MatthewTheEvangelist #OrthodoxFaith #SharingTheGospel #ChristianLife #StPaulHouston #Coptic #FrMatthias Subscribe to us on YouTube https://youtube.com/stpaulhouston Like us on Facebook https://facebook.com/saintpaulhouston Follow us on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/stpaulhouston Follow us on Instagram https://instagram.com/stpaulhouston Visit our website for schedules and to join the mailing list https://stpaulhouston.org

The Christian life can seem difficult at first, but Christ does more than command holiness—He heals the heart. Reflecting on St. John Chrysostom's homily on Matthew 5, this sermon shows how the Holy Spirit gradually reshapes our desires so that virtue becomes joyful and love becomes natural. Christ fulfills the Law not only in Himself but also, by His grace, in us.  Enjoy the show! --- The Sunday of the Fourth Ecumenical Council Matthew 5:14-19; Titus 3:8-15 In today's Gospel, our Lord says something that must have surprised His listeners. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them." Now, at first glance, that almost seems unnecessary. Nobody listening to the Beatitudes would naturally conclude that Jesus was attacking Moses. After all, He had been teaching humility, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, and love. Nothing about that sounds like rebellion against God's Law. So why does He stop to say this? Saint John Chrysostom says it is because Jesus knows what He is about to do. He's about to say things that sound startling. "You have heard it said, 'Do not murder.' But I say to you, do not even harbor hatred." "You have heard it said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I say to you, do not even cultivate lust." He isn't lowering the standard. He's raising it. The people might naturally think, "Wait a minute. Is He replacing Moses? Is He setting aside everything God gave us?" So before He says another word, He reassures them. "I have not come to abolish. I have come to fulfill." That word fulfill is important. Christ doesn't erase the Law. He reveals and connects us with what it was always pointing toward. The commandment against murder was never just about keeping blood off your hands. It was always meant to teach us to love our neighbor. Christ simply carries it all the way into the heart. The commandment against adultery was never merely about outward behavior. It was always about purity of heart and faithfulness. Christ carries it into our thoughts, our desires, our imagination. Every commandment moves in the same direction—from external obedience toward inward transformation. That's what fulfillment means. Saint John Chrysostom points out something else that is beautiful. Christ fulfills the Law in three ways. First, He fulfills it Himself. He alone keeps it perfectly. He can honestly ask, "Which one of you convicts Me of sin?" Every commandment finds its perfect expression in Him. Second, He fulfills the prophecies. Everything the prophets had spoken—His birth, His ministry, His suffering, His kingdom—comes true in Him. But then Chrysostom gives a third fulfillment, and I think this is the one we often forget. Christ fulfills the Law in us. And that was necessary, because the Law could teach righteousness, but it could not communicate the life by which righteousness is fulfilled. The Law could show us the good. It could expose our failures. But it could not heal the heart. Christ does what the Law by itself could never do. Through His death, resurrection, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, He actually begins making us into the kind of people the Law always envisioned.   Not merely people who avoid murder... but people who love. Not merely people who avoid adultery... but people who become pure. Not merely people who tell the truth... but people whose whole lives become truthful. That's why Christianity isn't about lowering expectations. Neither is it about adding more rules. It's about becoming a new creation. This is why Orthodoxy speaks so much about theosis. God's purpose is not simply to forgive sinners, but to make them partakers of the divine life.God is not merely interested in better behavior. He is forming saints. The commandments are not arbitrary rules meant to restrict life. They are a portrait of fully human life—life as it looks when it is filled with the life of God. So when Christ says, "You have heard... but I say to you..." He is not correcting Moses. He is revealing the deepest meaning Moses had been pointing toward all along. And there is one more thing that Saint John Chrysostom says that I find deeply encouraging. He reminds us that at first the Christian life can seem difficult. Forgiveness feels hard. Patience feels unnatural. Humility feels costly. We imagine that holiness means spending our whole lives forcing ourselves to do things we don't really want to do. But that's only true at the beginning. As Christ heals the heart, He also heals our desires. The things that once seemed impossible slowly become natural. The sins that once looked attractive begin to lose their appeal. The virtues that once felt burdensome become a source of joy. That is what spiritual formation is. God is not simply teaching us to behave differently. He is teaching us to love differently. That is why we return to the Church week after week. Why we pray the same prayers. Why we fast. Why we confess. Why we receive the Holy Mysteries. These are not religious chores. They are the ordinary means by which the Holy Spirit reshapes the heart. Little by little, almost without noticing it, Christ is teaching us to desire what He desires and to love what He loves.  The [lost] likeness is gradually restored. But that encouragement also comes with a warning: It's possible to keep the rules while missing their purpose. The Pharisees became experts at outward observance while neglecting mercy, humility, forgiveness, and love. That temptation hasn't disappeared.   It's possible to be outwardly Orthodox—to fast, attend services, know the prayers, defend the faith—and still carry resentment, pride, envy, or contempt in the heart. Christ loves us too much to let us settle for appearances. He always leads us deeper. From actions... to desires. From behavior... to character. From keeping commandments... to becoming people who naturally love what is good. So let us not become discouraged if the road sometimes seems steep. Let us simply keep taking the next faithful step. As Saint Paul says, "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, let us press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." That is the Christian life—not perfection overnight, but faithful formation day after day, until the commandments are no longer something imposed upon us from the outside, but fulfilled within us by Christ Himself. That is what He came to do—not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, in Himself, and by His grace, in us. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In this stream I am joined by Fr. Michael Marcantoni to discuss the spiritual dangers of modern America and how both men and women should try spiritually navigate it. Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless

00:00 Introduction02:25 St Ireneaus, Against Heresies08:58 Apostolic Succession is about preservation of revelation11:35 Apostolic Succession is NOT merely genealogy17:58 Preservation of revelation is about rightly dividing the word of truth20:39 Bishops reject heresy, not compromise for the appearance of unity25:26 The Founding Fathers, The 30 Years War & the rise of civil religion31:34 The Bad Reasons to Enter (or Avoid) Orthodoxy39:24 Do Not Despise The Tradition Which Raised You46:12 If You Entered Orthodoxy for Bad Reasons, Stay & Grow & Be Corrected!51:25 Religion Is Not a Part of Life, It Is a Way of Life53:49 The French Revolution Was About Displacing Christianity in Society57:06 To Understand What The Church Is, You Have to Go All the Way Back~~~What the Apostolic Fathers Believe About the ChurchApostolic SuccessionS8E5~~~In this episode, Fr. Symeon Kees & James John Marks discuss the writings of St. Irenaeus of Lyon, the historical claim of the Orthodox Church, and how the theological foundations of the West inform how we think about religion as a whole. ~~~Reference materials for this episode: Against Heresies by St Ireneaus - Book III, chapter 3, section 4 - succession of St Polycarp - https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htmThe Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (in English) - The priest's prayer for the bishop during The Anaphora~~~Subscribe for more conversations on Orthodoxy, theology, Church history, the lives of the Saints, and practical Christian living.~~~#orthodoxchristianity  #OrthodoxChurch #ApostolicSuccession #ChurchHistory #ChurchFathers #theology The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion. Our hosts are Father Symeon Kees of Iowa City & James John Marks of Chicago.Paradosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://x.com/podcast_saintshttps://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcasthttps://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcasthttps://bsky.app/profile/xtiansaintspodcast.bsky.socialIconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these imagesPrints of all of Nick's work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.comAll music in these episodes is a production of Generative Soundshttps://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.comDistribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative SoundsCopyright 2021 - 2026

This video is a clip from this stream below: https://www.youtube.com/live/3AEZwJIJ61w?is=JoFMAbrnfDFHve7b

The Authority Crisis Inside Christianity: If the Bible Is the Answer... Who Interprets It?Who decides?“Jesus is Lord + baptized in the Spirit = you're set.” Sounds simple… but who gets to define those words? We dig into authority, sola scriptura, and why interpretation without a Church fractures faith. Listen and tell us: who's your authority?Authority shapes everything, from how we read the Bible to how we treat the people sitting next to us in church. We start with a blunt comment that tries to shrink Christianity into a simple checklist and then ask the question most people skip: by what authority can anyone define the faith that way, and who gets to decide what those words mean?• Mount Sinai and St. Catherine's Monastery land dispute and why it matters to Christians• SSPX excommunication story and what it reveals about papal authority• Parish Life Conference takeaways and how shared worship strengthens unity• Responding to a comment that reduces salvation to a simple formula• Sola scriptura in practice and how interpretation often becomes self-authority• What “baptized in the Holy Spirit” means across denominations and why definitions diverge• Why the New Testament calls for lived obedience, not just verbal profession• Protestants bringing Protestant assumptions into Orthodoxy and why we must leave them at the door• Orthodoxy as lived faith versus Christianity as an academic subject• Book of the week: A Tale Of Two Cities and how cruel authority breeds violence• Authority as service, responsibility, and burden rather than privilege• The cloud of witnesses, inherited wisdom, and the problem of American individualism• Listener stories from Hebrew Roots, synagogue searching, tongues, and finding rooted worshipFrom there we get practical about the authority problem inside modern Christianity. If “the Bible alone” is the final authority, who is the final interpreter? We talk about how sola scriptura often slides into self-authority, why Protestantism can't easily speak with one voice about baptism, salvation, or essentials, and how rhetoric can masquerade as certainty. Against that backdrop, we explain the Eastern Orthodox view of authority as inherited life: Scripture read in the Church, sacred tradition, the teaching of the apostles and fathers, the ecumenical councils, and the sacramental reality that trains us to forgive, repent, pray, and endure.Authority isn't privilege, it's burden. From Mount Sinai's ancient monastery to Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities, we trace what happens when leaders serve vs dominate.We also zoom out to real examples. We cover updates on St. Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai and why protecting ancient Christian institutions matters. We touch on Roman Catholic controversy around the SSPX as another case study in competing claims of authority. Then we bring it home with a powerful reflection on A Tale Of Two Cities, where cruel authority produces violence, while true authority looks like sacrifice, service, and responsibility. Along the way, listener comments add hope-filled stories of people moving from Hebrew Roots and Pentecostal backgrounds toward Orthodoxy because they're hungry for historical rootedness and worship that feels alive.What if “tradition” isn't worshiping ashes, but preserving fire? We talk Orthodox authority, humility, the cloud of witnesses, and why individualism isolates believers from 2,000 years of wisdom.If this conversation helped you rethink authority, share it with a friend who's asking similar questions, subscribe for more, and leave a review so more people can find the show.Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdhPlease prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

Before becoming Orthodox, Erika MacDougall spent years immersed in the occult. She practiced theistic Satanism, participated in blood rituals, worked with ritual magic, and was even paid to place curses on others. What promised power, hidden knowledge, and spiritual enlightenment ultimately led to bondage, fear, and despair. In this episode, Erika shares her remarkable journey to Christ and the Orthodox Church while exploring the deeper spiritual realities behind the modern resurgence of occult practices. Together we discuss astrology, tarot, manifestation, yoga, spiritual warfare, beauty, motherhood, repentance, and why so many people today are searching for transcendence everywhere except the Church. We also explore why evil cannot create—only imitate and invert—and why Orthodoxy offers the fullness of truth, beauty, healing, and freedom found in Jesus Christ. In This Episode: * Erika's journey from the occult to Orthodoxy * Blood rituals, ritual magic, and placing curses * Astrology, tarot, manifestation, yoga, and modern spirituality * Spiritual warfare and discernment * Beauty, icons, and the Orthodox vision of creation * The body, motherhood, and authentic healing * Repentance, forgiveness, and finding freedom in Christ Learn More About Erika: Shire Skincare creates handcrafted products inspired by a Christian vision of beauty, creation, and caring for the body. Explore Erika's skincare line, articles, and resources at shireskincare.com. If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, leave a rating and review, and share this episode with someone searching for truth, beauty, and the Orthodox faith.  Donate to the show here: https://www.patreon.com/counterflow Sponsors: Thea's Orthodox Young Adult Formation Conference: https://thetemplesteps.com Podsworth App: https://podsworth.com  Code: BUCK50 for HALF off your first order! Clean up your recordings, sound like a pro, and support the Counterflow Podcast! Full Ad Read BEFORE processing: https://youtu.be/F4ljjtR5QfA  Full Ad Read AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/J6trRTgmpwE Visit my website: https://www.counterflowpodcast.com  Leave us a review and rating on Apple Podcasts! Thanks!

In the long history of the Orthodox Church, Orthodoxy in the West is relatively young. Yet, there are important truths that can be learned from the struggle to plant, maintain, and grow Orthodoxy in Western lands. Fr. Tom unpacks these important reminders. Music attribution: New Vision (Classical) - PineAppleMusic Distributed by Pixabay Link: https://pixabay.com/music/modern-clas...

In this stream I discuss the latest news regarding WW3 prophecies and How they relate to the growing tensions in the Iran War, Russian and Ukraine, Israeli's taking over Argentina, the death of Lindsay Graham, and more! Make sure to check it out and let me know what you think. God bless

Most Christians Misunderstand Spiritual WarfareTarot, “spiritual but not religious,” self-medication, therapy culture. Why are people chasing spiritual answers everywhere except the Church? We dig into the hunger underneath it all.Spiritual warfare gets weird fast if we only talk about the most extreme cases. We wanted to bring it back to real life: the battle you feel in temptation, shame, anxiety, isolation, and that quiet voice that says, “You are on your own.” From our new studio setup, we (Jeremy Jeremiah, Michael, James St. Simon, and Mario Andrew on keys) dig into what spiritual warfare meant to us as Protestants and how that understanding changed after becoming Orthodox Christians.• Protestant instincts toward “just pray and read” when suffering persists• Orthodoxy framing spiritual warfare through theosis and holiness• Fasting as training that pushes us into the arena• Demonic influence showing up in ordinary temptations and discouragement• Psychology and therapy having a place without replacing spiritual diagnosis• Confession, spiritual fatherhood, Eucharist, almsgiving as practical remedies• Isolation as a tactic that makes addiction and shame worse• Secular culture offering self-medication and “you can do it alone” narratives• Occult and “spiritual but not religious” as substitutes for Christian spirituality• Love as action and the Church as the place we experience Christ's careWe keep coming back to the Orthodox framework of theosis, union with Christ, where the goal is not just “surviving attacks” but moving toward holiness with the support of the Church. We talk about why fasting can feel like stepping into an arena, how confession and a spiritual father break the trap of isolation, and why the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, aren't symbolism but medicine for the soul and body. We also wrestle with the everyday nature of the fight: habits, intrusive thoughts, passions, and the moments where it gets hardest exactly when you try to be faithful.Ever notice fasting gets hardest when you try to be faithful? We talk theosis, confession, Eucharist, and why you are not meant to “white-knuckle” your way through spiritual warfare.We also look outward at modern replacements for spiritual care: therapy culture, self-medication, pharmacies on every corner, and the promise that you can fix yourself alone. Then we connect that to the rise of tarot and “spiritual but not religious,” including the backlash when a tarot creator turns to Christ. People are hungry for the spiritual, and we believe the Church actually has what many are searching for, but it comes with a cost: love expressed in action.Spiritual warfare is not just Hollywood exorcisms. What if the real battle is isolation, temptation, and despair, and the Church gives actual tools to fight?Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review if it helps you, then tell us: where do you see the real front lines of spiritual warfare today?Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdhPlease prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

In this stream I discuss the tragic downfall of Connor Murphy who just died at the age of 32 in in Thailand. I document his rise to fame as a fitness influencer, to his use of psychedelics and the following psychosis, to his latest goals as a looks living in Thailand. Lets this video be a warning to all about psychedelics and the realities of spiritual warfare. Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless

Her dad died by suicide when she was 9 and it rewired everything. Years later, a hunger for truth pulled her from non-denominational church to Hebrew Roots, then to Orthodox liturgy.A faith crisis rarely starts with an abstract argument. Sometimes it starts with a funeral, a silent house, and a kid trying to understand why a father is suddenly gone. Our guest Taylor Biss (Voice of Taylor on Instagram) joins Jeremy Jeremiah of Cloud of Witnesses from Australia to share the story that shaped her: losing her Catholic father to suicide at nine years old, growing up detached, and carrying questions about grief, isolation, and what God does with the brokenhearted.• childhood trauma after a parent's suicide and the loneliness that follows• wrestling with fears about eternity and learning to trust God's compassion• a decisive encounter with prayer and a message about God's heart for daughters• being discipled by older women and learning the basics of Christian faith• tensions in non-denominational church life when serious Bible questions arise• why Hebrew Roots feels solid at first through Torah, Sabbath, and festivals• the movement's internal chaos, sacred name confusion, and anti-divinity claims about Jesus• a 2020 Israel trip exposing racism and excuses framed as “bloodline” privilege• leaving Hebrew Roots, resisting New Age drift, and seeking reverent worship• stepping into Orthodox Christianity and returning to weekly liturgy with her childrenTaylor walks us through the moment everything changed at seventeen when she finally said yes to church and encountered Christ through prayer and a message about God's heart toward daughters. We talk about discipleship, older women stepping in with real spiritual care, and how discovering the Father's love can heal places you didn't even know were starving. From there, the conversation turns to something many listeners will recognize: reading the Bible deeply, asking sincere questions, and realizing the non-denominational model often cannot answer with consistency or depth.That hunger for truth leads Taylor into the Hebrew Roots movement, Torah-keeping, Sabbath practices, and biblical festivals that feel “original” at first, until the cracks show up: endless private interpretations, sacred name confusion that wrecks prayer, and even teaching that denies the divinity of Jesus. A trip to Israel in 2020 becomes a major turning point as she sees racism and spiritual double standards up close. When she finally steps away, she admits how close she comes to drifting into New Age spirituality, before a longing for reverent worship pulls her toward historic Christianity and her first Divine Liturgy during Holy Week and Pascha.If you've wrestled with deconstruction, Hebrew Roots, church hurt, or a search for Orthodox Christianity that actually feels grounded, this one will meet you where you are. Subscribe, share this with a friend who's searching, and leave a review then tell us: what question or moment most shaped your faith journey?Questions about Orthodoxy? Please check out our friends at Ghost of Byzantium Discord server: https://discord.gg/JDJDQw6tdhPlease prayerfully consider supporting Cloud of Witnesses Radio: https://www.patreon.com/c/CloudofWitnessesFind Cloud of Witnesses Radio on Instagram, X.com, Facebook, and TikTok.Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

A major thank you to Logos Cinema for sponsoring today's stream. In this stream I dive into the work of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, and the Hero's Journey by first presenting the importance of it, and then demonstrating its insufficiency in light or Orthodox Christian critiques. Make sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think. God Bless Join Logos Cinema Here: https://www.logoscinema.com/cotel

“Why did God choose the Jews?” This question opens a discussion on divine selection and purpose, while also addressing intriguing topics such as the nature of our eternal souls and the implications of finding Masonic symbols in a Catholic cemetery. Additionally, the conversation touches on the value of remaining Catholic amidst insights from Orthodoxy and the role of reproduction in Catholic natural law. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 04:00 – If our souls are eternal, were our souls in a waiting tank waiting for us to be born? 11:25 – Why did God choose the Jews out of all people and places in the world? 21:18 – I recently found a gravestone at a Catholic cemetery with the logo on the freemasons. I have been communicating with the people in charge and they refused to do anything about it because it’s considered private property. I don’t know what to do because I was looking into a plot there myself. What should my next step be? 28:32 – I feel like I'm getting more insights from Orthodoxy. Why should I remain Catholic? 35:35 – Someone argued that successful reproduction is the highest intrinsic good because it is humanity's natural purpose. What does Catholic natural law think about this?

Why are so many Protestants converting to Eastern Orthodoxy? In this episode of Redeeming Truth, Pastor Jon Benzinger is joined by former Oriental Orthodox insider and Baptist pastor Samuel Farag to explore one of the fastest-growing conversations within evangelical Christianity. Drawing from his personal journey and years of study, Samuel explains what Eastern Orthodoxy teaches about Scripture, tradition, salvation, Mary, icons, the church, and assurance—and why he ultimately concluded that these teachings must be evaluated by the authority of Scripture alone. Whether you're personally exploring Orthodoxy, have loved ones asking questions, or simply want a better understanding of its beliefs, this episode offers a thoughtful, gracious, and biblically grounded conversation. Click here to Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCenfIkvDIJa4Qb4WgsH8hkw?sub_confirmation=1 REDEEMING TRUTH MEDIA: http://redeemingtruthmedia.org/ Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/redeemerbibleaz/ For more information about Redeemer Bible Church in Gilbert, Arizona, or to help support this ministry, please visit us at https://www.redeemeraz.org Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/redeemeraz Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/redeemeraz Never miss a sermon, find our Redeeming Truth Podcast in your favorite player, and subscribe!    

In an age dominated by algorithms, outrage, and endless scrolling, what does it mean to become a truly human person?   John Heers joins me for a wide-ranging conversation on modernity, the crisis of meaning, internet Orthodoxy, the rise of the "Orthobro," and why so many people are searching for identity. We discuss how social media shapes the soul, why information alone cannot heal us, the Orthodox understanding of the heart, and how genuine community—not merely online discourse—forms us into the people God created us to be.   John argues that the greatest struggle of our time is not merely political or cultural, but deeply spiritual.   Finally, we dive into one of John's favorite topics: the Supra. More than a shared meal, it has become a living expression of hospitality, friendship, and the kind of embodied community that modern life has largely forgotten.   If you've ever wondered why so many people feel disconnected despite being more "connected" than ever, this conversation is for you.   About John Heers:   John Heers is the founder of First Things Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening communities through hospitality, cultural exchange, education, and authentic human relationships. His work has taken him across the globe, serving as a Peace Corps water resource manager in Mali, directing emergency relief efforts in the Republic of Georgia following the Abkhazia conflict, working in international development in Haiti, and teaching for nearly a decade in the South Bronx and Harlem. He also helped found Seacrest Country Day School in Naples, Florida.   Today, John hosts the Heavy Things Lightly podcast and continues his work through First Things Foundation, including the Art of the Tamada, international field work, and Keipi Restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina—a nonprofit restaurant introducing guests to the rich tradition of Georgian hospitality. His work explores how the wisdom of the Old World can help heal many of the cultural and spiritual crises of the modern West. (First Things Foundation⁠)   Guest's Links: https://www.heavythingslightly.com https://first-things.org    Sponsors: Thea's Orthodox Young Adult Formation Conference: https://thetemplesteps.com Podsworth App: https://podsworth.com  Code: BUCK50 for HALF off your first order! Clean up your recordings, sound like a pro, and support the Counterflow Podcast! Full Ad Read BEFORE processing: https://youtu.be/F4ljjtR5QfA  Full Ad Read AFTER processing: https://youtu.be/J6trRTgmpwE Visit my website: https://www.counterflowpodcast.com  Leave us a review and rating on Apple Podcasts! Thanks!

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Why are Catholic and Eastern Orthodox voices gaining so much attention online? In this episode, we talk with John Pawlik about the key differences between Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism, why these traditions are appealing to so many people today, and how internet debates can shape our understanding of faith. We also explore John 6, what Jesus meant by "eat My flesh and drink My blood," and why true faith in Christ remains at the center of the gospel. Join us for a thoughtful, Bible-centered conversation on church history, worship, and following Jesus with truth and discernment.Why I Left the Catholic FaithSend us Fan MailPlease leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help improve No Sanity Required and help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.

“Can you explain the Assumption?” This question opens a discussion on the Marian dogmas, addressing common struggles with understanding them. The episode also touches on discerning the differences between Orthodox and Catholic beliefs regarding Peter’s role, as well as the Catholic teaching on the death penalty and its evolution under Pope Francis. Join the Catholic Answers Live Club Newsletter Invite our apologists to speak at your parish! Visit Catholicanswersspeakers.com Questions Covered: 05:25 – I have been looking into the Catholic Faith for a while. I have struggled with the Marian dogmas, especially the Assumption. 17:34 – How do you discern whether or not the Orthodox or Catholics are correct, specifically whether or not Peter is first among equals or infallible? 29:55 – Why is it that Catholics say you can't spread ashes, but when it comes to saints you divide up their body parts? 35:37 – Can you explain the Catholic teaching on the death penalty? Did it change with Pope Francis? 41:35 – I am sympathetic to Catholic traditions and have tried to go through OCIA. But my husband has decided that our family is not going to be Catholic. I want to be a respectful spouse. 50:58 – I'm trying to love my wife back into the faith. She was raised Catholic but stopped practicing. She goes to a Protestant church where the sermons are peppered with anti-Catholic remarks. I think this creates a major barrier for a lot of people to become Catholic.

The archive of today's broadcast is now available! Dr. White went a bit long today, covering a handful of miscellaneous topics before getting back into our series on Orthodoxy. Today's Docket: View of Scripture: Responding to a progressivist UMC pastor presenting the "Bible isn't God's Word, it just points to God's Word" perspective. Eastern Orthodoxy Deep Dive: Looking at the historic confession of Cyril Lucaris as the critical background to the Confession of Dositheus that we began last week. Be sure to check the blog post for the reference links to Jason Wallace's original video and our past DL episode on Cyril Lucaris!