In this article, we will continue our discussion about facing drug addiction. After we addressed the first part “Christian View of Drugs,” we will now address the second part: how we deal with these dangerous issues, or what we would otherwise call:

There is no doubt that drug addiction is a great challenge that confronts our youth especially in high school and college. The Church, as a loving mother, is committed to inform her children, enlighten their minds, warn them of the danger of drugs, and encourage them to remain steadfast in Christ and keeping his commandment, to always walk in the way of freedom, joy and success.

The Orthodox faith has important characteristics, which sets Orthodox teaching apart from the teachings of other denominations. I would like to shed some light these characteristics in this article. 

As we celebrate the Pentecost today, I thought of writing this week’s article using the scriptures to talk about the gift of the Holy Spirit and living according to the spirit.

I received the following question:

St. Athanasius, the great Pope among the Patriarchs of Alexandria, who fought the good fight against the dangerous Arian heresy and was able to expose it and repudiate it with the grace of God, preserved the pure faith for us until today. This man was steadfast like a mountain, meek like a child, powerful like a gushing river,  ascetic and prayerful, full of grace, bearing the cross of suffering and exile without grumbling, until he became a reflection of the image of the Lord Jesus.

Lets’ continue to present spiritual excerpts from the book of Brother Lawrence, “The Practice of the Presence of God.”

I would like to present to you some deep spiritual experience with God from the book: “The Practice of the Presence of God.” This is from the experience of a French monastic brother in the seventeenth century who experienced Christ on a profound level. This was apparent in a collection of his letters and conversations and notes. I believe we will find it to be of great consolation and edification.

When the Lord Jesus met with Martha, the sister of Lazarus, she said to him: If you had been here my brother would have not died. Jesus said to her: your brother will rise; I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  In addition, whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Here, in talking about the resurrection, Christ does not mean the resurrection of the dead on judgment day. Rather He was talking about the present resurrection, the state of resurrection that is lived by those who believe in Him and enter into a living fellowship with Him. Eternal life is Christ Himself and he who attach himself to Him lives but he who separates himself from Him dies. Therefore, the church always prays, “You are the Life of us all, the Salvation of us all, and the resurrection of us all…” (The litany of the Gospel).

Many people wonder about how the date of the feast of Resurrection is calculated? Why is it sometimes different from other Christian denominations? And what is the history behind this difference?

When Jesus confronted death at the tomb of Lazarus, He clarified to Martha, in full confidence, that He is the resurrection and the life. He also assured her that He is the life giver to those who believe in Him, and that death cannot overcome the life He grants, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11: 25-26).

Jerusalem is the city of the Great King as Psalm 48 says. It is the city in which God, in the Old Testament, first placed His sanctuary in preparation for redemption. Then afterwards, His sanctuary has been everywhere on earth and in the hearts of all believers.