The purpose of Advent is to set aside some time to prepare ourselves for a celebration of the birth of Christ. In the West, we decadent Latins, marked the season by celebrating a feast at the end, and the more disciplined Eastern Greek Christians underwent a great fast in preparation for the coming of Christ. In a sense this dichotomy of feasting and fasting well marks what … [Read more...]
The Liturgical Calendar?
For some readers the Liturgical Calendar like the prefix "St." is scary and reminscent of the Inquisition, Clerical sex-scandals, and everything they hate about religion in general. However, in years past, more and more people with that initial gut reaction have been rethinking their own positions, and have warmed to words like "Lent" and "Advent". I remember first … [Read more...]
St. Anselm of Canterbury's 'Evangelical' Faith
Wikipedia has been my true alma mater in so many ways, however there are days when something irks me in its endless pages. If we understand Evangelical to mean one who is a Christian and places their faith in the saving life, death, and resurrection of Jesus who meritted their salvation, then Evangelicalism can hardly be said to have emerged in the 17th century. The Middle … [Read more...]
The Power of Prayer in the Life of St. John Chrysostom
*I am indebted to Dr. Ravi Zacharias for finding this quote for me, and I've borrowed some of his insight as well* "Prayer is an all-efficient panoply, a treasure undiminished, a mine which is never exhausted... the mother of a thousand blessings... The potency of prayer hath subdued the strength of fire, it hath bridled the rage of lions, hushed anarchy to rest; extinguished … [Read more...]
The Father of Modern Missions – William Carey (Part 3)
William Carey was in everything a man of action as well as a man of letters. He learned by doing, having been a teacher and founding a college before actually possessing a degree or education from one. He began his mission, churches, and school in a portion of India protected by the King of Denmark, and he worked to train local Bengali converts into ministers following a long … [Read more...]