Based on new studies conducted by Baylor University, children from more religious families and from families with higher rates of religious attendance are better behaved and more well adjusted at home and at school. Better educated people generally had parents who attended church services twice or more a month. Among people with graduate level educations, […]
Coming To Trust The Liturgy
From the author of the First Lights Blog A couple of weeks ago I was having a conversation with an old friend about my spiritual journey. We had attended church together at a contemporary evangelical charismatic Protestant church as college students. At the time, I ardently defended contemporary worship. The songs stayed in my head […]
The Benefits Of Attending Church Weekly
by T. M. Luhrmann If going to Church once a week is this good for you – what do you think the benefits of going three times a week would be? Why not find out? Attend weekday Vespers, Saturday Vespers and Sunday Liturgy. You can thank me when you turn 90. One of the most […]
The Church And The Cremation Problem
by Archbishop John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco and Western America “. . .and [the spirit] cast him into the fire…” (Mk. 9:22) As pastors we frequently heard and continue to hear the question: “Why does the Church not bless cremation of a departed Christian’s body?” I will try to answer this as briefly as possible. […]
The Difference Between Orthodox Spirituality and Other Traditions
by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos Orthodox spirituality differs distinctly from any other “spirituality” of an eastern or western type. There can be no confusion among the various spiritualities, because Orthodox spirituality is God-centered, whereas all others are man-centered. The difference appears primarily in the doctrinal teaching. For this reason we put “Orthodox” before the word “Church” […]
Patriarch Kirill: Church Mission Should Be Better Represented On Web
Hey, we’re trying! Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has urged the clergy to conduct more active missionary work among Internet users. “The mission of the Church can and must be widely spread to the Internet. Blogs, social networks – all then are offering new opportunities for Christian testimony. To be absent from there […]
The Rise Of Bolshevik America
by George Green In his recent presidential directives President Obama has added something that most publications have been silent about; forcing doctors, and other health care providers to ask questions regarding gun ownership of patients. Ostensibly this is to ‘find crazy people before they do something’ but it reeks of the same system of informants […]
The Main Reason People Leave A Church
by Thom S. Rainer Numbers of gifted persons and organizations have studied the phenomenon of the church “back door,” the metaphorical way we describe people leaving the church. And there will always be the anticipated themes of relocation or personal crises. We should recognize those issues, though we can respond to the latter more than […]
Frankincense: A Cure For Cancer?
by Jeremy Howell FRANKINCENSE FACTS Boswellia sacra grows in Oman, Yemen and Somalia Other Boswellia species grow in Africa and India The tree may have been named after John Boswell, the uncle of Samuel Johnson’s biographer In ancient Egypt frankincense was thought to be sweat of the gods Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal The gift given […]
Obedience To The Church
by St. Nikolai Velimirovich Why is it necessary to listen to the Church and not listen to one man who thinks against the Church, even though he might be called the greatest thinker? Because the Church was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ, and because the Church is guided under the inspiration of the Spirit […]