| We are not a living body that contains a soul! We are a living soul that dwells within a living body! | Oct. 2008 |
The American Orthodox Church
| We are not a living body that contains a soul! We are a living soul that dwells within a living body! | Oct. 2008 |
The Orthodox Church is not a denomination, it is the living body of Christ.
The Word of God is not a book, It is a Person; Jesus the Christ.
The Prophets of the old and new covenant are those who have seen, heard and touched the Word of Life (He who was from the beginning, the one whom we have heard, and have seen
with our eyes, have touched with our hands, we declare to you is the Word
of Life,) I John 1:1
*This newsletter will be undergoing some more change, instead of the New
Warrior Ministries newsletter representing the American Orthodox Church
it will become the official newsletter of the American Orthodox Church
in the Archdiocese of New Mexico representing the monasteries of St. John
Maximovitch and The Holy Theotokos.
With this change there will hopefully be more articles from other contributing
authors among the Orthodox of America. Stay tuned.
Walk in the Spirit!
Salvation, Worship in Vain.
Who is Jesus the Christ? (continued)
Some Personal Thoughts
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
This month's article is difficult for me to write, mainly because there
is so much to say and I do not know how to get it into words. Some short
time ago I attended what was supposed to be a prayer meeting for the area
in which I am living and it was organized by some group and many or possibly
all of the local Pastors were invited to attend with their congregation.
What I witnessed had little to do with prayer to God the Father but was
more of a show.
One the things that I heard said here was that when praying to God "you need to get mad, you need to get mad and make your voice heard", "you need to be angry about what's going on". Ecclesiastes 7: 10 Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool. Proverbs 21:24 The proud and the arrogant is called ignorant, who in anger worketh pride. Philippians 4: 6 Be nothing solicitous; but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. Psalms 140: 2 Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening
sacrifice. Psalms 141:3 In his sight I pour out my prayer, and before him I declare my trouble. Matthew 5:22 But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall
say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever
shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Judith 9:16 For thy power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is thy pleasure in the
strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the proud been acceptable
to thee: but the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased thee. Psalms 101:18 He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he hath not despised their petition. Ecclesiasticus 10:21 God hath abolished the memory of the proud, and hath preserved the memory of them that are humble in mind. Ecclesiasticus 3:20 The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God. Romans 12:12 Rejoicing in hope. Patient in tribulation. Instant in prayer. Matthew 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.
I don't believe that there is anything for me to say is there? You who
claim the scriptures yet follow those who distort them to their own personal
philosophy for the sake of a dollar bill, if you ignore the scripture that
has been presented here before you then you are not of Christ: This also is scriptural. If you dare speak to God in anger, you can rest assured that you will be
heard but the result will not be what you are looking for. Anguish and
anger are not the same, learn the difference and act accordingly when speaking
to God Almighty.
This brings me to the part that I am not sure how to accurately express
so that it can be understood. In the above statement, the issue is emotional
response. The idea is to bring about an emotional response so that all
who are involved emotionally will become pliable to those who initiated
the emotion. It is an age old deception. There are two emotional seats,
one is physical and one is spiritual. As a fallen race we are all walking
in the physical, but at one time man, even though he has always been in
the physical body was actually more spiritual than physical, it is the
result of the fall and sin entering into the flesh that we have become
a more physical or fleshly man than the more spiritual man that we were
created as. As Christians this is our goal, to become one with Christ,
we cannot do that while in the flesh, we must strive daily to walk in the
spirit, to become one with Christ and so in turn, one with the Father.
This means throwing off the fleshly lusts that we have and become spiritual.
Think about this; Genesis 5:22 And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. Genesis 5:24 And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.Genesis 6:9 These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God. Genesis 3:8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in
paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from
the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.
9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?
10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because
I was naked, and I hid myself. So we have those in whom God chose to walk
with and the rest of mankind did not walk with God. After the fall of Adam,
God ceased to come to the earth to walk with man except for a chosen few.
Moses was allowed to see only the back side of God, his eyes were covered
by God until His glory had passed by. Man is in a fallen state, we live
in a state of fleshly emotions, it is only through striving that we can
become a spiritual being and hope to even begin to understand, God will
open our eyes once we begin to understand the difference between fleshly
understanding and spiritual understanding. How can this happen?
Matthew 17:20 But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting. Acts Of Apostles 13:2 And as they were ministering to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Ghost said to them: Separate me Saul and Barnabas, for the work whereunto I have taken them. Acts Of Apostles 14:22 And when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed
Matthew 6:16 And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 9:15 And Jesus said to them: Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as long
as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom
shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.
So, do you fast? Has your church taught you to fast? It's obvious that
we are to fast, if in fact you are not fasting and praying and seeking
the truth, you are still in need of spiritual training. You cannot ever
hope to even begin to understand without these things. Do not take my word
for it, seek the truth as we are commanded, obey the scriptures, these
are not my words but the words of the scriptures that you say that you
uphold. If you do not fast and pray, you do not obey the word of God.
Remember
that Jesus Christ gave us a church to guide us, not a book, the church
in turn gave us a book made up of many books, the book itself is
incomplete in as far as the teachings of Jesus the Christ are and is not the full authority. (see above; the Word of God is not a book, It is a
Person). If your church has been born from a Bible and not from the line of teachers since Christ, then your
church is in error and teaches a false doctrine. How do I know this? Well
let's see what Jesus said to the Apostles regarding the power and authority
of the church;
Ephesians 3: 10, To the intent that through the church the manifold wisdom of God may be made known to the angels and powers which are in heaven,
11, Which is the wisdom he prepared in ages past and has carried out in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Matthew 18:18 Truly I say to you, Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven. Jesus Christ.
So if you claim to follow God's Word:follow Jesus the Christ and in turn follow the church, if you do not follow the church, you do not follow Jesus, and in turn you do not follow God Almighty.
Let us pray;
Lord Jesus Christ, who did say to Your Apostles: peace I leave with you,
My peace I give unto you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of
Thy church; and vouchsafe unto her that peace and unity which is agreeable
to Thy will: who lives and reigns God forever and ever. Amen.
Monk Michael
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Teaching of the Church! | |||
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American Orthodox Catholic Christianity
Faith Of Our Fathers Series
The Holy Fathers on . . . Unity in the Church
In the house of God, in the Church of Christ, the dwellers are of one mind and endure to the end in concord and simplicity. Therefore it was that the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove, a simple and joyous creature, not bitter with gall, not savage in its bite, not fierce with rending talons. Doves love to find a resting place with men; they cling to association with one house; when they have young they bring them forth together; when they go abroad they keep close in their flight; they spend their lives in mutual and friendly intercourse; they recognize the harmony of peace by the kisses of their beaks; in all things they fulfill the law of unanimity. This is the simplicity that we should know in our Church, this is the charity to which we should attain. ... What part in a Christian breast has the fierceness of wolves, the rage of dogs, the deadly poison of serpents, and the bloody cruelty of wild beasts? We may be thankful when such men as these are separated from the Church, so that they cannot prey upon Christ's doves and sheep, or infect them with the contagion of their cruelty and venom. ... These are they whom the Apostle John smites with a curse, saying, "They went forth from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of us, with us they would have stayed."
Saint Cyprian of Carthage (+258)
On the Unity of the Catholic Church
By clicking on the links just below you will be directed away from this
page. You must use your browser back button to return to this letter.
From the pages of the American Orthodox Church/North American Orthodox Church
It is obvious that Jesus meant for the church to be one in Spirit and in teaching. There is only one truth.
There is only One God, One Lord Jesus Christ, One Holy Spirit, One Christian Church. It is plain and obvious that the Holy Spirit does work through those in many different denominations. God still uses those who are true to Jesus Christ. However, this does not change the truth of the teachings of the original Orthodox Church.
Send this newsletter to your friends and family, encourage them to sign up. It remains free thanks to your financial help.
Please give these things prayerful thought, meditate on these words, learn to be still and listen to the Holy Spirit in the quiet time.
This will continue next issue. See you then.
Monk Michael
I'll see you in the next issue. Send this to your friends and family and ask them to sign up. You cannot know Jesus without becoming concerned for the life of everyone you meet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
This article will return next month
BBS - Byzantine Bible Study
The Byzantine Bible Study is a daily devotional delivered to your email address each day. The BBS, as we like to call it, consists of the following:
It will take about 5 to 10 minutes to read. The
goal is to get you into the scriptures daily, and into a deeper pray
life with Christ.
Use this link; Daily Byzantine Orthodox Bible Study. Enjoy the daily readings. Daily Readings
This is a re-run of a previous article, please read it and ask questions if you have any. It will be replaced next month.
This is your health!
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