Posted on by frajarmus

Standing Fast in Christ

In his first epistle to the Corinthians, the Holy Apostle Paul offers the faithful these words of wisdom: “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.” (1 Cor. 16:13-14) From the very beginning, Christians have needed this encouragement.

There are always temptations either to compromise the faith or to give it up entirely. Yet standing fast in Christ does not mean being harsh or argumentative. Paul reminds us: everything must be done in love. Too often (especially online!), defending the faith looks like winning arguments or scoring “gotchas.” But in truth, no one has ever been argued into the Kingdom by clever comebacks.

Our calling is the same as that of the believers in Corinth who first heard St. Paul’s words: to witness through compassion, patience, and kindness—even when others take aim at us. Christ did not conquer by force or arrogance, but by emptying Himself in love on the Cross.

To stand fast in the faith means keeping our integrity, being brave to love when it’s hardest, and being strong enough not to sink into bitterness. The Kingdom is built on peace, kindness, and love, and as St. Paul urges, “Let all that you do be done in love.”

Posted on by frajarmus

Online group for Orthodox seekers

The Fellowship of St Theophan the Recluse is a ministry of the Orthodox Church in America’s Bulgarian Diocese. We currently have over 100 members. Most members are from North America but we also have people from the British Isles, Latin America, Africa, and Australia.

It’s a mixed bag of interest levels. Some are very intentional about becoming Orthodox, but aren’t anywhere near an Orthodox church. Some would like to become more involved in the Orthodox Church, but cannot for a variety of reasons. Others are just checking Eastern Orthodoxy out.

We also have Orthodox Christians who can’t get to church regularly, or the church they attend has services and programs in a language they don’t understand.

All are welcome.

I send out an email every weekday to stay in touch and once a month we have a live meeting on Zoom.

If this sounds like something you might find helpful, send me an email for more info.

Posted on by frajarmus

Why pray to the saints?

A question that I hear quite frequently concerns the intercession of the saints. Why do the Orthodox believe in this? Can you find references to it in the scriptures? I want to keep these posts short, so let me share with you a link to an episode of my podcast where I talk about this in a bit more detail.

First let me say this. The popular understanding of heaven and earth is that the dead are “up there” while we are “down here” and that there is largely no practical connection between the “up there” and the “down here.” Classical Christianity (ie, Eastern Orthodoxy), does not see the world in this way. The spiritual realm is a lot closer to us than we think, but our ability to perceive it is impaired.

So with that said, here’s the link.

https://anchor.fm/frajarmus/episodes/The-intercession-of-the-saints-e204h4m