Made to Be a Kingdom

In this episode, our hosts further explore our participation in the burial and resurrection of Christ in the Liturgical services extending from the end of Holy Week through Paschaltide.

In this, the second of a two-part series, our hosts continue discussing materialism and secularism, and how they separate us from God. The episode begins with a discussion of debt and how tithing works to open our noetic faculties and ends with them undermining the faith/works debate.

In this, the first of a two-part series, our hosts discuss materialism and secularism and how they poison us against God on a practical level. They talk about how salvation is not transactional and how we as faithful children of the Kingdom must not have two separate lives; our whole life can and should be integrated and committed to Christ our God, even in our secular jobs (secular does not mean separated from God—even parish priests are “secular” by one definition).

In this episode, our hosts discuss judgment and the confusion that arises as to whether judgment is good or bad in the Christian worldview. They discuss relevant passages, including the much famed “judge not…” The need for personal accountability in our walk with Christ is also discussed.

Orthodox Christian ethics are revolutionary to the world, and have never been found prior to Christ’s giving them nor since in any other philosophical or religious framework. In this episode, our hosts discuss why Christ’s ethics, the moral principles that govern behavior and activity, are crucial for the faithful to understand and practice. Their origin, purpose, and function are distinct from any other ethics derived from ancient times until today in any other philosophical or religious systems.

In this episode, our hosts discuss the third of the royal and priestly practices given by Christ to the children of the Kingdom. In the past few episodes, they discussed works of love (Almsgiving) and prayer, and in this episode, they discuss fasting. They discuss why fasting is important, what it accomplishes, and why it is especially important to understand this in our day.

All Orthodox Christians are called to exercise this priestly ministry of prayer which impacts our lives and bears a positive impact on the world. Prayer is synergy with God. He talks to us as we talk to Him. We speak of the four kinds of prayer listed in Scripture: supplications, requests, intercessions and thanksgiving, and what that means for us, and how we produce the fruits of the will of God thereby with a transformative power for ourselves, our households, our communities, and beyond, with a change of orientation toward God.

In this episode our hosts discuss the Sanctity of Life and the Church’s position on it both in the public and private sphere using the example of the introductory comments given at the March for Life to frame their discussion. How are we to know what things are in the sphere of politics and what are not? What belongs in the public sphere and what does not?

Our hosts discuss our ministry (service) in God’s Kingdom and some of the duties and responsibilities that comprise this ministry, including the Christian duties given by the Lord in Matthew 6 and other places and how they are priestly ministries. Our hosts then go on to discuss the first Christian duty of Charitable work (aka Almsgiving or Works of mercy) as priestly powers given by God to all of His faithful for the perpetual sanctifying and transforming the world around us.

Our hosts discuss how Christ brought death to an end as separation from God and from Life. He transforms natural bodily death to a necessary stage in life whereby the person is freed from the passions of their earthly walk. As Orthodox Christians, we celebrate that fact in the funeral service, which is connected to its celebration on Holy Saturday. It is a personal Holy Sabbath for the person, and they are still alive in Christ.