Thanks, Dave, for that sharing! You are far from alone. I, too, came via that wordless darkness, the nothingness. Christ filled it with His Light. And I know...
476
Christopher Orr
christopher3rd
May 7, 2008 5:00 pm
Archimandrite Sophrony (a former painter and Athonite monk who founded the monastery in Essex Anastasia mentioned) makes passing reference to his study of...
477
emmy88heaven
May 7, 2008 5:22 pm
Glory to Jesus Christ! Many years! The Joy has just begun. I am a convert of 30 glorious years. Welcome to the Body of Christ! Rebecca in Lexington...
478
Christopher Orr
christopher3rd
May 7, 2008 5:48 pm
Well, wait a minute 'emmy88heaven'. I want to hear your story. Converting to Orthodoxy 30 years ago was something quite different than it is today. If you...
479
Rosemarie Lieffring
lieffring
May 7, 2008 5:52 pm
I am awe struck at the number of different paths that God has used to bring people to Holy Orthodoxy. Absolute miracles. Thank you for sharing yours. What...
480
laurafrizelle
May 7, 2008 11:14 pm
Hello everyone, I was a member of this group for a short while last year before my husband and I left the LCMS and became catechumens officially last June. We...
481
Rosemarie Lieffring
lieffring
May 7, 2008 11:54 pm
Dear Laura, Thanks for introducing your self and telling your story. I can only imagine how difficult it was for your husband to leave his means of support....
482
BPeter Brandt-Sorheim
donpedrogordo
May 8, 2008 1:05 am
Hi, I was at Seminex, returned to LC-MS, became a pastor [briefly] in LC-MS and have been Orthodox some 20+ years...without regret. I still treasure much from...
483
RANDY ASBURRY
rasburry2
May 8, 2008 10:16 am
Thank you very much for your words of wisdom, and thank God for thecomfort and peace that He has given you! While I still remain in theLCMS for the time being,...
484
laurafrizelle
May 8, 2008 4:04 pm
Hello Randy, I'll tell my husband you said hello! I am glad you have peace now. It was amazing for us too, how once we were close to making our decision how...
485
Anastasia Theodoridis
anastasiatheo
May 8, 2008 4:12 pm
"We tell them that we are poor, but very happy and invite them to come and see." One of the things that desperately needs doing is for Orthodox businessmen and...
486
tharman32
May 8, 2008 7:01 pm
My story is not yet complete (by complete I mean officially being made part of the Orthodox Church). I started out in the Reformed Church and we soon moved to...
487
Dave @¿@¬
howdydave_2000
May 9, 2008 2:50 am
Howdy! I made a post to an Orthodox forum under this title and many people don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Maybe some of you folks do... Here is the...
488
wrvinovskis
May 9, 2008 11:53 am
Dear Sister, As an LCMS pastor, I very much appreciate your family's frustration with the controversy and fighting in the LCMS. I, too, from time-to-time have...
489
James Royal Prickett,...
k3n77
May 9, 2008 12:29 pm
Why, yes I can appreciate your thoughts along this line. This is an interesting analogy. Someone else here recently wrote that there are occasional things...
490
James Royal Prickett,...
k3n77
May 9, 2008 12:39 pm
Very true! But if you look over the things we squabble about, they are not the essentials of the faith. Give me battles over calendars and the length of...
491
Rosemarie Lieffring
lieffring
May 9, 2008 12:56 pm
Exactly. I think another important point is the intent of the Orthodox on all sides to work through these squabbles because of the understanding of Church....
492
Anastasia Theodoridis
anastasiatheo
May 9, 2008 1:18 pm
As often happens, Frederica says it best for me. Check out her essay on controversies in the Orthodox Church at...
493
BPeter Brandt-Sorheim
donpedrogordo
May 9, 2008 1:32 pm
Yes, there is fuss and trouble everywhere. That is evidence of our need for Christ. But, there is great peace and harmony in my heart, my conscience, my soul,...
494
Rebecca Wilson
emmy88heaven
May 9, 2008 1:39 pm
Here are truly words of wisdom. This is a quote from Fr. Ted Bobosh's reflectons on the difficulties that are facing the OCA: St. Maria Skobtsova, being part...
495
tharman32
May 9, 2008 2:38 pm
I wanted to ask...for me Orthodoxy seems to be more unified in its teaching. By that I mean there doesn't seem to be this versus that (body vs. soul, faith vs...
496
BPeter Brandt-Sorheim
donpedrogordo
May 9, 2008 3:42 pm
Christ is risen! You are accurate. Orthodoxy is quite united in theological understanding and teaching. I cannot say that in twenty plus years I have...
497
BPeter Brandt-Sorheim
donpedrogordo
May 9, 2008 3:58 pm
I agree with Dave and JiMi. Me, too! You are not alone. "James Royal Prickett, Ph.D." <jimi@...> wrote: Why, yes I can appreciate your thoughts...
498
laurafrizelle
May 9, 2008 4:00 pm
Dear Pastor Vinovskis, You are right. In that very same conversation with my bishop and priest, they reminded me that the Orthodox Church is not perfect and ...
499
laurafrizelle
May 9, 2008 4:13 pm
THarmann, Yes you have picked up on a great point. Everything is connected. The Church is the Body of Christ. We are created in the image and likeness of the...
500
Dave @¿@¬
howdydave_2000
May 9, 2008 6:18 pm
The big problem that I am running into is that people can not comprehend my differentiation between: BENEFICIAL and NECESSARY! i.e.; "If something is...
501
Anastasia Theodoridis
anastasiatheo
May 9, 2008 7:25 pm
If it's beneficial for you, I should think you'd better consider it *necessary for you*, yes? It's necessary to make use of all things that benefit our souls....
502
Christopher Orr
christopher3rd
May 9, 2008 8:12 pm
The older I get in 'church years' the more I realize the spiritual dangers of simply living and being. I worry less about what might be necessary and grasp at...
503
James Royal Prickett,...
k3n77
May 10, 2008 4:09 am
Perhaps what is necessary is not the tools so much as the job they accomplish. For an example, praying without ceasing is necessary. Praying the Hours might...
504
BPeter Brandt-Sorheim
donpedrogordo
May 10, 2008 1:14 pm
Do try thinking in a different pattern. Rather than defining what is of the essence and what is peripheral [a scholastic approach], Orthodoxy embraces the...
