First, the good news. For those of you familiar with Karl of St Stephen’s Musings … here’s a MUST READ, posted by his sister-in-law, about the birth of a miracle baby. Glory to God for all things! Many years, Kristen, mom & dad! In case you missed it, due to much controversy, I took it upon myself to uncover the true sexual orientation of Mr Sponge Bob Square Pants. It turns out that Mr Square Pants is, honest-to-goodness, a Hermo.... Read more

• Islam was born in war and grew the same way. From the time of Mohammed, the means of Muslim expansion was always the sword. • With enormous energy, the warriors of Islam struck out against the Christians shortly after Mohammed’s death. Palestine, Syria, and Egypt — once the most heavily Christian areas in the world — quickly succumbed. • By the eighth century, Muslim armies had conquered all of Christian North Africa and Spain. In the eleventh century, the... Read more

The Institute for American Church Growth asked 10,000 people what led them to the church where they had an opportunity to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. 2% — Special need 3% — Walk-in 6% — Pastor’s influence 1% — Home visit 5% — Sunday school 5% — Evangelistic outreach 3% — Special program 79% — Influence of a friend or relative Thanks to FWD from from Fr. Michael Laffoon via Father Josiah Trenham. Read more

January 15, 2005 The struggle to keep the faith in Bethlehem by Michael Binyon After 2,000 years Christianity is in danger of extinction in the land of its birth FOR the first time in several years, a few rays of hope have begun to shine over Bethlehem. The recent elections for a Palestinian president passed off relatively peacefully and fairly, despite complaints about Israeli barricades and bureaucracy. Almost twice as many visitors as last year thronged Manger Square to celebrate... Read more

Folks, be real. Can you imagine ever seeing Sponge Bob get married? To whom? Patrick? Squidward is certainly an “old maid” if I ever saw one. Hate to break it to you: Bugs Bunny? Gay. Ever seen Mrs Fudd? Gay, I say! Barney? Never trust a man who giggles … much less a dinosaur. Droopy Dog? Don’t get me started … For the record, about the record, I believe the Tolerance Cause a slippery slope. As Dr Peter Toon taught... Read more

I understand there’s Saints that were named Elvis? True, but just joshing … Welsh saints to adorn Orthodox church Jan 24 2005, Rhodri Clark, Western Mail A CHURCH in North Wales could be decorated with frescoes of hundreds of Welsh saints to cement its links with ancient Celtic Christianity. The long list of Welsh saints includes each one commemorated in a place name starting with “Llan”, as well as St Patrick and others remembered mainly for their work outside Wales.... Read more

The “Prophecy of St Nilus,” thanks to the Internet, has had quite a shelf life. And, like Chick tracts on toilet backs, I’ve even found stacks of xeroxed copies of the St Nilus Prophecy, in death-to-the-world “zine” form, lying around on tables at Orthodox church conferences. Alas, if memory serves me, I believe I even printed it in a parish newsletter once. Oops? I was recently reminded of the Prophecy when poking around on the Canadian Classical Anglican site (an... Read more

It was COLD. Though I remember one year when it was only 9 degrees, the relentless wind and approaching precipitation made it bitter this morning, for sure. From Midnight till 1:00 AM, we stood in front of the abortion place: 6 adults and 2 children (with one, the youngest, asleep in the van). We prayed the Office for the Victims of Abortion and the Akathist to Saint Nicholas, patron of children. In the past, our parish had volunteered for the... Read more

This is a question often asked of Orthodox by those outside the Church. “What Bible do y’all use?” I’m sure there’s a better answer, but I usually start by informing them that in many parts of the Orthodox world they use the Greek version; however in Russia they use the Slavonic translation of the Greek scriptures. “No, I mean, what VERSION do you use?” See the delimma? For the majority of American Christians, particularly here in the South, what VERSION... Read more

Good heavens! I wouln’t normally pass on such gossip, but this is obviously an upcoming issue — at least a book. Heck, I didn’t know that this is the reason the homosexual lobby within the GOP was called the Log Cabin Rebublicans. I guess, thank God, I don’t get out much. Here’s a review from Amazon: “Hiding Lincoln’s sex life has been an American tradition, but sexuality should never be an embarrassing secret. Dr. Tripp, who learned his research methods... Read more