Several years ago when I was still serving in the Russian Church Abroad<\/a>, Fr David Moser invited me to deliver a presentation at the Southwest Deanery Clergy Retreat in San Francisco, entiled: \u201cAmerican Converts and the Pastoral Issues They Bring to the Church\u201d. What a glorious trip & experience that was! I visited the grave of Fr Seraphim Rose in Platina and got to spend almost a week by the relics of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco there in the Cathedral. I also got to meet some top notch clergy \u2014 one of whom is a blogger, Fr John McCuen<\/a>. <\/p>\n Anyway \u2026<\/p>\n Portions of my presentation can be heard on this week\u2019s radio program (8\/21) on Come Receive the Light<\/a>. Those of you without local broadcast can hear it on the web<\/a> over the next week.<\/p>\n God willing, I\u2019ll eventually get this talk published. Though appropriate (regardless of jurisdiction), I don\u2019t think a publisher is going to go for my title (listed at the head of this post). Below is the CRTL plug. Enjoy!<\/p>\n 8\/20\/2004 The Weekly Newsletter of the Orthodox Christian Network Contact Us IF I HAD IT TO DO AGAIN, WOULD I?<\/p>\n \u201cIf I knew then what I know now\u2026\u201d ever said that? Have you ever wondered if you knew the hurdles you\u2019d have to overcome to achieve certain goals if you\u2019d do it again? Are some victories worth any price?<\/p>\n There is an Orthodox convert I know who\u2019s faced unbelievable challenges since he converted to Orthodoxy and I asked him once if he thought it had been worth the effort to actually leave the church he was pastoring, deal with the misunderstanding of friends and family, and answer all those questions over and over again. He said \u201cyes\u201d it was worth it, and if he had it to do all over, he\u2019d do it again. \u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n He then quoted a scripture to me. \u201cSimon Peter answered him, \u201cLord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.\u201d John 6:68<\/p>\n Jesus had just finished telling the crowd gathered around Him \u201cI tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. (John 6:53)<\/p>\n The crowd gathered around Jesus because He had just fed them miraculously. They were drawn to Him because their bellies were full, not because they were spiritually hungry. And when Jesus confronted them with a \u201chard saying\u201d they left Him. As the crowd dispersed, Jesus asked His disciples if they too would leave Him and Peter answer \u201cLord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.\u201d (John 6:68)<\/p>\n This convert had learned a lesson about truth, and about being a true disciple of Jesus: Truth doesn\u2019t mean ease, but it does mean peace.<\/p>\n The fact of the matter is that we are all really converts. All of us, especially those of us blessed by God to have been raised in an Orthodox home, have to make the faith our own. We have to come to grips with the claims of Jesus to be the Lord of our lives and not just a cultural security blanket.<\/p>\n We have to learn the lessons of converts.<\/p>\n First, conversion isn\u2019t a one time event. To be sure, there are times in our lives when we make that first committed step of faith, but I pray it won\u2019t be our last step. In our own lives, there are times when we have made a strong commitment to develop our faith and those times are precious to us, but we can\u2019t sit on past events. Our spiritual journey is to be an ongoing growth in the life God has given us in His Son. As St. Paul said, we are to move from \u201cglory to glory.\u201d(2 Cor. 3:18)<\/p>\n Second, conversion costs. Nothing worthwhile comes easy, and that is especially true of spiritual growth. We live in a world where it is easy to live a selfish life and hard to swim against the tide of \u201cme first.\u201d Jesus told His disciples \u201cAnd whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it\u2013 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, \u201cThis man began to build and was not able to finish.\u2019 (Luke 14:27-30)<\/p>\n If we place value on our spiritual maturing and spiritual growth, we\u2019ll come to expect that our growth probably will cost us in time, effort, and even hardship. When we commit to growing in our faith, we face the opposition of the Evil One, the world around us, and even our own laziness.<\/p>\n Finally, conversion is worth it. You\u2019ve heard me quote over and over again that we will \u201creap if we do not faint.\u201d There are so many things in this life that try to draw your energy, things that, in light of eternity, just don\u2019t deserve the attention and time we give them. But this is never true of the efforts we expend to grow in our faith and develop our spiritual selves. With all the wisdom and beauty preserved for us and available to us as Orthodox Christians, we can see our lives truly \u201cconverted\u201d to that new life Christ gave the whole world on that first Pascha morning. It\u2019s your birth right. Don\u2019t forsake it for that which can rust and turn to dust.<\/p>\n This week we visit again with Fr. Joseph Huneycutt. He\u2019ll tell us about the unique pastoral issues converts face as they become Orthodox.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll also hear from Fr. Thomas Zell of Conciliar Press about AGAIN magazine.<\/p>\n The summer has been a particular challenge for us this year. Your generous financial gift during August will go a long way in helping us face the fall in good shape. Email me this week and let me know you\u2019ll be a contributor.<\/p>\n Until next week.<\/p>\n Yours for the spread of Orthodoxy,<\/p>\n Fr. Chris Metropulos<\/p>\n P.S. Here\u2019s my email address, just click mailto:frchris@receive.org.<\/p>\n CRTL News Abilene, Texas joins the growing number of cities where you can hear CRTL locally.<\/p>\n Starting this weekend you can hear CRTL on KWKC AM 1340.<\/p>\n SHARE THE LIGHT SUPPORT DINNERS<\/p>\n We are already getting started with our planning to come to several cities this fall with Support Dinners.<\/p>\n Our very first dinner is scheduled for September 30th in San Francisco. Stay tuned to this news section for more details.<\/p>\n Parish of the Week Visit them on their web site at http:\/\/www.stpaulsirvine.org and when your in Irvine on a Sunday morning make sure you join this dynamic parish for worship.<\/p>\n Affiliate of the Week Email the station at mailto:937wdjc@hotmail.com and let them know you are glad they are helping to make a national Orthodox media presence a reality. Several years ago when I was still serving in the Russian Church Abroad, Fr David Moser invited me to deliver a presentation at the Southwest Deanery Clergy Retreat in San Francisco, entiled: \u201cAmerican Converts and the Pastoral Issues They Bring to the Church\u201d. What a glorious trip & experience that was! I visited the grave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1691,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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CRTL Press Releases
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Read the latest CRTL Press Release<\/p>\n
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info@receive.org This week\u2019s message from Father Christopher Metropulos<\/p>\n
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THE LONE STAR STATE GETS CRTL<\/p>\n
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St. Paul\u2019s Orthodox Church in Irvine California is our Parish of the week. Located on Alton Parkway in Irvine, this parish is a mainstay of support for CRTL and one of the earliest Share The Light Parishes in California.<\/p>\n
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WDJC AM 850 in Birmingham Alabama is our Affiliate of the Week. Each Satirday at 10:30 you can hear CRTL throughout the Birmingham area.<\/p>\n
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