“Many lose their true home because they have greater love for the road that leads them there. Let us not love the road rather than our home, in case we should lose our eternal home … Let us keep to this principle, therefore, that we should live as travelers and pilgrims on the road … free of lusts and earthly desires, but let us fill our mind with heavenly and spiritual forms,” St. Columbanus.
Posts published in “Christian Living”
by Robyn Riley
No path is as fraught with as much deception, trickery, and artifice in modern times as that of the path to womanhood. From all angles and the early stages of childhood, women are ambushed with ideas about the best way to be who they are and more importantly what they are not. Messages of how they should think about femininity, sexuality, love, marriage, motherhood, spirituality, and vocation are all dominated by secular voices most often coming from pop feminism.
Women scoff at the thought of seeking biblical wisdom or God’s guidance in their journey to adulthood and yet still wonder why they are so miserable. Modern women are never satiated in their continuous pleasure-seeking and are usually left feeling empty inside though surrounded by material wealth.
Passions Becoming Roads – Examples of Participation in the Parallel Christian Economy and Society
Building a parallel economy honestly sounds daunting and grandiose to us. We have a hard time not rationalizing that it’s someone else’s problem and when they have it solved, they can let us know.
Reality Check: it is our problem, and yours. Because our very existence and way of life have been moved out of the “being threatened” category and into the “currently under attack” category. As things stand now, we have a short window here to prepare. Even if this does pan out to be resolved peacefully, we are no longer interested in settling into what used to be the norm. Whether we like it or not, at least half of our own country strives to remove the other half not just from a seat at the table but from existence. Concepts and events such as COVID and “being inclusive” are tools to make this happen. It has been an odd realization to accept that what we consider normal is now considered parallel to normal.
If you are like us, you may be asking yourself, “How do I move in this direction? How can I be proactive in this changing environment, so that I am not caught off-guard and unprepared? Do I seriously have to become a survivalist with a bunker, food pantry, emergency Bug Out Bag with a windup radio at the ready for the impending doom?” You could – no one is saying any of these actions are harmful or a bad idea. But at the same time, we believe there are three practical, day-to-day steps that can slowly adjust the rudder in your life to steer you more towards a parallel existence. And quite possibly, you have accomplished one or two of these steps already! If need be, for more info on these steps, we’re only a short text message away. Give us a follow at GIJoeGuy!
You are a responsible, patriotic, God-fearing contributor to society. Unfortunately, you’ve been taught a lie about how to be responsible with money. You’re handing money all wrong and it shows. What if you could make one change and begin a transformation that will put you back in control and give less money to big-bank corporations?
Growing up, I knew two things about money: Pay bills and put food on the table. That was the cycle week after week, paycheck after paycheck. This was the cycle before I filed bankruptcy in 2002 and the cycle when my husband and I married in 2003. It continued for seven years and when things hit a wall it was obvious we had believed a huge lie about good intentions and responsibility.
This cycle is not just wrong, it is irresponsible. And if you’re paying bills and putting food on the table while swimming in a mound of big-bank pocket lining debts you’re not as responsible as you think. But there is hope…
It can be heartbreaking and painful. You pour your heart and soul into the full embrace of the Lord Jesus Christ. You love Him and you know that He loves you. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a tragedy strikes. It may be a fire, a betrayal, or the unexpected death of a loved one. Suddenly, you find yourself angry, sad, or a mixture of both. You may be tempted to question and perhaps even yell at God Himself. As a good Christian, your faith is shaken, and you naturally ask, “Why?” That question is bigger than you may have ever really considered: Why do bad things happen to good Christians? Yet, as big as that question may be, the answer is simple to the faithful. Let’s explore it.
What do we mean by that? It’s simple, really. While the rest of the world lives in fear and chaos, we refuse to participate and have intentionally chosen a different path. We are Christians raising children by leading them in a life that desires closeness with God. We both believe strongly in a lifestyle that exists in a parallel Christian society. We do this by being leaders of homeschool communities, attending church regularly, being in a small group, seeking entrepreneurial opportunities for ourselves and our kids, and sharing the truth about the world around us and the gospel to those in our “Judea”. We also are very open with demonstrating how a Christian family lives in the 21st century with our show – as people who live in the world but are not of it. While the rest of the world flails around in confusion and reactivity, we have adopted the theme: On Purpose. We live our lives with a purpose and for a purpose. We are, “Lawsons On Purpose”.
by Roosh V.
One of the most difficult topics concerning Christianity is suffering. Lord Jesus Christ called us to pick up and carry our cross while not being of the world, but how much suffering is too much? Should we attempt to alleviate our suffering or embrace it? From my short two-year walk with Christ, I have noticed that experiencing any kind of suffering seems to increase my faith rather than decrease it. Therefore I must conclude that suffering is a gift from God to preserve our salvation.
In my last article, I described three aspects of what it means to be a Christian man: proper appearance, proper conduct, and proper obedience. The first item, proper appearance, is relatively straightforward: do your best to look like a man and not like a woman or child. That article contained helpful guidelines from the Scriptures and the Saints. The last item, proper obedience, is significantly more complicated; it takes a great degree of discernment and an entire lifetime to truly cultivate.
by JY Lewis
It is usual for the Christmas season to be a joyous occasion filled with so much to appreciate. At the same time, there is a consistent and often predictable amount of voices whose sole purpose is to cause chaos and discord during these Holiest days we Christians celebrate. Of course, this happens every Christian holiday or feast, but it often comes to a fever pitch around Christmas.
We as Christians are bombarded with constant horrible and false arguments claiming various Christmas traditions are pagan or that Christmas itself or Christ himself is just a hodgepodge of pagan practices with a Jewish spin. I’m sure you’ve all had these familiar arguments With someone you know.
While I think it is useful to combat these tired statements and arguments others have done a far more thorough job than I ever could so I decided it would be best to focus on an entirely different aspect we often lose sight of in the wake of these constant demonic attacks on our faith. That Christ became Incarnate in the flesh. So let’s reflect on this for a moment.
by Radix Verum
As Christmas approaches, we must take some time to consider the miracle of Christ’s birth, arguably the single most important event in human history. A miracle is an extraordinary phenomenon that the human mind cannot explain. For example, a person born blind suddenly gaining sight without any medical intervention. Without a human explanation, such an event would be a miracle. The Nativity celebrates the miraculous incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Orthodox Christians spend forty days in preparation for this wonderous feast and celebrate it for two whole weeks!
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone” — Blaise Pascal
If it can be said that articulate reasoning and bold proclamations of faith have great value and furthermore, distinct identity, in the church, what then is the other side of this? The constant reoccurring theme that has been revolving around my head, especially since mid-March 2020, is the balance of intentional vs. frivolous speech and deliberate vs. incidental quietness. As I have shared previously, my false peace was what had mostly occupied my being. How much of this so-called silence was just digital white noise and audible static rather than an appreciation of the quiet times, especially in nature, further bolstered by prayer.
With every passing generation, men become weaker and more confused. This is not only because of dropping testosterone levels across the board, but also because men have few – if any – strong role models in modern America. More and more young boys are raised by single mothers or in female-dominant homes, and then they go off to public school… where their instruction and discipline is performed almost entirely by women. What’s a young boy to do?