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Seven prayer stops during the day
Post date: 2013-01-03Autor: BCP
God’s Word says: “Seven times a day...” (Psa 119:164). Both the Old- and the New-Testament Tradition present a daily prayer rhythm. This rhythm was kept by St. Paul and the Apostles. Similarly, St. Basil emphasized the need for prayer stops during the day in the life of every Christian. Unfortunately, nowadays Christians do not have the daily rhythm of contact with God. After many prayers and prayerful quests for actualization of the Church tradition at the present time we propose the following proven way of prayer. It is a prayer 7 times a day: when getting up, at 9:00 a.m., 12:00, 3:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. and when lying down. How are we to pray and why?
Do you have a problem and you don’t know what to do?
Post date: 2012-03-03Autor: BCP
Do you have a problem and you don’t know what to do?
God’s laws contra antilaws
Post date: 2012-02-25Autor: BCP
God established order in the universe as well as on the Earth which is but a grain in the deep reaches of space with endless galaxies. The Earth rotates on its axis, and even the smallest living cell shows the wisdom of the Supreme Lawgiver. God put laws into both dead and living matter. He also gave moral laws to man. Today, at the beginning of the third millennium, an anti-Gospel and anti-Decalogue are being forcibly instilled in people’s minds. Where there are moral values, there is life; where there are antivalues, there is death!
Psychology of truth and psychology of lies /Part 1/
Post date: 2012-01-25Autor: BCP
As for evangelical psychology, it is a truthful revealing of the source of spiritual infection and of the causes of wounds on the soul. It is a life-long process of internal purification and healing, the essence of which is inner unity with Christ. The process of purification of one’s soul, which takes place through this unity, at the same time requires respect for sound principles that are given to us in the Gospel. Jesus emphasizes their realization – the practice of the Word of God. He stresses many times that salvation is for those who hear the Word of God and keep it. This process of purification, of the following of Christ, is associated with renunciation of self, i.e. of one’s mental ambitions and even of one’s own will for the sake of God’s will. This is also expressed in the petition from the Our Father – “Thy will be done!”.
An appeal to Christians of Ukraine
Post date: 2011-11-12Autor: BCP
Therefore we urge all Christians of Ukraine to realize their responsibility before God and before the future generations and to make these concrete necessary steps to salvation:1) Pray for the salvation of the future generation as well as of Ukraine. 2) Fasting.3) Join together in various committees and civic organizations.4) Organize demonstrations systematically before the premises of the regional state administrations in your region with a demand for: cessation of so-called law amendments;abolition of the gender structure; abolition of the juvenile justice system; cessation of planned chipping.5) Petition the President for cessation of the process of demoralization and dechristianization of Ukraine, which is associated with the so-called amendments to the laws.
The essentials of the Christian life – Part II (video)
Post date: 2011-02-17Autor: Synod UO GCC
The essentials of the Christian life – Part II (Biblical lectures for the Women’s Third Order of the Contemplative Monastery of St. Elias the Prophet)
The essentials of the Christian life – Part I
Post date: 2010-11-15Autor: Synod UO GCC
The essentials of the Christian life – Part I (Biblical lectures for the Women’s Third Order of the Contemplative Monastery of St. Elias the Prophet)
Dialectics of the Gospel and of practical everyday life
Post date: 2010-10-02Autor: Synod UO GCC
True wisdom means to learn in one’s life to stop and stand before God, repent in earnest, and seek and do His will. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of two categories of people. The first one includes the “wise” philosophers who build on the sand of their own human views. The second one is those who build on the rock, and this rock is Christ and His Gospel. At a time of crisis the spiritual building of the first ones will fall but that of the other ones will stand. Jesus speaks about a wise man and a foolish man. So what is true wisdom? It is not enough just to know what I am to do, it is not enough to know God’s Word, I need to put it into practice!
The so-called Intelligent Design included in the curriculum besides Darwin’s theory (13.6.2010)
Post date: 2010-06-13Autor: Synod UO GCC
Ukraine has been a Christian country for 1000 years. The Preamble of the Constitution of Ukraine is connected with Christianity. However, the Ukrainian school curriculum has so far one-sidedly propagated Darwin’s theory which is built upon atheistic philosophy.Even some of the Darwinians have started to abandon this theory. Genetic research and especially the discovery of DNA have provided arguments which practically completely refute this theory as unscientific.
The essence of Christianity
Post date: 2009-10-30Autor:
The Heavenly Bridegroom asks you for this one thing: “My son, give me your heart.” (Pro 23:26). This is the profound meaning of repentance. This is the logic of Christian conversion. This is the rationale of Christian worship. If God can not have our heart, He cares not at all for our religious ceremonials. But if He gets possession of our heart, He gets everything else also. This is the basic demand of the Gospel: “Whoever loses his soul for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it.” (Mk 8:35) This is the pure love for God expressed in the First Commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might! This is the foundation without which the so-called love for neighbour is only covert egoism and hypocrisy!
Saint Basil the Great about hell
Post date: 2009-08-02Autor:
The Lord said that these will go away into eternal punishment (cf. Mt 25:46) and in another place, speaking about the hell of fire, he adds: “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mk 9:48). So when in the God-inspired Scripture we find a lot of similar statements, it is a demonic deceit that many people forget so frequent and clear words and statements of our Lord and invent a kind of an end of the punishments so that they may have more courage to sin.
Human philosophies and the Gospel
Post date: 2009-05-08Autor:
The foundation of our salvation is the reception of Christ connected with the remission of our sins through repentance and conversion.Psychological practices or various philosophies are of no use here; they are rather a hindrance. The life philosophy of a Christian must be built purely on Christ and His Gospel. True wisdom (philosophy) consists in the fact that man seriously reckons with his death, with God’s Judgement, with eternity (heaven, hell) and in the first place with Christ who is the only One to give the remission of sins.
The Last Judgement
Post date: 2009-01-20Autor:
Who is Jesus’ least brother? Jesus pointed to His disciples and said: “For whoever does the will of My Father is My brother.” (Mt 12:49-50) Let us remember that His brother or sister is only the one who is His disciple and who does the will of His Father. So neither an atheist nor a buddhist nor a Muslim. Nor even a baptized Christian, priest, bishop or religious who has the spirit of the world or heresy. Those who are Jesus’ disciples and do the will of the Heavenly Father are in constant troubles for the sake of Jesus Christ.
The truth shall make you free
Post date: 2007-12-02Autor:
Jesus is the truth. “If Jesus (the Son) makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jn 8:36) However, the Lord adds a condition and that is: to abide in His Word. “If you abide in My word… you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (Jn 8:31-32) In order to abide in God’s Word, first we have to receive Jesus and His word. If we have received Jesus and if we abide in Him, we are God’s children.
Metanoite and believe in the Gospel
Post date: 2007-12-01Autor:
Jesus said: “Metanoite.” How in particular situations we are to change our way of thinking and believe in the Gospel is briefly shown in several model situations following. If we are to change our way of thinking, we first need to realize that our natural thinking is wrong, whereas the thinking based on the Gospel is right.
Six-year public penance for the present-day Church
Post date: 2007-11-01Autor:
Your Holiness, hereby we have presented to You a proposal of a concrete form of repentance for the whole Church. It relates to the experience of the healing effects of public penance, which was practised especially by the Eastern Church. We believe that the unsolvable state of the Church will be solved by God through all-Church repentance lasting six years. For the whole of this period there would be a prohibition against the celebration of the Holy Liturgy applying to all bishops and priests. We believe that the fruit of repentance will be that the year 2014 will be the year of spiritual resurrection of the Church, and You will see it.
Prayer and fasting
Post date: 2007-10-28Autor:
Jesus said: “This kind of demons never comes out (of man) except by prayer and fasting.” (Mt 17:14-21) These words are topical even today. Jesus is not speaking here symbolically but realistically. Demons are not a mere symbol of evil but they are real spiritual beings. Even the present-day pagans do not doubt the existence of demons. They have personal experience with them. However, only few Christians have experience that Jesus heals today, that His Word holds true even in the present time and that the living faith in His Word, prayer and fasting bring not only physical healing but also liberation from different kinds of bondage – demonic slavery.
Inquiring of the Lord
Post date: 2007-10-25Autor:
If we are to do the will of God, it is necessary that we know this will of His concretely. It is not enough to know just God’s commandments, which generally show what is good and what is evil. I need to know what in a particular situation is God’s will for me, providing that I am to choose between two or more good and permitted possibilities.