The Truth

“In Christianity truth is not a philosophical concept nor is it a theory, a teaching, or a system, but rather, it is the living theanthropic hypostasis - the historical Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Before Christ men could only conjecture about the Truth since they did not possess it. With Christ as the incarnate divine Logos the eternally complete divine Truth enters into the world. For this reason the Gospel says: ‘Truth came by Jesus Christ’ (John 1:17).”

-- St. Justin Popovich

Description of the Icon "Jesus, Lover of Humanity"

This icon (4 feet x 2 feet) depicts Jesus, the Compassionate One with open arms embracing the Father's creation. His standing in a dynamic position signifies His ongoing and sacramental presence to the Church by the Holy Spirit.

In keeping with the Syriac art tradition of the monk Rubbula from 586 A.D., the arches and dome represent the life of glory in the heavenly kingdom, the immortality and the incorruptibility of eternal life.
The Rubbula cross, (a cross within a circle) symbolizes 1) that all life comes from and returns to God; and 2) that our earthly existence is divinized by Jesus, the Savior of the world.

The icon's panels on each side of the Lord represent two miracles He performed. The left panel represents Christ healing the paralytic man and restoring him to wholeness and health of body and spirit. The right panel depicts Christ with the apostles performing the miracle of the loaves and fishes and feeding His followers, a theme which has overtones of Christ's feeding the Church in His Eucharist.

Christian Video Game? To be or not to be..?

Wow! Any thoughts out there in cyberspace? Things are getting crazy out there!

Groups urge chain to drop Christian game
By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff December 13, 2006

A coalition of liberal groups has launched an effort to persuade Wal-Mart to stop selling "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," a Christian video game in which players can kill unbelievers.

"It's very dangerous for civilized society and for constitutional democracy itself," said Frederick Clarkson editor of Talk2Action.org, a liberal religious website. Clarkson has joined forces with two other groups, the Campaign to Defend the Constitution and the Christian Alliance for Progress, to urge Wal-Mart to halt sale s of the game.

"Left Behind: Eternal Forces" was inspired by a series of novels that have sold more than 60 million copies. The books describe "the Rapture," a concept from fundamentalist Christian theology in which all true believers in Jesus Christ mysteriously disappear and go to heaven, leaving Earth inhabited only by unbelievers. In the books, many of those left behind become Christians, while others join forces with an evil politician who is eventually revealed as the Antichrist, enemy of all religions and all virtue.

In the game, Christians travel through New York City, converting "neutral" citizens to the faith, and trying to stay out of the clutches of the Antichrist's minions. The game encourages players to use prayer and the singing of hymns to defend themselves. But they can also create military units that can kill the Antichrist's forces.

This aspect dismayed Timothy F. Simpson, a Presbyterian pastor and interim president of the Christian Alliance for Progress. Simpson said "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" was "antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ" and urged Wal-Mart to withdraw "a dangerous and immoral game."
But Wal-Mart shows no sign of bowing to the game's critics. "As always, the decision on what merchandise we offer in our stores is based on what we think our customers want the opportunity to buy," said a statement issued by the company.
Left Behind Games co founder Troy Lyndon said the game is presently sold in only about 200 of Wal-Mart's 3,800 US stores. "It really wouldn't affect us much if they took it out of Wal-Mart anyway," he said.

Indeed, Lyndon said he resisted selling the game in more Wal-Mart stores, because he doesn't like the way the giant retailer is marketing it. Lyndon said that Wal-Mart puts the game in its computer gaming section. That would normally make sense, but this game is intended for Christian consumers who aren't avid gamers and usually don't visit that part of the store. That's why Lyndon's company is also pushing the game in Christian bookstores. Lyndon said that early sales of the game have been "terrific," but refused to provide specific data.
Lyndon said the campaign against the game could boost sales. "We're excited in some regard about the press, because it's getting people to say, 'What's up with this thing?' " But he also worries that over time, the criticism could depress sales. "If they . . . start ranting and raving," Lyndon said, "it could be damaging."

Lyndon rejected his critics' claims that the game celebrates violence and religious intolerance. "There's no killing in the name of God," he said. While players can use violence to achieve objectives, repeated use of deadly force will cause a player's soldiers to desert to the enemy. Lyndon said avid gamers would never play "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" if it had no violence. But he said the game gives its greatest rewards to those who use nonviolence to win.
But Talk2Action's Clarkson said the game, which is rated T for teenagers and older, teaches intolerance and brutality in the name of God. He called it "an instructional video for religious warfare."

© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

forgive us. . . as we forgive those who trespass against us

Prayer Regarding Critics and Enemies by Serbian Orthodox Bishop

By Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, Serbian bishop who spoke out against Naziism, was arrested, and taken to Dachau.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.
Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.
Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Whenever I have made myself wise, they have called me foolish. Whenever I have made myself mighty, they have mocked me as though I were a [fly].

Whenever I have wanted to lead people, they have shoved me into the background.
Whenever I have rushed to enrich myself, they have prevented me with an iron hand.
Whenever I thought that I would sleep peacefully, they have wakened me from sleep.
Whenever I have tried to build a home for a long and tranquil life, they have demolished it and driven me out.

Truly, enemies have cut me loose from the world and have stretched out my hands to the hem of your garment.

Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Bless them and multiply them; multiply them and make them even more bitterly against me:
So that my fleeing will have no return; So that all my hope in men may be scattered like cobwebs; So that absolute serenity may begin to reign in my soul; So that my heart may become the grave of my two evil twins: arrogance and anger;
So that I might amass all my treasure in heaven; Ah, so that I may for once be freed from self-deception, which has entangled me in the dreadful web of illusory life.

Enemies have taught me to know what hardly anyone knows, that a person has no enemies in the world except himself. One hates his enemies only when he fails to realize that they are not enemies, but cruel friends.

It is truly difficult for me to say who has done me more good and who has done me more evil in the world: friends or enemies. Therefore bless, O Lord, both my friends and my enemies. A slave curses enemies, for he does not understand. But a son blesses them, for he understands.
For a son knows that his enemies cannot touch his life. Therefore he freely steps among them and prays to God for them. Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.

a quote and a picture

“And if any were to cast in prison a person who owed ten mites, and not the man himself only, but wife and children and servants for his sake; and another were to come and not to pay down the ten mites only, but to give also ten thousand talents of gold, and to lead the prisoner into the king’s courts, and to the throne of the highest power, and were to make him partaker of the highest honour and every kind of magnificence, the creditor would not be able to remember the ten mites; so hath our case been. For Christ hath paid down far more than we owe, yea as much more as the illimitable ocean is than a little drop.”

- ST. John Chrysostom, Epistle to the Romans, Homily X, Rom 5:17

Jeffrey Dahmer: Citizen of Heaven??

I found this article on belief.net. I found the concept quite fascinating. Any thoughts out there?
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Saving Jeffrey Dahmer
The world knew Jeffrey Dahmer as a hardened killer. But one pastor knew him as a forgiven sinner.

By Roy Ratcliff with Lindy Adams

When Wisconsin minister Roy Ratcliff received a phone call that an inmate at a nearby prison wanted to be baptized, he had no idea that the prisoner in question was Jeffrey Dahmer--a man known worldwide for his crimes of murder, dismemberment and cannibalism.
After performing the requested baptism in 1994, Ratcliff began traveling to the prison for weekly one-hour meetings with Dahmer. In a new book, Ratcliff discusses his experiences--and whether Dahmer's conversion was genuine.

One of the most common questions put to me about Jeff has to do with the sincerity of his faith. And I usually hear this from Christians. They ask if Jeff was truly sincere in his desire for baptism and in his Christian life. My answer is always the same: Yes, I am convinced he was sincere.

This question bothers me. Why question the sincerity of another person’s faith? Baptism represents a change in lifestyle. A person is expected to change after being baptized. When people don’t change, we begin to wonder. Why were they baptized? Did they did not fully comprehend what was involved?

I can understand those kinds of questions.

But Jeff’s circumstance was different. The people asking me didn’t know about his post-baptismal life. They were basing their question on what he did before he was baptized, not after. That bothers me.

Jeff was judged not by his faith, but by his crimes. The questioner always seemed to hope I’d answer: “No, he wasn’t sincere.” The questioner seemed to be looking for a way to reject Jeffrey as a brother in Christ instead of seeing him as a sinner who has come to God. The subtext of such questions was simple. They didn’t want to think of Jeff as a brother. Such ungraciousness is contrary to the Christian spirit.

Was Jeff saved? Were his sins taken away? Is he a Christian believer? Did he repent of his sins? Or was the blood of Christ shed on the cross somehow too weak, too thin, too anemic to cover his sins? Did Jeff mean it when he said, “I’m so sorry for what I’ve done. God help me, I’ll never do that again”?

Why was it inconceivable that Jeffrey Dahmer could come to faith?

I became convinced of Jeff’s sincerity by one happening. On a certain visit we came to the end of our study time together. The prison guard had given us the signal, but right then, before I stood to leave, Jeff bared his soul.

“I feel very, very bad about the crimes I’ve committed. In fact, I think I should have been put to death by the state for what I did.”

“I agree with you,” I said. “You should have been put to death by the state for the crimes you committed.”

He replied, “If that is true, am I sinning against God by continuing to live?”

“Boy, you sure picked a time to bring this up,” I answered. “We can’t go into all this now, but I can see where you are going.” I asked him to read the first half of Romans 13 (13:1-7) before my next visit. “That passage relates to your question,” I said.

“I will. Take care – I’ll see you next time,” he said as I left.

On the drive home all this ran through my mind. Jeff was thinking of suicide. Would he take matters into his own hands and kill himself? Did he feel so bad about himself that he no longer wanted to live?

At my next meeting with Jeff, I began with his question, “Am I sinning against God by continuing to live?”

I told him, “Romans 13 does say God has placed a sword in the hand of the governing authority. That’s why I agreed with you last week when you said you thought the state should have put you to death.”

“Yes,” he replied. “But has the state failed its duty by not putting me to death?”

“I can’t answer that question. I can say that God has put a sword in the state’s hand, and the state has that right from God. This state has apparently chosen to lay down its sword and take up a rod instead.

“What is our responsibility to the state?” I asked him.

“Well, it says the Christian must submit to the governing authority,” Jeff replied.

“Right. We aren’t to judge the state for what the state has decided to do, but submit to the state. By continuing to live, you are submitting to the state.”

“I see,” he said, thinking about what I had said.

“What that means is that you must try to be the best prisoner you can be. You must not disobey the rules, nor subvert the system. You accept your position as a prisoner of the state for life, and serve God as best as you can for as long as God allows you to live.”

“Okay,” was all he said.

But I wasn’t finished with him yet. “When you ask, ‘Am I sinning by continuing to live?’ are you implying that you are thinking of suicide?” I pressed.

“Yes, I admit I’ve thought of suicide. But when I thought I should take my life, I just couldn’t do it,” he confessed. "My main concern is that I do the right thing,“ he replied.

After that, how could I question Jeff’s sincerity? Jeff wanted to please God. He knew he had done terrible things, and he needed me to tell him that his life mattered regardless. I could relate to how he felt. I understood his heart.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/203/story_20399_1.html