Rebellion

In my ten plus years as an evangelical and my fifteen years or so as a Calvinist, I have had a lot of discussions and interactions with Protestant thought.  And now, as I have left the Protestant world and become Eastern Orthodox, questions continually come to mind that I hadn't even considered.  A kind of "couldn't see it from the inside" thing.
One thing has come to my observation as of late and that is on the concept of rebellion.  It seems to me that Protestantism is foundationally built upon the practice of rebellion.  Look back over the last several hundred years and consider what has gone on in the Protestant world. Martin Luther rebelled against the authority of the Roman Catholic church, and thus came Lutheranism.  King Henry rebelled against the authority of the Pope and thus was birthed the Anglican church. The Wesley's rebelled against the authority and rules of the Anglican church and created the Methodist church.  Even consider the birth of the US.  The Protestants of England rebelled against the church and founded a country based on individual freedom.
This is not a thought about whether this is right or wrong, but just about the concept itself.  It strikes me as somewhat troubling that an entire religious system is built on rebellion.
Maybe I'll consider this more later.

Criticism

How often do we mutter under our breathe at the "dumb" drivers that we are stuck behind?  How often do we watch the news and shake our heads at the "foolish" criminals, who commit ridiculous crimes?  It is very, very easy to criticize and see the foolishness of others sins and shortcomings.  But are we willing, are we able to do the same with ourselves?  You can be assured that other people see our sins and shortcomings and respond in like.  Jesus talked about this, the whole log in the eye thing.  We need to learn to apply this to even the tiny little things in our daily lives and those around us, not just the "big" sins.
Criticize yourself first (and ruthlessly) and you'll probably find that you don't have time to criticize others.

Loving Ones Enemies

I just heard a homily today at church on loving ones enemies.  This has to be (as our priest pointed out) probably the most difficult action to carry out.  We so often work on the principle of self-service, instead of thinking of others first.  When someone is angry with you, it is as if they are under attack from a tiger (an illustration penned by Elder Porphyrios of Mt Athos).  If we truly loved people, we would see their anger as an attack that they are under.  Our response should be love for neighbor and prayer for them, instead of an angry response.  Of course, without the love of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit in us, this is almost impossible.
Make this your prayer this week, to love our enemies.

Pride part 2

To continue the thought on pride, an even sadder situation is when the pride that is held onto is based upon the "glory of youth."  A tragic foundation has been built upon here in America (and probably elsewhere as well) that youth is to be sought after, at almost any expense.  Everyone wants to be young looking.  Whether its in physical appearance or clothing or speech, being young is astoundingly embraced and glorified.
Even worse, the "wisdom" of the young is embraced as well.  Instead of the young being silent and learning from the older and wiser, the young tout blogs, books, and chat rooms.  Its really sad when a 25 year old man graduates from college is believes that he is wiser than all those before him.  What this comes down to is that idealism is not recognized for what it is, and instead is labeled as wisdom.
Ultimately, humility ought to be the thing we strive after.

Pride

The church fathers speak of pride as the most basic sin, the one that leads to so many others.  You can see this especially in religion.  So often we think we have such great understanding, knowledge, and wisdom when it comes to the things of God.  We see things that happen and we want to interpret them.  Unfortunately, we interpret them according to our own extremely limited perspective.  We can actually see and understand so little.  We have lived such a little tiny slice of reality: small in time, small in location, small in influence, small in everything.  Yet we think that we can look at the good and bad things that happen and rightly interpret them.
For the Catholic and Protestant, this is especially tragic, because they ultimately "must" look to their own interpretation.  For the Orthodox, we can look to and trust in the body of Christ.  Jesus is our head and the church is his body.  He has provided for, protected, and given the Holy Spirit to lead, the church.  We don't have to depend upon on own ridiculously small understanding to try to make sense of the huge picture of history.  God has given us the church as the pillar and foundation of truth.

Idiocracy is on its way!!

You have got to watch this incredible video.  Mark Dice is gathering signatures, pretending that Karl Marx is running for President in 2016, with Obama full back and support.  Amazingly, many, many people sign it.

Check it out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0azojPPRhw&noredirect=1

Question of doctrine

Here is a quote from Tertullian:

“Where diversity of doctrine is found, there, then, must the corruption both of the Scriptures and the expositions thereof be regarded as existing….”  Tertillian (160-225AD)

This brings some thoughts to mind.  There are one of two things going on.  Either one doctrine is correct and therefore all others are wrong, or doctrine per se doesn't matter and all the doctrinal debates and arguments are not worth the effort.  How then does one decide upon the truth or error of a doctrinal position?  Too often it comes down to who is the better debater.  But this is wrong.
Would God really leave this all of this so ambiguous?  Would God really leave us without direction?  The book of John (I believe) tells us that the Holy Spirit has been given to us for guidance.  And the only way that works is if the Holy Spirit is directing the Church, as a whole, not as a bunch of individuals.
(Hint, hint: The historic Orthodox Church)