Thoughts on similarities of ancient and modern cultures.
By Michael Haldas, July 26, 2016
“We are confronted today with a choice no less momentous than the Israelites’ choice between the Lord and Baal. Here is a broad road that leads down to destruction; there, a way narrow and difficult that leads upward to life (Matt. 7:13–14). God doesn’t share devotion with anything or anyone. We have to make the choice to be on God’s side—we cannot serve two masters. We will either gratify self, conforming to the corrupt pattern of this present age, or glorify Him who alone is worthy of worship.” (Foundation Study Bible, 1 Kings 18:21)
“We must realize that many “truths” are promoted, even pressed upon us, for unthinking adoption. Bullied by a welter of competing ideas and demands, it is easy to lose our way. Be alert against indifference to divine truth, for our secular culture is actually resurgent paganism. Its idolatry is akin to the Canaanite cults that spread across the Promised Land prior to the coming of the ancient people of God: indulgent and heartless, but crafted to appear superficially attractive.” (OCPM 5/29/2016)
“For many contemporaries God has dwindled into a noble abstraction, a tendency of history, a goal of evolution; has thinned out into a concept useful for organizing world peace—a good thing as an idea. But not the Word made flesh, who died for us and rose again from the dead. Not a Personality that a man can feel any love for.” (Joy Davidman)
“Seldom in the history of mankind has there been such real concern for our fellow man, than there is today. There are the demands that poverty should be wiped out. There are the protests against the horror of war. There are the struggles against unjust racial discrimination. Concern about man and unconcern about God. Demand for action and disregard for prayer.” (Father Mark Gibbard)
“The Gospel of Jesus Christ offers the only antidote to the ills that plague our society.” (Bill Bright and John Damoose)
Thoughts on who we are
By Michael Haldas, August 3, 2016
“…although we are created as personal beings, our personhood is something that is becoming. We are moving towards the fullness of our person. The fullness of who we are is something hidden, something that shall be revealed.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“By becoming a child of God, we become more of a real person, no longer an autonomous individual. We become who we really are and were meant to be.” (Father David L. Fontes, PsyD)
“We are all called to be saints no matter who we are, no matter where we are, and no matter what we do, and yet not all respond to this call.” (Archimandrite Sergius)
“…today many people are looking for their identity, for their place in the world, for who they are. The only place we can find who we are is in God.” (Albert S. Rossi)
“A healthy self-image is not one of pride or arrogance, but one that coincides with God’s viewpoint. It is choosing to accept God’s evaluation, learning to see ourselves as God sees us, agreeing with who we are in His eyes, and giving Him permission to make us what He designed us to be. In His eyes, every person is valuable.” (Mary Southerland)
~Michael Haldas, https://www.ancientfaith.com/contributors/michael_haldas.
Michael Haldas is an author, a religious educator and a speaker. He wrote Sacramental Living: Understanding Christianity as a Way of Life (published by Eastern Christian Publications), a book which he presented special editions of as gifts to Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in private audiences. Michael is also published monthly in Theosis Magazine and he has authored several Orthodox Christian themed articles for various publications. Additionally, he has recorded and contributed to multiple YouTube, DVD and CD educational projects. He teaches adult religious education and high school Sunday school at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Bethesda, Maryland and has worked with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Religious Education Department to create educational lessons and materials.
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