Pulpit and Pen on Eastern Orthodoxy

[George]

http://pulpitandpen.org/2017/04/18/visiting-hank-hanegraaffs-new-greek-orthodox-church/

http://pulpitandpen.org/2017/04/21/an-apology-to-the-eastern-orthodoxy-community/

Going to hold my tongue on this.

 

[Tigger]

:sigh:

 

[MoreCoffee]

Geroge, the stuff at Pulpit & Pen in the two articles you linked are, what we in Australia call, "sh** stirring". And when you stir that stuff all you get is a stink. Close the door after opening the window and let the stink blow away. It isn't valuable. No loss to anybody when it wafts away into nothingness.

 

[Lamb]

Apologies with a slap in the face. Those people I mark and avoid! Can you imagine being married to someone who does that? Kind of like emotional abuse!

 

[Josiah]

Going to hold my tongue on this.

Me, too

 

[TurtleHare]

hehe let's pick apart that first article and see what the author wanted out of a church service since he was unhappy with what happened. Firstly, he complains the service was long. Oh, let's see, you can't endure an hour of prayer Jesus told the disciples before his death? Aren't humans impatient that they can't give time to God, what is wrong with us? Oh yeah, we're sinful humans.

Onto number 2, bells and smells took back the author to his drug induced college days. Ya, nuff said! HAHA

Third complaint repetitious chanting and prayer and EVERY prayer included invocation to Mary and the saints but I hardly believe that guy because, well, his drug induced college days. Maybe George will provide us some of the prayers as proof text, whaddya say?

4th point, a bit of scripture reading but no teaching. Um ,yeah, so hearing God's word in the chanting isn't teaching him enough, eh, so maybe he fell asleep like the disciples and wasn't listening hard enough? hehe

Number cinco, he didn't like the artwork. Cuz that's a good excuse to not attend church!

6, no enthusiasm! He wanted the rock concert feel from his church because ya know the holy spirit can't be around unless there is some lively music to raise your hands to, ya know? That Holy Spirit can't possible be where two or three are gathered and feed them if the service is boring. Can he?

7th complaint, no pursuit of holiness. He saw some elders go out for a smoke, what'd he do follow them since he couldn't see out a window to watch them go smoke and yeah guess what, there were girls dressed not in long dresses down to their ankles! They can't be Christians then can they?

Eighthly, they chanted to summon God to perform certain acts. What's he talking about?

9 and lastly it was lifeless. Yeah, back to his big entertainment style need and like a Pagan service, cuz he might have been to one in his drug induced college days. Oh and witchcraft because they believe that rituals save them but if he'd a listened to their prayers he'd have heard their faith in the savior.

So much for that goof ball. Let's visit his church next and see how it pairs up eh?

 

[MoreCoffee]

The first mass I ever attended - as an adult - was a Good Friday service. The priest who presided was young, inexperienced, and a rather poor speaker. He's probably much improved by now. They chanted in places and that surprised me. They had the musicians in a loft at the back of the church building so they were not very visible but the sound was very clear. Not even a little bit like a pop concert where the band is the most prominent thing, right? They read a lot of verses from the gospels. They prayed a lot. People went forward to receive communion and to kiss the cross of Christ which was held by two acolytes at the front of the church - it was a big cross. It was all unfamiliar to me. They even said "behold the wood of the cross. come let us worship" and that left me wondering what was going on. If I had been there to gather reasons to despise Catholicism then I could have written an article like the two from Pulpit and Pen but I am glad that I didn't go with that motive. And with time and some questions and a little reading all the unfamiliar things became clear.

I reckon it is easy to wander into a meeting of Christians at prayer and worship and gather a list of things that you despise. It's bad form to do it. But it would be easy. It would also very likely be a sin.

 

[ImaginaryDay2]

I suspect that if I were to visit an EO service, I'd be the type just to get enveloped in it. Time? What is time?