Indeed! St. Andrew's church, I believe?

@@fr.ajarmus actually it is not. It's Vydubichi monastery. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vydubychi_Monastery

Ah! Yes! I have a couple of CDs of their beautiful choir.

The texts of the New Testament were all written in the first century AD. What happened over 300 years later was the formalization of canon of the New Testament (that's the official listing of what books went into the NT).

@@fr.ajarmus So you telling me the New testament was written in the first century

Correct. Please research "when were the books of the New Testament written" and look for christian and non-christian sources, and you will probably see that they were all most likely written before 100AD.​@KINGKOOLAIDALMIGHTY

God bless ☦️🙏🕯️

I find it hard to see how keep glorifying God, no matter what, counts as blasphemy. It's the main lesson we learn from the Book of Job.

Now, now. You can't expect an entire theological position to be contained in a 60-second video. The broader teaching of the Orthodox Church is that the influence of the demons is actually quite limited. They can hurl nasty comments from the sidelines, as it were, but that's about it. St. John Chrysostom said that temptations come in two ways: one is from the demons and the other is from our fallen human nature. He went on to say that, given how broken we really are, the demons don't have to work that hard at all. Yes. We ultimately have a choice. We cannot be forced into sin. But when we choose to sin, we are assaulted with shame by the very same forces that wanted to see us sin in the first place. These are the spirits of the "kingdom of the air" mentioned in Ephesians 2. One of the ways you can translate the scriptural word "satan" is "the accuser." The accuser wants us to give up hope, to fall into despair. If we do, the second fall is worse than the first. This is typified by the lot of Judas after "the devil entered him" (John 13:2) and he acted on his thoughts of betraying Christ. As long as there is hope of forgiveness in our hearts, there is the possibility of redemption.

Yes! Thank you!

A lot of people. Eastern Orthodox churches are getting more inquirers and seekers than ever.

I want to learn.

Hoping to be back later this year, be the good Lord willing.

You can find it in my long form videos. I posted it in June 2023.

@fr.ajarmus thank you Father.

“I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them.” ‭‭(Ezekiel‬ ‭20‬:‭11‬-‭13‬) These verse ls indicate that the statutes themselves weren't the punishment: "But the house of Israel rebelled against me... rejected my rules... and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned... *Then* I said I would pour out my wrath on them."

@@fr.ajarmus Very true. But later in the same chapter, because they wouldn't follow them and turned back toward the gods of their fathers: 25 So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; 26 I defiled them through their gifts-the sacrifice of every firstborn-that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord.’

@@jeremyparris6121 The statues and laws that God gave them over to were the idolatrous ones that they were preferred over the Living God. St. Paul talks about this in Romans 1... "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen."

@@fr.ajarmus Sure, but that doesn't change Ezekiel 20:25. He said he gave them additional (or other) statutes and ordinances that were no good, not that he gave them up to someone else's rules.

An excellent observation!

I didn't take part in their communion service. My participation was limited to delivering this message. That said, I think that fact that they are doing communion indicates that they're heading in the right direction.

@@fr.ajarmus Hi. Thank you for your reply. What I was referring to was an interview he gave where he said you and your bishop had given them a liturgy basically that included communion and specific prayers you and or the bishop created. I am not being accusative I’m genuinely curious. Is their communion valid or are they just pretending to have Christs body? He’s very upset with Catholics not giving Christs body to other Christian’s. But Catholics and Orthodox used to believe that his body was only present if the consecration was done in a particular way. Was he given an apostolic consecration prayer for their communion to be valid or is it still just bread and wine after he’s done praying?

That was something I did with them, not my bishop. And it really wasn't a liturgy, per se. They had already been celebrating communion by the time that Pastor Scott reached out to me. He asked about what a proper framework for their eucharistic prayers would look like. I gave him a series of scriptural quotes and references framed in the pattern of the ancient Eucharistic prayers. The point of this was not to "validate" their communion, but to bring their practice closer to the liturgical forms and patterns of the apostolic Tradition. The folks at ZooTown are on a journey, and I pray that journey eventually brings them into the Eastern Orthodox Church. But it's a slow and measured one, as it needs to be with so many people involved. God's will be done.

@@fr.ajarmus Thank you again. I think too many people pick extremes instead of realizing God allows Protestantism as a gateway for the spiritually young to get their milk on the way to the meat. I think their journey is valid. It is concerning if he can’t understand the concept of a valid Eucharist but I respect your judgement and his ability to be mentored. Thank you for addressing the question. I think you guys are participating in something powerful. As a Roman Catholic I respect the process you are shepherding. May His Will be done

@@fr.ajarmus Thank you for your wisdom Father. Please pray for me, a sinner. I pray the Lords bounty and the knowledge of the truth, his Church, be granted to this pastor and his flock.

It's a hand position that Orthodox priests use when blessing. The fingers make the letters X and C, from the Greek word for Christ. It's used in the icon to indicate that Jesus is giving a blessing.

@@fr.ajarmus oh

This, I'm afraid, is not clear to us now. Most of what we know now about life in the Age to come is very limited and largely comes to us through symbols rather than direct teaching. This is to be expected since we don't have a proper frame of reference to discuss life at that time (we are limited by our experiences of life in this age). I know of several Orthodox saints, though, who pray for the salvation of all people, stating that the thought of even one person in hell is unbearable.

Truly He is risen ☦️

Haha. I thought the same thing - as if he was a former evangelical who converted to Orthodoxy… or someone who to the time and prepared his message by understanding his audience … either way, Father Andrew was ‘all things to all men’ here. Trust you are well. Lovingly, Cuthbert

Also the Latin(Roman Catholics) has to comeback