Christianity

God is Good and Goodness is Divine

God is not merely good, but goodness; goodness is not merely divine, but God.by Chris Banescu –

Most of recorded human history points to the reality of the Moral Law, written in our hearts, that governs the affairs of men. Since the beginning of time mankind has recognized (more definitively and clearly in some ages and civilizations than others) that universal concepts of right and wrong and good and evil do in fact exist.

We acknowledge this timeless truth every time we judge whether a person’s behavior is just or unjust, right or wrong, or good or evil. We make this determination not by claiming that a specific act is only “good” if we subjectively like and agree with it, but rather by comparing it with an actual standard of good and evil. Such an evaluation is logical only if these standards are real and absolute, otherwise it would make no sense in labeling anything as evil or good. [Read more…]

Lord, Help Me Be Decisive

Monahia Siluana Vlad, Mother Siluana Vladby Chris Banescu –

How can we become decisive, to know what we need to do?

We should ask God what to do and ask Him for decisiveness. There is no other way. Otherwise, we will be resolute one month, and after one month, we can fall worse than before. This is the work of the enemy [the devil] when we start working without God. Without the Lord we can do nothing. Nothing!

We must start from where we are, from our helplessness, not from the height of our desires. A true Christian makes the sign of the Cross all day long, in every place and in all work. Why? So he can start with God and His power, and not rely solely on our helplessness.

We wonder why we can’t do something. This is a sign of faithlessness. [Read more…]

Without a Sense of Moral Order Man Cannot Attain Any Order

Without a Sense of Moral Order Man Cannot Attain Any Orderby Chris Banescu –

The enduring and Christ-centered wisdom of Malcolm Muggeridge reminds us why the world around us is such a big mess, especially in the West. The main source of our troubles is the loss of our moral order — anchored in and supported by God — without which no other order can be attained.

“It’s good and evil after all that provide the theme of the drama of our mortal existence. In this sense you might capture them [enlighten them] with the positive and negative points that generate an electric current. Transpose the points and the current fails, the lights go out, darkness falls and all is confusion.

What I wish to put to you here is that the darkness falling on our civilization is likewise due to a transposition of good and evil. In other words, that we are suffering not from an energy crisis or an over-population crisis or an unemployment crisis – from none of these ills that are commonly specified. The root cause of trouble is that we have lost our sense of moral order in the universe without which no order whatsoever, economic, social, political is attainable. [Read more…]

Hallelujah Christmas by Cloverton Proclaims the Savior’s Birth

Hallelujah Christmas by Clovertonby Chris Banescu –
Christian rock band Cloverton updated Leonard Cohen’s iconic “Hallelujah” song and gave it a Christmas makeover. Cohen’s familiar melody was infused with lyrics proclaiming the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The result is simply majestic.

What a wonderful, inspired, and blessed way to keep Christ in Christmas and bear witness to the truth, love, and majesty of God in this Nativity season. What a brilliant way to shine a light into our culture and reach people’s hearts and souls.

Posted below are the updated lyrics and the video of the band’s beautiful and uplifting rendition of Hallelujah.

Hallelujah Christmas by Cloverton [Read more…]

Mental Breakdown Precedes the Moral Breakdown

G. K. Chesterton The Apostle of Common Senseby Chris Banescu –
G. K. Chesterton was one of the deepest and clearest thinkers of the 20th century. He was also a strong defender of the Christian faith, a modern day apologist in the truest sense of the word. As Dale Ahlquist points out in his book, Chesterton was indeed The Apostle of Common Sense who fearlessly challenged the lies and falsehoods of his time. His insights and logic are as relevant today as they were then.

Chesterton foresaw the coming moral breakdowns that we’re currently experiencing. He understood that the corruption and misuse of language in order to obfuscate the truth were symptoms of a mental breakdown that will inevitably lead to moral corruption. He was right.[Read more…]

The Beginning of the Day Belongs to Jesus Christ

Christ Pantocrator, The Light of the Worldby Chris Banescu –
In Life Together, the book that highlights the importance of Christian fellowship and community life centered on Christ, Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that the beginning of the day belongs to God.

“At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it,” he writes. Bonhoeffer exhorts us to silence all empty talk and distractions when we rise each day and instead let our first thoughts and words be offered to Jesus Christ, “to whom our whole life belongs.”

The Gospels bear witness that Jesus Christ himself started each day with prayer. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35).

For Christians, the beginning of the day should not be burdened and oppressed with besetting concerns for the day’s work. At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it. All the darkness and distraction of the dreams of night retreat before the clear light of Jesus Christ and His wakening Word. All unrest, all impurity, all care and anxiety flee before Him. [Read more…]