Sin Troubles the Soul and Chases Away Inner Peace

Saint Jerome Orthodox icon by Chris Banescu –
Sin always troubles our soul and chases away our inner peace. Saint Jerome cautions us that the evil one is a master at snaring and troubling us with many kinds of deceptions. When we give in to these distractions and “begin to play with sin”, we fall from a state of grace and our soul is in trouble. We are no longer at peace. We become even more vulnerable to the devil and easy prey to his snares.

In our daily battle to stay close to God’s grace and find peace, we must not give in to sin, even the smallest ones which pave the way for greater ones. We must continually strive to embrace God’s truth and reject the lies and deceptions from the evil one.

Even if we succumb to temptation and fall, we should not despair and we must not persist in our sinful conduct. Often Satan’s greatest lie is to convince us that we are beyond redemption and there is no hope in asking for forgiveness from the Lord. We must quickly repent, reject the sin, return to Christ, and seek the grace of the Holy Spirit. This is the only way to stay sane and peaceful in the darkness and corruption of “this world.” [Read more…]

French Socialists: Unfair That Some Children Have Good Parents

Hollande French Socialists Communists Education France by Chris Banescu –
Socialist French President François Hollande is unhappy with the “inequality” of education in his country. He thinks it’s unfair that some children get schoolwork help from their parents at home while others don’t. To address this perceived injustice Hollande plans to ban all homework in French schools and force all students to complete their work at school. In typical socialist fashion he wants to “foster educational equality” not by raising performance standards and increasing educational opportunities for everyone, but by punishing those children whose parents take an interest in their education and dare support them at home.

As reported by France 24, President François Hollande of France pledged last week “to ditch homework” for all French children as part of his latest socialist reforms. His wide-ranging changes are “aimed at improving standards for over-worked French pupils, especially those in disadvantaged areas.” Hollande justified his actions by claiming that an “education program is, by definition, a societal program. Work should be done at school, rather than at home, in order to foster educational equality for those students who do not have support at home.” [Read more…]

Atheism’s Fatal Flaws

Atheism Fatal Flawsby Chris Banescu –
Atheism and materialism are illogical and internally inconsistent philosophies. Both are self-contradictory and suffer from fatal flaws that destroy their legitimacy and render them useless. Unfortunately, these obvious flaws are always ignored by atheists and materialists and insufficiently understood by those who believe in God and hold a theistic view of the universe.

Before we proceed, I believe some basic definitions are in order.

Atheism, is a theory that presumes that God does not exist. It is a doctrine that categorically denies the existence of a deity. By inference, atheists do no believe in anything supernatural and claim that nothing exists outside of natural phenomena and physical matter. They reject the notion that God created the universe, matter, life, and man. [Read more…]

Miraculous Dove Blesses the Gospel and the Shepherd

Miraculous Dove Blesses the Gospel and the Shepherdby Chris Banescu –
A miraculous event happened recently in an Orthodox Christian monastery in Crete. As reported by John Sanidopoulos on the Mystagogy blog and documented via multiple photographs (see below), a white dove miraculously appeared during the religious procession on the monastery grounds. The beautiful bird first landed on the Holy Gospel and then perched itself on the head of the Orthodox priest holding it. The dove continued to rest on top of the priest’s hat all the way inside the church.

During a visit by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the sacred Monastery of Saint John the Baptist on the Island of Crete, a white dove appeared during the procession towards the church. The dove first perched itself on top of the Gospel book carried by the priest. It stayed there while the Ecumenical Patriarch venerated the Holy Gospel.

As the priest walked towards the monastery’s main church, the dove moved from the Holy Gospel onto the priest’s shoulder. Then it flew and rested on the pastor’s kalimavki (a black hat worn by monastics and archimandrites). While the procession continued moving towards the church, the dove remained perched on top of the priest’s hat. [Read more…]

Democrats Banish ‘GOD’ from Party Platform

Democrats Banish God from Party Platformby Chris Banescu –
God’s name has been banished from the Democrat Party Platform for 2012. As first reported by CBN and now confirmed by accessing the actual Democrat Party Platform published on their website, the word “God” has been completely removed from the wording used in their national platform. God is not included at all in the DNC vision for America.

God was previously mentioned only once in the 2008 DNC party platform. He was recognized in this sentence:

“We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”

That specific paragraph was rewritten and the words “God-given” have been removed. The sanitized version now reads as follows:

“We gather to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth – the simple principle that in America, hard work should pay off, responsibility should be rewarded, and each one of us should be able to go as far as our talent and drive take us.”

[Read more…]

Norway Murderer Sentenced to 21 Years for Massacring 77 Victims

Norway Legal System Moral Failure Protecting Mass Murderers by Chris Banescu –
The mass murderer in Norway, Anders Breivik, was just “punished” with a whopping 21 years of jail time for the cold-blooded and indiscriminate massacre of 77 innocent men, women, and children. That’s a mere 3.27 months of jail time for each murdered victim. Those European socialists sure know how to “protect” their citizens!

Adding insult to injury and outrage to injustice, in his final public statements, Breivik failed to show any remorse for his atrocious massacre of so many defenseless souls. Safe in the knowledge that he will never have to face the death penalty (Norway abolished it a while ago), the sociopath brazenly “apologized” for not killing even more people and achieving an even higher death toll in his murderous campaign.

OSLO – A court on Friday sentenced Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian extremist who admitted killing 77 people, to at least 21 years in prison after ruling that he was sane when he carried out his country’s worst peacetime atrocity. The sentence was the most severe permitted under Norwegian law, but it can be extended at a later date if he is still deemed to be a danger to society. [Read more…]

Christianity is Truth, Not a Religion

Christian Faith embodies the most important truths of this life and all human existence by Chris Banescu –
In the Orthodox Christian view, Christianity is not just a “religion.” Christianity is a way of life. Christianity is complete reality. Christianity is the fully revealed truth about God and man. Christianity is the fulfillment of man’s search for divine truth and ultimate meaning.

The Christian Faith embodies the most important truths of this life and all human existence which God first revealed to Moses and the other Old Testament prophets. The fullness of that truth was then completely made manifest in the birth, life, teachings, miracles, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. “It is the fulfillment of all religions in their search for divine truth and human meaning as inspired by God’s law written on human hearts,” explains Fr. Thomas Hopko.

Our God is the God of the whole universe and all life. His laws and power govern all creation and all matter, seen and unseen. His wisdom illumines every field of human endeavor. This is why Saint John the Theologian so powerfully declared a truth that shook the very foundations of the world: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:1-5). [Read more…]