America Has a Moral Crisis, Not a Gun Control Problem

America Has a Moral Crisis, Not a Gun Control Problemby Chris Banescu –

America faces a moral crisis, not a gun control problem. As God and morality are purged from all our institutions, darkness, chaos, evil, and violence grow to fill in the gap. There is no political solution or regulation that will stop these evildoers. Only more armed law-abiding citizens and a true spiritual and moral revival will help reduce these atrocities and protect innocent lives.

  • The Left stopped disciplining children and teaching them accountability.
  • The Left used anti-depressant drugs to “fix” spiritual problems.
  • The Left chased God and prayer out of the public schools.
  • The Left banned the Ten Commandments from the classrooms.
  • The Left removed moral lessons from the curricula.
  • The Left glorified sexual immorality and depravity.
  • The Left promoted abnormality as “normal.”
  • The Left defended the depiction of senseless gun violence and brutal murders in films, media, and video games as “entertainment” and “art.” [Read more…]

Happy Are They Who Practice Righteousness

Happy Are They Who Practice Righteousnessby Pope John Pall II (1999) –
The Psalmist refers thus to those who follow the path of the commandments and keep them to the end (cf. Ps 119:32-33). Keeping the divine law, in fact, is the basis for obtaining the gift of eternal life, that is, the happiness that never ends.

To the question of the rich young man, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Mt 19:16), Jesus responds: “If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Mt 19:17). This response by Jesus is particularly important in our modern reality, in which many people live as though there were no God.

The temptation to organize the world and one’s own life without God or even in opposition to God, without his commandments and without the Gospel, is a very real temptation and threatens us too. When human life and the world are built without God, they will eventually turn against man himself. [Read more…]

Speak the Truth and Carry Your Cross Toward the Kingdom of Heaven

by Chris Banescu –
“Pick up the cross of your tragedy and betrayal. Accept its terrible weight. Hoist it onto your shoulders and struggle impossibly upward toward the Kingdom of God on the hill. The alternative is Death and Hell.” ~ Jordan Peterson

This wisdom from Jordan Peterson is as close to an Orthodox understanding of what it means to be a Christian as you can get from a non-Orthodox Christian. He speaks the truth and honors the Truth. He helps people understand fundamental principles. A lot of his teaching is grounded in Scriptures. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

I would like to believe that Peterson is a sincere follower of Christ and a trustworthy messenger, even though he himself does not seem to see it or is not willing to admit it. It’s not “flesh and blood” or earthly (godless) knowledge that have revealed these truths to him. It’s evident that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, Who proceeds from the Father, co-eternal with Christ (the Logos), illumines some of Peterson’s teaching. This is why his insights have authority. This is why he gives people genuine hope. [Read more…]

Why do the Righteous Suffer? God’s Answer is a Question

Why do the Righteous Suffer? God Answer is a Questionby Chris Banescu –

In his book, Making Sense Out of Suffering, Peter Kreeft offers us a partial explanation of the mystery of why righteous men are afflicted by seemingly random and unjust suffering and many trials and tribulations in this life. He points us to the Scriptures, specifically the Book of Job, and the lessons we can learn from the suffering of the righteous Job and God’s answer to Job. “Who do you think you are, anyway? By what right do you unquestioningly assume that you can know the answer to this question? Are you in a position to answer it? Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”, the author paraphrases God’s response to the long-suffering Job.

Kreeft explains that for many of us, the suffering we experience in this life will remain a mystery. While sometimes we may grasp the reason “why” we endure afflictions or God allows us a glimpse into the purpose behind our tribulations, most often we cannot know. To truly understand why we suffer would mean to know the mind of an infinite, omniscient, and omnipotent God. And that’s impossible. [Read more…]