Has a counter revolution against the “sexual revolution” begun?

An article on the emergence of evangelical and independent churches in Sweden and other countries that are tapping into Europe’s spiritual hunger despite the official secularism of the larger society.

There is a future for Orthodoxy in all of this if we understand the need to be proactive, entrepeneurial, counter cultural yet culturally savvy, and willing to get up and out of our pews to reach the world and seize this moment. The future will belong to Orthodoxy if we have the courage to grasp it and apply the wealth of our faith to the real world.

Japanese scientists have discovered that producing 2.2 lbs of beef for the table expends as much greenhouse gas as driving three hours in a car at 50 mph. So not only are the meatless days of Orthodoxy good for your body and your soul but the environment as well.

Goes to show that a lot of those rules we modern think are relics of those repressive days of yesteryear actually make a lot of sense.

If you wish to travel on over to Ancient Faith Radio (www.ancientfaithradio.com) there will be in the podcasts section a short and remarkably clear presentation by Clark Carlton on the Orthodoix understanding of the Church. With recent proclamations about the church by the Pope and the enguing ripple of attention to the question “What is the Church?” it might be good to have an informed Orthodox responseand Professor Carlton provides just that without a lot of theological jargon.

It was 8:00 PM bfore I got on the road this past Sunday. It was the day of the parish festival and well after events closed down there were still buildings to clean and things to haul back to church.

I had been standing for nearly twelve hours and my voice was hoarse from moving from table to table to talk to people. But the truth is that others had done a whole lot more. There were folks in the kitchen who kept meal after meal coming without air conditioning to take the edge off. Someone had to scrub pans in the back with clothing glued to their body by steam and sweat. Two men stood in front of a grill for hours. Compared to that walking around and making sure people were schmooozed was down right child’s play.

I’m amazed at these festivals how many Orthodox are actually in the LaCrosse area. If everybody showed up we’d probably have around 100 or more in church on any given Sunday. They show up for festivals and Pascha and sometimes Christmas and often when they die but alas even in this neck of the woods its hard to find a way to convince them to take part in the everyday life of the church. I wonder sometimes. Do I have bad breath? Body odor? Is there some magical thing I can do to help them see the value of their faith? And more often than not I think to myself “What happened at some time in the past that switched the devotion “off” and brought them to a place where the faith that many in their own countries paid for with their lives means little more than a ceremonial convenience? I wish I knew. I pray I would come to know. I pray for all those who should be with us almost every time I prepare the gifts before Liturgy.

There’s no judgement there, just sadness. Some day people will need their faith and all the things it bestows and the problem is that if they haven’t developed it over time there’s no way to bring it all back in a moment of crisis. I was a health care chaplain for some years and so many times family members would contact me and ask for help in a moment of trouble and I would discover they had never practiced their faith in any real way until this moment when their family member was lying in the hospital unresponsive with tubes and machines everywhere. There was little I could do except pray and hope that somehow God could penetrate the moment with the kind of grace that catches a person just before they fall over a cliff.

I pray, too, that these good people I meet only at Festivals who, like so many in this culture, have probably been slowly weaned off the need for the holy by the constant allures of a consumer culture and “right here, right now” mentality will be touched by grace. I hope they will see there is so much more to life and far from being a place for rituals the church is the nerve center for a whole way of life, a whole world view, that transforms, heals, restores, and saves. I really do believe that and it’s what keeps me a Priest.

That all being said, the Festival was a good day, warm but not too hot (except in the kitchen) and a time where the whole community got to see and meet us. People had fun, enjoyed each other’s company, and old acquaintances found each other with laughs and smiles throughout the day. Everything was permeated by the devotion of our small group of folks to hard work for an object of love, the little Parish of St. Elias where a dozen or so people fed nearly a thousand and let our light shine. And as tired as I was the drive home was peaceful and beautiful with the kind of light that only can be seen at dawn or when the sun is ready to set behind hills.

Check out Orthodox Circle, an Orthodox answer to MySpace and more!

If you do anything today please go to the home page of Ancient Faith Radio and look for the audio file of Lynette Hoppe an Orthodox missionary in Albania who resposed in the Lord in August of 2006. Two weeks before she died she gave a talk that must be heard. It is a magnificent testimony of the grace of God.

Next Sunday marks our 28th Annual Mediterranean Festival at St. Elias.

It’s quite an event for such a small church with entertainers, a bookstore, a silen auction, and meals for over a thousand. We’ll fill, with good fortune, a building the size of an American football field with people and for such a small parish that means a lot of work.

There’s a love / hate relationship in Orthodoxy with Festivals. Sometimes they can become an end in themselves and frankly we need the money they raise. On the other hand they are a common project that can bind a community together and a nice way to get some exposure in the community. Obviously we’d rather have everyone just tithe and end the need of these events to cover operating expenses and yet even if that happened I’m sure we’d do them almost entirely for charity and as a way to celebrate that we’re here.

I’m proud of St. Elias for taking the step of tithing our festival income. Ten percent of our income will go to charity, probably our own funds for charitable ministries, and that’s quite a step of faith to take ten percent off the top when the budget is tight. Yet it’s the right thing to do and so we’ll press on.
God has and will always take care of us.

And the hard work binds us together. After almost thirty years its amazing how about twenty people can plan and implement a whole program that includes feeding hundreds. It would seem daunting, but it does work and somehow we make it through. This coming Sunday night, weather being good and all things working, we’ll be tired to the bone but grateful for all that God has done and hoping for the future.

Pray for us!

Here. Worth the reading.