Barnabas Powell's Blog, page 31
October 6, 2022
Confronting Your Doubts
Have you ever struggled with doubt? If you’re honest, the answer is “yes.” But I wouldn’t be surprised if some read this and said “no, I don’t doubt.” And that kind of scares me more because that means either this person has never really paid close attention to themselves or the Faith claims of Christianity, or they are so disconnected from self-awareness that they don’t realize they doubt. But, if you have…
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October 5, 2022
Step To The Edge, Challenge Yourself!
I really like to write and I enjoy public speaking, but I had a hint of my tendency to wordiness when my first time in seminary produced a comment from one of my favorite professors. I had just finished a fairly intensive philosophy paper for his class and was really sweating the grade he would give me. Most everybody got their papers back quickly, but mine wasn’t in the first batch handed…
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October 4, 2022
What Is Your Life Growing?
“Don’t judge me!” With that, the argument was supposed to be over. After all, my interlocutor had used the nuclear bomb of debate. He had pulled out the “Judge Not” card. And, after all, since he was debating a Christian, that meant the discussion was over and he had effectively shut down the uncomfortable reality that he was losing badly! So he said, “Let’s agree to disagree.” And I responded “No.” The…
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October 3, 2022
What Is Your Spiritual Credit Score? – Sunday Homily
What “credit” is it to you to do what everybody else does? The confrontation with this head-on honest truth taught by Christ is essential if you or I will be free from having our possessions possess us. This spiritual formation of your character touches you even at that place where your possessions cross your claim to being Christian. At the heart of all our addictions and fears is this place in our…
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What Provokes You?
What provokes you? Politics? Religion? Race? Inequity? Violence? Chaos (OK, this one is a personal provocation!)? No matter what might provoke you to action, if you allow the provocation to be your primary motivation, you are sure to always be provoked. You see, provocation is a “result”, not a motive. And learning what is behind the reaction is key to being able to discern if the reaction is appropriate or not, healthy…
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September 30, 2022
He Will Come Again In Glory
Alexander Pope said, “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” What a sad, cynical attitude. And yet, this just goes to show that it isn’t having expectations that are wrong; it’s having wrong expectations. So, the Church calls us to discipline our expectations by grounding them in reality, and reality is Jesus Christ! He is Real! And He promised us He would return! That’s an expectation that…
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September 29, 2022
Fr. Barnabas Is Speaking In Chicago!
If you or your friends/family are in the Chicago area, Fr. Barnabas is speaking at the celebration of St. Demetrios on W. Winona St. starting on Monday, October 24th! He is going to stay in the community through Wednesday the 26th to help celebrate this wonderful Saint’s celebration with the community! Please share this with those in the area, and Fr. Barnabas would love to meet you there!
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Why 12 Apostles?
Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion! I know, I know, you think He started Christianity. But Jesus came and told us He didn’t come to abolish the Law, the Torah, but to fulfill it. (see Matthew 5:17-20) The whole of the New Testament is the story of Jesus recreating the People of God. He was there to show the Jews and the world that He was the One to make…
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September 28, 2022
On A Level Place
One of the greatest consequences of our modern world is that we moderns have been convinced that egalitarianism and individualism have been elevated to the highest good. We insist on a definition of “freedom” that means “I want to do what I want to do!” But the problem is if I do what I want to do, my desires have to be disciplined and mature or what I want to do quickly…
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September 27, 2022
Simple Isn’t Easy
“It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones, after all.” So says the author of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder. But life is so very often not simple. It’s complicated and difficult and filled with so many motivations all mixed together and hard to tease out the good from the bad. I was having a recent discussion with my daughter and we were talking…
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