Baptism and Chrismation Revisited

In order to accommodate family members we altered the date of my daughters baptism and our chrismation. April 26th is the day. It will take place at the Virgin Mary Orthodox Antiochian Orthodox Christian parish in West Sacramento. I am honored that Fr. Paul would host my daughter and I. I met Fr. Paul several years ago and I found him to be the most interesting guy. If I lived close to his parish I would be excited to be part of the parish.

I am going to try and blog more if for nothing more than therapy for myself. Having this blog and trying to provide content can be an excellent way for me to learn more about myself and my faith. I think I may duplicate this blog on myspace as well.

Baptism and Chrismation

Renee's baptism and our mutual chrismations have been pushed back. It isn't that we aren't ready we just want to make sure those who would like to witness and share in the blessed event are able to do so. I will post the date as soon as we have it nailed down.

Oh the Fun of Being an Eastern Orthodox Christian

As my Chrismation date approaches I am more and more moved by the experience of becoming Orthodox. There have been some tough times that now make great stories. I highly recommend "One Flew Over the Onion Dome" by Father Joseph over at the Ortho-dixie blog. The other night at Bible study Fr. Nectarios was sharing how some faiths and churches use word like Jesus, Virgin Mary,Trinity, et. but that they are given different meanings. Fr. Nectarios's flock is mainly arab. As Christians free the Holy Lands to avoid forced conversion into Islam and Israeli persecution the end up more and more in communities like mine. Now they speak way better english than I speak arabic. I was asked to share some beliefs of mormonism. I explained how the LDS believe that Elohim came down as an old man and had sex with the no-longer virgin Mary. For the couple young girls who a grasp on English their jaws dropped and they started to chatter in arabic to the adults. You could have knocked any one of them over with a feather. I wish I had that moment on film. I really love those cradle Orthodox folk but also I have to be careful in correcting or marginalizing them with my evangelical zeal. I wear with pride the badge of an Evangelical Orthodox Christian but I need humility and understanding with the souls of those who have not been able to share such zealousness and remain alive. Our two missions meet for bible study once a week. I hope I can translate to them the meanings of words they are going to hear alot in Contemporary American Christianity.

While working on the parish website I found a nice youtube video on the church, problem is when it is over it list other Orthodox videos to watch. One such video was "Don't Stop Believing" by 70's Super Group Journey. Kyrie eleison!

My latest work

I have just started a blog (with the priest blessing) for our mission parish in Folsom. Here is the link http://holytrinityfolsom.blogspot.com/ It is a work in progress. We hope to get a bit more high-tech and perhaps put up a web site. I really enjoy this type of work, blogging and such so it is a labor of love. I hope to learn much more.

As for church, in Orthodoxy you will often find a parish were the priest can chant well but perhaps leaves a little to be desired when it comes to preaching. Luckily Fr. Theodore is gifted at both. My seven year old even understood the sermon (based on the gospel reading of the rich young ruler). After church we had a discussion about it and how that applies to our lives and our relationship with Christ. I was very happy that although I gave her the option of coloring in her bible story coloring book during portions of the liturgy she instead participated in 95 percent of the liturgy singing, listening to the homily, and praying. She is looking forward to discussing her baptism with Fr. Theodore on Weds. Alleluia!

Moving Closer

The day of Renee's baptism is getting closer. We do not have a date yet but we do have a place and a plan. We currently attend a small mission in Folsom (Holy Trinity) which meets in an Episcopal Church so we don't have our own facilities. I spoke with Fr. Theodore last afternoon and we began the planning proccess. Fr. Chris at St. Anna Greek Orthodox church was very gracious to offer his parish facilities for Renee's baptism and our Chrismation (confirmation). Father Theodore and I agreed that we want these events to be evanglistic tools if you will. My desire is to invite friends and family (many who are not christians) to witness the events. Our hope is that people will hear the gospel, see the beginning of Renee's new life in the church and our public confession in the faith and be moved by it. I have been volunteering my services to the parish, I am currently constructing a blog and eventually a website. It is my desire to help the young people in the two local mission parishes to network with people in the larger christian community of Sacramento. One unique challenge is educating recent immigrants from the Holy Land and Arab nations on how to access the church that is available to them in this country. I have noticed that folk religion sometimes taints their orthodoxy. It is not my place to shepherd them and after seeing Fr. Theordore and Fr. Nectarios at work I have no worries at all. They are very, very good at articulating the faith and lovingly guiding people away from fable and to the truth. I ran into Fr. Theodores wife and kids and the library yesterday and she shared that her husband was so happy to see my evangelistic zeal. I feel a real calling to what I am doing. I love it and I love being in a parish that is dynamic and active in sharing the gospel.

I will post the dates of our baptism and chrismations when I have them. Pray for us please and pray for our mission as we bring the light of Christ into the darkness.

Blogging Once More

I am beginning to blog once more. Since my leg injury I am less mobile than before and until my high tibial osteotomy I will remain that way. I enjoy blogging because I like maintaining a journal. I like the opportunity to interact and communicate with family and friends and I appreciate the comments of others. I plan on incorporating different aspects of my life. Since my faith is the cornerstone of my life it will be a significant theme on this blog. I will post when I can, probably here and there at first and increasingly as time goes by.

My family is well. We just relocated once again from Alaska to Sacramento. I believe it was a calling of sorts. I am glad to be here and I look forward to restablishing myself in the community and serving God in this area. It isn't quite the same, some family has died, others have left and moved onto other chapters in their lives. My daughter has just started school again and this is my favorite time of the year. I love being a dad even with all it's challenges. In the coming months I have her baptism to look forward to. She an I will FINALLY be recieved into Christ church. I have tried to run from it but alas I'm tired of running and I know I need to submit to God's will in my life. As always I ask for prayers for myself and my family and I offer my prayers in general and upon request.

Glory be to God!