Freed Indeed Ministries

10/12/2024

In this episode of Freed Indeed Live, we learn about what the world calls "blended families" and why there is no such thing in Scripture as a "Step" parent, but there is such a thing as adoption. And we learn how God views adoption.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/gvVn8sPGU9Q?si=LHwtJRUpB9sBzqRH

And share this with your friends, especially children and parents in blended families, so that they too can be Freed Indeed.

St. Joseph pray for us.

In this episode of Freed Indeed Live, we learn why there is no such thing as a "step parent" in God's economy, and we learn what God says about adoption.Supp...

10/06/2024

As a follow-up to my reflection earlier, I was thinking about the implications to every facet of our lives as Christians.

Paul Tripp observes that all of our sins in our marriage begin because we do not love God enough, and because we don't love God enough, we don't love others as we should.

That observation really hits home in light of what I was saying earlier.

In the same way that God is able to love us perfectly precisely because He doesn't need anything from us, He is fully content in Himself, the only way that we can love others completely is when we find, "The secret of being content in all things" (Philippians 4:11) for ourselves.

When we are fully content in Christ, we are able to imitate His love for us, but when we look to other people to fill our "needs" we do not love them as we ought to. For example, I may love my wife, but if I have a list of "needs" that I want her to fulfill, then I will always end up manipulating her, demanding of her, and being unsatisfied. It's only when I am content in Christ that I can truly love Sheryle, because now I have no lists, no demands, no obligations, I am free to love her because I chose her, to love her simply because I take delight in her.

I'm not saying it's easy to get to that point, and none of us do it perfectly all the time on this side of glory. But this is what makes the saints what they are! St. Paul was the greatest evangelist and missionary, not just because he was good at preaching, but because his identity, his contentment, his peace, was all found in Christ alone. He didn't need to impress people, he didn't need statistics, he didn't need people's admiration, whatever. He had the only thing he needed, Christ Jesus. And because He had the only thing he needed, St. Paul was free to love his mission field perfectly. So, let us imitate Paul as he imitates Christ, and learn the secret of being content in Christ so that our love for Jesus overflows into love for other people.

St. Paul, pray for us.

10/05/2024

In this episode of Freed Indeed Live, we learn what it means that Orthodoxy has a Eucharistic Ecclesiology, through Paul Evdokimov's excellent and eye-opening explanation of the subject, as well as exploring some of the implications of this idea, particularly juxtaposed against Western models of Ecclesiology.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/ZTR2WO_lPzs?si=WEiI8rRt77cvlHh7

And share with your friends so that they too can be Freed Indeed.

In this episode of Freed Indeed Live, we learn about Eucharistic Ecclesiology as explained in Paul Evdokimov's book, Orthodoxy. To support Freed Indeed, clic...

10/03/2024

I started reading this wonderful book, Orthodox Worship by Williams and Anstall today. So far, it is an excellent read. It's very well-written, and it's written at a lay level, so you don't have to have a degree in theology to understand it.

This sentence really struck me as a beautiful and theologically rich explanation of why the Apostles continued to use the liturgical worship of their ancestors when they established Christian worship, as we see in the book of Acts.

It's interesting because when I was in University, we used to debate this a lot. I took whole classes on the book of Acts, and one thing that we would always come back to in class discussions was the topic of why the Apostles are still worshipping liturgically, and more importantly, albeit more uncomfortably for most of my classmates, whether or not this meant that we should be practicing the liturgy as well. I won't go too deeply into the varied answers that myself and my classmates had at that time.

My point is that in this one sentence, we see the question addressed perfectly. Of course the Apostles continued to worship liturgically, that was how God had revealed heavenly worship to be, and it was how God had specified that He desires to be worshipped, but on the other hand, of course they would flesh that worship out differently. Unlike say, Messianic Jews today, who try to take rabbinic Judaism and slap Jesus (or Yeshua, or Yehoshua) on top, the Apostles were able to take the worship of the Old Covenant to the whole world in the power of the new covenant. It was the same worship pattern, but it had a rich new center, not our personal sacrifices, but His once for all sacrifice, rather than the partaking of a human meal offering, we partake of that food which He alone gives, His flesh and blood! Anyway, I highly recommend this book. It's so far the best book I've seen on explaining the liturgy biblically.

10/02/2024

Last night, my amazing wife Sheryle was on the SDA Q and A podcast to discuss her document in which she demonstrates that Ellen G. White fails the biblical tests of what it means to be a prophet. And discusses some of the reasons she became Eastern Orthodox.

Watch this amazing interview here: https://www.youtube.com/live/cLXFKjx9o8A

And be sure to share this with your friends, especially your SDA friends so that they can be freed indeed!

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10/01/2024

I remember when I first discovered the doctrine of Apostolic Succession. Many are surprised when I tell them that I actually became convinced of this teaching while reading the works of John Calvin.
Before I read the Institutes of the Christian religion, I was tried and true protestant who believed in the "invisible church" and rejected any notion of the Church as an actual institution that could be traced through History. Thanks be to God, John Calvin dispossessed me of that notion by thoroughly demonstrating the need for the Episcopate specifically so as to keep valid apostolic succession, without which, he argues, you aren't part of the Church.

Well, since reading the Institutes and becoming Eastern Orthodox, I've seen many great defenses of Apostolic succession, but one really excellent video on the subject that I've seen, is from my friend Macarius Johnson on his Youtube Channel, The Ortho Soul.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/OYuvoUmYRD8?si=TjshXZgsfuDDMvo2

And share this with your friends so that they too can see clearly that apostolic succession is biblical, historical, and reasonable to hold to.

Have you ever wondered why the earliest followers of Christ had completely different beliefs and practices than the ones held by today's Christians?For anyon...

09/29/2024

Don't miss the latest episode of Freed Indeed Live, in which I discuss the transformative power of prayer, especially as it pertains to marriage, and then share with you a prayer that I believe all married couples should pray every day.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/xIJr_J0gFU0?si=7kiadmQy407RugYV

And be sure to share this with your friends so that they too can be Freed Indeed.

In this episode of Freed Indeed Indeed Live, we learn about the power of prayer, and how prayer can transform your marriage, and then learn the best prayer f...

09/26/2024

One of the many things that I found really helpful in the Counseling conference I attended last weekend was the idea of the "tyranny of the trauma."

The tyranny of the trauma can show up in a lot of ways, both in the person traumatized and also in those trying to help them.

On the one hand, counselees can often resist biblical truth because, "Another pastor quoted this verse in a way that hurt me," or, "I would do that, but I'm still affected emotionally by x, y, and z."

As tragic as the person's story often is, we don't find healing by finding our identity in the ways in which we have suffered. We find healing when we give our suffering to God and move forward. Of course we are going to be influenced by all the things that have happened to us in the past, but how much power are you going to allow your past to have over your present?

Even worse, however, is the way that this tyranny often affects the counselor.

When we aren't willing to tell people what the bible says, when we aren't willing to encourage people to do something that we know God has called them to do in Scripture because we are too focused on not wanting to hurt their feelings, we are tyrannized by the trauma. Frankly, that's even worse, because our people need us, they need us to tell them the truth, not soothe them in their error.

So, in our lives, let us not be subject to the tyranny of the trauma! Instead, lets remember that in God's grace, we have been set free, and we have the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, and our healing comes when we stop living in the trauma, stop making the trauma our identity, and start living set free by the grace of God, when we start obeying God whether it feels good or not! That's when we experience the healing power of the cross in our lives.

09/25/2024

Doing apologetics for a long time I've noticed that the quickest way someone can show me that they know nothing about Orthodoxy is by thinking, "But which Orthodox Church?" is a valid argument. As one great theologian once said, "Orthodox Jurisdictions such as Russia, Greece, or even Rocor and the OCA are the opposite of denominations. For, demoninations are different churches in one location, jurisdictions and patriarchates are the same Church from different locales."

That said, I have noticed in reality that all modernist movements inherently produce discord. The LGBTQ+ movement for example is constantly fighting over what exactly that plus should be, attend any "peace" rally and you'll see that they are anything but peaceful. One person observed that, "Metalheads are nice people cosplaying as mean ones, and hippies are mean people cosplaying as nice people." And it's true, liberals talk about peace, love, and unity but are the most backstabbing and backbiting people. Read any comment section on tiktok. I could show you tons of videos where black tiktokers in particular have been talking about the fact that they've decided to vote for trump specifically because they're tired of how they are treated by leftists and they've noticed that trump supporters really don't care about the color of their skin.

It's not just the people we usually recognize as liberal either, there are five separate lutheran denominations that have excommunicated one another despite claiming to confess the same foundational documents. There are dozens of Presbyterian denominations alone, and protestantism in general has produced tens of thousands of denominations.

Whenever we choose rebellion, individualism, heresy, or sin, we divide ourselves further and further just like at Babel. Because all our towers to heaven can do nothing but crumble.

When we submit to God's will and stop trying to assert our own, when we stop trying to do what's modern and start doing what's right, that's when people with radically different pasts, radically different cultures, and radically different personalities, can come together and become one family.

Diversity isn't our strength, unity is. Unity under One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism.

09/19/2024

My dear friend Aaron Nielson posted something that caught my attention recently, he noted the interesting parallel between the widow of Nain having her son restored to her, and the Theotokos being given the Apostle John from the cross.

So, I read both and I saw that he was correct. In fact, this is a really interesting parallel.

The woman is having a funeral for her son, and Jesus walks up and says, "Do not weep." Then He raises the dead. He speaks life to a dead man, and then the text says, "Then He presented him to his mother." After which the people are in fear and awe, saying that a great prophet has arisen.

From the cross, Jesus is dying, and He presents another son to another mother. "Woman, behold your son."

Again, there's a moment of brokenness, and again, Jesus refuses to leave this woman unconsoled. Thing is, He cannot give her her own son back this time. This time her son cannot return to her, not yet, to do so would mean coming down from the cross, and this, He cannot do. For there is no salvation without the cross. The Christian religion cannot be without the God who is beyond suffering yet chooses to suffer for love. So, He gives her another son, "Woman, behold your son." And from that hour she went home with him.

That's not the end though, when the Widow's son lives, the people believed in Jesus, they knew that a great prophet had raisen (Luke 7:16) but when Jesus died, He is acknowledged as more than a prophet. In raising the dead, He is acknowledged by the Jews as a prophet. Yet in dying, He is acknowledged by a gentile as more, "Surely this man was the Son of God." (Matthew 27:54).

I think this parallel teaches us many things about Jesus, but perhaps the greatest of them is that great mystery that He is the One who conquers through weakness. In dying He destroys the power of death, and now He has risen again, and so we receive justification in Him.

09/18/2024

Have you been thinking about doing biblical counseling but didn't know where to begin? Are you someone interested in learning more about how to counsel people biblically? Are you a therapist who wants to learn how to carry on your work in a Christ-centered way instead of a secular one? Have you been skeptical of secular counseling methods in the past but don't know how to explain why?

Check out the Grace Matters Fall Intensives and see if learning more about Biblical Counseling is right for you!

Join here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/74a07fc1-fe48-49a0-8444-1975ea37785f

If you can't make it this time around, but would still like to know more, send me a message, I'd be happy to get you more information!

09/18/2024

Jesus commanded His adult followers to become like little children, but he never commanded children to become like adults. Let us observe this, and learn from it.

There's something so powerfully holy about people who retain their childlike wonder and joy throughout their lives.

One of the reasons I love Godzilla is because watching Godzilla movies takes me back to my childhood, my favorite Godzilla movies are the ones, like the recent Godzilla x Kong, that take me back to my childhood. In the scene where Godzilla emerged from the portal and starts running, I wanted to jump up from my chair and shout.

I get that same childlike wonder every time I walk my dog, and I'm surrounded by trees, and she stops to smell flowers and I just take in the sweet scent of the rainy morning. Or when my wife and I walk along the mighty Columbia, and watch her rage and glory mingle with majesty and grace. When I stand beside the ocean and smell the salty air, listen to the crashing of the waves as they sing the song of the One who set their boundaries.

For that matter, when I read Scripture, and I read about the glorious Saint Michael, who, just like Godzilla in the movie, charged forward against the deceiver who was a murderer from the beginning. In the power of the cross of Christ, Michael was able to finally cast down his ancient rival. I can just imagine the original readers of Revelation, having read their old testament, and having also read Enoch, Jubilees, and all the other stories in which Satan and Michael stood as rivals, I imagine them pumping their fists in exclamation at the idea that finally, the great Saint gained his great victory over the enemy of souls. Never again would anyone be like Job, for there is no longer an accuser on the Divine Council, he's defeated.

Better yet, the Savior crashing through Hell's gates, not a weak and defeated Jesus, but a conquering King who deprives the devil of even his sad dominion. That's my savior. That's my God. St. Alexandra is right, no matter how old I get, when I think of God, I will forever be a child pumping my fist in joy as my great hero conquers and rescues His beloved bride. I think that's why I fit in so well in Orthodoxy.