Towards a Christian Life

The Christian life is a personal intimate relationship between you and Christ. This life begins in faith (Ephesians ) and can only be lived by faith. Faith is.
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On the other hand, the word orthodox Gr. Hence, orthodoxy either refers to 'right belief' or 'right worship' Hierotheos This definition of orthodoxy implies the following: The true teaching about God incorporates the true worship of God. The close connection between theology right belief and life right action can be illustrated as follows Stevens In his book, Redeeming the routine , Banks indicates how the whole of our life has the glorious prospect of living out the great doctrines of the faith.

Looking at the connection between theology and everyday life through the first lens of orthodoxy , one needs to consider the following Steven Orthopraxy literally means 'right action'. In theological circles it is now widely recognised that theology needs to be liberated from the dichotomy that exists between practical skills and theoretical knowledge.

However, in the process of integrating these two aspects of theology, it is would be wise to retain a certain amount of fruitful tension between them. What is theological about praxis and what is practical about theology? Dykstra notes the ever-present tension between the so-called academic fields of theology - Bible, history, ethics disciplines in which practice is thought to have no intrinsic place and 'applied theology', which is often relegated to 'how to' techniques for clergy.

Should the subjects, such as evangelism, preaching, pastoral care and counselling, loosely be called 'applied theology' or 'ministry division courses'? In this regard, Dykstra provides the following good analysis of right practice. He defines a Christian practice as distinct from activities as inherently cooperative not a solo action , inherently good generates value and inherently revelatory bears epistemological weight Dykstra Looking at the connection between theology and everyday life through the second lens of orthopraxy , one needs to reflect upon the following Stevens It is about humanising theological living.

Especially in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus teaches that obedient action is the organ of further revelation. We must cultivate the heart inside Christian practice ; whether washing dishes or preaching, all should be done to please God. Orthopathy literally means 'right passion' or 'right values'. Job is an excellent example of orthopathy. In his prayer life, Job was not a half-hearted researcher. As Job went through one test after the other, he was persistent in prayer and used his experience of adversity in order to know God better.

Like Jacob, he refused to let God go until He had blessed him. Looking at the connection between theology and everyday life through the third lens of orthopathy , one should consider the following Stevens Ministering to the poor simultaneously heals the hearts of the rich and nourishes the Church of Christ. We cannot simply deal with the poor, the stranger and the outsider in principle. It is in the context of actual neighbour-relationships that we are invited to live the life of faith. Job is a stunning example of orthopathy. His school was his life.

As he went through test after test, sometimes with obvious weariness, Job began to want God more than he wanted health. Job never asked for healing.

Living A Christian Life Requires Constant Effort

What he wanted was the friendship of God Job Job used his experience of the absence of God in order to know God better. Job was not a half-hearted researcher. He took God on - withstanding God, wrestling with God, extracting revelation from God and, in the end, knowing God. Narrative - The story behind the passage: Isaiah's background circumstances Context.

King Uzziah ruled the Southern kingdom for more than 50 years and was a godly and powerful king. His reign was a time of tremendous security and prosperity. He had restored God's people to a place of prominence again. However, when Uzziah died, no one knew what the next leader would be like.

Living A Christian Life Requires Constant Effort

Like the people, Isaiah was confused and afraid. During Uzziah's reign, many sins came along with the increased wealth - there was greed, injustice, oppression and corruption in all areas of life. Many people were exploited by the strong and wealthy. In the face of impending judgment against His own people, God called the prophet Isaiah and appeared to him in BC, the year that King Uzziah died. Isaiah was taken into the very throne room of God, where, in an awesome vision, he was confronted by the thrice holy God.

He was purified and commissioned to speak God's words of judgment and salvation Sailhamer Orthodoxy - The theology of the passage: In contrast to the method of using systematic theology to inform the holiness of God, narrative theology is an approach to theology that finds meaning in story. In the section on Narrative Theology it was indicated that Old Testament biblical theology tends to depend mainly on Bible stories narrative for its theological building blocks.

The Bible narrative recorded in Isaiah 6: Through this experience, Isaiah comes to understand the importance of God's holiness. This realisation is demonstrated throughout his writings, as his favourite title for God is 'the Holy One of Israel'. It is the characteristic shouted in the throne room of God. This is precisely what God gave to Isaiah - a dramatic revelation of His holiness.

Isaiah saw the Lord sitting enthroned, lofty and exalted. The angels who stood above Him were magnificent.

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The earth quaked and the temple was filled with smoke. It was as dramatic a vision of God and His holiness as one could ever wish to see Deffinbaugh To say that God is holy means that He is unique, with no rivals or competition. To be holy is to be "other", to be different in a special way.


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Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? But God's holiness is more than just being unique and without comparison. It also encompasses the idea of purity. When the angels sing, 'Holy, Holy, Holy', they mean that God is pure and that all righteousness is defined by who God is. God's purity is depicted in Habakkuk 1: It is a characteristic of God that He requires of His people Lv It involves setting one's life apart for God instead of conforming to the standards of the world 1 Pt 2: What is vigilance and how do we remain vigilant? How do we abide in Christ?

The search for the answer to these questions in my own life led me and my family to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. I cannot say I have all the answers; I certainly do not. In addition to the yearly cycle, there is a weekly cycle of fasting, a daily cycle of prayer and so on. Practically speaking, when I began to participate in this cycle, I noticed a change in my overall temperament. The day would follow a pattern of morning prayers, prayers before meals, and evening prayers.

Short times during the day to reorient myself back to Christ.

What a Christian is

These icons, hanging in the Church and in our house, cultivate the presence of God by bringing us back to the center and meaning of life. It is a way to keep Christ at the forefront of our daily lives. Candles are lit while daily prayers are said in the presence of these icons and serve as a reminder of the light of Christ within us.

One area we have failed to confront in our age is the thought life. Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility.

In order to be vigilant we must take every thought captive to Christ. Instead of attacking such thoughts we should divert our attention to Christ through prayer. The early Christians did this with a short prayer said repetitively. The reason for this is to have a specific prayer in your arsenal that you can immediately go to and begin praying.


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  5. For in such cases when we pray without knowing what to pray our minds will often wander back to the forbidden thought. The short, repetitive prayer will allow you to focus on the words and refocus on Christ, in whom and through whom is our victory. So how do we abide in Christ? The answer, I truly believe, is in the Church. But as time passes, and we continue to fight and to advance, our progress is not so obvious to us. What we notice are the waves and the wind, while the shore seems to stay fixed in the same spot.

    That is the time for faith and abandonment. It is the time to realize that our Lord has not lost interest in us, and to remember that difficulties—the wind and the waves—are a necessary part of life, the life that we have to sanctify, knowing that Christ is close beside us. We cannot expect to always feel that he is close by us, nor should we think that, because we are close to God, problems will not weigh us down. But neither should we fall into the mistake of seeing difficulties as proof that our Lord has turned away from us, even slightly or for a short time.

    On the contrary, difficulties give us the chance to show God how much we love him, how authentic our virtue is. They give us a chance to show our faith in his closeness, and to make him present for others through our joy, our work, and the serene acceptance of setbacks in our life.

    Peter and the others had been battling against the wind and water, and their own inner turmoil, for hours, when our Lord came to their help. He could have solved the problem instantly, or appeared among them in the boat without their seeing him coming. But he had other lessons to teach them, and preferred to act in a way that they could reflect upon afterwards. He came to them walking on the sea. Since it was dark, it was not easy to see who he was. The fact of his coming was extraordinary in itself, but the disciples were already frightened, and fear prevents people from judging events clearly and serenely.

    Given the circumstances, their reaction was quite understandable: Our Lord soothed them: Take heart, it is I; have no fear. Lord , he said, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water. Simon would have to get out of the boat and set foot on the choppy, uncontrollable surface of the water.

    At a word from the Master, he put one leg over the side, then the other, and he started walking towards our Lord. He wanted to reach Christ, and was ready to do anything to achieve his goal. The resolutions we make to be more generous at times of turmoil should not be mere words. Our trust in God should overcome any indecisiveness or fear of putting them into practice.

    We need to be able to step decisively, even when there seems to be no solid ground to tread on, in order to walk towards Christ.

    What a Christian is not

    To advance towards God we have to take risks; we have to lose our fear of storms and be ready to put our lives on the line. As he walked over the water, Peter could feel the wind and waves more strongly than the others. His life depended on his faith even more clearly than theirs, now that he had got out of the boat and was walking towards Jesus. This is the risky situation we Christians find ourselves in. We too are trying to journey towards our Lord in circumstances, both external and internal, that are mostly beyond our control.

    We are more at the mercy of the waves than those who fear to confront the immensity of the supernatural life and prefer the poor apparent safety offered by their own little boat. So there is nothing strange about our realizing that sometimes we are not on solid ground, and are going through turmoil. That is the time to realize once again that we live by faith—not a faith that calms the storms and removes the danger of walking on the waves, but a faith that gives us light amid the turmoil, and explains the violence of the waves. By faith [the Israelites] crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land; but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

    With faith, we do not escape setbacks, but we have more resources to cope with them, and we know that God can make them turn in our favor. The Chosen People must have been terrified to walk across the sea-bed, with the added danger that their enemies might overtake them; but by overcoming their fear, they achieved safety.