Loyalty, faithfulness, and reliability is what every servant leader pledges, just as Peter assured Jesus, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” Yet that very night, after invoking a curse and anathema upon himself that he knew not the arrested Jesus, the words of Jesus to Peter, "Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times," were made manifest. Fr. Timothy Lowe suggests that arrogance must run its full course so that our only hope is in the mercy of the Lord.
Read the full episode transcript here.
0 Comments
We all want a champion for our cause. But a naked man hanging dead from a cross doesn't look like a winner. Even the disciple Peter rebuked Jesus who foretold of his suffering in Jerusalem by the elders, chief priests, and scribes.
Who among us doesn't pay good money to protect, preserve, and champion our beliefs, our way of life, our prestige? Perhaps Judas sought to protect religiosity or force the hand of Jesus against the Roman occupation or was simply captivated by his own greed when he betrayed Jesus. Regardless, the will of the Father was accomplished through Jesus Christ, the ultimate Champion on the cross. Fr. Robert Holet, DMin, author of The First and Finest: Orthodox Christian Stewardship as Sacred Offering, discusses Judas's entanglement with money and his ultimate betrayal of an innocent man. Read the full episode transcript here. 
Psalm 51, a prayer of repentance so familiar to Orthodox Christians, teaches the double-edged wisdom of judgment and hope. Fr. Paul Lundberg suggests the psalm provides sobriety and a connection to the grace of humility, essential for anyone who wants to take leadership seriously, and to do it well. With "my sins ever against me" and acknowledging that "against Thee only have I sinned," does self-absorption run its course, realizing that our only hope is the hesed, the mercy of the Lord.
If you want like to learn more about current Biblical Hebrew or Greek course offerings as this podcast mentions, please contact Fr. Timothy Lowe. Read the full episode transcript here. 
From the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches private prayer and gives us the words to pray in "Our Father." A discipline of prayer, meditating on the words of Scripture, transforms a doulos who serves in the Lord's household, to seek and do His Father's will. Prayer supports the transformational process of self-emptying, where we might truly pray, "Not my will, but Thine be done."
Michelle Moujaes, Director of Faithtree Resources, shares The Encounter - a prayer book, app, and community initiative to support a discipline of transformational prayer. Read the full episode transcript here. |
Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|
© Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative. All rights reserved. OCLI is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit; FEIN 83-2005526