Bücher veröffentlicht von Ancient Faith Publishing

In this follow-up volume to Big in Heaven, stories of life at St. Alexander the Whirling Dervish parish continue. Gather with the boys at Shooky's Taproom or hang out in the church hall with the Teuta Ladies Baking Society and catch up on all the gossip about Father Naum and his friends and parishioners as their lives unfold in struggles, hope, temptations, faith, and love. You'll come away seeing your own life and those around you with new, more compassionate eyes.

In modern parlance, the word sacrifice conjures images of suffering, loss, and even martyrdom. But sacrifice as practiced in the Old Testament and throughout the ancient world was most often the occasion of joyous celebration-a way of drawing near to God and to the other members of the community. Welcoming Gifts explores the history of sacrifice, the meaning of Christ's sacrifice, and what the concept should mean for Christians today-a way of expressing and cementing our relationship with God.

What do African American spirituality and Orthodox Christianity have in common? More than you might think. Drawing on both his own background as a biracial convert to Orthodoxy and historical resources that span St. Athanasius to Frederick Douglass, Fr. Paul Abernathy details the many intersections between these two traditions, including a redemptive understanding of the Cross and a faith shaped by suffering and persecution. In so doing, he points to a new path whereby Orthodox Christianity can uniquely answer the spiritual needs of African Americans.

"The lesson of love can never be taught simply by words . . . Rather, it is taught by truly giving yourself and communicating the love and longing for Christ to those you serve. . . . How awesome and dignified is Christian service! And how good is the trustworthy and loyal servant who can say along with Christ, 'Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart' (Matt. 11:29)." (from the Introduction) This book is essential and inspiring reading for all who would devote their lives to the service of Christ and His Church. ¿Originally published in Arabic as El-khedma by the Monastery of St. Macarius the Great, Wadi el-Natrun (Egypt), 1980. Translation published by permission.

The tragic war in Syria along with the plight of the Christians there remains among the most misunderstood situations in the world today. Syria Crucified seeks to contribute to better understanding in the West by giving a voice to individual Syrian Christians living in exile from their homeland. These men and women have undergone horrific trauma and loss without losing their faith in God or the ability to forgive their persecutors. Their first-person accounts, framed by the authors' narration for historical, cultural, and geopolitical context, are both edifying and inspiring.

Infanticide. Holy war. Divine wrath. Violence in the Old Testament has long been a stumbling block for Christians and skeptics alike. Yet conventional efforts to understand this aspect of Scripture-whether by downplaying it as allegory or a relic of primitive cultures, or by dismissing the authority of Scripture altogether-tend to raise more questions than they answer. God Is a Man of War offers a fresh interpretation of Old Testament accounts of violence by exploring them through the twofold lens of Orthodox tradition and historical context. Instead of avoiding or invalidating problem passages out of discomfort, Fr. Stephen De Young inquires into what they reveal about the nature of Christ and His creation. In doing so, this book bears witness to a world filled not only with pain and suffering-often of human making-but also with the love of God, poured out through the endless centuries and generations of human strife that preceded and necessitated the Incarnation of Christ.

The Orthodox Church's reverence for Mary the Mother of God can be a stumbling block for converts, and a fulfilling relationship with her can prove elusive for converts and lifelong Orthodox Christians alike. In this deeply personal but beautifully universal memoir, Brandi Willis Schreiber relates her own quest to know and love the Virgin Mary and to incorporate her as a vital participant in her spiritual life. Brandi's sparkling, vulnerable account invites the reader to join her in this quest.

Traditionally, the Orthodox Church has appointed forty days of rest and seclusion after childbirth for mothers to recover from the rigors of birth and get to know their new babies. In the modern world, it can be difficult to understand how to use this time to the fullest in the way it was intended. The authors of A Sacred Beginning-a therapist and a pediatrician who are both mothers themselves-come to the rescue with a resource that addresses the spiritual, emotional, and physical aspects of a mother's recovery from birth and embarkation on her new life. Whether you are preparing to birth your first baby or your tenth, you will find in this book a wealth of spiritual food, comfort, encouragement, and sound advice to guide you, one postpartum day at a time.

In this hauntingly beautiful novel, a nameless Lightkeeper, ageless and outside of time, is pulled through time to tend lighthouses on far shores, battling danger, loneliness, uncertainty, and despair. What begins as the burial of a lighthouse keeper on a routine assignment soon transforms into the greatest adventure of her life and a path to a more distant shore. Through this journey she learns what it means to be human and to love, especially when death is a certainty.

Infertility ranks among the hardest griefs a couple can face. Yet this painful issue is all too often neglected in both Church and society. Under the Laurel Tree traces one God-fearing couple's journey through the emotional turmoil of childlessness. By following the story of Saints Joachim and Anna, this book helps individuals and couples navigate the loss inherent in infertility amid the pain of shame, separation, anger, bargaining, and blamelessness. In walking alongside Joachim and Anna, we encounter not only a life-giving template for grief, but also the path back to ourselves, our partner, and our God-given vocation of eucharistic thanksgiving.

Whether you are a young person embarking on the grand adventure of finding a life partner, or a member of a courting or engaged couple, Two Become One will help you be sure your partner is right for you and help the two of you together lay a firm foundation for the lifelong adventure of marriage. Married couples will also find much of benefit for strengthening their relationship. Weaving ancient wisdom and modern psychology into a single approach, the authors address difficult contemporary issues related to sexuality and marriage and help couples reach a sound and profound understanding of what marriage is all about.

Our first parents departed from what it means to be truly human when they ate from the forbidden tree. Ever since, humans have been working with corrupted minds and wills, employing a distorted approach to life. Kevin Scherer calls this "psycho-logic," and he knows how it can lead us on a downward spiral to misery. How do we get back to the Garden? By allowing Christ to renew our minds, using the tried-and-true spiritual practices of the Orthodox Faith.

The doctrine of hell as a place of eternal punishment has never been easy for Christians to accept. The temptation to retreat from and reject the Church's traditional teaching about hell is particularly strong in our current culture, which has demonstrably lost its sense of sin. Fr. Lawrence Farley examines the Orthodox Church's teaching on this difficult subject through the lens of Scripture and patristic writings, making the case that the existence of hell does not negate that of a loving and forgiving God.

How we care for and nurture our bodies has implications for all areas of our development-physical, emotional, and even spiritual. The body is a living and organic revelation of the unseen spirit inside-a kind of garden. Garden in the East is a poetic exploration of how the care of the body can lead us towholeness and wellness in every area of our lives.

Many modern readers think of the Book of Numbers with a groan. And it does begin slowly, with several chapters detailing the census of Israel. But once we get past those chapters, Numbers becomes a thrilling narrative of Israel's journey through the desert as well as a cautionary tale about how not to respond to the saving mercies of God. Fr. Patrick Reardon's chapter-by-chapter analysis will help the reader glean the greatest possible profit from this oft-neglected book.

Archpriest Gordon T. Walker served God for his entire life, from his childhood as a Baptist in Alabama through years as a Protestant pastor and finally, after decades of searching for the true Church, as an Orthodox priest. One of the founding leaders of the former Evangelical Orthodox Church, Fr. Gordon had a special heart for youth and founded Grace Ministries to facilitate serving them. In the course of his ministry, he touched hundreds of lives with the boundless love and grace of God. This memoir, compiled and edited after his repose by his brother Philip Walker, reveals the servant heart of a dedicated man of God.

Popular author and speaker Archpriest Michael J. Oleksa has spent most of his life serving the Church in Alaska and advocating for the Native populations there. But he has also had many adventures in other parts of the world. The unifying thread in all his experiences is the providence of God, leading him, providing for him, and guiding him through miracles large and small. In this collection of reminiscences, Fr. Michael relates story after story of the wondrous love and mercy of God working in his life and the lives his ministry has touched. His faith and enthusiasm are contagious.

St. Ignatius, first-century Bishop of Antioch, called the "God-bearer," is one of the earliest witnesses to the truth of Christ and the nature of the Christian life. Tradition tells us that as a small child, Ignatius was singled out by Jesus Himself as an example of the childlike faith all Christians must possess (see Matthew 18:1-4). In Bearing God, Fr. Andrew Damick recounts the life of this great pastor, martyr, and saint, and interprets for the modern reader five major themes in the pastoral letters he wrote: martyrdom, salvation in Christ, the bishop, the unity of the Church, and the Eucharist.

Disability is not a boundary to holiness, because God is with us. But it can sometimes be an obstacle to full participation in the life of the Church, simply because many do not understand what is needed to help people with disabilities overcome any physical, mental, or interpersonal challenges they may face in church and in leading an Orthodox Christian life. This book addresses the question from theological, practical, and experiential perspectives, giving individuals and families with disabilities the opportunity to voice their needs and suggest some things the rest of us can do to make them welcome in the household of God.

Speaking to non-believers and believers alike, Fr. Andrew Damick attempts to create a sacred space in which we can encounter God. In this compact volume, he distills the essence of the traditional Christian faith, addressing the fundamental mysteries of where God is, who God is, why we go to church, and why Christian morality matters. If you've only heard about the Protestant or Roman Catholic version of Christianity, what he has to say may surprise you-and make you long to encounter God in Jesus Christ.

In 1892, a young man left his home in the coastal foothills of Lebanon in search of a better life. Coming to America with his newlywed wife, he found work as a traveling peddler before settling on a small farm in central Nebraska. Years later, personal tragedy and an unexpected midnight visit from a saint changed the course of his life. Seeing the desperate need of his fellow Orthodox Christians and heeding God's call, he would spend the rest of his life traversing the Great Plains as a circuit-riding priest, known to his thousands of parishioners as Father Nicola Yanney. His legacy stands alongside that of St. Raphael Hawaweeny, his mentor, as a seminal force in the American Orthodox Church of our day.

Thousands of readers and listeners have benefited from the fatherly wisdom and insight of The Morning Offering, the blog and podcast of Abbot Tryphon of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery, Vashon Island, Washington. Now Abbot Tryphon's reflections on faith and contemporary life have been collected in book form, with one entry for each day of the year. Start your day with The Morning Offering and keep yourself oriented toward Christ all through the day.

Ileana, Princess of Romania and Archduchess of Austria-who in later life became Mother Alexandra, founder of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Pennsylvania-wrote this memoir shortly after relocating to the US in the 1950s. It tells the story of a life full of suffering, tragedy, and exile, but all is suffused with the author's deep faith, hope, love, and even joy. This reprint includes additional material collected by the nuns of her monastery that sets the memoir in the context of Mother Alexandra's later life.[Original text first published in 1951 by Rinehart & Company, Inc. Additional materials were added to this second edition in 2018 by the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration.]

Popular biblical commentator and church historian Fr. Lawrence Farley turns his hand to hagiography in this collection of lives of saints, one or more for each day of the calendar year. His accessible prose and contemporary approach make these ancient lives easy for modern Christians to relate to and understand.

"[These] stories begin to paint a new kind of Icon, that of a truly American Orthodox Christian, of regular people simply trying to be or tragically rejecting being regular human beings, the kind of people perhaps never even imagined by most American readers. . . . The stories break the mold of what a religious or non-religious story ought to be. They are not moralistic, nor are they irreverent in their honest portrayal of the realities of life in the Church. Rather they are just good, honest stories, and in being this they are sacramental, conveying and holding together elements of life that are seemingly disparate." (from the Foreword)Sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes convicting, these stories of life in an inner-city immigrant Orthodox parish are guaranteed to shake your assumptions and make you see your life and faith in a new way. They are not for the faint of heart-but they are very much for all who want to embrace the truth more fully. Fiction for adults.

This second edition of the bestselling Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy is fully revised and significantly expanded. Major new features include a full chapter on Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movements, an expanded epilogue ("Relations with the Non-Orthodox") and a new appendix ("How and Why I Became an Orthodox Christian"). More detail and more religions and movements have been included, and the book is now addressed broadly to both Orthodox and non-Orthodox, making it even more sharable than before.For reference, the first edition was called Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: Exploring Belief Systems Through the Lens of the Ancient Christian FaithAre you an Orthodox Christian who wonders how to explain to your Baptist grandmother, your Buddhist neighbor, or the Jehovah s Witness at your door how your faith differs from theirs? Or are you a member of another faith who is curious what Orthodoxy is all about? Look no further. In Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick covers the gamut of ancient heresies, modern Christian denominations, fringe groups, and major world religions, highlighting the main points of each faith. This book is an invaluable reference for anyone who wants to understand the faiths of those they come in contact with as well as their own.

Ancient Faith has produced a fresh update and redesign of a book cherished by a generation of seekers. Written in an accessible manner for the average lay person, Orthodox Worship offers insights into the Orthodox liturgy. Early Christians preserved a continuity of worship from the Old Covenant to the New, employing elements from the Jewish Temple liturgy, the synagogue liturgy, and the rituals of the Jewish home. The book shows how divinely revealed Old Testament worship is not only continued but also fulfilled in the Orthodox liturgy. A line-by-line explanation of the liturgy is included.