Our Life in Christ

Steve and Bill are once again invited to guest host the Andrew Tallman Show on KPXQ, a live Phoenix drive time Christian talk show. We decide to boldly go where no Evangelical talk show host has gone before. We discuss the topic of sola scriptura and during the program get a call from a suprise guest.

In the final interview of the series with Father Jonah, Steve and Bill have a major meltdown during the first segment trying to explain that even though this is the last interview it was really the first one recorded. This program focuses on the Christian life and monasticism as one expression of living out the Gospel of Christ in community. In this program Fr. Jonah discusses his view of our modern culture, the spirit of the age, and marriage and family and its similarities to the monastic community. It serves as a summary of many of the things discussed in the other five programs.

In part two of the conversation with Father Jonah we discuss the relationship of monasticism to the "normal" Christian life. The life lived in the Gospel is universally applied to all Christians, has the same goal and foundation, but is lived out in various ways.

We continue the series of interviews with Fr. Jonah. In part one of this interview we discuss a variety of topics that relate to the Orthodox view of the healing of the human person. Monasticism is but one of the ways that we are healed, but all of the spiritual disciplines and "methods" boil down to life within a community, whether it is a monastery, a marriage, a family or a parish. We are also trying some new sound file formats to attempt to fix the 49 minute podcast cut off problem. So, if our podcast listeners can let us know if THIS program plays all the way through we'd appreciate it!

We continue the series of interviews with Fr. Jonah Paffhausen. In this program Fr. Jonah discusses monasticism as a response to the Gospel. While monasticism is a specific calling, there is also a foundation of universal principles that all Christians are called to. Steve and Fr. Jonah also discuss the process of becoming a monk, some of the pitfalls of monasticism and some common misconceptions about monks and monasteries.

In part two of the discussion of the Jesus Prayer, Fr. Jonah talks about the context of the practice of the prayer and some of the spiritual pitfalls and dangers of entering a discipline of prayer without spiritual direction.

During a recent visit to St. John's Monastery, Steve recorded and interview with Abbot Jonah about the Jesus Prayer. In part one, Fr. Jonah discusses the Orthodox view of prayer that goes beyond "requests and praise." He also discusses the practice of the Jesus Prayer and the transformation of the human being which is a difficult and sometimes painful experience.

This is hour two of the Andrew Tallman Show that Steve and Bill hosted during Andrew's Christmas vacation.

Steve and Bill got invited to fill in for the vacationing Andrew Tallman, the afternoon drive time talk show host on 1360 KPXQ, the Phoenix area SALEM evangelical radio station. It is a two-hour show from 5 to 7pm, so we are posting the first hour of the program this week and the second hour next week.

We're baaaack! After an unintended extended hiatus from the program, we were finally able to find an evening to record a special "Christmas edition" of Our Life in Christ. In this program we walk through the icon of the Nativity and look at the wholistic view of the ministry of Christ in His incarnation. The Nativity icon foreshadows the Passion of Christ and we see in the details of the icon commmon elements that show us that our salvation began from eternity. Blessed Nativity to all of our listeners!

In the last program of the End Times series, Steve and Bill try to tag team wrestle "the Beast" and the "Antichrist." It was a tough match-up, and the they left some marks on them, but not the trademark "666." And just what does "666" mean anyway? Tune in and see who has been marked as the Beast and the Antichrist through history.

In part three on this series on the end times Steve and Bill discuss the Father's ancient wisdom of being silent on things that are difficult to interpret in the Bible then go on to discuss difficult topics about the end times. In this program they discuss the Rapture, dispensationalism and the place of the Church in God's plan of salvation, and Christian Zionism, all hinges on the door of many Protestant end time theories. They summarize how the Creed addresses all of these interpretations.

In the second part of a possible 144,000 part series on the End Times and the Revelation of St. John, Steve and Bill give some definitions of some of the views of the Tribulation and Rapture and where the second coming of Christ and judgment fits in the various scenarios. Then they take a romp through Church history and go through a list of prognostications about the second coming throughout the centuries.

In response to listener requests, Steve and Bill begin a new series on the Orthodox view of the end times and the book of Revelation. With the popularity of the "Left Behind" books, the recent developments in the Middle East, and the American Protestant theological hodge podge of end time scenarios, what does the Church have to say about all of the speculations about the immanent return of Christ? In this program Steve and Bill discuss the landscape of popular end time scenarios and laugh way too much.

In this final program of the series on the Divine Liturgy we discuss the dismissal prayers after communion. These are more than just a formality as they express the summation of all that we have experienced for the past hour or more: God is the lover of mankind. But the Christian's experience of the Eucharist does not end with the final doxology or the Liturgy. In many parishes there are "post communion prayers" that are read as the people come for the closing blessing and antidoron from the priest. These express in prayer the Orthodox experience of the Eucharist and its meaning to us as we commune and "go forth in peace."