I Love Christ

Elder Gabriel's on judging heterodox (who will be saved and who won't): Often Orthodox people will ask who will be saved and who will be not. We should not doubt and we should unshakably believe that Orthodoxy is the only true Religion (Divine Revelation). It is said for comparison that "We Orthodox sail in that ship which will pass through the raging ocean (or the distresses of the world) and will reach destination piece-fully. Others want to get there with happy life and without going though difficulties". In spite of it it's wrong that true Orthodox faithful claims we will be saved but Catholics, Muslims or representatives of other faith will all be damned. How can it be possible that the Creator of the Universe would create millions of people without a way of salvation and sending them all to hell for eternal punishment? Imagine for a second if you were born in Istanbul without a possibility of salvation what would you say about righteous judgment of the Creator? Don't they not have Kind and Good people along the evil ones? Of course they do. Do not think this does not matter. We should firmly believe that God will not leave without some way of salvation those who seek the truth and are God-fearing men. As folk wisdom says: "Blessed Christ God Seats on a Golden Throne Holding scales of justice weighing good and bad" Often God will let such miracles on kind man that he gets baptized and becomes true Christian. It is shameful and and it is sin when a man has no true love and has not truly repented but keeps asserting that Orthodox will be saved and all else will be damned. We can't make such statements and conclusions (whether a man will be saved or damned) not only about a healthy living human but also about a sinful dying man. The Lord says: "If you see a man on his deathbed do not judge for you know not how he will be judged". Sin is one thing and hell is another. They are not the same. Also, salvation is one thing and heaven (or kingdom of heaven) is another. They are not the same. We should firmly believe that without baptism whoever has not put on Christ's light will not see The Kingdom of God. We (Orthodox) are given more and thus we are required more. There's a saying of Holy Fathers: "Three things will surprise saved man in heaven: first that he is there; second that he will see those who he did not expect and third that he won't see those who he was expecting to see". God forbid us to judge any man, not to say judging whole country and whole nation. Fr. Gabriel never judged anybody even those who hurt him, imprisoned him or inflicted any type of injury (spiritual or physical) onto him. The igumenia (see note 1) of Monastery of Samtavro (See note 2) writes: "Fr. Gabriel strictly forbade us to judge anybody preaching thus: 'If you find a murderer or a prostitute or a drunkard alcoholic dropped on the ground never judge him/her, never judge God-created man, since God has let their reins loose but holds you reins under control. If he lets you reins loose you will fall into worse distress and you will be destroyed. As a thread has to go through an eye of the needle one will go through the same sin for which one judged somebody else'"

The Husband Demanded his Wife be a Fleshly Object A certain lady from Thessaloniki told me that once Saint Paisios brought a decisive end to a burdensome and extremely sinful marital trial she was facing. She and her husband had different spiritual fathers (confessors). Her own spiritual father was traditional, conscientious, and pointed out the God-ordained boundaries and conditions of an honorable marriage. Her husband’s spiritual father, however, was a modernist and “post-patristic,” and he would tell her husband the well-known, blasphemous, and immoral claim that: “God leaves the bedrooms free and does not concern Himself with what spouses do in their relations, but with the heart…” The husband demanded that his wife turn into a base, degrading, fleshly object, constantly pressuring her—under the blessing of his spiritual father—to submit to unnatural, God-hated, and abominable sin. She followed the guidance of God’s voice through her good spiritual father and never even considered committing such a pathological and impious act. At some point, in despair, she went to the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti and met Saint Paisios there. She confided her problem to him and asked for his help. According to her testimony, the Saint became, as we say, like a “volcano” of righteous indignation. He instructed her not to give in—even under threat of death—to the most loathsome and deadly sins fallen man can commit. He explained that through such sins the devil enters the marriage and the Holy Spirit departs. People become sub-beastly creatures—so degraded that even animals should feel ashamed before them and humans should learn from the animals instead. He further explained that such acts overturn the purpose of marriage, which preserves what is natural and elevates it to the supernatural. These abominable acts—like those punished by fire from heaven in Sodom—are especially beloved by the devil, because they lead the human being, created in the image and likeness of God, downward into the distorted state of demons rather than toward the exalted, triumphant position revealed by the deified human nature assumed by Christ—namely, at the right hand of the Father. He called these acts a scourge of the age and a cause of divorces, psychological fragmentation between spouses, and especially the corruption and moral downfall of modern children, who absorb demonic influence through the conditions surrounding their conception and from the open spiritual wounds that remain unhealed in their parents’ souls. What particularly impressed the woman was Saint Paisios’ insistence that she report her husband’s “spiritual father” to his bishop so that he would be defrocked. He told her verbatim: “Go and tell the bishop so he can strip him (of his priesthood)!” We thus observe Saint Paisios’ clear position—consistent with all the Holy Fathers—against any form of sexual perversion, whether outside or within marriage. Such acts turn marriage into a “legitimized” form of sodomy with destructive consequences both for the spouses—who, if they do not repent, are condemned—and for their children. We also see his patristic stance toward those so-called “spiritual fathers” who lack the Holy Spirit and give ruinous advice to their spiritual children by indulging their passions. As taught by the patristic tradition, a spiritual father has the authority to forgive only those things that are forgivable according to God’s law—not everything. Willful blindness and unlawful, misguided forgiveness of unrepentant sinners lead both the one confessing and the spiritual father to condemnation. May the Lord grant us discernment and bless us all through the prayers of His saint, Saint Paisios the Athonite. *Hieromonk Savvas Agioritis*

“Once, our venerable father, great among ascetics, came to the tomb of Alexander the Great, the king of the Hellenes, who of old shone in glory. Horrified at time which never stands still and the temporal nature of glory, he cried out, “Beholding thee, O Grave, I fear the judgement of God and pour forth tears, for the comoon debt of all mandkind comes to mind. O Death, who is able to escape thee?” The disciples of Abba Sisoes then made an icon of their elder looking on at the open casket with the skeletal remains of Alexander the Great, and inscribed his words of exclamation given above.” JULY 6 // ST. SISOES THE GREAT

Abortion is Lucifer’s demonic parody of our Holy Eucharist…..which is why the Satanists usurped and twisted the same words “This is my body” but with the opposite satanic meaning. Abortion is the sacrament of Satanism masquerading around as the religion of secular progressivism. A well known Elders once said that infanticide (abortion) is the nuclear bomb of sins. Because it’s one of the few grave sins that requires multiple participants (the mother, the father, the doctor, the nurses, anyone that works at that hospital, the people that harvest the organs/tissue and sell them, and so on…..). “Parents need to understand that life begins at the moment of conception.” ☦️Saint Paisios

When life feels lonely and your struggles seem unseen, remember this beautiful truth: the God who found Hagar in the wilderness still sees His children today. No prayer is unheard, no tear is wasted, and no faithful act is forgotten. You are never beyond His loving care. 🙏❤️ Pastor Bhuvana Chakra Kowluri The Power of Living God Ministries, India #BibleStudy #ChristianLiving #GodSeesYou #KJVBible #Faith #HopeInChrist #ChristianEncouragement #ThePowerOfLivingGodMinistries

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https://youtu.be/tJXYLvmpD7g?si=CXn8Pckes4rFONg0