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CityAlight - Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me Listen with your heart

If you ever feel led to come back to Orthodoxy, feel free to do so! We will still be here, and you will find many who will welcome you back with open arms.

Greetings from The Bride of Christ. I am 63 years old, Wisdom. I am Canadian First Nations, Spiritual. God is Spirit first then flesh. Christianity is a way of being, living, not a man made religion. Too many pick, choose, accept what suits andis against God's laws. Now we see the war on religions in these End of Times. Religions, churches have done much damage in the name of God. The pope, Vatican serves Lucifer as many usher in the New World Order. What most cannot conceive is that God the Creators are Father, Mother. Mother Mary is the Holy Ghost/Spirit as it does say in Genesis. God said Let Us make man in Our Image male, female. One cannot exist without the other.

I see your heavy focus on exclusivity claims of Salvation. I also consider this my main issue when looking at these faiths. When becoming Orthodox or Catholic I would no longer feel the need to proclaim simply salvation through Jesus Christ, but by both Him and the Church itself. Some may say Christ is His church, referencing His conversation with Paul on the road, but we are speaking of an actual physical establishment, membership and allegiance to an actual group. It is like 1 Cor 1:13 when Paul asked “Is Christ divided?” And people claimed their allegiances according to who baptized them. Its like one of them then claiming only baptism by this person will save you. So the Gospel is not simply of Jesus but Jesus with the added condition of being *through* this specific Church order. I think it is the same concept that Paul speaks against when speaking of division among brothers.

Its always that exclusivism that turns me away from converting to Catholicism or Orthodoxy. I get so close and then I remember the countless issues I have with the implications of making such a statement that there is no salvation outside the Church.

With this level of subjectivist interpretation in objective church doctrine, it is no wonder why you ultimately defaulted to protestantism. It allowss ultimate freedom to shift and change your theological beliefs since it has no indisputable spiritual authority attached to it whatsoever.

The Bible doesn't teach Christianity is reduced to faith alone, rather it emphasis that salvation is reducable to faith alone. That's a massive distinction. The Bible's central theme is salvation, but not every verse and doctrine on how we ought to live is salvation focused. Much of it involves secondary teachings to talk about how the redeemed ought to live after being saved.

Pray that we speak with charity...wow. Solid advice

Apostasy!

Imagine if the Apostle Paul left the Church because St. Peter said or did things contrary to the teachings of Christ (something St. Paul does do in rebuking St. Peter for not sitting with the Gentiles in fear of the Jews). My dearest brother, I understand how priests and even popes can scandalize people by their words and actions, but when we fail to obey the Church and her members we are failing to obey Christ. That does not mean we must assent to every fallible word that comes from the popes mouth, but we ought to obey the Church even if it leads us to the cross. When certain disciplines and liturgical traditions are changed you ought to obey the Church - because those things are not dogmatic or imperishable or even commanded by Christ... those are things which the Church has the right to change, for better or worse. But the Advocate will not allow His Church to fall, He will ensure that His Church endures to the end of the age. The best thing we can do, without losing integrity, is to pray and obey Christ and his Church faithfully to the end.

May I know if you are a priest before? Or a Father of the family? 1) And ask why you use the word Father today as you said, you already leave from the catholic church. 2) Are you happy after leaving from the catholic church? 3.) Are you proud to your religion today? 4) If you still refered yourself as Father today so your religion was become a catholic.

Dear Father Andrew, God bless you, son! I, myself, was raised Roman Catholic, became Eastern Orthodox, aged 18, and spent almost 30 years of my life in an Orthodox monastery. I had always said that if I weren't Orthodox, I would be Anglican/Episcopalian, being an Anglophile and loving the very attractive approach of the 3-stooled foundation of Bible, tradition and reason. After 20 years of wandering between the Episcopal Church (to which I still feel a great fondness and affinity), Universal Unitarianism, Deism, Wicca, and nothing, after some very serious and clear demonic oppression in my life, I came to understand through hearing radio and on-line sermons of Baptist preachers, that salvation is by faith alone, by grace alone, through Jesus Christ alone, not by baptism or Eucharist or membership in any 'one, true Church', etc. I would urge you, dear brother, to listen to some of the sermons on RUclips by Ken Legg, Gavin Ortlund, Robert Breaker, Charles Stanley, Chuck Swindoll, Scott Ingram and so many others that teach very clearly from the Word of God that we are saved by faith alone and that the Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican/Episcopal and other Protestant churches have departed from the original, pure Gospel which Paul preached to us, as revealed to him by the unlying mouth of our Lord, God and Saviour Himself. The Anglican/Episcopal Church, like the Orthodox and Catholic, from which it clearly derives, still carries with her errors that started so very early on in the Christian community and which do not represent the true Gospel. If I were to put cultural affinity, comfort, intellectual satisfaction above all else, I would readily choose the Anglican/Episcopal Church. Once I understood the original and true Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed to and preached by the holy Apostle Paul, however, I could no longer go that route. The Baptists, indeed, seem to have held to the original Gospel truth and Church polity, but were persecuted and estranged, early on, especially once Emperor Constantine united Church and State, after which many pagans came into the church, bringing in their own beliefs and by which time there were already great departures from Apostolic truth, polity and practice. Please, read this: www.voliniabaptistchurch.com/page/history-of-baptist-churches-the-trail-of-blood At www.archive.org there are available so very many works that one can read which explain the true origin of Baptist beliefs and their centuries long struggle against the errors and persecutions of the 'official church', be it Orthodox, Catholic or Anglican. I would love to be an Anglican/Episcopalian (!) but cannot deny the Holy Writ which clearly shows that salvation, eternal and secure is not by membership in a given church, or adherence to a give creed, or by baptism or Eucharist or by good works, but, rather, by faith alone in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who shed His precious Blood that all our sins, past, present and future, might be forgiven, cleaned, washed away; that we be totally and completely justified before His Heavenly Father, that we be saved, eternally secure, never to lose that salvation promised by Him to all who believe on Him, that we be sanctified and inheritors, without any shadow of a doubt, of life eternal! I pray, dear Father, that, having come to see the errors of the Eastern Orthodox, as God has also allowed me to see, that you, also, see that the Anglican Church is but yet another step towards the greater truth of the Gospel as found in independent Baptist churches. It is not a church or denomination, of course, that saves us, but faith in and relationship with Jesus, our Saviour, through Whom we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Who continually guides us into all truth + Written in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with prayers for you, also, to be able to see this Truth. Wishing you all the very best, dear Brother Andrew, knowing that God, in His infinite love and mercy, leads each of us, in His own time and own way, to see this Truth. It may take decades, but, glory be to Him Alone Who saves, when before our end He leads us out of the error and deception of Christian Religion to relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ.

I'm sure you cannot find a real church founded by jesus after you leave from Roman Catholic Church. We Catholic pray for you.

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Luke 18

I cannot believe these "holy" Orthodox believers spewing poison to this man and end their sentence with "May Lord be with you" as if they did not completely hated this man with passion. Why are they so judge and I can't feel Christ in their comments. This is coming from someone who's thinking about converting to EOC. Why are you guys so harsh and toxic. Do you not feel this man's genuine about his doubts?

You didn’t leave orthodoxy, you have left Christ. Instead you went joined yourself to a church that ordains women, sanctions homosexual unions and supports other social progressive ideologies. This is serious error on your part and speaks of your spiritual condition. I suggest you repent and pray God has mercy on you.

Lots of church father reading. Why not skip the fathers for a while and just read the bible? Are the fathers greater than the apostles and prophets, or Christ himself? "God, Who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past to the Fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by HIS SON..."

So you left for a bunch of mistakes you made about what Catholicism actually teaches. You were supposed to be an expert but in reality knew very little. Sad.

What are you doing praying TO Mary. This is not Biblical and indeed is a grave mistake. We have but one Comforter, so pray to the Father in Jesus Name. For the Church, you ever you are should not be leading their people to sin. The Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth.

It sounds like you left because you hit your head, and can’t seem to see things clearly. Very sad. 😢

The whole idea of the one true church being EO is so absurd. In the NT, the one body of christ is shoen to consist of all the churches of Christ in their various locations. Thus in 1 Cor 12 Paul calls the local church the body of christ . Hence even in the time of the apostles, there were many churches and these were not united under the Church at Jerusalem. Rather they were all built on the apostolic doctrine and teaching which we today have as the NT. Thus any church built on the apostolic teaching is a true church of Christ. The apostles did not seek to unite the church under one local congregation, nor did any church such as the church at Jerusalem exercise authority over other churches. Only the apostles exercised authority over multiple churches ehich churches were also led by their various pastors . Thus the whole idea of the EO being the true church is elitist, and undermines the unity of the faith and brotherhood . Its seeking to replace union with christ as the basis of being a church with union with the EO . This is wrong as in the Bible not even the church of Jerusalem was a denomination or ruling body over other churches.

As a Protestant who has been feeling called to something deeper, I find the Orthodoxy talks about and even worships the church fathers more than they do Jesus.

Great videos and I appreciate your sharing, but I really don’t have a problem distinguishing these issues, so to me they aren’t “changes,” but developments. It’s been almost 2000 years since Christ lived, so it stands to reason there would be developments. For example in terms of the death penalty, Pope John Paul II looked to the changing circumstances, namely that life imprisonment had previously not really been an option to protect the community from a murderer, so while at one time the death penalty was permissible (to protect the community), yet given different conditions (other options to protect the community), it becomes impermissible. And Catholics can recognize that the Orthodox are true churches of apostolic origin, and that Protestants can be genuine Christians, with genuine baptism, while at the same time recognizing that willfully promoting heresy or schism is a mortal sin which could send one to Hell. At different times, one might change the emphasis (points of unity vs this can send you to Hell), but it’s the same teaching. All that being said, I agree Pope Francis has been confusing in his conduct and unplanned statements. Even some of the original apostles were at times lacking. The issue is the official teachings they offer.

Father I have a question. I see in the background that you have a 3 dimensions crucifix with some icons. I also converted from Roman Catholicism to Orthodoxy, and I also have a 3 dimension "roman" crucifix in my room. Is it contrary to the doctrine? Should I keep it? Thank you very much for the video. God bless you.

I would rather join a relgion founded by God in first century Palestine than a religion founded in 16th century England by an adulterous mass murderer Next year will he switch to Bhuddism or Hinduism?

Wasnt the Anglican church founded by a murderer and adulterer in th 16th century in England?Far away from 1st century Palestine

Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church.Where Peter is there is the Church.

So you’ve left both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church? How long in your current church?

Thank you so much for this video. This really helped me as im wrestling with with the claims of orthodoxy as myself being a pentecostal. Many things of the orthodox church are atractive, but so many are missing. As you said we cant have every question answered and i cant live with the view of only orthodox christians can be saved. Its easy in the west to look at our culture and jump ship just because they are more conservative ignoring what the new testament and Jesus said about how to know who are true believers in Christ.

Do alive with jay dyer that would be am,interesting exchange

I'm sorry that you didn't have enough faith and let yourself be deceived by the cunning one. It is in vain that you brag that you have read many Orthodox books if you have not understood Orthodoxy, its essence. May the Lord enlighten you so that you can see the narrow road that leads to salvation! Watch this: My 5-Word Response to Any Protestant Argument Against Orthodoxy,

Always sad when a person leaves the one true faith Catholic faith. Salvation lost

So you're another American reactionary like the Pope was talking about.

You said some things in part 1 that echoed much of my current view of the state of the church as a whole. The part about not finding a church without encountering intellectual difficulty struck a chord with me as I now am trying to resolve questions that arose from such difficulties. I expected to hear your take on the Protestant faith in this video hoping to learn something from your maturity and experience in that church as I commune with a nondenominational church that although not Protestant in origin, is very similar in some practice. I agree with a lot of the points you raised about the Catholic and orthodox churches, particularly the Catholic in this video because I knew it intimately. I was born in that faith until recently when I left in my pursuit of doctrinal obedience. It’s not to say that the Catholic faith is disobedient. It’s that I consider myself poorly catechized, given I was Catholic educated in both school and the church. To put it accurately It wasn’t until I was called to understand the Word by the grace of God that I felt the urgency to remove myself from that church and to seek the old paths in the gospel. As someone young in spiritual food I was quick to criticize the Catholic Church as well as the Orthodox Church in my zeal for scripture and doctrine that in my experience was always mistaken for Protestantism even when I had many criticism of the Protestant faith as well. I regret my harsh criticisms now that I’m beginning to mature in the faith and more truths are given to me to understand. One question urged me to take my blinders off that allowed me to now begin reading and testing the spirit in ante-nicean writings. It is the question of whether succession in the church FAILED. Many Protestants are laser focused on the scripture my church included, that some would go as far as relying only on manuscripts written closely to the apostles and disciples. I’m one of those who sought manuscript credibility. Until I asked myself the question: if manuscripts written closely to the disciples were trustworthy, why couldn’t those written by Christians who lived closely to the apostles and disciples be trustworthy as well? Did most all of them fail after the death of the apostles? I began to reconsider and it was when I understood some of the views you talked about in your first vid. I would now direct fellow Christians arguing the true church and accusing other Christian churches as false to the seven churches in Revelation hoping they’d understand the historical significance of them and the teaching behind the messages given to them at the time. I don’t see much difference in the state of the church in our time. Very few churches are faultless. Most are fallible and not entirely sound. Yet I now understand why they are still churches of God. Paul taught something very illuminating in 1 Cor 3:10-3:15 regarding those who build upon the foundation of the TRUE CHURCH which was CHRIST. This is why I encourage all Christ believers, much more Christians in faith and action to be slow in speaking. Unless you are able to imbibe solid spiritual truths, be gentle in rebuking and correcting those who profess the same faith in Christ as you. Unless you follow the call to serve Christ your head and continue to practice sin that you are counted among the unbelievers (Luke 12:45-46,) many Christ believers from different churches although errant and unfruitful will still have hope in the grace of Christ’s sacrifice. Fit this reason, let’s not war against each other that we become stumbling blocks for those with weaker faith to leave the church of believers, fall into the traps of agnosticism and atheism, much worse false faith that denies the Son such as Islam and to a lesser extent our Jewish brothers to whom much is owed. Using your example, a Protestant who sought the truth in other Christian churches only to find yourself back to where you were, the same will be for many. It would be better then for those young in the faith with weaker understanding from any church to heed 1 Peter 5:5 and trust that the accountability for their faith mostly rests on their elders per James 3:1 than rely on their own understanding. Trust that Christ is above and beyond Adam through whom we inherit death but because of Christ all of us who were once dead, may now live from his death and resurrection. May God guide us all.

ruclips.net/video/o_2gI17e7A8/видео.html

Where does one draw the line and who decides? Are Mormons Christian or how about Jehovah’s witness? if anyone can determine theology, then they are, indeed Christians. Only the church and the church fathers can be the final arbiters of who and what is congruent with Christian faith. Due to apostolic succession, only the Orthodox and arguably the Roman Catholic Church has the authority given to it by Christ Himself. Even if one is a protestant, and follows Sola Scriptura, and given that the orthodox catholic church fathers compiled the 27 books of the New Testament,. I’m not sure how any protestant can get past that…

Beautiful teaching, thank you Fr Andrew.

Thank you for the teaching concerning the discerning of the Body of Christ, twofold. 🙌

My opinion as a cradle Catholic, having watched both of your analogies, and understanding of of Christian dogma; left me feeling as if you were non commital. I will pray for your discernment, in your new vocation. I was left wondering about your involvement I FSSP? As opposed to SSPX, who are not in communion with Rome. Perhaps it has something do do with marital desire. You said it yourself. Having a family makes full commitment to single parish life unattainable. Precisely what the Catholic Church demands, Also, there have been other unjust Popes throught history. Francis, perhaps the most outspoken modernist. When Jesus was in the boat with the Apostles the sea became rough, they were full of fear and anxiety. But faith is what saved them. Never abandon the ship, in rough or calm seas.Catholic to the end! Best wishes and may God bless you.

You have to realize that Orthodox Christianity is the oldest Christian religion, and any other religion seems philosophically not right according to the Orthodox teachings. The Bible teachings are teachings that were put together by early Christians were written at different times and different places. The Orthodox Christians had to do a lot with it. If any teachings that came later that cause the breakage from the Orthodox religion is not recognized by the Orthodox religion.

Did you ever go to Saint Michael’s? I really love that place I would say at least from my experience something that orthodoxy has right compared to much of Protestantism is qualified leadership and that place with Father John the priest is such a delight. I’m Protestant but I have seen an experience in my over 10 years a walk with Christ a lot of painful things on many doctrinal and theological persuasions I came in through the hyper-charismatic side and I have done a lot of deconstruction and reconstruction experience so much pain and turmoil and mental and emotional troubles on that sign and seen a good amount of tragedy and I’m still dealing with stuff and working through stuff still analyzing how much truth is on that side and what is true from my beginnings. But there is a lot of mess on the other side of the discussion about the gifts of the spirit. There are two extremes put often, especially in the middle on the charismatic side, goes to the extreme, and some either in a micro manner or macro in areas in ways and extent s without being identified with like the Benny Hinn's and the most fringe of the crowd.

what about John 14:15, Andrew?

You were never a real Orthodox Christian as you invited the devil in to sway you into false cults that are heretical offshoots of even more heretical cults. You’re weak and sad. I can see it in your speech and mannerisms. Be a man, be holy and return to the true church. Stop acting like a Pharisee and attempting to convince Gods flock to enter your cult. Jesus spoke to the Pharisees just as I speak to you blasphemer. If you’re insulted that’s the devil in you as you have listened to his whisperings.

The Protestant faith is the faith of the early church. We go back to the Bible, and the first 3 centuries of the church.

Dear Father Andrew Harrah It seems to me that you are in search of your soul BUT PLEASE DO NOT PLAY WITH RELIGION the way you do It seems to me that the next video will be WHY I LEFT AGLICANISM............. I wonder What is the purpose of these videos It makes me wonder how true they are .....

Why haven’t you posted in awhile?

@trenthorn

Blessings, Fr Andrew! I have just today found your videos. I could just about match you “dollar for dollar” in your experience of coming out of Eastern Orthodoxy. I now sense a calling to eventually be an Anglican deacon/priest. I’ll enjoy listening to your videos. Peace, Mark B. in SE VA.

Why haven't you left theism entirely? What facts are preventing you from understanding that there is no credible evidence for god?

I desperately needed to hear every word of this. Thank you.