Pray for my wife and mother-in-law. I converted to Orthodoxy in January and the tension has been building between myself and my in-laws (baptists/Pentecostal leanings). This is hard.
@@IAMFISH92 When I always see you brother battling for the truth and trying your hardest for the true faith how can I as a brother of yours not encourage you. I know you will do just fine as you have done leading to where you are now . Glory to God Christ be with you too ☦️
All is going in Gods timing+ Demons attack the TRUTH as this is what they fear/ we don’t judge the people but must resist in the temptations whatever they may be -+ pray and keep them in your prayers , fall , get up again and again+ Let all Glory be to God+++
Hy, I don't want to give advice from books, this would be easy. But eventough is hard, love in Christ is the only that can cover, help, develop. And prayer. It's hard, but at the end of it you will not regret it. (And bonus, you might get the ocasion to be humiliated 😄)
Just as John's wife said she felt she had worshipped for the first time, I've told people that until I found Orthodoxy I had no real idea of what it even meant to be a Christian. And it was like finding my home at last.
I grew up Catholic in a Protestant country. Did the rounds of both - felt nothing - assumed Christianity was just an old religion, maybe good for certain types but not a man of the world like me. Then I moved to the Balkans - Bucharest, then Skopje. The difference in the spirituality was palpable. After 37 years of dismissing Christianity I converted to Eastern Orthodoxy within six months.
Hello there! From Jehovah's Witness to Orthodox here. Can't agree more about the first experience at church being a strange and discouraging one! Not only was the service foreign and weird as you mentionned, but in my case the community also spoke Arabic, which I didn't, and being ethnically homogenous, they weren't welcoming to ME, they weren't impressed by ME, they didn't notice ME, and they didn't put ME in focus, you know, as ''their'' guest. As I would learn later, that was Orthodoxy 101 right there! You leave your ego and vainglory at the door. Humbling oneself is Numero Uno in Orthodoxy. May Glory be to God forever and Ever, Amin.
You owe 3, 4x more to God than other converts. Because you came from a very weird "Christian " denomination through a weird Orthodox Church aka "Arabic". Consider the even cradle Orthodox when they can hear Arabic, they think only of Muslims and terrorism. 1 Convert to Orthodoxy stands for 1000 born Orthodox.
I’m happy to see you made the best of their lack of hospitality. As an Orthodox convert, I’m grateful I was more warmly welcomed. I was in a period of my life where I didn’t have much resiliency against people’s indifference. Many people seeking Christ are really quite broken
As a Baptist, Deacon, formerly I guess, who has spent the past 2 weeks attending a Orthodox church, and reading about Orthodoxy for a long while. This hit me. Hard. In the best way possible. I think I need to talk with the, my, Priest Sunday.
Michael Barber 😃Sabbath in the New Testament! JESUS kept the sabbath! 👉(Luke 4:16) The Disciples kept the sabbath! 👉(Luke 23:56) The Gentiles kept the sabbath! 👉(Acts 13:42) Paul kept the sabbath! 👉(Acts 17:2) Hebrews 4:4 = 7th day sabbath! For if JESUS had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. ~ Hebrews 4:8 KJV ☝️Jesus never changed it! There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God. ~ Hebrews 4:9 ☝️Remaineth = to remain the same! For he that is entered into his His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. ~ Hebrews 4:10 ☝️ (Gen. 2:2,3) + (Exo. 20:10) = Heb. 4:10 I would like to share one Old Testament scripture with you. 😃We will all keep Sabbath in HEAVEN! 👉(Isaiah 66:23) Peace be with you🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
@@protestant7778 Go ahead and keep the Sabbath rest on Saturday. This doesn't mean you have to worship on Saturday. You can worship on Sunday and celebrate the resurrection and still rest from all your work on Saturday. The two are not mutually exclusive. You seem to not know the difference between resting and worshipping. Why would worship and celebrate the resurrection on the day of rest/burial?
@@ProtectingVeil can you tell me where this quote comes from? I am embarassed not to know.. Thank you. All such stories help me and my husband.. And there are so many wonderful Orthodox comments here..
I was raised with only a passing exposure to Christianity. Growing up in the bible belt, I attended a Baptist and Methodist church some, but not a great deal. It never made sense to me but I thought there had to be more to life than the concrete things around me. I searched until I was in my mid 30's. One day I attended a Greek Festival and the priest giving the tours said some things that interested me and when I asked questions that had always been brushed aside by protestants, he answered them. I wanted to know more. I've been Orthodox for over 30 years, I can't imagine my life without it.
HEBREW MYTHS BECAME REAL? WEEKLY BRAINWASHING MAKES YOU WELL EDUCATED IN YOUR ROLE AS SERVANT FOR CHRISTIAN HUSTLERS? TYPE BIBLE CRITICISM ONLINE AND LEARN THAT THE CLEVER ANCIENT JEWS CREATED JEHOVAH GOD IN 950 BCE, THEN THEY STOLE SATAN FROM THE GREEK MYTH OF HADES, STUPID. YOU ACTUALLY SUFFER FROM CHRISTIAN OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER AND RABID PARANOIA. SEE YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT YOUR INVISIBLE ENEMY SATAN AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOUR DOCTORS SAYS, OK? I AM WAITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 200,000 RAPED ALTAR BOYS FOUND THE CHRISTIAN CULT A PAIN IN THE ASS.......................
I found out how awesome God is and felt the reverential fear of the Lord only after knowing about Orthodoxy. Our God is the King of the universe and He deserves great worship.
This is one of the greatest, most invaluable testimonies for the Orthodox faith that I have ever heard. This mans sheer honesty in the face of his embarrassing moments with his family is crucial for other newcomers to the faith. There are so many protestants, just like this man, where if they were shown the truth about the early church, the church fathers and what they taught, they would come to the True Church.
Coming from the Independent Baptist Movement I had a similar experience approaching Holy Orthodoxy, it was very difficult. But coming home has been the best thing for me and my family. I couldn't imagine my life any other way now.
@@protestant7778 ok, good job. Sabbath is the day of rest and the first/eighth day is the day of celebration. Do you think the resurrection is not holy? Do you think Christ's death is more important than his resurrection? The resurrection is the very core Christianity. If Christ was not raised from the dead, the entire Christian faith falls apart and Christians should be pitied more than anyone. It is His resurrection that gives us our confidence that death has been defeated and that we will one day be resurrected with Him. Every Sunday is a mini-Easter.
@@protestant7778 Which brand of Denomination' or so-called' Man-made non-denomination..sect' group version or/movement or Form of Reformned_ Deformed' Protestant'ism is the One True faith. This is a simple answer.. but I'm asking you this Question you have a little more than 18,000 of them Lol' and I'm being Conservative" Lol.'
@@weekendwarrior2959 He's espousing.. or attempting to put forth the embrace of Man-made Chaos' and Division' Fragmentation/Splintering' Confusion" and human/fallible_error-errosion" disagreement and trying to convince you all to believe these So-called' "churches" that are, and (were*) Man-made & founded by Men' and in (some cases groups of men and even Women and Men or-just Women. It's Laughable and Ridiculous." And they will justify it by saying THE BIBLE!" THE BIBLE*
Christian Orthodoxy Denominations will save NOBODY! Stop asking me who's my favorite football & basketball team??? What Gang am I from? I don't watch sports! I read the Bible, stop running behind your denomination! If I have errors, please kindly call me out on it using the BIBLE!!! Let's stick to the BOOK! I don't play "my denomination is better than yours"
Beautiful! John has heard my story first hand. It was good to hear his! My older sister and nephew have now attended Divine Liturgy 3 times and, like John's wife, after the first visit she said, "I feel like I worshipped for the first time!" Glory to God! 🙏❤️☦️
This testimony for orthodoxy is so very excellent. John says everything that I want to say and he says everything that I want to hear. Being a protestant charismatic,Baptist,Calvinist ,Lutheran, church of Christ presbyterian and now 80 years old. I truly worshiped Christ also when I visited an Orthodox Church. I think I really felt it was all about me and whether the sermon pleased me the praise band did it right hands were raised, etc. I tried so hard to worship Oh I want so many protestant friends to listen to this video. Thank you so much.
I was anabaptist. Left for baptist and now divorced empty and searching. Someone on another video suggested Orthodox. I have git books and will start reading
I will pray for you. Also, talk with your local Orthodox priest. Do not be discouraged if they are Greek, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, etc. We are all one church.
...God bless you brother in Christ, and your family... I am from Serbia( my name is Snežana)...i was beptised when i was 33, but became faithfull orthodox christian, after i finally read new testament in my 38 years of life, and when i finally started to regularly go to church, etc . ...one of the interesting tradition in Serbia is that every family has it's own saint protector, the first begining of history of that tradition is still not firmly defined, but that tradition is still alive, and according to customs, the mail member of family is bearer of line of worshiping the saint protector, so when a woman is married , she will celebrate the saint of her husband's family,...those celebrations ,we calling them 'slava', are supposed to be held in home, inviting close relatives and frainds, and anyone of friends who will call and wanted to congratulate for the day of the family's saint protector.... but of course woman will still keep the worshiping the saint of her family, ...and in the home they keep the icons of the saints , along with Jesus Christ , and Mother Mary ...i made a long text now, sorry,....but, thank you for sharing your beautiful story...God bless, and all the best ....🌹❤️
Serbians unlike Greeks do not have name days. Instead the family celebrates a patriot saint that has been handed down through generations, for example St. Nikola is the most celebrated on the 19th Dec. each year. In the morning you make the bread "pogača" and attend a church service for that saint. They are held throughout the mornings about 20 minute service. The bread gets blessed and a cross is cut into the back of the pogača and drops of wine are placed at the four points of the cross. You go home with the bread and light a candle and enjoy the celebration with family and friends. Usually the head of the house hold should be standing all day until the candle is extinguished by two pieces of pogača.
@@SLVBULL ...❤️🌹yes, "name day", or "imendan", celebrated in Russia, too, and i guess, in some other orthodox religion states,along with the Greece, ...Sveti Nikola,❤️🌹,slava tebi, ...Thank you to mentioning that ,too...my father's family saint protector....❤️🌹
Also a recent convert from protestantism. I'd been lax with my Church attendance for a while but the first Orthodox service I went to struck me like nothing else. It was all prayer and scripture. I found nothing challenging in the service it's self. I did have to take some time to "digest" Orthodox perspectives on icons, Mary and confession but the challenges were not major obstacles because God granted me faith and and softened my heart (glory to God!). There is no substitute for attending services. If you want to know Orthodoxy and Christ's Church you have to just go. And go again. It all works out.
Thanks for sharing your lovely testimony. I have been associated with the Greek Orthodox Faith for 52 years and I haven’t looked back. The Orthodox Faith has remained true to the original doctrines, teachings and practices of the early Church. My experience with Orthodoxy has been nothing short of enlightening and uplifting. God bless 🙏🏻
That's what I don't understand, people saying the Orthodox churches have continued the doctrines and teachings of the early Church. How so? The earliest Christians met in homes, did not have priests, and Jesus said to call no man on earth "Father" because we have one Father in Heaven. There was a gap of 50 years between those early churches in the NT, and the rise of the Orthodox churches. History is silent between 70 AD and 120 AD, so how did they emerge after that time and be so different?
You can be aligned with the Orthodox Faith, there is no Greek Orthodox Faith. There is only the Orthodox Faith. Greek can be the jurisdiction or the language used for Divine Services only.
0:00 Title Card John Maddox • Grew up in a Baptist-influenced Christian home • His dad was a Sunday School Superintendent • His kids were married and brought up in the Baptist Church • Worked for the Moody Bible Institute 1:15 “Roman Catholicism on Steroids.” 2:13 Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, Chicago. 2:50 Troy and Molly are going to The Orthodox Church. 3:02 Frankie Schaefer! 3:22 3:50 Molly was up front about it. 4:10 “This Orthodox thing is not workin for us.” “I understand.” “Would you be willing to read a little about it?” 5:00 Reading 📖 _Becoming Orthodox_ by Father Peter Gilchrest _The Orthodox Church_ by Bishop Kallistos Ware Tanya and John read it. Respect it. 5:40 _The Orthodox Way_ by Kallistos Ware 6:23 The Incarnation ☦️ 6:51 Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago 7:18 “It was so foreign to our ears.” 7:55 “I think I have worshipped for the first time.” - Tanya 8:21 “My entire family is now against me.” 8:47 Father Peter Gilchrist 9:30 All-Saints Church, they had similar experiences. 9:45 Fr Patrick Henry Reardon 10:43 Found ourselves ready. “I don’t think you are ready yet.” 11:13 “Found the True Faith.” ♥️☦️♥️
Amen..amen..amen.. And how lovely to hear the name of Fr. Peter Gilquist. Of Blessed Memory. I don't remember how it came to be that he learned about my husband and me as we were on our road to Orthodoxy, but we called us one day and offered to talk to us about the situation we were in that he might be able to give us with his insight from his experiences.. I don't remember how much we talked with him, but i do remember that later we got to hear him and meet him at a local monastery. What a blessing.. Thank you.
I too am just beginning my conversion to Orthodoxy. I come from a Wesleyan Arminian background and grew up in the CMA church. You might say that God has been preparing me for several years, and then used the covid lockdowns to open the door. The thought process for me has been very similar.
I heard that the Orthodox Church attendence was increasing so I was researching it. People are looking for something with meat. I say this respectfully. I was raised Baptist too. I have been to several protestant denominations. What I see s they truly preach and teach Jesus Christ the Savior and get people saved. But after that each church has a different way to live. That's what stresses me.
Thank you brother John for sharing with us your amazing journey. I was fortunate enough to be born into the faith, coming from Greek Orthodox born parents, from the old country. While not as extreme as your journey, my wife is a Catholic to Orthodox convert. Prior to our marriage, we went through similar issues with my inlaws, who are deeply rooted Catholics. Initially, while they welcomed our marriage, my inlaws were troubled by the fact that we would raise our family under one faith, Orthodoxy. My father in law also did alot of investigating and reading of the Orthodox faith, prior to granting his blessing. Even their Catholic priest explained that there was nothing wrong with his daughter becoming Orthodox...and that both faiths were indeed very closely aligned. He explained (to my inlaws) that they should not worry. That there daughter IS going to heaven, as long as she practices. Now, i know that only God, the father is the one who decides, but i feel very strongly that our Orthodox teachings are still the original and true teachings, without a doubt. Regardless, as an Orthodox Christian, i do feel very comfortable attending a Catholic mass with my inlaws. Also, they are now very comfortable with attending Orthodox services, funerals, and weddings too. Our children were baptized and raised Orthodox and are still practicing Orthodox. However, they do attend a Catholic school. Even though its a Catholic school, I certainly dont have a problem with them being closer to God and faith, while in school.
Once you learn about church history you can't deny Orthodoxy. Also if you witness a miracle in an Orthodox church. But yes The Orthodox Way a great book.
Amen to John to telling his testimony, I love listening to ancient faith radio. Would be great to see the day when ancient faith at least would become a Satellite station on like Sirius xm radio.
sums up my conversion from being protestant to the Traditional Catholic Church, under the pope but ignoring the Vatican II nonsense. i had the same feeling at my first Traditional Latin Mass (Catholic) which is as old as the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
To my surprise as a former Moody Bible Institute graduate, I walked into THE Othodox Church for the first time I was greeted by John Madox. I knew of him from my time at Moody what a surprise. Great to hear his testimony again.
I was saved in 2013 at age 39 and God is asking me to move away from the western evangelist church and toward Greek Orthodoxy. Thank you for your story!
For most American converting the theology of the Orthodox Church isn’t the biggest problem. In fact the theology is one of the big draws. Rather the culture shock often gets in the way.
My ancestry is more British than the average British citizen today, yet my latest relative came over from Britain in 1758 and my earliest in 1607. What kept these ancestors together was their very conservative protestant beliefs. My ancestors were largely a blend of Primitive Baptists, Quakers and Moravians. As I grew older and studied Christianity, I came to realize Orthodoxy is about as pure as you get to the early Christian Faith. Their worship services are a uniting factor in the humility and true brotherhood of Christians.
"Roman Catholicism on steroids." That how I viewed Orthodoxy until October 31, 2017; 500 years after the start of the Protestant Reformation. Frankie Schaeffer spoke at the Presbyterian church I attend in the early 2000s. I wasn't open to Orthodoxy at the time.
funny comparation but it's not very accurate ...Roman Catholicism came out from orthodox catholicism - not the other way around... Church of Rome was one of the patriarchal sees of One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church ..Rome split and came out a thousand years a go
@aleksandar stavric I agree with you Roman Catholicism is Orthodoxy on steroids, not the other way around. Most Orthodox wish their church had the political power & clout that the Vatican has ( that is, those Orthodox who pay more attention to politics & current events than faith & spirituality ).
What a great story you tell. I am still struggling, being currently Lutheran. Basically afraid to reject JBFA. Sola Scriptura is indeed unworkable, that I get.
i have many questions since i am Greek orthodox and have not got answers about the the worship of Mariam calling her mother of God and asking her to save us and these days we have accepted homosexuality as far our bishops do not care about us and are masons
You know, I'm going to go ahead and write something knowing I'll get attacked. But that's life, right? So, concerning the 'early church tradition,' how about the highest ranking of all early church fathers, who wrote Scripture - the original Apostles of Christ? How about their writings, since, well, it is the Holy Spirit who had them write Scripture?
@@danieleriksen1130 Let me ask you, then, Daniel, so does union IN Christ occur at the point of saving faith, it is past tense, front-loaded, or, is it through great cooperation, effort, to hopefully obtain union in Christ sometime down the road of one's spiritual progress?
I was Roman catholic and my husband was Methodist we been Orthodox for 5 years my journey was a little easier due to I was already Roman catholic then my husband the best thing we have ever did.
@@MinasPallasNo, not it’s essence and doctrine. It’s true that outside of traditional Orthodox lands it appears so, but it’s only in how immigration has played out. The faith is universal but customs are specific to the culture of the groups that have established parishes outside of their homelands. Holy Tradition and doctrine are universal to all Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions…. Ethnic designation is the “flavour” not the faith.
@@ProtectingVeil I went down the route of becoming Orthodox and was recently made a Catechumen. The Priest told me veneration of Icons wasn't optional. He told me he wouldn't accept me into the Church unless I agreed to it. Also I've looked into this exhaustively - as you can imagine it was a big deal to me - and yes there was a slight amount of religious artwork in the first century but looking as honestly as I could, I can't see not a single shred of evidence for veneration or anything like it until several hundred years later. In fact the evidence suggests the early church opposed them fairly strongly. Their adoption as compulsory made me question the alleged authority of the EO Church as unchanged since the early days. I don't even care if other people want to venerate them but the compulsion was something else. When I read the anathemas against those choosing not to venerate it devastated me. I genuinely have been floored by all of this. I was well on my way to becoming EO until this was known.
@@woozyjoe4703 you should understand that veneration of icons is not having a new God. They are just a visual representation of Jesus, saints and some of most important facts from the Bible. Orthodox people don't worship the thing, but the thing that represents. It is exactly how the people around Jesus touched his coat to heal, or stayed in his shadow. Is exactly the same thing. You can have all the ivons, if you don't believe and do what is necessary to be liked by God, none of them will work. Now, I propose a little task for you. See what is the biggest of your problems that you have right now. Search the saint which is known to solve that problem. Buy an icon of him, put it in your house. Search the prayer for that saint. Every day for 1 week, read it carefully in the morning and evening, before bedtime. You'll understand soon! God bless!
Orthodox don't pray to icons. They pray to God, Jesus, holy spirit 'through' icons. The purpose of icons were because most people could not read scripture, during the early days of the church. The icons were put up as a biblical story (or image) that could be viewed, as someone was attending services. They were and still are used as a learning tool. Yes, we also have the gospel and scripture too. Icons also act as a way to immense an attendee into a representation of heaven and the teachings by Jesus, during the service.
Main thing is that you are baptized by immersion and that you accept jesus as son and the resurrection. He died for your sins and that you need to repent. Its always good to read about perspective from earlier church fathers but you need to test it always yourself with the scriptures. I miss that here.
And which church compiled the books of the Bible and decided which books were to be read in the church, and which weren't? You're using the Bible that was made by the Orthodox Church, but then later several books were removed by Martin Luther. The key part of the video was the concept of interpreting the scriptures through the lens of the Church Fathers, because those same Church Fathers are the ones who wrote and compiled the Bible you use today.
"Interpretating the Scriptures through the church fathers"....John, you say that, at the 9 minute and 5 second mark, approximately. John, correct me if I am wrong, but that begs the question, yes? By what standard does one figure out whether someone qualifies to be a church father? If someone says to me, "Mark, Chrysostom was a church father." John, I should respond by saying, " By what standard are you saying that Chrysostom qualifies to be a church father?", yes? In other words, is not The Holy Bible The Final Authority? I believe and say that the answer is "Yes!" 2 Timothy 3:16; Acts 17:11; Proverbs 27:17 et cetera. What do you think?
The Holy Spirit (through the Body of Christ, the Church) determined what books would be included in the Bible. Likewise, the Holy Spirit, through the Church, recognized certain Christians as Saints, and their teachings as authoritative. As Christ promised, He sent the Holy Spirit to lead His Body, the Church, into the fullness of the Truth.
@@ProtectingVeil John, you use the term, "the Church", what is your definition of "the Church"? What is your basis for saying that that definition is True? Is It not The Holy Bible? What do you think?
@@ProtectingVeil Another thought, all Christians are Saints (in regards to this point there is no difference between a little s or a big S). Every Saint is to test every other Saint according to Scripture to discover whether their profession is True, True. Proverbs 27:17! Is this my last comment? 🙂
@Gigi Ghiba Tell that to the Bereans; they didn't even trust the apostle Paul, Acts 17:11, they tested Paul to the Old Testament Scriptures. And, we have not only the O.T. Scriptures but we have the Old and New. Gigi, you are trusting sinful man rather than God's Word. Stop acting lazy; read The Holy Bible.
I am a proud Catholic, but I am happy to see someone come closer to Christ's apostolic church even if we are not in union at the current time. Vivat Christus Rex.
I was raised RC, and was chrismated into Orthodoxy in 1974. Never looked back or considered returning to the very unhappy Roman Catholic Church. I pray that some of your better bishops renounce those papist heresies and return to Orthodoxy under the “Western Rite.” Yes, it will be “legal” for Western Rite Orthodox churches to mix some Latin hymns and prayers with English!
From Salvo, to Reformation, to Orthodoxy, to Catholicism, to Reformation.... I'm dust in the wind, an undecided man who expects to get nothing. God is sovereign, His will is sovereign. What is life? I'm starting to wish I never knew existence (not suicidal btw) just lost.
@@SLVBULL, that's an asinine thing for you to have written. If you're a Christian, it's only because of the grace of God. I would think you would have a greater awareness of your own total dependence on God than to make such a comment. It's unloving, to say the least.
The true faith and Church is Eastern Orthodoxy which Jesus established to the apostoles, the other churches don't have apostolic succession nor the power of the Holy Spirit. Let the millions of saints, stories of miracles and beautiful and simple traditions and the Holy Mysteries of the Church strengthen your faith. Don't lose hope, for to keep your faith in this age is to be a martyr. I would recommend you to become a member of the Orthodox Church via triple immersion baptism.. So stay strong my friend! Read about the recent saints like Paisios and Porphyrios for spiritual benefit and relief. The channels ''Orthodox Teaching of the Elders'', ''Gregory Decapolite'', ''Nicodems Hagiorite'' among others will surely be of benefit aswell.
I was raised in an Orthodox church. But I never heard the gospel preached. Accepted Christ at A church retreat held by the Brethren. I thank God that I was saved
@@TheFeralcatz I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour in response to the Gospel message. He changed my life. I Trust you'll forgive me if I don't go into details
@@TheFeralcatz Yes Judas physically followed Jesus for 3 years and then he betrayed Jesus and hung himself. Obviously he had not accepted Christ as his Lord and Saviour, otherwise he would not have betrayed him. Judas was not faithful to the end.
📙 FREE eBOOK on the wisdom of modern Orthodox Christian elders:
social.protectingveil.com/freebook1
Pray for my wife and mother-in-law. I converted to Orthodoxy in January and the tension has been building between myself and my in-laws (baptists/Pentecostal leanings). This is hard.
@@oppressedaussiebattler3561 thank you for your encouragement, my friend. Christ be with you. ☦️
@@IAMFISH92 When I always see you brother battling for the truth and trying your hardest for the true faith how can I as a brother of yours not encourage you. I know you will do just fine as you have done leading to where you are now . Glory to God
Christ be with you too ☦️
All is going in Gods timing+
Demons attack the TRUTH as this is what they fear/ we don’t judge the people but must resist in the temptations whatever they may be -+ pray and keep them in your prayers , fall , get up again and again+
Let all Glory be to God+++
Hy, I don't want to give advice from books, this would be easy. But eventough is hard, love in Christ is the only that can cover, help, develop.
And prayer.
It's hard, but at the end of it you will not regret it. (And bonus, you might get the ocasion to be humiliated 😄)
A man’s enemies will be members of their own family.
Just as John's wife said she felt she had worshipped for the first time, I've told people that until I found Orthodoxy I had no real idea of what it even meant to be a Christian. And it was like finding my home at last.
i had the same feeling at my first Traditional Latin Mass (Catholic) which is as old as the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
@@marcokite That you must preface Latin Mass with "Traditional" speaks to the problem. ;)
I recently found Celtic Christianity which I have found has strong ties to the Orthodox Church all the way back to the desert father's
@@aristotlesfourcauses6323 What a moronic comment.
@@marcokite The TLM is from the mid last millennium. The Orthodox Western Rite Divine Liturgies are from first millennium. Please come home. ☦
I grew up Catholic in a Protestant country. Did the rounds of both - felt nothing - assumed Christianity was just an old religion, maybe good for certain types but not a man of the world like me.
Then I moved to the Balkans - Bucharest, then Skopje. The difference in the spirituality was palpable. After 37 years of dismissing Christianity I converted to Eastern Orthodoxy within six months.
Thanks to God!
Glory to God.
Hello there! From Jehovah's Witness to Orthodox here.
Can't agree more about the first experience at church being a strange and discouraging one!
Not only was the service foreign and weird as you mentionned, but in my case the community also spoke Arabic, which I didn't, and being ethnically homogenous, they weren't welcoming to ME, they weren't impressed by ME, they didn't notice ME, and they didn't put ME in focus, you know, as ''their'' guest.
As I would learn later, that was Orthodoxy 101 right there!
You leave your ego and vainglory at the door. Humbling oneself is Numero Uno in Orthodoxy.
May Glory be to God forever and Ever, Amin.
You owe 3, 4x more to God than other converts. Because you came from a very weird "Christian " denomination through a weird Orthodox Church aka "Arabic". Consider the even cradle Orthodox when they can hear Arabic, they think only of Muslims and terrorism.
1 Convert to Orthodoxy stands for 1000 born Orthodox.
So glad you found your way home from Arianism. +
I also come from a Jehovah's Witness background!
Currently hoping to start catechism soon
I’m happy to see you made the best of their lack of hospitality. As an Orthodox convert, I’m grateful I was more warmly welcomed. I was in a period of my life where I didn’t have much resiliency against people’s indifference. Many people seeking Christ are really quite broken
My first experience in an Orthodox Church was in Russia. The service was in Old Church Slavonic!
As a Baptist, Deacon, formerly I guess, who has spent the past 2 weeks attending a Orthodox church, and reading about Orthodoxy for a long while. This hit me. Hard. In the best way possible. I think I need to talk with the, my, Priest Sunday.
Welcome home. We've been waiting for you!
JESUS says the Sabbath is holy.
POPE says that Sunday is holy.
7th day Sabbath = (Exodus 20:8-11)
1st day Sunday = (Mark 7:7)
@@protestant7778 whatever. Hic non habes potestatum daemon.
Michael Barber
😃Sabbath in the New Testament!
JESUS kept the sabbath!
👉(Luke 4:16)
The Disciples kept the sabbath!
👉(Luke 23:56)
The Gentiles kept the sabbath!
👉(Acts 13:42)
Paul kept the sabbath!
👉(Acts 17:2)
Hebrews 4:4 = 7th day sabbath!
For if JESUS had given them rest,
then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
~ Hebrews 4:8 KJV
☝️Jesus never changed it!
There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God.
~ Hebrews 4:9
☝️Remaineth = to remain the same!
For he that is entered into his His rest,
he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.
~ Hebrews 4:10
☝️
(Gen. 2:2,3) + (Exo. 20:10) = Heb. 4:10
I would like to share one Old Testament scripture with you.
😃We will all keep Sabbath in HEAVEN!
👉(Isaiah 66:23)
Peace be with you🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
@@protestant7778 Go ahead and keep the Sabbath rest on Saturday. This doesn't mean you have to worship on Saturday. You can worship on Sunday and celebrate the resurrection and still rest from all your work on Saturday. The two are not mutually exclusive. You seem to not know the difference between resting and worshipping. Why would worship and celebrate the resurrection on the day of rest/burial?
My tears started to flow while listening... Christ has Risen!
Truly HE IS RISEN+++
Let all Glory be to God+++
ICXC NIKA
Essentially I'm the daughter in this story, waiting for the rest of the family to "get it".
"In your patience possess ye your souls"!
@@ProtectingVeil can you tell me where this quote comes from? I am embarassed not to know.. Thank you. All such stories help me and my husband.. And there are so many wonderful Orthodox comments here..
Luke 21:19
I’m literally the same
I Went From Independent Baptist --> charismatic --> Conservative Non-Denominational --> Greek Orthodox!!
I was raised with only a passing exposure to Christianity. Growing up in the bible belt, I attended a Baptist and Methodist church some, but not a great deal. It never made sense to me but I thought there had to be more to life than the concrete things around me. I searched until I was in my mid 30's. One day I attended a Greek Festival and the priest giving the tours said some things that interested me and when I asked questions that had always been brushed aside by protestants, he answered them. I wanted to know more. I've been Orthodox for over 30 years, I can't imagine my life without it.
HEBREW MYTHS BECAME REAL? WEEKLY BRAINWASHING MAKES YOU WELL EDUCATED IN YOUR ROLE AS SERVANT FOR CHRISTIAN HUSTLERS? TYPE BIBLE CRITICISM ONLINE AND LEARN THAT THE CLEVER ANCIENT JEWS CREATED JEHOVAH GOD IN 950 BCE, THEN THEY STOLE SATAN FROM THE GREEK MYTH OF HADES, STUPID. YOU ACTUALLY SUFFER FROM CHRISTIAN OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER AND RABID PARANOIA. SEE YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT YOUR INVISIBLE ENEMY SATAN AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOUR DOCTORS SAYS, OK? I AM WAITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 200,000 RAPED ALTAR BOYS FOUND THE CHRISTIAN CULT A PAIN IN THE ASS.......................
I found out how awesome God is and felt the reverential fear of the Lord only after knowing about Orthodoxy. Our God is the King of the universe and He deserves great worship.
This is one of the greatest, most invaluable testimonies for the Orthodox faith that I have ever heard. This mans sheer honesty in the face of his embarrassing moments with his family is crucial for other newcomers to the faith. There are so many protestants, just like this man, where if they were shown the truth about the early church, the church fathers and what they taught, they would come to the True Church.
Just as I am about to become a catechumen in the Orthodox Church!
Many years!! 😊🙏❤️☦️
🙏🏻☦
JESUS says the Sabbath is holy.
POPE says that Sunday is holy.
7th day Sabbath = (Exodus 20:8-11)
1st day Sunday = (Mark 7:7)
Somebody give @@protestant7778 a cookie!
@@weekendwarrior2959 Proverbs 26 comes to mind.
Coming from the Independent Baptist Movement I had a similar experience approaching Holy Orthodoxy, it was very difficult. But coming home has been the best thing for me and my family. I couldn't imagine my life any other way now.
JESUS says the Sabbath is holy.
POPE says that Sunday is holy.
7th day Sabbath = (Exodus 20:8-11)
1st day Sunday = (Mark 7:7)
@@protestant7778 ok, good job. Sabbath is the day of rest and the first/eighth day is the day of celebration. Do you think the resurrection is not holy? Do you think Christ's death is more important than his resurrection? The resurrection is the very core Christianity. If Christ was not raised from the dead, the entire Christian faith falls apart and Christians should be pitied more than anyone. It is His resurrection that gives us our confidence that death has been defeated and that we will one day be resurrected with Him. Every Sunday is a mini-Easter.
@@protestant7778 Which brand of Denomination' or so-called' Man-made non-denomination..sect' group version or/movement or Form of Reformned_ Deformed' Protestant'ism is the One True faith. This is a simple answer.. but I'm asking you this Question you have a little more than 18,000 of them Lol' and I'm being Conservative" Lol.'
@@weekendwarrior2959 He's espousing.. or attempting to put forth the embrace of Man-made Chaos' and Division' Fragmentation/Splintering' Confusion" and human/fallible_error-errosion" disagreement and trying to convince you all to believe these So-called' "churches" that are, and (were*) Man-made & founded by Men' and in (some cases groups of men and even Women and Men or-just Women. It's Laughable and Ridiculous." And they will justify it by saying THE BIBLE!" THE BIBLE*
Christian Orthodoxy
Denominations will save NOBODY!
Stop asking me who's my favorite football & basketball team???
What Gang am I from?
I don't watch sports!
I read the Bible, stop running behind your denomination!
If I have errors, please kindly call me out on it using the BIBLE!!!
Let's stick to the BOOK!
I don't play
"my denomination is better than yours"
What an intense and honest recounting of coming to the true faith.
Congratulations brother John with your Family a True Teaching and Life under The Grace of Christ Our Lord and God.
Amen
I also made the journey from Baptist to Orthodoxy, though before there was much available in English, and I made the trip alone. But it was worth it.
Beautiful! John has heard my story first hand. It was good to hear his!
My older sister and nephew have now attended Divine Liturgy 3 times and, like John's wife, after the first visit she said, "I feel like I worshipped for the first time!"
Glory to God! 🙏❤️☦️
This testimony for orthodoxy is so very excellent. John says everything that I want to say and he says everything that I want to hear. Being a protestant charismatic,Baptist,Calvinist ,Lutheran, church of Christ presbyterian and now 80 years old. I truly worshiped Christ also when I visited an Orthodox Church. I think I really felt it was all about me and whether the sermon pleased me the praise band did it right hands were raised, etc. I tried so hard to worship Oh I want so many protestant friends to listen to this video. Thank you so much.
I was anabaptist. Left for baptist and now divorced empty and searching. Someone on another video suggested Orthodox. I have git books and will start reading
I will pray for you. Also, talk with your local Orthodox priest. Do not be discouraged if they are Greek, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, etc. We are all one church.
Hallelujah brother.! Welcome home...
...God bless you brother in Christ, and your family... I am from Serbia( my name is Snežana)...i was beptised when i was 33, but became faithfull orthodox christian, after i finally read new testament in my 38 years of life, and when i finally started to regularly go to church, etc . ...one of the interesting tradition in Serbia is that every family has it's own saint protector, the first begining of history of that tradition is still not firmly defined, but that tradition is still alive, and according to customs, the mail member of family is bearer of line of worshiping the saint protector, so when a woman is married , she will celebrate the saint of her husband's family,...those celebrations ,we calling them 'slava', are supposed to be held in home, inviting close relatives and frainds, and anyone of friends who will call and wanted to congratulate for the day of the family's saint protector.... but of course woman will still keep the worshiping the saint of her family, ...and in the home they keep the icons of the saints , along with Jesus Christ , and Mother Mary ...i made a long text now, sorry,....but, thank you for sharing your beautiful story...God bless, and all the best ....🌹❤️
Serbians unlike Greeks do not have name days. Instead the family celebrates a patriot saint that has been handed down through generations, for example St. Nikola is the most celebrated on the 19th Dec. each year. In the morning you make the bread "pogača" and attend a church service for that saint. They are held throughout the mornings about 20 minute service. The bread gets blessed and a cross is cut into the back of the pogača and drops of wine are placed at the four points of the cross. You go home with the bread and light a candle and enjoy the celebration with family and friends. Usually the head of the house hold should be standing all day until the candle is extinguished by two pieces of pogača.
@@SLVBULL ...❤️🌹yes, "name day", or "imendan", celebrated in Russia, too, and i guess, in some other orthodox religion states,along with the Greece, ...Sveti Nikola,❤️🌹,slava tebi, ...Thank you to mentioning that ,too...my father's family saint protector....❤️🌹
Wow, what a tough but genuine journey.
God bless your daughter.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! A beautiful and relevant story. I attended an Orthodox Church fir the first time this Sunday. I am so drawn.....
Glory to God! Godspeed 🙏
Never would of guessed the founder and CEO of Ancient Faith Radio had a story like this! God works in mysterious ways, God bless you and your family!
Your honesty was great, I pray this helps potential converts.
What a good journey to orthodoxy... You were right to ask a lot of questions...
Also a recent convert from protestantism. I'd been lax with my Church attendance for a while but the first Orthodox service I went to struck me like nothing else. It was all prayer and scripture. I found nothing challenging in the service it's self. I did have to take some time to "digest" Orthodox perspectives on icons, Mary and confession but the challenges were not major obstacles because God granted me faith and and softened my heart (glory to God!). There is no substitute for attending services. If you want to know Orthodoxy and Christ's Church you have to just go. And go again. It all works out.
Godspeed! 🙏☦️
If you are happy my friend, it's good to you !!
What a beautiful testimony of the Holy Spirit doing His Great Works. Thank you for being FaithFull unto Him and sharing. AMeIn
Thanks for sharing your lovely testimony. I have been associated with the Greek Orthodox Faith for 52 years and I haven’t looked back. The Orthodox Faith has remained true to the original doctrines, teachings and practices of the early Church. My experience with Orthodoxy has been nothing short of enlightening and uplifting. God bless 🙏🏻
That's what I don't understand, people saying the Orthodox churches have continued the doctrines and teachings of the early Church. How so?
The earliest Christians met in homes, did not have priests, and Jesus said to call no man on earth "Father" because we have one Father in Heaven. There was a gap of 50 years between those early churches in the NT, and the rise of the Orthodox churches. History is silent between 70 AD and 120 AD, so how did they emerge after that time and be so different?
You can be aligned with the Orthodox Faith, there is no Greek Orthodox Faith. There is only the Orthodox Faith. Greek can be the jurisdiction or the language used for Divine Services only.
indeed you are right(coming from a Greek) but you are just two years late@@ppn194 😎😎
Thanks for sharing your story. Greetings from a Greek Orthodox in Australia.
So happy you had an open heart in your relationships to see their point of view.
I'm Orthodox as well..Have a blessed Pasxa and Kaln Anastasi!!
Xpristos anesti !!
@@louofm1 Alithos Anesti ✝️
These conversion stories are so wonderful. I’m going through one after another after another!😄
0:00 Title Card
John Maddox
• Grew up in a Baptist-influenced Christian home
• His dad was a Sunday School Superintendent
• His kids were married and brought up in the Baptist Church
• Worked for the Moody Bible Institute
1:15 “Roman Catholicism on Steroids.”
2:13 Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, Chicago.
2:50 Troy and Molly are going to The Orthodox Church.
3:02 Frankie Schaefer!
3:22
3:50 Molly was up front about it.
4:10 “This Orthodox thing is not workin for us.” “I understand.” “Would you be willing to read a little about it?”
5:00 Reading 📖
_Becoming Orthodox_ by Father Peter Gilchrest
_The Orthodox Church_ by Bishop Kallistos Ware
Tanya and John read it. Respect it.
5:40 _The Orthodox Way_ by Kallistos Ware
6:23 The Incarnation ☦️
6:51 Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago
7:18 “It was so foreign to our ears.”
7:55 “I think I have worshipped for the first time.” - Tanya
8:21 “My entire family is now against me.”
8:47 Father Peter Gilchrist
9:30 All-Saints Church, they had similar experiences.
9:45 Fr Patrick Henry Reardon
10:43 Found ourselves ready. “I don’t think you are ready yet.”
11:13 “Found the True Faith.” ♥️☦️♥️
Amen..amen..amen.. And how lovely to hear the name of Fr. Peter Gilquist. Of Blessed Memory. I don't remember how it came to be that he learned about my husband and me as we were on our road to Orthodoxy, but we called us one day and offered to talk to us about the situation we were in that he might be able to give us with his insight from his experiences.. I don't remember how much we talked with him, but i do remember that later we got to hear him and meet him at a local monastery. What a blessing..
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your road to Orthodoxy. May God bless You and your family.
Beautiful testimony.
So encouraging! Thanks for posting this.
You raised her well
Fart
I too am just beginning my conversion to Orthodoxy. I come from a Wesleyan Arminian background and grew up in the CMA church. You might say that God has been preparing me for several years, and then used the covid lockdowns to open the door. The thought process for me has been very similar.
wow great story I like how you doubt everything. Greetings from Serbian Orthodox.
I heard that the Orthodox Church attendence was increasing so I was researching it. People are looking for something with meat. I say this respectfully. I was raised Baptist too. I have been to several protestant denominations. What I see s they truly preach and teach Jesus Christ the Savior and get people saved. But after that each church has a different way to live. That's what stresses me.
But here maybe they live the same but few those whos been teach how really to be saved
@@antoniohitty8877 or maybe your judgement of who is saved and who isn't is just wrong.
GOD bless you and all your family! This was great news!
Thank you brother John for sharing with us your amazing journey. I was fortunate enough to be born into the faith, coming from Greek Orthodox born parents, from the old country. While not as extreme as your journey, my wife is a Catholic to Orthodox convert. Prior to our marriage, we went through similar issues with my inlaws, who are deeply rooted Catholics. Initially, while they welcomed our marriage, my inlaws were troubled by the fact that we would raise our family under one faith, Orthodoxy. My father in law also did alot of investigating and reading of the Orthodox faith, prior to granting his blessing. Even their Catholic priest explained that there was nothing wrong with his daughter becoming Orthodox...and that both faiths were indeed very closely aligned. He explained (to my inlaws) that they should not worry. That there daughter IS going to heaven, as long as she practices. Now, i know that only God, the father is the one who decides, but i feel very strongly that our Orthodox teachings are still the original and true teachings, without a doubt. Regardless, as an Orthodox Christian, i do feel very comfortable attending a Catholic mass with my inlaws. Also, they are now very comfortable with attending Orthodox services, funerals, and weddings too. Our children were baptized and raised Orthodox and are still practicing Orthodox. However, they do attend a Catholic school. Even though its a Catholic school, I certainly dont have a problem with them being closer to God and faith, while in school.
Once you learn about church history you can't deny Orthodoxy. Also if you witness a miracle in an Orthodox church. But yes The Orthodox Way a great book.
Amen to John to telling his testimony, I love listening to ancient faith radio. Would be great to see the day when ancient faith at least would become a Satellite station on like Sirius xm radio.
Amazing to see this💗☦️
Don't be amazed, because we will hear a lot of people whom will come back to Orthodoxy The First and The True Church.
Amen.
Yep, that really sums up the conversion story to orthodoxy really well IMHO
sums up my conversion from being protestant to the Traditional Catholic Church, under the pope but ignoring the Vatican II nonsense. i had the same feeling at my first Traditional Latin Mass (Catholic) which is as old as the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
@@marcokite You can’t reject V2.
@@marcokite Yeah, this doesn’t work. If you are Catholic you have to fully embrace Vatican 2.
God bless you for your video, I am struggling in my evangelical denomination, praying God leads me to that which is meant for me and mine.
From 🇷🇺 with ❤️!
To my surprise as a former Moody Bible Institute graduate, I walked into THE Othodox Church for the first time I was greeted by John Madox. I knew of him from my time at Moody what a surprise. Great to hear his testimony again.
What a fantastic testimony 👏
Thank you for sharing, your quote that things are made up as they go alone is to me key of your video.
God bless you all!
I was saved in 2013 at age 39 and God is asking me to move away from the western evangelist church and toward Greek Orthodoxy. Thank you for your story!
God bless you and welcome home to the Orthodox Church.
John seems to be an intelligent and very well spoke man. God bless him.
Glory to God! Look at how your daughter and Troy led you to Orthodoxy. God bless.
Good to hear. It can be a difficult gulf to bridge
Very interesting (!) From a French
God has a plan. Believe, pray, and have humility ☦️❤️
what an Amazing story! God bless you and your family good Sir!❤🙏
Dear brother God will and I’m sure has rewarded you for humbling yourself so under the one holy and apostolic Orthodox church. My journey was similar
orthodox churches are gorgeous
For most American converting the theology of the Orthodox Church isn’t the biggest problem. In fact the theology is one of the big draws. Rather the culture shock often gets in the way.
The Culture Shock is because American Culture is so backwards to Orthodoxy.
I am glad I dived in. I only regret not doing it sooner.
"In Western churches they don't worship, they have a lecture followed by a concert". Russian Orthodox saying.
Perfectly said
Very good video!
Hi, is here anybody to talk about orthodoxy and The second century via messengers?
My ancestry is more British than the average British citizen today, yet my latest relative came over from Britain in 1758 and my earliest in 1607. What kept these ancestors together was their very conservative protestant beliefs. My ancestors were largely a blend of Primitive Baptists, Quakers and Moravians. As I grew older and studied Christianity, I came to realize Orthodoxy is about as pure as you get to the early Christian Faith. Their worship services are a uniting factor in the humility and true brotherhood of Christians.
"Roman Catholicism on steroids." That how I viewed Orthodoxy until October 31, 2017; 500 years after the start of the Protestant Reformation. Frankie Schaeffer spoke at the Presbyterian church I attend in the early 2000s. I wasn't open to Orthodoxy at the time.
On steroids and hallucinogenics!
funny comparation but it's not very accurate ...Roman Catholicism came out from orthodox catholicism - not the other way around... Church of Rome was one of the patriarchal sees of One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church ..Rome split and came out a thousand years a go
@aleksandar stavric I agree with you Roman Catholicism is Orthodoxy on steroids, not the other way around. Most Orthodox wish their church had the political power & clout that the Vatican has ( that is, those Orthodox who pay more attention to politics & current events than faith & spirituality ).
What a great story you tell. I am still struggling, being currently Lutheran. Basically afraid to reject JBFA. Sola Scriptura is indeed unworkable, that I get.
Just go. You'll gain everything and loose nothing. Will be a shift in the way you'll understand and see things
I teared up @ 7:55 - 8:03
whats that song in the end?
It's a song I wrote for St. Anthony...the link to the song is below the video in the description!
was it St. Theodosius in Cleveland?
This video made me tear up a bit more than 6 minutes in. Such a beautiful story!
i have many questions since i am Greek orthodox and have not got answers about the the worship of Mariam calling her mother of God and asking her to save us and these days we have accepted homosexuality as far our bishops do not care about us and are masons
You know, I'm going to go ahead and write something knowing I'll get attacked. But that's life, right? So, concerning the 'early church tradition,' how about the highest ranking of all early church fathers, who wrote Scripture - the original Apostles of Christ? How about their writings, since, well, it is the Holy Spirit who had them write Scripture?
This is the beginning of the Orthodox Church that you mention above.
What about them? We continue to teach, preach, and practice exactly what they did.
@@IAMFISH92 Good question, so now I'm going to ask Daniel some questions to get his take on things. And actually you can answer too if you'd like.
@@danieleriksen1130 Let me ask you, then, Daniel, so does union IN Christ occur at the point of saving faith, it is past tense, front-loaded, or, is it through great cooperation, effort, to hopefully obtain union in Christ sometime down the road of one's spiritual progress?
@@danieleriksen1130 And do you believe in the subsitutionary Sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sins?
Eline yüzüne nur gelmiş👏🙏❤☦👏🙏❤🎅
I was Roman catholic and my husband was Methodist we been Orthodox for 5 years my journey was a little easier due to I was already Roman catholic then my husband the best thing we have ever did.
Also my spiritual Father Joseph was the priest there at the time. Small world!
❤❤❤❤
JESUS says the Sabbath is holy.
POPE says that Sunday is holy.
7th day Sabbath = (Exodus 20:8-11)
1st day Sunday = (Mark 7:7)
Props to that kid patiently enduring all that for his girlfriend’s dad haha
One baptist disliked this video :)
Which ethnicity you follow? What’s your favorite?
Eastern orthodoxy.
Does it matter..
@@joseonwalking8666 greek, romanian, ukrainian, serbian, etc?
@@matronarona no, just curious, orthodoxy is quite ethnocentric
@@MinasPallasNo, not it’s essence and doctrine. It’s true that outside of traditional Orthodox lands it appears so, but it’s only in how immigration has played out. The faith is universal but customs are specific to the culture of the groups that have established parishes outside of their homelands. Holy Tradition and doctrine are universal to all Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions…. Ethnic designation is the “flavour” not the faith.
God is glorificated in this
I just left Orthodox and went to Christ.
Thing is though, if the icons are so important how come the Church didn't have them for 800 years? It breaks my heart because I love Orthodoxy
The Church had icons since the first century. Regardless...hardly a reason not to become Orthodox(?!)
@@ProtectingVeil I went down the route of becoming Orthodox and was recently made a Catechumen. The Priest told me veneration of Icons wasn't optional. He told me he wouldn't accept me into the Church unless I agreed to it.
Also I've looked into this exhaustively - as you can imagine it was a big deal to me - and yes there was a slight amount of religious artwork in the first century but looking as honestly as I could, I can't see not a single shred of evidence for veneration or anything like it until several hundred years later. In fact the evidence suggests the early church opposed them fairly strongly. Their adoption as compulsory made me question the alleged authority of the EO Church as unchanged since the early days.
I don't even care if other people want to venerate them but the compulsion was something else. When I read the anathemas against those choosing not to venerate it devastated me. I genuinely have been floored by all of this. I was well on my way to becoming EO until this was known.
@@woozyjoe4703 you should understand that veneration of icons is not having a new God. They are just a visual representation of Jesus, saints and some of most important facts from the Bible. Orthodox people don't worship the thing, but the thing that represents. It is exactly how the people around Jesus touched his coat to heal, or stayed in his shadow. Is exactly the same thing. You can have all the ivons, if you don't believe and do what is necessary to be liked by God, none of them will work.
Now, I propose a little task for you. See what is the biggest of your problems that you have right now. Search the saint which is known to solve that problem. Buy an icon of him, put it in your house. Search the prayer for that saint. Every day for 1 week, read it carefully in the morning and evening, before bedtime.
You'll understand soon! God bless!
Orthodox don't pray to icons. They pray to God, Jesus, holy spirit 'through' icons. The purpose of icons were because most people could not read scripture, during the early days of the church. The icons were put up as a biblical story (or image) that could be viewed, as someone was attending services. They were and still are used as a learning tool. Yes, we also have the gospel and scripture too. Icons also act as a way to immense an attendee into a representation of heaven and the teachings by Jesus, during the service.
@@woozyjoe4703 I have found the same thing in history. I haven’t seen a good historical response from orthodoxy yet.
Main thing is that you are baptized by immersion and that you accept jesus as son and the resurrection. He died for your sins and that you need to repent.
Its always good to read about perspective from earlier church fathers but you need to test it always yourself with the scriptures.
I miss that here.
And which church compiled the books of the Bible and decided which books were to be read in the church, and which weren't? You're using the Bible that was made by the Orthodox Church, but then later several books were removed by Martin Luther. The key part of the video was the concept of interpreting the scriptures through the lens of the Church Fathers, because those same Church Fathers are the ones who wrote and compiled the Bible you use today.
Holy Orthodoxy is the Church.
We are the church
"Interpretating the Scriptures through the church fathers"....John, you say that, at the 9 minute and 5 second mark, approximately. John, correct me if I am wrong, but that begs the question, yes? By what standard does one figure out whether someone qualifies to be a church father? If someone says to me, "Mark, Chrysostom was a church father." John, I should respond by saying, " By what standard are you saying that Chrysostom qualifies to be a church father?", yes? In other words, is not The Holy Bible The Final Authority? I believe and say that the answer is "Yes!" 2 Timothy 3:16; Acts 17:11; Proverbs 27:17 et cetera. What do you think?
The Holy Spirit (through the Body of Christ, the Church) determined what books would be included in the Bible. Likewise, the Holy Spirit, through the Church, recognized certain Christians as Saints, and their teachings as authoritative. As Christ promised, He sent the Holy Spirit to lead His Body, the Church, into the fullness of the Truth.
@@ProtectingVeil John, you use the term, "the Church", what is your definition of "the Church"? What is your basis for saying that that definition is True? Is It not The Holy Bible? What do you think?
@@ProtectingVeil Another thought, all Christians are Saints (in regards to this point there is no difference between a little s or a big S). Every Saint is to test every other Saint according to Scripture to discover whether their profession is True, True. Proverbs 27:17! Is this my last comment? 🙂
@@ProtectingVeil I would like to hear your responses to my follow-up questions. 🙂
@Gigi Ghiba Tell that to the Bereans; they didn't even trust the apostle Paul, Acts 17:11, they tested Paul to the Old Testament Scriptures. And, we have not only the O.T. Scriptures but we have the Old and New. Gigi, you are trusting sinful man rather than God's Word. Stop acting lazy; read The Holy Bible.
I am a proud Catholic, but I am happy to see someone come closer to Christ's apostolic church even if we are not in union at the current time. Vivat Christus Rex.
I was raised RC, and was chrismated into Orthodoxy in 1974. Never looked back or considered returning to the very unhappy Roman Catholic Church. I pray that some of your better bishops renounce those papist heresies and return to Orthodoxy under the “Western Rite.” Yes, it will be “legal” for Western Rite Orthodox churches to mix some Latin hymns and prayers with English!
Holy Orthodoxy is Christ's Holy Church. 😊
If you are a "proud Catholic" then be sure that actually you are only proud.
Ave Maria!!
I have not heard the questions being answered.
From Salvo, to Reformation, to Orthodoxy, to Catholicism, to Reformation.... I'm dust in the wind, an undecided man who expects to get nothing. God is sovereign, His will is sovereign. What is life? I'm starting to wish I never knew existence (not suicidal btw) just lost.
I pray the Good Sheppard will find you, put you on His shoulders, and carry you home
A buffet Christian
Matthew, read John 11: 25-26. In those verses you find the key to salvation.
@@SLVBULL, that's an asinine thing for you to have written. If you're a Christian, it's only because of the grace of God. I would think you would have a greater awareness of your own total dependence on God than to make such a comment. It's unloving, to say the least.
The true faith and Church is Eastern Orthodoxy which Jesus established to the apostoles, the other churches don't have apostolic succession nor the power of the Holy Spirit. Let the millions of saints, stories of miracles and beautiful and simple traditions and the Holy Mysteries of the Church strengthen your faith. Don't lose hope, for to keep your faith in this age is to be a martyr. I would recommend you to become a member of the Orthodox Church via triple immersion baptism.. So stay strong my friend! Read about the recent saints like Paisios and Porphyrios for spiritual benefit and relief. The channels ''Orthodox Teaching of the Elders'', ''Gregory Decapolite'', ''Nicodems Hagiorite'' among others will surely be of benefit aswell.
Jesus sent his apostles out to preach to the world.. he didnt say to stop at a certain time and place so it goes with out saying .
They haven't in the Orthodox Church.
I am Orthodox
@@hotlanta35 Oh okay. Wonderful!
11:18 Chrismated?? You only enter the Church through baptism surely?!
In some Orthodox Churches (in fact many) I’d be is baptized in the name of the trinity, another baptism is considered against the Nicene Creed.
Holy Trinity is an incredible parish
Welcome Brother to the family of God, prayers! (R.C. on steroids, Love it.) 🙏🌺☦️🌺🙏
❤️❤️❤️❤️
🙏
I was raised in an Orthodox church. But I never heard the gospel preached. Accepted Christ at A church retreat held by the Brethren. I thank God that I was saved
What do you mean by "saved"?
@@TheFeralcatz I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour in response to the Gospel message. He changed my life. I Trust you'll forgive me if I don't go into details
@@noelenliva2670 Judas followed Jesus too.
@@TheFeralcatz Yes Judas physically followed Jesus for 3 years and then he betrayed Jesus and hung himself. Obviously he had not accepted Christ as his Lord and Saviour, otherwise he would not have betrayed him. Judas was not faithful to the end.
@@noelenliva2670 That's the key, you must be faithful to the end. So if it's not the end yet, how are you saved?