Be Transfigured Ministries

Trust Leads to Peace

In the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12.16-21) we witness the result of a life void of peace. Rather than trusting that God would provide for his family, the rich farmer panicked, tore down his already filled barns and was about to build new larger barns when God called him. When we are unable to trust in God’s willingness or abilities to provide for the needs of our family, we run the risk of living in fear rather than peace. God has given us numerous reasons to trust Him, even offering us the chance to test our trust in Him. This week’s episode offers a chance to learn to trust God, and experience for yourself, that trust leads to peace.

Being Convicted by the Gospel

The Gospel of Christ is a comfort to sinners but can convict the righteous. The invitation of Christ for all sinners to join Him at the Table, is a comfort to when acknowledge our sinfulness, but it is should also convict us to repentance. Christ has given us His Church as therapy to draw closer to Jesus Christ, yet many who claim to believe, do not embrace the way of life in the Church. If you truly desire to draw closer to God, then be comforted that He has welcomed you to His Table, but be convicted and embrace the way of life He has given to you for repentance. Draw near to God.

Suffering

Why does God allow suffering? Everyone knows firsthand that people suffer, but do they have to suffer to be “good” Christians? What’s so wrong with trying to avoid suffering? Why not strive for a life without suffering? While everyone experiences suffering, nobody enjoys it, but God blesses it especially when we endure it patiently with faith and prayer. With the story of the healing of the woman with the flow of blood and the raising of Jairus’ daughter as our “backdrop”, this week’s episode of Be Transfigured will look at suffering and why God allows it and but rarely allows miracles.

Avoiding the Torment of Hell

Nobody can deny that we will all eventually die, so it should be no surprise that Our Lord has provided many opportunities for us to better understand what we should expect. One example of how we learn about our eternal future is through parables. In the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus found in the Gospel of Luke 16.19-31, Christ helps us to see that the condition of our heart will have a direct impact on how we will experience eternity with Him. If we want to avoid the torment of hell described for the rich man, we must learn to see others with love and compassion, but time is clicking. We have only until we die to change our hearts. We must take full advantage of every opportunity for our hearts to learn to love others by serving the poor with love and compassion. If we continue with a cold and selfish heart, our eternal future will be consumed with torment.

God Wants You to be a Martyr

In a day when our world is frantically searching wealth and honor, Christians are daily called to choose between worldly priorities and a Godly life. Your willingness to live the faith of Christ through the choices of your life reflects the importance of God in your life, and will be a witness of your faith to those around you. You are a living martyr when you allow others to see your commitment to Christ in your choices, and your martyrdom will draw others to Christ in the same way martyrs drew believers to Christ. Are you willing, or even wanting, to allow your choices to be a martyr for Christ?

The Touch of God

Many people think they don’t need to walk into a Church to encounter God, but you can only touch God in His Church. God could have called down from Heaven and forgiven all sins and welcomed humanity back into Paradise, but He chose instead to take on flesh and touch humanity. There are many ways to call out to God, but only one way to touch Him. When the Precious Body and Blood of Christ touches your lips, your sins are forgiven and you are healed, because the touch of God heals and you live forever.

We Hold Ourselves to a Higher Standard

We live in a world, much like the Christians of the first century, in which morality is based not on the teachings of Christ, but the teachings of darkness. Daily, it seems, our world is stepping further away from the way of life of Christ and His Church, as is evidenced in the daily news reports. In a world in which the terminally ill are invited to take their own lives with “dignity,” or in which there is no longer a distinction between males and females, we must strive to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We are encouraged by Saint Paul to coexist peacefully in this world, all the while never faltering in our commitment to live a life worthy of Christ. Holding ourselves to a higher standard doesn’t mean abandoning nonbelievers to hell; rather it means being in a constant state of prayer that their hearts may be softened. Of course, we understand the Gospel message will fall sometimes on deaf ears, but that does not give us license to live according to the same fallen standards of the world. We hold ourselves to a higher standard. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

It’s All About Family

When you were baptized and chrismated into the Church, you became a child of God. Our God is the only God who allows His people to call Him Father, and He has given us a Mother, the Church, to guide, protect, and comfort us as we grow perfecting holiness as sons and daughters of God. Christ invites us, “Be merciful like your Father is merciful.” Are you willing to live as a child of God?

It isn’t about Doing More; it’s about Being More

You wake up every morning running at full speed even before getting out of bed because you already know there are more things you need to accomplish today than you have time to finish. But every day you wake up committed to working hard for your family’s needs, and you don’t stop until the moment your head hits the pillow, and the next day begins all over again before you are even finished with today. The sense of exhaustion is real. Just when we are at our most exhausted moment, the Christ calls to us, “Let’s go, there’s more to do.” Just then you beg God, “Please, don’t ask me to do more.”

Desire, Struggle & The Cross

The Christian path to salvation is freely given and must be freely embraced. Jesus said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” (Mark 8.34) In this invitation, Jesus grants us the ability to choose to follow Him. For two thousand years, holy men and women have desired Christ, struggled to deny themselves and followed Christ. Orthodox Christianity is a “tried and tested” way of life that will lead us to see God....IF we desire it.