Be Transfigured Ministries

Weathering the Storms of Life

Trusting in God doesn’t mean we don’t encounter struggle. In the darkest moments of life, the Lord is present to weather the storm with us, but He will not always calm the storm. There will be times when the storms of life will crash down upon us even when we are focused intently upon Christ. It requires endurance to keep our focus on Christ in the midst of the storm. God doesn’t guarantee us a struggle-free life; He guarantees us the necessities of life. When times are really tough, we are tempted to dwell upon how difficult the storm is, rather than how God is guiding us through the storm. That’s when we tend to sink, and when we need endurance to weather out the storm with God holding our hand.

Don’t Let Your Weakness Get in God’s Way

We all have them and we know it. We rarely admit it, but we all know there are days when we are just too weak to trust in God’s promise. And what is His promise? So long as we trust in Him and bring to Him our resources for His ministry, we will always have enough for our needs. And what are our needs? God promises we will have enough BASIC food, BASIC clothing, and BASIC shelter. When it comes to the rest of our resources, we have to trust God ENOUGH and allow Him to use our resources for His ministry. If we allow our weakness to get in the way, people go hungry and Churches are unable to continue to mission Christ began just two thousand years ago.

What Happens When We Don’t Like Our Neighbors?

It happens to all of us. Someone moves in next door and we don’t approve of their behavior. A business opens next door and we believe their behavior doesn’t belong in our neighborhood. In our free pluralistic society, it happens more often than in past homogenous societies, but our response must always be the same. We must never allow our blindness to keep us from expressing love for our neighbors. We must never forget that our lives are no less sinful than our neighbors’. God calls us to open our eyes to our sinfulness and repent from our sinful way of life, rather than to waste time focusing on the sins of others.

The Best Words are VERBS!

The Bible is filled with words; small ones and big ones, but the best words are verbs. A sentence is not complete without a verb, and neither is the Christian life. God is a God of ACTION and He calls us to put our gifts to use and become Christians of ACTION. Saint Paul said, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.” (Romans 12.6) Jesus didn’t just sit in heaven and watch us, and we cannot just sit in Church watching Him.

What Happens When the Truth Torments Us?

Fast every Wednesday and Friday. Tithe to the Church. Come for Holy Confession. Attend Church regularly. Receive Holy Communion. You can’t marry that person. You can’t live like this, and you can’t do that. What happens when the truth of the Church torments us? We either ignore the Church to ease the pain or we beg the Church to stop tormenting us. “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8.23) These were the words of demons but they can easily become our own words when our life doesn’t match with how God wants us to live. Rather than begging God to leave you alone, why not run to Him and tell the demons to leave you alone? Let the demons bother the pigs; you have a restored life in Christ waiting for you.

The Radical Message of Jesus

Love your enemies! Don’t pursue wealth! Deny yourself! Drink and have a river gushing from your heart! On the surface these sound like radical ideas from a man who was a carpenter. Even His accusers said, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” With the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the Church was granted the gift of being “guided in all truth” by the Holy Spirit sent to us by Jesus Christ from Heaven. How about this for radical…..let the Church be your moral guide? That’s right; being a Christian is being radical, but when Jesus is involved, even the radical seems right.

The Protection and Leadership of a Holy Father

Just as a loving and dedicated father protects and leads his family to safety. The Holy Fathers of the Church have protected the faith and led the faithful to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. In the face of dangerous heresies, the Holy Fathers have maintained the truth of Jesus Christ. If we love our family friends in any way, we should do everything in our power to bring them to the safety of the Church. It is what a loving AND HOLY father would do.

What are You Looking for in Life?

We are all faced with this question at moments of transition in our lives, but have you ever considered the question, “What are looking for in your relationship with Christ?” In the miracle of the healing of the man-born-blind, (John 9.1-38) we witness the difference between those looking to see Christ and those looking to satisfy their own selfish desires. Sometimes we prefer to ignore the truth in front of our face, so we turn to legitimize our down desires by rationalizing away the truth. The Pharisees PREFERRED to think the man was never born blind, rather than accept the miracle of his divine healing by Christ. The man’s parents PREFERRED to leave the man to his own defense, rather than support their son in the face of evil opposition. But the man, emboldened by his faith in God, never wavered in his witness to the truth of Jesus Christ, “I was blind, and now I see.” He was looking for God, are you?

A Simple Glass of Water

Great opportunities sometimes come from simple tasks like drawing water from a well. When Jesus asked St Photini, known as the Samaritan Woman, for a drink from Jacob’s well, He was inviting her to enter into a dialogue with Him. By entering into a dialogue with the Lord, against custom, St Photini was blessed to discover the truth of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and through her encounter the entire city was saved. From a simple glass of water an entire city was brought to faith in Jesus Christ. Are you thirsty?

Why Do So Many People Have to Suffer?

On the third Sunday following Holy and Great Pascha, the Church reminds us of the reality of pain, suffering and death in this world. In the story of the pool of Bethsaida (John 5.1-15) and the miracles accomplished by St Peter (Acts 9.32-42) we learn of God’s purpose for miracles. We all know, by first-hand experience, that MOST do NOT receive miracle healings by the Lord, although sometimes Holy Scripture gives us the misimpression that miracles are common everyday experiences. When the Lord DOES intervene with miracles, it is for a greater purpose than mere physical health. We don’t need to fear sickness and death. Miracles, and suffering by default, are to lead us to find the Lord and embrace His Good News for a brighter future. Then we must heed the warning of our Lord, “Go and sin no more,” lest someone worse befall us.