Poll update

It has come to my attention that the polls I posted in the Polls page (see the link in the column on the right) were not working properly. So I have used a different polling widget. This one does seem to be working. Sorry, to those of you who already voted (or tried to vote), but please do so again when you can.
Thanks.

Things You'll Never See in an Orthodox Church, Part 23

What is the purpose of these Things You'll Never See posts? Is it to poke fun at Christians who don't do things the way we do them in the Orthodox Church? Sure, that's part of it. But there is more to it than that.
Sometimes, a thing is best described by identifying what it is not. With these posts, I am demonstrating that theOrthodox Church is not irreverent, flippant, disgraceful, unseemly, tactless, tacky, or driven by what is cool, relevant, sexy or politically correct. It is not interested in celebrating human achievement or in tailoring its understanding of God to match its wordlview. It is not casual, comfortable, or laid back. It is not interested in entertaining you or bolstering your self esteem. It is not interested simply in drawing a crowd (hell, Lady Gaga can do that!) or winning converts, but in making disciples and teaching them to observe everything Christ commanded (Mt 2819-20).
In short, the Orthodox Church is the opposite of what you find in these videos.


This clip comes from Heartland Christian Center in Valparaiso, IN. At the end of his performance, the pastor tells the audience "you never thought you'd come to church and see that."
Truth be told: you won't.

Polls

I am always very interested in the opinions and perspectives of other people. Even when I disagree with them (and I usually do). Last year I posted a poll on this blog asking viewers to identify their original religious affiliation. I received 94 responses (which is a pretty poor level of participation, considering it is less than 3% of the total number of unique visitors to the blog during the year that the poll was up) with the following results:

Evangelical: 28%
Roman Catholic: 25%
Orthodox: 23%
Other Protestant: 15%
Non-Christian: 6%

Now I have decided to dedicate an entire page to polling my readers. You will see a link to it on the right-hand column of the blog. I have started off with three poll questions and will add another one every month or so. I will announce when a new question has been added and will leave each question up for one year.

Please feel free to participate and leave questions, comments, or suggestions for future poll questions.

Church as Corporation; Pastor as CEO

Is this guy making disciples? This sort of thing is the exact opposite of what you find when you read the lives of the saints, which of course is something from which we all could benefit greatly.

Things You'll Never See in an Orthodox Church, Part 22

(Newser) – A Dutch priest is in hot water for praying—in vain—that the Netherlands would defeat Spain at a Mass celebrated the day of the World Cup final, reports the BBC. Paul Vlaar decorated his church in the team color, orange; wore orange and white vestments; and played along as a churchgoer kicked a soccer ball down the aisle. He's been suspended so he can observe "a period of reflection," says his bishop. "Everybody supports Pastor Paul and we don't see what was so bad," a parishioner tells the AP.

source