Orthodox Biz Blog

I first started working on Web projects for the Orthodox Christian Network (myocn.net) in late 2006. At the time, OCN had one program – Come Receive the Light. Come Receive the Light was primarily a traditional radio broadcast, airing in many key markets once a week. OCN’s Website was important, but had always been considered a secondary delivery channel compared to terrestrial radio.

The Great Commission wasn’t a suggestion. It was a commandment. We are to share the Orthodox Faith with the entire world. But how are we supposed to reach people? Stand on a soapbox on a street corner? Go door-to-door? Visit the sick, the needy, the elderly? Those are all good things that are worth doing. But did you ever think about using your Facebook account to spread Orthodoxy?

Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites are all the rage. People use them to find lost friends, connect with others with similar interests, and as an easy way to keep everyone updated with the latest news.

Handy links to all of the Orthodox Christian Network's new shows are included below.

In addition to those mentioned in the title of this post, be sure to check out "Journeys to Orthodoxy" for the story of an African-American jazz musician and Assistant Professor of Music at Ohio State University who recently entered the Orthodox Church.

What a week! All our shows are back, now that a couple have returned from their summer siesta. You can listen to all 10 of them by clicking on the links below or by tuning in to any of our 27 online Orthodox radio stations at the listed times (EST).

Tune in this week to Come Receive the Light, the national Orthodox Christian radio broadcast, to hear Fr. Stephen Freeman, author of the popular Orthodox blog "Glory to God for All Things", as he speaks with Fr. Chris about deepening our spiritual life through Holy Confession, fasting and prayer during Great Lent.

What would you say if I told you there was a medication that could help you to relax, make you feel better, and improve your relationships with your family and friends—would you be interested? If I told you there were no side affects, that it was free, and that you could easily get this medication—would you take it?

A few months ago I was working in a soup kitchen. One client—we’ll call her Kathy—had a glazed look in her eyes. I tried to talk with her, but she was in her own world. If you have ever had the joy of working at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, you have met individuals like Kathy; people who, for whatever reason, can’t communicate coherently with others.

The Orthodox tradition recognizes numerous saints of a certain type: Fools for Christ. These individuals, like Kathy, had difficulty relating to others “normally.” Yet the Church in her holy wisdom found it appropriate not only to accept such individuals, it actually recognized them as truly saintly men and women, inspired by God.

This raises the question: what, according to our faith, is “normal"?

One fall evening in 1954, a car sped through dusky Pennsylvania twilight. Headlights off, it careened recklessly towards a blind intersection in a cornfield. In a sickening split second, it smashed broadside into another car.

There were three people in that second car. When the dust and smoke cleared, two bodies lay among the twisted metal. One was my mother, who would remain in a coma for a month. The other, my aunt, was killed instantly. My father escaped with only scratches. Looking up to the sky, he asked “Why us, God? We were on our way to be missionaries!”