A second example of a new phenomenon, which at first sight one doesn’t know what to make of, is the now very common phenomenon of UFOs, flying saucers.
There is a particular Protestant evangelist, the above-mentioned Carl McIntire, who is extremely strict and righteous and very Bible-believing. He has a radio program, the Twentieth-Century Reformation, and a newspaper. He is absolutely upright—you have to separate from all people who are in apostasy—and his ideas are very nice. He’s anti-communist. He calls Billy Graham an apostate, together with everyone who deviates from the strict line of what he thinks is right. From this point of view he’s very strict, and yet you see the strangest things i his philosophy. For example, he’s building himself the Temple of Jerusalem, in Florida. He has a model of the Temple, and he wants to build it so as to make it compete with Disneyworld. People will come and pay to see the great Temple which is soon going to be built for Christ to come to earth. This is supposed to provide a good opportunity to witness Christianity.
He goes in for the flying saucers, also. In every issue of his newspaper there’s a little column called “UFO Column,” and there they talk, to one’s great astonishment, about all the wonderful, positive things which these flying saucers are doing. The give conferences and make movies about them.
Just recently there have been several Protestant books about UFOs, showing quite clearly that they’re demons. The person who writes the column in this newspaper got upset about this, and said that some people say that these beings are demons, but we can prove they aren’t. He says that maybe a couple of them are demons, but most of them aren’t. He cites a recent case in which some family in the Midwest saw a flying saucer. The flying saucer came down, landed, and the family saw inside little men—they’re usually four and half feet tall or so—and they sang “Hallelujah.” They stopped and looked and then they flew away; I guess they didn’t talk to them any more. And that set the family to thinking; they began to think “Hallelujah”; they began to think about Christianity; they looked in their Bibles, and they finally ended up going to a Fundamentalist church and being converted to Christianity. Therefore, he says, these beings must be some kind of people who are helping God’s plan to make the world Christian because they said “Hallelujah.”
Of course, if you read Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov, you will know about all the deceptions which the demons perpetrate: the demons “pray” for you, the demons make miracles, they produce the most wonderful phenomena, they bring people to church, they do anything you want, as long as they keep you in this deception. And when the time comes, they will suddenly pull their tricks on you. So these people, who have been converted to some kind of Christianity by these so-called outer-space beings, are waiting for the next time they will come; and the next time their message may have to do with Christ coming to earth again soon, or something of the sort. It’s obvious that this is all the work of demons. That is, where it’s real. Sometimes it’s just imagination, but when it’s real this kind of thing obviously comes form demons.
This is very elementary. If you read any text of the early Fathers, any of the early Lives of Saints or the Lausiac History, you find many cases where beings suddenly appear. Nowadays they appear in spaceships because that’s how the demons have adapted themselves to the people of the times; but if you understand how spiritual deception works and what kind of wiles the devil has, then you have no problems in understanding what’s going on with these flying saucers. And yet this person who writes the UFO column is an absolutely strict Fundamentalist Christian. He is looking, actually for new revelations to come from beings from outer space.
Fr. Seraphim Rose
Of all people, the atheist is the most misfortunate person because he has been deprived of the only good thing upon the earth: faith—the one true guide toward the truth and happiness. The atheist is a most misfortunate person because he is deprived of hope: the essential staff needed to journey through
life's lengthy path. The atheist is a most misfortunate person because he is deprived of
human love, which caresses the aching heart. The atheist is a most misfortunate person because he has been deprived of the divine beauty of the Creator's image, which the Divine Artist has etched withinman and which faith unveils.
The eye of the atheist sees in creation nothing other than the operation of natural processes. The brilliance and magnificent beauty of the Divine Creator's image remain hidden and undetectable to him. As he glances aimlessly at creation, nowhere does he discover the beauty of God's wisdom, nowhere does he see God's omnipotence, nowhere does he observe God's goodness and providence,
nowhere does he discern the Creator's righteousness and love for creation. His mind is neither capable
of ascending higher than the visible world nor
reaching beyond the boundaries of physical matter. His heart remains anesthetized and indifferent before God's ever-present divine wisdom and power.
Within it, not even the slightest desire to worship
the Lord exists. His lips remain closed, his mouth silent, and his tongue frozen. His soul voices no
hymn, doxology, or praise as an expression of gratefulness to God.
The peace of the soul and the serenity of the heart have been removed by disbelief; instead, mourning has inundated the depth of his being. The delight, which the faithful person experiences from executing God’s divine commandments, and
the great pleasure that he enjoys from
an ethical way of life are unknown feelings for the atheist.The elation which faith bestows to the believer has never been felt by the atheist’s heart.
The assurance that arises from faith in God’s providence, which relieves man from the anxiety of life’s worries, is a power unknown to him.
Γεια σου μαμά, Είμαι το μωρό σου.
Δεν με ξέρεις ακόμα, είμαι μόνο μερικών εβδομάδων. Θα με γνωρίσεις σύντομα, το υπόσχομαι. Έχω καστανά μαλλιά και καστανά μάτια...
Ε λοιπόν δεν είμαι έτσι ακόμα, αλλά θα γίνω όταν γεννηθώ.Θα είμαι ο μοναχογιός σου.
Δεν θα έχω μπαμπά αλλά δεν πειράζει, θα έχουμε ο ένας τον άλλον.Όταν μεγαλώσω θέλω να γίνω γ......ιατρός.
Σήμερα, έμαθες ότι ............είσαι έγκυος μαμά. Ήσουν τόσο χαρούμενη. Χαμογελούσες. Έχεις το ποιο ωραίο χαμόγελο μαμά.
Όλη την μέρα μου μιλούσες και ένιωθα τόση ασφάλεια μαμά. Σ'αγαπάω μαμά.
Όταν μεγαλώσω υπόσχομαι να σε κάνω τόσο περήφανη. Θα γίνω γιατρός. Σήμερα είπες στον μπαμπά για μένα ... Δεν ήταν χαρούμενος μαμά. Είπε ότι δεν με θέλει. Γιατί δεν με θέλει μαμά ; Τί του έκανα; Ένιωσα έναν δυνατό κρότο και μετά σε ακούω να κλαίς.
Σε χτύπησε μαμά!
Γιατί το έκανε αυτό μαμά ; Μετά σε αγκάλιασε και σου ζήτησε συγγνώμη κ εσύ τον συγχώρεσες.. Όταν γεννηθώ, δεν θα επιτρέψω σε κανέναν να σε χτυπήσει ξανά. Λες οτι σ'αγαπάει μαμά. Αλλα εγώ δεν τον νομίζω.
Πάνε τρείς μέρες που σταμάτησες να μου μιλάς, ή να αγκαλιαζεις την κοιλίτσα σου.
Γιατί μαμά ; Δεν με αγαπάς ποια ; Εγώ σε αγαπάω μαμά. Σε ακούω να μιλάς με έναν γιατρό. Κάτι πρόκειται να γίνει μαμά.
Φοβάμαι, μαμά. Αρχίζω και πονάω. Σταμάτησε τους, βοήθησε με μαμαααα..
Τώρα είμαι στον παράδεισο μαζί με τα αγγελάκια μαμά. Μην ανησυχείς, είμαι καλά. Γιατί το έκανες αυτό μαμά ; Ήθελα τόσο πολύ να αντικρίσω το χαμογελό σου, να δω τον ήλιο,να γίνω γιατρός.ΝΑ ΖΗΣΩ.
Δέν πειράζει μαμά αν σταμάτησες να με αγαπάς. Μπορώ να σε δω από εδώ που είμαι οπότε δεν θα σε ξεχάσω ποτέ. Συγγνώμη αν έκανα κάτι κακό μαμά. Θέλω να με αγαπάς και πάλι !
Εγώ σε αγαπάω μαμά!!!
http://1myblog.pblogs.gr/2011/09/ektrwseis-egw-se-agapaw-mama.html
Ας στηρίξουμε το θάρρος μας στην φιλανθρωπία Του και ας δείξουμε μετάνοια επιμελή, πριν φθάση η ημέρα, κατά την οποία η μετάνοια δεν θα μας ωφελήση.
Τώρα όλα τα έχουμε στην εξουσία μας ∙ τότε όμως ο δικαστής μόνο είναι ο κύριος της αποφάσεως. «Ας παρουσιασθούμε μπροστά στο πρόσωπό του με εξομολόγησι» (Ψαλμ. 94, 2 ) , ας κλαύσουμε και ας θρηνήσουμε.
Αν μπορέσουμε να παρακαλέσουμε τον δικαστή πριν από τη δίκη να συγχωρήση τα αμαρτήματά μας, δεν θα χρειασθή ούτε στο δικαστήριο να εισέλθουμε. Αντίθετα πάλι, αν δεν γίνη αυτό, θα ακούση την απολογία μας δημόσια, με την παρουσία όλης της οικουμένης και τότε δεν θα έχουμε καμμία ελπίδα συγχωρήσεως. Κανένας από όσους δεν διέλυσαν εδώ τα αμαρτήματά του, όταν απέλθη, εκεί δεν θα αποφύγη τις ευθύνες του γι’ αυτά. Αλλά όπως από τις φυλακές της γης οδηγούνται οι φυλακισμένοι στο δικαστήριο δεμένοι με τις αλυσίδες τους, έτσι και οι ψυχές , όταν φύγουν από εδώ, με το βάρος των πολύπλοκων αμαρτημάτων τους οδηγούνται στο φοβερό βήμα.
( Εις το κατά Ματθαίον , ΙΔ΄, ΕΠΕ 9, 456. PG 57, 222 )
*Από το βιβλίο: «ΜΕΤΑΝΟΙΑ , ΕΞΟΜΟΛΟΓΗΣΙΣ, ΝΗΣΤΕΙΑ, ΘΕΙΑ ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ»
ΑΓΙΟΥ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΥΣΟΣΤΟΜΟΥ
Χρυσοστομικός Άμβων
ΣΤ΄»
2η Έκδοσις
( Επηυξημένη και βελτιωμένη)
Έκδοσις: Συνοδία Σπυρίδωνος Ιερομονάχου
Νέα Σκήτη Αγ. Όρους
2008
