MISSION AND
POSITION STATEMENT

We are consumed with Jesus, Orthodoxy and the quickening of the Holy Spirit. Our passion is Jesus and glorifying Him with every breath we take. Our calling is to impact the lives of those who have not experienced the transforming power of Christ.

We rely entirely on the guidance of the Lord and the generosity of financial contributors. Your tax-deductible participation makes the Ministry possible. Please mail your check or money order to:

What Happened to Christ?
Where is the Bride's Longing for her Divine Spouse?

TO ALL MY FELLOW-ORTHODOX, CLERGY AND LAITY:

Disregard for the rule and lordship of our Savior and Despotes is widespread in the Church,both here and abroad. In our state of disobedience we have been sowing to the flesh, and now we are reaping the "works of the flesh," as enumerated in Galatians 5:19. We have been banishing the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The result: divisiveness, instability and unrest over the future of the Church.

What else can we expect when, as the Lord declares, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh". (John 3:6)

Too many are looking in the wrong places for the solution to the present crisis in the Church. Are we to rely simply on new programs and administrative changes? The word of God makes it crystal clear to us:

• Repent collectively of our sins of disobedience.
• Bring Christ out of obscurity into prominence between Liturgies.
• Restore the Headship and Lordship of Christ.
• Enunciate as frequently as possible Christ's "pre-eminence in all things" outside the Church building, as well as inside.
• Cause the Bride of Christ to be inflamed with a nuptial love for her coming Divine Spouse.
• There cannot be spiritual renewal until Jesus is glorified!

Far too long has man been trying to usurp the sovereignty of Christ in the Church. This has been the master plan of Satan from the Garden of Eden - to find Christ-substitutes. Can we honestly say that the Church even in our own day is truly "subject to Christ?" (Ephesians 5:24) The evidence shows that man has been largely in control under the guise of religious propriety and tradition.

St. John Chrysostom teaches that the day will come when the Antichrist will be seated in every Church. "He will be seated in the temple of God, not that in Jerusalem only, but also in every Church." (On Thessalonians III)

Those of us who comprise the Brotherhood of St. Symeon the New Theologian and ministry of Orthodox Evangelism and Renewal believe that the powers of darkness are infiltrating our Holy Orthodox Church. We want to share our concern, indeed our alarm that the "mystery of iniquity," foretold by St. Paul,"doth already work" in our day (2 Thessalonians 2:7) We want to believe that the Shepherds to whom the flock of Christ has been entrusted will sound the Wake Up Call.

Did not Christ Who said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church" also call one of His Churches "dead?" (Revelation 3:1) Church survival depends on her submission to Christ. Her holiness reflects the holiness of her members in whom "there is no spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." Suffice it to remember the Asia Minor Disaster when God made good His warnings.

Change does not come with persuasion and exhortation. Personal character and the human heart require rebirth. They can be changed only by the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. Re-evangelizing the people of God is the imperative need of the hour!

The message of the Cross is mentioned only parenthetically in too many sermons, if mentioned at all. We empty the Cross of its power when we place our trust merely on teaching and on our human ingenuity. It takes the supernatural power of the Cross-to cause us to die to self and to let Christ govern His Church, as well as our personal lives.

To ignore these basic Divine principles is to be part of the problem in the Church, not part of the solution. We hear voices coming from those who say we need "leaders." But our voice cries out for publicly acknowledging the need for One Leader, and His Name is Jesus! Have we possibly over institutionalized the Church? When we should be saying "Christ," we say the "Church." When we should be saying obedience to Christ, we say obedience to the Church. Why don't we act out between Liturgies what we proclaim at the time of the Divine Liturgy: One is Holy! One is Lord! Jesus Christ unto the glory of God the Father!