Otts On Mission
Reflections on ministry, mission, and the Church
Tag: Monasticism
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On the Hunt For Glory
Vainglory and Obsession With Fame “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.” 1 Peter 1:24 Glory. Reputation. Prestige. Celebrity. Greatness. Much of our world today centers around the acquisition of titles such as these. One need to look no…
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The Madness of Pride
“The beginning of pride is the consummation of vainglory; the middle is the humiliation of our neighbor, the shameless parade of our labors, complacency in the heart, hatred of exposure; and the end is denial of God’s help, the extolling of own’s own exertions, fiendish character.” – Saint John Climacus Pride Points To Me I…
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Thoughts, Passions, and Sin
Sin as Sickness A kid was recently shot fairly close to where we live. In the middle of the woods, surrounded by other teens, he was shot and killed. Humanity is sick. We see the brokenness of our world just about everywhere these days. All of us feel it. We experience it in just about…
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To Guard Your Heart – Think About Your Thoughts
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23 The Importance of Heart The “heart” within the western worldview most often refers to emotions and affections. The “heart” in Scripture and throughout the history of the Church however, referred to something much more. Throughout Church history the heart refers…
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Gluttony and The Spiritual Warfare of Our Minds
The Starting Point For Spiritual Warfare Throughout history the spiritual fathers and mothers wrote extensively on the topic of spiritual warfare and the battleground of the mind. It is the plane on which the spiritual battle takes place. The enemy dispatches a variety of carefully crafted and pointed attacks on our mind, attempting to change…