"Pastor’s answers"  is a blog and compilation of answers our own pastoral staff gives to controversial slavic questions often argued about. Keep tabs on this section as it will slowly develop into a large segment of our website, and a resource to the church as a whole.

To submit a question you’d like answered, email pastor@thechurchofgrace.org.

The Church Pulse is COGY’s method of keeping the Youth "in-the-know" of Christian news around the world. This portion of our service is led and managed by our very own Sisters- Lilya Levandovskay and Tanya Latz. These topics are expanded upon during our youth services.

Feel free to comment on all Church Pulse posts!

There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death.
                     -Inspired by God the Holy Spirit; written by King Solomon

 I like how the Bible starts out: “In the beginning God…”  It all starts with God.  Everything is by him, through him and for him.

He is the alpha and omega – beginning and end.  You just can’t get away from him.  David says it this way: “Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

This God who is the beginning of all initiates a relationship with us.  He starts it.  God literally comes in with his Spirit and turns things upside down to attract us and pull us in.  Once we are drawn there is no turning back but we’re swept off our feet by the one who chose to pursue us.

It is God who gives us the desire (“to will”) and enables us to make it happen (“to work”)!  As Christian you don’t have to pull back from your desires but, on the contrary, you get to do exactly what you want to do the most.  All of it is possible only by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Believe in it.  Glory in it.  This is truly good news.

It’s been almost half a year since it all changed in our youth ministry. Jesus has truly been good to us because despite all the mistakes we made we’re still a functioning part of the church!

We tried a couple of different approaches as to how things would be done here and finally we’re coming down to the basics.  Our youth ministry might not be the fanciest in town judging from the looks and programs but we’re on to follow Christ and Him alone.  If we just make Him look good!  That’s all that ultimately matters because only He is ultimate.

We’ll focus on becoming a praying people by increasing our prayers at home and coming on Thursday at 7 o’clock to the pre-service prayer.  We’ll focus on becoming an ardent Bible people by devoting ourselves to reading of the Holy Scriptures at home and coming to the Bible studies on Fridays at 8 p.m.   

We’ll start singing passionately during our worship time because Christ has bestowed His precious love upon us.  We’ll be a friendly bunch because Christ has befriended us.  We’ll be a welcoming group because Christ has welcomed us.  We’ll be a serving people because Christ has served us.

All glory in this age and in the age to come to Jesus Christ the King!

It’s all about Jesus.  It’s only about Jesus.  It’s always about Jesus.

Horatio Spafford stood hour after hour on the deck of the ship carrying him to rejoin his sorrowing wife in Cardiff, Wales. When the ship passed the approximate place where his precious daughters had drowned, Spafford received sustaining comfort from God that enabled him to write, “When sorrows like sea billows roll … It is well with my soul.” What a picture of our hope!

Chorus: It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.

Tho Satan should buffet, tho trials should come, let this blest assur ance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and shed His own blood for my soul.
Chorus: It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.

Pastor’s Answer: I believe that God hears prayers in any body posture. Moreover, I think that sometimes the Lord would hear and give an answer to the one who prays being seated while closing up to a prayer of the one who fell on his knees and even, perhaps, his face.

Why do we then practice praying on our knees or standing on our feet?  This is a question of our respect and awe before God and only then a question of our upbringing.  A person on her knees is a typical image of a praying person.  Bending of our knees is a symbol of humility and lowering of our human ego.  To bow down to your knees before somebody else means to break your pride and attest to your dependence on him.  We are to bow down only before God and not before any human being.  Also, when we pray standing on our feet we demonstrate our respect towards God.  In most of the cultures of the world people stand up in the presence of elders.

Bible gives us many examples when God’s people prayed kneeling down before God.  When King Solomon was praying his famous prayer at the dedication of the House of God he got up on the pedestal and bowed his knees in front of all the people (2 Chronicles 6:13).  David calls those who pray to God to bow down before the Lord (Psalm 95:6).  Prophet Daniel three times a day would kneel down before God in prayer (Daniel 6:10).  Even Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane praying would fall to his knees (Luke 22:14).  First martyr Stephen bowed his knees in prayer (Acts 7:60).  Apostle Peter praying for Tabitha knelt down (Acts 9:40).  Apostle Paul after giving his going away speech in Ephesus knelt down in prayer (Acts 20:36) and then fell to his knees in Tyre along with his co-workers right on the beach (Acts 21:5).  Finally, Apostle Paul said that the time will come and every knee will bow before Christ (Philippians 2:10).  Nowhere do I find an example of a prayer sitting down.  What else can be anymore believable?   

Answer: It doesn’t matter a whole lot before God how we dress to church services whether we’re wearing festive clothes or regular.  The main thing is what’s inside of us but that’s a question of culture and ways of being brought up.  In our European culture it is common to wear festive clothes on the weekends especially when people go to church.  If people are invited to a meeting with, say, a governor or a congressman they put on appropriate festive clothes (a suit, a tie, a night dress, etc.).  So when we go to the very King our external appearance ought to look nice as well.

Oftentimes looking at people coming to church services dressed without care in shorts, T-shirts often wrinkled that remind of pajamas it doesn’t look appropriate and not very nice.

There is another extreme when some of our people, especially Ukrainian women, spend tons of money on expensive clothes to show off in church.

Clothes of Christians are to be nice, clean and not very expensive.  A Christian ought to look nice both on the inside and outside.

It’s all about who you know and how many of them are there.  We are bent on searching for popularity.  It’s the second half of the American dream to have a posse that follows you around telling everyone how cool and awesome you are. 

You care about what others will say about you and even start blushing when you think you look dumb.  You are so used to have people around you think well of you that you can’t even fathom being hated. 

The old Eminem song comes to mind: “Have you ever been hated or discriminated against? I have, I’ve been protested and demonstrated against.”  Not to say that it’s a song worth listening to but this dude digs what it means to be rejected by others regardless of the context he is in.

Throughout history Christians weren’t really treated all that nice.  They were maligned, bad mouthed, ridiculed, beaten, persecuted and even murdered just because they follow Christ.

Don’t be surprised next time your co-workers think you lost your marbles because you’re following a marginalized Galilean peasant.  Don’t be surprised when people think it’s their job to point out how ridiculous you look because you believe that a Jewish Rabbi who suffered capital punishment was resurrected.  

At the end of the day this Jewish man is God.  He reigns.  Every fool and every wise person will bow down before him.  Every idiot and intelligent person will confess that He is the King.

In Christ,

Michael