The Lord says He wants unity and no schism in His Church,
yet each “church” contradicts the others about doctrines and faith and works;
If I spent my life researching interpretations, I know I’d lose all hope,
Because with over 25,000 denominations, I’d be at the end of my rope.

I swear all this confusion is the work of Satan and his minions,
Because three people can read the same Bible and give you four opinions!
Now, for a while I thought the problem was most people just don’t study hard enough,
So I dove into lots and lots of books until I thought my mind was tough.

But then I realized that even brilliant people disagree,
and so my outlook started looking grim,
because even if they’re checking up on me,
who’s checking up on them?

“Sola Scriptura!” they all replied, as the cure to every woe . . .
“If you consult the Bible, and the Bible alone, you’ll learn all you need to know.”

So let’s test this theory with a real life doctrine like prayers for the dead . . .
are they evil, or are they good?
Yet, this Bible does not say whether I should pray for the dead,
While this Bible says that I should.

Faced with this critical doctrinal question, will Sola Scriptura crumble, or will it thrive?
Should I accept the Bible that has 66 books?  Or the Bible that has 75?

Now this is no small question of esoteric education,
especially for Christians who claim the Bible as their very Faith’s foundation;
The books found here, that are missing from here, contain prophecies of Christ,
encouragement to pray for the dead, and to give alms to rescue one’s life.

So should we accept these doctrines? or just cast them beneath our feet?
It depends which Bible is the true one, and which Bible is incomplete.
But this doctrinal point is just the place where Sola Scriptura fails.
This critical doctrinal question takes the wind right out of its sails . . .

For you can search the Bible from front to back, inside out and upside down,
Yet from Genesis to Revelation, a list of books cannot be found;
Protestants around the world have studied, searched, and inquired,
and to this day they all agree the Bible’s table of contents is not inspired.

So to answer this doctrinal question,
there are men’s opinions which Protestants quote,
But the Bible has not one chapter, not one verse,
to reveal which books the Holy Spirit wrote.

So it seems that maybe Protestants
are on a rather ironic mission;
They say their doctrines are based on the Bible alone,
yet their Bible is based on Protestant Tradition.

So the next time a Protestant asks you to become a “Sola Scriptura” guy,
Just ask him whether you should use your Bible or his . . . and why?

When he presents an argument not straight from Scripture,
you can invite him to cease his talks,
For if his faith leans on Church Tradition,
then it’s time for your friend to become Orthodox!

Second, repentance is endless

“All the virtues, by the grace of God, may be perfected by man, but no one can perfect repentance, since we need repentance until our last breath, for we err in the twinkling of an eye.  Therefore repentance is interminable – and this is a good thing!  O how good God is!   Although we err as humans, we are sluggish to say “I have sinned”…but time flies, the years roll by, and we are drawing nearer and nearer to eternity.  We see this, yet a mental numbness has bound us until we (and I first) are thrown into hell!

In a world of values clarification, and of sensitivity training, and of political correctness this idea of hell,  sin and confession would be denounced vociferously in a heartbeat – as judgmental, mean-spirited, condemning and well – just not nice.  But the essence of our Orthodox faith is always counter to the culture:  for we know that in order to live one must first die.  Repentance is dying with Christ, a second baptism, a baptism of tears of contrition and sorrow, and as we plunge often into the depths of our tears, into the dark recess of the grave – we, like the icon of Pascha, find ourselves as Adam and Eve…whose hands are upraised and bodies are plucked out from death and the grave by Jesus Christ.  It is only in Satan’s playbook that repentance is considered a downer, bummer, and an archaic superstitious option… he, and he alone knows that repentance, like the Cross, is the instrument that smashes the gates of  hell and opens the way to paradise… our repentance must be daily, weekly monthly, yearly…endless and why not?  For what it offers us what we need most…grace – a second chance – a new beginning.  Let us sincerely repent, let us confess frankly and in detail.  Let the tribunal of God and His decision preoccupy us continuously and let us say: “I wonder, shall I be saved or shall I face the torments of hell?”  May it be that none of us regrets the chance to repent in this life, as we stand at the gates of the life to come…only to have them barred from us… imagine the sorrow when we realize what we could have had for eternity if we would have but humbled ourselves in the present.  Lord have mercy.  May it never be.

Finally, repentance is good.  So very, very good.   It is a gift unlike any gift we have ever been given, or will ever be given.  It is life, peace, health, visitation and salvation rolled into one.  We are seated in darkness and repentance opens our eyes to the Light.  We place ourselves in the region and shadow of death…and yet, through repentance Light dawns…it is not by coincidence that our place of confession and repentance is in that corner… right next to the laver, the font, the source of our rebirth through baptism as infants…and now as adult infants we go to that self-same space and rebirth and regeneration happens again and again…  I especially love it when after kneeling for the blessing my larger posterior bumps into the font and rattles both me and it…!  It’s as if the Lord is saying “Hey you, don’t forget what happened here!”  and  come back again real soon…   

I close with this.  May the Spirit of God, and the loving admonition of our priests and confessors, and may our consciences always serve as the voice of Christ beckoning us to come home again… for here, and especially there you are always welcome… always, no matter what.  The door is open, a chair is at the table for you, for me, for everyone…for we are sons and daughters… and what son or daughter is ever denied a place at dinner?

“I pray that all of us will awaken, light our lamps, and with a vigilant eye wait patiently for the Lord to come, so that we may enter into the resplendent bridal chamber of eternal bliss, the festival of the bright angels, to chant with them the resurrection canticles, which will elevate us to divine ascents!  Then – oh then – we shall fully realize what a great work it is to compel us in everything and that our superiors did well to push us, and grieve us, for we shall say: “Behold, what we see now!  Then our thanks to God will have no limits…  so…

Let us not lose our time in vain.     Rather….let us repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.