Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their church, the Priest and his eleven-year-old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel Tracts. This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside as… Continue reading The Priests Son!
Lord, who can comprehend even one of your words? We lose more of it than we grasp, like those who drink from a living spring. For God’s word offers different facets according to the capacity of the listener, and the Lord has portrayed his message in many colours, so that whoever gazes upon it can… Continue reading The Inexhaustable Spring!
It is a teaching of the holy Fathers that with the creation of the angels we have the emergence of the first Church. And it can be seen in the writings of the Fathers of the Church that the angels too are members of the Church. Moreover, God the Father is the creator of “all… Continue reading The Church Of Angels!
Saint John of the Ladder is honored by the Church as a great ascetic and author of the renowned spiritual book called THE LADDER, from which he is also called “of the Ladder” (Climacus). There is almost no information about St John’s origins. One tradition suggests that he was born in Constantinople around the year… Continue reading St John Of The Ladder!
The Coptic Church was established in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by St. Mark the Evangelist in the city of Alexandria around 61 A.D. The church adheres to the Nicene Creed. St. Athanasius (296-373 A.D.), the twentieth Pope of the Coptic Church effectively defended the Doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Divinity at… Continue reading A Brief Intro!
During the last days of His earthly life Jesus Christ was left alone to face those who hated Him, endure sufferings and death. He drank to the bottom the cup of suffering that was prepared for Him and underwent the most horrible thing that a person could experience: a profound loneliness and feeling of being… Continue reading Lonely As Christ!
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” (Jeremiah 1:5). Abortion is death of a living person. The Hon. Ted Cunningham MLA of Western Australia said, on March 17, 1998. “No gynaecologist anywhere in this world will tell a woman “Madam, for the first few… Continue reading You're Pregnant With A Baby Fish!
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” (Jeremiah 1:5). Abortion is death of a living person. The Hon. Ted Cunningham MLA of Western Australia said, on March 17, 1998. “No gynaecologist anywhere in this world will tell a woman “Madam, for the first few… Continue reading You’re Pregnant With A Baby Fish!
In the Gospel of St. Matthew, we hear Jesus quote the ancient scripture from the prophesies of Isaiah and from that moment on, He began to preach this message: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand,” (4:12-17). Those particular words have stirred up some anxiety and fear in the hearts of people… Continue reading My Bible, My Friend!
The recent mounting attack by Muslim fundamentalists on the Coptic Church and its head Pope Shenouda III, accusing him of causing sectarian tensions and calling for his “disposal”, is seen by some as a sign that matters “got out of hand” and that Egypt is heading towards a catastrophe, while others see the “steady hand… Continue reading The Situation In Egypt Today!
1. In 2 Corinthians 9:8, we’re told, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” Reading this carefully, we learn that God is able to make all things right. No matter how… Continue reading 5 Ways To Trust In God!
Following the service of the Divine Liturgy one Sunday while I was preparing for a Baptism I was approached by a little girl who was about five years of age. There was no one else in the Church at the time. I stopped what I was doing, for she remained still and close by my… Continue reading Kissing The Priests Hand!
1. Sex and Lust — While male-female attraction has always been a part of music, art, and literature, and rightly so, because it is a normal and healthy part of life, much rock music serves to celebrate the most crude forms of lust: casual and promiscuous sex, the use of women purely as sex objects,… Continue reading Rock & Roll – Satanic or Not? – PART 2
The subject of rock ‘n’ roll has been controversial and a source of conflict between parents and children ever since it first appeared on the scene in the mid 1950’s. When Elvis Presley performed on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time in 1956, the cameras only showed him from the waist up, because… Continue reading Rock & Roll – Satanic or Not? – PART 1
When we speak of spirituality whether it be of adolescents or any other age group of our Church, there are a few things that we must keep in mind. Orthodoxy is a way of living. Many of the Church teachings and the teachings of Christ Himself of necessity conflict with our world and society. Our… Continue reading The Confusing Years Of Adolescence!
To make progress in your prayer practice you must be regular in your practice. This is not a Monday, Wednesday or Friday or whenever thing, but is something that has to be engaged every day without fail. Every day you miss will set you back at least three days. Make it an integral part of… Continue reading When To Pray The Jesus Prayer!
It is impossible to correct wrong attitudes and emotions that result frompast hurts without in some way affecting how we cope with the painful memories of those bad experiences. These attitudes and ways of thinking, so deeply embedded in our hearts, subconciously hold us back from believing God’s promises to us of peace, comfort and… Continue reading Dealing With Hurt!
C.S.Lewis says friends are people that are travelling in the same direction, have similar aspirations and goals and encourage each other in attaining those goals. Friends are not people that pull you down, they’re not people who are jealous (though sometimes that happens). They are people who can handle your talents and gifts and help… Continue reading Friendship Flowchart!
Man today lives under such overwhelming pressure that his nerves are strained to the limit, and even the slightest provocation arouses in him the sin of anger. Causes for anger could be the child who does not listen to us, or the husband or wife who contradicts us, or the driver who cuts us off… Continue reading A Word On Anger!
Proof 6: Answered Prayer. Skeptics and doubters will not experience this proof, unless they begin to study the Bible and meet its challenges. According to a recent Barna Research report: “Americans believe in the power and impact of prayer. Four out of five (82 percent) believe that ‘prayer can change what happens in a person’s… Continue reading 7 Proofs of God – Part 6 & 7
To you, my children, I would like to say a few words about prayer. Prayer is what we need more than any other thing – true, fervent, real prayer. And this is where we sin most of all. Often we pray merely with our lips – this is the ultimate fall. Or we may pray… Continue reading Heart Felt Prayer!
As we were video conferencing today with the children’s hospital, a colleague of mine stood up and took a whiteboard marker and started drawing on the whiteboard. Within minutes a brilliant caricature was drawn, fine detail and all – it was completed with such ease that i was left in awe staring at the board.… Continue reading The Tools Are The Same, Just Use Them Wisely!
For thus says the Lord: ‘Cut down her trees; pour out your power against Jerusalem, O false city. There is oppression in her entirely.” Jeremiah 6:6 In these verses, Jeremiah urgently warns of imminent, ‘great destruction’ soon to overtake the capital city of Jerusalem and the entire nation of God’s People (vs. 1). The Prophet… Continue reading Oppression!
How do we attain the Kingdom of Heaven? Where is it to be found? It is very easy for us in the Western world to view this Kingdom as something that one attains as a final destination or ending of a journey. As Orthodox Christians, we believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is Christ Himself,… Continue reading Attaining The Kingdom Of Heaven!
My brethren, count it all, joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4) Trials, the world’s oppression, take place with God’s permission. The issue is not trials per se,… Continue reading The Value Of Patience!
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