How to Know When You've Really Changed

April 25, 2018

In my line of work, I get all kinds of questions from all kinds of people. People want guidance: “can youhelp me make this decision?” People want answers: “why would God do that?” People want comfort: “what can I do to get through this?”

But there’s another line of questioning that’s become quite common recently and it might surprise you. People want ASSURANCE – they want to know that what they’re doing is the right thing and that they’ve done it correctly. This applies to us more today than ever before – especially to all of my fellow perfectionists and "results-oriented" friends out there.

If that's you, beware: the spiritual life poses a significant challenge to you.

Why Did They Want to Kill Lazarus?

April 22, 2016

Has anyone tried to kill you recently? I certainly hope not.

As Fr. Anthony wrote about earlier this week, we in the Coptic Orthodox Church are now preparing to enter Holy Week. Believe it or not, it actually begins tomorrow with Lazarus Saturday. After that is Palm Sunday, then the events of Holy Week through Covenant Thursday, Good Friday, Bright Saturday, and what many church fathers call the ‘Feast of Feasts’, the Holy Resurrection

The Monkey and His Pebbles

January 10, 2014

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.” (Psalm 90:12)

“MAN.” In that little three-letter word, there is a deluge of grace. Knowing that we’re created in the Image of God whilst entertaining that whisper of fatalism – assuring me that my spiritual transformation is pretty much impossible – tells me something isn’t right.

In Psalm 90, Moses prays for the Israelites wandering the wilderness in spiritual inertia; a feeling which, in all honesty, I’m no stranger too. Yet considering God is the same God who held the sun at a standstill over Gibeon and licked the Earth in flames on Mt Carmel, I can’t help but feel more than a touch of un-fulfilment. I find myself craving the transformation of the renewal of our minds St. Paul writes of in Romans 12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Welcome to THE WELL

December 4, 2013

I’ll say a phrase and you say the first thing that comes to your mind. Ready? Here’s the phrase.....…THE WELL. What do you think of? What comes to your mind? Anything exciting or earth-shattering? My guess is that the answer is probably no, but there is one lady I know who is filled with emotion whenever she hears that phrase. To her, THE WELL is much more than a big hole in the ground filled with water. To her, THE WELL is the place that her life was changed forever.

Who is that lady? She is the lady written about in the New Testament, John 4, commonly known as the Samaritan Woman. To her, THE WELL is an ordinary place that took on extraordinary meaning and significance through her encounter there with a Man called Jesus.

She showed up at THE WELL one way, but she left a completely different way – completely transformed on the inside and the outside. Her life took on new meaning ever since that day at THE WELL and that’s why to her, THE WELL is the most important place on earth. It’s the place where she met Jesus and her life was changed forever.

Because of that, when we wanted to come up with a name for our post-Liturgy Sunday meeting at STSA - the weekly event that we use as a chance to invite our friends to come to church and hopefully meet Jesus there - we decided to name it THE WELL.

Change of Mind = Change of Behavior

September 21, 2012

What would you do today if you believed you won the lottery? Would that change anything in your day? I’m not talking about if you played the lottery and thought you had a chance to win. I am saying imagine you just got a certified letter, hand-delivered to you by Regis himself, saying that you’ve just won $100 million and the check is in the mail.

Would that change your behavior?

YOU BET IT WOULD! Are you kidding me? I’d be dancing in the street! I’d be screaming so loud that the neighbors would hear! I’d drive straight to my workplace – with resignation letter in hand – but before I submitted the letter, I’d go around and tell everyone how I REALLY felt about them!

(Note to all who work with me now: please don’t be offended by the last sentence. Of course I was just exaggerating to make a point. I’d never want to work with anyone other than you guys and as long as I don’t win the lottery any time soon, I’m sticking with that as my story :) )

Wrestling with God

June 11, 2012

Ok, it’s time for a confession. While I might be looked down upon for what I am about to confess, I will do so honorably and proudly and with no shame. I LOVE WATCHING PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.

There I admitted it. Go ahead and judge me if you want, but let me just say this. When I grew up in the 80s and 90s, wrestling was a lot different than it is today. I am talking about the glory days of wrestling – back when you had the WWF, not the WWE; back when the good guys were good guys and everybody cheered for them because you knew they were always going to find a way to pull it out; and most importantly back when the fighting was real, not fake.

[I know, I know, I know. You think it’s all fake. Well, I agree that it might be choreographed, but I won’t go as far as fake. There is no way you can watch this video and tell me it’s fake. This is the infamous Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs Macho Man Randy Savage match from 1986. It still sends tingles up my spine.]

If you’ve ever watched wrestling, you know that the goal in any wrestling match is to either a) pin your opponent to the ground for 3 seconds, or b) to make your opponent submit/surrender.

Your Input Determines Your Output

May 29, 2012

Last summer, I took my family through a rite of passage for all families living in America. It wasn’t something I particularly looked forward to; but it was something that I knew had to be done at some point. And if you have kids too, my guess is that at some point you’ll have to bite the bullet and go through this one day as well...WE WENT TO DISNEY WORLD!

Now, if you’ve never been there, you need to know that going to Disney World isn’t like any other vacation in the world (and you’ll know right away from the price of everything!). Disney World is appropriately named because it isn’t a resort or a destination or a vacation spot…it's a whole other world!

There is so much to do (but you have to pay for doing it) and so much to see (and you have to pay for seeing it too). There’s just so much going on that it can be very overwhelming if you’re not prepared (and did I mention the cost yet?). So during the weeks leading up to this “vacation”, I did what any Type-A, well-organized and well-prepared man would do…I CAME UP WITH A PLAN!

Want to Turn Water into Wine?

March 2, 2012

"Water You turned into wine, opened the eyes of the blind. There's no one like You, none like You" - Our God, Chris Tomlin

Yes, the good ol' miracle that we've heard of that seems so beyond us and our abilities. As recorded by the Gospel according to St John, this was the first miracle performed by Jesus Christ. A small summary of the story - Jesus was at a wedding in Galilee and they had run out of wine. His mother, St Mary, kinda put Him on the spot to do something about it. He had people bring jars of water, He turned it into wine, and the people loved it - asking "Why didn't you bring out this good stuff before?!"

According to the customs, the 'good' wine was always brought out first so people can be impressed with the wine. Then, when people had a little too much to drink, the host would replace it with 'bad' wine because the guests were already getting a little buzz, so they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. There was something about this 'transformed' wine that was like no other they've tasted before.

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