Review of REMEMBER THY FIRST LOVE

October 30, 2013

“Life in Christ is like an iceberg: we only see the tip of it here on earth. But an infinite amount of grace lies submerged, and God communicates this to man by means of man’s faith.”

I recently finished one of the best (and longest) spiritual books I’ve ever read. It’s called Remember Thy First Love: The Three Stages of the Spiritual Life in the Theology of Elder Sophrony.

I know, I know…it sounds real boring doesn’t it? Believe me, I thought the same – especially when you couple the very long title with the plain brown cover and the book’s thickness…463 pages and ZERO PICTURES! Not exactly what you think of as light reading.

But trust me, the book is PHENOMENAL! Truly inspirational and full of nuggets of wisdom all over. Yes it’s long, but it isn’t nearly as difficult/cumbersome as it appears.

Repentant Prayer - Extreme Makeover PRAYER Edition, Part 4

October 28, 2013

Week 4 of the Extreme Makeover: PRAYER Edition series and this week we moved into one of the most essential rooms in the house of prayer...THE WASHROOM! What's the washroom of prayer? It's REPENTANT PRAYER and we all need it. Why? It isn't so much about the sins we do as it is about the state we're in. Or in other words, we are not sinners because we do sinful things; we do sinful things because we are sinners.

Take a listen and see for yourself. And if anything stands out to you and you think it's worth sharing, be sure to use the hashtag #PrayerMakeover when you share it.

You Find What You're Looking For

October 23, 2013

Once upon a time there were two 8-year old twin boys – completely identical in every way except one. THEIR ATTITUDES! One of the boys was always upbeat…always smiling…always cheerful. To him, the cup was always half-full and there was always a silver lining in every situation.

But the other boy was quite the opposite. Seldom would you find him in a good mood. To him, the cup was always half-empty and there was never a silver lining. He was always worried. Always depressed. Always down on life.

Their parents began to worry about these unhealthy extremes in their boys. One boy took life way too seriously and had too much anxiety. The boy was the polar opposite. Life was a party for him. He needed to be brought down to earth a little bit. So the parents came up with a plan. For their 9th birthday, they were determined to find a way to balance their children out.

First they went to a toy store and spent hundreds of dollars on all the latest toys, games and electronics for their depressed son. They filled his room with these items while he was out at school and thought to themselves “When he comes home and sees all these toys, that’ll cheer him up a little.”

For the other son, they filled his room with something different...much different…HORSE MANURE! Yep, that’s right. 30 cubic yards of horse manure, fresh from the stables!

They had the perfect plan…or so they thought.

Structured Prayer - Extreme Makeover PRAYER Edition, Part 3

October 21, 2013

“Prayer – secret, fervent, believing prayer – lies at the root of all personal godliness.” Week 3 of the Extreme Makeover: PRAYER Edition series and this week we moved from the family room (Simple Prayer) into the kitchen...Structured Prayer!

What is structured prayer? Do I really need it? Why is it important? Why can't I just pray whenever I want and however I want?

Those are the questions that I answer in this week's message as we discuss why we need to have consistency and discipline in our prayer life if we are going to fulfill God's plan for our life - which is to be "conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).

Enjoy the video and if anything stands out to you and you think it's worth sharing, be sure to use the hashtag #PrayerMakeover when you share it.

Simple Prayer - Extreme Makeover PRAYER Edition, Part 2

October 16, 2013

Sorry for not posting this sooner but I was out of town this past weekend for my annual trip to Toronto. I go there every year on Columbus Day weekend (although they somehow thought it was Thanksgiving) to visit my wonderful friends at SMSV church (more about that trip later this week). But back here, we were truly blessed to be able to receive a visit from Fr. Abraham Fam - a priest, a missionary, and a good friend of mine from back in the day. Fr. Abraham continued the Extreme Makeover: PRAYER Edition series at The Well and spoke about SIMPLE PRAYER - aka, the family room of our house of prayer.

The main idea of simple prayer? CS Lewis summarized it best: "We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us.”

Enjoy the video and if anything stands out to you and you think it's worth sharing, be sure to use the hashtag #PrayerMakeover when you share it.

An Invitation to Prayer - Extreme Makeover PRAYER Edition, Part 1

October 7, 2013

“Prayer is not an act we do, but rather it is our home – the place we meet God. In order to have intimacy in that home, we must make sure that it is built properly. There are many layers/facets to prayer and the goal of this series is to talk about 7 of them and come up with ways to practice them throughout the week.”

That's the summary of the latest series in The Well. It's called Extreme Makeover: PRAYER Edition and the goal is to build a house of prayer - one in which the Lord is pleased to dwell in.

Jesus said “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20). This series is the knock. Your practice is the answer.

I invite you to check out the video below and join us on this 7 week journey together. And be sure to use the hashtag #PrayerMakeover to send out anything that struck you from this message.

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Would You Drink From This Cup?

October 2, 2013

It’s that time of day – time for your favorite cup of coffee from your favorite coffee shop. You love their coffee, but you hate their prices. Now imagine there’s a new invention in coffee mugs and the first ever “smart” mug comes into existence (it’s just a matter of time before everything is smart and human beings remain as the only dumb thing left on the planet).

A “smart” mug is a coffee mug that turns any regular coffee into your favorite store-bought, brand name coffee. All you have to do is program the mug by pouring your favorite blend in there once and then after that, the mug will automatically turn any coffee into a virtual replica of your favorite brand.

How great would that be? How much money would you save by just making regular coffee and pouring it into this fancy new mug? This would be the coolest mug in the universe and everyone would want to drink coffee out of this mug, right?

But imagine the mug has a problem – not a big problem, just a little one. The mug has a small hole in the bottom of it. It works great and performs all that it promises to perform; the only problem is that it drips scalding hot coffee from the bottom of the cup onto the person who is drinking from it.

Not a big deal, right? Just a small problem, right? Would you use that cup?

Building Community Part 2 - RELATIONSHIP BUILDERS

September 23, 2013

"He who runs alone runs fast; he who runs with others runs far."

Part 2 of the Building Community series and this week the focus was on RELATIONSHIP BUILDERS - things we need to work on if we're serious about transforming our superficial relationships into meaningful ones.

Check out the video below and as you're listening, try to discover ways to put these principles into practice today.

"Here We Are Now, Entertain Us"

September 20, 2013

"Here we are now, entertain us."

That’s a line from a hit song by one of the earliest “grunge bands” of the 1990s – Nirvana, led by Kurt Cobain. That one line is a good summary of our culture today. We are obsessed with being entertained.

Tell me, what is the focus of our entertainment? Is it anything more than just an expression of our selfishness? Let’s be honest – our entertainment has nothing to do with producing something useful or of benefit to others. The goal is to consume something for the sake of pleasure. Our lives are like being in a theme park, just looking for the next adrenaline rush to make us feel alive.

As a student, I have found that even our friendships are centered around who is the most entertaining. Don’t get me wrong – being funny and having a sense of humor is a gift from God and not something to apologize for. God loves funny and He loves fun, but not if it comes at a price.

How’s the old saying go? “He who makes you laugh, laughs at you. But he who makes you cry, cries with you.”

The World's Original Problem

September 18, 2013

Trivia question - what was the first “problem” that ever existed in the world? The first dilemma that man had to solve?

a) Rush hour traffic
b) Long lines at the DMV
c) In-laws
d) Loneliness and lack of relationship

If you guessed D, you are correct!

Look no further than the second chapter in the Bible and you’ll see that before there were wars and disasters and violence and diseases – all the things that came as a result of sin – there was another problem...LONELINESS.

“And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone.” (Genesis 2:18)

Keep in mind that at the time, everything was good in the world. No problems. No pain. No sickness. No unemployment. No fighting. No construction on the Beltway during rush hour. Everything was just "good".

BUILDING COMMUNITY Part 1 - Relationship Busters

September 16, 2013

Community. Maybe the most overused word in churches today. It's something that we all need (see Genesis 2:18) but it's just so hard to do - especially at a non-superficial level.

Yesterday at The Well, we looked at some of the reasons why that is. We talked about 3 RELATIONSHIP BUSTERS - those things which are within us that prohibit us from attaining authentic community. If left unaddressed, these three things will eventually rear their ugly heads in every relationship you have - especially the ones closest to you.

The Swan, the Ducks and the Pond

September 13, 2013

One day I sat at the pond and saw a beautiful, elegant, pure white swan sailing in a majestic way on the still water of a pond. She came in my direction and I was amazed at her beauty, elegance, and splendor. She didn't make any noise but kept on sailing swiftly in the pond.

Suddenly, a batch of ducks invaded the pond. I'm not sure if they were fighting each other or what, but they were quacking loudly and making so much noise. They quickly disrupted the calmness and serenity of the quiet pond. The swan did not mix with them; she passed them and went on her way.

After a while, the ducks came out of the pond and started eating the grass around the pond. The swan did not get out with them but kept sailing in the pond in her majestic way. She never mixed with the ducks. Later on, a nice lady brought food to the swan. The lady started calling her to come and gave her food to eat. She talked to her and the swan was happy to be in her company. After she was fed, the swan went back peacefully on her way. She lived alone in the midst of the noisy ducks.

The Day I Discovered that Blue Isn't Purple

September 11, 2013

I hate being wrong. Of course no one enjoys it when they are mistaken, but some people tend to be more experienced at it than others and therefore better able to deal with it (wink wink).

Once upon a time, back when I was just a young lad in 4th grade, I learned a valuable lesson about self-deception. I learned that being “wrong” is bad; but what’s worse is being wrong and having everyone else realize it except you.

My 4th grade teacher had given us an assignment to create a large poster with all the creatures of the sea that we had just learned about in class. So I – being a studious young man from a young age – took great care to systematically go through the chapter and draw each animal that the textbook mentioned (we didn’t need to draw them all, but as you can see I was an overachiever from a young age).

HOPE Association @ The Well

September 9, 2013

"For You are He who loosens the bound and uplifts the fallen; the hope of those who are hopeless and the help of those who are helpless; the comfort of the fainthearted and the harbor of those in the storm." Excerpt from Liturgy of St. Basil

If you missed The Well yesterday, you missed out! HOPE Association gave a special presentation and showed us all the different projects and initiatives that they're kicking off this Fall. Not only that, they also reminded us of the great impact that we - the Body of Christ - can have on this world through simple acts of love and kindness and sacrifice. It really touched my heart and there was a barely a dry eye in the room by the end.

Check out the video and see for yourself.

Lessons from a Junkyard

September 6, 2013

I just bought a new car. Exciting, huh? Maybe not for you, but if you’d seen the car I’ve been driving around for the past year, trust me, you’d be excited too.

My last car didn’t have a sideview mirror – I mean it used to have one, but not anymore. It also didn’t have air conditioning. And even if it did, I couldn’t have used it because the temperature knob has broken for months. So I couldn’t even try to pretend that the 900 degree temperature in my car during summer was by choice.

I got to the point where I couldn’t have cared less about that car.

I didn’t care if I parked next to rampant shopping carts in the lot or too close for comfort by a pole. I prayed someone would ram into it so I could at least collect insurance on it. At one point, I got an estimate — it cost as much as it was worth to fix it. I never washed it or vacuumed it. What did it matter anyway? It was a piece of junk. Mind you, I’m normally pretty care free, but that car took me to a whole new level.

But everything’s different with the new car. Not even close. I will guard this car with my life. Everything is now the enemy of my new car.

I'm Back!

August 28, 2013

Just wanted to let all my faithful blog readers know that I AM BACK! Had a great vacation last week and I'm ready to get back into the flow of things. HOWEVER, I am postponing my weekly post to Thursday this week (usually I post on Wednesdays) because today is a very important day...one of the most important days of the year in fact. Today is a day that my family has been anticipating for quite some time now. TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Yep, you remember that day don't you? Well, today is not just the first day of school, but it is the first day at a NEW SCHOOL - a school where they don't know anybody at all. So you can imagine some of the first day jitters (jitters more so for the parents than the kids).

So no post today. Just lots and lots of prayers this morning. If you're a parent, you understand. If you're not a parent, watch this clip from the Cosby Show and you'll understand what I'm talking about.

See you all tomorrow!

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Off to Vacation!

August 18, 2013

I'm off this week - time for the Messeh family to pack up the minivan and head out our yearly family vacation. An action-packed, fun-filled getaway to the lovely destination of ....... Whoops! Almost slipped there. How about I tell you about NEXT week, after I get back.

Enjoy these last days of summer! See you all next week!

BLESSED Part 2 - The Blessed Test

August 12, 2013

"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" (Luke 16:10-11)

Did you know that right now God is testing you? He's testing you to see if you are ready for more blessing. He wants to bless you and bless your life, but He can't/won't unless you pass the test.

What's the test? That's the topic of Part 2 in the BLESSED. In it, we talk about a verse from Luke 16 which explains why we might not be living with as much blessing as we'd like.

Saving the World One Soul at a Time

August 9, 2013

A man was walking along the beach and suddenly he saw under his feet a small fish thrown out onto the shore by a large wave.

The man had two choices: either to abandon the small fish and leave it to die, or help the small fish get back into the water and live.

He decided to help the small fish get back into the water by pushing it slightly toward the ocean. Suddenly, a big wave came to the shore with a lot of small fish and the small fish went back happily to live in the ocean with other fish.

This incident made the man think about what goes on in his ministry to human souls.