What My Kids Learned from our Family Mission Trip

August 19, 2015

I’M BACK! Finally! Thanks be to God! I’m back and so is my family and I am excited to be home! In case you didn’t realize it, I’ve been away for the past two weeks. Our entire family – Marianne, Michael, Lizzie and myself – went on a mission trip to Kenya, serving alongside one of my spiritual fathers and mentors, His Grace Bishop Paul. We spent two weeks serving with the Coptic Mission in Kenya in the capital city of Nairobi and a rural town called Maseno.

And in case you’re wondering how it went...BEST TWO WEEKS FOR OUR FAMILY EVER!

The Boy, the Girl, the Ring & the Bed - Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating Part 5

August 17, 2015

I AM BACK! After sitting on the sidelines for the past few weeks, I was back to wrap up the series on REAL TALK: Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating.

And the final message was my somewhat disorganized way of throwing the kitchen sink at all you singles out there. It was a smorgasbord of advice centered around one central theme - a theme that applies to every area of life, ESPECIALLY MARRIAGE! And that theme is this:

"Promises are no substitute for preparation."

I highly highly HIGHLY recommend every single person to listen to this message. Trust me, it's worth your time.

THE TALK - Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating Part 4

August 9, 2015

Get ready ladies and gentlemen...it's time for "THE TALK." Yep, you know what this talk is all about. It's the talk that you never had with your mom or your dad. It's the talk you are avoiding having with your kids as well. It's the talk that you DEFINITELY never heard in church before...until today!

In this week's message, Deacon Michael Guirguis is back to share something you may not have known about sex and your sexuality. It's a message that goes against everything culture teaches today.

Culture teaches that sex is just physical, but God teaches that it's so much more than that.

Forgiveness vs Repentance

August 7, 2015

The other day I was discussing love and faith with a friend and this question came up: “would I forgive my wife if she cheated on me?”

(For all the women reading, please reverse all genders, ie. “would I forgive my husband if he cheated on me?”)

My answer was an immediate “OF COURSE I WOULD! If I couldn't forgive her, how on earth could I ever hope that God would forgive me?”

But it’s important to realize that forgiveness and repentance are two COMPLETELY different things.

LADIES NIGHT - Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating Part 3

August 3, 2015

It's Week 3 of REAL TALK: Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating and this week, we're focusing on the ladies!

In this message, Dr. Kurt Langenbach speaks about the Biblical model for womanhood and how God views the role of a wife in marriage. He tackles the sensitive topic of "submission" and explains what it means in marriage and more importantly, what you need to do TODAY to be ready to fulfill this role TOMORROW.

Ladies, make sure you check out this message. And get ready for next week's message, titled "Real Talk: THE TALK." Stay tuned...

GENTLEMAN'S CLUB - Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating Part 2

July 27, 2015

Week 2 of REAL TALK: Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating and this week, we're talking specifically to the gentlemen (don't worry ladies, it'll be your turn next week!).

In this message, Deacon Michael Guirguis speaks about the one piece of advice that every single (and married) guy needs to hear. And that is with regard to how we view women in society today. If we want to have a marriage according to God's plan, then we need to change how we see women.

What am I talking about? Check out the video and see for yourself.

America, Bless God!

July 24, 2015

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” (Psalm 33:12)

NOTE: This is a follow up to Fr. Anthony's 4th of July post, "A Call to Prayer" by Ben Franklin. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend that you check it out.

In Ben Franklin's prayer at the Constitutional Convention, you could see that he was a man struggling to find answers. And he also knew that if he didn't call upon the Lord's help, they would have been right back at square one.

When I first read that prayer, I thought about America's current struggles and thought to myself: "Every single word that Ben Franklin uttered can be said today."

(My brother Steve, his bride Nadia and her parents) May 2010

What Every Wedding Makes Me Realize

July 22, 2015

“Do all that is good for her. Have compassion on her and always hasten to do that which will gladden her heart.” Excerpt from Orthodox wedding ceremony

I was honored to be able to perform a wedding ceremony yesterday for two of my very close friends and it happened again. It always happens after weddings. Weddings just have a way of doing that to me.

I won’t go so far as to say I cry or anything like that, but every time I attend a wedding ceremony – especially when it’s a couple that I feel close to – I feel different afterwards. I don’t leave the same way I came. I leave with a renewed sense of appreciation at what God has given me in my wife Marianne and a rejuvenated desire to be the best husband I can be to her.

THE RIGHT PERSON MYTH - Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating Part 1

July 20, 2015

We kicked off the highly anticipated new series yesterday, called REAL TALK: Adventures in Love, Sex & Dating.

Part 1 of the series addressed one of the myths that so many of us have unfortunately been led to believe - "The Right Person" myth - which says "If I just marry the right person, everything will be alright." You wouldn't fall for that one would you???

Just in case you're not sure, you might want to check out the video message above and see for yourself. Enjoy!

The Mystery of Marriage (sermon video)

July 6, 2015

What is marriage? Where did it come from? What is its purpose?

The subject of marriage is getting a lot of attention and spurring a lot of discussion these days. A lot of people are confused as to what marriage is really all about. Is marriage only there to make me happy? Or is there more to it than that?

Check out the special message I shared yesterday about THE MYSTERY OF MARRIAGE and find out for yourself.

p.s. And make sure you stay tuned till the very end. You'll see a special video cameo appearance from a close friend of mine from back in the day...

"A Call to Prayer" by Ben Franklin

July 3, 2015

Below is an excerpt from a speech by Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention in July 1797. After struggling for several weeks and making little progress on the writing of the Constitution, 81 year old Benjamin Franklin rose and addressed the President (referred to as Sir) and the rest of the troubled and confused convention.

This is what he said:

DOWN WITH DESPAIR - Fighting Failure, Part 5

June 29, 2015

"The Christian life may not be MISTAKE-free, but it can be GUILT-free."

The finale in the Fighting Failure series brought us face to face with the greatest enemy of them all...DESPAIR! And specifically, we talked about the despair that comes from guilt and shame - feeling like I've gone too far and messed up too badly.

If you struggle with guilt and have a hard time forgiving yourself after you've repented, YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS MESSAGE and see for yourself what God has to say about your guilt and your sin.

Why Should I WANT to Be With God?

June 26, 2015

Many people argue that they don't need God, that they are perfectly happy without Him. Those same people usually think that all God cares about are rules and having us obey them. We (Christians) often respond to by saying that God doesn't care about rules, but instead He cares about a relationship. He doesn't want us to be good; He just wants US! He wants ME! He wants YOU! He wants to be with us and us with Him. That is the “will of God” that people so often search for.

But the question I ask is this: why should I want to be with God? (I know this sounds like a basic question, but humor me here).

DEFYING DISCOURAGEMENT - Fighting Failure, Part 4

June 22, 2015

“Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:9

DISCOURAGEMENT - a feeling we're all familiar with. Why does God allow us to get discouraged when we're trying to serve Him and follow Him and obey His commandments? Shouldn't God be helping to make our lives easier? Shouldn't He be taking care of those things are causing us to be discouraged? Or is that possible that God would allow us to be discouraged to bring about some good for us?

That's the topic of Round 4 in the Fighting Failure series. In the message, we look at the Apostle Paul - a man of incredible faith and strength who one day found himself "despairing of life." How could this great man of faith feel so discouraged? And more importantly, what message was God trying to him through the discouragement?

Bad Living Means Bad Praying

June 18, 2015

The STSA month of prayer continues and each week, we’re focusing on a different aspect of prayer. The first week, we focused on “prayerless praying” – praying with one’s mouth but not with one’s heart. The second week we focused on “powerful praying” – reminding ourselves that the same God who parted the Red Sea and healed so many is the same God to whom we are praying today.

This week our focus is on “PRAYER AND CHARACTER.”

DEALING WITH DISINTEREST - Fighting Failure, Part 3

June 15, 2015

"Why try? You're never gonna succeed? You might as well give up and stop fighting."

Recognize that voice? That's the voice that we hear during the second round of our fight with failure as we encounter the enemy of DISINTEREST (or apathy). That's when we've failed so many times and we don't think we'll ever succeed. So instead of fighting what we perceive as a losing battle, we throw in the towel and say "it's not that bad...I don't need to fight...I could try if I wanted but I don't really care..."

Dealing with that disinterest was the topic of Round 3 in the Fighting Failure series. In the message, we look at King David - a giant slayer and a man after God's heart - who messed up in a royal manner (pun intended). But once again, we see that it isn't David's failure that defines him - but rather it's his response to failure instead.

DEFEATING DOUBT - Fighting Failure, Part 2

June 8, 2015

"The only difference between a hero and a coward is where they focus their eyes."

Week 2 of the Fighting Failure series and this week we dealt with the most common attack that comes with failure...DOUBT... doubt that God is on our side... doubt that God is holding up His end of the deal... doubt that God is still with us and that we should keep fighting.

If you've ever felt like a failure because you doubted God at some point in your life, check out the message above and hopefully you'll be inspired to "look up" the next time doubt hits and to keep your eyes focused on God, not on your circumstances.

Simple as A, B, C (and D)

June 5, 2015

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James 4:8

An elderly neighbour of mine (John) has been working as a full time school teacher for many years. John is both a good friend and a mentor to me as well. He gives me great advice on teaching kids – advice that has helped me over the past 11 years as I’ve been teaching Bible lessons to young children at school.

One of the pieces of advice that John gave me was to occasionally stop everything and listen to the children – their comments, their questions, their insights (which turned out to be pretty good parenting advice as well).

Prayerless Praying

June 4, 2015

“One of the first necessities of prayer is to get rid of “prayerless praying”. Prayerless praying is often beautiful in words and in execution; it has the drapery of prayer in rich and costly form, but it lacks the soul of praying. It has been said that prayerless praying is a heartless performance, a senseless routine, a dead habit, a hasty, careless performance. It has no life, gives no life, is dead, and breathes out death... Prayerless praying is insincere. It has no honesty in heart. We name in words what we do not want in heart.” On Prayer, E.M. Bounds

Have you ever heard of prayerless praying? Sounds like a contradiction in terms – something that shouldn’t exist...like foodless eating, or waterless showering. PrayING requires prayER; so how can there be prayerLESS praying?