y r we lazy?

edited March 2008 in Faith Issues
We r coptic...most of us go to public schools....on weekends we get too lazy and often miss a part of hte mass..but y?   
Even the muslims stick to their scheduels...  the praying times... they do the 6 a.m. pryer we r sleeping, and complaining that we didn't get enough sleep ..y?

Comments

  • I think you might not want to generalize that statement, yes a lot miss part of the Liturgy but not all. You are probably asking the wrong people here on this site. The people you might want to target are the people who actually go late due to laziness and nothing else
  • not all people are late due to lazinees.

    you can't just assume that everyone that walks into church after you is lazy.

    for all you know..that person could live miles and miles away..
    or maybe they get off work at 5 in the morning..go home..get dressed and RUSH to church on 0 hours of sleep. i know poeople that do that. they are most def. no lazy !
    (:
  • ok then..let me refraise that...  muslims paray like 6 times a day..even at their work or place..thay take their rug thingy with them..i have seen it before..but howmany of us pull out the Agbeya and read the hours in their correct time or even read them at al...and how many of us give God 10% of our time.....  that would be 2:40 hours a day... most of us (on weekdays) r too busy or read the Bible before they sleep and Compline.... that is what i originally meant...
  • Satan uses laziness ALOT in trying to keep us away from God.
    And what you're saying really doesn't apply for many people.

    An ideal Christian devotes their entire life to Christ, and all ideal Christians strive to achieve that goal aLL the time, weekends too.  ;)

    Now it seems to me that you are seperating the spiritual aspect of one's life from all other aspects of life, precisely what I used to do. But the truth is, if one's entire life does not revolve around God... then we've failed as Christians.

    Oh, and by the way, although comparing religious practices is not really an ok thing to do... i just have one thing to say.
    Just as not all 'Christians' offer all their daily prayers, not all 'Muslims' do either.
  • very good points....  but i still dont think we give God 10 % of our time...we r supposed to give God 10% of EVERYTHING time,money, etc...
    i dont think enough people r doing that...or even the 14 hours u r awake and working... that would be 1:40 hours a day...i dont think enough even give a full hour to God
  • Focuss on your own life and pray for us.
  • You can't compare us to muslims, there god is a harsh god, a god that punishes and allows hate. Our God is a loving God an understanding God, who knows our weakness and loves us despite them. Just as Hizz_Child says, don't worry about others and just worry about yourself. If you want to devote your time to Praying then good for you, but thats not what God is asking of us, He wants us to follow his commandments, love him, and just do our best for the Glory of His name. He's not asking all of us to become monks, priests or nuns. Many still live in the world and have achieved very high places in heaven inspite of their "busy" schedules

    God Bless and Pray for me and my weakness
  • It's not the fact that we are lazy, situations may come up, and I won't mention them, but we cant judge people on the reason they can't go to Church, things come up, God will understand, hopefully!! He will still love you if you can't make it. Laziness might and might not have something to do with coming or not coming to Church. God gave everyone their own life with decisions, let them decide what's best for them!!

    Forever,
    Coptic Servent
  • [quote author=Hizz_chiilld link=topic=6339.msg83665#msg83665 date=1205390185]
    Focuss on your own life and pray for us.


    best answer. Read Matthew 7:1. Then contemplate on it. Judge yourself. Do what you can for yourself. Don't judge others. Don't tell us that we aren't doing this, you are not there for everyones life.
  • my intentions were not to judge ..i just wanted to know what u guys think about how we get busy form God...

    and Jydeacon ..u said  "but thats not what God is asking of us, He wants us to follow his commandments"   

    and  one of his commands was to give Him 10% of everything..time..not just the money....
  • ehh it wasn't in the ten commandments and God knows where everyones hearts are.
  • Its true that some of the copts seem lazy, but in every job/religion/field of study you will always find the lazy people and the hard workers.

    [quote author=coptic pharoah link=topic=6339.msg83643#msg83643 date=1205380271]
    Even the muslims stick to their scheduels...  the praying times... they do the 6 a.m. pryer we r sleeping, and complaining that we didn't get enough sleep ..y?


    You can not compare us to Muslims for two reasons
    1. There is a ton of them, so if 50% of them do not show up for prayers, the mosques will be still overfilled with people.  But if 50% percent of us didn't go to church then half of the church would be empty.

    2. I know Muslims that never read in the Koran at all, so some of them are extreemly lazy as well, its just well hidden.
  • first of all...  His Servant, God said to give 10 percent and in a saint movie they stessed that pount..not only in money...but of time too...

    and second Zakhary.. ty very much..those were very good points...  but wat happened to the 10 %?             
  • You seem to be focusing very hard on this 10%, so then why don't you do it? you speak as if you are trying to prove something, Like we all said, worry about yourself, if you want to give 10% of your time then do so, but its not a law. God knows our hearts he doesn't just want motions, he wants the hearts, don't stress to much on the 10% so as not to become like the pharisees who twisted what God said by turning the Sabbath into something it wasn't "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath"
  • I am sorry if i have offended anyone by anything i might have said.... please forgive me and pray for me.


    Forgive me

    Coptic Pharoah
  • I still don't think you understand what 10% is. If you are able to thats terrific, if you want to be like the poor women with the two mites thats fine, but a lot of people can't give 10% all the time. It's the spirit of the law, give all that you can, but unless you're consecrated to Christ don't give it all, you have either

    a. A Famiy to support

    or

    b. yourself to support.

    By giving some to your family, and some to God and not being selfish than it will be counted toward the 10%.

    if you are in situation b which a lot of people are, then you would know that most people have debt. People focus too much on materialistc things. In this forum money and muslims were mentioned like 8742098475924375 times. Give God what you can, if it's not 10% oh well, as long as you know where your heart is you should be fine. Islam is being compared to Christianity too much. Yes we might have problems, but stop comparing them. Give the other cheek. Stop bashing Islam and Comparing us to Islam. when we bash islam we aren't giving the other cheek. When we compare ourselves to islam it doesn't make sense for a couple reasons:

    1. how can we bash them then praise them for praying 5 or 6 or whatever times a day?

    2. why would we compare ourselves with anyone else? Focus on yourself and what you can do to improve.

    3. Know your religion, once you know it inside out, frontwards back, then go compare it to other religions if you really want to, see what's different what's the same whatever you want, but personally I am going to stick to learning the Oriental Orthodox Faith, then when I'm done after several, several years, I'll look at Eastern. It's ok to know small details but your knowledge of any other religion is useless without the knowledge of your own.

    Back to the 10%, give 10% of everything and you will be following what Christ said. That's nice, but I think we also need to realize that at Christ's time salt was considered a salary to some, if that applied today then I would be all for giving God every penny. But it isn't. If I am in Debt, I will give Christ as much as I can afford to give Him. I will finish it off with praise and thanksgiving. Just my opinion.
  • [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=6339.msg83692#msg83692 date=1205445318]
    You seem to be focusing very hard on this 10%, so then why don't you do it? you speak as if you are trying to prove something, Like we all said, worry about yourself, if you want to give 10% of your time then do so, but its not a law. God knows our hearts he doesn't just want motions, he wants the hearts, don't stress to much on the 10% so as not to become like the pharisees who twisted what God said by turning the Sabbath into something it wasn't "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath"


    lol you posted during my post but it basically said what i was trying to get out lol
  • Again I m sorry if i have offended anyone.
  • [quote author=His Servant link=topic=6339.msg83695#msg83695 date=1205445678]
    [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=6339.msg83692#msg83692 date=1205445318]
    You seem to be focusing very hard on this 10%, so then why don't you do it? you speak as if you are trying to prove something, Like we all said, worry about yourself, if you want to give 10% of your time then do so, but its not a law. God knows our hearts he doesn't just want motions, he wants the hearts, don't stress to much on the 10% so as not to become like the pharisees who twisted what God said by turning the Sabbath into something it wasn't "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath"


    lol you posted during my post but it basically said what i was trying to get out lol


    LOL type faster haha :P
  • [quote author=coptic pharoah link=topic=6339.msg83687#msg83687 date=1205444590]
    first of all...  His Servant, God said to give 10 percent and in a saint movie they stessed that pount..not only in money...but of time too...

    and second Zakhary.. ty very much..those were very good points...  but wat happened to the 10 %?             


    I mean I never said it was right to skip church or to not give time to God, All I was saying that there are differeces in comparisons.

    And Coptic Pharoah you don't need to appologize, I personally don't think you were offensive.
  • [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=6339.msg83671#msg83671 date=1205422384]
    You can't compare us to muslims, there god is a harsh god, a god that punishes and allows hate. Our God is a loving God an understanding God, who knows our weakness and loves us despite them. Just as Hizz_Child says, don't worry about others and just worry about yourself. If you want to devote your time to Praying then good for you, but thats not what God is asking of us, He wants us to follow his commandments, love him, and just do our best for the Glory of His name. He's not asking all of us to become monks, priests or nuns. Many still live in the world and have achieved very high places in heaven inspite of their "busy" schedules

    God Bless and Pray for me and my weakness


    Since God gave His life for us, it's like only common sence that we give Him ours. This does NOT mean that we become consecrated, but it does mean that EVERYTHING we do should be for the Glory of His name.
  • yeahh..
    the 10% of your time doesn't mean you literally need to sit there for 1:40 minutesss praying or reading the BIbble or w.e

    i mean..,i dont want to sound like a horrible horrible person, but i really dont think i can stand doing that for that long..even if i DID have the time..ya know?

    so I really think any time that you devote to something other than yourselfd is time devoted to God..i forgot the verse..but it has the meaning of w.e you do to people you 're doing to CHrist.
  • Yes, that's right, kind of.

    The 2.4 hour thing is like a minimum... In reality, we should be giving ALL to Christ..

    Now that may seem a little overwhelming... Wait till I explain..

    Our first commandment is to Love God with all our mind, strength, heart & soul - (not sure if that's how the actual verse goes but it's along those lines) in other words, OUR ALL. And since love is an action, how can we do this any other way than giving ALL our time to Christ?

    This does not mean that everyone should become nuns and monks.. that would mean the end of thuman race, LOL. But what it does mean is that EVERYTHING you do should be for the glirification of God. For example, studying - doesn't seem to have anything to do with God, right? WRONG! At school we have to use the gifts that God has given us. So every time you come to study, it should e so that you can pass your exams, or because teachers are putting pressure on you - it's because you are using God's gift to you. Another example exists within our social lives.. Spending all our time with God means none with friends, right? WRONG AGAIN! Your time with friends is really your opportunity to shine and show your friends the Jesus' light. It is your chance to serve Jesus by serving others. Furthermore, If two come together in His name He shall be in the midst of them.

    It is the 'time killers' such as TV, video games, etc. that are a problem. But check this out, it might make feel a little better about cutting down time on these things.
    Well let me ask you a question, what is your life? the answer : your life is a vapour in the wind. A vapour only exists for so long before it dissapears... and that's what your life is - it's time. Every time you 'kill time' you end up with dead time... This dead time will soon accumilate to a dead day, a dead week, a dead month, a dead year, and soon enough, a dead life. Do you want to look back on a dead life?
    I know I don't.

    If this shocks you, please take the time to sink it in... It really is vital.

    +God Bless.
  • Our first commandment is to Love God with all our mind, strength, heart & soul - (not sure if that's how the actual verse goes but it's along those lines) in other words, OUR ALL. And since love is an action, how can we do this any other way than giving ALL our time to Christ?

    This is a very good point Hizz_child. God did not tell us to pray to him 10% of the day, or love him 10% of the time and then go do what ever we want after that period. He wants 100% of us. He is our father, and he wants to guide us. Maybe we do not respect the father figure as much as we used to i.e rebelliousness and egocentricity now present in our society. 

    We seem to be too focused on giving 10% on actions that are visible to all i.e going to church, who we think is praying and who isn't. God wants 100% of you, like we said.

    How do we give him this much time? Where is the time for the other parts of our lives? Giving God 10 or 100% does not mean we are physically pray 100% of the time, not even monks or nuns do this (they have responsibilities of upkeep of the monasteries  or convents). But they are in communication with god i.e listening to his commandments, giving praise to him, dwelling on his words. This is also way of giving time to God.

    This is also what we should do, incorporate more communication with God into our lives (not just prayer). We should do all things for the glory of God. If we do our job/work/career for the glory of God, is that not in and of itself giving God our time.

    Instead of looking at and interested others from a very superficial view, like we humans tend to do. We should realize that there is something deeper that God is very interested in, our hearts.

    Maybe, if we focus more of our lives on God, and give God a more central role, then through our friendships God must be present. And through this, you (plural) can be an example to the glory of God, and God can work through you for the benefit of the people who "are not so committed to God", to realize God's very important role in one's life.

    In Christ,   
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