Faith Issues - Tasbeha.org Community

Faith Issues - Tasbeha.org Community https://tasbeha.org/community/categories/faith-issues/p51/feed.rss Mon, 22 Jun 2026 18:56:41 +0000 Faith Issues - Tasbeha.org Community en-CA Standing firm: let's all learn from them! https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7485/standing-firm-let-s-all-learn-from-them Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:50:09 +0000 godislove260 7485@/community/discussions http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=mp0oMKGFTyk

Hey guys, I was just on youtube and I saw this vid of pro-abortion protesters spitting on and calling pro-life youngsters names and insulting them.. All of this while the latter continued praying and standing firm, I just think it's very touching, and that we can learn a lot from their strength...

God bless you
Please pray for my weakness]]> When do u think is the perfect age to get married? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7505/when-do-u-think-is-the-perfect-age-to-get-married Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:00:52 +0000 godloves 7505@/community/discussions I think it's bout 25. What do u think?

god bless all this new year!]]> Wavering faith https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7559/wavering-faith Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:15:36 +0000 rpm 7559@/community/discussions
I was just wondering, doesn't the faith element of Christianity thrive and blossom when it faces hostility and persecution. And at an individual level, doesn't our prayer life improve during family crisis, exams, unemployment.

When a hostile threat (such as atheistic or non-Christian fundamentalism) appears, hitherto separate communities sink their differences and often work together. Take for instance, some countries of the Middle East where public Christian worship in severely restricted or even banned. Here, we find people forming prayer groups and meeting privately at a member's residence. Even in more liberal places here where public worship is allowed, groups and denominations often share worship facilities or conduct joint services. In the past, when there was deliberate persecution (remember the Apostles and Desert Fathers) the faith was well-focussed against all odds and emerged stronger than ever. The faithful survivors who battled it out recount and relate to the trials of St.Paul and the others.

On the other hand, the absence of challenges generally brings out the worst behavior - factionalism, lukewarmness, arrogance, indulgences and excesses of various kinds and not to mention, a dilution of faith. Factionalism in church parishes gain hold and members break off to form new groups, get "poached" or lapse into vices. At the individual level, when its smooth sailing, when we have a high income job, when there is no perceptible threat to our well-being, our desire to seek pleasure gets triggered. Silent obedience gives way questionable choices. Prayer life is neglected.

Now, the global financial crisis has brought back the fear of God into most people and spirituality is actually on the rise. Joblessness, terrorism, natural calamities and persecution has caused a renewal of faith in many of us.

My questions:

1. Are trials and tribulations really necessary for faith to blossom?
2. How do the monks and nuns in monasteries remain so spiritually focussed in the absence of typical common man's trials such as joblessness, children's education, traffic, taxes etc.?
3.How does one become more consistent in our prayer life and remain motivated?

I would greatly appreciate inputs from folks here.

God bless,
P

]]> Question about John 9:41 https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7549/question-about-john-9-41 Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:30:03 +0000 wade826 7549@/community/discussions
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains." (John 9:41)]]> are we allowed to eat everything ? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7522/are-we-allowed-to-eat-everything Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:15:18 +0000 axum 7522@/community/discussions I have a great deal of respect for people in this forum and i have learnt a great great deal from this site .Thankyou to all of you !
God bless.]]> Abraham, Ishmail & Sarah https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7492/abraham-ishmail-sarah Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:15:27 +0000 7492@/community/discussions
Could someone kindly explain to me the following:

In Genesis 22:2 it says:

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about

I have the following questions if someone could kindly explain to me:

God here says, in ALL translations, "take your ONLY son Isaac". He not only says take your son, but he insists on the fact that Isaac is Abraham's only son.

What I find really bewildering, is - it wasn't his only son, Abraham also had Ishmael. He had 2 sons in fact. Why isn't God recognising that Abraham also had a son from Hagar?

I had other questions, but perhaps if someone could just answer this 1st?

Thanks]]> Christ Commands That We Should Remember The Saints https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7339/christ-commands-that-we-should-remember-the-saints Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:15:30 +0000 PopeKyrillos 7339@/community/discussions
PK

P.S. I am in no way trying to degrade the saints or argue that Christ never said to remember them. It is just a matter of curiosity. ]]> Feast of Nativity 2009 https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7525/feast-of-nativity-2009 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:20:23 +0000 hani.zion 7525@/community/discussions

Feast of Nativity
7th January 2009

Papal Message
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark

My brethren and children in the lands of immigration, clergy and laity.

Peace to you from the Lord and grace, with my greetings to you during the Glorious Feast of Nativity. Wishing you in these occasions a new holy life that is better than what it was in the previous year.

I wish to say to you that the birth of Christ was an annunciation of salvation, as the angel said to the shepherds “I bring you good tidings of great joy … for there is born to you this day … a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) Therefore, in His birth, His name was called Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

This salvation was promised by the Lord since the beginning of creation, when God promised our mother Eve that her offspring will crush the head of the serpent (that is, Satan). This matter was to be fulfilled through the Redemption. People needed to be prepared to accept the thought of redemption. This needed time and passed through stages:

* The first matter was that sin revealed to man his nakedness. For God to cover this nakedness, He saw that the fig leaves were insufficient, so He made for them tunics of skin and clothed them with these. Of course, these tunics of skin were a result of a sacrifice. Thus man knew that sin causes nakedness, and that sacrifice results in covering.

* After this, people learnt about the offering of sacrifices, and the first sacrifice was the one offered by Abel from the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. Sacrifices and offerings continued to be presented and they were for God alone, consumed by fire as a sign of pleasing God’s heart.

* They learned to offer the ‘Passover,’ and by the sprinkling of its blood on their doors, they were saved from death according to the saying of the Lord “…and when I see the blood, I will pass over you…” (Exodus 12:13) The Passover was a symbol of the transfer from death to life, as it also symbolizes the Lord Christ according to the writings of Paul the Apostle (I Corinthians 5:7). Through the Passover, they knew the meaning of redemption, that is, “the innocent dies for the guilty.” Then the offerings were explained to them in the Book of Leviticus; so they used to place their hands upon the sacrifice to indicate that this sacrifice is on their behalf, and confess their sins over its head to indicate that the sacrifice carries these sins for them. The summarized concept of the offering was that an innocent being without sin, carries the sin of the guilty one and dies instead of them. And this is Redemption. Many generations passed, and this concept was fixed in their minds, that the Redeemer would die for them carrying their sins. They understood that He must be a Man, for the judgment of death that we inherited was issued against man.

* What was left was the preparation of the pure Virgin from whom the Redeemer was to be born according to the prophecy of Isaiah (7:14). It was necessary that she is a humble person, able to bear this glory that God is born from her without her heart being elevated. It was also to prepare that righteous elderly man who would protect and look after the Virgin Mary, and to live with her as a Virgin whose pregnancy was from the Holy Spirit.

* Then it was a must to prepare ‘the angel’ who will prepare the way before the Redeemer by returning people to repentance and preparing them by baptism. Then to prepare the apostles who will spread the faith in the Redeemer.

* Then it was necessary to set up the time that all these preparations would be fulfilled together. This is what the Apostle called “the fullness of time.” (Galatians 4:4) Then it was necessary that a universal language be widespread by which evangelism can be fulfilled in all parts of the lands. This was the Greek language, to which the Old Testament was translated in the Septuagint.

Thus, the fullness of time came in which the Lord Christ was Incarnate from the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit; and He was crucified for us carrying our sins, died for us and resurrected.

May the Feast of Nativity be joyous, a blessing and a renewal of life to all. Be well in the Lord, absolved from His Holy Spirit.

(Signed)
His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
January 2009
]]> New Years https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7506/new-years Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:20:05 +0000 marina008 7506@/community/discussions
I want to wish you Happy New Year! May this the new year be filled with peace, love, joy.
May God guide you all in a right path in life and bless you.
God bless you all!
Please keep me in you're prayers

Marina]]> Christmas https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7514/christmas Fri, 02 Jan 2009 22:01:30 +0000 7514@/community/discussions Proving Creationism??? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7414/proving-creationism Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:46:45 +0000 coptmorous 7414@/community/discussions Fasting https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7501/fasting Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:52:51 +0000 hani.zion 7501@/community/discussions
I was wondering what the difference between fasting from dairy products and fasting from dairy products and sea foods.

1) Why do we fast from either one? Why not fast from just Milk or from veggies?
2) Why do we fast from Seafood as well as dairy during lent and Wednesdays and Fridays and not during any other fast?

+Pray for me+]]> Evangelisation to save our Church https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7034/evangelisation-to-save-our-church Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:12:07 +0000 7034@/community/discussions
I was just listening to an interview with Father Kallistos Ware who was saying that one cannot expect the Russians to be sincere to their Church given the amount of evangelism from protestant & catholic missionaries going now to Russia. Well, I'm paraphrasing him, so its more or less what he said: that Russians will have "more choice". And, I can see that happening.

My question is: The protestant and catholic missionaries in Egypt are doing just that: they are taking Copts from our Churches and giving them protestantism. The protestant/evangelical population has increased tremendously in the Middle East (for statistics, just go to CNN), but basically, what IS the Coptic Church is doing to bring its own flock back to her?? And not only that... more importantly, to reach out to other Coptic Christians and bring them to her.

I have nothing against Catholics or Evangelicals, and if its a path that someone takes, I'm OK with it, but I feel that its a path chosen based on emotion: they feel perhaps more welcomed in the evangelical Church, or more "at home" there - or perhaps there's a certain speaker that has attracted them.

I think as other denominations are now increasing the pace to evangelise their faiths to Orthodox Christians, I become weary of the fact that our own Church is not evangelising (other than Africa!!). I mean, God bless and mulitply the efforts of H.G Anba Antonios Morcos et Anba Boulis, but - why aren't they also evangelising in Europe/America/ even Egypt - the same way they evangelise in Africa? As many Copts have now been "caught" by evangelical missionaries in the west and led astry from their own Churches.]]> purgatory https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7413/purgatory Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:58:45 +0000 mlax 7413@/community/discussions deacon https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7316/deacon Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:51:28 +0000 7316@/community/discussions y is there always a deacon next to ubouna who stands next to him when he gives communion? why does he hold two candles? what is the sinificance? it is also the deacon who stands opposite ubouna and responds after him at the end of the mass right?

+mahraeel+]]> when i was reading the agpaya last night https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7399/when-i-was-reading-the-agpaya-last-night Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:12:52 +0000 bigeee 7399@/community/discussions Hegumen and Priest https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7450/hegumen-and-priest Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:54:12 +0000 7450@/community/discussions ]]> The Meaning of Life https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7444/the-meaning-of-life Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:26:12 +0000 7444@/community/discussions
Im asking these 2 questions because I feel that they maybe 1 of the many factors in america that make people atheist and also I have had classmates ask me and also I ask myself this question many times.

Pray for me ALOT
Copticdeacon]]> is any one here from st.mina holmdel https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/540/is-any-one-here-from-st-mina-holmdel Mon, 16 Aug 2004 22:59:34 +0000 kyrillos02 540@/community/discussions ]]> Swearing? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7276/swearing Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:02:13 +0000 7276@/community/discussions Aghaby everyone, :D
okay so i understand swearing is wrong....BUt why exactly? I never really understood why ??? ??? I just knew it was wrong

So, is saying I swear to God bad as just saying I swear? Yahni ur not using God's name in vain right?

IS saying I Promise to God a sin????
I have always been confused by this. Thanks in advance :)

+mahraeel+]]> +Taking Comunnion after 40 days+ https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7419/taking-comunnion-after-40-days Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:42:32 +0000 marmar357 7419@/community/discussions I have a question and I really care about it because I am worried about my friend...
I have a friend and he said, he hadn''t took comunnion for a year, but that's to long!
He took already comunnion a week ago, but what will be happen if you haven't took
comunnion for 40 days, but ater those days you take comunnion??
And he said, I take communion every 40 days.
What can I say to him to take communion regulary and what of kind arguments I can use?

Question 2: How can I persuade him to confess regulary, because he thinks, only if he made
a big sin he has to confess. And he says, he dont want confess eveything in 1 time.

Thanks in advance guys!

]]> Hating Sin https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7427/hating-sin Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:08:11 +0000 abflab91 7427@/community/discussions HOW DO I LEARN TO HATE THIS SIN???

If anyone can lead to me to any good books or articles or sermons on the net, that would really help. Also im sure ur prayers will help.

Thnx in advance]]> How to make someone's faith increase https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7420/how-to-make-someone-s-faith-increase Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:02:20 +0000 7420@/community/discussions Turn the other cheek https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7403/turn-the-other-cheek Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:59:14 +0000 godislove260 7403@/community/discussions
If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn your other cheek to him as well.

I know the verse is always interpreted as: don't repay evil with evil and be tolerating to others and such...
But I mean, normally, most people are right-handed, so they would slap you on your left cheek first (assuming they slap you the 'normal' way ie with the palm of the hand).
So the fact that Jesus mentions the right cheek first, does that have any special significance??

Thanks in advance

God bless you
Please pray for my weakness
]]> Why does there have to be a God and why the christian God? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7353/why-does-there-have-to-be-a-god-and-why-the-christian-god Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:06:37 +0000 7353@/community/discussions
I had talked to an agnostic kid and he kept saying that religion was created as a comfort and it is all a fake imagination of a random guy? And he kept saying that christianity is the weirdest one because how can someone rise from the dead? I was questioning before this but this made me really think? WHY?????]]> Moses didn't enter the promised land https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7357/moses-didn-t-enter-the-promised-land Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:08:41 +0000 marie-therese fahmy 7357@/community/discussions
Do you think this story applies to us when we pray for things and we don't get what we prayed for?]]> Divine Liturgy download https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7401/divine-liturgy-download Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:28:56 +0000 tasho222 7401@/community/discussions book.?

thanks.]]> The cancer called Terrorism https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7385/the-cancer-called-terrorism Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:26:09 +0000 rpm 7385@/community/discussions In the aftermath of the deadly terrorist acts, this time in India, there are questions being asked about the involvement of persons / groups of a certain faith. Expectedly, there are varied responses with some saying that the particular faith preaches peace whereas others maintain that it instructs elimination of non-believers (infidels). Now, terrorism has become a global phenomenon and something that everyone is vulnerable to. Many right wing fundamentals would advocate a military response - the effectiveness of which is doubted in the absence of a tangible and perceptible target.Human life seems to have lost its value for these misguided perpetrators.As Orthodox Christians, how are we supposed to face up to this danger?

God bless,
Paulos]]> nine hours? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7315/nine-hours Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:50:04 +0000 7315@/community/discussions
why do we have to fast nine hours and before midnight befroe communion? where did we come up with that number? is it because of the crucifixation?

+mahraeel+]]> Where is Elijah?? https://tasbeha.org/community/discussion/7358/where-is-elijah Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:43:06 +0000 Hezekiel 7358@/community/discussions
"And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven"

According to the Orthodox theology, one enters heaven only after the resurrection.The only Saint that is in heaven is The Blessed Virgin Mary. The Saints are not in heaven,but somewhere else.Yet, the above verse is talking about Elija's ascension to heaven, which is not consistent with our dogma.

I am only speculating here, could there be an error in translation? ]]>