In psalm 23, when king David says “i shall not be in want”, it seems that at that point he seems to want something,but his faith in God that He will change his heart to one that doesn’t care for lusts of the flesh, overcomes that desire. He goes on saying “you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” which shows that God’s compassionate anointing of His very Spirit has prepared a feast for his weak flesh from being controlled by the lustful thoughts of the devil, to a delicious meal that he enjoyed with God, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy of my heart” Jeremiah 15:16. Then God gives him an even better gift, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” that is, of course, the anointing of the Holy Spirit: God gave David His very Spirit. At this point, king David is far from even wanting to talk about what he wants, God’s love and compassion and His mercy to those who call on Him have all struck david and he is assured that “goodness and love will follow me(David) all the days of my life, and i will dwell in the house of the LORD forever”. King David is full of God’s love and goodness,that his cup overflows and he doesn’t even want to talk about anything but God. Such a perfect conversion from bodily weakness to overflow of the heart can only come from the perfect giver who is God himself. This conversion can always be found in king David’s life simply because God was his source for everything. The Coptic pope put it perfectly, he said in psalm 50, David couldnt even repent by himself, he continually asks God for strength “Cleanse me with hyssop and i will be clean, wash me and i will be whiter than snow” psalm 50. David even asks God to make him repent, he has a God like God’s heart because of His humility and his realization that the Love of God is his only source of strength and power. I personally love that sermon given by the pope (it is titled “
In Need of Power to Succeed”), it is in Arabic, but if you can understand Arabic i would highly suggest you listen to it. God Bless all of you and may God ” so save you and teach you to carry out His will. For He is your God, and with Him is the fountain of life; and through His Light, we see the light.” (Conclusion of the 12th hour of the agpeya)

This perfectly sums everything up: “27To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:27-30

Recently, i have felt God giving me a lot of spiritual insight and i felt that i must share it with the world. It seems to me that a lot of times God puts us in a situation, good or bad, and then that verse or that psalm pops up, and it seems like I make this connection with God and start to understand His word more: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come”John 16:13. Even in situations where I even make the wrong decision, God with His infinite love shows us understanding: “Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction.” Isaiah 29:24 (thanks BibleGateway.com). As we start making these many interwoven connections with Him, we become like a net that keeps getting stronger and stronger; a net that is ready to catch tons of fish by obeying where its LORD commands it to go. I encourage anybody to go ahead and start a blog or something God really sets in their heart to become a strong net for the greatest Fisher of Men: ” For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for us(Jesus) and for the gospel will save it.”Mark 8:35. God bless you all and may he continue to grant us, “A glorious time, a spotless conduct, and a peaceful life, so that we may please His Holy and Worshiped Name” (from the conclusion of the sixth hour in the Agpeya).

i always get asked how i learned the graphic designs with which i work, i simply cannot say i design it at all, but i kinda just take little bits of manufactured components and put them together, allow me to illustrate:

1. Get an image editting and producing software such as photoshop or a free substitute would be GIMP or Paint.net

2. Lets first try making a logo like the one you see on top of this pag:

a. Open firefox, and then go to tools -> page info

b. in page info, click media

c. scroll down until you find the logo, and carefully notice the many properties below i, it specifically shows you many properties of the picture including its dimensions.

d. click the save as button, which doesnt seem very helpful, but truly is when you are trying to save a flash file (without the javascript).

e. always be on the look out for deigns you like, save them and see if you can replicate them (without claiming them as your own of course)

3. this concludes part one, stick around for part 2, we will be talking about how to actually make some of the coolest graphics and logos with ease.

I have been writing an article about The Liturgy of the Word but I found a great documentary that said in perfectly.

http://www.lacopts.org/article_attachments/hvmchurchla/hvmchurchla_introfaith_series2lecture10.pdf

I have not been blogging for a long  time. but it just have been so strange for me late just adjusting as i moved and all that. but from now on i will start to keep you guys updated with all the things i will eventually learn

Last Sunday school we were talking about Fasting and the church readings in the lent.. here is a Handout that we got, its basically the Gospel reading of the church for each day through out the Great Lent. I think it would be so useful if You spent a little bit more time in Quiet Time reading those readings.

the Great lent Schedule

 

Yesterday i found a very interesting website; you can use it as google if you are trying to find steps to do anything . To visit that website click here

Things that might be Interesting for you:

1 – How to buy a cheap domain name?

2- How to host your own Website for Free?

3- How to direct Google users to your website?

4- How to turn your computer into a Super Module?

The Coptic liturgy is divide into 3 parts : the assembly , the liturgy of the word, the liturgy of the faithful. and through each one of this parts God revel himself to the priest in Different ways

Part One : The Assembly:

the assembly is the First thing we do in any liturgy and it starts with the prayer of the hours (agepya) and this is when God revels Himself to the priest in the people and at the time( one of the few times) the priest would be facing the congregation( most likely the deacons) . After we finish the prayers of the hours, the priest stands at the door of the sanctuary, facing the west. The bread and wine are presented to him while a deacon stands at his right carrying a veil with the wine in his right hand and a lighted candle in his left hand and the priest chose “a lamb without blemish”. In front of the priest stands a anther priest or (old deacon) with the lambs which to be chosen from. the offered lambs has to be odd number because it should not have a pair and they should be either three or five or seven. Three as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, Five :symbolize the five sacrifices of the Old Testament and seven symbolize the 5 sacrifices of the old testament and the 2 sacrifice birds that were offered to pure the leaper(the church tend to chose the number seven in order to have enough barka for the congregation) , The lamb symbolize Jesus Christ that’s why it is circular because God has no beginning nor ending and in the middle of the (hamel) there is 5 pierces which symbolize the 5 pierces that were in Jesus body when He was on the cross. After the priest chose the “a lamb without blemish” he puts it on a veil setting it down on the north side of the altar. The deacon would bring the wine into the sanctuary. The paten which the (hamel) is placed on has a four edged cover which symbolize the four hands which buried Jesus. the priest rubs the lamb with water which symbolize the anointing of the body of the Lord before being wrapped in linen, as recorded in the Gospel. then the priest wraps it in a veil, and proceeds with the “Procession of the Lamb.” which is a symbol for carrying the body of Jesus wrapped in linen to lay it in the tomb. then the priest and the deacons mention the names of the people who brought the gifts . The people respond by singing a psalm: usually part of Psalm 116 the psalm says” alleluia this is the day that the Lord has made Let us rejoice and be glad in it ” which is the prophesy of the resurrection. When the procession around the altar is con­cluded, the priest stands in front of the altar facing east and consecrating the wine and bread in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. then the deacon testify on that saying “One is the Holy Father, One is the Holy Son, One is the Holy Spirit, blessed be the Lord God forever. Amen. Praise the Lord all you nations, praise Him all you people, for His mercy is confirmed upon us and the truth of the Lord endure forever Alleluia.”

The priest then covers the bread with a veil and the chalice ( the place where the wine is kept) with another veil. Then the priest and the deacon cover the altar with the Prospherin ( a long cloth that cover the altar), and put another veil on top of the Prospherin. The Veil covering the bread and wine stands for the cloth which was upon the head and face of Christ and the prospherin is the becomes the stone that closed the door of the tomb and the other veil is the seal that the tomb was sealed with . and then the priest bows down and raise to say the absolution of the ministries which allow the him and the deacons to see the body of Christ on the altar and not to be harmed or get blind like the soldiers of the tomb and this conclude the first part of the liturgy (the assembly).

your are more than welcome to ask question or comment and If I mentioned something wrong feel free to correct me.

Since I was a young deacon, All the priests were always trying to teach us the liturgy and not just to be deacons saying hymns but to be deacon who understand each and every single thing happening. I felt so special when God sent me at that time to St Macarius Monastery and I got taught there all the details of the liturgy and why do we do each thing we do in the Coptic liturgy ..and I will be sharing all that Father Kerolos the Macrui taught me when I went to the monastery in here..