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Who Won the Election?

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 Every few years, in one nation after another, the same question rises to the surface of public life. Whether the vote is for a president, a parliament, a governor, or a city council, millions of people ask: Who will win? And once the ballots are counted, they ask again: Who won? The question fills our news, our conversations, and often our anxieties. Yet every earthly election, however important, is temporary. Presidents, prime ministers, and legislators serve for a season, and their authority sooner or later passes to others. However much depends on the outcome, no human victory lasts forever. The Holy Scriptures, however, reveal an election of a very different kind, one that transcends every ballot and every term of office. It is the Father’s election of His beloved Son as the Redeemer and King of all Creation, and, astonishingly, our own election in Him before the foundation of the world. This is the election that truly determines our destiny, and it is worth pausing amid t...
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Win a copy of In His Presence: Communion with God in the Divine Liturgy!

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  I'm happy to share that I'm giving away copies of my new book on Goodreads. The Divine Liturgy is not a set of ancient ceremonies to admire from the outside. In it, God draws His people into His presence and gives them Himself. This book walks through the Liturgy from beginning to end, from the longing that first brings us to church to the blessing that sends us back into the world carrying His presence. Whether you have prayed the Liturgy since childhood or are just beginning, I hope this book helps you see it for what it is: communion with God, and life in His presence. Entering is free and takes less than a minute: 👉  https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/451092-in-his-presence-communion-with-god-in-the-divine-liturgy Please share this with your family, friends, and church community. The more people who enter, the more people will hear about the book. The book is also available on Amazon:  https://a.co/d/0hjtF1DR May God bless you, Hegumen Abraam Sleman #DivineLit...
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In His Presence: Communion with God in the Divine Liturgy

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 “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” — Psalm 16:11 There is a longing in the human heart that nothing in this world can satisfy. We seek knowledge, success, security, relationships, even religious activity; yet beneath them all remains a deeper thirst, the thirst for God Himself. David gave that longing its words when he cried out that his soul panted for the living God as the deer pants for the water brooks. From this longing true worship is born. We seek not only His gifts and His answers; the awakened heart seeks His face. Even that awakening is His gift, for the psalmist sought that face only because God had first bidden him seek it. He calls, and the heart answers. Here we must begin if we are to understand the Divine Liturgy. For the Divine Liturgy is not merely a collection of ancient prayers, hymns, sacred readings, incense, and ceremonies. All of these have their place and their...
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Artificial Intelligence and Christian Ministry: A Servant, Never a Substitute

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The commission given by the risen Jesus Christ to His disciples remains unchanged across all generations. It stands not as a temporary instruction, but as the enduring mission of the people of God: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19–20). This commission flows from the authority of the Father, revealed through His Son, and carried forward by His Spirit. The mission is constant, and the presence of the Lord with His people in that mission is constant. What changes from generation to generation is not the mission itself, but the context in which it is carried out — the languages spoken, the cultures inhabited, and the tools employed. Throughout history, the people of God have used the means available to them in order to proclaim His truth. From oral proclamation to written manuscripts, from the printing press to digital communication,...
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Behold Your Mother: Reflections on the life of St. Mary

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  Among the last words our Lord Jesus Christ spoke from the Cross were words of gift. Looking down upon His mother and upon the beloved disciple standing beside her, He said, "Woman, behold, your son!" and then, "Behold, your mother!" (John 19:26–27). In that hour of darkness, when the Lamb of God was taking away the sin of the world, He was also establishing a household. The disciple received a mother; the Church received the Theotokos. The words are an imperative: behold . They ask something of us. To behold is more than to glance; it is to look until we see, and to keep looking until what we see changes us. This article invites that kind of looking — not at St. Mary in isolation, but at the whole arc of her life as the work of the Heavenly Father, from prophecy to glory. Foreseen Before She Was Born The Virgin was not chosen by chance. Before the world began, the Father's plan of salvation already embraced the mystery of the Incarnation — the Word taking fles...
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Did Abraham Know God by the Name Yahweh?

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  Among the most searching questions that arise from a careful reading of Scripture is one that emerges from an apparent tension between the Book of Genesis and the Book of Exodus. Throughout the patriarchal narratives, the divine name Yahweh ( יהוה , YHWH) appears again and again. Abraham builds altars to Yahweh, calls upon the name of Yahweh, and hears Yahweh speak to him directly. Yet when God later reveals Himself to Moses at the threshold of the Exodus, He says something that seems, at first hearing, to overturn all of this: "I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name Yahweh I was not known to them" (Exodus 6:2–3). How can both testimonies stand together? Did Abraham know God by the name Yahweh, or was that name unveiled for the first time only in the days of Moses? The question is not a trifling one, for it touches the very heart of how God makes Himself known to His people. And the answer, when we listen patiently to th...
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The Subtle Danger: When Personal Conviction Replaces Biblical Truth

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One of the subtle dangers facing Christians today is not the open rejection of God or the Bible. It is something far less obvious: confessing the authority of Scripture while quietly allowing another authority to take its place. Sometimes that authority is personal feeling, and we say, "I feel God is telling me this." Sometimes it is human reasoning, and we say, "This makes more sense to me." Sometimes it is contemporary culture, and we say, "Surely God would not require that today." Sometimes it is religious tradition, and we say, "This is what we have always been taught." And sometimes it is personal experience, and we say, "I know this must be true because of what happened to me." None of these things is evil in itself. Feelings are part of our humanity, and God has given us reason. Christian tradition can preserve profound wisdom, experience can teach us, and circumstances can help us discern God's providence. Yet none of them i...
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