Spiritual Growth

We all — except Jesus — are, in essence, heretics, because our knowledge is always incomplete. As we grow in the knowledge of God and the word of God, we reduce our heresy and move closer to the Truth (Jesus). Take John the Baptist, for example. The word of God that came from his mouth was pure truth, but not his understanding or knowledge. His heresy was serious — he misunderstood Jesus Himself. Since we are being led into all truth and not given all of it at once, there will always be things we don’t fully grasp but still speak about. So, the children of God do not lie — but the undead in us lies. This is why our preaching is not part of the Bible. The Bible is accurate; we are not. Our inaccuracy is our heresy. Yet, some ignorance must be handled with love and care, while other ignorance must be fought against until it is destroyed.   When Jesus declared that all food is clean, to insist otherwise — except in the case of food sacrificed to idols — is heresy. But if someo...

Why do we speak the truth — even when it offends everyone who loves and cares for us — except God? Imagine living in a place where 97% of the population is Orthodox. Your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors — even your mother and brother — are all Orthodox. So why do we say that Orthodoxy and its ways lead to eternal damnation? One important reason is because we love ourselves. We want to be on the right side of God. It is written that those who turn others from sin will shine like stars in the new heaven. It is also written that if you do not warn people when they sin, God will demand their blood from your hands. If I know you are sinning, it is my duty to tell you. Otherwise, I will join you in hell. Beyond self-preservation and duty, we love God more than anything. We do not want our God to lose the children He purchased with the blood of the Lord. Your salvation brings glory to the Heavenly Father, who desires nothing more than to gather all His lost children into His house. God ...

    The main problem for many servants of God — and the primary reason they fall from His grace — is that they take their eyes off Him. Instead of continuing to look to the Lord, they begin to focus on themselves and their earthly ways, standing on the grace of God that once performed miracles and brought salvation through them. They stop striving to live by the standard of the Almighty and start redefining things by their own standards.   Consider King David and his grievous sin — taking the wife of his humble soldier by arranging the man’s death. If David’s mind had been occupied with the Word of God, meditating on it as he walked through his palace, would he have even conceived such an act? Before committing this sin, David’s gaze must have shifted inward, measuring himself as righteous in his own eyes rather than in God's. That internal self-focus gave birth to sin.   Imagine your mind being fully engaged in trying to imitate the Lord — even with all your weaknes...

Why do people risk everything — life, family, future, and wealth — to migrate to the West or the Middle East? Migration is not only expensive and perilous, but migrants often end up as second-class residents, enduring hard, demeaning labor. Yet, many willingly pay the price for better-paying but lower-grade jobs. For money, people offer their firstborn — their very lives and wealth. The future of their family becomes the cherry on top of the sacrifice laid at the feet of their master: MONEY.   People give everything for money. As someone once said, money is a cruel master but a loyal servant. When people bow to money, God is thrown out the window. They enslave themselves to MONEY, working from sunrise to sunset for what never lasts, all while neglecting the free, everlasting food that gives eternal life. They do it for a car, a house, food, or social status — things that do not endure and offer no true peace or security in this life or the next. That is why God ordained Sunday as H...

  Sometimes the kinds of mistakes the faithful make reflect their core understanding — or misunderstanding — of God and our faith. I remember, during my third year at Addis Ababa University, a moment when our instructors raised a concern about the lack of class participation. The issue was discussed, and many students suggested we should try to meet our instructors’ expectations. It was a good discussion, though it ended rather strangely. In the end, they decided we should vote on it. I never understood what that was supposed to achieve, and they could not digest my opposition. How could voting change anything? There was no way to enforce a collective will in individual action. The better approach would have been for someone to take initiative and lead by example. But still, we voted — everyone voted — and nothing changed. Such problems arise from a failure to grasp basic concepts like collective will, enforcement, and alternative ways to implement decisions.   In much the sam...

  Matthew 6:19–21 urges us to store up treasures in heaven rather than on earth, for where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. Then Matthew 6:22–23 speaks of the eye as the lamp of the body — if the eye is full of light, the whole body is illuminated; but if the eye is dark, the whole body is filled with pitch-black darkness. Matthew 6:24 follows by telling us plainly that we cannot serve two masters — God and money. We must choose one. From Matthew 6:25 to the end of the chapter (verse 34), Jesus explains how God provides for our needs when we choose Him over wealth.   Does Jesus jump from one topic to another, unrelated idea and then circle back again? No. He is preaching one coherent message — it is all connected. We just need a new lens and a different angle to truly see it.   Jesus came to open our eyes and give us spiritual sight, and to blind the eyes of the evil one. Before Him, we walked in darkness, blindfolded, fighting unseen forces determ...