IGNORANCE

greshnike

Hello tasbeha.org community. I am new to this forum and I had a question. I was born in the Orthodox church and yet I feel as if I know nothing about it. I feel very ignorant when it comes to church history, church rites and stuff like that. Over the last few years I have grown farther and farther away from the church and I would like to come back to it. It breaks my heart to see what I used to be like and how close I used to be to the church and how I went to a point of hating God. I want to work hard to build my relationship with God and I want to work hard for the service of God. I want to start from the beginning, as if I do not know anything at all about the Orthodox church. I do not want information on only one church, I would like information on any and all of them...Coptic, Russian, Greek, Serbian, Armenian, etc. I learn the best when I read so books are my best friends. But if there are videos those would be good too and any audio is good too.

I hope God can forgive me for what I have become and help me go back to Him. Please pray for me.

[Deleted User]

Kudos to you.

mabsoota

you also need my favourite sermon:

living the orthodox life is much better than learning from books.

when you feel God's love again, then you can start reading books.

until then, attend church, read the Bible and read carefully the words of the liturgy - there is so much teaching and explanation there that you can understand very much just by reading the liturgy and thinking about it deeply.

it is very good to read the Bible. something like the orthodox study Bible (thomas nelson publishers) is ideal as there are little explanations on every page.

once you have read carefully the coptic liturgy and start understanding it, you can also visit other orthodox churches.

but reading should be an addition to your church attendance. reading on it's own is dry and can be confusing.

if you want good spiritual advice books, read anything by pope shenouda 3rd.

other writers are also good, but i love sayedna al baba's simple explanations.

'salvation in the orthodox concept' is a good example.

may God guide you and amaze you with His love.

(i have been orthodox 5 years and am amazed all the time).

Ioannes

greshnike, I wrote many books (shameless plug) on defending the church, as I am a convert I offer a unique perspective into this area. If you wish, I can send then to you free of charge via email, just PM me.

greshnike

mabsoota,

thank you very much for that video. it was really nice and very comforting. thank you for the advice about the liturgy, i will do that. i haven't read the Bible in a very long time, i can't even remember the last time i read it, it's a good idea to start reading it again. thank you for your advice.

Ioannes,

i have just sent you a personal message.

mabsoota

if you read the book of saint mark (shortest gospel) 1 chapter a day from now, you will be on chapter 14 at the start of Holy Week. read the last chapters through Holy Week and so you will have a whole week to read 3 chapters. it is good to read these more slowly and think about them deeply.

then you can attend the feast of the resurrection with the history of this fresh in your memory. 

it will be more beautiful.

:-)