Mr. Samer Laham, Director of Ecumenical Relations for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in Damascus, Syria, joins us today to share a firsthand account of the dire situation inside his homeland. Learn how IOCC is working with the Patriarchate to bring relief.

Bobby Maddex interviews Fr. Antony Gabriel, the Chairman of the Antiochian Heritage Foundation, the recently retired rector of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church of Montreal, Quebec, and the author of Reflections on the Priesthood, portions of which have already been published on the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America website. Fr. Gabriel is also the author of the forthcoming book Silence: A Diary of Suffering and Redemption, published by Westbow Press.

Bobby Maddex interviews Dn. Nicholas Kotar, Maria Sheehan, and Benedict Sheehan about the Artefact Institute, a new endeavor aimed at helping communities craft an immersive experience that includes the thinking and talking about and the doing of the components of Christian Culture.

Bobby Maddex interviews Metropolitan Tikhon and Archdeacon Joseph Matusiak about His Beatitude's special appeal for donations from the individual parishioners of the Orthodox Church in America to provide relief for Ukrainian refugees. To donate, please visit oca.org/relief.

Bobby Maddex interview with Ann Van Fossen, the Chief Academic Officer for the Classical Learning Resourse Centre, also known as the CLRC, as well as, two of her teachers at the centre; John Bassett and Michelle Wib Band. To learn more about the CLRC please go to; clrconline.com. email @ info@clrconline.com Also the CLRC is offering a discount code until August 3,2023 which is AFR10

Brief profiles of the 97 hostages who remain unaccounted for after last year's Hamas-led attacks. / BBC News

An eloquent essay from a former Gaza resident. "In the past year, I have lost many of the tangible parts of my memories." / The New Yorker

Computer analysis finds Donald Trump's Trump's rally speeches now lasting an average of 82 minutes, compared with 45 minutes in 2016. / The New York Times [+]

Three people with severe autoimmune conditions have gone into remission after being treated with bioengineered, CRISPR-modified immune cells. / Nature

Psychologists say Dungeons & Dragons has potential benefits as a group therapy technique. / Ars Technica

Underground electronic and experimental music are burgeoning in Asia. / Pitchfork

And why not: a synthesizer in a browser window. / jake.fun

A researcher on artificial life and intelligence says anybody who encounters an extraterrestrial should try to kill them—as a means of communication. / Nautilus

Researchers are using drones to search for a female partner for "the world's loneliest plant." / The Conversation

Botanists have grown a long-lost tree species from a 1,000-year-old seed. / CNN

A new book brings together images of trees from over the centuries. / The Guardian

See also: A Loch Ness maritime pilot thinks he's found "Nessie" with sonar imagery. / The Irish Star

Because it's October: a starter kit for reading horror, and an oral history for Home Depot's 12-foot skeleton. / LitHub, VICE

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Fr. Pat reflects on goodness, beauty, and truth in Jesus's encounter with Photini of Samaria.

The man born with the blindness that we all share sees differently and looks different.

How the Church moved from unbelief to belief is an immense mystery.

Fr. Pat's homily on the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord and Savior in the Temple.

In this homily from 2006, Fr. Pat reflects upon the Body of Christ, the Sacraments, and our own transfiguration in Christ.

How can we even begin to talk about belief in God? We need to start by making something clear: we're not talking about belief in something; we're talking about belief in someone. That changes the way we see the question. It means God isn't something we think about. It means He's someone we're invited to encounter.

Do we overcome the darkness by fighting against it? Or is there an easier way?

“Nothing makes us so like God, as our readiness to forgive the wicked and wrongdoer.” (Saint John Chrysostom) The Greek word for forgiveness means "sharing the same space." At the doorstep to Great Lent, we're given the opportunity to both seek and offer forgiveness. Forgiveness Sunday (especially Forgiveness Vespers) is our chance to overcome resentments and share the same space with both God and neighbor. So that, together, we can journey to salvation and an experience of God's Kingdom. Because right and wrong is about more than what’s right or wrong for you. As always, we've prepared a FREE downloadable workbook to help you act on what you'll learn. https://mailchi.mp/goarch/bethebee168 .

Guest: The V. Rev. Jon Braun, ex-Campus Crusade for Christ Regional Director and former leader of the Evangelical Orthodox Church.

Most Christians are not aware that in the latter part of the 16th century, early Lutheran Reformers - close colleagues and followers of Martin Luther - set in motion an eight year contact and correspondence with the (then) Ecumenical Patriarch, Jeremias II of Constantinople. The outcome might have changed the course of Christian history. Kevin Allen speaks with scholar Dr Paraskeve (Eve) Tibbs about this fascinating and largely unknown chapter in post-Reformation history.

We welcome back Kevin Allen to AFR with his inaugural come back podcast which is part 1 of an interview with Fr. Josiah Trenham. They discuss his new book Rock and Sand - An Orthodox Appraisal of the Protestant Reformers and their Teaching, published by New Rome Press. This interview is also available in video format from Patristic Nectar Films.

In part 2 of his interview with Fr. Josiah Trenham, Kevin Allen gets specific on some of the modern day expressions of Reformed teaching and how it differs from the Orthodox Church. Fr. Josiah authored the book Rock and Sand: An Orthodox Appraisal of the Protestant Reformers and Their Theology. Click here to view the video version of this interview.

So how did you spend the day?

The Apostle Paul tells Timothy to fulfil his ministry (his "diaconia"). That ministry was as an evangelist - someone who carries the Good News. All the Royal Priesthood of Christ are called to fulfil their diaconia too: by living the Christian life you also become an evangelist and will receive your due award.

Pray, Forgive, Fast, Give Alms, Don't Judge!

See what happens when we are within the Apostolic Tradition! Aeneas raised from his bed, Tabitha from her death bed, the Paralysed man of 38 years raised to his feet. Christ is risen!

The Apostle Paul points out that the Cross has brought "New Creation" to all who walk in the new rule of the Cross of Christ. This affects every part of your life so that now you can take garden walks with the Saviour.

So What had the other nine apostles been getting up to?

...and Thy Holy Resurrection We Glorify! Hebrews 4: 14 16, 5: 1 6, Mark 8:34 - 9:1

The Mercy Seat, which is Christ Jesus. Hebrews 9: 1 - 7, Matthew 8: 5 - 13

Matthew interviews historian Fr. Oliver Herbel about a little-known—though very important—1940s precursor to SCOBA. Learn more HERE.

The product that drove webmasters crazy was back...for a moment, at least.

So, the year was 2011. I had just given a speech at Marie Forleo‘s live event. And everyone seemingly loved it. (She even got me to moonwalk on stage…) This was one of my first speaking engagements about business and entrepreneurship. And I was a little stressed out about it. Social Triggers was new. I […]

An untimely net-cord winner sets Tomas Martin Etcheverry on his way to victory against Dan Evans in Great Britain's opening match against Argentina at the Davis Cup in Manchester.

You’ve no-doubt heard of the Law of the Vital Few. It’s the 80/20 rule, which states that roughly 80-percent of the results come about from just 20-percent of the energy. But, if you were to take your 80-percent results and apply the 80/20 rule to them a few more times, what you end up discovering is […]

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England's review of their last-gasp defeat by Australia was "brutal" but exactly what the squad needed, says wing Ollie Sleightholme.

This one is simple. The metric that matters when defining a "successful" landing page is profitability. You need to make more than you spend to bring the traffic. If you're spending X to get traffic, and you're profiting X-plus-anything after...

What is it? Launch Effect: A free WordPress theme anyone can use to quickly create a professional looking, virally inclined pre-launch page for your upcoming product website, app, service, etc.). Who makes it? Barrel LLC Why is it the killerest?...

Mark Allen suffers a shock second-round 4-3 defeat by Oliver Lines at the Northern Ireland Open at the Waterfront Hall.

World number one Judd Trump fails to reach a tournament quarter-final for the first time in 2024 after a last-16 defeat by China's Xu Si in the International Championship in Nanjing.

Castleford Tigers sign Papua New Guinea international hooker Judah Rimbu on a two-year deal.

Wakefield Trinity forward Isaiah Vagana signs a three-year contract to extend his time with the Super League club until the end of the 2027 season.

Warren Gatland's Wales equal the country's record losing international streak of 10 successive Test defeats after Fiji triumph in Cardiff.

Head coach Warren Gatland says he is happy to field the pressure of questions on his future after guiding Wales to a 10th successive international defeat.

Gareth Anscombe insists Wales have the talent to beat Australia and avoid their longest losing streak.

New Zealand head coach Scott Robertson says his time in Northern Ireland "helped shape" him as a person.

Northern Ireland Football League chief executive Gerard Lawlor says criticism in the wake of Larne's 4-1 defeat by Shamrock Rovers was "over the top".