1 Picture for Today - The Highgate School
This is Highgate School in North London, in an area called Highgate :) You can visit their website via, Highgate School. Apparently this school is for children / pupils ages 3-18, so it is quite a wide range of ages that are schooled there... This school, just like many other schools in the UK, have a "traditional style" building, with the tall metal fence, the red-brick wall, the old-style construction... - quite a stylish building. Sometimes if you see it at night it gives you the chills, so somber and dark... [Harry Potter style building...] Anyways, apparently this school is less than 20mins walk from where I live, and I discovered it once :)
1 Experience with the Lord today - Using Facebook for the Lord (even Usurping Facebook!)
I'm pretty sure all my readers are on facebook - actually, the way you found out about this article is on facebook! :) People spend hours every day there - it used to be that the young people would hang out in the park or in a young-people-style restaurant, but now everyone is on facebook! You put pictures online, play games, poke people, add friends or remove friends, comment on anything going on(from games to statuses and pictures), post statuses, say happy birthday, etc. For some people internet is just Facebook. [by the way, we can be friends on facebook :) - Stefan Misaras]
Some people condemn Facebook to the uttermost, and speak against it + try to convince others it's bad. And they are right in many ways - besides being a waste of time, Facebook can also accelerate the degradation of humanity if used "not with a vision". There's almost nothing useful one can do on facebook, they say, and the most common status is, I'm bored! Girls are being sought after and poked / friended / commented / etc by the boys, and vice-versa... It's a whole new world...
But can you use facebook with the Lord? Can you use facebook and be on facebook For The Lord? This is the question each Christian needs to ask himself - Lord, how can I be a Christian on facebook? Not just a human being seeking to connect with old friends or keep in touch with friends and family, but to have a proper testimony for the Lord! Not an extremist / radical for Christ, but how can we be proper human beings + proper students / young people / young adults / parents + at the same time having the Lord's testimony there? Well, I have some suggestions, which most of us know / practice...
Disclaimer: Facebook is becoming more and more a very personal, very delicate, and very private thing - no one can give others advice on how to do things on facebook, no one can tell others to take off a picture or re-arrange stuff, no one wants to be tagged in certain places, and many get offended if they are being either mentioned by others / tagged by others / not mentioned or tagged by others. It's strange how people "own their facebook profile" with such a passion... [tip: just wait, these days they are rolling out the New Facebook Profile, with Timeline... - so cool! You will definitely LOVE your profile... O, Lord!]
Being a Christian on Facebook
- Whenever I get on facebook to do anything, I turn my heart to the Lord(2 Cor. 3:16)! This is the first thing and the best thing we can do! Just turn to Him, call on Him, and ask Him about things! Tell Him to protect your eyes and your heart... - Lord, browse facebook with me!
- associate yourself with the right crowd of people! Yes, everyone loves their friends, at school or at home, etc - but the best friends we have are the saints in the church life! We take a stand for the Lord by associating ourselves (in pictures, statuses, events, facebook pages and groups, etc) with the saints!
- Be a fan of Christian Students facebook pages! Find the other Christian Students on the campus and associate yourself with them! In the UK there's Christians at Uni, Christians in Kingston, Christians in Central London, etc...
- Be a fan of other Christian content fan pages on facebook! Since you enjoy it every day, why not be a fan of the Holy Word for Morning Revival Page! And if you're in the Central Line of the Bible / Crystallization-Study of Psalms / other morning revival, find it on facebook!
- Share something about the Lord on your WALL every day! It's not much, and if you spend 2-3hrs on facebook, why not share what you REALLY enjoy with your friends? Believe it or not, but your friends are being entrusted to you by the Lord that you may minister Christ to them!
- Happy Birthday! + add a little prayer / a portion of enjoyment from the Word of God - on the wall of the birthday people... It is so encouraging to not just say "Have a good one" but also impart something of Christ...
- Join some Christian groups - like "The Universal Body of Christ", "Genuine Lovers of Christ", "Morning Revival", "Christian life is a life of living Christ", etc. Of course, you can create your own group with your companions to pursue the Lord together...
- Events - when you have some student welcome dinners, students meetings, young people events, home meetings, etc - create an event and invite the saints and your friends to these!
... these are just some of the many things one can do on facebook to be both a proper human being (catching up with friends and family) and a proper Christian. Also recommending a new Facebook Fan page - Christian Students in Central London :) [see more such facebook fan pages with Christian students via this list online]
I just wanted to add the following: The Lord tells us that we need to be prudent and wise. We do need to be those "plundering Egypt" and using "unrighteous mammon" for the Lord, like you said, we need to use all these resources for the advancement of the Lord's move. On the other hand, while dealing with such things, we must be prudent. Remember the Lord warns us of ravenous wolves that would come in amongst the flock, devouring, tearing, leading astray if possible even the chosen. Saints, I would tell you, do not be naive, do not be unwise, but consider before the Lord regarding everything online. Who are your "friends?" What kind of contact are you having with others online? What pictures are you posting and are posted about you? Oh Lord Jesus. We are all so short in this matter. How much we need the Lord's mercy that we would be the appropriate persons doing our online "walking" in the index of the Lord's eyes.
ReplyDelete:) Amen. Wise. Prudent. But not silent! Out of my >2.6k friends on facebook, less than 5% speak something for the Lord - and they are not "being wise" in the way you were saying...
ReplyDeleteI would even go as far as saying that as long as you love the Lord, the "crazy things" you do on facebook or in real life for Him cannot be condemned but rather can be considered as a "sacrifice of love" accompanying your salvation...
When social media sites first began gaining popularity, they were experienced as an isolated event in the timeline of our daily life or as an intriguing way to market yourself in a quiet corner of online activity, more like an eccentric business card. Now these sites are just as real and a part of life as our physical interactions with others. And we may well have more encounters with friends online than in person. The kingdom of God comes geographically and FB is definitely worthy terrain.
ReplyDeleteStill I think there is a conscientious way this can be done, rather than trying to blast the message of the gospel on people. We should be a beautiful balance of human and divine, not a third thing that no one can relate to.
FYI, you may like this blog about using the internet for the gospel:
http://stickyjesus.com/2011/09/7-digital-realities-christians-cant-afford-to-ignore-any-longer/
Agreed. May we not be silent Christians. May our testimony before the Lord and before others be like a city situated upon the mountain. :)
ReplyDeleteyah..it is true..thank u for the message and the additional comments of the saints that enlightened my mind that i can minister Christ through facebook.Most of my friends in my account are believers in the denominations.Often, i post something in the field, ...thereafter, i realized that i should not enter something there if i do not yet experience it.and should not have any impression that i have given something uncommon to THem...I am so natural. May the Lord continues to encourage us that we can harness the technology for Him, and the Lord's Recovery.
ReplyDelete