the bigger the lie, the more people believe it; the truth still stands!

I have been thinking about this matter these past few months, especially when interacting and talking to the people around me. I realized one thing, looking at the history of the church until today - Satan has changed his strategy against the Lord and the church from persecuting the Christians (in the first two centuries) to welcoming Christianity (and then mixing all the pagan and idolatrous things with the things in the Bible); from covering the Bible (the Dark Ages) to allowing people to read the Bible yet add their own flavor to it (thus creating division, many distractions, and "a Christian church supermarket" where people choose the church that fits their taste); and from allowing man to read the Bible to ridiculing and making fun of what the Bible is and stands for...

Still more, because of discrediting and ridiculing the Christians and the church, people today especially in the Western Europe prefer NOT to believe in God but rather believe an outright lie instead of accepting the simple truth! All throughout the ages the truth in the Bible stood strong, and today it is shining forth with more light in the local churches everywhere on the globe. But people prefer to believe a lie, something that would fit their taste, even though the lie is great, absurd, and even colossal.

The influence of Hollywood and the movies on people is clearly seen in many believing all kinds of crazy things like: re-incarnation, no sin - no punishment for sin, ignoring God meaning there's no God, elevating the self to the extent of believing in your self and not in God, accepting all kinds of strange eastern practices and religions as being something to try, etc. I can even go so far as to say that people would rather believe in movies like Star Wars and Star Trek than believe in God - even though, starting from when these movies came out until now, everyone knows such things don't exist. The movies and TV shows today expose man's thirst for supernatural, fantastic, surreal, and as far from the reality as possible.

The truth as it is presented in the Bible and as it stands throughout the ages is so simple, so pure, so un-complicated, and when man hears the truth - there's an Amen - that's right! in his being! When people hear that God created man in His own image and likeness so that man may be God's expression in a corporate way - man is satisfied and filled with purpose! When we hear that God became a man in the person of the Lord Jesus and then as the Spirit He wants to come into our spirit to mingle Himself with our whole being and make us even the same as He is - our reaction is, Wow, amen, that's it! It is so good to know the truth and be simple - touch God in our spirit, be filled with Him daily, and express Him in a normal way!

No matter what others say about the Bible, about the Word of God, and no matter how many books people put out as being "best seller" and "best selling book of all times" - the truth in the Bible still stands! The truth in the Bible, being the Word of God, stands throughout the ages - in the beginning was the Word (John 1:1) and when the Lord Jesus will return He will be called the Word of God. Actually, it is the Word of God spoken by Christ as the Overcoming One together with His overcomers that will destroy the enemy. Today it is "man's day", it is "the day of the ruler of this world" - but in us who enjoy the Word of God and are simple to contact Him in a living way, this one has nothing!

But I have noticed that in these last days as soon as you don't touch the Lord in a living way in His Word, it is so easy to just go along with the flow in the world, become like the rest of all the people, even to believe in an outright lie, and then live a life without a purpose... It is almost as if in the age of the degradation of the church the attack and degradation has been intensified, so that you can't even stand by yourself - there needs to be an intensification of God's organic salvation to produce some who would be overcomers, some who would stand against the current of the age and just be simple enjoying the Lord!

What a mercy, how relieving, enlivening, and meaningful it is to be simple! Accepting the truth and having a living relationship with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in a daily and habitual way - this really makes you feel you are one with the Lord, you fulfill the purpose of your life, and you are satisfied simply because God is satisfied! ... I just can't believe that the bigger the lie, the more people are prone not only to believe it but stick to it and uphold it and speak it! It is indeed the Lord's mercy that we would be simple, we would know our God, and we would allow the Lord to save us in His life much more today - so that He in us would become the overcoming One! Lord, do it in us!

One Picture in London - Tesco "You Shop, We Drop"

In London and everywhere in the big cities in the UK you see these trucks from Tesco - "you shop, we drop", meaning not that they drop your stuff on the floor but that they deliver! It's free delivery many times, and you can set what time you want it delivered! Pretty cool... :)

[What do YOU think? Does the truth in the Bible sanctify you to such an extent that the lie in the world - even the lie which is the world - is exposed? What is YOUR experience in this regard?]

three phone calls that saved me today - 1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord today

The phonecalls themselves did not literally saved me, but they were means through which I got saved from myself, from my situation, and from my tiredness. It's Saturday again and after work I managed to get some rest, right after I paid a visit to the vegetables market in Archway [called, Archway Market] on my way home. I can't believe the sun was shining so bright but outside it was so cold! The days when "you can see your breath" are back, and it looks like they are here to stay for a while! Well... bring it on, fall and then winter! :)

1 Picture Today - London is full of contrasts, check out these cars!

I finally managed to take such a picture of the contrasts existing in the UK and in London in particular. There are all kinds of cars on the street, some more fancy and others more old-style. In this picture, if you look hard enough, you can see a 3-wheel old-style yellow small car, and on the other side a nice black convertible new style car. Sometimes you can see them one after another, or one by the other - one worth £500 and the other £15000. I would say that the driver in the yellow car is happier and more restful than the other guy ;) But the contrast is indeed striking many times... [I finally managed to capture it

One Experience with the Lord Today - Three Phone Calls that Saved me today

This kind of phone calls don't usually happen, but neither are they too special - I would say, they are normal, and they are a nice expression of the saints in the church life which happen to take place today. A few articles back I was sharing that it is so good to be in this lovely place, in the church life - here we can enjoy God in all His riches in the house of God. And the saints are here - Christ is in the saints! We are not just men - we are God-men, those who have the divine life within the human life and who learn to live by the divine life in the human life. As such, we have both a human history (birth, family, school, high school, university, FTT, etc) and also we have a divine and mystical history (God sanctifying us, setting us apart, sweeping in us, our regeneration, our daily growing, being renewed, experiencing Christ daily, being transformed, being conformed, etc).

The First Call - a fellow Romanian brother calls me today (just as I was resting a bit after work). He asked me for some advice regarding some practical situations, and I tried to give him some advice. Eventually, due to my lack of experience in that particular field, I had to direct him to another brother who may help him. But this was not it: as we were talking, we "slipped into" having some fellowship, and there was some dispensing of God and some ministering of Christ! It's so good to hear that God is working in other people's lives, and that He puts the ones around us on our heart that we may pray for them and serve them with Christ! Yes, even the ones at school or at work, wherever the Lord put you, are the best candidates for your prayer and your speaking of Christ!

The Second Call - a brother called me for some fellowship concerning taking care of the young people. In the church life we are not passive; rather, the Lord shows us the existing needs and, according to the burden from the Lord, we cooperate with Him to take care of the need in a coordinated way. How do we take care of the young people? Is it organization? Is it a special group of people who does this? Or iIs it by having young people's meetings? Or is it by learning to take a personal care and a personal interest in one or two young ones? The conclusion of the call was that we are learning what's the best way to both take personal care of the young ones and how to have the meetings with the young people. Amen, we're learning!

The Third Call - is a call I got from a child, who eventually turns out to be the son of a brother in the church life who wanted to call his daddy (who is called Stephen, incidentally) and he misspelled his name on the phone - so he called me! I was startled at first to hear a child's voice on the other and, but I quickly realized it must be one of the kids of the saints... - eventually, I talked to the mom, and it was a pleasant conversation. You know what, even when you take a call that is not for you, that is, when the other person may have made a mistake in dialling, you can still minister life and receive life! I was so much enlivened and encouraged when I got this third call :) A simple call, the wrong person called, yet some flowing of God's life taking place! How about that!

The moral of the story - is not to point out how interesting life can be, but to thank the Lord in appreciation for the church life. Sometimes you're tired; other times you don't have time; still, other times, you can't be bothered to call the saints, or you forget to call the saints. In these times you need the supply of the Body, and you can be saved by the other members simply contacting you... Guess what, if you cultivate a relationship with the Lord and you pursue Him with the saints, the Lord Himself will call you through different members of His Body just to remind you about Himself, and there's some life ministered into you in these calls.... It is so good to "sow unto life" by enjoying the Lord and endeavouring to be in the church life.... - the Lord will then visit you just when you need it, when the time comes...

Today I realized again that I need the Body of Christ - I need the function of the other members of the Body. It's so good to be connected and be dependent o the other members. It's really "to me - for you", and "my going on is for you - your going on is for me". As members in the Body of Christ, we are NOT separate entities - we are an organic Body for Christ to move, be expressed, and be glorified through! I am so grateful to the Lord for the saints - all ages, all languages, all nationalities, from any country, in each one's measure, with their portion in the Body.... Lord, keep us here, connected and built up together as Your Body!

finding my home in the church life, in the homes! (1 Picture + 1 Experience with the Lord) 30-day challenge

Most people who know me or have met me realise this particular thing about me - and hopefully about the ones I'm hanging out with - My Home is The Church Life, the Homes of the Saints! I'm not originally from the UK, and since I've been here I noticed that, especially in Central London, there's a tendency of being independent, not getting into others' business or home, each one with his own, etc. But I have to say, my pleasure and my salvation is that my home today is the church life! Praise the Lord for the house to house church life He puts us in!

1 Picture for Today - London Underground, inside the London Tube

Since I had to travel a bit by tube these days, here's how London Underground - also called London Tube - looks these days. They have definitely improved the quality of the service, the quality of the trains, the frequency of the trains, etc. The London Underground system is pretty good and always reliable - even when there are some portions close for works and repairs, they provide free bus rides / replacement buses! But even though the 2012 Olympics are not here yet, especially at rush hours, there are way too many people on the underground... :)

1 Experience with the Lord Today - Finding my home in the church life, in the homes!

This is both my experience and my desire. Being a single brother here in London, working, busy, etc - and away from my family back in Romania - I need to find a place I can call home (before I have my own home...). Just like David says in the psalms, I want to find my home in the church, the house of God. It's not that there are so many saints that I just go from home to home, but wherever the homes are, that's where I go! And there's a price I want to cooperate with the Lord to pay so that I would be where He dwells, where He finds His home... The Lord is in our spirit today(2 Tim. 4:22), but He also dwells in the church - in the practical church life, the local church! If you're in the church, you have His presence. If you skip the meetings of the church, no matter how much you think or feel that you enjoy the Lord, there's something really rich, which is on His heart, that you're missing!

It's not that easy when you work to choose to go and meet with the saints after you finish work. Even if you meet only in 2 home meetings per week and one prayer meeting - it's a day to day decision and a continual inward prayer to be strengthened to go to the meeting... But once you are there, if you "bring your bones into the meeting", the Lord's breath of life is there, the fellowship is there, the food (both spiritual and physical) is there, and the building up is there! It's almost as if all you need to do many times is get your body to the meeting - offer up your body as a spiritual sacrifice for the church life, Rom. 12:1 - and the Lord pours out His blessing, He feeds you, nourishes you, and gives your life purpose and meaning! The church life is so rich, the saints are so excellent, and the food is so good!

And the secret is - the homes! It's not the "big meetings", the conferences, etc - it's the homes of the saints where the Lord can perfect us, can nourish us, and can meet our need. We all need to be attached to a home - the children need to grow up in a home, the young people need to have their own home meeting with all the saints, the students are properly growing and flourishing in a home, the young couples need to open their home, the older saints need to be in the homes... All the ages, at any stage in life, need to be in a home meeting which we call "our own assembly". These are "our folks", our "family", and indeed, our home. In the homes of the saints we find our home.

Mmmm... the food is so good when you have it with the saints in the homes! You may cook the exact same food - or you may order it at the restaurant and it may actually properly be cooked, but the best food, the most delicious food, is in the homes of the saints. Even if it's the spagetti or the pizza, or any other small / easy to cook food, as long as you're in the home around the table with the saints, that food is blessed! And it is in this environment that you can open up your situation, you can bring some names of your friends / classmates / workmates that you're burdened for, you can ask questions, etc... The shepherding, the perfecting, the building up, the developing of our function, and the organic gospel preaching is done all here - in the homes!

When you taste this, when you see this, when you're part of this, you will do like Psalm 45 says, forget your father's house and be in this! Yes, you can pray and work with the Lord in bringing your own family into the church life, and bring the church life into your home - but once you see the HOMES, the 80% of our church life where the granular and vital linking / building up / perfecting / shepherding takes place, YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE nor will you choose any other way! Rather, you will find your home in the church life, in the homes! And if you meet someone at school, at work, on the street - you have a home to bring him to.

One more thing - the church life and the homes are NOT perfect, but they are genuine, and it is here that the Lord's sweet presence is. Maybe you say that there are not too many homes open, or that you don't know which home to go to... - where there's a will, there's a way. If there are some saints that are in your locality, you can just attach yourself to them and visit them. "The kingdom of God is taken by force" starting with the time of John the Baptist - if you don't have a home you're in now, you'd better find one and be desperate before the Lord until He brings you to one! We all want this, and we all need this - this is the God-ordained way to meet and to serve is in the homes of the saints, in the vital groups. It starts really small, it is so organic, and the increase is slow - at the speed of life. But THIS IS IT - It's the HOMES! Praise the Lord for the homes!

go for the chicken and forget about the bones! (1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord today) 30-days challenge

The title of this sharing is inspired from the article, My heart overflows with a good matter; I speak what I have composed concerning the King(Psalm 45) - via agodman.com, somewhere in the last few paragraphs. I like KFC (as I was sharing before) with the saints, and I mostly love having Nando's (grilled chicken - yummy!) with the saints. But when I have chicken, I don't emphasize or get disturbed by the bones of the chicken - I go for the meat! The skin is also good, especially if it's grilled.... - but the meat, that's what I like! It's the same with the church life - "go for the chicken in the church life"! More about this after,

1 Picture Today - King's Cross in Central London

This is the BIG building behind and above the King's Cross train and tube station in Central London. I promise you - I don't want to advertise for these guys, but it looks like Marriot Hotels owns this place also, and they call it, St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London. They have been working on this place to renovate it forever, and now it's open! I've been around King's Cross many times, especially since the saints live there and we meet around there many times. You can get the London Underground, the National Rail, and the International trains from this location (some leaving from St. Pancras). You can see more pictures of the hotel via, Explore St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, or check out what's up around this are - King's Cross stuff. Of course, the best thing about King's Cross is the saints - they are the excellent, all my delight is in them!

1 Experience with the Lord - Go For the Chicken and Forget About the Bones!

I was touched by this illustration that brother Ed shared in the message for this week - Crystallization-Study of the Psalms(1), message 7. If someone comes to your home to visit, you don't put the rubbish bin on the table and tell him, Here, have a banana peel! Neither do you put the garbage somewhere that can be seen - NO! You hide the rubbish, you clean the house, and you offer the guest something good to eat and drink! And if there's rubbish you see around, you put it away! No one invites someone else to his house and makes sure that people see the litter bin / rubbish bin...

It's the same in the church life - you don't point out the defects or weaknesses of the saints; rather, we learn to cover one another in love, pray for one another, and see Christ in the saints! This is a secret that will help us in our whole life and will uplift our appreciation of the saints - seeing Christ in the saints! Sometimes you can't even see Christ living in some of the saints, but your negative speaking or your condemnation / exposing will NOT help! What really helps is for us to throw away any weaknesses, failures, or defects - into the universal rubbish bin, the lake of fire! What we want to focus on is enjoying Christ, ministering Christ, and seeing Christ in the saints!

It's interesting: we eat the WHOLE LAMB(since the lamb is Christ), but we don't "eat the whole chicken" - rather, we eat the meat and the other softer parts that can be edible(depends on people's taste...). What really matters about the fried or grilled chicken is that we eat the meat and forget about the bones! Put away the feathers, the bones, or even the dung - focus on the meat! Look away and throw away into the trash can any "feathers" or "bones" or even "dung" you may see among the saints - and focus on the meat! I wanna go for the meat and forget about the other stuff! If you try to eat the bone - God forbid... - you may get sick! In the church life, go for the chicken!

In the Old Testament king Balak got Balaam the prophet to curse the people of Israel, but Balaam couldn't do it - he rather blessed Israel(Num. 23-24). There is no failure or sin in Israel! God sees His people as being holy and without blemish, filled with Christ an put into Christ! Blessed are those who bless the church / Israel, and cursed are those who curse the church / Israel. We need to learn to see the saints as the Lord sees them - God-men filled with the growing and flourishing divine life! When we see the church and the saints as God sees them, we will speak well and bless the church!

The church life is wonderful! The church is glorious! The church in our locality is spotless and blameless - it is pure and it is glorious!

If we "go for the chicken", we will see Christ in the saints and we will minister Christ when there's a deficiency or any failures... I want to learn to know the saints not in a natural way but learn to know them according to Christ and no longer according to the flesh. And if there's a lack of Christ, I want to learn to minister Christ and pray for others - rather than criticizing or pointing out their condition... God knows our condition, but He also knows that His divine life in us can do it! He can do it in us! :) Go for the chicken, and forget about the bones or the feathers!

don't waste your time: schedule it! - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

Today we're in a race, and our opponent is TIME - we are in a race against time. From the time you get up in the morning until the time you go to bed, it's either wasting time or redeeming the time. We do or don't do so many things and some of the things we do or don't do are a complete waste of time. There's a saying that's very common in England especially among the young ones, I Can't Be Bothered! When it's time to do something, many times our attitude towards it is, I Can't Be Bothered! I'll do it later! Procrastinating... postponing... delaying... do it later or tomorrow...

I am also a failure at redeeming the time. Most of my prayers either at the end of the day or early in the morning are, Lord, forgive me for wasting my time! Forgive me for wasting Your time! I love You, Lord, and I thank You for Your patience - and everything You gave me... but Lord, save me today from wasting my time! Save me from wasting Your time! ... - time and time again I repent for this, for wasting time... This doesn't mean that I "do nothing" or "do meaningless things", but that there's so much time that I just waste! And this brings me to,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Don't Waste Your Time: schedule it!

Let me put it this way: if you work with your boss in the same room, and he keeps an eye on you, or your manager checks in with you every once in a while... and then one day the manager is not in, would you still work / do the things you need to do in the same way, at the same speed, with the same diligence as if  the manager were there? That's the question I asked myself yesterday, and today when my manager was not in, I had to put it in practice! That's why I was praying even more today, Lord, save me from wasting time today! I give my work day to You! Lord, keep me focused! Be my diligence!

Again I say, this doesn't mean that I just do nothing when the manager is not there, but there's a temptation to chill a bit, to take things easy, to slow things down, to postpone some things, to have extended breaks... - there's a side of us that we don't discover or know we have until we're put in a special situation! So today, after having a time with the Lord in the morning, I got to this conclusion - DON'T WASTE TIME - SCHEDULE IT! So many things to take care of, so many customers, so many issues, website, blogs, products, updates, calls, orders, etc... Touching the Lord in the morning and consecrating the whole day to Him really helps - He keeps you going at it and being diligent, you just "co-operate" with His inner operating!

It is the same with our spiritual life. I was listening to the latest podcast at AgeTurners.com, the one concerning Scheduling our Time(1), and brother Ricky was sharing about the same thing. We may be touched by the Lord in the meetings, in the Poland camp, at the Students Training, or at other conferences / trainings / summer or winter schools, etc. We may consecrate ourselves to the Lord, and the Lord may touch us concerning having a time with Him in the morning, reading the Bible, being in the middle of the church life, preaching the gospel, having a companion, etc. But then school / work comes - and the school is indeed upon us now, at least for those in the high school, and the university starts pretty soon also - where things pile up, other people / things / schedules / meetings / classes demand for our attention!

It's time to STOP WASTING OUR TIME and start SCHEDULING OUR TIME! A very practical way to practice the things that the Lord has touched us with - and at the same time a good way to do anything worthwhile which can become a good habit - is to schedule that time into our daily routine! If we don't schedule the life practices it happens the same as when we don't schedule a time to study for school! You don't schedule it, you waste your time and don't do it! So I enjoyed these practical points concerning Scheduling the Life Practices daily:

• schedule a time early in the morning to spend with the Lord! Yes, we all want to spend time with the Lord, but SCHEDULE this time - the length of the time doesn't matter, the creating of the habit of touching Him first thing in the morning does! For this, you may need to go to bed a bit earlier so that you may have 5-10 time with the Lord in the morning!
• Schedule a time to read the Word of God! Put into your daily schedule a slot when you just Read The Bible! Get on the schedule - see www.readhisword.com for more info - and even get a companion to check up on you and to pursue with! 1 chapter of the Old Testament and 1 chapter of the New Testament is not much - but the reading time needs to be scheduled.
• Schedule a time for the gospel - if you can't go on the gospel weekly, at least pray with a companion for your friends and colleagues / workmates, and then set a time to speak to them! Don't leave it "when the Lord speaks to me and inspires me" - schedule a time to pray with your companion for your friends!
• Schedule your church life - don't go only to the young people's meetings / student meetings and the Table Meeting(which are VERY important for us), but also schedule to go to the prayer meeting! What about a service meeting - where you can serve practically with the saints, or serve with the younger ones / the children! Schedule it at least once a month to do this.

Time goes by ANYWAYS, so why not make use of it and redeeming it(Eph. 5:12) - by practically Scheduling our time?!? Don't "overschedule" by putting all these into your daily routine and then giving up after the first week. But pray and fellowship with the Lord about all these, and schedule them one by one! Start with the morning time, then the daily reading of the Word, then the gospel time, then the church life... If we schedule the life practices with the Lord and we fellowship with our companions, this will eventually have a beneficial impact on our studies, our work life, our relationships, etc. 

.... So even at work, when my boss is not around, I can still schedule the things I need to do, the main items I need to take care of, etc(it works, and it's effective!). And then after work / school / uni - don't just "let it be how it goes", don't just "chill", but slot in the reading of the Bible, the reading of the ministry, spiritual books, the exercise, meeting with the saints, spending time with the Lord, taking care of your finances, cleaning, sports, etc. Even writing on the blog - for the Lord and with the Lord - can be a "life practice". I need to learn to redeem the time - by scheduling it! Lord, save me from wasting my time and Your time!