corporate 30-day challenge, one life-study message per day, 1 Thessalonians

It is so wonderful to set goals! Sometimes last year I did this 30-day challenge - One meaningful Thing I did Today - and it was a very good experience. Since then I've been thinking concerning "the next challenge", whether I should take one or how to go on in this... I am so glad now that there's a solid burden for all the young adults to get into the truth in a solid way, reading not only the Bible portions for the day but also getting into the life-study messages in a consistent way! Via Living To Him "the life-study reading program" has started today! So here am I with another challenge, this time a corporate one :)

Corporate 30-day Challenge - One Life-Study Message per day, LS 1 Thessalonians!

On Living To Him they are daily posting the reminder with the outline and a link to where you can read the message, so the one for today is, Msg. 1, Life Study of First Thessalonians. The way I want to kind of do this is not only read the message and enjoy it, together with the Scripture reading and the notes (if possible), but also have at least 1-2 paragraphs of sharing (either in my own words or as a quote from the book). And since they are posting daily there, maybe I can post my enjoyment both here on the blog and as a comment on the blog post at LivingToHim.

Message 1 of the Life-Study of First Thessalonians - enjoyment

I am so encouraged to do this reading together with all the saints :) As those learning to take responsibility in the church life and making the Lord's recovery "our Lord's recovery", we firstly need to be constituted with the truth! Here's my portion of enjoyment from the reading today:

Praise the Lord - we are the church IN God the Father - we are organically united with Him! God is not merely our Creator but our Father, and we are His many sons. Also, it is so precious to call on the name of the Lord - O, Lord Jesus! Not just, I love You Jesus, but I love You Lord Jesus! In our experience we have a relationship with the Lord and we love Him - we love to call on His name!
I was particularly impressed with the meaning of the work of faith (our work is our faith; the strength with which we work and the nature of our work are both faith), the labor of love (deeper and harder than work, our shepherding becomes a labor - in and out of love), and endurance of hope (hope is the source of endurance, and endurance involves suffering)! This is the structure of our Christian life. 

Lord, what about this additional reading? O, Lord, the next 30 days and, why not, the rest of the year! Fill my days with the Word and with the ministry! Lord, hunger for the Word! Lord, understanding of the Word so that there would be a solid deposit of the truth in my being! O, Lord... 

The Picture for Today :) - Wood Green, London Underground

Pretty self-explanatory, the above picture was taken at the Wood Green tube station in London. I checked outside the station, there's lots of green stuff (a bit more up the hill there are lots of parks, green grass, etc) - just in case you were wondering whether the name is linked to the place. 

you are what you eat - you are what you listen to!

Not sure how is it around the world, but in the UK the fall is coming - that is, autumn is here! It's getting colder outside, the wind is blowing, the windows are not being left open during the night, the heat is on inside, the lights are turned on earlier, and we just switched to the Winter Time! Thicker clothes, a hat on the head, jacket on, an umbrella with you all the time, solid shoes, thicker socks, a scarf maybe, some even wearing gloves... Praise the Lord, the sun is still shining some days - so this brings a smile on many faces.... :)

1 Picture in London - Manor House, close to Baker Street

This is one of the many Manor Houses in London, this time in Central London. As you walk from Edgeware Rd (where district 4 of the church in London meets) towards Baker Street (where you can see Sherlock Holmes' museum, you can visit Madam Tassauds, etc) you pass by some impressive buildings like this one, Manor House. Yes, there's a tube station and several bus stops in London called by this name, but this particular building is Manor House on Marylbone Road (see it online). As I was looking on google maps - google street view, I realized that - wow, everything can be seen on google street view now, all we have to do is "add pictures" to the existing data there!

You Are what You Eat, You Are What You Listen To!

Everyone knows this saying, You are what you eat, and it is true. We eat healthy food - we have a healthy body. We eat junk food, our body will have some problems. We drink healthy drinks - mostly water - and our body has a normal and proper digestion.... But it is the same in the psychological realm - you train your mind by going to school and gaining proper knowledge in a field you're inclined towards - your mind will work as trained. You don't train your mind and you don't put it to work but let it "chill" and cram lots of knowledge into it when exams come - your mind will not work in a proper way, but will tend to prefer the relaxing...

Recently I realized also that You are What You Eat also implies that You Are What You Listen To. More and more wherever you go you see that people are "plugged in" - they listen to stuff! I personally don't want to know what they are listening to, but many people are calmer and nicer to you only after they "take their dose" / after they have been listening to something... When we're on the PC / MAC, when browsing the internet or doing our homeworks, when working or playing, etc, we like to listen to something. .... we passively listen to something and are influenced / infused by what we listen, even without knowing it!

So my thought and my consideration is like this - why not listen to some healthy things, something that gives me more encouragement and even more life? Believe me, I tried to listen to positive thinking speaches, motivational stuff, the TWIT shows(since I like internet and tech), or even the TED conference amazing discoveries and analysis... - these don't give you life, but they burden you and rather load you with all kinds of stuff... It comes down to each one of us making a choice AGAIN and AGAIN - what do stuff myself with? Do I stuff myself with "fried chicken and chips" (the favorite meal of the UK young people, very toxic when consumed in high quantities) or do I choose to have healthy food?

What comes out of us towards others and towards life in general is determined many times by what we put into us. When we listen to something, we passively allow that music / speaking / thing we listen to to get into us and infuse us with a certain "state of mind", a certain feeling... I distinctly remember some walks I took while listening to a specific thing, either a message, a speech, or some music.. And I also distinctly remember when I tried to listen to certain music and certain things - and something within me just didn't agree with that! Oh... I tried to fight with it, and I kind of won... - but eventually I love LIFE and PEACE much more than the feeling of death...

How I wish that we all would really be careful about what we listen to! We tend to become and to be influenced by what we listen to! We actually "eat" that thing we're listening, and we get an appetite for it... We need to learn to change our appetite - yes, there may have been a time we ate "fish and chips" all the time, and we drank mostly fizzy drinks - but as we grow in the human life and in the divine life, we learn to eat healthy and drink healthy, so that we may live a long life and a healthy life! I want to EAT good stuff - healthy stuff!

Examples of good stuff to listen to:

• the NYC YP CD (the New York Young People CD's) - now even on iTunes and on facebook;
• Hymns and Spiritual Songs - download MP3's and listen to them online;
• HymnsRadio - listen ALL the day long to free hymns online...
• Hymnal.net - listen to the melody of all the hymns and many new songs;
• LSM Radio - listen to the whole life study of the Bible radio broadcast, everything is online as MP3's. I went through Luke, Mark, 1 Peter, etc.. - 30 mins portions, DELICIOUS and HEALTHY food!

[what do YOU think? Leave me a comment if you have a similar experience of "being bothered within when listening to stuff... DO YOU know any other websites / places where you can find good spiritual things to listen to?]

Glorious freedom, wonderful freedom! No more in chains do I repine... (1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord today)

Tonight is one of those very rare nights when I got home after the home meeting BEFORE 11.30pm! This is very rare indeed, since most times the home meeting goes on and we enjoy the Lord and being together up until close to midnight! Since most saints don't work the next day, most young people have no school on Saturday, and most students have no classes next morning, everyone chills and enjoys. And indeed, even tonight, what an enjoyment and what a good fellowship we had! To see how Psalm 51 is being applied today and how we as believers in the Lord can repent and confess our sins... It's one thing when you read about it in the Bible, and it's a totally different thing when you hear this from 13-year olds, 15-year olds, or even 18-year olds... Wow...

1 Picture for today - Even the Police needs AA

This picture was taken recently as I was walking home one night - it looks like even the police needs AA, that is, it needs to be towed away. I'm not sure whether they parked illegally ;) or maybe their engine just died - whatever happened, there were 2-3 policemen there and a car who took the police car away. Pretty cool, and also pretty mysterious... [I'll leave it like that!]

1 Experience with the Lord today - Glorious Freedom, wonderful Freedom, no more in chains do I repine!

This line is taken from a hymn we love so much, where the chorus says, Glorious Freedom, / Wonderful Freedom, / No more in chains of sins I repine. / Jesus the glorious Emancipator / Now and forever He shall be mine! This song mainly refers to the freedom which we get by believing into the Lord. He delivers us from Satan, from ourselves, from any bondage, from pride, sinful ambition, evil temper, anger, love of money, envy, strife, carnal affections, hatred, vain ambitions, worldly desires, fear and its torments, care and its pain, etc. Basically, once we come to the Lord, we are being set free!

We may say like the Jews in the Lord's time, But we are slaves of no one: God is our Father (John 8:33)! Well, I can tell you right now, we are being daily enslaved and oppressed. Especially when you get into a debt of money to someone or to the bank, you get enslaved. Also, there's all kinds of chores and regular things we owe to do towards others. Sometimes we make mistakes - for which we need to pay either with our time or with something else. All these things put a burden on us, they enslave us. We need to work in order to support ourselves, to sustain a certain life-style - this can enslave us.

And then there's the ambition and the desire to get something or be someone. There's the pride which rises up in us and we cultivate by going to schools, having achievements, accomplishing what we set out to do, getting some degrees, being praised by others because of some attainments we have or any other thing about us, etc. If there's not a career thing, then the cares of this age, the cares for this life, our family needs, the people we need to care for... the things at work, the people around us, etc - it's almost as if everything around us was designed by someone to occupy our time, take our time away from us, ensare us, enslave us, and bring us into bondage. We say we are free, but we are under much burden and in bondage to many things...

What about the entertainment and the media today? What about the new shiny and amazing gadgets? The new games, the new apps, the new music, the new movies, the new this or that.... The news, the pictures, the things happening - all these are "our food" so many times, and at the same time they are enslaving us, causing us to desire after them and not be happy until we get more.... There are things OUTSIDE of us that work together to wear us out and enslave us, and there are many things / thoughts / feelings WITHIN us that cause us to be burdened and enslaved....

BUT there's a GLORIOUS FREEDOM that we can experience! This freedom is not only initially when we touch the Lord, but it can be experienced and it SHOULD be experienced by all the believers in Christ every day! We can turn to the Lord - we can just open up to Him! He came that we may be free indeed - and in His word we are being delivered. We need to read His Word, enjoy Him in the Bible, and allow the Word of God to deliver us. There's a freeing-from-bondage effect in our praying over the Word of God and in spending time with the Lord personally. The other things are still there, all around us, waiting for us - but we take time to spend with the Lord... and we are INWARDLY FREED!

I think that this is our experience every day - maybe not the above mentioned items, but for each one of us there are some things, some matters, some situations, that enslave us, put us down, and we have to "take care of them" and be under them. And you know what? God doesn't want us to escape those things necessarily - He wants us that right there, in these things and in these situations, we would open to Him. We need to turn to the Lord and take Him in as the fresh breath of spiritual air. Pray over His Word - with your heart being turned to the Lord, and You Will Be Freed! We can and we should experience the glorious freedom TODAY and EVERY DAY!

this is not normal - you cannot just GET USED TO IT! (1 picture + 1experience with the Lord today) 30-day challenge

I almost didn't do the small article for today, since my laptop is now in repairs... you really need to be careful with these devices, one wrong move and something breaks! And then trouble starts, money needs to be paid, time is spent with no PC...., but hopefully tomorrow the laptop will be returned safe and sound, as good as before(or even better). It's the same with everything / everyone: we need to be careful in our dealings and interactions with one another, or else someone may just "break down" and then a price needs to be paid to re-connect or re-establish the trust...

1 Picture Today - An Accident almost Right In Front of my Eyes!

The picture above is of an accident I almost witnessed on Holloway road this afternoon as I was doing some shopping. Everyone was out in the streets, it was a 26 degrees Celsius evening - very hot - and people were shopping or walking around, many of them being in a hurry to get to the Arsenal game tonight... And right there, in the middle of the street, on a busy road, two cars crashed into each other. What's more crazy is that people who witnessed the accident were not that much interested to help the ones in the crash, rather - every one was watching, taking pictures, and commenting about it.

This is Not Normal - You Can't Just Get Used to This! One experience with the Lord today

The truth is that in London these days we see all kinds of strange and crazy things - less than 2 weeks ago there was at least one fatality in a similar accident just up the street. We see people dressed in a crazy way walking around on the street, people with strange piercings and tattoos everywhere, people dressed with strange clothes and some with less clothes than others, people with hairstyles that defile you by just looking at them... Normal human beings dressed in a normal way and with a normal haircut - these are very rare(they are so rare that sometimes you're being stared at because you're not trying too hard to look as cool as they do]. It's becoming common to have all kinds of gang fights, teenage stabbings, thefts, muggings, etc here in London. ... And this is just something outwardly that - when you think about it - it sounds abnormal and crazy...

But you know, even in our personal life and in our private time, where no one sees us - if we think about it, we spend so much time online on websites like YouTube, Facebook, twitter, google+, social networks, news, entertainment websites... We are randomly browsing and watching... And the videos we watch... The news we hear and see... The conversations we have with people... Many times, if we think about all these, we have to admit that it's just not right, it's not good, it's not pleasing to the Lord... Just being online and reading / saying / doing stuff there - if you check with the Lord, He is NOT happy with that...

Everyone these days wants things out of the ordinary, not being "normal" but being someone unique and special... And the price we pay for this is all kinds of terrible things happening. I tell you, I have never seen or heard of so many accidents, riots, stabbings, gangs and fights, open violence, rebellion, disrespect, thefts, and evil speaking until recently - and we all kind of consider that, That's the way things are, we need to adapt to it and accept it! ... I want to say it again,

No, this is NOT normal, you can't just Get Used to This!

What's the solution? We can't really change the world, and it's obviously clear that there's no way to cure the people today... The best thing we can do is RIGHT now touch the Lord and give ourselves to Him. All we have is now - now, as the Lord touches us, we say AMEN to His word! Just a little opening to the Lord right now, and then again in a few minutes, as we do this and that... will keep us not only surviving and being sane, but will keep us growing in the Lord!

Wherever we are, whatever we are about to do, we can choose to turn to the Lord and enjoy Him! This is NORMAL, and we should get used to this! It is normal for us believers in the Lord to enjoy Him, even to have regular times set aside to spend with the Lord! This is normal, and this is good! This is the solution to the situation today - it starts with ME, I need to enjoy the Lord right now! Everyone is going their own way, being swept away by "a flood of dissoluteness"; what saves us from being in the same current is our enjoyment of Christ, the One who is really life and can live a life for God's purpose!

Many times the Lord within us wants to speak to us and He wants to draw us to Himself that we may just spend some personal time with Him! But we are too busy or too "drugged" with what's going on, what's new, what's the score, what our friends say on Facebook, the latest pictures with our friends, or even the news of what's going on in the world! Oh, Lord Jesus! How much we need to be de-contaminated, saved from the stupefying and drugging effect of the world, and washed in the water in the Word! ....

Lord, amen, save us from being swept away - we want to be those building the ark so that we may be saved from this crooked and perverted generation! Save us from being in the current of this age... Gain Your ark today - those full of vision, seeking You! Gain some who withstand the current of this age and who shine forth as luminaries in this dark age!

Having KFC for the Lord with the saints - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

There we go again, fast-food on the blog and talk about fast food! It is NOT healthy to have KFC regularly, and it is NOT recommended to have it too often. Before I came to the UK I used to hold KFC to a very high standard, loving even the smell of it... It was a special time for me when I had KFC :) - but then I discovered so many other fast food places or even the wonderful Nando's, with the grilled chicken... yummy... :) And so from time to time I pay a visit to these "establishments" / places / fast food restaurants. But that's not the point of this story - rather, it is that I can be,

Having KFC for the Lord with the saints - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today

This article is NOT intended to promote KFC or any other fast food restaurant, as neither is it to promote Pepsi (but maybe I'll recommend the pure water to quench your thirst...). No. Sometimes as I am with the young ones - the students, the young people, the saints - we have some KFC together. Not regularly, of course. Most older saints, including the parents, don't recommend it - and neither do I. But since the young people like it, one of the ways we can shepherd them is to "take them out to KFC"(or McDonald's / Subway / other fast food places, if they prefer it), go have some ice cream or coffee together, etc.

What I recently experienced is that you can use a KFC place to have some fellowship with the saints. You can order something to eat, and sit down and have some fellowship. There is a particular brother I'm having fellowship with almost every Tuesday evening - right after my gym time, as he also finishes his work, we would meet and have one whole hour together right before the prayer meeting. We would have either KFC or McDonald's or something else short to eat, and then go through a book called, The God-Man Living. It was such a building up time and such a sweet time!

Of course, after a while, having KFC every week can become too much, so we would choose either another place to eat(since we needed to have dinner, right?) - but we would continue our fellowship. And this is how we got together for several months, having a weekly time of talking about our day, turning our heart to the Lord, having some KFC :) or something to eat / drink, then getting into either the Word of God or a spiritual book(like, the God-man living). It's not easy to set a regular time aside every week to meet with someone and enjoy the Lord, but once you have it, you will taste the Lord together and you will be built up with the other one in a very sweet way!

Can you believe that a coffee shop, a tea shop, or a fast food place like KFC can be a place where you can enjoy the Lord with the saints?

What we need to do - and what I want to continue to learn to do - is to take care of one another in a very human way, yet at the same time in a divine way. Divinely human - that's what we are, as believers in the Lord. We need to eat - so we go out and eat together; we need to spiritually feed and be built up, so we get into the truth together and pray together! Believe me, KFC or any other fast food / dessert place will  become a different place once you get together with the saints there! I have experienced it so many times that it is very rare that I sit in a KFC or Nando's without the saints - it's uncomfortable to be there by myself!

Especially now that the university starts its schedule, and as school also is starting, we can use any opportunity we have to take care of one another, be built up together, and also spend time to know the saints. Starbucks or Costa Coffee (or any other coffee shop) are good places to get together, sit down, take care of some young ones or new ones, and read something together. It's so simple, so human, yet it can be filled with the divine presence once we exercise our spirit! Can you believe that? You can exercise your spirit when you have your tea at your favourite tea shop, or when you grab a Colonel's meal at KFC! Or, as they have new meals, you can get a Boneless Banquet or a Godfather meal :) - with another brother!

One more thing: when it comes to taking care of the saints and being built up together, the money we spend for this we actually give to the Lord for His purpose. You may invite a young brother(if you're a brother) out to eat some KFC(for example), and pay for his side - if you are before the Lord about this, you actually spend both your time and money on the Lord and His Body. You can give real value and meaning to your money by spending them on the Lord, the saints, the new ones, the young ones - His flock! What a privilege, to waste ourselves on Him!

Disclaimer: for the record and also for our conscience / good health, we need to do our best to eat healthy and drink healthy, even to take care of our body as of the temple of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes though, for the sake of others, unless it goes against our principles / conscience, we can "go along" with them and go out have some dinner somewhere - and the Lord will accompany us :) We are where we are, and we are not here to force others to eat what we eat or to stop them eating stuff... - but we are here to enjoy the Lord and bring others to enjoy Him more! Lord, have Your way in us!

Treasuring the Morning Revival Time with the Lord - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

This particular matter is in no way "special" or particular for a normal believer in Christ, since every morning, a normal Christian wakes up a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord! Right? O Lord Jesus, make us this kind of normal believers! This really should be normal - the first thing in the morning to contact the Lord, spend time with Him, enjoy Him, read the Word, pray to the Lord, pray over the Word... - just open to Him to enjoy Him!

It has become something of a habit to me - going through the training in FTTL (which I warmly recommend everyone!), then being in the church life, working, having responsibilities, serving with the young people and with the students, serving in the church life, being in the brothers' house - to have morning revival every morning. I treasure the Holy Word for Morning Revival and we recently went through The Crucial Elements of the Bible, the Central Line of the Bible, the Crystallization-Study of Isaiah, and now we are in the Crystallization-Study of the Psalms. Wow, every morning praying over the verses in the Bible - even while dressing up, brushing my teeth, cleaning, fixing a small breakfast, or... on the way to the bus! This brings me to today's topic of,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Treasuring the Morning Revival with the Lord

As I was saying before, by the Lord's mercy and NOT from myself, somehow every morning I have a time with the Lord(it has been built up in the past 10 years!) - and I treasure it! Why bring it up now today? Well... last week we were in, The Excellency of Christ(as seen in Psalms 8), and this week we're getting into Psalms 15 and 16, so this morning I was excited about it: YES, a new week, a new topic, new Psalms....

BUT - there's always a BUT, right? - I don't know how this happened, but I realized that I need to do two important and urgent things before I left for work! Many times things happen - urgent things, important things, things that demand our attention - right when it's time to have morning revival! Most mornings you feel fresh and ready - especially after breakfast or after shower, but when you come to have morning revival, it's almost as if you're either too tired to do it, or too busy to do it. It's late, so you need to get going with the day - get a "fast food morning revival": a "doughnut pray-reading of the Word" and a "sip of reading the morning revival", "wiping our mouth with an Amen, Lord!" then run off to the things of the day!

O Lord Jesus... why do we need to have morning revival? Why do we need to be revived every morning? Or, to quote many young people I am around, Why do I HAVE TO have morning revival? When you're on your own, setting some time aside in the morning to wake up a bit earlier and spend time with the Lord - you pay a price you pay to meet your Beloved Lord Jesus! The Lord is so real, fresh, and living in the morning for you to touch Him! His mercies are new, and His compassions never fail(Lam. 3:22-23)! The Word of God which we read and pray over in the morning is a source of supply for the whole day! The portions in the Word and in the ministry which we enjoy in the morning time are being deposited into us and become a constant supply for the day, the week, and for our whole life.

And it's all because we PAY THE PRICE to wake up a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord. Or maybe on the way to the bus stop to go to school / work, you call on the name of the Lord + on the bus you read some verses / the morning revival. Or while you're on the tube as a small sardine compacted with the others around you - they read the newspapers or listen to music, but you inwardly call and outwardly read and re-read the Word / the morning revival. Or maybe you go for a walk or a run, and you open to the Lord, converse with Him, take some verses and muse + pray over, digesting them and chewing on them.

Or maybe... - it's up to you: you can experiment, try, and invent your own way in your own time, your own schedule, to touch the Lord! It is so important to touch the Lord first thing in the morning that you will treasure your time with Him more than your apportioned food! Yes, you're physically hungry, but you're more hungry and more eager to enjoy the Lord than to have some breakfast! Or maybe you have the morning revival / the Bible right by the cereal bowl / "the full English Breakfast" / your breakfast dish, and as you eat(physically), you really eat(spiritually)!

Coming back to this morning, even though usually I set aside 20-25 minutes of pray-reading the Word, musing on it, reading the portions, reading them again, praying over the main points, reading the outline, etc - however the Lord guides me - this morning I only had 5-10 minutes with the Lord! I was distracted - I took care of "those two urgent things", and time was up - I had to go to work! Then I realized - I need MORE of the Lord! Ooooo.... I need more of Christ! More FOOD! More of the Word! So on my way to work I continued to pray over the Word... at work I re-read the portion really quick... and something really precious came out -

Who may sojourn in God’s tent? Who may dwell with God on His holy mountain? Only Christ is qualified!

How precious it is that we can have a time with the Lord in the morning! I am learning every day to treasure my time with Him. Maybe even wake up earlier, spend more quality time with the Lord. Don't wait for inspiration, and don't wait even to "go to your desk to the morning revival book or the Bible" - start with the shower! Call on the Lord's name in the shower, ask Him to cleanse you with His blood and wash you in His Word just as the shower washes away anything of the old.... As you brush your teeth, why not muse on and pray within, Lord, what about my speaking? Sanctify and purify my speaking to others! You need to wash your hands - Lord, cleanse my doings and my deeds, sanctify my living! ... - there are so many little things you need to do in the morning, and you can enjoy the Lord / pray / do them with the Lord! O, Lord, our time with You in the morning!

Wearing my, Christians On Campus T-shirt Today - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

This may not mean much to some people, and it is definitely not "an item of the faith" or something that everyone should practice or else.... No, this is just my recent experience with this. The United Kingdom, and Western Europe in general, is not just in "open rebellion against God", but many people hate everything that is Christian while at the same time they declare themselves to be atheists.

If you try to talk to someone on the street about the Lord, you get looked at, rejected, talked back despisingly, ridiculed, and even hated. The Muslims have more effect or impact on the society than Christianity. Someone from the USA recently, after going out with the saints to speak to people about the Lord, asked, "WHY are people here so rude? If you don't want to hear about this, just say NO THANKS, but don't be so RUDE!" People are not afraid to show their real feeling towards God / Christians...

What I have been impressed with while being in Western Europe / the UK, among other things, is that people don't feel shy to express themselves, to express how they feel, even if this means being almost naked, staying up late on streets, drinking, putting on a lot of make-up, trying to copy all the latest fashion or pop stars, having lots of tatooes or piercings, etc. One of the main things they do is they WEAR stuff - some wear simple stuff, others more bright colours, some classy, while others wear all kinds of T-shirts with all kinds of inscriptions / slogans. Sometimes just by reading what those T-shirts are saying you are defiled and filled with death - and young people wear them, recommend them, and boast with them! This is why I'm now coming to,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Wearing my Christians On Campus T-Shirt!

Christians On Campus at UC Berkeley -
similar to the T-shirt I wore today 

I walk about in London, travelling to work, to meet saints, visiting, sight-seeing, etc, but I very rarely see anyone wearing anything that has a "Christian message / text" on it. Rather, the heavy metal, skull bones, rock inscriptions, and all kinds of dark and weird writings can be seen on people that look relatively normal. Just like Lot(2 Pet. 2:8, For that righteous man, who settled down among them, in seeing and hearing tormented his righteous soul day after day with their lawless works), my spirit has no rest, and you are stirred up within...

The only ones that wear something related to God are either pastors, evangelists, street-preachers, ... and they are mainly older ones. If they are young and wearing something Christian-related, it is so "cool" and complex that you "have to think about it"... - there's no life, divine life, that you receive from reading something like that....

Even us as lovers of the Lord many times have no problem wearing what's sold "on Oxford Street" in Next, Topshop, Accessorize, Burton, Halfords, JJB sports, JD Sports, House of Fraser, French Connection, Topman, Uniqlo, Gap, Banana Republic, Primark, etc, - even in the meetings! So when I went to the gym these past few months I gladly wore my Poland Camp T-shirts - The Birthright, The Nazarites, the Testimony of Jesus, The Spirit, And The Rock Was Christ, etc. Though it's just a "piece of clothing", I felt like it sanctified me, separated me, and kept me.... People would look at me, some trying to read the writing, some were curious what's written / what's that, while others turning their head from me... but I believe there's something of the Word that's infused!

Actually this week I was wearing The Testimony of Jesus Poland camp T-shirt and someone approached me and said, Nice T-Shirt! After I conversed with him it turns out he's a brother and he's looking for fellowship with believers - since he has a hectic schedule at work! I have been praying and I am praying + enjoying the Lord at the gym, and may the Lord continue to sanctify the environment we're in even in this way! We don't know who is seeking, but we can be a testimony! I'm looking forward to meet this brother soon!

But today as I went to the brothers mtg I wore my Christians on Campus T-shirt(I received it as a gift, Christians on Campus at the University of Oklahoma), and I really really felt people looking at me. Who would wear a T-shirt with the word Christians on it? I felt the people stare at me as I was walking, but this only encouraged me to pray and continue enjoying the Lord. Even in this simple way, wearing something with the Word of God inscribed on it, we can preach the gospel! I may not have the courage to go speak to a stranger on the street, but I can wear something that gives him Christ! If someone is hungry, he knows where to go and get some real spiritual food! I would feel people's looks and pray for them as I was walking...

Again I say, this is not to "promote" this, even though it would be good - as the brothers have advised in some conferences - to have some T-shirts or jackets / jumpers with "O Lord Jesus!" or "Taste and see that the Lord is good", or another call to salvation and drinking... But I realized that even what I wear can preach the gospel, or at least can be an entrance to the gospel! Yes, people will stare at you, but some also will look and smile approvingly - this is how you know where the believers are! And if there are seeking ones, they will come to you - or you will see them being ready to talk to you!

Praise the Lord for the Christians on the campus! Praise the Lord for the Poland camp and the T-shirts we receive there! Praise the Lord for all the saints who are consecrated to the Lord and know how to and can design some clothing / inscriptions on clothing - with God's economy! There are so many who wear the "SUPERDRY" stuff (what is THAT all about?) but WHO wears something that tells people about God's economy? How will people hear or see or know about God becoming a man? How will man know that he needs to repent? ... This is why I love this series of Students Testimonies, Christian Students on Campus facebook fan pages / web pages collection, or Christians with a blog online - compilation of links. If we don't speak, WHO will speak?

.... Lord, what about the things I wear? Lord, make my living the preaching of the gospel, expressing You even without words! Make us living testimonies, Lord, and sanctify the things we wear! Save us from wearing what the world wears - save us from BEING like them even in this! O LORD! We open to You even in this matter...

One Meaningful Thing Today: Redeeming the Time at Lunch (30-day challenge)

Coming back after a lovely home meeting where we enjoyed songs of love to the Lord like, Jesus Lord I'm captured by Thy Beauty, Jesus Lord You're our first love - You're the One we love the Best!, The day approaches - Jesus soon is coming... - I love the Lord so much! I have to agree with David when he says that after he gets into the sanctuary of God and is in God's presence in His house, his whole perspective of the world is changed! Even the way we view the world and the people around us is changed - turned the right side up - when we are enjoying God in the house of God, in the church life!

But coming back to today's challenge - as you can see from the previous paragraph, the home meeting was delightful and eye-opening, but .... there's another matter I want to appreciate the Lord for today, which is,

One Meaningful Thing Today:
Redeeming the Time at Lunch

Believe it or not, I have a lunch break - only 30mins, but it's still a lunch break. As the day goes on and things pile up, to-do lists are being made, post-it notes on the PC, calendar reminders, emails with stars and "priority inbox", phone calls and orders, etc... the first thing I want to do on my lunch break - before even eating something - is to TAKE A BREAK! Just take a breather, man!

But I have already discovered a secret - the real rest I need and the real break for me is not just to stop from working and eat something in peace, but to give this lunch break to the Lord and enjoy Him in this time. Particularly, according to what I see right now as being the need, I am calling a brother and we're fellowshipping and praying together - for less than 11-13mins. This is it: redeeming the time in the lunch break - no matter how short is - to really get some rest, really get some spiritual food, and be encouraged!

The best meals I had for lunch were after such a phonecall and prayer time to touch the Lord with my dear vital companion... It is such a mercy from the Lord that we can TURN away - in the middle of the day, in the middle of the work time - to the Lord! We can turn to our spirit within, where the Lord dwells! It's a fight, it is a struggle, and not all the time you break through - but I practice, I give my best, to touch the Lord and kiss Him again, pray again for what's on His heart! After such a call the food tastes nicer, the time is more than enough, and there's life and peace within!

No matter how the situation was when I left the office, no matter how many things are awaiting my attention and response, I can take a break and enjoy the Lord - and I am filled with Him! He is the real lunch - and I'm learning a bit of what the Lord told His disciples in John 4(when He was waiting for them to get something to eat from the city, and He gave the Samaritan woman to drink of the living water) - My food is to do the will of the Father(John 4:32-34)... it is the Father's will that we keep a constant contact with the Lord Jesus and enjoy Him! This is what I enjoy the most, and this is what God also loves - and both us and God are satisfied!

To Redeem - is to purchase back something that was yours initially, and the price you pay for it is greater than the price you initially paid. TIME is ours - or so we think - but when it comes to enjoying the Lord, there's a greater price we all need to pay for even 10-15 minutes to spend with the Lord! Yes, we have time - but somehow, in some way, and for some reason - we need to redeem this time, pay a higher price to get it back, so that we may spend time with the Lord! But every such time is a memorial between you and Him, and it counts all the way into the New Jerusalem!

Amen, Lord, I want to learn to REDEEM MY TIME! Save me from wasting any more time.... I realize it all starts when you see the value of things - you see the Lord, His value and worth, and then you pay any price to gain Him. And we gain Him here a little, there a little, at lunch time a bit, in the evening with the saints a bit, in the morning a little... bit by bit, spending time with Him, the price increases but the willingness to pay the price is there - because we have tasted and we can testify that He is GOOD, and we see His infinite worth and preciousness! .... [and this was my lunch break today. And yesterday, and all my working days. Lord, recover my lunch breaks - to matter in Your eyes! Start with the lunch break, Lord, and take over many other times and areas...]