it's all going down unless you're growing in the Lord(1 pic + 1 experience with the Lord) 30 day challenge

There we go again, a quirky title, just like many of the catchy phrases you see on the advertisements on the streets, on the bus, at the tube stations, and literally everywhere in London. Sometimes even on the way to the Lord's Table meeting, as you're praying within and contacting the Lord, if you look around on the tube and glance at the advertisements on the wall, you get out of your spirit! Everything is catchy, gives you something to think about.... but today it's simple:

1 Picture for today - Topshop in Oxford Circus in London

This is a "twisted picture" of the Topshop in Oxford Street in London - Topshop Oxford Circus London - one of the most desired-to-shop-at places for many youngsters today. Everyone in London wants to go to Oxford Street, because anything you want can be found there: jeans, snickers, t-shirts, sports shoes, suits, electronics, mobile phones, jackets, underwear, etc. Among those shops is the TopShop - one of the many very expensive shops there, who sometimes has some reduced prices on stuff and everyone goes there! They sell clothing, designer collection, shoes, accessories, make-up, gifts, etc - visit their website to find out more (including pictures of skinny people wearing their clothes).

1 Experience with the Lord - It's All Going Down if You're Not Growing in the Lord!

I don't really know whether the title explains what I'm trying to say, but it's something like this: if we are not growing in the Lord every day, we don't "stagnate"; rather, we are "going down". The reason the picture above is slightly inclined is that the whole world today, with all the shops and the shiny stuff, is GOING DOWN. Morality is not present anymore, ethics are up to you, respect is not found unless you're a close friend, love is re-defined to include all kind of perversions and twisted inclinations, and people are not pure anymore.

No one is seeking God - not even one(Rom. 3:10). They think they re-define God just as they try to re-define love and marriage. There's a trend today towards immorality, disrespect, not caring for anyone but yourself, reading and doing your best to be influenced by people who think the way you do, refusing to think about God or talk about God, rejecting and despising those who believe in God and love God, ... - and, in general, doing what YOU want but in such a way that you ignore God and His Word.... - the world is going down to the extent that they would rather believe a lie than believe the truth(2 Thes. 2:11)...

WHY am I saying all the above? It is simply because if we as believers in Christ, as lovers of the Lord, as saints in the church life, and as young pursuers of Christ - if we are not DESPERATE to grow in the divine life every day, we are being swept away by the trend in this world, the current that culminates in the lake of fire! If we ignore the Lord today, if we don't pay attention to His speaking within us tomorrow, and if we are not willing to pay the price to meet with our companions and with the saints, then we are not "surviving" or "stagnating" - rather, we are being little by little swept away by the strong current in the world!

In these last days, before the Lord returns, we do not have time to waste. I waste too much time on meaningless things, and especially after a home meeting like tonight - where we enjoyed the Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd as revealed in Psalm 23, we had some new ones, we all shared something of our enjoyment in the Word, and we had fellowship with one another around some nice Thai Green Curry and some healthy fruits as dessert... - I realized this even more: I need to Grow In Life More Today! I know I can't grow faster than the speed of life, and I can't grow by just "desiring to grow"....

Lord Jesus, grow in me! Gain us as mature young saints who are here as a stepping stone for Your return! Save us from being influenced or swept away from You by the current of this age! Lord, keep us close to You! Keep us in the middle of the church life. Make us those who seek You with our whole heart, those who are willing to pay the price of their soul life that they may gain You!

Whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not, or whether we want to hear this / know this or not - the whole world - with all its glitter and its mud - is lake-of-fire-bound, and unless we are actively building the testimony of Jesus today (like Noah did in the old days) no matter how strong we are, we will be swept away in this flow! Daniel HAD TO refuse the king's food so that he would not defile himself. We HAVE TO stay away from certain places, certain people, and certain situations - so that we would not be defiled. But we also can choose the Lord right now - today! We can turn to Him right now so that He would continue to grow in us more today!

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!

Baptizing a Brother into the Triune God - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

Wow, it's almost midnight, and I just got home from the wonderful home meeting with the saints in East London's place! The best thing to do on a Friday night after a full week, in spite of your tiredness, is to get yourself into a home of the saints and just BE there! When your body is presented as a living sacrifice for the church life (Rom. 12:1), you will get the benefit of being revived, refreshed, renewed in your mind, supplied in your whole being, strengthened into your inner man, and filled with life! I mean, how can one still be tired and down when all the saints enjoy the Lord while singing,

So why not open up and call His name, O Lord! / Find your spirit where His grace has been outpoured! Call His name / Taste His grace / Exercise before His face! / He's longing and yearning, / He's hoping and waiting / He's ever desiring / For you to turn to Him!

HE KNOWS your deepest thought - your every situation! He understands your heart, He knows your history! Wow, there's nothing in His way - He's just waiting for you to say, Lord Jesus, My wondering heart I give to You! Once we open, we give our heart to Him, He comes in and makes His home in our heart - He strengthens us with power through His Spirit into our inner man! And so here it is,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Baptizing a Brother into the Triune God!

Baptism - in the Poland camp 2011

I have never met this brother, but the Lord in His sovereignty has arranged that a brother who is now in the hospital would have a friend, and this friend of his wants to receive the Lord and be baptized! I don't know how the Lord does it, but He's definitely the best at being God and arranging everything for His economy! So this new brother came to our home meeting tonight and we knew, He Wants To Receive the Lord and Be Baptized! So we just enjoyed the Lord, spoke the gospel, called on the name of the Lord together, and put our brother into the water!

To be saved is so simple - you just need to call on the name of the Lord! This person that I have never ever met, through believing into the Lord, became my brother in the Lord IN AN INSTANT! Regeneration is instantaneous! Then, as the Bible clearly says, "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved"(Mark 16:16), we took our brother and we put him into the Triune God! We baptized him into Christ, into the Body of Christ, into the death of Christ, and into God Himself! It is such a privilege to be there, where the Lord receives an offering, a real sacrifice, a saved sinner through grace who gives himself and his whole being, his whole life, and his future to the Lord!

What a wonderful decision - to believe into the Lord and to be baptized! To cut off the past, renounce the old man, by publicly declaring that you love the Lord and you want to follow Him from now on! Into the water goes the old man, and he stays there; out of the water comes a new man, a new brother, in the newness of life! I am continually amazed at this simple yet wonderful principle of the divine life - it is real, it happens before our eyes, and we're in it by being in the church life! When we heard that this brother wants to get baptized, another sister ALSO got baptized - a new beginning, a river-crossing, a leaving back all the doctrines and forms, everything of the old, and being brought into the newness of the Body of Christ!

You've gotta love the church life! You've gotta love the Lord! You go to the meeting sooo tired, barely making it there, and you are strengthened within by your singing, opening, fellowshipping, calling, praying... by your inward turning to the Lord! And then, after you're brought to your mingled spirit, you never know what happens next - all you know is that you're one with the Lord, and you're watching Him doing it all in you, for you, and even as you! What a way to have the "real party" on Friday night! Praise the Lord for the church life - filled with babes and sucklings, those who learn through lots of mistakes and failures to Praise The Lord! Praise the Lord for bringing us into His Kingdom! [this article is STILL being edited...]