The Facebook Effect vs. The House and the City (1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord) 30-day challenge

Today was one of those days in which I made it to the gym :) so when I got there, I wanted to listen to this book - actually, I wanted to continue listening to this audiobook - called, The Facebook Effect. I think the book has about 16 hours, so you listen to it little by little as you have some spare time... First of all, you can BUY the physical book, or you can buy the electronical book. Or even better: buy the audio book, which actually means that someone reads the book for you! You just listen to it and "take it in"...

1 Picture Today - Houses in North London

In North London - that's where I kind of live for the moment - there are a lot of fancy houses, a lot of old-style buildings, a lot of manor houses, and also - a lot of council houses. I happen to live in a studio that is in a building very similar to the one above. The style of the building - I don't know, Victorian, Georgian, Edwardian... ? What's for sure is that these buildings look nice especially in the sunlight... Most of such homes everywhere in London are for rent - not many people here own their homes...

1 Experience with the Lord - The Facebook Effect vs The House and the City of God

I love listening to audio books, and I wish I would find some books that are worth the time to listen to. The best book to read or to listen to - which I can recommend wholeheartedly - is the New Testament, or the whole Bible! Whatever you do, whether you're travelling or doing some housework, working out at the gym or walking - you can plug in the audiobook and listen to the Bible being read in your ears! Of course, you need to focus in this time to what you hear, but you will find it very handy to "noise out" what the world is doing and "plug in" the Word of God!

So, anyways, as I was at the gym today I tried to listen to this particular book, The Facebook Effect, but I realized again what I already knew - it's better to EAT GOOD FOOD than have junk food or "rubbish food"! I can't feed on "facebook" or "facebook effect"! I need the Word of God, I need the ministry which imparts life into me! So I "switched" the track to the message for this week, The House of God and the City of God, and oh, the light and the life that flowed! The Light was shining, and I got exposed! It's not an "effect" anymore, it's not something that uplifts your soul or gives you more mental knowledge - it's something you can drink of, something that gets you closer to the Lord whom you love, and even opens up God's heart....

God desires to have a house on the earth - and we as members of the Body of Christ need to enjoy and experience God not only individually but also corporately, even to know God as the God of the House of God! We need to be built up and built into the house of God, the church! It's here, in the church, that God is the rich fatness, there's a river of God's pleasures, and in His light we see light - the entire Triune God becomes our enjoyment in an immeasurable way in His house! The Psalmists loved God's house, and whenever we meet with the saints in the church life and we are in our spirit, we have a foretaste of what God can be to us in His house...

God today can be located - He is in Christ, and He is in Christ's enlargement, the church! The church as the house of God is where God is located today! But this is not all - God wants to have a city, a fortified and strong place, through which He can bring in His kingdom on the earth and rule over the whole earth! We are the house of God today, but we need to be brought under God's government so that we may be in reality in the kingdom of God, even the city of God, for God's dominion! After the temple / the house of God is built, there needs to be a wall around it to protect God's interests and bring in God's kingdom on the earth - we need to go on from enjoying God in the house to enjoying God in the city!

I was so exposed - here I am, kind of wondering around, not really having an aim... when God has a heart's desire to gain the house of God and the city of God! The New Testament starts not with the gospel of the house(John) but with the gospel of the Kingdom(Matthew). But today, can we see the city of God in the local churches? Am I under God's direct rule and in the reality of the kingdom? There are so many practical things in which I need to be headed up, built into the wall, to become the city of God!

God needs the city: the house of God MUST be enlarged to become the city of God! I found myself opening to the Lord as I was listening to the message and praying back to Him this heart's desire of His, even asking Him to make me one of those who knows Him and experiences Him as the God of the House of God but the God of the City of God! I want to be brought under His headship little by little in all the things and aspects of my life, my being, and my living! This is His desire, and we can pray His desire back to Him that He may do it in our life!

Lord, what about my blog here online? What about my sharing? Lord, am I in the city when I share every day something here? Lord, is my being in the kingdom? Do I forgive others when they offend me? Lord, do I have a hidden life with You? Do I serve You and love You more than I love mammon? O, Lord, am I active in my function with the talant You gave me? Lord, do I seek Your kingdom First? O, Lord... bring me and bring all the saints in the churches into the reality of the kingdom of God, the city!

... in conclusion, there's no comparison between, The Facebook Effect (what is that?!?) and a sharing from God's heart concerning His economy, The House of God and the City of God. The more I read / listen to the things that happened with facebook, how it evolved, how it got improved, the controversies around it, the people that Zuckerberg stepped on / put aside to get where he is now, the money involved, the lifestyle of the people working there, etc - the more I get distracted from the real thing going on right now! What's really going on today is God's House and God's city in the local church! This doesn't mean I won't read the book; but it means that right now, I choose God's house and God's kingdom!

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!