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!

about ranking... and about facebook....

soon and very soon, I'm going to be no1 in the google searches for stefan misaras or/and misaras stefan. I was writing about this in a post: Stefan Misaras, getting my name back, where I was noticing I was in the 1st 10; now I'm no2, with stefan-misaras.blogspot.com :) - at least in google uk. Just being behind the entry of this blog at blogflux - I needed to go and delete the previous blog entry I had on their directory.... Anyways, my rankings are going up a little... :)

now about facebook... I'm not too good at networking, never managed to stay with a forum for too long, I don't have an account on myspace(that's good!), but I like facebook :) So, I have been asked if I know all the friends in my list(>600, and growing...). Here are some of my comments about facebook in general and this issue in particular:

• On facebook, you can find and add old friends, like the ex-classmates from high school, from grammar school, from university, etc.... and you can simply find them by "people finder". Only these ex-mates alone can come up to even 100, if you remember them....
• then the current friends, the ones that are around you right now, workmates or friends....
• then there are the family members of the closer friends, the ones that you know.... on facebook you can also meet new people! Though you may know them "virtually", you can pretty much know them by either watching their pictures, writing on their wall, emailing them, chatting with them, etc.... About this now, you can either add "everyone's friends as your friends", or maybe choose some, just some, that you really want to know. I prefer the second choice....
• If you are a brother/sister in the church life, meeting with other believers, then the number grows exponentially, and the reasons to use facebook also grow - you add the brothers and the sisters, and then check out their friends, where you find other saints.... and the reasons to add them would be:
  - more fellowship and encouragement together by checking on one another, posting some good comments on the pictures, encouraging....
  - knowing the saints in the Body, being happy with them, and sharing with them....
  - being yourself encouraged - sometimes it so happens that you can't attend a meeting, or even a meeting in another part of the world - well, you see pictures and read notes of encouragement and sharing of what the other saints enjoyed, and you simply jump in...
  - you can know the saints' families and family life, and the family-type church life!
  - the young people - which we all are - are all on facebook, and it so happens that you are there too, if you are online.... why not talk to each other? Every little contact between saints can be a little simple dispensing of the Triune God!
  
• things that can damage you or discourage you(which you can counter-attack or stand against):
  - seeing that others have so many friends or posts on their wall/pictures/videos/tags, etc - jealousy.... we believers are actually one in the Body of Christ, and so we can rejoice with one another or even weep with one another... yet there is another person in us, the old natural man, that does not feel good when he's neglected: let's neglect this one, and focus on the One, Jesus Christ! He's The ONE!
  - seeing others' pictures of doing lots of fun stuff, or even some stuff that you don't think that someone should do, etc.... either to judge them or criticize them can be in us.... yet we can pray for one another. Why not use the facebook medium to know one another in order that we may remind the Lord about one another?
  - comments and posts that can either touch you - criticize you - de-appreciate you.... uhm, that's a tough one,... everyone can write whatever they want, right? And you can't delete other's comments unless it's your wall/photo/video.... I may "spiritualize" it a little, but this website, facebook, can also help you to be exposed to see what you are, and how you feel when the others expose you, and even to turn to the Lord when this happens! Why not bring this to the Lord, and remind Him? Lord, what do You think about this? And why not take it, even though it may be not correct what's being said about u? Living Christ is not limited to.... the special environments; even with the rising of new environments or realms(online or offline) we can learn to enjoy the Lord, and.... die to ourselves....
  

it may be that the negative reasons would exceed the positive ones, and humanly speaking can simply distract you away(besides taking your time) even from the enjoyment of the wonderful Person of the Lord Jesus... what then? The answer, I would say, is in the vital groups - get someone to pray with, even about this! Bring it to the Lord! The answer is not to solve the problem/bring the best reason, but to simply gain more of Christ in everything!
So let me say it: Lord, I consecrate my time spent on facebook to You for Your economy! Sanctify this time! May this time be profitable for You for the sake of Your Body! Bind any evil thing or any spoiling thing! Lord, I just love You! I love You and Your Body much more than I love any other thing!