20 years anniversary

A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was not in their bed. She puts on her dressing gown and goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee in front of him. He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee.

'What's the matter, dear?', she whispers as she steps into the room, 'Why are you down here at this time of night?'

The husband looks up from his coffee, "I am just remembering when we first met 20 years ago and started dating. You were only 16. Do you remember back then?" he says solemnly.

The wife is touched to tears thinking that her husband is so caring, so sensitive.
"Yes, I do", she replies.

The husband pauses. The words were not coming easily.
"Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?"

"Yes, I remember!", said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.

The husband continues. "Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter, or I will send you to jail for 20 years?' "

"I remember that too", she replies softly.

He wipes another tear from his cheek and says...
"I would have been released today."

does it ?

does it really happen?

*umm.. well.. ok.. *

enjoyments

Enjoyment & Blessings
… Di depan cermin, saudara merasa kecewa pada satu tahi lalat yang posisinya tidak bagus di wajah saudara. Akhirnya, saudara kehilangan sukacita dan merasa tidak cantik diri...
Sayang sekali, bukan? Coba saudara perhatikan.. Berapa banyak kita bisa dibawa kepada pencobaan ketika kita berada dalam kehidupan yang tidak fokus pada berapa banyak berkat yang sudah Tuhan kasih; tetapi malah fokus ke satu hal kecil.. Dan karena itu akhirnya kita menghancurkan semua yang ada.

Kembali kepada apa yang Tuhan sudah katakan, “everything you can enjoy and take as a blessing from God”. Itu yang Paulus angkat di dalam 2 Tim.4:4, bagaimana Paulus merestorasi konsep PL sebelum jatuh ke dalam dosa, khususnya berkaitan dengan enjoyment terhadap apa saja yang Tuhan ciptakan. Semua ‘enjoyment di dalam creation’ *keren euyyy!!* dipulihkan kembali setelah kebangkitan Yesus Kristus menghancurkan dosa dan membalikkan kita kembali kepada keadaan sebelum manusia jatuh ke dalam dosa. “Karena semua yang diciptakan Allah itu baik dan satu-pun tidak ada yang haram jika diterima dengan ucapan syukur, sebab semuanya itu dikuduskan oleh firman Allah dan oleh doa.”


Enjoyment & Obedience
Allah menciptakan Adam dan Hawa, lalu membawa mereka ke dalam Taman Eden untuk bisa menikmati syukur, enjoyment, dan sukacita bersama Tuhan. Semua buah boleh dimakan, karena semua itu baik adanya. Lalu, kenapa buah yang satu itu tidak boleh dimakan?
Karena itu merupakan bagian dari bagaimana engkau menikmati semua di dalam ketaatan kepada Tuhan !


Enjoyment & Compability Freedom
Ques:
Kereta api berjalan di atas rel, itu sebenarnya bebas atau terbatas?

Ans:
Mari kita melihat perbedaan konsep kebebasan dari Libertanian dengan konsep yang diajarkan oleh Reformed Theology, bahwa kebebasan yang kita terima adalah kebebasan yang punya compatibility. Kebebasan kompatibilitas adalah kebebasan yang bukan saja saya bebas, tetapi saya bebas seturut dengan kompatibilitas, dengan kemampuan dan keinginan yang compatible dengan kebebasan kita. Itu namanya bebas. Sebab kalau saudara bebas tetapi tidak compatibile dengan kemampuan, itu bukan bebas.
Film Kungfu Panda memberi contoh bagus mengenai hal ini.
The Master bilang kepada Po, “You are free to eat this dumpling.”
Tetapi waktu Po mau ambil, gurunya meghalangi.
Po bilang, “You said I’m free to eat.”
The Master menjawab, “Yes you are! But do you have abilities to get it?”


(original text by Rev. Effendi Susanto, “Cara Setan Memperdaya Manusia”
taken from : www.griisydney.org)

*and edited by me.. of course.. :p *

still friends

i made a quite lot of conversations today, hoho..it’s quite surprising knowing that –after today was over- i did talk with a lot and various of people today.. *lemme have a count.. ouchh.. at least 12!! *

in my opinion, when you talked with your friends, somehow you should try to act as ‘neutral’ as you could. i mean.. let the conversations flow and hopefully you could have a nice bonding, or maybe, get along with your friends.

but i found out..
there are friends which still are not comfortable to talk to.
*you get to know that after having 10 or more lines with them.. and cant wait to ‘having lunch/dinner’? haha*

there are friends which still are very nice to talk to.
*and one of mine is getting married.. congrats to you!! thanks for inviting me !*

there are friends.. well.. you somehow just keep still talking to them for formality sake?
*coz we might need their help someday? or because they were/are part of your life?*

and there are ‘friends’ which just pop up when they think you could help them.
*are they still called friends?*

thanks for being my friend, friends !

a blessed chance

huah..
i knew it..
i wont regret for not absent last sunday..
even with the bit-byte-baud things wandering all around my head..
plus another uneasiness of this-so-called life..
i was (and now am) sure there are things still worth to do..
and one of them..
is to be in His home..
and im blessed of still having that chance..

no worries

Matthew 6:31-34
‘…therefore do not worry, saying, “what shall we eat?” or “what shall we drink?” or “what shall we wear?” for after all these things the gentiles seek. for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. sufficient for the day its own trouble…’

we rarely if ever worry about the precise present moment. our worries are so often concentrated on the as yet unknown future. at such times, we openly or secretly hope for some sort of advance revelation of the future. a sort of ‘divine equivalent’ (hihi.. nice jargon) to those yearly planners that we use to plot out our activities for the year. we want to know in january, for example, what is going to happen in april and how we are going to be able to handle what will happen. or even what is going to happen tomorrow and what we will do about it. our wish is for some divine illumination to make things clear.

Jesus in this passage reminds us that the key to not worrying is to focus on living for Him in the present rather than wondering about the future. honour Him today and you can be assured He will honour you tomorrow. it is not as if we give no thought for the future: those year planners are virtually a necessity. planning ahead is part of responsible living. it is the worrying ourselves about the future, that is the problem!!! the preoccupation with future possibilities that robs us of present opportunities and delights. by all means, plan and pray for the future, but live fully in the present, alive to all that God is doing.
(i know who hold the future)

God tends to give just enough light for what we need. He doesn't switch on the floodlights and so sweep all shadows and uncertainty away. He gives light enough for us to enjoy Him and others in the present. He gives light enough for us to take the next necessary step, enough light for us to live boldly and creatively, but not so much as to imagine we can manage life by our own wit and wisdom. our grandiose five year plans and ambitious programmes are not evil, but are always conditional, always subject to his direction. we walk humbly in the light we have, and are careful not to equate all our own fond floodlit dreams of the future with divine illumination.
("..My grace is sufficient for you.." - 2 Cor 12:9)

we worry about the future when we imagine it is ours to manage or control. we worry because we do not have the "light" to do so. be thankful for the light we have, trusting it is sufficient, trusting that more will be provided as God deems necessary. this is what we understand as walking by faith and not by sight.
(i know whom i have believed)

in one of his New Year messages, King George VI used this famous quote, "I said to the man at the gate of the year, 'give me a light'. he replied, 'put your hand in the hand of God; it will be better than a light and safer than a known way.'"

(by David Reay)

last week

reviewing on my one-week vacation, i could say, it’s not a quite bad one. i was gratefull of having it, actually

watching movies not always great, except you know what you choose. Bangkok Dangerous was not un-safe as i had thought, but Nic is great though. i felt lucky for not craving Wanted in cinema (had sensed it since i read Jolie’s name). and (i knewww that) Nelson’s Taken is the only cure of the three movies ( “for me.. it’s personal” *bang!! bang!! bang!!*)

Messiah Cathedral looks awesome and gigantic. if you ‘look’ close enough, you should find these concepts on its architecture : Trinity, 4 Gospels, 4 NT & OT Giants (Moses, Abraham, Peter, Paul), 10 Commandments, 12 Disciples, and Alpha & Omega on the cross of Christ. you could also read 5 Solas of Reformation & the golden rule of love. the dedication’s sermon itself was affecting. "there's only one saying worth to, it is Sola Gracia”, an opening statement on the sermon, and we agreed with it.
*of course not having a 'shoot' was a crime at that event..haha*

spending 2-hours lunch with es & ft was pleasant. we shared and updated things we were interested in and related with. i also realized then, there are some gaps between ‘vacation’ and ‘vocation’, haha.. well, at least i was on the same table with them :D too bad, the food did not taste very well (except the Roti Canai) *what restaurant is thattt?? haha..*

watching Criminal Minds – another great psycho serial – at least helping me killed my ‘occupied’ times. i was happy seeing Gideon, Hotch, Morgan, Elle, Reid, JJ, and Garcia (not the unsubs, certainly). 22 episodes in 3 days? was it normal.. or.. fast?

a half-day out with daddy? i’ll be surprised!! but it happened!! sometimes he could be very difficult, but not that day. and the results.. we got suits and had puppies (not the pet one) *grinning*

spending the last supper with my family was another pleased things. the food was nice. i never thought the steaks (gindara & yakiniku??) were yummy. anyhow, as i had estimated, Black Dragon Roll is the best, and i was glad they like it. *btw, did i mention the restaurant’s name? *