Hari Jumat di siang bolong - Indonesian Evangelical Church, USA

Transcription

E
editorial —————————————————————————————
Hari Jumat di siang bolong,
dimana matahari bersinar
dengan teriknya. Jalan setapak yang berkerikil tajam menanjak ke bukit, sinar
mentari yang terik telah membuat batu-batu yang ada di jalan tersebut memanas dan terbakar. Sepasang kaki telanjang harus menapaki jalan yang sempit
tersebut. Tersaruk-saruk dikerahkannya semua tenaganya untuk menyeret kedua kakinya melangkah maju. Semalam-malaman yang empunya kaki tersebut
tidak tidur; rasa kantuk, lelah, lapar dan haus berbaur menjadi satu di dalam
diriNya. Beban yang sangat berat terbuat dari kayu yang kasar tergeletak di
pundakNya. Ingin rasanya Dia berteriak untuk berhenti sejenak demi menghela
nafas barang satu atau dua detik untuk mengumpulkan tenaga yang masih
tersisa di dalam diriNya, tetapi orang-orang yang berseragam pemerintah tidak
mengijinkanNya, malah memakiNya
dan mendorongNya untuk berjalan
lebih cepat supaya cepat sampai di
tempat tujuan, supaya selesai sudah
tugas yang diperintahkan oleh gubernur setempat. Keinginan Orang
yang malang ini untuk berteriak
minta tolong dapat ditahanNya; Dia
ingin menyelesaikan pula pekerjaan
yang dilimpahkan kepadaNya. Dia
ingin melakukan semuanya tanpa
ada rasa penyesalan di dalam diriNya. Tetapi seperti yang diakui dan
dikatakanNya bahwa roh memang
penurut tetapi daging atau tubuh
ini lemah adanya. Orang malang
ini terjerembab ke tanah, tatkala
tubuhNya telah kehilangan semua
tenaga yang membuat kedua
kakiNya bergetar dan kehilangan
keseimbangan, beban berat yang dipikul di kedua bahuNya membantu mendorong dan menghempaskan tubuhNya ke tanah. Cambuk pun dihantamkan
ke badanNya dan menguliti tubuhNya yang kurus kering itu dan mencungkil
dan mencabik-cabik daging dari badanNya.
Tuhan kita Yesus mau menjalani “via dolorosa,” menjalani hukuman melebihi
seorang kriminal yang melakukan kejahatan yang tak berampun. Padahal Dia
adalah Tuhan dan Juru Selamat, kenapa mau menjalani penghinaan seperti itu?
AGAPE — Easter 2005
1
Padahal Dia adalah Allah, tidakkah sebaiknya Dia
memilih jalan yang sopan dan terhormat, tetapi
kenapa Dia memilih jalan yang paling hina? Tuhan
Yesus di dalam kotbahNya mengatakan bahwa
Bapa di surga memilih yang hina bagi dunia ini
untuk merendahkan yang mulia, atau yang bodoh
bagi dunia ini untuk mencemoohkan yang pandai.
Firman Tuhan adalah suatu kebodohan bagi dunia
ini, Firman Tuhan hanyalah berarti dan berharga
untuk mereka yang mau percaya dan menerima
Yesus sebagai Juru Selamat pribadinya.
Kita sebagai orang kristen modern ini apakah
pikiran kita dan anggapan kita terhadap Firman
Tuhan? Apakah kita pernah merasa adalah suatu
kesia-siaan belaka atau hanyalah suatu kebodohan untuk percaya kepada Tuhan? Hati-hatilah supaya jangan kita tidak menjadi ahli waris kerajaan
Surga, hati-hatilah dengan pikiran dan pendapat
bahwa menjadi pengikut Kristus adalah suatu kebodohan, karena itu berarti kita telah membatalkan Jalan Keselamatan itu di dalam diri kita.
Marilah saudara-saudari yang dikasihi oleh Tuhan
Yesus, menjelang paskah ini kita mengajak pikiran
kita untuk menjadi seperti Yesus yang bersedia
menjadi hina bagi dunia ini namun mulia bagi
surga! Maukah dan relakah kita menjalani jalan
“via dolorosa” kita masing-masing tanpa disertai
dengan sungut-sungut ataupun paksa? Maukah
kita menjadi serupa Kristus di dalam hal apapun
untuk memuliakan namaNya?
redaksi
H
e chose to walk that road
out of His love for you and me;
Down the Via Dolorosa
all the way to Calvary.
2
AG
APE
Easter 2005
Penasehat
Ev. Wilson Suwanto
Daniel Loe
Editor
Evelyn Sunarko
Janice Atmadja
Marcia Japutra Rachel Atmadja
Ilustrator & Fotografer
Joshua Adidjaja
Martha Raharja
Pilipus Santoso
Layout
Eva Leony
Martha Raharja
Tesia Trisnadi
Tjandra Afandi
Kontributor
Rev. Kristianto Hosea
Rev. Billy Lim
Ev. Wilson Suwanto
Mrs. Joy Simona
Mrs. Shirley Gozali
Angelia Kusumah
Freddy Yusuf
Gamas Sugiarto
Mr. & Mrs. Adidjaja
Printing
Semiwaty Oei
Special Thanks
Evie Loadjaja & Maria Cindy
(for summarizing the articles)
Jocelyn Lee & Marco Carelos
(for helping in the interview)
Buddy Yusuf
(for Valentine Day's poster)
And the participants of the Tips article.
E-mail Redaksi
[email protected]
Produksi GII Azusa
539 N. Sunset Ave.
Azusa, CA 91702
Telp: (626) 812-0326
http://lax.gii-usa.org
Gereja
Injili
Indonesia
Azusa
539 N. Sunset Ave,
Azusa, CA 91702
LOKASI
LAINNYA:
Jadwal
kegiatan:
Gembala Sidang:
Rev. Kristianto Hosea
Minggu Pk. 09.00 Sekolah Minggu Dewasa
Pk. 10.30 Kebaktian Umum (IndonesiaN & English)
Sekolah Minggu Anak-anak
Pk. 16.00 Chinese Service
(diterjemahkan ke bahasa Indonesia)
Jumat Pk. 19.30 Kebaktian Doa (Indonesian & English)
Bible Study Anak-anak
Sabtu Pk. 18.30 youth fellowship (Indonesian & English)
GII San Jose
GII Seattle
600 W. Campbell Ave.
Campbell, CA 95008
(408) 343-1314
(c/o First Christian Reformed Church)
14555 25th Ave. N.E.
Shoreline, WA 98155
(425) 357-5928
GII Sacramento
(c/o Chinese Grace Bible Church)
6656 Park Riviera Way
Sacramento, CA 95831
(916) 692-3756
GII San Francisco
400 Brussels St.
San Francisco, CA 94134
(415) 656-0886
3
D
daftar isi ——————————————————————————————————
Spreading God's Love
special edition on evangelism
6
Profile: Ev. Yewu Jian Wei
From a craftsman, then a businessman, now an Evangelist.
As an introduction, Ev. Wei shares about his calling and
passion in this ministry.
9
Your Lifestyle in Evangelism
Part 1—The aim of this study is to make us aware of the
need of sharing Christ and the Gospel to those who are lost
and in fulfilling the Great Commision of Matthew 28:19-20
and Acts 1:8.
12 Komunikasi dalam Penginjilan
Part 2—Penginjilan mempunyai banyak aspek, seperti
pembicaraan, persiapan, doa, perbuatan, persahabatan,
dan lain sebagainya. Salah satu aspek yang cukup penting
adalah komunikasi.
15 Menyentuh Hati Orang yang Belum Percaya
Part 3—Bagaimana cara supaya orang-orang yang belum
mengenal Kristus dapat berbalik dan percaya kepadaNya?
Bagaimana kita dapat menyentuh hati orang yang belum
percaya kembali kepada Kristus?
18 Bible Fact: So What's Hinduism?
You have some Hindu friends—and you want them
to know Christ? Study this article, and
apply all you have read in this
special edition to win
their soul!
4
e!
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on
l
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Donvisit us @
A
AG PE — Christmas 2004
4
arti k e l t e t a p :
22 Parenting: Teaching Your Child to Organize
This article is taken from Focus on the Family's Focus on Your Child,
along with a Q&A session with Dr. James Dobson on the same topic.
27 Cerpen: I Sell Jesus
Apa hanya Yudas yang dapat menjual Yesus?
30 Sharing: Ko Sugi's Testimony
Ini suka duka sutradara Drama Thanksgiving 2004 "Once Upon a Time
in Alhambra".
34 Sharing: Behind "Taman Eden"
Yang satu ini dari Freddy, Si Eden dari drama Natal 2004.
35 Event: Tak Cukup Katakan Cinta
Sesuatu yang heboh terjadi tatkala Papa dan Mama Hengky merayakan
50-year Anniversary mereka....
Anda punya usul, kritik, saran, atau apapun yang
berhubungan dengan Agape atau GII Azusa?
Silahkan mengirimnya ke [email protected]
atau memberikannya kepada redaksi.
—————————————————————————————————
37 Book review: Every Man's Battle
In continuing last edition's battle with sexual temptation, this one is for
the Mars gender.
40 Tips: How to NOT Fall Asleep during Sermon
Go to W.C., read Ecclesiastes, pinch yourself
real hard... what else?
43 Recipes:
Ayam Kluyuk by Angelia Kusumah
Wedang Ronde by Wilisyanti Adidjaja
45 Poems etc.:
God Gives to Me
Ten Commandments for Kids
Prayer for Regeneration
46 Quiz: Bible Crossword Puzzle
47 Humor—taken from
The Good, Clean Funnies List (gcfl.net)
Ingin terlibat
dalam pelayanan Agape
(edisi cetak,
online, maupun
majalah dinding)?
Cepat hubungi
kami (redaksi)
untuk keterangan
lebih lanjut!
5
P
profile ——————————————————————————————
Ev.Jian
YewuWei
by: Janice Atmadja
& Jocelyn Lee
On February 26th, Saturday night, Team Agape got the
privilege to interview Evangelist Yewu Jian Wei, who
came from Spain to U.S.A for an Evangelical Conference in
New Jersey. This interview would not have been possible
without the help of Jocelyn Lee and Marco Caleros,
who kindly volunteered their time to translate for us.
CALL TO MINISTRY
As a youngster at the age of 19, he became a craftsman. He worked hard
every week to go up to the mountains to gather stones that he would later
carve. His work was hard, and with sweat pouring from his body he cried to
God, “Is this all I will do with my life?” It happened that God had a different
plan for his life. At the age of 22 he went to Spain. He faced the difficulty
of adjusting to the culture in Spain. His greatest obstacle was learning the
language; it took him four years to learn Spanish. He miraculously received a
job, and a few years later, a house and a family.
Ev. Yewu Jian Wei received his call to ministry when he heard Rev. Moses
Yang speaking about the nearness of Jesus’ second coming at Valencia.
“What should I do?” he thought to himself. He was the owner of seven
Chinese restaurants. He was financially prosperous. Yet unable to resist God’s
calling, he decided to give up the restaurant business in order to become a
pastor. Today, there are seven branches of church in four cities in Spain. Ev.
Yewu Jian Wei now lives in Madrid with his wife and three children. He has
two sons named Juan (17, sophomore in high school) and Paul (16, freshman
in high school). His youngest, a daughter, is Christina (10 yrs. old). Ev. Yewu
Jian Wei has lived in Spain for 20 years. When we asked him if he liked it
there, he said of course, but he liked the U.S. better.
6
His favorite time in Name: Yewu Jian Wei
ministry is when he preaches Languages spoken: Chinese, Spanish
to a congregation. He also Age: 42
enjoys preaching the gospel Favorite color: Navy Blue
on a one-on-one basis. He Hobby: Play ping-pong
(“I’m pretty good at it,” he says)
added that he especially
Favorite food: Meat
enjoys sharing the Gospel Favorite place to be: His house
to atheists (people who do Favorite bible character: David,
not believe in any higher
because of his courage against
being). He comments that it
the lion. He committed sins but he admitted them to
is actually harder to preach
God. He adhered to his faith until death.
to someone who is already
a believer in another religion. He enjoys to give back to God for the blessings of
seeing the outcomes of his ministry and the their affluence by doing missions. On the
growth of his congregation. He feels that following day, he continued his topic about
he has grown in knowledge through his how to do missions—that is, dedicating
ministry with God. He grew by studying in one’s time, money, and even life to God,
seminary schools, reading reference books, as it is a responsibility for Christians.
watching other preachers, and socializing
Ev. Yewu Jian Wei drew from Roman
with his congregation. He believes that he 12:1-2 and began by emphasizing the
gained valuable experience.
importance of offering one’s body as living
When we asked if he would like to sacrifices for God as a way of dedicating
give any advice to teenagers and adults oneself to the Lord. Sometimes people
everywhere about Christian living, he only sacrifice what is convenient, such as
replied with,
only time, or only money, but Paul in his
“I have lots! The most important thing letter commanded that Christians sacrifice
is to try to understand what God wants their whole body—including time, money,
to say in his Word to the best of your and mind as well. By offering this sacrifice,
ability. It should not be just memorizing. God will be pleased. Pleasing God should
The Word itself is dead, but the meaning be the first priority of any Christian. Often,
is alive. A lot of Christians have problems because of the world Christians live in, it is
in marriage, choosing careers, choosing difficult to put God first. Rather, we seek
a life partner, etc. God won’t tell you to please others such as our teachers, our
those answers directly. You must choose parents, or our friends. But we must not
for yourself, but being able to DISCERN “conform any longer to the pattern of
God’s will, is the ability you must attain this world,” and instead put God’s will as
through reading God’s Word.”
our first priority. Therefore, it is important
to renew ourselves—not only from the
outside (materially or in appearance)
MESSAGE FOR MISSION VISION
On February 25th, 2005, Ev. Yewu Jian but from the mind so that we may be
Wei spoke about the reason for mission. completely be like God. In this manner, we
Because most people are abundantly may be able to please God, and that would
blessed in life, it is therefore necessary be the greatest investment ever made. [JA]
7
F
focus
Menyentuh Hati Orang Yang Belum Percaya
8
Evangelism 1
by: Rev. Billy Lim
T
he aim of this study is to make us
aware of the need of sharing Christ
and the gospel to those who are lost
and in fulfilling the great commision
of Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8.
gramme
t are not Pro
en
am
st
Te
m in the New
of those who
the evangelis
h the lifestyle
g
u
ro
nities for
th
t
u
b
Almost all of
,
find opportu
Meeting
s
al
ay
iv
w
al
ev
R
d
r
o
an
d
Centere
d then share
sus Christ an
believed in Je
s).
(bear witnes
“witnessing”
Our responsibilities are:
There are lots of opportunities for us to share.
spirit
and
- prepare our heart, mind, will,
- be enthusiastic (en Theos)
- be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit
- have the courage and boldness to share
t we have
use all the relationship tha
Relational Evangelism: We
. After all it’s
sm
eli
ng
a mean of eva
as
it
use
d
an
le
op
pe
the
among
only we dare
are just His instrument if
we
d
an
ng
rki
wo
is
o
God wh
witnessing and sharing.
to move to the action of
Sensitive to the needs of people arou
nd us (work, study, family, peer
group, church). Find what their nee
ds are: loneliness, stress, sickness,
lost of loved ones, someone to talk
and our part is to listen, etc.).
9
Relationship as a bridge to share the gospel and Christ
:
- Families
- Friends (make friend)
- Build interest, trust, and be patient
- Church (especially if church members
have the lifestyle of sharing Christ and
the gospel)
- The more we share, the more we grow
spiritually (quality and quantity)
- Yet we need to be careful and sensitive
to the needs of those whom we like to
share.
- We need to be creative enough to
build bridges with whom we like to
share.
Develop our lifestyle in evangelism. This
won’t happen by its own or overnight.
We need to work at it with discipline,
patience, will, faith, earnestness, enth
usiasm,
humility, until it becomes our own lifes
tyle. Motto: practice, practice, and prac
tice
for practice makes perfect.
Remember: lifestyle
can’t be programmed
for we cannot progra
a lifestyle. It depend
mme people to have
s on his/her conviction
,
sensitivity to the need
responds and dare to
s, how he/she
take risk, initiative to
act.
- Don’t try to compar
e yourself with othe
rs.
- Realize that one siz
e doesn’t fit all, for as
Christians we realize
made each of us uniqu
that God
e. We should work an
d share that suits ou
and personality.
r lifestyle
- We need to live a lif
e of Knee-ology; that
prayer is our number
- We need to pursue
one priority.
Lost-ology, ie. We ne
ed to learn from Jesu
pursuing the lost.
s who was
- Our lifestyle needs
to move from the ins
iders
christians who feel sa
fe inside the church
- to reach outsiders.
Your life message is your
lifestyle in sharing the go
spel and Christ. 1 Thess. 1:8
:
- God has put a life message wit
h you: Share it enthusiastically.
- God waits you to share your
testimony.
- God wants you to share you
r life lessons.
- God wants you to share you
r Godly passion: Vision and Pas
ion for the lost.
- God wants you to share the
Good News.
Challenge for you:
There are hundreds of
great books on HOW
to share the gospel. Bu
the world won’t motiv
t all the training in
ate you to witness un
til you learn to love th
God does through ou
e lost people the way
r Lord Jesus Christ, th
e perfect example of
lifestyle in evangelism
a soul winner. This is
.
your
10
evangelism
The person who is doing the
already a
(sharing the gospel) must be
we’re able to
born-again Christian. Before
ask
share the gospel, we need to
s myself
Jesu
w
kno
lly
rea
I
“Do
es,
ourselv
?”
Him
w
before I want others to kno
d;
blin
the
d
If not, the blind will lea
this is dangerous.
depend on
knowledge, but you rest and
’re just an
God’s timing and ability. You
instrument in His hand.
Knowing
1. One who really knows Christ:
nce?
erie
Exp
or
dge
wle
Christ from Kno
word. The
2. One who really knows the
God.
bible. The truth, the word of
that does
- Truth without love is dogma
not touch the heart.
, God’s
- When truth is spoken with love
r’s mind.
the
ano
spirit can use it to change
d to refuse.
har
is
love
in
- Thought: Truth spoken
word
the
re
sha
we
- Remember: When
e to
com
not
l
wil
ring
of God, our sha
1).
55:1
ah
Isai
Him void (cf.
iticus 19:2
3. One who lives a holy life. Lev
y.” Yes, God
says, “Be ye holy for I am hol
sparent life...
will only use a clean and tran
a clean vessel.
. It is no
4. One who obeys and trust God
’t obey
don
you
if
re
point you want to sha
o
wh
God
It’s
.
you
and trust Him to use
e
eon
som
ing
vict
con
does the work of
to obey
to accept Christ and our job is
and share.
ak
spe
to
us
s
ask
Him when He
ourselves
Therefore we need to make
y Spirit, trust,
available, sensitive to the Hol
and obey.
depend
5. You need to wait on God and
the
is
it
all
r
on the Holy Spirit for afte
verts.
con
and
s
vict
work of God who con
argue
n
eve
or
te
ula
nip
Don’t push and ma
end
dep
’t
don
You
.
pel
in sharing the gos
and
,
lity
abi
h,
ngt
on your own stre
sform your
6. You allow God’s word to tran
in your
le
bib
life. You need to have your
rt.
hand as well as in your hea
be your
7. You need to be humble and
ause
bec
ers
oth
y
own. Don’t try to cop
ers
oth
y
cop
to
try
you
you’re unique. If
re is
the
if
lly
ecia
esp
,
ted
stra
you will be fru
no response.
it is no point
8. You must not ARGUE, for
losing the
of winning an argument but
r to Christ.
/he
opportunity of winning him
re, and
sca
,
ate
Be careful not to intimid
ember
rem
ays
manipulate him/her. Alw
pel, the
gos
the
ring
that when you are sha
and
urb
dist
to
d
har
y
devil is working ver
to
try
ays
alw
You
.
ring
side-track your sha
en
matter wh
bring him/her to the subject
, Christ,
God
,
pel
Gos
the
ring
you are sha
h yourself
Man, and Faith, and never pus
accept Christ
to ask for a COMMITMENT to
whenever it is not clear.
yer because
9. You need to be a man of pra
thing
any
ieve
ach
prayer is the power to
,7).
15:5
n
(Joh
ist
Chr
s
in the name of Jesu
exour
ond
bey
gs
thin
Prayer can change
lt
resu
no
is
re
the
ugh
tho
pectations, even
for
ise Him
after you share the gospel. Pra
n.
atio
situ
nge
cha
can
praising Him
instrument,
10. Thank God you are just His
, we must
rds
no more no less. In other wo
hing
not
are
always remember that we
re
refo
the
and
but it’s only by His grace
pel,
Gos
the
ring
sha
never ever give up in
d
Lor
our
of
ion
mis
for it is the great com
and
go
to
d
nee
Jesus Christ that we
share the gospel.
11
Evangelism 2
by: Ev. Wilson Suwanto
ai banyak
mempuny
an,
enginjilan
p e m b ic a ra ,
i:
rt
e
p
e
s
aspek,
erbuatan
n , d o a , p g a in y a .
p e r s ia p a
n seba
atan, da
ting
persahab
cukup pen
g
n
a
y
k
e
asp
Salah satu
unikasi.
m
o
k
h
adala
P
seperti:
ak aspek,
y
n
a
b
i
a
y
persan m e m pun
rbuatan,
e
p
,
a
o
Penginjila
d
,
yang
pan
an, persia
satu aspek
ra
h
a
la
ic
a
b
S
.
m
a
e
p
berhuainy
enginjilan
dan sebag
P
.
,
si
n
a
ta
ik
a
n
b
u
a
h
injilan
kom
hkan, peng
ting adalah
a
n
B
e
.
p
si
a
p
u
ik
k
n
u
cu
asikan
om
t dengan k
ngkomunik
ra
e
e
m
n
s
a
g
se
n
u
ro
b
ai p
usia.
but sebag
sama man
se
dapat dise
a
d
a
pikiran
p
e
k
membuka
Kristus
t
a
p
a
d
ik
Injil kasih
n Tuhan,
si yang ba
ertolonga
p
n
a
Komunika
g
n
e
D
ya, misadap Injil.
h. Sebalikn
tu
n
e
is
d
h
orang terh
ole
menutup
tersebut b
paian bisa
m
a
y
n
e
hati orang
p
h
aimana
si atau sala l Kristus. Belajar bag
komunika
ji
suatu
terhadap In an baik merupakan se
hati orang
g
en
ikan Injil d
menyampa
pemisah.
ng.
t tembok
a
p
a
rd
te
yang penti
bahasa,
manusia
perbedaan
a
p
Di antara
ru
e
b
a
is
kelamin,
misah itu b
aan jenis
d
e
rb
e
p
Tembok pe
t,
u r, d a n
warna kuli
edaan um
rb
e
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Tembok pemisah atau Gap ini terjadi
karena dosa. Dosa memisahkan kita dari
Allah, dari sesama manusia, dan dari alam
ciptaan Tuhan. Kita terasing dari lingkungan kita. Yang ada hanyalah kecurigaan
dan ketidak-sukaan.
Pendekatan atau komunikasi yang baik
dapat dipakai Tuhan untuk meruntuhkan
tembok pemisah ini. Setelah tembok ini
diruntuhkan, maka kita bisa membangun
hubungan yang saling-percaya dengan
sesama kita. Karena saling percaya, maka
jauh lebih mudah kita memberitakan Injil
sebab mereka sudah percaya pada kita.
Bagaimana membangun hubungan
dengan sesama manusia?
Dari kehidupan Tuhan Yesus, kita belajar bahwa mengasihi adalah satu-satunya
jalan untuk membangun hubungan yang
baik. Dalam banyak hal, sebelum Yesus
memberitakan Injil, Ia menyembuhkan
yang sakit, memberi makan yang lapar,
menghibur yang berduka, dan mengusir
setan yang merasuki orang-orang.
Karena kebaikan hati Yesus diketahui
orang, maka mereka mulai percaya
dan membuka telinga untuk mendengar perkataanNya.
Banyak orang tidak suka mendengarkan Injil bukan karena mereka tidak menyukai Yesus. Hampir
semua orang percaya bahwa Yesus
berhati baik. Yang menyebabkan
orang tidak suka kepada Injil adalah
cara penginjilan dari orang-orang
Kristen. Untuk itu, kita perlu meneladani
Tuhan kita. Mulailah dengan perbuatan
yang nyata, maka perkataan kita akan
mendapatkan tempat di hati pendengar
kita.
Setelah meruntuhkan tembok pemisah
ini, maka kita akan mulai menyampaikan
atau mengkomunikasikan Injil. Untuk
menyampaikan Injil dengan baik, kita
perlu memelihara dua sikap: hormat dan
lemah-lembut kepada sesama kita. Jika kita
menaruh sikap tidak hormat dan kasar, kita
akan menciptakan miskomunikasi. Untuk
itu, ada beberapa hal yang perlu kita pertimbangkan:
Latar Belakang Budaya
dan Agama
Dalam suratnya ke jemaat di Korintus,
Paulus berkata, “Bagi orang Yahudi, aku
menjadi orang Yahudi, dan bagi orang
Yunani, aku menjadi orang Yunani... agar
aku boleh memenangkan mereka” (1 Kor.
9:20-23). Kita perlu peka atau sensitive
terhadap nilai budaya orang lain. Yang
bagi kita wajar, mungkin tidak wajar bagi
orang lain. Tujuannya bukanlah mening-
13
galkan budaya kita, tetapi membuka jalan
masuk bagi orang yang berbeda budaya
supaya mereka dapat mengerti tentang
Injil. Tujuan akhirnya adalah supaya kita
boleh memenangkan sebanyak mungkin
orang.
Motivasi
Kita harus membedakan penginjilan dan pemasaran. Ada orang yang
mengabarkan Injil dengan sikap seorang
pedagang yang menjual barang, yaitu: mementingkan kuantitas. Seorang pedagang
tidak akan memikirkan hal lain kecuali
jumlah barang yang bisa terjual dan untung bagi dirinya. Sebaliknya, penginjilan
lebih memikirkan kualitas berita Injil yang
disampaikan. Mengenai penerimaan atau
penolakan terhadap Injil, merupakan masalah lain.
Dengan kata lain, penginjilan bukanlah
pemasaran dengan tujuan penambahan
anggota gereja secara massal. Penginjilan
bertujuan memperkenalkan orang dengan
Kristus, bukan semata-mata memasukkan
orang menjadi anggota gereja atau organisasi Kristen.
Waktu dan Peranan
Ketika seseorang menolak Injil, tidak
berarti dia akan menolaknya seumur
hidup. Ada orang yang menolak Injil pada
waktu muda, tetapi menerimanya ketika
ia tua. Dengan kata lain, kita harus memperhitungkan soal waktu atau momen.
Kita tidak perlu kecewa ketika Injil belum
diterima karena pertobatan adalah proses
jangka panjang. Jarang ada pertobatan
yang mendadak (seperti kasus Paulus di
Alkitab).
14
Paulus juga menambahkan bahwa ada
orang yang dipakai Tuhan untuk menanam, menyiram, dan menuai. Namun Allah
yang bekerja di balik semuanya. Seringkali
kita menginjili dengan pikiran hanya ingin
menuai. Akibatnya, kita merasa gagal ketika orang menolak Injil. Kita tidak perlu
kecewa. Ketika Injil ditolak, kita sedang
menanam atau menyiram. Allah yang akan
bekerja sesuai kehendakNya.
@
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To learn more, go to:
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Evangelism 3
by: Rev. K. Hosea
P
Banyak orang
yang mau membuka hatinya untuk mengenal dan
menerima Yesus
karena hatinya
tersentuh oleh kesaksian hidup dari
orang Kristen
anggilan Tuhan kepada setiap kita yang percaya ialah untuk mengabarkan Injil kepada orang-orang yang belum mengenal Kristus,
supaya segala bangsa boleh menjadi milikNya (Matius 28:19).
Bagaimana caranya supaya mereka dapat percaya kepada Kristus,
atau dengan kata lain bagaimana kita dapat menyentuh hati orang
yang belum percaya kembali kepada Kristus?
Dalam beberapa tahun terakhir ini, banyak organisasi-organisasi
Kristen dan gereja-gereja besar yang mengadakan berbagai macam
pelatihan PI pribadi bagi para jemaat dan orang-orang yang sudah
menerima Yesus sebagai juruselamat pribadi. Organisasi-organisasi
seperti Evangelism Explosion, Campus Crusade, dan Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association telah memikirkan bagaimana cara termudah
bagi orang Kristen untuk memberitakan Injil kepada orang-orang
yang belum percaya. Banyak orang Kristen yang memakai alasan
tidak tahu harus megatakan apa dalam PI pribadi. Oleh karena itu
organisas-organisasi besar itu telah mengeluarkan berbagai pedoman penginjilan dalam bentuk buku-buku kecil dengan pokok-pokok bahasan yang sederhana dan mudah diingat.
Pedoman-pedoman penginjilan tersebut telah diajarkan secara
luas dalam bentuk seminar-seminar ataupun pelatihan-pelatihan
(seperti pelatihan EE yang pernah dilaksanakan di gereja kita tahun
2003). Namun satu hal perlu diingat, walaupun pedoman-pedoman
penginjilan itu membantu banyak orang Kristen untuk menyampaikan berita Injil, tapi hal itu tidak bisa menjadi patokan dalam pemberitaan Injil. Buku-buku dan pedoman-pedoman itu berguna hanya
sebagai pengetahuan outline saja.
Menyampaikan firman Tuhan dan berbicara panjang lebar
tentang kasih Tuhan supaya seseorang mau percaya dan menerima
Yesus sebagai juruselamat pribadi mungkin bisa cukup 1-2 jam saja.
Tetapi apakah hati orang itu benar-benar berubah? Untuk merubah
hati seseorang untuk menjadi sungguh-sungguh lahir baru tidak
15
bisa hanya dalam sekejap. Mulut kita bisa
menyampaikan kata-kata yang indah tentang kasih Tuhan supaya orang bisa percaya
Tuhan. Tetapi hidup kita sehari-hari inilah
yang menyampaikan kata-kata yang hidup,
yang bisa dibaca oleh setiap orang. Banyak
orang mau membuka hatinya untuk mengenal dan menerima Yesus karena hatinya
tersentuh oleh kesaksian hidup dari orang
Kristen, bukan karena kata-kata yang indah
dan manis tentang kasih Tuhan yang secara
langsung diucapkan dari mulut.
Sebenarnya, hidup orang Kristen yang
seperti apakah yang dapat menyentuh hati
orang yang belum percaya? Roma 10:15b
mengatakan: “Betapa indahnya kedatangan mereka yang membawa kabar baik!”
Dalam terjemahan Mandarin dikatakan:
“Betapa indahnya jejak kaki orang yang
membawa kabar baik!” Jika kita ingin hidup
kita dapat menyentuh hati orang yang belum percaya, kita harus meninggalkan jejak
Injil yang indah dalam hati orang itu. Hidup
kita harus menjadi hidup yang berada dalam
Injil Tuhan yang indah.
Jejak Injil seperti apa yang dapat menyentuh hati orang yang belum percaya?
Injil, kabar baik bagi orang-orang yang
belum percaya secara sistematis dan menggunakan kata-kata yang baik dan tepat.
Para peserta pelatihan diberikan pedoman
dan batasan-batasan dalam penyampaian
PI. Hal-hal tersebut adalah baik, namun
alangkah baiknya kalau kita juga memperhatikan kata-kata yang keluar dari mulut
kita sehari-hari. Tidak ada artinya kalau kita
dapat menyampaikan kata-kata yang indah
dalam waktu PI pribadi, namun setelah
itu, ketika kita kembali kepada kehidupan
kita, kembali kita mengeluarkan kata-kata
yang kotor. Perkataan kita sehari-hari juga
perlu kita jaga supaya tidak keluar jalur.
Hendaknya kata-kata yang keluar dari mulut kita adalah kata-kata yang menghibur,
menguatkan, memberi pengharapan, dan
membawa damai.
Amsal 25:11 berkata: “Perkataan yang
diucapkan tepat pada waktunya adalah
seperti buah apel emas di pinggan perak.”
Ini bisa diartikan sebagai aplikasi dalam
hidup kita “kata-kata yang tepat diucapkan
adalah sangat indah di hati orang.”
Kata-kata yang membangun
Yakobus 4:12: “Demikian pula halnya
dengan iman: Jika iman itu tidak disertai
dengan perbuatan, maka iman itu pada
hakekatnya adalah mati.”
Ayat ini menyatakan betapa pentingnya perbuatan atau kelakuan dari setiap
anak-anak Tuhan. Karena walaupun kita
mengakui beriman kepada Tuhan, tetapi
jika iman itu hanya di mulut saja dan tidak
dinyatakan dalam perbuatan kelakuan
hidup kita sehari-hari, iman kita dikatakan
mati, tidak ada artinya.
Kelakuan baik seperti apa yang dapat
meninggalkan jejak Injil yang indah dalam
hati orang yang belum percaya?
Efesus 4:29: “Janganlah ada perkataan
kotor keluar dari mulutmu, tetapi pakailah
perkataan yang baik untuk membangun,
dimana perlu, supaya mereka yang mendengarkannya beroleh kasih karunia.”
Apakah yang dimaksud dengan katakata yang kotor? Kata-kata yang kotor
yaitu kata-kata yang menjatuhkan dan
merusakkan hidup kita sendiri dan hidup
orang lain. Dalam pelatihan-pelatihan PI
pribadi yang diselenggarakan oleh organisasi-organisasi Kristen, anak-anak Tuhan
diajarkan bagaimana untuk menyampaikan
16
Kelakuan yang baik
1. Membantu orang-orang yang berada
dalam kekurangan (Roma 12:13).
2. Memiliki belas kasihan dan mau menolong sesama yang mengalami musibah
(Lukas 10:33-35).
3. Perbuatan baik yang memuliakan Bapa
di Surga (Matius 5:16).
4. Kelakuan yang saleh, tulus hati dan takut
akan Tuhan, seperti Kornelius (Kis. 10:12 & 22). Hidupnya saleh, tulus hati, dan
takut akan Tuhan. Satu hal yang perlu
diperhatikan adalah bahwa Kornelius
terkenal baik di antara seluruh bangsa
Yahudi. Ini berarti ia telah menanamkan kesan yang mendalam, jejak yang
indah dalam hati orang-orang Yahudi.
Alangkah indahnya kalau kita pun bisa
meninggalkan jejak yang indah di hati
orang yang belum percaya.
Kasih yang membangun
1 Korintus 8:1b: “... Kita semua mempunyai pengetahuan. Pengetahuan yang
demikian membuat orang menjadi sombong, tetapi kasih membangun.”
Kasih yang membangun adalah kasih
yang memperhatikan (caring love) dan yang
sabar seperti yang terdapat dalam 1 Korintus
13. Biarlah setiap hari hidup kita dipenuhi
dengan kasih Tuhan yang kudus dan dapat
menyentuh hati orang yang belum percaya
dan dapat merubah hati mereka yang keras
menjadi lembut. Amsal 10:12: ”Kebencian
menimbulkan pertengkaran, tetapi kasih
menutupi segala pelanggaran.”
Iman yang murni
I Yohanes 5:4-5: ”Sebab semua yang
lahir dari kasih Allah mengalahkan dunia.
Dan inilah kemenangan yang mengalahkan
dunia; Iman kita. Siapakah mengalahkan
dunia selain dari pada dia yang percaya
bahwa Yesus adalah anak Allah?”
Iman yang murni dan kudus datang
dari Tuhan, dapat mengalahkan segala
pencobaan, kesulitan, rintangan dan penderitaan yang ada didalam dunia ini dan
dapat merubah hati yang tidak percaya
menjadi percaya kepada Kristus. Seperti
apakah iman yang murni itu? Iman yang
murni adalah iman di dalam doa (Yakobus
5:16) dan firman Tuhan (Ibrani 4:12).
Biarlah setiap hari hidup kita penuh dengan iman yang datang dari Tuhan dan yang
dapat menyentuh hati mereka, sehingga
hidup merekapun seperti hidup kita yang
dapat mengalahkan segala pencobaan dan
dosa-dosa yang ada dalam dunia ini. Lukas
8:48: ”Maka kataNya kepada perempuan itu
‘Hai anakKu, imanmu telah menyelamatkan
engkau, pergilah dengan selamat!'”
Hidup yang suci
Imamat 19:1-2: “... Kuduslah kamu sebab
Aku Tuhan Allahmu kudus.”
Orang-orang di sekitar kita selalu mengamati hidup kita, menilai cara hidup kita.
Bagaimana kita bisa menyampaikan berita
Injil kepada orang-orang agar bertobat,
apabila kita tidak dapat menyatakan kehidupan kita yang suci?
Biarlah setiap hari kita hidup dengan
kudus di tengah-tengah orang yang belum
mengenal Kristus sehingga mereka dapat
melihat kekudusan Tuhan di dalam hidup
kita. Matius 5:48: ”Karena itu haruslah kamu
sempurna sama seperti Bapamu yang di
surga adalah sempurna."
Sebagai ayat penutup diambil dari 1
Timotius 4:12b: “Jadilah teladan bagi orangorang percaya, dalam perkataanmu, dalam
tingkah lakumu, dalam kasihmu, dalam
kesetiaanmu, dan dalam kesucianmu.”
17
B
bible fact —————————
so what's
hinduism
by: Rachel Atmadja
summarized from: So What's the Difference?
by Fritz Ridenour
1.ORIGIN.
Dravidian polytheistic fertility religion and early Aryan Vedic polytheistic
religion formed the basis of Hinduism. In 3000 B.C., the Dravidians built
the civilization of Mohendo-jaro at the Indus Valley (now Pakistan.) As
near as archeologists could tell, the Dravidians had a polytheistic religion
that “centered upon worship of the forces of nature and the use of rituals,
merging human sexuality with the hope of abundant crops.” At about 2000
B.C. the light-skinned, warlike Aryans of the Caucuasus region conquered the
Dravidians. The Aryans adapted some of the popular Dravidian gods and gave
them Aryan names. The Aryans wrote down their hymns and chants in a series
of works known to the world as the Vedic Literature (the Vedas). These writings
were as sacred to Hindus as the Bible is to Christians. Around 500 B.C., more
writings were added to establish Varna, a rigid caste system or social hierarchy.
The four castes of people came from the head, arms, thighs, and feet of their
creator god, Brahma. These four castes are the Brahmins (priests), Kshahtriyas
(warriors and nobles), Vaisyas (merchants and artisans), and Shudras (slaves). At
the lowest social caste are the Untouchables. Where else the Shudras (slaves)
are forbidden to read the Vedas and find a way to salvation; the Untouchables
were lowered to subhuman level, deemed unworthy to own property or gain
education, much less any dignity.
18
2.WIDELY-ACCEPTED HINDU
BELIEFS.
Although the beliefs of Hindu follower
differ by region or culture, they share
some basic beliefs.
Pantheism
"Pan" means "eveything" and "Theos"
means "God". Pantheism is the belief
that “God did not create the world. God
is the world, along with everything in
it.” Sri Ramakrishna, a man believed to
be the most recent incarnation of Vishnu
who lived in Bengal at the end of the 19th
century, practiced the spiritual disciplines
of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. He
claimed that he obtained a vision of God in
all three practices, leading him to conclude
that all approaches to God are correct.
In their view of the universe, Hindus
believe that all material reality are illusions,
that the physical universe is a hindrance
to experiencing “Ultimate Reality,”
where else Christians saw the universe
as rational, revealing God’s glory. Hindus
also believe that each person possesses an
eternal soul (atman) that has the capacity
to be united with Brahma, the impersonal
absolute. To a Hindu, union with Brahma
is the ultimate salvation. In short, Hindus
believe that they can attain divinity, that
“we are all divine.”
Reincarnation and Karma
Reincarnation is the belief that a
person’s atman (soul) must go through
a cycle of deaths and rebirths (samsara),
each filled with suffering, before attaining
moksha, a release from the cycle of
suffering and union with Brahma, the
impersonal absolute. Union with Brahma
is considered the ultimate salvation for
a Hindu for it releases them from being
reincarnated into a world filled with
suffering. Directly tied to the idea of
reincarnation is karma. Karma (“action”)
is the belief that what one person does
in one life, affects that person’s station in
the next life. A person can be reincarnated
as animals, plants, or even inanimate
objects, depending on how they lived their
previous lives.
There are three paths to attain moksha
(the freedom from the cycle of rebirths full
of suffering). A person can attain, or at least
speed up the process to attaining moksha,
through the path of good works (dharma),
the path of knowledge (inana), and the
path of passionate devotion (bhakti). The
path of works requires that a person fulfill
his specific social and religious obligations
by marrying within his caste, eating only
certain foods, and most importantly, to
raise a son who can make sacrifices to his
ancestors. The path of knowledge usually
involves the practice of yoga. Yoga is “the
attempt to control one’s consciousness
through bodily posture, breath control,
and concentration to the extent that
one comes to understand experientially
that one’s undying soul is identical with
Brahma.” The path of knowledge is often
restricted to the upper castes. The path of
personal devotion is the most appealing
to the lower castes, it only requires that a
person be devoted to one of 330 million
Hindu gods, most usually chose Vishnu or
Bhakti. It is the easiest of the three paths.
19
3.MAIN DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN HINDUISM &
CHRISTIANITY.
Concerning God and Jesus Christ
Hindus believe that one of their
gods, Vishnu, has gone through a
series of reincarnation, the most recent
one being Sri Ramakrishna. This idea
of reincarnation led Hindus to believe
that Jesus Christ is one of the many
incarnates of Vishnu. The Hindu belief
in Pantheism makes them receptive
to the idea of Jesus Christ as the
incarnate Son of God; but their belief
in reincarnation makes it difficult
for them to accept that Christ is the
only incarnate son of God. Hindus
believe in the existence of Brahma, the
impersonal absolute, while Christians
believe in the existence of a personal,
loving God and the Trinity.
Concerning Sin and Salvation
Hindus view all material reality as
illusions; therefore they see sin as an
“utter illusion.” Hindus seek freedom
from reincarnation and saw their
union with Brahma as the ultimate
salvation. Christians believe that sin is
an act of prideful rebellion that leads
to eternal separation of God. Only by
confessing our sins and believing in
Jesus Christ as our savior will a Christian
attain salvation. Where else Hinduism
implies that salvation (or a release
from reincarnation) could be attained
by good works; Christians believe that
salvation is by faith alone. [RA]
20
Being Good News to
Our Hindu Friends...
É
By Becky Stephen, as found
at International Student
Ministries, 2005
Step 1. Observe
A. Observe Hinduism.
Karma,
dharma,
reincarnation,
monism, moksha, and detachment
should be familiar concepts. Read,
watch, and listen. Each Hindu’s beliefs
will differ. Don’t try to explain “real
Hinduism” to your friend. Listen and
respond to her/his particular version.
B. Observe Human Motivations.
Power to control life and oneself,
family and community identity through
religion, and peace are all central
desires for Hindus. Many students are
nominal Hindus seeking “the good
life” materialistic America offers. But
remember—your friend may have
different motivations or views than
Americans seeking the same things.
Discover them as you deepen your
friendship.
Step 2. Overcome
A. Obstacles for Understanding Good News.
1. Tolerance/Inclusiveness.
Hindus
happily worship Jesus—alongside
Ram, Lakshmi, etc. But they cannot
tolerate Christ’s claim to be the only
Incarnation of God.
2. Social Structure and Pressure.
“Christian” is another caste label.
It is impossible to change caste.
Therefore it is impossible to
“become Christian”.
3. World View Categories. Hindus
understand “God”, “Incarnation”,
“sin”, “salvation”, even “history”,
very differently than viewed in
the Judeo-Christian mind. For
example, “resurrection” becomes
meaningless in a paradigm of
cyclical time.
4. Us! We are not “spiritual” as Hindus
understand spirituality. Materialism
(vs. asceticism), naturalism (vs.
supernaturalism),
“truth”
at
any cost (vs. harmony, kindness,
patience), and privatization of life
and faith (vs. family/community
orientation) can make the Good
News bad news to our friends.
B. Bridges between Our Friend and the
Good News.
1. Hindus are essentially spiritual
people with a desire to experience
God’s power and peace. We can
freely discuss spiritual things and
offer to pray with them when
appropriate.
2. Pray for crises which cause them
to seek God. Pray for Divine
intervention
through
dreams,
specifically answered prayers, etc.
Pray for the suppression of the
powers of darkness in their life so
that they are free to see Jesus.
3. Draw your friend into your Christian
family/community to see Christ in
you, living as good news through
acts of love for one another.
4. Develop
creative
alternative
models for explaining the Good
News. The American goal of
salvation as “eternal life” does not
communicate to Hindus. Prayerfully
search the Scriptures for other
goals of faith: e.g. peace, power,
forgiveness, and freedom from sin
in the present.
Step 3. Offer
A. Your Witness.
Share not only your past “salvation
event” but your present experience of
the living Christ.
B. Scripture’s Witness.
The Sermon on the Mount sets God’s
standard which appeals to Hindu ideas
of holiness and brings up the problem
of sin and forgiveness. Mark 4:35-5:43
draws us into Jesus’ life and his power
over nature, evil, sickness and death.
The Gospel of John teaches us what it
means to be one with God and reveals
the Source of ultimate peace.
C. Common Ground Comparisons.
E.g. compare Christ as prophet, priest,
and king with Hinduism’s jnana,
bhakti, and karma yogas, showing
how Jesus has fulfilled these paths to
God, thus becoming the True Path.
This comparison is obviously for your
more philosophical friends!! As you
learn, see if you can discover other
patches of common ground in which
to plant seeds of the Good News!
WEBSITE www.intervarsity.org/ism/article_item.php?
article_id=37. Please visit the site for additional book
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how beautiful are
the feet of those
who bring good news
~ROMANS 10:15 ~
21
P
parenting
By: Jean Stephens
From: Focus on the Family’s
Focus on Your Child
Teaching Your Child
Reference:http://www.focusonyourchild.com/learning/art1/A0000038.html
to Organize
22
A
s a child grows, his world expands. At first, the walls
of his home confine that world. But within those walls
the number of things begins to increase --- clothes,
shoes, toys, books and so on. As soon as your child can
walk, talk and understand you, it’s time to help him learn about
being organized. When he starts school, his world is going to
expand beyond home. And that means more things arrive on
the scene, such as school papers, projects and things that help
children have friends and fun.
Benefits & Guidelines
Organization is one more thing to teach your child, but
the effort will seem worthwhile after you start noticing the
benefits:
Growing up: As your child matures he will learn to approach
work and finances in an orderly fashion.
Time: Your child will learn that having to look for something
wastes valuable production time - his and perhaps yours.
Helping others: Your load will be lightened because your
child has taken ownership of certain household chores.
Productivity: Your child will be able to accomplish more
because he will spend less time looking for things that are misplaced or lost.
Success: Your child will be more
likely to retain knowledge from his
classes and experience less stress
because of his time management
and homework prioritization. These
basic skills help pave the way for
success and enjoyment in school and
career.
Finances: You and your child
will save money. For example, by
learning to return his library books
on time, your child will avoid having to pay late fees. By keeping his
art supplies in place, your child will
know when and when not to buy new
markers.
How do you teach organization?
Here are some guidelines:
Provide the necessary tools your child
needs to become organized. And
be sure to explain that every person needs
organization, regardless of age, personality
or interests.
Observe the results of your child’s efforts. She needs to know her tasks will be
checked. This also gives you the opportunity to praise her for a job well-done.
Create an organized environment at
home that your child will benefit from, such
as an arrangement of healthy snacks in the
pantry.
Be an example in your responsibilities.
Take care of the mail or return phone calls
in a timely manner.
Learn about some common mistakes to
avoid.
Include your child in the process as
much as possible when something needs
to be organized. Even though it takes
longer to help a child do the work - and
even though you may have strong organizational tendencies and want things done
the “right” way - your child will benefit
from being included.
Notice the way your child prefers to
organize things. While one of your children may have been born knowing that
everything should be in its place, her sister
may be the type who miraculously finds
whatever she needs in her overturned
room. Both of these are examples of varying approaches to organization.
A Child’s Approach to Organization
In her book “The Way They Learn”,
Cynthia Ulrich Tobias writes about an English teacher who required her students to
keep all their papers in three-ring binders.
One day she told her students to leave the
binders on their desks so she could check
them. One boy left his jacket instead. The
surprised teacher found every paper in
the boy’s jacket pockets, organized by category.
23
In The New Messies Manual, Sandra
Felton writes to adults who have chronic
clutter problems. “You can expect to need
to have more items around you than many
of your more naturally organized friends.
This may include having more books, magazines, clothes and food in the refrigerator.
You must not allow more excess than you
can keep organized.”
The same is true for some children.
Study your child. Give him freedom
within limits.
Think of your child as you read this
quote from Sandra Felton: “If you have a
creative spirit, that means you must create
to be happy.... Since the act of creating is
often a disorganized affair, control what
you do by doing only one activity at a
time.”
Organizational Tools
Below are some tools you can use to
help your kids achieve this goal:
Family calendar: Buy one that provides
enough room to write reminders
for every household member, including
pets.
Calendar for each child: Include birthday parties, field trips, play dates and doctor appointments. School-age children can
also use the calendar to write down due
dates and plan the steps for big projects.
Task chart: List chores and projects
across the top, and days along the lefthand
side. For non-reading children, use pictures
or stickers. Written words can seem more
“official” than spoken words.
Make a chart for your responsibilities,
too, as an example. Your children
24
will want to complete the chart just like
you do.
Bulletin board: Have one for the family
or for each child to keep track of invitations, school assignments and so on.
Desk: Most children are more productive when they do homework at a desk, but
some prefer a different setting.
Hanging-file box: Schoolchildren accumulate papers, artwork and photographs.
Teach them to file things right away rather
than pile them.
Mistakes to Avoid
When you’re trying to help your kids
to organize, make sure you don’t fall into
these mistakes:
- Placing too much stress on a child
- Not recognizing or accepting a child’s
style of organization
- Communicating that organization should
foster constant activity from one thing
to another. (Playing or doing nothing at
times is important, too.)
- Assuming a child can and should organize exactly the way you want it done.
For instance, she may have attention
deficit disorder, which makes it difficult
to give concentrated attention.
- Overloading your child with multiple
expectations. Choose one goal to reach
together. For example, not leaving shoes
in the hallway. Think of a fun way to
make it a habit.
Remember: Choose your battles.
A child’s room may be messy to you
but not to your child.
Advices from Dr. James Dobson
(Excerpted from Dr. James Dobson’s
Complete Marriage and Family Home
Reference Guide)
in a mess or a mistake. It’s just easier to
do everything for them than to clean up
afterward. But I urge parents not to fall
into that trap.
Q:
Your child needs her mistakes. That’s how
she learns. So go along with the game every
now and then - even if the tea you drink
tastes a little strange.
My children love to do things for
themselves, but they make such
messes that it’s easier for me to do things
for them. I just don’t have the patience to
see them fumble with stuff. Do you think
I’m wrong to step in and do things for
them?
A:
Yes, even though I understand how
you feel. I heard a story about a
mother who was sick in bed with the flu.
Her daughter wanted so much to be a good
nurse. She fluffed the pillows and brought
a magazine to read. And then she even
showed up with a surprise cup of tea.
“Why, you’re such a sweetheart,” the
mother said as she drank the tea. “I didn’t
know you even knew how to make tea.”
“Oh yes. I learned by watching you. I put
the tea leaves in the pan, and then I put
in the water, and I boiled it, and then I
strained it into a cup. But I couldn’t find a
strainer, so I used the flyswatter instead.”
“You what?” the mother screamed.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I didn’t use the new
flyswatter. I used the old one.”
When kids try their hardest and they get
it all wrong in spite of themselves, what’s
a parent to do? What mothers and fathers
often do is prevent their children from carrying any responsibility that could result
Q:
Our junior higher is the most disorganized kid I’ve ever seen. His life
is a jumble of forgotten assignments and
missed deadlines. What can I do to help
him?
A:
Educational consultant Cheri Fuller
considers massive disorganization
to be the most common cause for school
failure, above both laziness and poor study
skills. Show me a student’s notebook,
Fuller says, and I’ll tell you whether that
individual is a B or a D student. An achieving student’s notebook is arranged neatly
with dividers and folders for handouts and
assignments. A failing student’s notebook
is usually a jumbled mess and may not even
be used at all.
Some children are naturally sloppy, but
most of them can learn to be better organized in the elementary school years. Once
they enter junior high, students may have
as many as five teachers, each assigning
different textbooks, workbooks, handouts
and requirements from various
classroom subjects.
We must not assume that kids who have
never had any organizational
training will be able to keep such detail
straight and accessible. If we want them
25
to function in this system, we need to give
them the tools that are critical to success.
You might consider having your child
evaluated to see if he has Attention Deficit
Disorder or some temperamental charac-
Tips for Parents
teristic that makes it difficult for him to
organize. When you’ve determined what
he is capable of doing, work with an educational consultant or a school psychologist
to design a system that will teach him how
to live a more structured life. [ES]
Growing Up and Doing More
Begin teaching that things that go together should be kept together.
Help your child think of a system to keep money and other valuable
things in a safe place.
Some children might enjoy making separate designated places for different types of toys, such as board games, computer games and outdoor
games.
Scatter a few things around a child’s room (shoes, clothes, toys and some
kitchen items). Then tell the child to put things that are alike in piles.
Don’t say, “Three piles.” Let the child decide if she needs three or more
piles. Then ask the child where each pile belongs.
When you think your child is able to complete some simple daily chores,
make a chart with those tasks pictured or named across the top. Possible
columns: Make bed; Put pajamas away; Put toys away.
Each day, with your child, decide if everything has been done. If yes, show
that in the chart. If not, be sure the child agrees and knows he can try
again tomorrow.
As your child grows older, add new tasks to the chart and possibly drop
some that he is doing on a consistent basis. Especially when children are
young, make a celebration out of creating a new chart. It means that he
is learning new things and growing up.
Give him more freedom to manage his room, things and time in his
preferred approach. Growing up involves taking care of an increasing
number of daily and weekly responsibilities. But be sure he understands
that there are some limits to keep in mind.
26
C
cerpen
I SELL JEsUs
by: Daniel Loe
M
atahari hampir terbenam
ketika seseorang menghampiriku tempat dudukku.
Padahal aku ingin menyaksikan pemandangan yang indah ini, ditelannya mentari
oleh cakrawala di belahan bumi sebelah
barat sana. Beberapa saat sebelum sang
mentari tertelan lenyap, seolah-olah jari
jemari cakrawala mencengkram bola
matahari ini dan meremasnya sehingga
bola matahari yang bagaikan buah peach
yang sudah matang ini menjadi pecah
dan menyemburatkan warna yang sangat
indah—paduan antara warna merah
darah bercampur dengan warna orange
dan jingga. Aku senang belajar di kampus
ungu yang berada dekat dengan tepi laut.
Karena itu sering kali aku duduk di café
yang menghadap ke tepi laut ini setelah
aku selesai kelas atau sedang menunggu
kelas yang lain.
Senja itu seseorang yang tidak aku
kenal datang dan menghampiriku dan
berkata padaku; “Hi, aku kenal engkau
dari seseorang dan berkata padaku
mungkin engkau bisa menolong aku
untuk final matematikku minggu depan
ini.”
“Lho kenapa aku bisa membantu
kamu? Dan bagaimana aku bisa
membantu kamu?”
“Hm begini... masalahnya.... aku
benar-benar give up dengan kelas
matematikku.... Ini adalah yang ketiga
kalinya kelas ini aku ambil.. dan aku tidak
bisa mengambil kelas ini lagi kalau aku
gagal lagi..... sedangkan ini adalah upper
requirement class yang terakhir yang aku
harus ambil sebelum aku graduate....!”
“Aku masih belum mengerti kenapa
aku bisa membantu kamu.. dan apa
hubungannya antara ujian matematikmu
dengan aku?”
“Okey aku terus terang saja padamu.
Aku mau minta tolong kamu untuk menggantikan aku ujian matematik Kamis yang
akan datang!”
“Wow... wow wow.... apa? Aku
menggantikan kamu ujian matematik
Kamis yang akan datang ini.... apa kamu
27
sudah tidak waras... tentu saja tidak
mungkin...”
“Aku akan membayar kamu.... berapa
kamu minta....?”
Aku diam seribu bahasa ketika
mendengar bahwa dia berani membayar
aku untuk hal itu....
“Kenapa kamu tidak mencari orang
yang bisa melakukan hal itu.... aku tahu
ada orang yang khusus menjalankan hal
itu....”
“Itu aku tahu dan sudah terlambat...
Biasanya orang yang seperti ini harus
datang ke kelas sejak hari pertama tiap
semester baru.. jadi tidak akan dikenali
oleh orang atau gurunya...., sedangkan
aku pikir aku mungkin bisa melakukannya
setelah tiga kali mengulang kelas ini...
Tapi kali ini gurunya benar-benar susah...
dan aku menyesal tidak membayar orang
dari sejak mulanya....”
“Tapi bagaimana kamu bisa mencari
aku...., aku bukanlah orang yang biasa
melakukan hal itu...”
“Aku tahu. Salah satu temanmu yang
kenal padaku memberitahukanku untuk
minta tolong padamu dan mungkin kau
bisa membantu aku......”
“Siapa nama temanmu itu?”
“Sorry aku tidak bisa memberi tahumu
karena ini adalah rahasia.. Aku tidak ingin
kau marah padanya dan aku tidak ingin
merusak persahabatanmu dengannya
dan persahabatanku dengannya pula....
Please.. bantulah aku... aku tahu kamu
masternya matematik seperti yang
dikatakannya
padaku...
Aku
akan
membayarmu berapapun harga yang
kamu minta...”
“Well, karena aku bukan orang yang
biasa melakukan hal itu.. jadi aku tidak
tahu tarifnya....”
“Kalau aku minta tolong orang untuk
satu semester aku akan membayarnya
seharga 100 sampai 200 dollars dan itu
tergantung kelasnya.. Untuk kelas science
seperti ini bisa sampai 150 atau 200
dollar...., tapi karena aku minta tolong
kamu cuma untuk satu hari doang...
bagaimana kalau aku membayar kamu 50
dollar saja?”
“What..... 50 dollar... too risky..
bagaimana kalau tertangkap nanti...., aku
rasa aku tidak bisa membantu kamu.....!”
“Kamu tidak akan tertangkap karena
nanti kebetulan gurunya tidak bisa
hadir pada hari ujian nanti dan akan
diawasi oleh guru yang lain... Itu
segi positifnya maka aku bisa
meminta tolong seseorang
untuk
menggantikan
aku di ujian nanti....
Aku rasa mungkin
ini kesempatan yang
diberikan Tuhan supaya
aku bisa lulus dari ujian
matematik yang merupakan
kelas yang paling dead end
buatku.”
“Mungkin juga.. tapi sebaiknya kamu
minta tolong orang yang biasa melakukan
itu saja....”
“Sudah terlambat pula! Aku sudah
menghubungi mereka; semua sudah
full dipakai oleh orang lain...., ayolah
bantulah aku... bagimana kalau aku
membayar kamu full 100 dollar?”
“Okay I’ll do it.... but for this time
only.. and please do not tell somebody else
about this and please tell your friend
do not sell my name to anybody..
unless I am gonna kick him!”
“Thanks Bud.... here is your
hundred dollar bill.”
Orang ini memberikan selembar
uang seratus dollar padaku dan aku
menerimanya dengan senang hati,
lalu aku teringat betapa memang
bulan ini aku sedang paceklik alias
musim kemarau yang panjang buat
keuanganku... Aku tidak tahu apakah
aku terlalu boros atau malas untuk
bekerja full time. Setelah orang itu
berlalu, aku pun masuk ke dalam cafetaria tersebut dan membeli potato chip
untuk camilanku dalam perjalanan pulang
ke rumah, juga untuk memecahkan the
hundred dollar bill ini.
Dalam perjalananku menuju ke
parking lot aku berpikir dan berkata
dalam diriku mengingat apa yang
terjadi barusan padaku... apakah Tuhan
juga menolong aku dan mengetahui
keadaanku,
tentang
keterjepitanku
akan keuanganku? Lalu pikiranku pun
melayang mengingat Kamis yang akan
datang apakah aku sibuk atau tidak...
dan aku baru ingat kalau Kamis yang
akan datang adalah Kamis sebelum Good
Friday, Hari kematian Tuhan Yesus.
Biasanya setiap Jum’at Agung aku
selalu ke gereja dan mengikuti perjamuan
kudus yang kudus.. apalagi hari itu adalah
hari kematian Sang Juru Selamat... Lalu
aku teringat peristiwa kenapa Tuhan
Yesus sampai disalibkan.... karena salah
satu muridnya Yudas Iskariot menjual
Gurunya sendiri untuk 30 keping perak...
dan entah dari mana atau bagaimana
. . . the transaction
has already done, the
Devil just won . . .
kejadiannya tiba-tiba sepertinya ada
satu suara yang berkata padaku dan
kudengar dalam hatiku.... “You just DID.”
Oh my God.., oh my God..... it’s true...
I just did.... I sell Jesus...... apa bedanya
apa yang kulakukan barusan dengan
apa yang Yudas lakukan.... Aku baru
saja menjual Yesus dengan harga 100
dollar...... bukankah apa yang baru saja
aku lakukan adalah dosa? Bukankah aku
telah menjual jasaku untuk menggantikan ujian matematik orang lain adalah
bentuk lain dari dosa pada abad modern
ke halaman 39
29
K
kesaksian ————————————————————————————
Ko Sugi’s
Testimony
“Once Upon A Time in Alhambra”
was the title of GII Azusa Thanksgiving Play
last year. It was performed on Dec. 3rd, 04
to be accurate. If you didn’t have a chance
to see the play, do not despair because the
DVD of the play is available for borrowing
through the church’s library. This play
was a fun and enjoyable play to create
and hopefully the audience enjoyed to
watch the play as well. It had some Gospel
messages as well as some entertaining
“Wushu” action fighting scene.
I want to thank God who has helped me
in every way from the beginning until the
day the play was performed. There were
many occasions I didn’t think I could have
created this play without His help. I want
to share a little bit of my experience on
how God had been involved in the process
of making of this play into a reality. A lot
of things that will be shared in this article
are about how I came up with the idea
as well as the struggles and obstacles
that all of the cast and crew of the play
had to go through in creating the play.
It is my hope that sharing this experience
will encourage others in our church to try
out whatever ministry, not necessarily a
30
drama or a play, that they would like to be
involved in; but probably kind of fearful to
do it. Just remember that most of the time,
God only needs our willingness instead of
our abilities to make things happen.
Initially, I came up with the idea of
creating this play because of my friendship
with Buddy and Teddy. As many of you
probably have known, both of these guys
are professionals in the Chinese Martial
Art technique called “Wushu”. There were
several occasions where I visited them
while they were doing their weekly Wushu
practice in Duarte Inn. Each time I saw
their practice, I was amazed to see what
they could do. They could jump high, they
could split, they could kick in the air and
they could do a lot of other techniques
that I did not know how to describe. It
was like seeing a Duarte Inn version of the
“Iron Monkey.”
I first shared my idea of creating a play
with Maria and Buddy while we were
doing ushering ministry in one Sunday
morning. Maria liked the idea especially
because the Indonesian Youth Fellowship
(IYF) did not do their regular big event,
“Youth For Christ,” last year. She felt that
it would be a good idea for the IYF to
create such a play as a substitute for not
holding that “Youth For Christ” event. I
brought up the subject of this play in my
prayer and asked others, such as Daniel
Loe, Teddy, and Buddy, for their opinions.
After several prayers, I felt that God had
given me peace to start this play, and
other people seemed to support the idea. I
asked Fairlyn, the president of the IYF, for
her approval and the time to perform this
drama. She said I could do the play in the
weekend after the Thanksgiving. It was
back in early August of 2004 at that time.
Therefore, I have about 3 to 4 months to
do my planning to create the play.
After Fairlyn gave me the assignment,
I felt a little bit fearful because I realized
that I have never directed or created this
kind of play before. I have done couple of
short skits before, but never have I created
a long play with fighting sequences. At
that time, I did not know how the story line
will go, other than there has to be some
Gospel message
and a fighting
scene. I prayed
to God for some
inspiration and
ideas. Amazingly
enough, fresh
ideas and inspirations
came
through after I
prayed and start
thinking about
the story line of
the play. I thought of doing the fighting
scene on the church stage; but after
thinking about it again, doing that would
be too much of a hassle. There were too
many obstacles if we had to do it on stage.
The stage is too small for fighting scenes
and we can only have one background
decoration, thus it would be less attractive
for multiple fighting scenes. In addition, it
was going to be too tiring for the actors
if they had to do the fighting action in
the stage and
too much time
will be wasted
for changing costumes etc. As a
result, since we
had plenty of time,
I decided to create
a short movie for
the fighting scene.
When I shared the
story line and my
idea of doing a
short movie with
Buddy and Teddy, they supported the idea
and agreed to be the main actors for the play.
Buddy agreed to be Alex and Teddy agreed
to play Ken in the play. In addition, I also
asked Teddy to be the choreographer.
As time goes by I continue planning
and thinking about the details of the play.
And then one day, I think in mid-August,
Buddy told me that he had a severe injury
with his leg during his Wushu practice. He
told me that his leg joint got dislocated. He
said that there might be a possibility that
he will not be able to participate in the
play. He felt guilty at that time because I
did not worry too much about his leg or
his health; instead, I worried much about
the play. Fortunately, there is still time for
recovery to take place because we planed
to start doing the short movie on early
October. And as weeks went by, Buddy’s
leg seemed to get better. Near the start
of October, Buddy sent me an instant
message saying that we would have to
cancel the fighting scenes because his leg
was still hurting, and Teddy also got severe
injuries on his arm. He could hardly lift his
right arm at that time. I felt really terrible
because Teddy got injuries while he was
trying some Wushu tricks for the play. At
that time, I started to wonder if creating
the
fighting
action
play
was even His
will. I mean,
if it was God’s
will why did
these accidents
happen?
I
was
confused
and
started
thinking about
other ideas that could replace the fighting
scenes. However, nothing came up in my
head because the fighting scene was the
big entertaining part of this play. A couple
of weeks later, Buddy and I discussed this
play again and he said there might still be
possibilities to have fighting scenes in the
play because his younger brother, Freddy,
had just arrived in the United States. He
also happened to be another expert in
Wushu martial arts. As a result, we decided
that Freddy will also take part in the play
as substitute for Teddy. On the other hand,
Teddy himself was still involved in creating
the choreography of the fighting scene.
After everything was set, we started
doing the short movie on October every
week. We first started making the fighting
scenes in New Port Beach from 8 AM
to 3 PM on Saturday. We were there
very early because we tried to get some
Sunrise scenes, birds, and to get some
fresh morning air of course. We had a
lot of good shots there. Unfortunately,
because of some technical issues with
32
our camera, we had to redo the shooting
in Santa Monica Beach in the following
weekend. Buddy, Teddy and Freddy had
to be in Santa Monica Beach very early in
the morning on that Saturday. I think they
were there since 7 AM in the morning. For
the following week, I thank God because
we had a lot of help from the Tiongha
Cultural Center (TCC) Wushu members,
the Wushu organization where Teddy
was teaching. A couple of TCC Wushu
members, who had some experiences in
the movie industry, gave us a lot of tricks
and ideas regarding shooting fighting
scenes. Michael, Dennys, and Kwan gave
us a lot of helps in making the short movie.
They gave us a lot of useful hints in camera
shooting in many different angles, using
falling leaves as surrounding effects, etc.
Without them this play would definitely
not be the same. We spent all of our
weekends from morning to late afternoon
in that month trying
to finish the short
movie. In addition to
that, Teddy, Buddy and
Freddy also needed to
spend additional hours
of their time in editing
the short movies. But
thank God that we
were able to finish all
of our camera shots by
the end of October.
In early November, after couple of
consulting sessions with Daniel Loe, I was
able to complete the dialog scripts. And
immediately after that, the whole drama
crews were set to practice for the actual
scenes that we were going to play in the
stage. I am very thankful to a lot of people
who supported me during our practice
periods. Joshua (Jusak) gave me a lot of
insights in managing the practice as well
as helping the drama with the backstage
video, slides and sound system. Maria also
volunteered to help me teach the actors
and actresses on how to act. During the
final rehearsal, we had some difficulties
because our practice time overlaps with
the Children Sunday School’s practice
time. This situation inevitably happened
because our church scheduled big events
for every week in the month of December
last year. However, I was very thankful
for the willingness of all the crew who
patiently waited until Sunday school
team finished their practice before we
can start with the final rehearsal. During
final rehearsal I also found a lot of flaws in
costumes and microphone managements.
Thankfully, there were Rocky, Martin and
Tesia who helped us with the backstage
management. In spite of my last minute
request, they willingly put all their
efforts in assisting us during practice as
well as during the actual performance
time. During final rehearsal, we keep
experiencing problems in displaying
short movies. In fact, before the actual
performance time, we never really had
a successful integration flow between
the actual play and displaying the short
movie. Very surprisingly, during the actual
play time, the integration was flawless. I
thank God for His help on this thing. Also
thanks to Joshua and Ari, who had made
this possible. At the end after much efforts
and time spent, the play was able to be
performed just fine in December 3rd, 2004.
I feel that this play was made possible
because of the support of many different
people pouring out their efforts and
hearts into it. It was truly a team effort.
In addition, I also would like to thank the
those who are involved in a church play for
the first time, such as Yakub, Freddy, Irma,
Merissa and Debby as well. I also wanted
to thank God, who has, through a series of
unexpected incidents, made this play into
a reality. I knew that I lack many things in
creating and directing this play, but God
sent a lot of people to help me where I was
lacking. It was such a blessing for me and
the whole crew to be given this privilege
to take part in this ministry. I hope that by
sharing my experience in this ministry, other
people can also start being involved in any
kind of church ministries that are available.
If you ever long to do some ministry, but
never really had the courage to do so
because of fear of failure or incompetence,
just remember that failure is part of the
experience and God will give you strength
and enablement to do His will. I hope to see
more people involved in church ministry in
this year. God Bless You. [RA]
33
K
kesaksian ————————————————————————————
Behind “Taman
Eden”
______________________
By: Freddy Yusuf
Drama natal yang berjudul “Taman Eden “(12/25/2004) belum lama kita
lewati. Kita berharap para jemaat masih ingat akan ceritanya.
Persiapan drama natal ini boleh dibilang sangat sempit. Bayangkan saja
dengan waktu yg kurang dari 1 bulan sesudah drama Thanksgiving, kita
diharuskan menghafal naskah yang begitu panjang. Latihan demi latihan pun
kita jalani di tengah cuaca yang kurang bersahabat dan setiap kali latihan, kita
selalu berlatih hingga larut malam sehingga tak jarang banyak dari personil kita
yang jatuh sakit.
Waktu pementasan pun tiba, dan kita masih tetap merasa belum siap untuk
pentas. Namun puji syukur kepada Tuhan karena pada akhirnya pementasan itu
pun dapat berjalan lancar. (Jujur saja, ada beberapa adegan yang tidak ada di
skenario, tapi sungguh bersyukur dapat berjalan dengan smooth ^_^ )
Ada 2 pesan (messages) inti dalam drama natal itu sendiri, yang pertama
adalah bahwa natal bukan milik sendiri, tapi natal juga milik bersama.
Sedangkan pesan kedua adalah dahulu Allah kita telah menciptakan suatu
Taman Eden yang begitu sempurna, namun karena kita telah jatuh dalam
dosa, maka gambaran Taman Eden yang sudah Tuhan ciptakan menjadi rusak.
Namun kita patut bersyukur, oleh karena kasih-Nya yang begitu besar kepada
kita, Ia mau datang ke dunia bahkan mati disalib untuk menebus dosa-sosa kita,
sehingga kita dengan Allah Bapa dapat diperdamaikan melalui pengorbanan
Tuhan Yesus (adanya pengorbanan darah). Oleh sebab itu, sudah selayaknya kita
sebagai orang Kristen berusaha mengembalikan kembali menjadi Taman Eden
yang sesungguhnya, taman yang berguna dan berpengaruh kepada orang lain.
Dalam hal ini, sang director mencoba menerjemahkannya melalui kebencian
seorang anak kepada ayahnya yang baru saja keluar dari penjara. Padahal
sang ayah sangat mencintainya dan rindu untuk bertemu anaknya. Cerita
drama itu sendiri mencapai klimaksnya dimana sang anak (Eden) menusuk
ayahnya. Melalui pengorbanan darah itulah yang akhirnya memulihkan kembali
hubungan seorang anak dan ayahnya.
Semoga drama Natal yang baru saja kita lewati bisa menjadi berkat bagi setiap
orang dan biarlah segala pujian dan hormat hanya bagi Dia, Yesus Kristus. [RA]
34
E
event
Midnight driving, sleep “LESS” nights, rain-
ing days at church, hot soto mie, laugh till you drop, those
were just some of the sweet memories for the “Lawak”
(Indonesian word for "comedy") crew. The “Lawak” crew
met few times a week especially on the week they had to
perform. They come to practice and laugh.
by: Joshua & Wilis Adidjaja
The casts for Papa and Mama Hengky seemed to be perfect
fits. Each time they said something, the other crews were just
crying for them to stop joking around. At the same time, some
of the F-4 members were learning how to sing and dance. At the
beginning of the practice, Simon from American Idol would’ve said
“Awful... Extremely awful,” but their hard works and dedication
shined through. The concert was a blast!!
It’s 3:00PM. The dark cloud was moving in, and the decor team was
having a huge dilemma whether to set the stage outside or inside. The
whole team Lawak team were also worried. Worried that if it’s raining,
there might not be too many people coming.
In the evening of Saturday, February 12th, promptly at 6:30 PM, Nadya
and Sugi started the event with songs and praises. The sky was dark
but still very dry. People were
slowly walking into the door.
Singing and praises went for
about 30 minutes.
The event started with
Papa Hengky and Mama
Hengky (a.k.a Mei Lan)
walked into the room. They
35
wanted to celebrate their 50th year wedding anniversary. Instead of talking about their sweet memories
for the last 50 years, they started to mock and tease
each other. The atmosphere became so intense... they
were calling each other names (in lawak terms it was
very funny). Thankfully, our hosts Nadya and Sugi
were able to stop their fight and suggested them
to listen to a sermon from Rev. Yakub Hosana. He
delivered a short message about love.
The sermon have made this couple realized how
fortunate they are. After the sermon, was the time
for the surprise for Mei Lan. It turned out that this
old lady loves F-4, a Taiwanese singing group. Tao
Ming Se (starred by Freddy), Hua Zhe Lei (starred
by Thomas), Xi Men (starred by Silas) and Mei Zhuo
(starred by Buddy) specially came to this event. They
were greeted by Azusa fans with a very warm welcome.
F-4 sang few songs. During the concert the room
was very alive. Everyone in the room had a great
time. It was indescribable. It was as if the laughing
gas was exposed to the entire room. You really gotta
be there to experience it.
After the first song, an uninvited guest came into
the room. It turned out that it’s San Cai (played by
Dora)—one of the F-4 member's girlfriend. She seem
to be pretty upset because no one recognized her
and she wasn’t invited to come to Indonesia. But Tao
Ming Se, the boyfriend, quickly apologized and they
sang one song together afterwards.
Because it was the night of the Valentine's Day,
they decided to choose the King and Queen for GII
Azusa. They played few games to determine who
deserved to be the King and Queen. Evie was chosen
to be the Queen and Rudy as the King. It was really
a night full of laugh and fun.
For your information (in case you didn't come
that night), we also celebrated Chinese New Year in
this event. In the closing, we had a "studio quality"
picture taking session. You can take a look at the
shots in our church website's picture gallery: http:
//lax.gii-usa.org/iec_web/gallery.html. [TA]
36
R
review ——————————————————————————————
every man's
BATTLE
by: Stephen Arterburn & Fred Stoeker
with: Mike Yorkey
reviewed by: Marcia Japutra
"B
efore men experience victory over sexual sin, they’re hurting and
confused. ‘Why can’t I win at this?’ they think. As the fight wears
on the losses pile higher, we being to doubt everything about
ourselves, even our salvation. At best, we think that we’re deeply
flawed. At worst, evil persons. We feel very alone, since men
speak little of these things. But we’re not alone. Many men have
fallen into their own sexual pits.”
Everyone lives in a world full with temptations that can
make human beings fall into those temptations. Especially for
men, the world is occupied with sensual images in a variety of
ways such as lust (adultery with in one’s heart), lewdness, orgies,
debauchery, and many more. It is a tough situation for men to
live in a world where one can fall into temptation so easily. It
becomes easier for an individual to mix his standards of sexual
sin and so difficult to firmly commit to true purity as he gets used
to it. One can easily tolerate mixed standards of sexual impurity
because we tolerate mixed standards in most other areas of life.
God has His standards for sexual purity and it is His will for His
people to live according to His standard. So take His command
seriously—Flee sexual immorality!
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified:
that you should avoid sexual immorality.”
-:- 1 Thessalonians 4:3 -:AGAPE — Easter 2005
37
Some of God’s standards for sexual
purity are (according to authors):
• Sexual immorality begins with the lustful
attitudes of our sinful natures. It is rooted
in the darkness within us. Therefore sexual
immorality, like other sins that enslave
unbelievers, will incur God’s wrath.
• Our bodies were not meant for sexual
immorality, but for the Lord, who has
both created us and called us to live in
sexual purity. His will is that every Christian be sexually pure--in his thoughts
and his words as well as in his actions.
• Therefore it is holy and honorable to
completely avoid sexual immorality—to
repent of it, to flee from it, and to put
it to death in our lives, as we live by the
Spirit. We’ve spent enough time living
like pagans in passionate lust.
• We should not be in close association
with another Christian who persists in
sexual immorality.
• If you entice others to sexual immorality (maybe in the backseat or back
room), Jesus Himself has something
against you!
While it is impossible to avoid the
temptations, it is not impossible to rise
above the sexual immorality. Men need
a battle plan to become a man of sexual
integrity, not of sexual immorality. “God
offers [men] freedom from slavery of
sin through the cross of Christ, and He
created [men’s] eyes and mind with an
ability to be trained and controlled”. One
simply needs to stand up and walk by
God’s power in the right path. [MJ]
Take this test
Here’s a little test you can take. You don’t need a pencil; you just need to be honest
with yourself. Answer yes or no to the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Do you lock on when an attractive woman comes near you?
Do you masturbate to images of other women?
Have you found your wife to be less sexually satisfying?
Are you holding a grudge against your wife—a grudge that gives you a sense of
entitlement?
5. Do you seek out sexually arousing articles or photo spreads in newspapers or
magazines?
6. Do you have a private place or secret compartment that you keep hidden from your
wife?
7. Do you look forward to going away on a business trip?
8. Do you have behaviors that you can’t share with your wife?
9. Do you frequent porn-related sites on the Internet?
10. Do you watch R-rated movies, sexy videos, or the steamy VH1 channel for
gratification?
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you’re lurking at the door or sexual
addiction. You’re inside that door if you can answer yes to the following questions:
38
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Do you watch pay-per-view sexually
explicit TV channels at home or on the
road?
Do you purchase pornography on the
Internet?
Do you rent adult movies?
Do you watch nude dancing?
Do you call 900-numbers for phone sex?
Do you practice voyeurism?
ISBN:
1-5785-6368-2
(paperback)
Publisher:
WaterBrook Press
List price:
$13.99
Thickness:
256 pages
Size:
9.2" x 6.0" x 0.7"
If you said yes to the last six questions,
you very well could be sexually addicted.
When Titus 2:3 admonishes against being “addicted to much wine,” the Greek word
used for “addicted” means to be brought into bondage, much like a slave. There’s
someone who can help break that bondage, and his name is Jesus. [MJ]
I Sell Jesus — dari halaman 29
seperti ini? Bukankah banyak sekali orang
melakukan hal ini tanpa menyadari apa
yang mereka lakukan adalah dosa?
Aku menghentikan langkahku... dan
tanpa sadar aku membuang potato chip
bag dari genggaman tanganku.. dan
memuntahkannya dari dalam mulutku.....
lalu aku menangis, dan berkata pada
Tuhan, “Tuhan ampuni aku karena
hari ini aku telah menghianatiMu dan
menjualMu dengan harga seratus dollar
dan uang itu telah aku pakai pula, the
transaction has already done, the Devil
just won. Sekarang aku tidak mengerti
mengapa pikiran ini tidak timbul sebelum
transaksi itu terjadi... dan mengapa ini
timbul setelah peristiwa ini terjadi....?
Tuhan aku bersyukur karena Kau langsung menegur aku dan mengingatkanku
apa yang baru saja aku lakukan adalah
dosa dan dengan demikian aku tidak
akan melakukan dosa ini lagi apalagi
menjadikannya mata pencaharian buatku,
atau buat cari uang tambahan... Thank
you Lord meskipun aku baru saja jatuh
dalam dosa tapi Engkau mengangkat
aku kembali.. Setelah berkata demikian
aku kini meneruskan langkahku pulang
dengan kerohanian yang lebih dewasa
dan lebih mawas diri betapa dalam hidup
ini setiap saat kita bisa jatuh dalam dosa...
dalam perangkap yang kelihatannya
begitu menyenangkan... padahal di
dalamnya penuh dengan kekotoran dan
penghianatan yang akan menghunjam
bukan hanya tubuh kita tapi juga tubuh
Tuhan kita Yesus Kristus....
Cukup sudah Tuhan kita disalibkan
buat kita sekali—jangan lagi kita mengulang-ulang menyalibkan Tuhan kita
dengan dosa yang kita lakukan..... Malam
sudah gelap gulita, karena matahari telah
terbenam sekian lama, tapi hatiku begitu
terang benderang dengan Firman Tuhan
yang berkata-kata dalam hati dan pikiranku.....! [March 06, 2005/Daniel Loe] [TA]
39
T
tips
by: Janice Atmadja
dibantu oleh:
church members
Stay awake during sermon!!!
What do you do to wake yourself up if you’re starting
to fall asleep? Team Agape menjalankan survey buat tiptip yang bisa membantu kita-kita yang mudah ketiduran.
Ini adalah a couple tips dari church members kita. Enjoy!
o
Om Samuel Ya
Jangan cubit
iduran, pinch yang kuat!
“Kalo hamper ket
skin & pinch HARD!”
kecil-kecil! But grab your
Siapa nih? Oooo....
Fancella!
ke WC sebentar…
“[Saya] jalan keluar…
terus balik”
Om Edgar
“I never get sl
eepy actually
…FOCU
S!”
40
AGAPE
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Ci Debbie
“Yah...
Take not
es lah..."
Om "PresidTehne"
Djohan al jadi
Shellvia (no pic. available)
ay
“[Saya] mengh
emesia…untuk m
presiden Indon
a…”
perbaiki negar
“No comment…saya gak per
nah
ketiduran…”
Ci Doran konsentrasi. Take notes
“Catet da
letin
i belakang bu
di bulletin” (d
a
ad
u
tiap Mingg
yang dikasih se
.)
ke notes. Red
tempat buat ta
Ko Thomas
“I don’t really care
…I just fall asleep
hahahhaha! Saya read Ec
clesiastes, my favo
ri
te book.
Sometimes it does
n’t help, but mos
t of the
time it does!”
Ko Fredd
y
“Saya b
erd
konsent oa: Tuhan…t
olong be
rasi…”
ri
A
apa, in
terest se h! Cari interes saya
tnya
rmonny
kita ng
a itu. B
an
iasanya
Saya ju tuk karena ki
ga ke W
ta ‘gak
C…scot
ngerti.
kodok)
t-ju
20
kalo em X! Just kiddin mp (lompat
g….Yah
ang gak
, tapi
kuat…
ya tidu
r aja…”
41
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ou not
would y til
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eep ‘
think
orning
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a
m
w
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l
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l
t
i
t
ou s
e: In
o chu
ike… y
ou go t
p awak
t
“To kee o to church? L ourself that y n, think wha
y
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g
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o
m
.
t
r
n
e”
i
e
want
en rem
uring s
your lif
h
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.
.
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afterno ur life is for G ver and relate
eli
yo
God or
ing to d
y
r
t
s
i
tor
the Pas
sa
Ci Meris
Lim
Ibu Sara Wangsa
“Kosentrasi! Perhatiin preacher-ny
a. Saya lihatin
gitu…Saya pencet-pencet tangan
sampe sakit. Sebelum sampai gereja, persiapan sen
diri itu important. Niat kita-yah. Itu saja cuk
up.”
"
"
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z
"
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n
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ng g
"Zzzzz
n: Ema
a
h
a
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e
j
(ter
42
Yah! Mudah-mudahan tips-tips
ini membantu kita semua! You
can try one of these tips, according to your taste, sebisanya kita apa. Yang paling penting
itu niat kita pengen ke gereja
dan mendengar firman Tuhan.
Semoga kita semua diberi
kekuatan dari Tuhan. Team
Agape mengucapkan terima kasih buat semua yang sudah contribute ngasih tip-tips ini!
Ini dulu yah. Sekarang Tim
Agape bobo dulu........ [JA]
R
recipe
Ayam Kluyuk
(by Angelia Kusumah)
Bahan utk ayam:
1 1/4 kg ayam (bagian paha atas preferably),
potong dadu 2 1/2 cm
1 kuning & putih telor
tepung maizena/any kind of flour for frying
garam & lada hitam secukupnya
minyak sayur untuk menggoreng
Bahan utk saos:
2 biji bawang putih (iris tipis)
1 butir bawang bombay (iris tipis)
2 butir tomat (dipotong kecil2)
1 sdm cuka
gula & garam secukupnya
Cara memasak:
H
..
.
m
mm
!
y
mm
Yu
Goreng ayam sampai matang (kecoklatan) & gurih
(dgn minyak yg panas), tiriskan. Untuk mendapatkan
hasil gorengan yg ayam lebih gurih, silahkan balur ayam
dgn tepung maizena, lalu celupkan di kocokan putih dan
kuning telor, lalu celupkan kembali di tepung maizena
baru digoreng dlm minyak yg panas.
Ongseng bawang putih sampai wangi. Lalu masukan
bawangbombay, oseng sampai berubah warna sedikit
kecoklatan. Lalu masukan tomat. Setelah itu bumbui dengan
gula, garam (secukupnya) dan masukan 1 sdm cuka.
Oseng2 sebentar sampai matang lalu tuangkan diatas ayam.
43
Bahan Ronde:
150 g tepung ketan
1 sdt garam
125 ml air
1 sdt air kapur sirih
pewarna hijau dan merah
Isi:
Wedang
Ronde
by Wilisyanti Adidjaja
100 g kacang tanah, sangrai, kupas, haluskan
75 g gula pasir
25 g biji wijen, haluskan
1/4 sdt garam
2 sdm air hangat
Air Gula, didihkan, saring:
500 ml air
200 g gula pasir
Air Jahe, didihkan, saring:
1 liter air
8 cm jahe, bakar, memarkan
2 batang serai, memarkan
2 lembar daun pandan, potong-potong
Cara membuat:
* Ronde: aduk semua bahan hingga rata. Bagi menjadi dua bagian,
beri pewarna, aduk rata.
* Isi: Aduk rata semua bahan. Bentuk menjadi bulatan kecil-kecil. Sisihkan.
* Ambil 1 sdm adonan, pipihkan, isi dengan 1 bulatan adonan isi.
Bulatkan adonan. Kerjakan yang sama dengan sisa adonan.
* Didihkan air, rebus bola-bola hingga mengapung. Angkat, tiriskan.
* Rendam bola-bola dalam air gula.
Penyajian:
* Taruh ronde berikut air gula dalam mangkuk-mangkuk saji.
* Tuangi air jahe, sajikan.
Untuk 16 orang
44
ten commandments
God Gives to Me:
God is my inspiration
To face each new born day
He makes my life far brighter
Each step along the way.
He comforts and sustains me
In times I feel despair.
He helps me face each crisis
By always being there.
He is the light that guides me
So I’ll not go astray.
He gives me strength and courage
To help my fears allay.
He gives me hope and confidence
In times of great distress
He shelters me and leads the way
To find new happiness.
He always grants forgiveness
Though sinners that I be.
And with the faults that I possess
I know He still loves me.
Excerpted from a magazine 1937
By Tante Mona
With thanks and love
To God and you all
for kids
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Thank GOD for each new day.
Be thoughtful and kind in what
you say and do.
Share your things cheerfully.
Help family members without
being asked.
Take care of all living things :
people, animals and plants.
Be true to what is really important.
Threat other people’s things as if
they were your own.
Always tell the truth and be
honest.
Be happy for your friends when
good things happen to them.
Show GOD your love by loving
others.
by: Mrs. Shirley Gozali
Prayer for Regeneration
Lord, o Lord, I pray to Thee
Hear your servant’s plea
That the ministry might not end at me
And that your children won’t say
‘Let it be’
O how I long for somebody
Who will come forth and share
the responsibility;
Who will say ‘Here I am, pick me;
‘Pass the baton on to me.’
45
Q
d
r
bible sswo
o puzzle
r
c
quiz ———————————————————————————————
by:
Cici Rachel
Atmadja
DOWN
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
across
1.
2.
3.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
46
Saved her people from
Haman's treachery.
The wisest king in the world.
One of the female judges,
her name means.
Adam and Eve was exiled
from ____.
One of the twelve tribes of
Israel.
The prophet who fled from Jezebel.
Apostle Paul used to be known as ____.
The youngest son of Jesse who became Israel's second king.
Leah's sister.
Annointed the King Saul.
Prophesied the destruction of Israel.
The parable of the good ____.
Jesus prayed here while his disciples fell asleep.
Ruth's mother in law.
Jesus originally had ___ disciples.
The judge who defeated the Midianites with 300 men.
A book in the new testament.
The disciple who asked to touch Jesus' nail wounds.
There were ___ magii.
H
humor ——————————————————————————————
These jokes are taken from www.gcfl.net
"A cheerful heart is good medicine..."
(Proverbs 17:22a)
-The Optimist-
There is a story of identical twins. One was a hope-filled optimist.
“Everything is coming up roses!” he would say. The other twin was a sad and
hopeless pessimist. He thought that Murphy, as in Murphy‛s
Law, was an optimist. The worried parents of the boys
brought them to the local psychologist.
He suggested to the parents a plan to balance the
twins‛ personalities. “On their next birthday, put them
in separate rooms to open their gifts. Give the pessimist
the best toys you can afford, and give the optimist a box
of manure.” The parents followed these instructions and
carefully observed the results.
When they peeked in on the pessimist, they heard him
audibly complaining, “I don‛t like the color of this computer...
I‛ll bet this calculator will break... I don‛t like the game... I
know someone who‛s got a bigger toy car than this...”
Tiptoeing across the corridor, the parents peeked in and saw their
little optimist gleefully throwing the manure up in the air. He was giggling.
“You can‛t fool me! Where there‛s this much manure, there‛s gotta be a pony!”
-The Dishes-
A young man called his mother and announced excitedly
that he had just met a young lady of excellent character and
virtue that interested him very much. What should he do?
His mother had an idea: “Why don‛t you send her flowers,
and on the card invite her to your apartment for a home-cooked
meal?”
He thought this was a great idea, and a week later, the
woman came to dinner. His mother called the next day to see
how things had gone.
“I was totally humiliated,” he moaned. “She insisted on
washing the dishes.”
“What‛s wrong with that?” asked his mother.
“We hadn‛t started eating yet.”
47
-New Watch and Perfume-
The small girl had recently received a new watch
and some perfume, which she was very excited about.
Their family asked the pastor over for dinner. The girl
wanted so badly to tell the pastor about her new gifts,
but her mother insisted she wait until after dinner and
not interrupt at meal time.
Not able to contain her excitement, and not
wanting to disobey, the little girl leaned over to the
pastor during dinner and whispered, “If you hear a
little noise and smell something, it‛s me!”
-Speeding Ticket-
A county traffic policeman recently stopped a woman for exceeding
the posted speed limit. He asked the driver for her name. She said, “I‛m Mrs.
Ladislav Abdulkhashim Zybkcicraznovskaya from the Republic of Uzbekistan,
visiting my daughter at Columbia.”
The cop put away his summons book and pen and said, “Well... OK... but
don‛t let me catch you speeding again.”
-New Book Releases-
- “How to Write Large Books” by Warren Peace
- “The Lion Attacked” by Claude Yarmoff
- “The Art of Archery” by Beau N. Arrow
- “Songs for Children” by Barbara Blacksheep
- “Irish Heart Surgery” by Angie O‛Plasty
- “Desert Crossing” by I. Rhoda Camel
- “School Truancy” by Marcus Absent
- “I Was a Cloakroom Attendant” by Mahatma Coate
- “I Lost My Balance” by Eileen Dover and Phil Down
- “Mystery in the Barnyard” by Hu Flung Dung
- “Positive Reinforcement” by Wade Ago
- “Shhh!” by Danielle Soloud
- “The Philippine Post Office” by Imelda Letter
- “Things to Do at a Party” by Bob Frapples
- “Stop Arguing” by Xavier Breath
- “Raising Mosquitos” by I. Itch
- “Mountain Climbing” by Hugo First
48

Hari Jumat di siang bolong - Indonesian Evangelical Church, USA

Transcription

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