LORD

Transcription

LORD

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editorial —————————————————————————————
Shalom,
saudara-saudari yang dikasihi dalam Kristus. Hari Natal
sudah hampir tiba, dan tentunya kita akan menerima banyak berkat natal ini. Bukan hanya di natal ini kita akan menerima berkat, tetapi
selama sepanjang tahun kita telah menerima banyak berkat dari Tuhan: berkat
dikaruniakan seorang anak, berkat diberikan pekerjaan baru, pasangan hidup,
dan sebagainya. Hal-hal ini tentu bagus adanya karena kita bisa menikmatinya
dan mensyukuri kebaikan Tuhan. Setelah menerima berkat-berkat daripada
Tuhan, kita juga harus ingat kalau kita tetap perlu besandar kepada Tuhan:
bersandar kepada Tuhan dalam membesarkan anak kita, dalam pekerjaan kita,
dan dalam membentuk keluarga yang baru dengan pasangan hidup kita. Kalau
kita tidak bersandar kepada Tuhan dalam berkat-berkat yang kita terima, berkat kita akan menjadi beban kita; misalnya, sewaktu adanya kekacauan dalam
keluarga kita, sebenarnya yang se-maksimum bisa kita lakukan adalah berdoa.
Kalau kita bergantung pada kekuatan sendiri, kita tidak akan bisa memperbaiki
keadaan keluarga kita bahkan kita hanya bisa membuatnya lebih kacau. Bertabah kacaunya keaadaan itu akan menjadi beban yang berat untuk kita. Kalau
kita berdoa dan bersandar kepada kekuatan Tuhan, Tuhan sendiri yang akan
mengubah istri, suami, anak ataupun orang tua kita.
Hal berdoa pun dalam meminta haruslah dengan yang benar. Tuhan pasti mendengarkan doa orang benar karena orang benar tidak akan meminta yang salah,
“… doa orang benar didengar-Nya”(Amsal 15:29). Jadi sebelum meminta sesuatu
haruslah kita menintrospeksi diri kalau kita adalah orang yang benar dan layak
meminta daripada-Nya. Berhati-hatilah karena kalau kita salah meminta dan doa
kita tidak dijawab-jawab oleh Tuhan, kita sendiri yang akan merasakan lelah.
Kelelahan seperti ini kadang bisa membuat kita sangsi (doubt) sama Tuhan
didalam hati kita sehingga pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang tidak layak akan muncul. Kita akan menanyakan kenapa doa kita tidak dijawab-jawab kalau Tuhan
benar-benar memperhatikan kita 24/7? Tidakah dia tahu apa saja kesusahankesusahan yang kita alami?
Saudara-saudari yang dikasihi dalam Kristus. Kristus yaitu Tuhan sendiri telah
datang sekitar 2000 tahun yang lalu. Dia sangat menyayangi saudara dan sauAGAPE — Christmas 2007
1
dari sehingga Dia telah merelakan diri untuk
lahir kedalam dunia yang kelam ini untuk kita
semua. Janganlah kita tertangkap lagi doubt
sama Tuhan ketika Dia datang yang kedua
kalinya. Kalau kita merasa doubt sudah ada
didepan pintu hati kita, hal yang pertama-tama
harus kita lakukan adalah berdoa minta Tuhan
tolong arahkan pikiran dan hati kita kejalan
yang benar. Doubt adalah salah satu tanda
adanya krisis diantara hubungan kita dengan
Tuhan. Maka dari itu hal kedua yang perlu kita
lakukan adalah membaca alkitab dan memperbaiki hubungan kita dengan Tuhan.
Biarlah berkat-berkat yang akan kita terima
natal ini ataupun yang sudah kita terima sepanjang tahun ini bisa kita nikmati dan syukuri
tanpa berasa beban.
Have a Merry Christmas!!!
Redaksi
AGAPE
CHRISTMAS 2007
Penasehat
Ev. Wilson Suwanto
Daniel Loe
Editor
Debbie Wang
Janice Atmadja
Jocelyn Tindage
Linda Zheng
Merisa Halim
Pency Kinnard
Ilustrator/Fotografer/Layout
Alvin Sugianto
Buddy Yusuf
Eva Leony
Irma Prasetyo
Tjandra Afandi
Vincent Yobeanto
Kontributor
Rev. Kristianto Hosea
Ev. Wilson Suwanto
Bina Kusnohadi
David Wangsa
Gamas Sugiarto
Maria Pramudito
Printing
Semiwaty Oei
E-mail Redaksi
[email protected]
Produksi GII Azusa
539 N. Sunset Ave.
Azusa, CA 91702
Telp: (626) 812-0326
http://lax.gii-usa.org
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AGAPE — Christmas 2007
3
focus:
Overcoming
DOUBT
05 Book Review: The Search for Significance
07 Poem: Lord
08 Article: Doubt
11 Article: Sex or Lust
Anda punya usul, kritik, saran, atau apapun yang
berhubungan dengan Agape atau GII Azusa?
Silahkan mengirimnya ke [email protected]
atau memberikannya kepada redaksi.
C
content —————————————————————————
16 Article: Fakta Tentang Saksi Jehovah
19 Role Model: Ruth
30 Tips: 5 Ways - To Be Patient and Kind During Holiday Shopping
31 Cerpen: Winter
39 Parenting: Baby 1st Christmas
50 Christmas Wishlist
52 Children's Corner
54 Menu: Ayam Bakar Limau & Pumpkin Cheesecake
56 Humor
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The Search
for
Significance
Author: Robert S. McGee
“An accurate, biblical self-concept contains both
strength and humility, both sorrow over sin and joy
about forgiveness, a deep sense of our need for God’s
grace and a deep sense of the reality of God’s grace.”
(McGee, “The Search for Significance”)
The Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee
is a book explaining the meaning of our lives in the
Christian point of view. The death of Jesus Christ
affirms our significance to God which gives meaning
to our existence. McGee stresses that the meaning of
life can only be found in Jesus Christ. Only God can
replenish our empty spirits because after all, we are
His creation and He knows us best. I highly recommend this book for both the non-believer and the
believer who is in much need of revival. It is easy to
understand and enlightening as well as comforting.
Overall a great read! This book not only re-directs the
life and mind of the wandering non-believer or the
weary Christian. It also helps them overcome the daily
struggles that come with living in this world of flesh.
For example, the issue of loneliness was discussed
as a social epidemic that plagues the world today. UnAGAPE — Christmas 2007
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like other worldly books that offer methods to relieve
that are only temporary, McGee asserts that only God
can provide everlasting comfort.
This book’s strongest point is that it really is biblicallybased. Verses from the Bible are given under every
instruction to emphasize that the instruction was
God-ordained. Every step-by-step to overcoming our
struggles are accompanied by verses which not only
encourage but reaffirm God’s involvement in every
area of our lives, even in our darkest hours. His hand
extends to us through the power of His words reiterated by McGeeHebrews.4:14-16
Therefore since we have a great high priest who has
gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do
not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without
sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need.
In reading McGee’s book, not only did I find guidance,
I also found comfort that can only be explained to
have come from Jesus Christ.
McGee discusses many other struggles that inhibit
the Christian or the non-believer from coming to God
and finding fulfillment in their lives. He discusses fear
of rejection that holds so many people captive- “Our
fear of rejection will control us to the degree by which
we base our self-worth on the opinions of others
rather than on our relationship with God. In Galatians
“In reading McGee’s book, not only did I find
guidance, I also found comfort that can only be
explained to have come from Jesus Christ.
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1:10, Paul drew the line between seeking to please
God and please others. We can not please both. We
please one or the other.”
God’s answer to this is Justification and Reconciliation. Both of these are Biblical doctrines which are
then discussed in depth by McGee. (If you want to
know more about it, I highly recommend getting a
copy of the text).
McGee also discusses the human mechanisms that
we employ in effort to overcome these struggles
without God. One of them is our belief in the Blame
Game- the myth that those who fail are unworthy
of love and deserve to be punished. McGee replies
that there is no condemnation in those who are in
Christ Jesus. God’s answer to the blame game is
the doctrine of propitiation: Jesus Himself, who has
done nothing wrong has been punished in our stance.
God’s answer to erasing our shame and our guilt lies
in what McGee summarizes in one word as regeneration. Again for further details I encourage you to get a
printed copy of the text.
In reading McGee’s book, I became convicted of
God’s involvement in every aspect of our lives. God
really has written everything we need in the Word of
God which we have now as a compilation called the
Bible. The book reminded me that God’s Word is a
living word, active and audible if only we open our
hearts and minds to God.
To help us with the conforming of our mind to the Lord
Jesus Christ, McGee provides in the book a study
guide for those of us who are repetition learners. With
a final note, McGee leaves us with this verseAnd do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:2
May this book bring you blessings and comfort only
Jesus can give.
God bless,
Janice
LORD
by Daniel loe
Lord,
I pray You one thing
Please, don’t give me any love.
for,
When it comes to me
It’s turn to be wrong,
forbidden and sinful.
Lord,
I beg You
One last thing
Please, have mercy on me
and grant me Your Agape Love
for,
Your Agape Love
Ask nothing in return
So that my heart won’t create
any evil and tormented love.
yet,
I still feel the warmth of Thy Love
which is,
give me peace in my mind,
and beauty in my heart.
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Doubt
by Cheryl Stotesbery
Doubt is something all Christians experience. When
bad things happen to us, we wonder why God isn’t
there making it all better. When people ask us questions about God that we can’t answer, doubt rears its
ugly head. How do we overcome doubt and believe in
what we can’t see?
It’s first important to understand what causes a
Christian to doubt God. Perhaps the primary cause
is Satan. (Genesis 3:1-6) Just as God, Jesus and the
angels work in a spiritual realm to draw us heaven
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ward, Satan and his demons work to drag us away.
One of their weapons is to plant the seeds of doubt.
When we doubt the existence of God, the power of
God, the love of God, or the Sacrifice of Christ, we
give the enemy a foothold in our minds.
Once Satan has a foothold, he has an invitation to
work away at our mind. We’ve given him permission
to do so by agreeing with him that there is cause for
doubt. At this point, we have a choice, to go on agreeing and be pulled away from God or to seek help in
pulling out the weeds of doubt. We don’t give up our
feelings of doubt right away; we withdraw the invitation that we gave to Satan by our agreement with him.
Once we decide to seek the truth, we regain control
of our minds and can pursue those things that would
reassure us in our faith.
Related to doubt, but not quite the same is the
state of unbelief. Doubt says, “I don’t think that can
happen.” Unbelief says, “There is no way that can
happen.” Zacharias was an example of unbelief.
The angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him
that his wife would conceive, even though she was
beyond childbearing years. (Luke 1:18-20) He refused
to believe even with an angel standing in front of him!
Unbelief is what doubt grows into. Somewhere within
Zacharias was a preconceived notion that there are
limits to what God can do. When confronted with a
miracle, the seeds of doubt bloomed in Zacharias’
mind.
This point is important because we never know what
God has planned for us. What if He comes to you with
a miracle someday and you lose out because your
seeds of doubt bloom into unbelief? We must always
guard against doubt. All around us is testimony to the
power of God. The delicate world that is our habitat
and the amazing bodies that we live in testify to a
Creator everyday.
The world will try to tell you that the notion of a Creator is foolishness. (1 Corinthians 1:18) Some people
will try to make you feel silly or even stupid for your
faith. For all of us who are Christians, there was a
reason why we chose to follow Christ. When others
belittle us or avoid us because of our faith, it is important to remember why we chose Christ over the things
of the world. James gives sound advice:
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature
and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you
lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given
to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not
doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the
sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should
not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he
is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
(James 1:2-8)
Spiritual instability will cause the seeds of doubt to
bloom. To combat this, we must be diligent students
of Christ. Just like the disciples, we must follow
Christ, learning His teachings and learning His ways
if we are to ever become stable in our faith. How can
anyone make a wise choice if he is uniformed? How
can anyone make a decision about something she
knows nothing about? Before you can doubt, you
must first examine all the evidence. To do so, you
must know the Word of God and the claims of Christ.
To know these things, you must study and discuss the
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teachings, seeking clear interpretation from knowledgeable teachers. Only when we have done this can
we fairly decide whether there is room for doubt. To
do otherwise is to allow someone else to decide for
you.
The Bible gives us instruction on how to deal with
doubt. In Judges 6:36-40, Gideon put God to a test
asking Him to show a sign. Gideon threw out a fleece
on the ground and asked God to surround it with the
morning’s dew but let the fleece remain dry. Gideon’s
challenge was met and the fleece remained dry.
When Christians ask God for a sign now, it’s called
throwing out a fleece. You should be cautioned,
though, not to test God frequently. He demands
faith and putting Him to the test on everything is not
evidence of faith.
Acts 17:11-12 encourages us to search the Scripture
for answers. There is nothing new under the sun
and God’s Word gives us instruction on everything.
When you know the Word of God, then you have the
knowledge to decide about its validity. The answer to
any question is in the Word, you only need to know
where to look. If you don’t know, a mature Christian
can help you. Seek the help of those that can guide
you to answers.
Prayer is the best way to get answers. When we
reach out to God in prayer and take our doubts and
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concerns to Him, He gives us answers and guides
us to help. Don’t try and hide your doubt from Him,
question Him and seek answers. When the disciple,
Thomas, heard of the risen Christ, he refused to
believe until he touched the wounds of Christ himself.
(John 20:25-31) When we ask Christ to let us see His
wounds and prove His victory over death, He shows
us in amazing ways. Don’t withhold anything when
you speak with the Lord, He answers our sincere
questions.
The brilliant mathematician Blaise Pascal (1632-1662)
addressed the issue of doubt in a work of Christian
apologetics. He came to the conclusion that while
God could not be proved or disproved conclusively,
that it was safer to wager on God’s existence. If, after
death, the believer is wrong, he has lost nothing.
However, if, after death, the non-believer discovers
he is wrong, he pays for his error for eternity. This is
known as Pascal’s Wager and it addresses the issue
of doubt nicely. If all other attempts to overcome doubt
fail, you are still safer to believe than to not believe.
Edited By: David Wangsa
Sex or
Lust
1. DUKE RAYNALD III
There once lived a duke named
Raynald III, who lived during
the fourteenth century. Raynald
III had lived a life of indulgence
and was extremely overweight.
In fact, he was commonly called
“Crassus” which means “fat”. After
a violent quarrel, Raynald’s younger
brother Edward led a successful
revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him.
Instead he built a room around
him in the Nieuwkerk Castle and
promised him he could regain his
freedom as soon as he was able to
leave the room. The room had a
near-normal size door and it was
not locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size. To regain
his freedom, he needed to lose
weight. But Edward knew his older
brother, and each day he sent him
a variety of delicious foods. Instead of trying to lose weight so
he can leave the room, he instead
grew fatter. He stayed in the
room for ten years, till his brother
died in battle. But by then his
health was so ruined that he died
within a year, a prisoner of his own
appetite.
Many men and women today are
prisoners to their appetite for
lust. That’s right not only men,
women are not immune to the
snare of lust. Like Raynald, they
look free, maybe even happy.
They’re doing what they want and
what feels good. But the sad truth
is when we indulge in a life of sin
and do whatever feels good, we’re
not free. We’ve slaves to our sin.
2. IS SEX SAME AS LUST?
Before we moved any further let
us first get the biblical understanding of lust. Is lust a sin? Is
sex a sin? Is sex equal to lust?
Let us see the biblical verse that
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is often used when a pastor marry
a couple. Genesis 2: 24, “For this
reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united
to his wife, and they will become
one flesh”. In addition, in Genesis
9:7 God commanded mankind as
follows, “Be fruitful and … multiply”. Based on these verses we
can conclude that God is pro-sex!
Moreover, he invented sex. Song
of Songs is an entire book in the
Bible dedicated to celebrating
pure sex in marriage.
God gave us sex drive. Based on
these, here are few examples of
what lust is not:
• It’s not lust to be attracted to
someone or notice that he or she
is good-looking.
• It’s not lust to anticipate and
be excited about having sex within
marriage.
• It’s not lust to experience
sexual temptation.
fore marriage? Is it extra marital
relationship? I think these two
examples are pretty obvious. How
about Internet pornography or
sexually involved & active with a
boyfriend or girlfriend? Maybe
these examples are also still
pretty clear. How about masturbation? Joshua Harris, a pastor
of a church outside Washington
D.C., have a simple definition for
lust: “Craving sexually what God
has forbidden”. Let me further
quote his statement, “To lust is
to want what you don’t have and
weren’t meant to have. Lust goes
beyond attraction, an appreciation
of beauty, or even a healthy desire
for sex – it makes these desires
more important than God. Lust
wants to go outside God’s guidelines to find satisfaction”. I think
according to this definition all of
the above examples can easily be
included into the lust category.
The important thing is how do we
respond to the urges or desires
mention above. A sexual thought
that come out into your mind isn’t
necessarily lust, but it can easily
become lust if it’s entertained and
dwelled on.
3. NOT EVEN A HINT
What does the bible say about
lust? What is God’s standard when
it comes to lust? How high is God
standard regarding our purity? Is
it ok to lust just once in a while?
After all it is part of our biology
to have strong sex drive, God will
probably allow us to lust occasion-
What is lust then? Is it sex be12
ally as long as no body got hurt,
right?
Well let see what the bible has to
say about this in Ephesians 5:3:
“But among you there must not be
even a hint of sexual immorality
or of any kind of impurity, or of
greed.”
That’s right God demand us not
to even have a hint of lust. Is God
reasonable to have this demand?
Does He know what He was asking?
God knows that lust never stays at
the level of “just a hint”. Once you
lust upon something or someone
and you fulfill that lust, the next
time you do it you won’t feel the
same kind of excitement anymore.
You or the lust will always want
more to satisfy its desire or excitement. In Ephesians 4:19, Paul
describes this endless cycle of
lust: “Having lost all sensitivity,
they have given themselves over
to sensuality so as to indulge in
every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.”
I want to quote Joshua Harris’
statement about this particular
fact:
“Even when you indulge in every
kind of impurity, you’re still filled
with a continual lust. You won’t be
able to fantasize enough to quench
lust. You won’t be able to sleep
with enough people. You won’t be
able to view enough pornography.
You can gorge yourself on lust, but
you’re always going to be hungry.
You’ll be trapped in a never ending
pursuit of wrong desires --- always
reaching for something that cannot be grasped.”
Hopefully by now you are convinced that Sex within marriage
is good, Lust is bad & can never
be satisfied and God’s standard is
“Not even a hint”. Now the next
question is do you want to be
freed from it?
4. DO YOU WANT TO BE
FREED FROM LUST?
Most of us Christians after committing sexual sin would feel down,
unclean and guilty. Usually after
that we would pray to God, ask
forgiveness and promised not to
do it again. Unfortunately, several days pass by, we forgot our
promised and we fall into sexual
sin again. And then this cycle continues to be the history of many
Christians. Does this sound familiar?
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In one of C.S. Lewis book, he told
us of a story of a ghost of a man
afflicted by lust. Lust is incarnated in the form of a red lizard that
sits on his shoulder and whispers
seductively in his ear. When the
man despairs about the lizard, an
angle offers to kill it for him. But
the fellow is torn between loving
his lust and to be freed from it.
He fears that the death of the
lust will kill him. He makes excuse
after excuse to the angel, trying
to keep the lizard he says he does
not want.
Finally, the man agrees to let the
angel seize and kill the lizard. The
angel grasps the reptile, breaks its
neck, and throws it to the ground.
Once the spell of lust is broken,
the ghostly man is gloriously remade into a real and solid being.
And the lizard, rather than dying,
is transformed into a breathtaking stallion. Weeping tears of joy
and gratitude, the man mounts the
horse and they soar into the heavens.
Do you feel like you are torn between wanting to let go of lust
desires, but at the same time feel
you cannot live without it? Are
you tired of living in this vicious
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cycle of falling into the same lust
sin over and over again? God has in
stores far greater thing that what
lust can offer. Lust can offer fun
or excitement for a season, but
its consequences that follow are
devastating. Lust can affect your
spiritual life, family life, financial
life. Even worse lust can affect
negatively people around you. Job
31:11-12 (NLT Version) said: “For
lust is a shameful sin, a crime
that should be punished. It is a
devastating fire that destroys to
hell. It would wipe out everything
I own.” God however offers us
peace, hope and eternal pleasures.
Psalm 16:11 says: “You have made
known to me the path of life; you
will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at
your right hand”. Are you ready
to replace a life of guilt of shame
with a life of peace and eternal
pleasure?
5. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Just as we have discussed earlier,
God’s standard for sexual immorality or impurity is “Not even a hint”.
Do you feel this is an overwhelmingly high standard? This quickly
brings our might and strength into
an end. Don’t feel bad if you are
thinking this way. We need God’s
strength and power and grace
to achieve this standard. This is
clearly something only God can
bring about in our life. You will find
His strength in your weakness.
If you are living victorious life in
this area remember that it is not
because of your strength or might
but it is because of God’s grace.
him about his own areas of temptation.
A lot of Christians know that lust
is a constant temptation in their
life and say they want to change.
However unlike Andrew, they have
never taken the time to think
through how the process temptation unfolds for them. Many ChrisLet us now see some practical ways tians know that they are constantly being tempted when they
on how to fight sexual immoralisee certain cable channel after
ties:
midnight, but they never consider
of cutting their cable subscription.
5a. Where Am I Weakest and
Many Christians know that when
What Can I do?
they are together with their girlOne night two guys went to rent
friend or boyfriend in the evening
a video. At the door to the video
without anyone else are constantly
store one of the guys, Andrew,
tempted to get physical in their
stopped and said, “I’ll wait out
intimacy, but they never consider
here.” The other guy, Joshua,
or not willing to avoid that kind of
asked why he did not want to go
situation. Many Christians know
in. “I don’t want to go in“, Andrew
replied. He explained that God had when they watch MTV channel,
convicted him about looking at the they are constantly being fed
explicit covers of many videos. His with celebrities gossips, sex-filled
life style and divorced-glorifying
way of fighting back was not even
story, but they refuse to move
to enter. Joshua knew Andrew
their finger to switch to CNN or
felt a little silly standing outside
the video store waiting for Joshua Fox News channel. Many Christian
Men know when they see lingerie
to bring different videos to the
ads in the newspaper their mind
window to have him help make a
selection. But that did not matter starts undressing those women in
the ads, but they refuse to throw
to Andrew. He was seeking to be
obedient to what God was showing away those ads section. Instead
continued to page 26
15
FAKTA
TENTANG
SAKSI JEHOVAH
Pendiri:
Charles T. Russell
(1852-1916)
Percetakan:
Watchtower Bible and
Tract Society
(berdiri sejak 1896)
Alkitab:
New World Translation
16
Ajaran Saksi Jehovah:
1. Menolak adanya Allah Tritunggal
2. Menolak Yesus sebagai Tuhan
3. Menolak adanya Roh Kudus
4. Menolak keselamatan oleh
anugerah
5. Menolak kebangkitan Yesus
6. Menolak adanya Neraka
7. Yang bisa diselamatkan hanya
144.000 orang
Ajaran Saksi Jehovah:
1. Menolak adanya Allah Tritunggal
Mereka menganggap ajaran Tritunggal berasal dari
Iblis, bukan dari Alkitab.
Mereka percaya hanya ada satu pribadi Allah, namanya: Yehovah.1
Fakta: Alkitab dengan jelas mengajarkan keberadaan
Allah Tritunggal (baca Kej. 1:26, Mat. 3:16; 28:19,
Yoh. 14:16; 15:26)
2. Menolak Yesus sebagai Tuhan
Bagi mereka, Yesus adalah ciptaan Allah, bukan Pencipta.Yesus seperti seorang dewa yang lebih tinggi
dari manusia, namun lebih rendah daripada Allah.2
Fakta: Alkitab (PL dan PB) menegaskan bahwa Yesus adalah Tuhan (Yes. 9:6, Mik. 5:2, Yoh. 1:14, 8:58)
3. Menolak adanya Roh Kudus
Bagi mereka, Roh Kudus adalah seperti Aliran kuasa
dari Tuhan. Ini bisa digambarkan seperti Angin yang
punya kekuatan, tetapi tidak mempunyai kepribadian.3
Fakta: Alkitab menegaskan bahwa Roh Kudus adalah
Allah (Mat. 28:19), dan Ia mempunyai perasaan
seperti Bapa dan Tuhan Yesus (Ef. 4:30). Roh Kudus
adalah Pribadi Allah, bukan hanya aliran kuasa seperti angin.
4. Menolak keselamatan oleh anugerah
Keselamatan datang dengan menjadi anggota
organisasi Saksi Yehovah dan setia melayani dalam
organisasi itu.4
Fakta: Keselamatan terjadi ketika seseorang percaya
pada Yesus Kristus sebagai Tuhan dan Juruselamat
(Rom. 10:9). Ini adalah hubungan antara setiap orang
dengan Tuhan Yesus, bukan dengan organisasi atau
gereja.
5. Menolak kebangkitan Yesus.
Mereka percaya bahwa hanya roh Yesus yang bangkit, bukan tubuhNya
Waktu Yesus menampakkan diri kepada murid-muridNya, Ia hanya menggunakan tubuh bayangan!5
Fakta: Murid Yesus bernama Tomas pernah meragukan fakta kebangkitan. Ia berkata kalau ia belum
menyentuh bekas luka paku di tangan Yesus dan
di tulang rusukNya, ia tidak akan percaya. Yesus
mengundang dia untuk menyentuh bekas lukaNya
(Yoh. 20:27). Yesus tidak pernah menggunakan tubuh
bayangan. Kalau Ia menggunakan tubuh bayangan,
tentu Ia tidak akan mengundang Tomas untuk menyentuh!
Selain itu, setelah Yesus bangkit, Ia makan bersama
dengan murid-muridNya (Yoh. 21:12-15). Kalau tubuh
Yesus hanya bayangan, bagaimana Ia bisa makan?
Tentu ini membuktikan bahwa tubuh kebangkitan
Yesus adalah tubuh jasmani, bukan bayangan.
6. Menolak adanya Neraka
Bagi mereka, istilah “Neraka” hanya berarti: kuburan.6
Fakta: Dalam Luk. 12:5 Yesus berkata bahwa Tuhan
sanggup melemparkan jiwa ke dalam neraka. Neraka
diciptakan Tuhan untuk menghukum Iblis dan malaikat-malaikatnya (Mat. 25:41). Namun orang-orang
yang menolak Kristus juga mendapat hukuman kekal
di tempat yang sama, yaitu: neraka.
7. Yang bisa diselamatkan hanya 144.000 orang
Hanya sekelompok 144.000 orang yang bisa ke sorga
dan memerintah bersama Kristus. Hanya sekelompok
orang itu yang benar-benar mengalami lahir-baru.7
Fakta: Mereka melakukan salah-tafsir terhadap
Wahyu 14:1-3. Wahyu 7:4 menegaskan bahwa jumlah
144.000 datang dari 12 suku Israel yang masingmasing berjumlah 12.000 orang. Tentu saja, maksud
Alkitab bukanlah hanya orang-orang suku Israel yang
diselamatkan. Jumlah itu hanya melambangkan
17
bahwa orang-orang Perjanjian Lama juga beroleh
keselamatan dalam Kristus. Angka-angka demikian
melambangkan kegenapan, dan tidak boleh dilihat
secara harafiah. Kalau harafiah, tentu sangat sedikit
sekali orang yang diselamatkan. Dari 6-7 milyar manusia dari zaman dulu sampai sekarang sampai nanti,
hanya 144.000 orang yang diselamatkan?
kecil bagaimana Saksi Jehovah membelokkan terjemahan Alkitab untuk mendukung ajaran mereka sendiri.
Kiranya Tuhan mencurahkan anugerahNya bagi begitu
banyak pengikut ajaran ini. Kita berdoa biarlah Tuhan
boleh memimpin mereka kembali ke jalan yang benar;
ke dalam pengenalan yang benar akan Anak Allah,
yaitu: Yesus Kristus Tuhan kita. Amin.
Consulted Source: Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the
Catatan:
Cults (Minneapolis, Bethany House Publishers, 1997).
Saksi Jehovah mempunyai terjemahan Alkitab sendiri,
yaitu: New World Translation (NWT). Terjemahan
1 Let God Be True, Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and
NWT adalah terjemahan yang keliru, tidak didasarkan
Tract Society, 1946 ed., 100)
pada pengetahuan bahasa asli yang benar. Terjemahan mereka dibelokkan agar sesuai dengan ajaran
2 The Truth Shall Make You Free, Brooklyn: Watch-
mereka. Maka NWT tidak pernah diterima sebagai
tower Bible and Tract Society, 1943, 47)
terjemahan objektif oleh kalangan manapun kecuali
oleh kalangan Saksi Jehovah.
3 Let God Be True, 108
Perhatikan perbedaan antara NIV dan NWT dalam
Yohanes 1:1
4 The Watchtower, February 15, 1983: 12
NIV: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God
5 From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, 144
NWT: In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was a god
6 Let God Be True, 98-99
Saksi Jehovah (NWT) menganggap Yesus sebagai
“a god” atau dewa. Padahal semua terjemahan (NIV,
King James, NRSV, NASB, dsb) menerjemahkan kata
itu sebagai “God” atau ALLAH. Ini hanyalah contoh
18
7 Let God Be True, 136.
Who was this lady?
Ruth was a daughter of Moabites tribe, who were descendants
of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Her name means “Friendship” or
“Lovely Friend”. Ruth’s in-laws are Naomi and Elimelech, who had 2
sons: Mahlon and Kilion. Other than Ruth, Naomi had another daughter in-law, named Orpah. After the death of all males in her family,
Naomi plan to go back to the city of Bethlehem, which they left before due to famine. This city’s name means “House of Bread”.
Naomi told the 2 daughters in-law to go back to each family, however Ruth choose to stay with her mother in-law. (Ruth 1:16-17).
This is when the fairy tale began, to make it short: Ruth met and got
married with a great guy named Boaz, and has a son named Obed,
who is the father of Jesse, King David’s father.
What’s so special about her?
1. She’s the great grandmother
of King David, the greatest king
in Israel’s history, a man of God’s
own heart.
2. Her name was mentioned
in genealogy of Jesus Christ in
Matthew 1:5. There are 4 other
women mentioned in Matthew
chapter 1, they are:
Tamar, Rahab, Uria’s Wife (Batsheba), and Mary
3. Ruth and Esther are the only
two women, whose names used
as title of a book in the Holly
Bible.
4. Ruth 4:14-15 : _______________
(so true.., breaking the Chinese
Philosophy ^___^)
Can we be a lady just like her?
Five Qualities of a Godly woman:
1. Lady of Reckless Abandonment
a. Reckless Abandonment =
totally surrender ourselves to
the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
b. Ruth Reckless Abandon
Key Scriptures: Ruth 2-4; Matthew 1:5
Ruth
19
ment:
Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said, “Do
not urge me to leave you
or turn back from following
you; for where you go, I will
go, and where you stay, I will
stay. Your people shall be my
people, and your God, my
God.”
she was a stranger from Moab to
cause her to fear while she was
gleaning in a strange field. Ruth
was the ‘new girl in town,’ an
obvious newcomer, but she was
not afraid to walk into a totally
unfamiliar situation.
Ruth was a widow, but she did
not use her time sponsoring pity
parties for all unhappy single
women to gather and compare
the misery of datelessness. When
she and Naomi moved back to
Bethlehem, Ruth did not waste a
moment feeling sorry for herself.
She went right to work. Instead of
being drained by her discouraging circumstances, she took advantage of them and diligently
embraced each day.
Ruth had just such a determined
heart, and the Lord honored her
faith to move away from all that
was familiar and take a journey
toward the completely unknown.
Ruth did not allow her friends, her
old surroundings, nor her culture’s
dead faith to keep her from running hard after God. She did not
use the excuse of a dark past to
keep her from a bright future that
began with her firs critical choice:
reckless abandonment to Jesus
Life is satisfying only when you diliChrist.
gently serve the Lord, whatever
your circumstances. (John 10:10)
2. Lady of Diligence
Understanding God’s promised
1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore,
provision for widows, Naomi sent
my dear brothers, stand firm. Let
Ruth to gather grain in the field
nothing move you. Always give
of a kinsman. Ruth was willing to
yourselves fully to the work of the
use her life working diligently at
Lord, because you know that
whatever her Lord called her to
your labor in the Lord is not in
do. She would not be paralyzed
vain.”
by her lack of a husband. She
also did not allow the fact that
There’s no time in your life more
20
perfect than now. Single Christian
women are not Sleeping Beauties
who wait for Prince Charming to
kiss her and wake her up.
1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whether,
then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God.”
Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you
do, work at it with all your heart,
as working for the Lord, not men.”
3. Lady of Faith
When Naomi told her 2 daughters in-law to go back to their
own families, Oprah finally followed her advice after Naomi
gave reasons that she would not
have any other children to be
married to those 2 ladies. Oprah
thinks logically, since it’s more
“market” available in Moab
among her own people, rather
than be a stranger in Israel.
However, Ruth remained with
Naomi and her God. Ruth certainly must have considered the
probability of remaining single
if she went with Naomi. Even
though it promised no prospects
of a husband, she chose to follow Naomi and her God back
to Bethlehem. Ruth chose to
trust God with her future. She
looked not with sensual sight,
but through “eyes of faith.” Even
though Ruth was young in her
faith in the God of Israel, she
chose to trust with her heart for
the future her eyes could not yet
see.
Remember, God has already
taken care of your greatest need
– your salvation – and as Romans
8:32 remind us, “ He who did not
spare His own Son, but delivered
Him up for us all, how will he not
also with Him freely give us all
things?
Whenever the “unanswered
question” captures your mind,
take a moment to commit that
care where it belongs, I Peter 5:7
“Casting your anxiety on Him,
because He cares for you.”
4. Lady of Virtue
One of life’s most costly and
beautiful objects is born out of
pain and irritation – the pearl. In
fact, the greater the irritation, the
more valuable is the pearl.
Like the oyster, Ruth experienced
many irritations of trials in
21
her young life. She grieved the
deaths of her father-in-law and
husband. She bravely faced the
turmoil of change in the direction of her life as well as move
to a foreign land with a bitter
mother in law. When she arrived
in that strange land, the trials
did not end. She was immediately thrown into a new working
situation among total strangers
with new customs. Through all
this stress, her new faith began
to wrap itself around the painful
situations. The by-product was
a pearl from the washbasin of
Moab.
Don’t view the trials as irritating
grains of sand to be discarded
as quickly as possible. Realize
that God has them there to create something beautiful in you.
James 1:2-4.
He’s developing pearls of character in your life.
5. Lady of Patience
Waiting isn’t easy when we are
young, and it can be terribly hard
as we get older.
At certain point of our life, we are
waiting for something or some22
one. But most important part is to
wait for God’s perfect timing in
every aspect of our lives.
Ruth was a wonderful example
of a Lady of Patience. Ruth did
not allow her circumstances or
lack of male companionship
to cause her to be impatient.
Instead she concentrated on
developing companionship with
her heavenly Father and chose
to let Him bring a husband to her
if He saw fit. Concern over the
ticking of her “biological clock”
did not make her fearful of the
future. Instead she concentrated
on being a lady of character, not
on getting a man. She took one
day at a time, knowing that God
was not bound by circumstances
nor her age. She used the wait to
become the woman God wanted her to be. At the end of this
personal preparation God chose
to provide her with a husband. In
Ruth 4:13, we see the end to their
love story, “So Boaz took Ruth,
and she became his wife…”
God did not supply all my wants,
instead through the waiting time,
He changed my wants and supplied all my needs, better than I
could have imagined.
God would not leave us waiting
any longer than necessary. We
only need to patiently wait on
God’s timing. You don’t know
what tomorrow holds, but you do
know who holds tomorrow. Put
your hope in God.
may have made.
Source:
• Life Application Study Bible NIV
• Women of the Bible by Ann
Spangler & Jean E Syswerda
• Lady in Waiting by Debby
Jones & Jackie Kendall
Conclusion:
To some people, the book of
Ruth may be just a nice story
Women of the Bible – Ruth
about a girl who was fortunate,
July 14, 2007 – IEC Azusa Youth
but in reality, the events reFellowship
corded in Ruth were part of
God’s preparations for the births
of David and of Jesus, the promised Messiah. Just as Ruth was
unaware of this larger purpose in
her life, we will not know the purpose and importance of our lives
until we are able to look back
from the perspective of eternity.
We must make our choices with
God’s eternal values in mind.
Taking moral shortcuts and living
for short-range pleasures are not
good ways to move ahead. Because Ruth’s faithful obedience,
her life and legacy were significant even though she could not
see all the results. Live in faithfulness to God, knowing the significance of your life will extend
beyond your lifetime. The rewards
will outweigh any sacrifice you
23
Sex or Lust - continued from page 15
of anticipating and being on their
guard, they’re surprised by the
same attack over and over.
Do you know precisely where your
weak points are? And more important, do you have a specific plan
not only for defending yourself,
but also for actually taking proactive measures to protect yourself
from lust?
Your problem is unique and so is
your lust triggers. Just because
your friend never gains any weight
when he or she eats a lot of meat,
it does not mean you won’t gain any
weight when you eat a lot of meat.
Your weakness is different from
other people’s weakness. You have
to spend quite some time figuring
out specific situations and objects
in your life that can easily entrap
you in the sexual temptation. Once
you find out your specific triggers, you can create a custom plan
specifically for you to avoid the
temptation.
Let me list out some lust triggers
for you to consider:
1. Time of day. Are you more
susceptible to lust when you wake
up or go to bed, after work when
24
you are tired?
2. Tempting locations. A friend’s
house where you know there’s pornography? Video Rental place? In
the beach?
3. Television. Nowadays our TV
is filled with sex-themed commercial. From lingerie all the way
to burger’s commercial, you could
find sex-themed commercial in
all these industries. Be alert to
these commercials. Immediately
switch to some safe channel, such
as CSPAN or CNN, when you start
noticing certain suggestive commercial. Some people have decided
not to watch TV at all if their wife
is not around. Even be more alert
when you have paid cable channels.
Some people even cancel their
cable subscription all together to
avoid seeing some porn movie in
their cable channels.
4. The Internet. Besides being
“window to the world”, the Internet, unfortunately is also window
to many impurities. For many men
and women, the Internet is a constant battle ground. Internet pornography is a daily ensnarement of
sexual temptation. If this is your
situation, don’t lose hope. Many
men and women have found victory
over this specific temptation. Do
not allow sin to gain a foothold.
Be radical. Don’t go on-line alone
late at night or at any time when
you’re feeling weak. Install parental control to your computer and
have your spouse or trusted friend
secure it with his/her password.
Put your computer in the living
room. Position your computer monitor to face toward door so others
can see what they’re viewing when
they walk by. If all has failed, cancel your Internet subscription.
5. In public. When you are out
in public, guard your eyes. Immodestly dressed men and women
are always going to be around
us. We have to choose to honor
God with our eyes and not gaze
on others lustfully. A girl named
Tatiana told her story of how God
showed her that her “harmless”
pastime of checking out guys was
really a dangerous hobby, fueled by lust. Another girl named
Lauren confessed, “I have never
been in a relationship in which my
eyes haven’t wandered, looking for
something better. It truly scares
me, because I know if I don’t
stop now I’ll do it even after God
blesses me with a godly husband.
This is a real struggle for me. I
literally have to look the other
way.” Remember a Chinese proverb
that says, “You cannot prevent the
birds from flying over your head,
but you can prevent them from
building nests in your hair.” You
cannot control which people that
you are going to encounter in your
daily life, but you can control your
eyes and mind from undressing
them and having sexual fantasy in
your mind.
The list above of course not the
whole list of all the things or situation that can trigger lust. You
have to spend time yourselves
figuring out these things yourself.
But whatever the trigger is, you
have to be willing to do some action to avoid yourself from it. Canceling cable subscription or canceling the Internet seems like a
bit extreme. However, sometimes
radical actions are needed to free
you from the grip of sexual sins.
In Matthew 5:29-30 said, “If
your right eye causes you to sin,
gouge it out and throw it away. It
is better for you to lose one part
of your body than for your whole
body to be thrown into hell. And if
your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away. It is
better for you to lose one part of
your body than for your whole
25
body to go into hell”. These two
verses are obviously not suggesting you to do body mutilation.
These two verses, however, are
suggesting you to do whatever
things necessary to prevent yourself from doing evil.
find in the bible, cuts through the
confusion and hazy half-truths
that our sin generates. It reveals
our wrong desires, corrects our
selfish human thinking. It points us
to God’s goodness and faithfulness
when we’re tempted to forget.
5b. The Sword of the Spirit
Here are several scriptures that
can help you in your battle against
lust:
After you learn the specific lust
triggers in your life and learn how
to deal with it, your mind will no
longer be fed with new things or
objects to play around. However,
our mind can easily, pull out something which we’ve seen 20 years
ago. That’s why we have to learn
how to combat the lies of lust with
the truth of God’s word.
Ephesians 6:17 calls the Word of
God the “sword of the Spirit” Your
Bible is no lifeless book. It has
power. When you read it, speak it,
and memorize it, the Holy Spirit
uses it against sin like an offensive
weapon. Hebrews 4:12 says:
“For the word of God is living and
active. Sharper than any doubleedge sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow; it judges the thoughts
and attitudes of the heart.”
The Word of God, which we can
26
Lie: A little sinful fantasizing
won’t hurt
Truth:
1. “To set the mind on the flesh is
death, but to set the mind on the
Spirit is life and peace” (Romans
8:6, ESV)
2. “Do not be deceived: God is not
mocked, for whatever one sows,
that will he also reap. For the one
who sows to his own flesh will from
the flesh reap corruption, but the
one who sows to the Spirit will
from the Spirit reap eternal life”
(Galatians 6:7-8, ESV)
3. “But put on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make no provision for
the flesh, to gratify its desires”
(Romans 13:14, ESV).
Lie: Taking radical action against
sin isn’t necessary
Truth:
1. “If your right eye causes you
to sin, gouge it our and throw it
away. It is better for you to lose
one part of your body than for
your whole body to be thrown into
hell. And if your right hand causes
you to sin, cut it off and throw it
away. It is better for you to lose
one part of your body than for
your whole body to go into hell”
(Matthew 5:29-30).
2. “Flee the evil desires of youth,
and pursue righteousness, faith,
love and peace, along with those
who call on the Lord out of a pure
heart” (2 Timothy 2:22)
Lie: God won’t mind a little compromise
Truth:
1. “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity,
lust, evil desires and greed, which
is idolatry. Because of these, the
wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:5-6)
2. “But among you there must not
be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity,
or of greed, because these are
improper for God’s holy people”
(Ephesians 5:3)
Lie: It’s my body. I can do what I
want with it
Truth: “Flee from sexual immorality, All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he
who sins sexually sins against his
own body. Do you not know that
you body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you
have received from God? You are
not your own; you were bought at
a price. Therefore honor God with
your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).
Lie: I can’t control my sex drive.
Truth: “It is God’s will that you
should be sanctified: that you
should avoid sexual immorality;
that each of you should learn to
control his body in a way that is
holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who
do not know God; and that in this
matter no one should wrong his
brother or take advantage of him.
The Lord will punish men for all
such sins, as we have already told
you and warned you” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-6)
27
Lie: Looking at a few pornographic
pictures won’t effect me.
Truth: “Do not lust in your heart
after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the
prostitute reduces you to a loaf of
bread, and the adulteress preys
upon your very life. Can a man
scoop fire into his lap without his
clothes being burned?” (Proverbs
6:25-27)
Lie: I won’t experience any consequences for indulging in my lust.
Truth:
1. “So then, each of us will give an
account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12)
2. “The Lord disciplines those he
loves, and he punishes everyone he
accepts as a son” (Hebrews 12:6)
3. “After desire has conceived, it
gives birth to sin; and sin, when it
is full-grown, gives birth to death”
(James 1:15)
Lie: God is keeping something good
from me
Truth: “Better is one day in your
courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a door keeper in
the house of my God than dwell in
28
the tents of the wicked. For the
Lord God is a sun and shield; the
Lord bestows favor and honor; no
good thing does he withhold from
those whose walk is blameless. O
Lord Almighty, blessed is the man
who trusts in you” (Psalm 84:10-12)
6. SOW TO THE SPIRIT
Winning sexual temptation is a
battle that you have to do everyday. Fill your mind with the
things of God. The more you read
& meditate in the word of God,
the stronger your mind will be in
defending against the lie of sexual
desires. The more you gather with
fellow believers in the church, the
more support you will get from
your fellow brother and sister.
The more you serve in the church;
the chances of you to get tempted
will be much less. The more you
listen to Christian song, the stronger your faith will be.
On the other hand, the more you
feed your mind with unholy things
such as Internet pornography,
looking at other people lustfully,
getting more physical with your
boyfriend or girlfriend, the stronger the devil’s foothold will be in
your life.
If you need more help about winning sexual temptation, I suggest
you get a hold of book by Joshua
Harris titled, “Sex is not a problem (Lust Is)”. The content of this
article is a summary of this book.
This book will give you more examples and details on how to deal
with lust and sexual temptation.
As a closing verse I will quote the
following:
“Do not be deceived: God is not
mocked, for whatever one sows,
that will he also reap. For the one
who sows to his own flesh will from
the flesh reap corruption, but the
one who sows to the Spirit will
from the Spirit reap eternal life”
(Galatians 6:7-8, ESV)
AGAPE Staff wishes you
Merry Christmas 2007
&
Happy New Year 2008
Don’t be a fool. You will reap what
you sow. The choice is yours now,
what do you want to sow in your
life?
God Bless You All
29
5 Ways
To Be Patient and Kind During Holiday Shopping
It doesn’t have to be an unpleasant task to shop for gifts this year. Before you
go out and tackle the world of department stores, relax, take a deep breath,
and tell yourself, “I will not be in a hurry. I will be patient and kind to others.”
And it will happen! Don’t think of yourself as being “one” with the crowd of
other shoppers; be separate from the herd and make your shopping enjoyable.
1. Be Kind While Shopping
garage at night.
As we all know, holiday shopping can be hectic and
grueling. It tends to make some people frustrated
and short tempered. The best thing you can do is
don’t get nasty back. Put your smile back on and
tell yourself, “I will be kind to others no matter how
they treat me.”
4. Be Thoughtful While Shopping In The Malls
2. Show Compassion While Waiting In Line
You knew better before you went out shopping that
there would be three times as many people shopping
this time of year. Some of holiday shoppers do not
have patience like you do. Let them go ahead and
cut in front of you. Put your smile back on and it
will help them to see their rude behavior. By slapping
back with rudeness you become just like the herd
and you don’t want that.
3. Be Patient While Driving!
This one is very important. It involves the safety of
yourself as will as others. During the Holidays more
people are out driving and they become impatient
and begin to drive erratically. The best thing you
can do is don’t drive like them. Don’t cut in front of
them like they are doing. Always drive defensively!
Know ahead of time that people are in a hurry
and may cut right in front of you. By driving
defensively it will ensure a safe park back in your
30
Malls are the busiest place during the holidays.
Before leaving your house, remind yourself again
of the crowds and the long lines. Ask God to give
you that extra needed patience you will need at this
time. Keep your smile on and flash it on someone
who is having a bad day. By doing this, not only
will it make you feel good but it will also make the
person who is having a bad day feel better too. They
certainly won’t forget your smile.
5. Let The Mob Through First
Remember you’re not part of the mob. You just
happen to be out shopping on the same day as
the herd but you have more patience then they do.
Instead of flying up the escalator, dashing into the
elevator, or running up those mall steps with the
mob, just sit back and let the mob go first. Patience
is by far the greatest virtue you can take with you
this holiday shopping season. And compassion comes
in a close second.
Love one another. And have a happy December
Holiday and New Year!
BY: ANGIE LEWIS-articles.faithwriters.com
Winter
A Fiction by Daniel Loe
Musim dingin tahun ini datang lebih awal daripada tahun-tahun
sebelumnya. Thanksgiving days baru saja berlalu, dan bulan desember pun
belumlah tiba. Akan tetapi suhu udara akhir-akhir ini sudah turun sampai
39°F. Itu berarti hampir mendekati nol derajad Celcius. Salju-salju sudah
mulai menebal lagi di puncak-puncak gunung, dan salju-salju yang tebal
itulah yang membuat liburan datang lebih awal.
Kharisma, baru saja beranjak keluar pintu untuk menikmati sinar matahari yang pagi ini tiba-tiba bersinar setelah berhari-hari langit di payungi
oleh awan-awan hitam. Sinar mentari yang terang benderang itu ternyata
masih dikalahkan oleh hembusan angin dingin yang menerpa wajah Kharisma. Sehingga membuat seluruh badan Kharisma menggigil kedinginan.
Lalu dengan segera Kharisma berbalik kembali kedalam rumahnya untuk
mengambil sweater atau coat untuk membungkus badannya yang ramping
dan kecil yang tidak tahan angin dingin pagi itu.
Kharisma sangat jengkel sekali, karena berkali-kali dia mencoba
mengingatkan dirinya sendiri sebelum dia keluar rumah bahwa dia harus
paling sedikit berpakaian rangkap, dan dia harus tanamkan di dalam sel-sel
kelabunya untuk tidak lupa bahwa musim dingin datang lebih awal tahun
ini. Akan tetapi, lagi-lagi pagi ini dia lupa membawa baju hangatnya, kealpaan-nya itu membuat dia harus membuang waktu paling sedikit setengah
jam. Dia kesal sekali terhadap dirinya yang kenapa tiba-tiba dia menjadi
pelupa seperti ini. Apa yang salah dengan dirinya?
Sebenarnya Kharisma sudah mempunyai jawabannya di hatinya
sendiri, akan tetapi dia tidak mau mengatakannya ataupun mengingatnya.
Dia berusaha mencari jawaban yang lain yang lebih memuaskan hatinya
31
daripada jawaban yang telah ada di pintu hatinya dan menunggu mulutnya
untuk berani mengatakannya. Kharisma berusaha memerangi perasaannya
sendiri, tapi lagi-lagi kealpaan-nya pagi ini membuat dia tidak berdaya untuk
mengakuinya bahwa dia sudah menjadi seorang pelupa. Bukan seorang
pelupa yang sekali-kali saja. Tapi hatinya dengan getaran yang luar biasa
mengakuinya bahwa dia sudah memasuki tahap “penuaan” atau “aging”.
Pada saat hatinya mengakui bahwa dia sudah lajut usia maka tanpa
terasa air mata yang hangat bergulir dari pelupuk matanya. Bibir nya pun
secara reflek tertutup rapat-rapat berusaha menahan isak tangisnya yang
hampir meledak. “yah..Tuhan.......aku takut sekali.... hu huhu..!”
Sambil menangis Kharisma lalu duduk di sofa di ruang tamu rumahnya. Dia menangis tersedu-sedu disana. Karena terlalu sedih maka tanpa
terasa Kharisma tertidur di sofanya. Kharisma menyesali waktu-waktu yang
cepat berlalu yang telah menyulapnya dari seorang gadis yang cantik menjadi seorang perempuan lanjut usia yang selalu lupa akan segala sesuatu
yang harus diingatnya. Dalam tidurnya pun Kharisma menitikkan air matanya. Betapa ingin Kharisma kembali kemasa-masa ketika dia masih muda,
masih cantik jelita, menjadi pusat perhatian dari keluarganya ataupun dari
teman-temannya. Dan hal paling manis untuk diingatnya adalah ketika dia
menjadi rebutan para pria-pria ganteng, baik itu teman sekolahnya ataupun
laki-laki lain dari tempat-tempat pesta atau discotic yang selalu minta kenalan atau merayunya untuk menjadi pacar mereka.
Tiga puluh tahun yang lalu, Kharisma menjadi sophomore di UCLA,
segera Kharisma menjadi pusat perhatian para senior-senior students di
Universitas tsb. Karena Kharisma bukan hanya cantik tapi dia juga cukup
berotak sehingga dia tidak mudah terayu oleh bujukan dan sanjungan dari
laki-laki iseng yang cuma mau me-macar-i dirinya. Dia pintar menjaga jarak
sehingga semua laki-laki yang cuma mau main-main doang itu tidak berani
macam-macam pada dirinya akan tetapi dilain pihak mereka tetap menjadi
teman Kharisma.
Ketika Kharisma sudah focus pada majornya, yaitu chemistry, ruang lingkup Kharisma pun agak menyempit, karena hampir menjadi rahasia umum bahwa semua yang mengambil major science, physic, biology,
chemistry atau math adalah orang-orang yang termasuk kutu buku. Dan
biasanya siswa-siswa yang mengambil major-major menyeramkan seperti
32
ini adalah orang-orang yang serius. Mungkin karena keseriusan mereka
belajar dan berpikir membuat penampilan mereka menjadi tidak “komersil”
alias “tidak handsome” atau “tidak cantik” biasanya orang-orang seperti ini
di juluki “nerd” or “geek”.
Kharisma biar otaknya encer tetapi dia tetap cantik menawan, dan
yang membuat dia banyak disukai oleh orang adalah dia tidak termasuk
“nerd” or “ugly” tetapi dia tetap Kharisma yang baru lulus SMA dua tahun
yang lalu yang selalu cantik dan menawan. Dengan pikirannya yang terbuka dan modern, maka Kharisma menjadi gersang dan gerah untuk tinggal di
dalam kelasnya dimana tidak ada orang yang bisa diajak bicara tidak juga
teman Lab-nya. Disiang yang panas, Kharisma terpaksa harus meninggalkan ceramah chemistry-nya ke cafe terdekat dengan hall lecture-nya. Ketika dia mau memasuki pintu cafe tsb., dia bertabrakan dengan seseorang
yang tergesa-gesa hendak keluar. Benturan yang tidak disengaja itu telah
membuat Kharisma hampir terjerembab kebelakang. Orang yang menabrak
Kharisma dengan sigap memegang pundak dan tangan Kharisma sehingga
Kharisma tidak sampai terbanting ke lantai.
“ooh... maaf..... maaf sekali... aku dalam keadaan terburu-buru... kau
tidak kenapa-napa kan?”
“aku tidak kenapa-napa... kalau kau tidak terlalu sigap untuk menarik
badanku mungkin saat ini kau harus memanggil 911....”
“aku benar-benar minta maaf... karena hari ini aku ada midterm, aku
bangun terlambat.. aku belum sarapan pagi sama sekali.... dengan
perut kosong aku tidak bisa berpikir dengan benar... makanya aku
mampir kesini untuk membeli cookies ini...”
“yah aku mengerti makanya kau tidak bisa berpikir dengan jelas
sampai-sampai pintu cafetaria pun di anggap jalan tol.....sampai
menabrak orang... hampir kau kena tilang yah kalau aku jatuh terjerembab tadi... sudah dimakan sana cookies nya .. ntar bisa-bisa kau
salah masuk kelas lagi.... “
33
“haa haaa haaa.. kau sangat lucu yah.. jarang aku menemukan
cewe cantik seperti kamu pandai bergurau... walaupun kau baru saja
aku tabrak.. coba kalau cewe cantik yang model lain...mereka pasti
sudah seperti kucing lari-lari je jinkrakan sambil berteriak-teriak..
minta tolong.... ha haha.... ngomong2 siapa nama anda.. namaku...
Winston...!”
“Kharisma.. namaku Kharisma...., thanks atas pujiannya... , ayoo
aku mau beli minuman... dan kau juga bukankah kau ada midterm..
sudah pergi sana..!”
“ooh ceritanya ngusir nih..., aku heran apakah aku ini sekarang ada
di America negara yang merdeka atau di Asia?
“huss... sembarangan biar kalau kau berada di Asia pun mereka
sudah merdeka tahu.. kok kau menghina sekali sih dengan negaranegara Asia..., kau tahu di beberapa tempat di Asia mereka jauh
lebih maju dari pada LA yang kau kira super modern ini tahu...!”
“Oh.. sorry... maaf deh major ku bukan Anthropology yang mempelajari bangsa- bangsa seperti engkau sehingga tahu negara-negara
Asia lebih maju dari LA..., maaf ibu guru.. jangan hukum saya...!”
Winston mencibir meledek Kharisma.
“Kau benar-benar anak nakal yang menjengkelkan... ayo segera
masuk kekelasmu.. dan ingat kamu hari ini ada midterm.. awas yah
kalau kau dapat D atau F kau harus memutari lapangan sepak bola
sepuluh kali....!”
“ Maaf ibu guru......Winston akan segera pergi sekarang.....” lalu Winston dengan
gerakan cepat segera pergi kekelasnya.
Kharisma memandangi kepergian Winston dengan kecewa, sebenarnya Kharisma menyukai sifat Winston yang spontanitas dan ramah,
34
tambahan lagi menurut Kharisma laki-laki yang baru saja menabraknya itu
sangat menarik sekali...Kharisma senang dengan lesung pipit di kedua pipi
Winston, pipi Winston yang kemerah-merahan itu membuat Winston terlihat
semakin “Cute.”
Setelah berlari beberapa saat Winston tiba-tiba berbalik haluan
berlari menghampiri Kharisma lagi, pada saat Winston berbalik, mata Winston bertemu dengan mata Kharisma yang sejak tadi menatap kepergian
Winston. Perpaduan mata mereka membuat Kharisma seperti tertangkap
basah, lalu dengan cepat-cepat dia memasuki cafetaria untuk menghindari
tatapan mata Winston.
Winston terus memburunya sampai kedalam Cafe. Lalu berdiri dibelakang Kharisma yang sedang mengambil “Pepsi Cola” dari dalam refrigerator.
“Hallo nona manis.. aku tidak yakin kalau majormu adalah Anthropology, aku bahkan sangat menyayangkan kalau majormu adalah
Anthropology.. gadis secantik kamu harusnya memilih major Fashion
atau Model, jadi kau tidak menyia-nyia kan kecantikan mu...”
“hmm mungkin kau akan kecewa kalau aku kasih tahu major ku
yang sebenarnya...” dengan muka yang merah merona, Kharisma
menjawab pertanyaan Winston. Kharisma sungguh jengkel terhadap
dirinya sendiri, yang tiba-tiba kok menjadi tidak tolerance. Biasanya
dia tidak pernah gugup menghadapi orang-orang asing. Tapi ini
dengan Winston, pipinya saat ini di rasakan sangat panas, karena
seolah-olah seluruh darah yang ada didalam tubuhnya mengalir kepipinya sehingga membuat wajahnya terasa terbakar.
“aku rasa aku sudah mendengar jawaban yang paling mengecewakan... dan aku tidak akan pernah lebih kecewa daripada engkau
yang tidak mau menjawab pertanyaanku...”
“Chemistry... dan kau?”
sekarang giliran Winston yang melongo tanda tidak percaya dengan jawa
35
ban yang baru saja di dengarnya.... menurut dia Chemistry adalah lebih
“membosankan” daripada “Anthropology.”
“Wow...!!”
“Apa? Major mu “WOW” singkatan dari apa itu.? kalau “WWW” aku
tahu.. tapi “WOW” aku sungguh tidak tahu...!”
“Oh sorry.... maksudku major ku adalah Music....Classic khususnya...!”
“OOOhh.. music Classic.. kau mau jadi Bethooven yah....!”
“Ah tidak... aku suka musik saja, semua keluarga ku menyukai music....”
“Hmmm.. mudah-mudah-an suatu saat aku akan lihat kau di TV!”
“Aku tidak mengerti maksudmu.. melihat ku di TV?”
“yah.. mungkin suatu saat kau akan menjadi penyanyi ngetop yang
di gandrungi oleh ABG ABG.... di seluruh dunia...”
“Ohh kau salah.. major ku music bukan berarti aku harus menjadi penyanyi.. dan biasanya mereka yang ahli di bidang musik jarang sekali yang menjadi penyanyi.. mungkin mereka akan menjadi composer..
atau mereka menciptakan concert – concert. Lagipula seorang yang
bisa musik belum tentu mempunyai suara yang komersil yang bisa
di beli oleh orang.. sedangkan mereka yang menjadi penyanyi belum
tentu juga mempunyai title sarjana di bidang musik....”
“Oh aku tidak tahu akan hal ini... “
“Rasanya kita mempunyai Gap-Major yah...”
36
“iyaaa.. hii hiii.. kau allergi dengan major Chemistry ku yah?”
“Ah tidak juga.. Cuma rasanya aku hampir tidak percaya bahwa kau
di balik wajah yang cantik ternyata.. otakmu uuuullleeet sekali yah..
sampai-sampai kau menyukai kimia....”
“hei.. kau sudah benar-benar sangat terlambat loh... bisa-bisa kau
tidak di perbolehkan masuk nanti.. sama gurumu...”
“biarin.. nanti aku akan kasih tahu guruku bahwa kau yang harus
bertanggung jawab.. karena gara gara kau aku telah kehilangan
waktu ku hampir setengah jam!”
“oo..ooh!” am I a trouble maker to you?”
“No...you are a trouble maker to my heart.., Byeee!!!”
setelah mengatakan demikian, Winston berlari secepat kilat dan menghilang dari pandangan Kharisma. Itulah saat pertama kali Kharisma merasakan bahwa Winston telah mencuri separuh dari hatinya, membawanya
pergi dan meninggalkan dirinya dalam kehampaan.
Karena major yang berbeda maka hampir tidak mungkin mereka
akan bertemu lagi di kampus yang begitu besarnya. Lagipula hari itu entah
bagaimana ceramah khusus mengenai Chemistry mengambil tempat dekat
department Musik, sehingga hal itu menyebabkan mereka berdua bertemu
lagi. Quarter berikutnya Kharisma bertemu lagi dengan Winston, kali ini di
toko buku. Langsung saja mereka saling memberikan no telpon mereka
masing-masing. Pertemuan yang kedua ini membuka jalan buat perasaan
romantis mereka mengambil tempat di semua kegiatan mereka. Lagi lagi
karena major yang berbeda mereka cuma bisa kencan dalam waktu-waktu
tertentu saja seperti saat lagi quarter break setelah midterm.
Pertemuan-pertemuan atau dating-dating yang terbatas itu justru
membuat cinta mereka semakin kental, karena mereka masing-masing saling merindu. Karena itu setiap kali mereka mempunyai kesempatan bertemu, mereka akan menghabiskan waktu mereka dengan se-efisien
37
mungkin. Dan biasanya mereka mengisi waktu mereka dengan hal-hal
yang tidak mungkin mereka lupakan. Kharisma selalu men-support pagelaran musik atau konsert yang ingin didengar oleh Winston, begitu juga
sebaliknya Winston selalu berusaha mengimbangi MAJOR GAP yang ada
diantara mereka. Ketika hubungan sudah semakin intim mereka mulai mau
pergi kegereja bersama. Walaupun mereka masing-masing sudah mempunyai gereja sendiri-sendiri. tapi mereka selalu “Criss-Cross” dari kedua
belah pihak berusaha mengenal latar belakang keluarga masing-masing
dan teman-teman mereka masing-masing.
Pihak keluarga Kharisma, setelah mengetahui hubungan anaknya
dengan Winston yang majornya totally berbeda tidak menyetujui hubungan ini. Alasan sebenarnya adalah orang tua Kharisma ingin menjodohkan
anaknya dengan anak teman baik mereka yang adalah seorang Dokter.
Sehingga pekerjaan yang serupa antara suami istri akan membuat rumah
tangga mereka berkurang masalahnya karena mereka masing-masing
mengerti pekerjaan pasangan hidup mereka. Ketika hal ini diberitahukan
kepada Kharisma, Kharisma jelas-jelas menentang akan hal ini dan menolak turut campur orang tuanya terhadap masa depannya.
Malam itu Kharisma dan Winston sedang merayakan anniversary
mereka yang tidak terasa sudah berjalan dua tahun. Mereka sedang dinner
di restaurant yang fancy, dan Winston secara diam-diam meminta temantemanya men-surprisekan dinner mereka dengam mengiringi santap malam
mereka dengan ‘mini concert” mereka menyanyikan lagu ciptaan Winston
sendiri yang berjudul “You’ve Brought Love to My Heart.”
Kharisma menangis ketika mendegar lirik lagu yang diciptakan oleh Winston untuknya.
Saat itu adalah saat yang paling tidak akan terlupakan oleh Kharisma; atmosphere romantic yang diciptakan melalui lagu, champagne, dan tatapan
mata. Winston telah menghanyutkan seluruh perasaan Kharisma yang menyatu dengan perasaan Winston. Setelah dinner mereka sempat berjalanjalan di sepanjang Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade. Sepanjang jalan
mereka bergandengan tangan dan saling mengikrarkan cinta sejati mereka.
Buat Kharisma tidak ada apapaun yang sanggup membelah tirai-tirai cinta
yang sudah di ciptakan oleh mereka berdua.
Hari telah larut malam, Winston mengantarkan Kharisma pulang
38
continued to page 46
Baby{s
‘
1st Christmas
Once again, IEC Azusa is crowded with the coming of new born babies
this year. We proudly present the eight new cute comers in the order
of their earliest birth. We also interviewed the parents to share their
impressions of their new born babies. Enjoy.
Audrey Josephine Tjandra
(June 26, 2007)
The day when Audrey was delivered was a big
miracle for us. My morning sickness was really bad. Thank God for our brothers and
sisters at IEC Azusa that always prayed for
me and supported our family. I never imagined that for 2 months we really depended
on their love. They sent my lunch every
day, warm and tasty. Whenever I shared
this experience, everybody would say
that they were really incredible. When
I entered my fifth month of pregnancy, I
was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst. My OB (Obstetrician) suggested me to have an operation right away. I was scared
to death. They did a lot of test to check if it was a cancer. We prayed
and tried to hold the operation until the baby was delivered safely. God
really blessed us. Audrey was delivered safely. However, two days later
she was sent to the NICU. They found her white blood cell was increasing and her bilirubin level was high too. She had to stay for a week. We
had an emotional roller coaster when we dealt with this kind of stuff,
but God really loves us. She was discharged without any concern. When
we rely our live on God, He will take care of it. Our worry cannot do anything good at all, but God can.
39
Ethan Immanuel Hosea
(May 24, 2007)
Kami mengucapkan syukur karena bisa
merayakan natal tahun ini dengan baby
Ethan. Buat kami dikaruniakan seorang
anak adalah the best Christmas present
ever.
John Wilson Suwanto
(November 16, 2007)
Chryssa Hope Adidjaja
Kita tidak merasakan secapek dan
setegang seperti waktu Joel dilahirkan. Sekarang bisa lebih tidur
karena tau what to expect. Baby
John lebih diem dan Joel lebih aktive. Seneng karena bisa bikin Joel
seneng.
(November 14, 2007)
We thank God for our new addition,
Chryssa (follower of Christ) Hope Adidjaja. Throughout the pregnancy, we
faced with many struggles, challenges, concerns, and worries. All we can
do was just to practice our faith and
put our hope in Christ. God showed us
His promises with the smooth delivery,
Wilis’ quick recovery, and many other
blessings received. We also like to thank
our fellow brothers & sisters who have
been praying for us endlessly.
40
Abigail Yunice Chang
(August 17, 2007)
Sugi sang joyfully, “Tujuh belas agustus
tahun dua ribu tujuh …”
Bersyukur & berterima kasih sama Tuhan
dikasih Abigail dalam keluarga kita.
Walaupun cape bergadang tapi enjoy &
Happy dikasih kepercayaan sama Tuhan
buat jadi orangtua.
Sugi (again) said, “By the way, anaknya
mirip kaya gua loh. Kaga mirip Katherine.”
Abigail Phoebe Kusdono
(February 22, 2007)
Abigail is the only girl and the last
child in the family. It’s a blessing for
us. She brings joy and noise to our
family. As Hubert said, she’s a forever
best Christmas present for him.
Kenneth Moses Eddy
(April 07, 2007)
Praise the Lord for our first Christmas
baby present, the Merry Little Kenneth.
Thank you for all the love and care from
all of you.
41
Winter - continued from page 42
kerumahnya. Winston tetap memperhatikan Kharisma sampai dia masuk
kedalam rumahnya dan menutup pintunya. Akan tetapi sebelum Kharisma
menutup pintu rumahnya, Winston masih sempat melihat bahwa Papa Kharisma sedang menunggunya, dan juga Winston sempat mendengar suara
Ayah Kharisma yang kedengaran tidak ramah. Adegan yang tidak mengenakkan hati membuat Winston ingin mengetahui apa yang terjadi. Ingin
Winston mengetuk pintu rumahnya, tetapi tiba- tiba dia juga mendengar
Kharisma menjawab teriakan ayahnya. Winston mengurungkan niatanya
untuk mengetuk pintu rumah. Di depan pintu itu Winston baru mengetahui
kalau ayah Kharisma memandang rendah Winston karena majornya. Rupanya orang tua Kharisma adalah orang-orang yang menyandarkan hidupnya
pada materi yang berkelimpahan. Dan music adalah salah satu major untuk
orang-orang yang tidak akan menikmati kemewahan dunia ini.
Winston sangat sedih ketika mengetahui bahwa orang tua Kharisma
tidak merestui cinta mereka. Bersamaan dengan itu, baru beberapa langkah Winston beranjak dari jendela rumah Kharisma, secara tiba-tiba Kharisma berlari keluar, rupanya dia sangat jengkel dengan penghinaan ayahnya
terhadap laki-laki yang dicintainya. Ketika tiba di luar Kharisma juga kaget
ketika dia melihat Winston sedang berjalan menuju kemobilnya.
“Winston.....!”
mendengar suara seseorang yang dicintainya memanggilnya, secara reflek
Winston menoleh kebelakang dan berkata:
Kharisma.....!”
“Winston... apakah.....? apakah...?”
“Kharisma.....”
Winston berlari dan memeluk Kharisma, lalu mereka berpelukan sambil
menangis. Lalu Winston mengajak Kharisma ke rumahnya. Orang-orang di
rumah Winston sudah pada tidur karena hari sudah lewat midnight. Di kamar Winston mereka dengan kepala yang dingin berembug, membicarakan
masalah yang tiba-tiba muncul di hadapan mereka.
Winston meminta kepada Kharisma untuk melarikan diri dan melupakan
orang tua mereka, membangun keluarga yang baru. Akan tetapi Kharisma
tidak mau hal itu terjadi karena dia ingin menyelesaikan study mereka terlebih dahulu, dan Kharisma berjanji bahwa dia akan selalu mencintai Winston dengan atau tanpa restu dari orang tuanya.
42
Itulah saat terakhir mereka bertemu...., malam yang paling manis
buat Kharisma sebelum dia bertengkar dengan ayahnya.. tapi.. siapa yang
akan menyangka bahwa malam itu juga merupakan malam yang paling
kelam buatnya. Pada mulanya Kharisma cuma berpikir mungkin Winston
masih marah atas perlakuan ayahnya terhadap karier yang dimiliki oleh
Winston. Kharisma menganggap setelah beberapa hari Winston pasti akan
menghubunginya lagi.... tetapi kini.. ternyata Winston pergi.. pergi dan
tanpa kembali.
Ketika Kharisma datang kerumah Winston. Orang tua Winston cuma
berkata bahwa Winston ingin transfer kelasnya keluar State. Dan ia ingin
mengadakan survey dahulu. Tapi ternyata Winston tidak pernah kembali
dan keluarganya pun tidak bisa memberi tahu Kharisma dimana Winston
berada. Bahkan beberapa bulan kemudian keluarga Winston pun semua
pindah entah kemana.
Kesetiaan cinta Kharisma telah membuat Kharisma menutup pintu
hatinya dari pria yang lain, juga termasuk pria yang ingin di jodohkan oleh
orang tuanya. Kini Kharisma tinggal seorang diri di rumah yang dibelinya
dari hasil jerih payahnya seorang diri. Kharisma sengaja juga mengambil
pensiunnyanya lebih awal dari sebelumnya. Padahal dengan pengalaman
dan pengetahuan nya tentang Chemistry dia bisa mengajar di universitas
atau terus bekerja sebagai general menager di suatu kantor yang berhubungan langsung dengan Inspection of Industrial pollution. Tetapi Kharisma ingin mendapatkan ketenangan buat jiwanya. Dia setuju dengan paham
kalau Winston berpendapat bahwa money can not win everything, yang
paling penting adalah ketenangan jiwa dan kebahagaiaan bathin. Lagipula
Kharisma berpikir untuk siapakah uang yang akan dicarinya nanti padahal
dia tidak mempunyai suami atau turunan. Karena dia sudah merasa cukup
untuk hari tuanya maka Kharisma mengambil masa pensiunannya lebih
dini.
Beberapa jam kemudian, Kharisma terbangun ketika dia merasakan
bahwa dadanya terasa sakit luar biasa, dan seketika itu juga dia merasakan
bahwa matanya terasa sangat gelap sekali. Rasanya ruangan kamarnya
menjadi sangat sesak bagai tiada udara sama sekali. Kharisma merasakan
bahwa ini adalah gejala yang tidak baik, mungkin ini serangan jantung mendadak. Karena itu sebisa mungkin dia mencari telpon dan memutar nomor
43
911. ketika dia selesai memberitahukan dimana lokasi rumahnya, dia merasakan bahwa dia akan segera pass-out.
Ketika dia sadarkan diri, dia sudah dikelilingi oleh para juru–rawat
dan dokter.
“oh kau sudah sadar... bagus...sebaiknya kau tinggal di rumah sakit dulu
untuk sementara sampai kami mengetahui dengan jelas apa yang terjadi
dengan dirimu ok? Nah sekarang Suster akan membawa kau ke kamar
yang harus kau tinggal...”
Kharisma tidak menjawab hanya mengangguk saja karena dia masih
merasa tubuhnya sangat lemah. Dan bantuan oksigen yang ada di pernafasannya membuat dia segan untuk menjawab pertanyaan dokter. Ketika
tubuhnya yang terbaring di ranjang yang beroda empat didorong menuju
kamarnya, mereka meliwati beberapa shall baik itu ruang periksa, laboratorium dan kamar untuk pasien laki-laki. Ketika mereka baru saja meliwati
ruangan pasien laki-laki dia sayup-sayup mendengar seseorang bersenandung suatu lagu... sebuah lagu yang tak akan pernah dilupakannya “You’ve brought love to my heart.” Hati Kharisma seketika itu juga
melompat, dan dia secara otomatis bangkit duduk dari tidurnya. Lalu dia
berkata kepada para suster yang mendorong keretanya.
“berhenti sebentar .. please...!”
semua orang yang mendorong keretanya secara spontan langusng berhenti mendengar permintaan aneh dari pasien baru mereka. Ketika mereka
berhenti mendorong, Kharisma mencopot bantuan oksigen yang ada di
hidungnya, lalu dia turun dari kereta dan berjalan memasuki ruangan untuk
pasien laki-laki... ketika dia sampai di depan pintu kamar pasien untuk pria
tsb. Dia langsung memanggil nama laki-laki yang selama ini dirindukannya.
44
“Winston.....engkau kah itu.....yang bernyanyi....”
“tidak ada orang yang bernama Winston... disini..” terdengar jawa
ban dari salah seorang yang tinggal di kamar itu.
“lalu siapa yang menyanyikan lagu “you’ve brought love to my heart”
“aku.....” seorang yang lain menjawab pertanyaan Kharisma.
“Kau... kau bukan Winston.. kenapa kau bisa tahu lagu ini?”
“ooh... aku beli disc lagu ini sewaktu aku menonton Orchestranya di
Pantages Theatre.
“Apakah.. Conductor Orchestra nya bernama Winston?”
“Mana aku tahu.. aku cuma diajak oleh anakku yang sekolah music...., yang aku tahu bahwa orchestra tsb. datang dari Eropa....”
“Hah....” Kharisma terkesima, betapa tolotnya dia selama ini, bahkan
baru tadi
pagi pun dia sempat berpikir bahwa negara-negara Eropa adalah
negara yang terkenal dengan negara musik. Dan betapa bodohnya
pula dirinya mengapa dia tidak pernah memperhatikan pagelaranpagelaran seperti orchestra.. bukankah...mencari jejaknya Winston?
“apakah... Orchestra tsb. masih berlangsung?” Kharisma bertanya
lagi kepada pria yang menonton orchestra tsb.
“sebentar... sekarang tgl. Berapa? Hmm tgl. 17? Rasanya masih berlangsung...dan weekend ini tgl 19 adalah pagelaran yang terakhir...
you’d better hurry up if you don’t want to miss him again!”
Kata-kata dari laki-laki itu bagaikan sebuah pecutan yang pedas buat hati
Kharisma, tapi tentu saja Kharisma sangat berterima kasih pada laki-laki
setengah tua yang telah memberikan kabar terbaik yang pernah didengarnya selama ini.
Sabtu malam Kharisma seorang diri datang ke Pantages Theatre di
Hollywood. Kharisma sudah berusaha melakukan yang terbaik. Dia sudah
bersitegang dengan dokter bahwa dia tidak mau tinggal di rumah sakit, dan
dia menyatakan kepada dokter bahwa dia tidak kenapa-napa. Setelah dia
diperbolehkan pulang dia langsung membooking bangku yang paling depan, sedapat-dapatnya dekat ke conductornya. Kini dia duduk dengan bahagia dan gelisah; bahagia karena dia akan bertemu lagi dengan Winston
setelah 30 tahun lenyap tanpa bekas. Di sisi yang lain dia gelisah karena
Winston mungkin akan kecewa kalau melihat dirinya yang sekarang bukan
lagi gadis yang berumur 20 tahun.... apakah dirinya telah menjadi seorang
nenek yang menyeramkan dimata Winston? Apakah Winston masih sama
seperti Winston yang dikenalnya 30 tahun yang lalu? Apakah Eropa telah menyulap Winston menjadi seorang yang lain? Apakah Winston telah
menikah? Apakah Winston masih mencintai dirinya? Semakin Kharisma
45
berusaha menjawab semua pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini, semakin pusing
dia memikirkannya dan semakin bermunculan pula pertanyaan-pertanyaan
yang menyakitkan lainnya. Sekali lagi Kharisma berusaha menyakinkan
dirinya bahwa Winston yang memimpin orchestra ini adalah Winston yang
pernah dan masih tetap dicintainya? Di program booklet-nya, tercantum
nama “Winston Brighton” sebagai pemimpin orchestra.
Rupanya mimpi Winston telah menjadi kenyataan. Lalu apakah maksud kedatangannya kembali ke USA? Apakah dia ingin membuktikan kepada papanya Kharisma bahwa seorang seniman musik bisa menjadi kaya
dan terkenal seperti dirinya? Kalau benar Winston bermaksud demikian
maka semuanya akan sia-sia saja, karena pertama-tama ayahnya sudah
meninggal. Kedua, ayahnya sendiri telah berkata pada Kharisma bahwa
dia menyesal telah mengeluarkan kata-kata seperti itu yang mana telah
menyakiti hati banyak orang. Apalagi ketika ayahnya mengetahui bahwa
Kharisma tidak mau menikah, maka semakin hancurlah hati papanya akan
perbuatan bodoh yang pernah dilakukannya.
Lampu di ruangan theatre telah diredupkan tanda bahwa concert
akan segera dimulai. Pertama-tama, para musisi masuk terlebih dahulu,
mulai dari yang main drum, cello, violin, saxophone, trumpet, flute guitar,
melody, bass sampai alat-alat music yang terkecil pun ada orang yang
memainkannya. Setelah semua crew orchestra tampil kemuka, maka yang
terakhir tampil adalah Winston yang dicintainya. Ketika Winston melangkah
keluar, semua penonton bertepuk tangan dengan meriah sebagai tanda
penghormatan, kagum, dan rasa bangga karena hari ini semua orang bisa
menyaksikan seorang seniman besar yang telah begitu terkenal di seluruh Eropa dan kini datang ke Amerika. Sewaktu Winston berjalan maju
kedepan, maka jantung Kharisma seolah-olah berhenti berdenyut. Hatinya
melompat-lompat dengan bahagianya. Winston seperti tidak berubah. Dia
masih tetap handsome dan dengan rambut nya yang agak gondrong semakin membuat dia terlihat lebih muda. Mata Kharisma sempat melihat
bahwa kedua jari manis Winston tidak diikat dengan cincin perkawinan. Hal
itu membuat harapan Kharisma menjadi semakin besar.
Selama concert berlangsung, beberapa kali Kharisma beradu pandang dengan Winston. Dia berusaha tersenyum tapi dia tidak merasa
bahwa Winston membalas senyumannya. Hal itu membuat Kharisma men
46
jadi sedih, seolah-olah harapannya hancur berkeping-keping. Dan mungkin
pula Winston sudah lupa siapa dirinya.
Lagu terakhir yang dipagelarkan oleh Winston adalah sebuah lagu
contemporer yang telah diubah menjadi semi-classic,dan lagu itu adalah
“You’ve Brought Love to My Heart.” Air mata Kharisma menitik tatkala
dia mengingat dimana lagu itu pertama kali dikumandangkan. Apakah ini
lagu yang terakhir kalinya dia akan pernah dengar? Bersamaan dengan
berakhirnya lagu itu maka berakhir pula pagelaran ini setelah selama dua
weekend berturut-turut pentas di Pantages Theatre. Semua hadirin berdiri
sebagai tanda kekaguman mereka atas apa yang telah mereka dengar dan
saksikan. Lalu Winston lah yang pertama-tama masuk kedalam, diikuti dengan yang lain-lainnya. Semua tetap bertepuk tangan sampai semua crew
tampil kemuka sekali lagi sebagai tanda terima kasih.
Setelah itu mulailah para hadirin meninggalkan tempat duduk mereka satu persatu. Kharisma sengaja duduk terus, dan dia mengharapkan
bahwa dia mempunyai kesempatan untuk menemui Winston. Tapi ternyata
Winston tidak juga muncul. Ahk mungkin dia terlalu sibuk untuk membereskan semuanya karena ini adalah pagelarannya yang terakhir. Lagipula
pasti banyak pula orang-orang yang ingin minta tanda tangannya atau ingin
kenalan dengannya; berpikir sampai kesana maka hati Kharisma menjadi
kecil. Lalu dia mengambil keputusan untuk meninggalkan ruangan ini dan
untuk melupakan segala-galanya. Dia tidak tahu akan samakah keadaan
hatinya setelah dia melihat Winston dan ternyata tidak ada connection
sama sekali. Tampaknya bagi Winston semuanya telah terkubur lama dan
dia pun tidak ingat lagi akan sedkitpun kenang-kenangan tentang cinta mereka.
Kharisma telah siap-siap untuk beranjak dari tempat duduknya, ketika itu
dia merasakan bahwa ada seseorang yang menghampir dirinya dan bertanya padanya.
“Apakah anda yang bernama Kharisma?”
“Benar saya sendiri... ada yang bisa saya bantu?”
“Ada seseorang yang ingin bertemu dengan anda.. bisakah anda
mengikuti saya?”
“Hmm siapa anda... dan siapa yang ingin bertemu dengan saya?
47
Untuk apa saya mengikuti anda?”
“ooh... maaf... saya diutus oleh bapak Winston karena bapak Winston tidak bisa menemui anda secara langsung karena mungkin
akan terlalu menarik perhatian pada hadirin yang lainnya, karena itulah maka dia meminta saya untuk mengundang anda ketempatnya?
Bersediakah anda?”
sudah pasti Kharisma akan mengikuti orang utusan Winston tsb., kemanapun akan di turutinya. Dan orang itu membawa Kharisma ke ruangan
Winston.
Ketika pertama kali mereka bertemu, mereka berdua diam dan saling menatap. Bibir mereka tidak mengatakan apa-apa, akan tetapi sinar
mata mereka sudah berbicara lebih banyak dari apa yang dapat dikatakan
oleh bibir mereka. Setelah beberapa saat mereka akhirnya berpelukan,
Kharisma menangis dengan tersedu-sedu seolah-olah kerinduan selama 30
tahun ini telah tertumpah semua di ruangan itu.
Winston memang telah berimigrasi ke Vienna dan mempunyai villa
di Paris. Kini Winston mengajak Kharisma untuk pergi bersamanya. Alasan
Winston kembali dan mengadakan consert di Amerika adalah ingin menemui Kharisma. Kini setelah dia mengetahui bahwa Kharisma pun tidak
menikah demi Winston. Maka semakin bulatlah niat Winston untuk memboyong Kharisma ke Eropa bersamanya.
Kharisma berkata bahwa bukankah dia sudah terlalu tua buat Winston, lagipula Winston masih terlihat jauh lebih muda dari pada Kharisma
sendiri; ibaratnya Kharisma sudah memasuki musim Winter sedang Winston bagaikan musim Semi dan Summer yang selalu terlihat muda dan
bergairah. Kharisma menangis di pelukan Winston, dia tidak menyangka
bahwa penantiannya adalah tidak sia-sia. Begitu juga dengan penantian
Winston. Kharisma merasa beruntung karena dirinyalah yang dipilih oleh
Winston bukan wanita-wanita yang lebih muda, cantik, dan kaya dibandingkan dengan dirinya. Kini dia tahu diantara tangisnya adalah bahwa dia akan
terus bersama dengan Winston, lelaki yang pernah mencuri hatinya dan
akan selalu memiliki hatinya. Meskipun dia tahu bahwa mengingat dirinya
yang bagaikan musim winter, tapi musim winter itu bukan berarti adalah
akhir musim tetapi itu adalah awal musim, yang akan diikuti dengan musim
48
semi dan musim panas. Kini selama dia di samping Winston dan Winston
selalu berada disisinya maka hatinya akan selalu cerah bagaikan musim
semi, dan cintanya akan selalu membara bagaikan matahari di musim panas.
Kharisma tidak menyangka bahwa musim dingin kali ini telah membawa kehangatkan yang tidak akan bisa dirasakan oleh siapapun kecuali
oleh dirinya sendiri, dan Winston, lelaki yang di kaguminya, seorang pemuda tampan yang telah mendominasi hidup dan hatinya, dan seorang yang
telah membawa cinta kedalam hatinya; dan, cinta itu tetap tumbuh sampai
kapanpun dan tidak akan pernah layu dalam musim apapun..... because
“You’ve Brought Love to My Heart” seperti apa yang telah di-declare-kan
oleh Winston kepadanya.
Selesai,
Early Winter,
Nov, 2007
49
Christmas Wishlist
Jesus has sacrificed himself by incarnating himself into a human being to be our Savior. That
is the ultimate Christmas present from God; but, what do we actually want for Christmas this
year? Let’s check out what some of the congregations want….
Yesaya
Adidjaja:
nothing…
Jason
Kawilarang:
uh, that’s a good
question….I
don’t know
50
Ev. Wilson
Suwanto:
uh…*thinking*, a
book, a Christian
book.
Timothy Gozali:
*playing with his
Nintendo DS* I
don’t know
Hannah
Wangsa:
*quiet*
a story book
Janice Atmadja:
uh… I don’t
know…oh, this
pair of shoes from
Nordstrom rack,
Cole Haan, size 8 _.
Tesia Trisnadi:
hm.. Christmas wish...
I’d like a nice dinner party
for church friends, then
school friends. So we can all
celebrate Christmas together.
And also... for my friends to
know Jesus and accept Him
as their savior.
Rocky Tindage:
for this Christmas,
I would like to
see growth in our
congregation.
Rev. Kristanto
Hosea: no
present, just
praise God.
Jonathan Tjong:
world peace and
world suffering to
end…
Pency Kinnard:
I want world
peace… no,
instead I want the
second coming of
Christ.
Jennifer Tjong:
I want no homework,
so I can spend time
with my whole family...
now that’s a merry
Christmas ^^
Maria Cindy:
*thinking*…
same thing every
year. I want
vacation. I’m so
tired.
Arnaldi
Rustandi:
I want a longer
holiday.
Albert Halim:
I want a new guitar
preferably a martin or
Taylor. Umm maybe a
new bass, musicman
stingray.
Whatever we want for Christmas, never forget its true meaning.
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
51
n Kids.
s a winner.
r Kindergarte
d to qualify a
e
w
llo
a
This Quiz is fo
lp
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h
and/or adult
No parental
e ark?
oses take on
nimal did M
ny of each a
1. How ma
Zero
One
Two
Three
th
ause he had
water bec
le to walk on
b
2. Who was a
Mark
Stephen
Peter
Judas
faith?
hat?
e Eve from w
3. God mad
Adam’s hair
Dust
an Apple
Adam’s rib
sa…?
4. Joseph wa
Tax collector
Fisherman
Carpenter
Preacher
ncense,
f Gold, Franki
nted gifts o
e Men” prese
5. The “Wis
and … ?
Jewels
52
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Credit to: w
Myrrh
Hyssop
Food
loav
6. How many
t?
on the Moun
Five
Seven
Nine
Eleven
7. How many
Three
Six
Nine
Twelve
disciples were
there?
the dead
sus rose from
8. Je
on
ve at the Serm
id Jesus ha
es of bread d
One
Three
Five
Seven
in how many
days?
ny days?
rld in how ma
d the wo
9. God create
Three
Four
Five
Six
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God do on th
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day of creati
10. What did
Rested
as
Made the se
Created rain
ments
n Command
Te
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te
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W
ner will
, 2008. The win
her by Feb. 15
ac
Te
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ol
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Easter Ed
Sunday
swers to your
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Submit your an
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get a cute
53
AYAM
BAKAR
LIMAU
Cara Mengolah :
1. Haluskan bawang merah.
2. Haluskan bawang putih.
3. Rendam ayam dalam air jeruk dan garam selama
30 menit. Sisihkan.
4. Tumis bawang merah dan putih yang telah dihaluskan bersama daun jeruk hingga harum.
Bahan-Bahan :
1 ekor ayam, potong 6, memarkan
1 sendok makan air jeruk limau
1 sendok makan garam
2 buah jeruk limau, belah dua
3 sendok makan kecap manis
100 ml santan
4 lembar daun jeruk
2 sendok makan minyak untuk
menumis
5 buah bawang merah
3 siung bawang putih
54
5. Masukkan ayam, aduk sampai berubah warna.
6. Tambahkan kecap manis dan santan. Aduk-aduk
hingga setengah matang.
7. Bakar bersama potongan jeruk limau hingga
matang.
8. Sajikan bersama nasi hangat.
Pumpkin
Cheesecake
with Walnut &
Rolled Oat Crust
Preparation Directions:
Crust:
1. Cream Crisco, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, and
brown sugar. Slowly add flour, oats, and walnuts.
Mix well. Lightly spray 9 inch spring form pan
with Crisco cooking spray.
Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 cup Crisco® Butter Shortening
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
3 teaspoons water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose
Flour
Filling:
2 pounds cream cheese (4 8-oz
pkgs)
8 ounces pumpkin pie filling
1 cup sugar
5 eggs
3 tablespoons Pillsbury BEST® All
Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2. Press mixture into the bottom and one inch up
the sides of pan. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes. Cool
on wire rack.
Filling:
1. Beat room temperature cream cheese and
sugar until fully combined. Add flour, nutmeg, and
cinnamon. Mix. Add room temperature eggs one
at a time mixing just enough to incorporate each
egg. Do not over mix.
2. Fold in pumpkin pie filling. Pour mixture into
prepared crust and bake at 450°F for 10 minutes.
Lower temperature to 225°F and bake for 1 hour
and 40 minutes.
3. Turn oven off, slightly open oven door and
allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate
overnight (or at least 4 hours).
55
H
jokes are taken from www.gcfl.net
humor ————————————————————— These
"A cheerful heart is good medicine..."
(Proverbs 17:22a)
Santa Funnies
What do you call Santa Clause after he’s fallen into a
fireplace?
Krisp Kringle
Where do Santa’s reindeers like to stop for lunch?
Deery Queen
Which of Santa’s reindeers needs to mind his manners
the most?
“Rude”olph
If athletes get athlete’s foot, what do astronauts get?
Missile toe
What is the cow’s holiday greeting?
Mooooory Christmas
What does Santa like to eat?
A jolly roll
What reindeer has the cleanest antlers?
Comet
56

LORD

Transcription

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