Surabaya - Jakarta

I had a chance to visit Surabaya and Jakarta for about a week recently. Didn't do much except some shopping and business activities. It was quite an enjoyable experience since this is only the third time I went to Jakarta in my entire life ... hahahahah ... I stayed in Ibis Hotel mangga dua, pretty close to Pasar pagi, ITC, and Mangga Dua Mall. Not a bad place to stay in Jakarta considering its strategic location ...

In Jakarta I saw quite a number of old friends. Met Christanto during IPC reunion. He's currently working with IBM, already has 1 child and really blessed by the Lord. Another person that I met is Mariana who by the way looks really really thin. She does not change much, still calm and mature in the Lord like before. Jemmy who used to be in one bible study group with me is still waiting for His Aussie PR to be processed. Ryan who went back to indo this year is also well and blessed by the Lord. Kevin Rusly and Jimmy are also doing well. They are so busy these days with their family business. They told me that it is not as easy as people might think to help their parents in the family business. There are many challenges and competition especially in Jakarta ... I also met edwin and christine. It is still a mystery for me whether they are a couple or not, but they already got a job and are doing well in indo in terms of settling down and all that, thank God.

In surabaya, I met some of my friends from my old church in Malang. They have not changed much at all. I am glad to see them. We had dinner in one restaurant, did some catching up and organize another gathering at my friend's place. It was quite fun.

God also gave me one or two chances in these past couple of weeks to talk about Jesus to my auntie, cousins, and mum. It wasn't planned at all, and it just happened that I had a chance. I was so scared to share the gospel to my relatives. It is easier to share it with a friend or someone that you meet on the street. With family, you usually know each other well and I am not used to do it anyway. If I could, I don't want to share at that time, but I did. All of them told me that they either had some bad experiences with christian, or have seen things which preacher, church or christians should not do. These days, they mainly think that church has become some kind of business organization. The large part of it is about money, offering. The church/preacher expect the congregation to give lots of money and when the congregation needs help financially, no one at church are willing to help. I guess it is not a fair comment considering there are many missionaries in indo, risking their neck for the sake of the gospel. Mum also raise issues of worshipping ancestors according to chinese customs, money, and so on. Tried to explain gently to her, and I think she understand but still disagree with me on many things. At least I've let her know my beliefs and feelings in God. It is very rare that I open myself that much to her and I am glad I did share. As for my dad, we also talked a lot which is very rare. I got to know and understand him better and although he is not as expressive as my mum in showing his love for me, I know that deep down he loves me. We laughed a lot during the trip to Jakarta and it was quite fun.

Fiuhh .. Indo ... I am gonna miss you

Sydney: too good to be true

I had this feeling that sydney is such a good place for me. What more can you ask? I had wonderful friends, fellowship, workplace, and place to stay (the last one is relative though :) ) ... It is like everything is going well when I am in sydney ... But is it a real world? Can all the good things that happen to me in sydney continue forever?

In indo, I see many things differently ... The world here is so much different to sydney ... To start, I don't have fellowship where I can serve and to support me as well since I became a christian in Malang and the church that I went to was a pentacostal church .. In business world it is a lot dirtier than I thought ... In terms of relationship between my family and relatives, there are many politics going on ... Here, my relatives look up to me .. They think very highly of me, it is like i am a superstar or somethin ... I also see many sufferings in indo ... so many of them, even among people close to my heart .. Whether I like it or not, it is just much more complicated here ... Many things I don't want to do, but I just have to do it ...

I realize that as adult I can't run from all those problems ... I don't want to run .. I want to face them ... I just thought, are all the good things that happen to me in sydney somethin that real to me? Real means that is where God wants me to be ... Should I be in indo and facing all these problems? I don't know ... Only time will tell later ...

On a happier note, God has blessed me in my study .. I've been accepted for master degree for next year ... and I've been able to keep my weight despite all the "Good" food, snacks in indo ... hahahahhaaha ..... thank you Lord ... cen te xie2 NI ..

Joshua 24:
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD . 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD ."

Weird situation ..

My mum sms(ed) me yesterday at 1 o'clock in the morning saying one of the bikkhu that she used to ask help from is in sydney now (not sure why he is here) and trying to contact me. She asked me to help him if he needs help. This morning, the bikhu sms(ed) me and ask me to call him on a certain number. I thought, I don't mind helping him as my mum's friend if he really needs help, but I don't think he needs any help at all. I don't have cars and I am working, can't spend too much time with him and I don't want to. He should have some place to sleep I guess, and my place doesn't have enough room in case he wants to spend the night at my place.

I guess he just want to meet me, and talk to me ... Honestly, at first I was worried ... A bikhhu, talking to me? hehe .. sounds a bit weird ... what should I say to him? What will he say to me? Will he stay at my place? Will he give me a jimat? hahahah .. of course bakal ditolak kalo diberi ... Should I talk about religion to him? He will be interested in talking about buddhism to me I guess , I don't really know ...

My current stance is I will regard him as my parents' friends and give him a hand if he needs help. I don't want to spend too much time with him, but I don't want to give the impression that I am impolite to both my parents and the bikhuu as well. It is just that I need the wisdom to do that. This will be interesting actually ... another God-given adventure/experience of my life ..

Well, what would you do if you are in my situation now?

Hayo Jujurr

Too many of my blog entries are about my personal struggles/experiences in life ... kali ini nyantai dikit yah ... hehehehe ... main jujur2 an de .. heheh .. this is taken from friendster's bulletin board .. I thought it is fun .. :)

Jujur2an questions:

1.kamu tuh orangnya gimana?

• Aku orangnya loud (dalam hal suara), n suka yg simple simple. Yg sederhana2 aja lah ... hehehehe ..
  

2.jujur pernah boongin ortu?

• Sering ... namanya juga anak ... masa ga pernah siiii
  

3.jujur pernah mencoba bunuh diri?

• Ngga banget .. buat apa bunuh diri ...
  

4.Jujur! Pernah coba n make narkotik?

• nope .. ....
  

5.jujur pernah suka ama orang?

• Aduhhh .. ya jelas pernah la .. beberapa kali sejak SMP ... hahaha ... my masa puber .. jadi inget waktu2 dulu .. masa2 indah waktu SMP dan SMA .... huaaaaaaa .. I miss those happy times ..
  

6.jujur pernah selingkuh?

• ga pernah ... doi aja belum pernah punya
  

7.jujur pernah mabok?

• agak mabok sih pernah pusing2 gitu ... tapi ga terlalu gimana gitu ... langsung tidur kok abis itu di college dulu. Besoknya juga oke oke aja ga sampe muntah2 atau gimana .. Dari pengalaman itu I guess kalo gua mabok bisa jadi lebih hyper kali ya ... forget about your problems and all that ... but that's not really a good thing ... nanti kalo udah abis kan masalah ada lagi ... ^^ .. Tapi waktu itu minum alcohol abis acara bush dance di International House ... bukan gara2 ada masalah atau apa ....
  

8.jujur pernah ngerokok?

• Pernah sekali waktu SMP dulu .. coba2 ama teman satu kamar kost .. langsung batuk2 .. huekkkkkkkk ... ga enak banget .. terus ga pernah lagi
  

9.Jujur pernah kehilangan hp?

• Ga penah tuh ..
  

10.Jujur pernah nonjok orang?

• Yah .. beberapa kali lah ... namanya cowok ... nonjok jun my brother sering juga .. heheh .. di tangan tapi ... kita sering main tonjok2 an waktu kecil ... kalo udah gitu si mama langsung marah2 tangan si adik pada biru2 ... upss .. sorry jun ...
  

11.Jujur pernah kecelakaan?

• Pernah ... kecelakaan di luar kota waktu mengunjungi one of my friend .... ga parah2 amat sih .. amit2 ... nabrak angkot ... waktu itu gemeter banget soalnya masih kecil banget umurnya ... sendirian lagi di tengah jalan di luar kota ... ada polisi lewat pula, untung ga berhenti .. hauhauhauhauha ... selamet selamett .. huhhhh
  

12.Jujur pernah punya pacar?

• ga pernah ni ..
  

13.apakah kamu sekarang sudah punya pacar?

• nope, kok pertanyaannya diulang2 ya?? @_@
  

14.JUJUR kenapa kamu bisa suka ma cewe/cowo?

• emmmmm ... kenapa ya? I guess cewe nya cinta Tuhan, itu yg paling pertama ... kalo dari muka/body ya of course yg gua suka la ... kalo dari sifat maybe I like someone yg simple2 and sederhana, mandiri dan punya prinsip dan pengertian ... terus yg lucu juga kalo bisa .. hahahahha ...
  

15.JUJUR siapa mantan kamu yang paling kamu sayang?

• Pacar ga pernah punya oiii .. apalagi mantan ...
  

16.JUJUR siapa gebetan kamu saat ini?

• ga ada kok ..
  

17.JUJUR apakah kamu lagi pengen pacaran?

• Hahahahah ..... ga tau mo jawab apa .. I guess waiting for God's time is the best ..
  

18.JUJUR tipe ce/co yang kamu idam2kan?

• Yg cinta Tuhan .. baca amsal pasal terakhir ... kayak gitu de pokoknya ... heheheh ...
  

19.JUJUR!!!!!!!! siapa orang yang lagi dekat denganmu untuk saat ini??

• Deket sih banyak ... tapi temen doank ... Kalo for relationship, ga ada at the moment ...
  

20.JUJUR!!!!!!!! apa orang yang sedang dekat denganmu itu termasuk gebetan? ;p

• ngga ....hehehhehehe
  

21.JUJUR!!!!!!!! apa yang kamu inginkan saat ini?

• Ingin all my family members to come to know Christ .. :) .. serius amat .. but that's true though .... And I want all my friends, flatmates juga know Jesus ... orang2 di sekitar kali ya ....
  
• Pingin do master juga taun depan ... *so many things yg I want to do actually in my life* ... so maybe in some other blog entry de .. hehehehe ... terlalu banyak keinginan .. *Aku ingin begini, aku ingin begitu, ingin ini, ingin itu banyak sekaliiiii* (doraemon song) .. hahahah ...
  

dapur gereja

The title of my entry is in indonesian which means church's kitchen. Well, there is an old saying that says something like "if you go to a restaurant, don't go to its kitchen". Just enjoy the food without knowing the "inside" of how the restaurant made the meal, the meal's ingridients and so on. As long as it tastes good, that's all you care about. :)

It could be like that also with church. Many people only come to church, sit, sing, sermon, say little hi, say good bye (5 S's) .. hehehe ... It is tasty, yes .. enjoyable, yes ...

Why did I tell you this? Well, I just knew a couple of church problems recently which I can't share in this blog .... Problems that are not really something big (at least for me), but made big by circumstances and people .... Problems are always everywhere, how we handle problems are what matters I guess ... I realized now that Om Joe and Om joni are facing so many problems and dillemas in serving as pastors at our church ... I should be regularly praying for them, I guess, and thank God of what they've done for God's church and for God .. Been guilty of not doing that ... :( .. It's soooooo not easy being church pastors ...

Back to school

I am going back to school next year. Planning to do MCOM at UNSW. Currently filled out an application, waiting to be sent electronically to the uni. If God willing, I should know whether I will be accepted or not before the end of January.

coz I am not ......... perfect

What do you think is the best way to learn to be more patient? Is there any exercises that teach you how to become more patient in life?

Just to share a bit, one of my weaknesses is I am not a patient person. I like to do things fast and efficient ... I usually takes initiative (not all the time), don't mind in helping out and may expect certain things from people ... If you are a close friend of mine, you will know.

That's me and my character ... I am usually become impatient when I expect something to be done by a person (his/her responsibility) but he/she has not done it or he/she has done something far from my expectation. For example, in a group meeting, if I have asked my friend to do a particular thing, but he/she neglected it. I could have high expectations which might be a problem for some people .. :) ... but I have expectations (as most people are) .... from parents, brothers, friends, lecturers, preachers, leaders, flatmates, and so on. When everything is smooth, I can look good and smily, otherwise I become this impatient monster WHICH I REALLY HATE. I want to be more patient .. I wish I can pretend to be a patient person, but I am not ... I am who I am ... learning to be more patient, struggle with it ...

Funny enough, the bible talks about a patient God ... If you read the old testament, you will know how patient God is to His people Israel ... So many times the israelites dissapointed God, but God's mercy saved them again and again from their enemy. God was really hurt you know, no kidding ... He was hurt a lotttt ... Even Jesus cried during His walk to Jerusalem

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Luke 13:34)

Well, that's not really the end of the story ... Even though God is patient, yet He is just. That's why He punished Jesus on the cross. That really shows how great are the consequences of my sins and your sins .. Even so, that verse really describes how God feels about Jerusalem/God's people disobeying God .. As for me, sadly that happens too .. So many times in my life that I've dissapointed God and yet He forgave all my sins ... that's why the bible says "Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you" ... not with our own strength, our own good ...

That is good news for me ... Happy news ... Why? Because everytime I get impatient with someone, I don't have to pretend that I am patient .... coz I am not .... But I can pray to God asking for His patience in me .. trying to remember His patience and try to forgive as the Lord forgave me. After all, I do make my parents, friends, brother, flatmates angry too ... It's not like I am perfect or somethin, coz I am not .... I am who I am by His grace ...

what a year this has been

Year 2004 - hmm ... so many things happen in my life .. It will end soon though .. Come to think of it, I am thankful that I can live this year as it is. There were many struggles, many temptations, many experiences, many victories, many failures, many sins that I've done/experienced during the year. As a matter of fact, this year I lost two of my jempol kuku di kaki ... hahaha .. something to remember ... definitely don't want to repeat it again .. :) ... Really need to start doing some reflection though ....

Btw, found triana's blog ..welcome tri to blog community .. hehehe ... sering2 diupdate ya ..

Psalm 90:12: Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
*dah 25 nih taun depan* .. diitung diitung diitungg .. hahahahhahahah .... I'll share some of my thoughts later on .. maybe when I am in indo, enjoying and struggling with my holiday ...

at lidia's place .. all happy faces .. :] 

Me ronny and Budi 

Triana's blog

I heard that Triana has made a blog too .. Does anyone know what the URL address is? :] .. Tri, if you are reading, tell me ok .. forgot to ask u last saturday ..

Itu

Suddenly want to make poem ... don't even know what it means :]

"Itu" datang itu pergi
Seperti angin sepoi sepoi,
Sebentar kerasa lalu habis entah kemana pergi

Darahku bergelora panik
Ku mulai mencari dan mencari
Dengan berpeluh dibawah matahari
Keringat salju menetes di dahi
Takut gemetar melanda hati

Akankah selamanya hilang, tanya hati
Akankah kutemukan lagi
Akankah kuterus mencari
Akankah datang dan pergi lagi

Today!

Nothing much happened today. It is just another day. Another day of work and rest. Another day of my life. Came to the office at around 9.30, did some work straight away. I have a website project for one of our client due this Friday. I was trying to fix some bugs in the web application today, and was caught up in my work until lunch time. Managed to solve some difficult problems during that time ... I was singing "We are the champion" spontatenously because of that and kept singing the song for quite some time with a pretty loud voice .. *not that loud rite hans?* .. :) .. Everyone near me was sort of looking/listening at me, maybe thinking what is this guy so happy about? :) ... well, .... :) ...

Did not have rice for lunch today, just the cooked dishes from catering. That is because I could not find rice in my rice cooker this morning, so I ended up just bringing the dishes without the rice :( .. I thought it should be enough since I had coffee with lots of sugar just half-hour before lunch.

After lunch, me and hans went to bible means business (BMB) in the greenwood bar. The topic today was about the Stepford wifes. Learnt a lot today from what the speakers said, what God really design a marriage for. Still trying to digest his points as there were quite a number of them. Last week's topic was specifically directed towards the husband and this week the wife. Next week will be about parenting, how to become parents that God wants you to be. I can sense today that the speaker was a bit cautious about the whole issue since the idea of a wife submitting to husband in the context of marriage is highly unpopular these days ...

Quoting one thing that the speaker say: "a woman is to submit to a man in the context of marriage. Notice that it does not mean that women should submit to all men in other circumstances, not in workplace, not in the office, not in general sense." This brings back memory of my last bible study preparation with IPCYF bible study leaders about this topic. It is still not resolved yet though ...

After BMS, went back straight to the office .. still singing the song we are the champion .. It stucked on my head for some reason ... It stopped though, not long after that ... I continued the work until one of my work mate told me there is a problem with ACS system. One of our colleague changed something in the source code. It was a couple of line changes only, but the effect was huge. The letters generated by the system since 1/11/2004 are all corrupted .. woww!!!! My friend and I had to spend time to fix it ... It was around 4.30PM when he told me about the problem. We tried all we can to restore the corrupted documents. After long and hard hours (of debugging, coding, updating the exes, repositories, databases extraction), I thought we managed to fix the problem .. but after doing a couple of testing, it was obvious that the problem was only half-fixed ... It was 8PM already.. I was so hungry .. I didn't have rice for lunch .. I wanted to leave the office to get some snack, but the closest shop is not that close at all, and I was so eager to fix the problem ASAP. Everytime we thought we fixed it, there was still something left un-fixed ...

Fiuhh ... I tried to be patient ... and thank God I did ... Tried to calm my friend as he was pretty tired and nervous at that time .. I thought it's good that we are doing this together .. I wouldn't have stayed alone until 10PM with my stomach craving for food ... This friend of mine is a very persistent, hard-working guy ... I almost gave up when the clock reached 9.30PM ... But he just wanted to finish it tonight ... Well, I did not feeling good of leaving him with the problem alone .. So I stayed .. It was a good thing that I stayed ... In the end, we managed to fix the problem ... we tried all possible test cases to break it, but it seemed to work alright ... fiuuhhh .. at last ...

It was 10.05PM when I left the office, my stomach was really hurt ... I decided to stop at town hall and bought a KFC ... enjoyed it (as usual :)).. had 3 piece feed meal today .. I thought I deserved a good meal after all that .. hahahahahahha ....

Well that was pretty much my day in detail, how's yours?

**Every day is a good day because God is present no matter how bad your situation is, G'DAY**

Lays, Kettle, Smiths, Doritos

Feel dizzy after eating one pack of Doritos today ... Aussie chips/snakcs are very tasty ... My favorite is definitely Kettle but I rarely eats it since it's quite expensive ... Do u think chips are good for ur body?

New bloggers!!

Welcome to Kenny and Vic Lay to the blogger community!!! hehe .. sering update2 yo .. maybe triana will also make one soon! heheh ...

As for my day today, ............. zzz ... zzz... zzzz... zzzz ... I slept and had a rest almost whole day .. hahahha .. sleep sleep sleep to make up for my lost sleep during the week and on the weekend ... Just got up now and couldn't sleep anymore .. had too much sleep hahahah a..

Oh ... Muri and Kevin from my bible study just had birthday .. congrats to them!! Their bday is so close together .. hehe .. makes it easier to celebrate .. Kevin (and Muri I suppose) treated us to an italian rest in bondi last week ... The food that I had was spagheti somethin .. (prawny/seafood spaghetti maybe) it was really really really good and tasty ... italiano .. no surprise .. hahahahhaha .. thanks kev ... One not-so-good thing that happened on the day was the cake that I brought .. it was a munge cake ... I don't know whether all munge cakes melt easily or is it just michelle's munge cake .. hahah .. so disappointed ... The look of the cake was excellent .. well, look can be deceiving rite .. hauhauhauhauha .... I don't think I'll be buying munge cake for a while now ... As for Muri, she "ran" away on Saturday so we couldn't celebrate it together at church ... haha .. I'll meet up with kev and mur this coming Friday in BS anyway ...

Naruto .. Doriaaaa!!

This blog entry is dedicated to naruto. :) ...

Naruto is a manga that I like very much. It has an interesting story line about a ninja boy who has a monster sealed in his body since he was a baby. The monster was sealed in order to save konoha (the hidden village where naruto and the other ninja live) from the destruction. Naruto grew up not knowingly why everyone in the village hated him. Almost everyone hates naruto, since many of their relatives are killed by the monster/kyuubi inside him.

His bitterness in his heart keeps growing until the day when his sensei (ninja teacher) Iruka touches his heart. Iruka acknowledged Naruto as one of his excellent student despite what everybody thinks of him. He does not hate naruto even though his parents were killed by Kyuubi inside Naruto. When Naruto was at the lowest point of his bitterness/anger, Iruka protected him from Mizuki, the ninja who tried to make Naruto betray konoha .... to the point where Iruka almost die. Naruto cried .. He did not think that someone would actually do that to him ... From then on is the starting of Naruto's incredible journey as ninja. His life changes, his bitterness is slowly removed from his heart and he grow and grow and grow stronger everyday as ninja, thanks to Iruka's love ..

Naruto's one and only dream is to become a Hokage one day whereby everyone will acknowledge his existence. Hokage is the most skillful ninja in the village and is the appointed leader whose task is to protect the village. This dream is related to the fact that in his early life, nobody really thinks that He exists. he lived alone and it's very rare that people will talk or have a conversation with him. He is so focused to this dream in whatever he does as a ninja.

Naruto also has some principles which he tries to abide all the time, such as "Never run away from problem", "Never betray your comrades", and "Never give up until the end of end", which are pretty good principles in the ninja world. ^^ .. Because of many difficulties in his early life, Naruto developed a habit of not giving up easily. He is an interesting ninja because he uses his pain in his early life and touch others with the things that he does and say. He changes people's heart, from coward to hero, from betrayer to someone who trusts others, and so on. He is also a quite spirited ninja, always full of energy and very innocent ninja boy indeed.

Well, that was more or less the story line of the manga itself. One thing that I like about this manga is definitely naruto's character. Even though the story has some things in it which are not realistic/true or biblical and sometimes it is too ideallistic, but it is still a good story, very touching and I can really relate to it. Naruto's attitude of doing the best until the very last, not giving up until your last spurt is one of the thing that I most like. If I am to relate the story to my Christian life, I believe there will be many difficult things which I will face during my Christian life. I realize that a christian life is a journey and not a one stop terminal. It is a journey where I must STAY with no BUT. There is NO SUCH THING as conditional commitment in Christian life. I must never give up this faith of mine until the very end, not with my own strength but only by His grace, not because I deserve it but because of His mercy, not because of my own cleverness/riches/ability/look but because God chose to love me. God has loved me first even though I am a sinner more than the love that Iruka sensei gave to Naruto by dying on the cross so that I can start this incredible journey as a Christian, to grow stronger day-by-day in His love. I really want to have a life with no regrets and I believe that is to live a Christian life wholeheartedly. I will fall, stumble along the way but God has promised to be with me and I believe He does.

**Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up**

** Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.**

Yosshhh, Doriaaaaa!! ^^

The past week

There were many things happen to me in the past week..To start with, last Friday we went to Karaoke wif my bible study members and david liu's bible study. That was a very enjoyable night for me and I hope the others too.Hahaha.I always like to sing. I think I became a sanguin in that karaoke room. Emm .. the only thing that I was worried about is hanna since she didn't sing much .. hanna "can and will" only sing english songs and only selected songs that are elegant .. haha .. our song selection ranged from rap (where is the love) to mandarin and indo songs :) .. we ended up spending $11 pp for 2 hours of karaoke .. In the end there were about 18 songs left in the queue .. Next time we'll do it at yap2 place since its free .. haha ...

Jun just got a job last week ... he is working in KFC town hall now .. brought home some KFC chicken .. yummy .. He also got a second job at oxford st bar .. the former employer at australian hotel called him up and asked him if he is available to work ... well it's a bit worrying .. he told me that some of his workmates are gay and he was scared .. I was a bit comforted knowing that it is his former boss at australian hotel who offered him the job .. Praying that he'll be ok despite his busy work and study

Master class was also pretty good last Thursday .. not too long .. :) .. anyway, I've got questions which om joe did not know/want to answer at that time .. He promised me yesterday that he'll think about it though .. The question is "how do you disprove reincarnation?" Given that people who believe in the reincarnation gives prove such as there is this person who can tell exactly where he lived in the past life, who his/her wife/husband was, when did he die, his sickness and so on. This person has never visited the country where he/she claimed to live his/her past life .. I think I heard there are many proofs of it, my parents know some of them and they always bring this as proof that there is such thing called reincarnation .. Does anyone want to comment or have any opinion?

On Friday, I watched Cirque De Soleile with some Damon, ken, rose, leo, alastair, rav, stef, hans. Wow .. it was fantastic .. recommended to watch .. it's been a long time since i watch any circus .. very enjoyable .. I was hoping it would run for more than 2 hours, kurang banget rasanya ..

Pemuda was good yesterday .. Jimmy brought a very clear message I think about mentoring topic, easy to understand and very applicable .. I approached/will approach Kev and Muri (not yet) and ask them to help out in taking care of some of the members in our bible study ... Kevin will mentor edward, muri -> hanna and inggrid and I -> kevin ... Maybe we'll try doing one on one meeting once we are used to it .. but the first step is maybe to pay attention more to the person him/herself. I am so not used to the concept though ...

At pemuda I had a conversation with a guy who come regularly to IPCYF about catholicism .. He is a catholic, but it is a bit weird for me that he come to our church youth fellowship but on Sunday he still goes to catholic church and he considers himself a catholic ... I really don't feel right about it though .. feel awkward ... I had a chance to talk a little bit about the difference between catholicism and christianity .. I think I have to say this to him, since if I keep quiet it will not be right .. I tried not to offend him as best as I could .. just try to be open wif him and at the same time try to understand him .. I think it is time that we need to be a bit ruthless about the truth but at the same time also melayani mrk ...

Yesterday after pemuda, I went straight to Lidia's place .. I had so much fun and laughter you won't believe it .. sampe hampir cram perut .. hahahah .. Lidia is a PHD student who usually come to Sunday morning service. She kindly invited me and some people (Ronny, Triana, Franky, Yosi, Mbak Maria, Windy, Nelvi, ahon dan istri (sapa nama istri ahon?) and some of lidia's friends to go to her place celebrating her birthday. Haha .. she can cook really well .. nasi kuning nya was very good ... es buah and cake nya juga very nice .. she also made tahu brontak sama lumpia vietnam .. how does that sound? hahah .. we brought her a kitchen utensil and cookbook as her bday present *hope she like it* .. so that she can cook for us more in the future .. HAHAHA .. oh well, this group of people is so much fun .. we laughed a lot like crazy yesterday .. I've never had that kind of laugh for a long time now .. it was unbelievable .. hahaha ... our converstion was always full of joke .. feel like we were part of srimulat team or somethin .. Yosi, Franky, Mbak Maria (she is the best), and Lidia are the funniest of them all .. really enjoy it everytime I mix around with them ... very happy bunch of people, well at least from the outside appearance .. I know that some of us banyak masalah juga ... but it was a good laugh yesterday ... very happy very happy .. ureshiiii ..

Well, today there is no bible study prep meeting .. haha .. I kinda miss it .. what am I gonna do today ya? I am sure there are many things that I can do .. haha .. clean my room and wash my clothes are definitely on the agenda :)

talking about getting organized, well, i am learning to do that

Hmm .. I am not a very organized person ... Unsurprisingly, when I tried to put on stuffs on my diary, I am actually quite packed with many things ... fiuhhh ... so many things to do in such a short time .. wow ... need to really manage my time better ...

Raker result so far ......

Had a full day today ... in the morning I went to our church's general meeting .. It is held every two years. The main purpose of having that is actually to see the general picture of what each department and commision doing as part of IPC church as a whole. I also had to give a presentation today of our youth program in the year 2005-2006 ...

During the meeting i realize it is not about which commission/department is doing better than the other .. Every dept has their own successes and failures .. We must support one another as partner in the gospel, if you know what i mean ... sometimes instead of supporting one another, we don't care about what the other dept is doing, let alone other churches .. It can be pictured like one church envy another church because they have more members or their members are more lively ... that really happens, I think ... Well, Ideally we should give thanks anyway since if Christ is really preached in that other churches, we should thank God for that .. The end goal is the same ...

To share a bit, here is our plan for next year (pls comment my blog readers .. ). But plan is just a plan, without prayer and full surrender, it's a bit meaningless .. Ok .. here we go .....

IPC Youth fellowship:

Who we are:

• We are mostly indo students who study here. Some of us are still in high school, pre-uni, uni students and workers.

Aim of the fellowship:

• To build a strong fellowship, solid bible teaching and reaching out to wider community esp youth ... (become a blessing to them by sharing the gospel and Christ's love) at school, workplace and uni

Program Routine:

• Weekly fellowship

1. Bible talk: The plan is to have more short letters, more bible series and topics in the year 2005. So we will do New testament letters (short ones) and followed by a series of topical sermon (e.g. relationship series, music workshop, money, wanting to be rich, ecclesiastes 1,3,12, Psalms - how we relate to God in real life situations, happy situation, sad, angry, lonely, down, and so on)
2. panel discussion (more of this in the year 2005)
3. fellowship and dinner
   

• Weekly bible study (most probably we'll learn romans in the first semester)
  

Non-routine

1. Special events: Valentine, Bday, Xmas and Easter
2. Outings: 3x a year
3. Evangelical nights (app 3 times this year) ... some of the ideas are (any more good ideas?):
   

• coffee table: have coffee and short bible talks ... (Mrs Mavis idea)

• Invite gospel singers to evangelize

• Invite good speakers for evangelism .. (combine with pemuda bday/MPKD maybe for this one)

1. Training: Evangelism training, 2 ways to live workshop
2. Outreach to uni (open a stand 1x a year) plus Free Maths/English/Science/Physics tutorial for HSC students .. reaching out to young people (maybe can liase with remaja if they are from aussie background) ...
3. Conventions: KYLC (Katoomba Youth Leader Convention), KYC (Katoomba Youth Convention), MKC (Men's Katoomba Convention), WKC (Women's Katoomba Convention)
4. Mini retreat in the summer .. gather and study the bible together, plus recreational activities in the blue mountains ...
   

Yeah .. that;s all folks .. I am a bit scare that we are doing too many things this year .. hopefully not .. well, what do you think?

tired

been feeling so tired this week .. I don't know why .. seems like getting stressed out of having so many things in my mind ... hmmh .. tired physically and emotionally ... don't feel so good at all .. a nice bath, quiet time with my guitar and my Father would be good actually ... =(

*Rejoice always, I tell you again rejoice* .. because you've been saved from death to life and you are a son of God now ...

updates updates

Went to latino festival last week .. that was the first time I've been to america latin festival. I found many traditional goods, cds, statues, jewellery, food, dances, music in that festival. Overall it was quite interesting. The thing that interest me the most is the music style that they have. They have their own unique music style like dangdut for indonesia. I separate the modern latin and traditional latin, since even though they are both latin music, they are quite different loh ... I like the modern one .. more colourful and not boring .. got the chance to see the drummer up close and personal in there .. hehe .. got a few things in my mind now which I want to try to improve my drum skill ...

Last monday Erico and Dency had a wedding ... congrats to both of them .. akhirnyaaaaaaaa!! hehe .. hans's speech was quite funny .. it ended with "akhirnyaaaaaaaaaaa" while we toss the drink for their happiness ... The thing that got my attention is when Erico's parents sing one song at church .. I really like the lyrics of the song that they sang at church .. It is called "Ku tau siapa yg pimpin" (I know who lead me) .. it's an old song but the way they sing it is really really different .. I guess it summarizes their prayer for both of them in going through this life as husband and wife to put God as the center of their lives .. hmm .. hmmm .. parents' blessing very important in the marriage eh .. ^^

As for yesterday, went with SDG group to centennial park .. BBQ BBQ BBQ .. oi oi oi ... ^^" .. played soccer with oscar, vic lay and ken .. that was a nice game .. hehe .. we won by 1-0 .. anyway ... after that played around with some kids, took some pictures and headed straight to church for pemuda. Challenging sermon yesterday .. It was about "How far will we go for being faithful to God?" The story was taken from Daniel 3 when sadrakh, messakh and abednego was challenged by Nebucadnezzar king to worship the gold statue and not GOD. If they refuse, they will be thrown to the fire. Om joe than gave some real life examples which was really helpful, like what to do in chinese funeral and so on. He gave a good practical advice which says that we should differentiate between religion and culture. If it is a religion which causes us to worship something other than Jesus then we must not do it. If it is a culture and does not involve worship of any kind of form and it is just a means to show respect to older generation, then it's ok .. but sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the two .. that's why we are in fellowship, can remind and discuss about such thing among one another .. Daniel, sadrakh, messakh and abednego learnt Babilon language, changed their names (to the name of babel gods basically) and were committed to Babilonian country (part of God's command to pray for the country where they are an exile) .. but if it has crossed the line, they refuse to do it ... really an encouragement sermon for me ..

Oh well .. today got a bs prep ... christmas practice, sunday night practice, sunday night service .. what a long day .. tomorrow get back to work again ..

Business (and/vs) Christianity

God gave me a chance to share the gospel with my workmate yesterday. I was nervous inside, you had no idea. But talking to this person, I can be open without being afraid since we worked together for quite sometimes now.

The story began with him reading my BMS postcard. BMS (Bible Means Business) is a group of working people gather together every Wednesday to listen to God's word. and then he asked me questions. He asked me, that how is it being in the business world can be in sinc with what is required from God in the bible? They are both in conflict all the time, he said. I also have that question in mind for a while now. I answered him with everything that I know, went straight to the gospel. Really glad that we had some practice at my bible study on the evangelism. He also asked me how do you explain all the tragedy that happen in this world, especially if that happens to your own family, he said. Sadly, when I asked him if he wants to join BMS next wednesday, he refused. I closed that chapter in my life long time ago, he said. Oh well, I should not be sad about it and trust God to work since you never know where the Spirit blows ... (never know when a person is the elect one - the Holy spirit works in Him to make him re-born)

Well, I am not writing this to boast about me being able to share the gospel, since it was God given chance. Just wanna share my personal struggle .. In terms of working, eventually I want to have my own business in the future .. That's my plan for the moment, work and save up a bit, then later open up something if God allows (my plan is not His plan I guess). I always believe and say to my friend that you have to be different as a Christian. You have to show God in all the things that you do .. Dare to say no to the world and yes to God. Hmm, I wonder how can I do that, since business world is so dirty, especially in indo. You know how it is, corruption, unclear taxation system, wild donation, and many many more. So I wonder if it is possible to be a christian and a businessman at the same time? I wonder what is my brother and sister in CHrist do in indo .. Are they being faithful to God or they do the same thing as the world does? It will be really sad if that is really the case ..

Any comment?

Farewell

I had a farewell party last night. Jimmy, one of my friend at IPC is going back to indo forgood today. It must be a hard thing for him and Jule (his girlfriend) to have a long distant relationship. They looked alright last night, laughing and being happy and all that, but you never know what is going on inside.

We were suppose to have BBQ yesterday at the Peak apartment, but it was cancelled. Instead, we gathered at Jule's place in Maroubra. That was actually the first time I went to her place. It was very nice, big and cozy, but it was a bit cold .. Maybe because it was raining last night and the weather was not nice at all, even now as I write this blog.

Jimmy picked me up along with all his brothers from Kingsford. We did not talk much last night since there were so many people came. The house was packed, people come and go, met some old friends from uni, a couple of new friends, IPC friends. At Jule's place we did not do anything beside eat and chat. I drank a glass of red wine and white wine each .. suprise2 I don't get the alergic reaction this morning. I guess if i don't drink that much it's ok, since I wasn't feeling dizzy/drunk at all last night.

Managed to have a meaningful conversation with some IPC friends. Asked them how they are going and talk about stuff, like the situation in indo right now, IPCYAF, future plans, christianity, work, the stuff that we hate, stuffs that we like .. I mentioned to my friends that I realized that I have a passion to be in a music team, since we were watching MTV awards last night from outside the TV room .. :) ... I always get excited everytime I see a good musicians playing their instrument .. It's just one of my passion I guess, even though I don't show it sometimes ...

One of the sad thing last night was one of IPC-ers broke Jimmy's camera .. That person had to replace that and I knew he was distressed about it .. In the end, IPC-ers gathered at Jule's room (there were many groups last night) with jule and jimmy (jimmy nyusul) .. wow .. her room is so clean man .. very Jule kali .. hehe .. and we chatted a bit and then go home. Jimmy is going to the airport today at 9AM. Really Wish him all the best in indo. Pray that he will also be zealous for God in indo despite all his busyness in helping his father doing his family business. Adios, we'll meet again Jim.

Laksa Day

It's laksa day again today at the company .. hmm .. I wonder whether I should order beef laksa or chiken hainam ... chicken hainam is definitely healthier and less fat .. but beef laksa with chilli is just too good .. oh well, both are nice ... hmm .. hahaha .. :)

busy-ness in life

Been tired at work these few days .. been coming early to work, and going home relatively late as well .. a bit bored with what I am doing at work .. I guess that's the way people huh ... If you are given work with deadlines, you complain.. if the work that you do is not too demanding, then you get bored easily ... ^^

Been given a new task in the coming weeks .. must create ACS Website through Coldfusion and web components (JScript) .. I don't really know how to program web apps using Coldfusion, only learnt a little bit before .. but I can learn and hopefully it will be ok in a couple of weeks ...

Finished reading up to chapter 5 of ASP.NET book now ... been reading at home, on the weekend, on the bus, on the train whenever I feel like it ... It's been interesting, new concept .. very impressed with the way they design the .NET Framework .. hehe .. I realize learning these things is meaningless, .. and yet I just want to keep myself busy these days ...

Had a good outing last weekend ... not many people came though .. it was a good walk .. managed to share and talk with yap2 and some other friends ... after walking from coogee to bondi, we had mirasa fried rice *yummm* and we played some childhood game at bondi beach .. the game is called "engklek" in javanese .. Does anyone know this game? It is like you make boxes on the floor (arranged like a cross shape) and people are suppose to jump on it in following some rules .. anyways ... The gals is suppose to be better at playing it since it is a gal's game .. But last saturday the guy beat the gal pretty badly .. heheh .. gals, you need to do sport more u know ... ^^ .. need to increase ur level of fitness .. after that I went pemuda .. oh well .. again not many people came :( .. felt a bit discouraged, maybe not a bit, but a lot ... I always feel like that even though trying so hard not to feel that way .. tried to remind myself whoever come, let's build one another up .. but still u know ...

On sunday, felt a bit guilty to Jun .. he said to me that why I always go out to church .. he said that because on Sunday after I went back from sunday morning church, I had a bible study meeting and after that christmas practice until 3 PM ... hmm ... not a good sign ...

Oh well, overall, my life's busy these days .. is it a good thing or a bad thing I don't know .. hehe .. I guess need to balance my life more, not to overdo stuffs ...

Hanvy (bday gal) and lyds in relaxing mode 

Yap2 playing ... hmm . God knows 

from the side .. everyone except me 

the gals 

near the cliff .. yap yap is standing far away :) 

in the hand of an angry God

A little sharing after attending MASTER program today. MASTER is a bible training ran at our church IPC Randwick ..

Have you ever imagined about a God that is angry .. If an all powerful God is angry and especially angry at you, oh well it will be pretty scary is not it? Earth quake, flood, hurricane, mass murder, september 11, Bali blast, mob, penjarahan, kerusuhan, being killed brutally is nothing compared to an angry GOd ... He is GOD ... and He is angry, angry to sins, and sinners ... You and me, your relatives, your parents, your brother, your sister, your niece, your cousins, your uncle, your friends ..

Ever imagine yourself in this hands of an angry God? or you don't care ?
Ever imagine your parents going to hell? Do you care or you care but you are afraid?
Ever imagine your brother going to be judged guilty?
Ever imagine your closest friend going to be punished eternally?

It is only through Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice for our sins in which God's wrath is satisfied. All our iniquities are put upon Him on the cross, and He raised again from the dead to prove that he wins against the sin and death. And the message is this

"Believe that (Jesus) is the son of God and LORD of your life, then you'll be saved", not by work, not by your own good ...

and guess what, GOD is not angry anymore to sinners who believe in HIM since His anger was directed towards Jesus ....

Now, there is ONLY two ways to live, live under Jesus as LORD or live under judgement. Judgement because we do not believe in the God's one and only SON. Why don't you read the bible and judge for yourself who Jesus is ..

Locked out of the house

Hahaha .. forgot to bring the house key today .. had to wander around for a while (1 hour) -> go to randwick, eating KFC, go home until Jun opened the door ... ^^"

Happy bday Jeff

Had bbq today at his place ... Jeff is a close friend of mine from High school here .. makan sampe kenyaaaaanggggg bangettt .. gileeeeee .. ... Happy bday Jeff ... thanks for the bbq .. ^^"

where will you be?

Today heard a sermon at church .. part of it was saying who is our Father? God or the devil ... We might think that we belong to God like the pharisees did, but we actually belong to the other father, the devil himself ... and the preacher, om joe also mentioned that there was a time when Billy graham did a KKR in australia, the church where he grew up with was so full .. so many people were enthusiastic praying, follow sunday service, praising God etc etc ... But now .. 40/30 years after that he can see that they've changed so much .. not following the true God anymore .. He said it was sort of like a phase in their life where going to church seems to click .. but they never know the true God, never been born again .. even though 30/40 years ago they prayed a fantastic prayer, praise God and all that, but nowadays, in their lives with family, business and all that, they forget Christ .. I can see this pattern in some of my buddies now ...

The question now is that where will you be in 30 years time?
where will you be in 40 years time?
Will you persevere in the true faith?
Will you still believe and regards God as your master?
WIll you have the passion still to share the gospel?

Where will I be?

Hiks mama hiks

Hmm .. feel so sad today after I called my mum ... sad because she does not know Christ ... Not just that, the way of thinking is so different to mine ... she is a kind mother .. don't get me wrong .. she is the type of mother who would sacrifice everything for me and my brother jun ... very grateful for that .. It is just that, she works so hard, getting stress out and all that because she just wants to give the best for me? ... :(

Everytime i call her, she always talk about our shop, how hard life is, ask about my work, my salary, talk about how I can get more money faster, any chances, opportunities .. I feel sadddddddddddd .. so saddddddddd ... really sad ... :( .. I want to scream kali kalo bisa ... just to let it out ... Hmm .. writing a blog maybe is a good way for me to express my feeling now ... hehe .. I feel a little bit at ease now ..

I have always reminded her not to get too stress out, since it is not good for her health juga kan ya .. I told her that I can take care of myself now and there is no need to worry about my salary and all that since life is more than just getting money ... Surely there must be more than that in this life ... I am worried about her sometimes ... Today, I told her on the phone that I was bored talking about those stuffs, in a nice way of course sambil bergurau2 gitu .. :) .. I prefer that we talk about something lighter lah ya ... like: what I did today, the girl that I like, the kind of sport that I do, and anything new in my life, about God maybe, sharing lah basically ... haha .. I don't mind talking about the heavy stuffs but not all the time .. kayak udah di consumed banget, it seems unhealthy to me ... She paused for a while when I said that ... I think she kind of understand .. but being as she is, I know it is a bit hard to change ... hehe .. That I can understand ... she is my mum after all ... slowly kali ya ..

Well, talking about my mum, She is a very kind person, always try to do good to other people .. very ulett *salut salut* .. always work hard .. and her phylosophy is very child-centered ... She loves us unconditionally I think .. I still remember many things that she did for us .. When me or my brother was sick when I was in Malang/Surabaya, even if it is late at night, or in the morning she will come straight away to take care of me and Jun ... she always put us first above herself ... always want me to have the best even though we are not that rich ...

The last thing that I want on earth is actually to make her sad or unhappy, I am dead serious .... BUT SADLY, I might have to do it ... Why? coz the bible says: put God first above her ... and if what she wants me to do does not please God, I have to say a definite "no" ... That is really really hardd for me to do, knowing what she has done for me and all that and my personality juga kali ya ... hiks

About my mum, she actually shared quite a lot of stories with me ... I always enjoy her story about me and jun when we were still small .. She told the story on how I was born, my childhood story lah .. I think it was more happier times those days ... she also told me how naughty she was when she was a kid, how she got to know papa, her boyfriends ... hahaha .. so funny ...

Decided today to ring her and papa more often .. at least once a week ... hmm ... at least I want to keep more communication lah .. and also I really hope that i can have the opportunity to share gospel with her and papa this coming december ... pls pray for me and my family ya so that we can know how much God loves us .... ^^

Luke 12
⁴"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. ⁵But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him

Luke 12
⁵²From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. ⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God God, please turn my mourning into dancing ... please turn my sorrow into joy.

intense meeting

Yesterday Inti had a meeting again .. It's budget meeting for next year which involves new-inti-to-be also ... It was a pretty intense meeting .. it started from 8PM until about 10.30PM ... Thank God that almost everything was settled at that time ..

Fiuhh .. I feel like my energy was drained out yesterday .. both emotionally and physically ... Funny though, although you are in the same boat, the people in it might want to go different ways and do different things ... The thinking could also be different .. That's when prayer comes to play an important part .. submitting ourselves under the one authority of God ..

As a team we should learn to listen before we want to be heard ... Sometimes that we sooooo want our opinion to be heard and do not listen to others ... that's maybe me (and others too, I don't know?) .. and you could also feel offended when someone give comments or not thinking the same way as you do, especially if you think that your ideas are good and will bring growth to youth .. I kept reminding myself yesterday: respect others and let your voice be heard for His glory ... This is all for Him not me ... There should be no ME in it ... Kept reminding myself again and again yesterday .. tried to be calm, prayed in my heart ... and even now ... I am having difficulty in balancing between authority (as youth leader) and humility .. heheheh if you want to put it that way ... I could be bossy sometimes .. I like my voice to be heard and obeyed ... hahahhaha ... scary rite .. ? Yup that's sinful me .. *ayo berubah*

I should follow Jesus' example of humility .. It is actually in my yesterday's morning devotion hehehe .. (*God is good* ^^') .. Even though He is in very nature of God, He humbled Himself, until death in the Cross ... So down to earth that guy, YET full of authority ... I want myself to be like that ... But it is hard (at least for me) because of my selfishness and my sinful nature ... Sometimes we want to show that how godly we are and how great are our ideas, yet we loose the focus which is Christ and we turn into something like hypocrites ... Humility is a hard thing to do when you are in a high position rite? It makes sense ... But look at Christ .. so true to Himself (being God with authority), and yet so humble ... wowwww ...

Lessons to be learnt: be humble like Christ, don't be afraid throwing out ideas, respect your bro and sis in Christ and other people and I should strive to be an example and be serious in my speech and action ...

Has anyone had a similar situation before?

Tax return

Hmm .. need to do tax return .. does anyone knows any good and qualified accountant (CPA preferably) near kingsford or north syd?

I found a couple ..
1. H&R (Near GPK Kingsford)
2. Tax accountant near DK Kingsford
3. Jessica (Indo) in Randwick

Friends, do you know any other which you think better or smarter? My one is a bit complicated because for my casual job, I acted as an individual contractor (with ABN and all that) ..
Huhhh .. Australian taxation system is so complicated ... Don't like it at all

Inti meeting day

Had a meeting with Inti and new-Inti-to-be .. Inti is the indo name for our youth leaders which literally means the "core" in Indo ..

Pretty intense discussion today since we had to come up with the budget proposal for next year since our church general meeting is pretty close .. The new intis contributed a lot in the discussion today and they had some good ideas as well .. In the meeting, we looked at some of our strenghts and weaknesses today in the meeting .. It was constructive, thank God, and it was a fun meeting i guess ... hehehe .. at least for me ..

Hmm .. got homework to do now, which is to print out the budget template to be filled in this Thursday in our last meeting before the raker ...

About Youth topic for next year, we'll still be focusing on biblical theology .. like learning books from the bible .. but we'll be doing short ones maybe and more topical as well, e.g. Boy Girl Relationship, Money, etc etc ...

Guys (and gals of course), ada ide ga for the topic part? Ayo contribute pls! :D

Hmmm ... Outing is in 2 weeks time ... next week, the young ladies will be going up to Women's Katoomba Convention ... Have fun learning and absorbing gals, so that you can start to practice it when you go down from Katoomba later on .. ^^"

It's the time of the year where we usually have outing at pemuda .... Next 2 weeks is gonna be outing .. yayyyyy ... hope to loose some weight from walking .. I've been stagnan for the past month or so, not doing any sports except walking from Wynyard station to the bus stop at martin place from monday to friday .. hehe .. that keeps me from gaining weight I think .. Never quite make it to basketball session every saturday morning .. ga bisa bangun .. parah parah .. hehehe ..

Circque De Sole

Wah .. at last I decided to join the show .. I was a bit reluctant the first time, because It costs a lot of money .. oh well, i always like to save up and last month I spent quite some money already on things ..

But decided on the last minute that I am not gonna miss watching it .. It might be my only chance of watching the show who knows .. hehehe .. it's gonna be on 22nd of Oct .. I asked my work mates, and friends, they all said it's excellent .. so I think it will be worthwhile...

Quidam quidammmmmm ... anyone want to come?

Women in ministry

Found an article in www.bible.com regarding women in ministry. It's a long reading, but it basically argues that women can and encouraged to preach in church if it's their calling ...

The article also argues that when Paul mentioned in his letter that women should not teach, he was referring to either church that was out of order (Corinth) or has problem in it and "women" in the letter is not addressed to all women .. It also argues that throughout history, God has used godly women to teach men and women about the bible .. (the example is in the article) ...

any thoughts? :) ...

what's gregetan in english?

A question

In Titus 1:1-4, it is said that "faith" and "knowledge of the truth" will lead to eternal life. This is based on the promises of God revealed through His Word in the bible. That is why Paul is so much against false teacher, since false teachers teach something that is not the truth or slightly different to the truth ..

Nah .. the question is, how can we be sure that our current knowledge of the bible is true? Since if it is not, we are in a danger of
1. Be the false teacher
2. Not gaining the eternal life ..

Any thoughts? any comments are welcomed ..

One of adi's top-10 hitz of all of time + some updates

A few days ago, suddenly remembered my old favorite song .. I think this song is ranked on the top-10 list of adi's hitz of all time ... hehe .. Here's the song in indo

Ada waktunya bekerja
Ada waktunya berencana
Ada waktu bersenang
Ada waktu bersedih

Tapi waktu itu singkat
dan keabadian itu panjang
waktu sekarang takkan terulang

Ada waktu untuk hidup
Ada waktunya untuk mati
Kehidupan sekarang
Akan lalu dan pergi

Tapi hidup melayani Yesus
itu berarti
Membuahkan harta abadi

Dimana saja dan kapan saja
Layanilah Yesus
Dia rela mati bagi umat manusia
Dimana dan kapan saja
ohhh layanilah Dia
Yang memberi hidup baka
Dimana dan kapan saja
ohhh layanilah Dia
Yang memberi hidup baka

This song is taken from the book of ecclesiastes .. It summarizes the meaning of the very existence of us, human ... I remembered this song while having a chit chat with "J" about the meaning of life .. hehe ..

Booked the ticket to go back home today .. I'll go back on the 5th of Dec by Garuda .. wow .. haven't touched the mother land for 3 years now .. really excited to go back .. there are many things that I want to do in indo ... like, visiting old friends in jakarta, visiting my cousins, attending ari's wedding, shopping with mum and dad, hehehe .. buying clothes, and pants (really need it), PS2 maybe? .. hehehe.. Oh well, it should be fun, but on top of that, I want to go home and become a blessing to my family .. It's been hard .. very hard .. Need ur prayer and support friends .. I'll be back on the 7th of January ... Anybody going back to indo on the same date??? I'll be transiting at denpasar though ..

Today, I will join the MASTER training program conducted by my own church .. It aims at training leaders, equip them more with the Word of God ... oh well, the curriculum looks intersting ... will surely update you on what happen today ..

Watched Bourne supremacy yesterday with David, Alastair, Sebastian, Min2, Jessica dkk ... really cool movie, recommended to watch .. :) ...

been sick

been sick this past couple of days .. hmm. maybe too tired .. getting better though, still recovering ..

Bim bim bab

Highlight of the day: dinner wif BS group .. ^^" ... had dinner at korean restaurant, seoul ria ... just finished our last book on acts ... next week is starting with new topic about "guidance" before we start the new book "The path to godliness" ...

Our main conversation at the dining table was around personality .. One person in the bs group is a psychologist, and she knows a lot about this kind of stuff ... In the end everyone sort of know each other's personality gitu !...

We are quite different sih, there is a Melancholy/Choleric, Sanguin/Melancholy, Melancholy,Melancholy/Sanguin, Strong phlegmatic/Choleric .. wah macem2 deh ... Different but hopefully bisa kompak .. hehehehhe .. ^^"

Shopping night

Did a little shopping today ... can't really remember when was the last time I do that ... hehe .. it's been a while .. I don't really like to go shopping unless it's necessary or it's grocery kind of shopping ... ^^"

Bought a TV antenna at dick smith, wanna try the antenna tonight after dinner ... I have not been able to watch tv for almost 3 months now ... *pretty bad huh* .. I also bought hardware stuffs like cloth hangers, etc ... Went also to dymocks bookstore today to look for certification books .. I think I found one .. yup .. I want to do computing certification (MCSD), but through manual learning (books) .. I want to ask the company to buy one for me if possible, we'll see ... ^^"

On my way home, I met an friend of mine "D" on the bus .. I haven't seen her since her graduation on april this year .. hehe ... asked her how she's goin and all that ... It's good news that "D" has already got a job now ... thank God .. and she's enjoying it ... hehe ... Oh well, we talked about general stuffs la .. like where she lives, about her apartment, hahah a.. she said the facility is really bad .. the swimming pool in her apartment will make your skin itchy if you swim on it .. heheh ... so funny ...

Met Cathlyn Jessica Wong and "C"

Cathlyn Jessica Wong has been born! Yippieee .. Congrats to Ruby and Anne .. Dah jadi mum and dad ... and also to Oscar Wong who is also very very proud to be an uncle .. hehehe ..

On my way home from the hospital after visiting Ruby and Anne, I went to Coles to do a little shopping ... wih ... I met "C" an old IH friend there .. I was surprised to have met her there since I knew that she went back to singapore already .. Had a little chat and ask how she's going .. she is married already, she even showed me her wedding photos at Coles .. heheh ... she is very talkative just like how she normally is, and a very easy person to talk to.. Her husband was with her at Coles and he did not barely say a word ... hahahah ...

She was talking and talking, and me.... just laughing and laughing .... I used to call her "sista" .. I wanted to call her untie since she is much older than me, just like when you usually call singaporean woman, but she wouldn't let me .. heheh .. so I just called her sista looo ... Oh well, great to hear that she's doing well .. she is currently on holiday after coming back from china .. It's also great to hear that she still goes to church in singapore .. After some catching up then we say goodbye .. will send her email later on ..

1 Cor 16:13-14

This morning I flipped through Men's Katoomba Convention book that I attended this year ... Found a beautiful verse which I want to share:

¹³Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. ¹⁴Do everything in love.

Funny that writing a sermon is good since it can remind you of important points that were brought up to you, but I am so lazy at doing it ... ^^ ...

House of game

Well .. just realize that my place is becoming a game and anime center now ... 2 of Jun's (my brother) friends are coming in as new flatmates and they play games a lot ... wih .. the house now seems to be more livelier than before ... lots of activities ... lots of games, animes, movies ...

It's good but it can be bad as well .. heheeh ... depending on how you manage your time really .. Just got a bit worried that jun won't be able to study even though he said he could .. heheh .. anyway .. he's an adult already ... he should know what to do :)

Well, my new flatmates .. they are all quite young ... hehehe .. unlike me old ... Oh well .. later on when Arie (the oldest flatmate) move out of the place, I'll be the oldest then .. hiks hiks .. hehe .. I guess it's alright .. don't mind being old at all .. Hmmmm ... They are all quite nice (as far as I know now anyway) heheheh ... One goes to church and the other one doesn't ... Anyway .. just glad to have them as new flatmates ....

Oh btw, I might need a new flatmate at the end of the year since Arie is moving out ... so whoever is interested, contact me ok? :) .. You must be a guy, and love to play game also .. hehehe .. no no .. the last part was a joke btw ...

My room is cleannnnn

Just cleaned my room this week ... bring a new table for my bro to study into the room ... remove a couple of unwanted stuff .. it's so clean mann .. heheh .. me happy ... the room is much nicer and cleaner now .. hope it stays that way ... absolutely love it !!!!

Worship

Oh well ... been thinking about it lately in relation to my church buddies, especially in youth fellowship, about the songs that we use in the service in relation to the meaning of worship itself ..

Oh well ... Worship, some people say (which I am totally agree) is not just singing praise and worship .. It's how you live your life for God .. your total offering, your life as a living sacrifice .. It's no use if you sing so passionately at church and yet your life doesn't really reflect what you sing ... no use mann ...

Having that in mind, what is singing then? Can praise and worship be considered a worship? How do you explain what God is doing through praise and worship .. I know that some people cry during worship and God changed lives through it as well .. Should we sing at all at church? Why can't we go straight to the Word of God? What kind of songs that we should sing? rock, contemporary, rap, hymn, gospel, not so gospel song ... Just wanna get people's opinion on this ... Is singing at church important? Some people say also that worship leader's task is equal to the preacher, that is to bring people to God's presence .. But isn't God already present in our lives ? What does it mean to bring people to God's presence? Is God present in our lives and collectively when we gather together? Remember when two or three gather in Jesus name, He is there .??

Hehe .. got many questions in my mind ... I should've attended Mid Year Conference held at Katoomba recently since they learnt a lot about what worship is ...

Got a couple of quotes recently which I like to share to you,
*More knowledge could make you proud, but love is always humble*
*Don't whinge, Don't shine, Don't recline*

Company Meeting

Had a big company meeting today ... pretty big considering we haven't done something like this in the past ... came up with short term action plan (60 days) as well as long term plan ...

Glad to see more team spirit happening at the company .. it's been lacking in my point of view .. It needs to change if we want to move forward and work together more as a team and have a more happy environment .. :) ... The change must start from top-down and bottom up (meet in the middle) heheh ..

Meaningless? not at all

Had a chit chat with two friends today unexpectedly .. One is an old friend "A" (rarely meet him even though we go to the same church) and the other one "B" is much much senior than me, also church friend ...
 
Well, managed to talk about a couple of things ... I met A on my way to work this morning. Managed to catch up with him a bit .. asked him how he's going and all that ... I am surprise to hear how he's going .. A is currently working hard to support one of his family member to study in aussie .. well, I really admire his maturity, his love and his sacrifice ... I met the other person "B" on my way back home from broadway shopping centre .. "B" is currently working as well .. didn't manage to talk a lot except the general stuffs, like what work I do, where do I live, our church retreat, "B"'s work etc ...
 
From these two people, I sort of see the world of the "grown ups" .. hehehe .. if you'd like to put it that way .. I have to agree to what is written in the book of ecclesiastes,
 
"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."
 
What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
 
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
 
The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
 
The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
 
All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
 
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
 
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
 
Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
 
There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow. 
  
 
Well it doesn't mean that my friends' lives are meaningless ... hehe .. anyway, the writer of ecclesiastes was talking about life under the sun, life separated from God .. meaningless, pointless, no hope .. :) .. Thank God that I know Jesus ... Really Look forward to fill my life with hopefully what He wants me to do .. and later die and be with Him .. so good so good .. heheh

Moving forward

Don't know what to write .. It's been a while since I wrote about my life ..

Hmm, talking about life, Life seemed so busy this week .. there are many things that I have to do since many events are coming up .. There is youth KKR on 24 July 2004 with topic "The challenge of Christianity in this post modernism era" by Rev Hendra G. Mulya. Church Retreat is also coming up. At work, one senior of mine is taking annual leave at the moment, which means all responsibilities are on my shoulder .. fiuhhh ... so hard, but challenging at the same time .. so far so good, hopefully it stays like that ..

I recently talked to Hans regarding why is it so hard for me to communicate with my work mate who are Caucasian and yet it's not so hard for me to communicate with my asian colleagues and friends .. One of the conclusion is that the culture differences creates a barrier between us .. When they gather, they talk about something which I am not really familiar with, like cartoon that they watched when they were kids, aussie jokes, aussie books, different type of music, different general knowledge, different way of life .. so many different things ... I guess it's true that we have to apply the principal "seek to understand first, before you want to be understood" ... Must try harder and communicate more ... heheheh ...

About my ministry at church, it's really hard being one of the member of youth committee, since you have to organize this and that along with your everyday work plus other commitments .. Oh well, I can't complain, since God has been good in my life ... Want to give the best I can .. Many times I feel like giving God only 50% of my total effort, sometimes less ... not good .. I must change myself and ask God to help me with that ...

Moving forward, I think I want to start thinking seriously about what I want to do later on in the future .. I've started to make up my mind on a few things but there are many other things that I still need to think about, decide and surrender everything in His hands ... I am sure there are many obstacles ahead and I really need to be prepared for that ... Sometimes I thank God that I can live in Australia, have a good fellowship and learnt so many things from so many different people ... It's part of my life that I will always cherish later on in life ..

Until then ..............

To let go

Hmm .. don't fully understand what "letting go" means, but here you go,

To let go doesn't mean to stop caring, it means I can't do it for someone else.
To let go is not to cut myself off, it's the realization that I don't control another.
To let go is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To let go is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To let go is not to try to change or blame another, I can only change myself.
To let go is not to care for, but to care about.
To let go is not to fix, but to be supportive.
To let go is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.
To let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own outcomes.
To let go is not to be protective, it is to permit another to face reality.
To let go is not to deny but to accept.
To let go is not to nag, scold, or argue, but to search out my own shortcomings and to correct them.
To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires but to take each day as it comes and to cherish the moment.
To let go is not to criticize and regulate anyone but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To let go is not to regret the past but to grow and live for the future.


To let go is to fear less and love more.

-- undisclosed source -- :)

Strange feeling!

Suddenly there is this strange feeling in me
Feeling hard to express
Want to let it go and yet
its arms hold around me tightly

Sooo tight
It makes me sigh when I feel it
How long will it hold me like this
Like a mother who won't let go of her son from her arms

Should I feel this way
After all those trials and tough times
After all those cries and laughs
Should not I be stronger than this

I bow my knees unto Thee
The one and only God is He
Pouring out my burdens and my sins
The strange feeling I surrender also

He lifted me up again, oh yes He did
He makes me like a warrior and teach me to battle the enemy
He looks into the weak and deliver them from their troubles
He puts His strength in those who fears Jehovah

Ohhh what a feeling, what a relieve
Let all who are weak come to Him
Jesus is His Name
Mighty God, Warrior and Counsellor

Feel tired

Feeling a bit tired lately. I guess I need to rest a bit to restore my energy...Worse, jun my little brother has been sick for 3 days now. We went to the doctor today, and the doctor said it was infection in his digestion .. We bought some medicine and abon for him to eat. Just wish him well soon ...

Peanut character

You are Pig Pen!


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waiting waiting and waiting, AT LASSTTTTT

Hmmhhhhh .... I picked up my little brother at the sydney airport today. I had to wait for quite some time. Since there was a delay in the flight I had to wait around 3 hours in the airport. Such a troublesome airplane, luckily there was a soccer match at the airport between Holland and Sweden, so I watched that game while waiting. The rest of the time, I used it for shopping at the airport. I thought why not do shopping while I have a chance to do it, since I rarely go shopping these days. In the end I met my brother, I was very happy. VERY VERY HAPPY, AT LASSSTTTTTT ... Hehehehe .. We went home and spent a bit of time together, had lunch and all that. It was a good time.

Looking at that experience, I think I have a lot of things in me that I currently have to wait upon. Wait for God's time. So manyyyyyy, that sometimes I begin to loose patience. Things like waiting for God to work in my family, continuing my study, have my own usaha, having a relationship, waiting for growth in my ministry, and many things. Those waits seem so loooongg and so farrrrr away. I can get impatient easily when things don't go according to my way, and I am quite a hasty person actually. I like to do things very fast. ^^ .. I sometimes loose track, like a sheep, a dumb sheep that is lost. Thank God, He is THE good shepherd. I can see and feel that He always directed me, not to loose sight of what's important in this life. It is not MONEY, or RELATIONSHIP, NOT EVEN MINISTRY. I think the most important thing in this life is to make Jesus' Name known, How great is God's name and the things that He has done. Whatever I do, wherever I will be, I don't want to loose track of this goal. Hey friends, please rebuke me if I start to loose sight of this! ^^

Anyway, in the end of all those waits, there is an "AT LASSTTT" part. I will wait for that time and rejoice and be thankful. Maybe this is the time I meet God face to face or it can be other times as well. hehehe. In the end maybe I don't get what I really want, but yeah, I will trust HIM who loves me, the good shepherd and still rejoice, because I know who HE IS.

Oh well, in the meantime, I'm just happy that my brother is here again. YAYYYY! AT LAST. It was worth the wait.

Happyyyyyyyyy!

Ureshiiii, Yippiiii, Horeeeeee .... ^^
Reasons:
1. Georgia Charissa Widjaja telah lahir, 22 June 2004, 11:22 PM, 3.7 Kg .. hehehe ... Congrats Ferry and Sianty ... Matanya mirip banget ama sianty . hehehhe ...
2. Si Jun will come back soon ... 26th June ..
3. My computer is back to life .. asikkk ...

No Action Talk Only

I was talking to friend today about Christianity especially the Christians. His view really reminds me that I should "always always always always always" have a full self-awareness living in this world as something that I claim to be, a child of God.

His view about Christians is basically what I write as the title of this blog. He thinks that most Christians (including the preachers), if not all, are mainly people who can only talk about this and that, about love, faith and all that, but in real life, real situation, critical situation, most of them don't live to the expectation that they always talk about. The church are not sensitive to issues, people's need, not friendly enough to new comers, and so on. Oh well, that's his view which I have to agree to a certain degree when I see my own life. Benerr juga yaa. Hmm ..

A reminder for me, from kitab James: Jangan cuman jadi pendengar (dan omong) doank, tapi jadilah pelaku Firman.

Of course as a Christian, I still live in this world with flesh and blood, with sinful nature. Christians will fail and we can't do it perfectly, but thank God that God doesn't see me my sins, but God sees Jesus in me and justify me to be righteous before Him. Thank God, since none of us would and could live up to God's standard anyway.

Having that truth in our mind, well, still other people are watching over us Christians. All of them are LOOKING, WATCHING, and STARRING at us. They watch us everyday whether we like it or not, since we are carrying our Father's name. We are called to be witnesses wherever we are. Our calling is to be witnesses that glorify our Father's name, so that His name might be known.

When I see my own lives, hmm, I am so far far far far far away from what I claim to be, the child of God. Thank God for Jesus, but that's not a good excuse for me to live as I want to ...

*God I pray please give me strength and wisdom to live wisely as Your child*

life without computer

The title really summarizes my life in this past couple of days. Yes, my computer at home suddenly switched off and it's being checked by one shop at kingsford now. I think there is some problems with either the motherboard or the graphic card, but yeah I still don't know exactly what the problem is. Maybe I need to upgrade to a better one? It's gonna cost me a fortune though since I'm planning to buy a new computer as well.

Lately, been struggling at work, especially late last week. I was feeling a bit tired and didn't work to the best that I should .. Today was better I think. I put a reminder on my PC using a software for posting notes in PC to work as if I'm doing it for God. It's taken from collosians 3. That works i think .. hehehe .. Realize If I don't have that attitude, can't really become a blessing to my work mates ...

Had a good yum cha branch with Ronny and friends at silver spring ... As you know, I ate quite a lot of sio may, dkk lah ... it was yummmm ... and the dessert (semangka + kolang-kaling) WOWWW, lezaaat sekaleeee .. ^^ .. Heheheh .. During the branch, Ryan, monnie, I, Agung and Alex had a little conversation ... Basically kita coba ajakin mrk2 ke pemuda ... The funny thing is si Agung try to ajakin kita ke persekutuan Doa .. Hmmmm ... I told them that I already have too many things to do at church, Rabu PA, Sabtu half-day di pemuda, Minggu pagi, belum kalo ada bible study preparation and practice for Sunday Night, not including the meetings for retreat, inti, etc. I don't think I can handle it if I come to Friday night juga ... Need to spend time on other things juga, like with my bro Jun, and do other stuffs ... Oh well, that's how I feel anyway .. So I said to them, kayaknya kita kebanyakan kebaktian deh ... hehehe .. so wherever u r terpanggil, setialah disana ... build one another up in that fellowship .. I guess if i can compare with MRI, they only have one umum and one pemuda on Sunday only. The rest is only sport activities and gatherings ...

I heard today that Sianty is currently in labour. Olalaaaa ... She told me before (sambil bergurau) that she wants to wait until 1 July to get allowance from the government .. hehehe ... But well, it's God's time ya ga bisa apa2 lagi .. But I guess she also agrees with that ^^ Well, I was excited about the news... I really really hope anaknya lahir dengan sehat lah ya, and sianty nya and ferry nya juga sehat2 aja ... *hmm, bakal kayak ferry atau sianty, cowo atau cewe, namanya bakalan apa, beratnya berapa* hahahah, so many questions .. They all will be revealed soon .. ^^

Work at uni is starting soon .. It's been put on hold for two weeks now, since my supervisor is away. Fiuh, gonna get real busy i think. I still help my supervisor in his research on a part-time basis .. It's good since I can work on my own time as long as it achieves what he wants to achieve ... It's been going on for a few months now ..

Oh well .. today I phoned a friend who just had exam .. it seems to be a hard exam ... I guess it's exam time for many church friends these days ... Pray that God will give those who are having exam and assignments the wisdom and courage to do them and accept whatever result that they may get later ..

In the meantime, really2 berharap computer cepetan dibenerin... Hahahhaha

Post long weekend

Long weekend seemed not far away behind and here I am, caught up in the busyness of life. Really enjoyed the lunch at Yoppie's place on monday. The food was great, the fellowship even better ... Can't thank God enough for that .... Thanks to Yoppie, Cicil (the hosts) and everyone yg dateng ..

Tuesday, I got excited by the possibility of watching live soccer euro match after a few months without soccer match. Yeah, I rarely watch soccer match these days, since my television is not good at receiving signal ... I've tried many things from digital setup box, connecting the antenna to VCR to boost the power, buying a really good antenna, but nothing seems to work. Anyway .. I'll be watching the game from vic lay's place. So on Tuesday night, I stayed at his place with Ken and Hans in order to watch the game on the following day (Wednesday morning). It was a good game. I supported Germany on that game, since Hans, Freddy and Ken went for Holland. hahahah ... just for the sake of making it fun and interesting .. I have never been a fan for any team or club .. anything that is worth watching is fine by me ... I could get passionate during the soccer game, but yeah, it's just me trying to enjoy the game and make the most out of it .. It was a pretty good game .. Germany scored first and Holland scored in the dying minute .. 1-1

Wednesday morning after the game, I went straight to office for work ... Had Krispy Cream doughnut for breakfast *yummmm* .. As usual wednesday is a bible study day for me ... Had BMB (Bible Means Business) during lunch with Hans and Derek ... Erwin also brought some of his friends .. At night, I had another bible study at bondi junction ... It was Muri's turn to lead and she did it really well ...

One thing that I plan to do in my bible study in 3 weeks time is to have an "Evangelize to one another" session(s), since we are learning about the book of acts which is about God's unstoppable mission to spread the Gospel to reach the end of the earth. Everyone in bible study will basically learn the way to evangelize to people, what is the core message of christianity (the GOOD NEWS) and at the same time, we tried to come up with the many many questions, hard ones, that people usually ask us ... Each individual in the bible study will be assigned some questions in order for them to do some research and present the answer at the same time. It will be interesting .. hehehe .. people got excited yesterday ... As for me, need to do research in the topic of evangelism, e.g. multi-cultural evangelism, etc etc.

Btw, it's been a week since my brother went back to indo ... fiuh .. kind of miss him .. Jun, if you are reading, cepetan balik ya .. heheheh ...

Didn't feel quite well on Wednesday, as for today I'm feeling a lot better .. hopefully ga sakit aja .. *pls God pls God*, jangan sampe sakit ..

Never say you are wrong and I am right

Hmm ... the title is taken from Bruce Dipple during pemuda session 2 days ago about the "Purpose" of the passion of Christ. Learn a lot regarding how to evangelize to other people ... I learnt that when you evangelize you should:

"Do it patiently, prayfully and lovingly and NEVER ever feel arrogant because we already know the truth. Never say you are wrong and I am right"

Knowing the truth should make us more humble and not being arrogant. We share the gospel because we want that person to understand the truth. Our job is to share the truth gently, and let the Holy Spirit works. It is hard isn't it, because the gospel claims EXCLUSIVENESS that no one come to Father except through Jesus, but it is possible. We've seen it last saturday during the passion session when Bruce tried to explain the Gospel to "D" who is Hindu. NEVER ever force a person to believe. It's NOT our job, it's God's Spirit's job. They are responsible for the choice that they make, not us. Our job is to share the gospel and live in accordance to it, not a stumbling block. The rest, give it all to God...Just give it all .. ^^ ..

Fiuhhh...Saturday and Sunday for me was full with activities. Saturday morning, I had a good basketball session with friends...Had lots of sweat .. hehehe..Unfortunately, last saturday I had a poor game :( unlike the past 3 weeks .. hehehe ... I don't know why ... I will try harder next time ... *JIA YOU* ... After some rest, went straight to church to prepare the video the passion of the Christ. There were a couple of obstacles, but thank God that we could solve them in no time ... In the evening I had Pemuda .. Overall it was an encouraging session to me .. The passion of Christ should be our passion as well now since we know the PURPOSE behind it. Read colossian 2:13-15. Now is the time to practice what's been preached ... ^^

Sunday morning, I had a chance to meet vera, her mum and victor at church before they came back to indo on Monday. Oh well, the first comment that she said to me was "you are very different, you loose a lot of weight". Many people whom I haven't seen in a long time usually say that to me when we meet. After that I had lunch together with a couple of friends at Pinangsia. During eating, I was moved by the sharing by "A". "A" told me how "A" used to live in such an unloving environment in indo. I think "A" still has a grudge against it or maybe not, I don't know. Didn't say much to "A", but I said that no matter how bad our environment is (remember Joseph), God called us to live a life that's different to the surrounding. Different in a sense a life that make GOD's name KNOWN. Maybe there are more people like that at church I don't know. But hey, YES, that story made me sad, but realize maybe like Joseph, God is working through all that to accomplish something which I don't really understand now.

On Sunday, I also went to Jazz Festival with a couple of friends at Darling Harbour, enjoying live Jazzy music. It was refreshing, good scenery (darling harbour man) with good entertainment from the bands and dancers. Went to sunday night service after that. It was VERY encouraging to see sunday night service grows in numbers and the fellowship is betta .. wayyyyy betta than before.

Harry Potter was next on my schedule after the evening service. Planned to watch England-France in the morning (5Am) at churchill bar across the road, but When I went there, they actually CLOSED the bar? No one was inside..Not sure what happened there... hiks hiks ... But anyway, England lost to france in such an UNBELIEVABLE way .. on the 90th minutes, 2 GOAL????? CRAZYYY MAN ... Can't wait for other games to unveil .. heheheh .. Til next time deh! Must mandi now and go to Yoppie's place for lunch.

What a weekend, what a weekend! Heheheh