O Ina Ni Keke

Manuk Dadali

A Prayer for Women

By Dr. John Piper

My earnest challenge and prayer for you is . . .

. . . That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.

. . . That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.

. . . That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in Heaven.

. . . That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching; that meditation on biblical truth be the source of hope and faith; that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.

. . . That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God will be opened to you, and so the power of faith and holiness will descend upon you; that your spiritual influence may increase at home and at church and in the world.

. . . That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God which undergirds all these spiritual processes; and that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers of these things.

. . . That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific calling; that you not fritter away your time on soaps or women’s magazines or unimportant hobbies or shopping; that you redeem the time for Christ and His Kingdom.

. . . That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to God (the way Jesus and Paul and Mary Slessor and Amy Carmichael did) and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.

. . . That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.

. . . That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord—children who hope in the triumph of God—sharing with your husband the teaching and discipline they need, and giving them the special attention they crave from you, as well as that special nurturing touch and care that you alone are fitted to give.

. . . That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home, the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world; that you not only pose the question: career or full-time homemaker? but that you ask just as seriously: full-time career or freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom—to work for someone who tells you what to do to make his or her business prosper, or to be God’s free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God’s business prosper?

And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or upward lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the faith of the family and advance the cause of Christ.

. . . That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life’s ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God’s will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else’s chapter or whether it has in it what only another chapter will bring.

. . . That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might and maximizing your joy in ministry to people’s needs.

. . . That in all your relationships with men (not just in marriage) you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and provision and a pattern of initiative; that you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.

. . . That you see the biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women not as arbitrary constraints on freedom, but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God’s ideal of complementarity; that you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld, but by the countless roles offered; that you look to the loving God of Scripture and dream about the possibilities of your service to him. (For a detailed list of service ideas, see the pdf titled, Opportunities for Ministry.)

Excerpted from Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism by Pastor John Piper. (Crossway Books)

The Miserable Ones

Les Misérables, a much loved musical. I have just watched it. It is about the beauty of grace and love. Love might mean losses, sacrifices, pain and grief but it wins everything and bring back life to its true meaning.

How hopeless are those who insist in living up the law!
Only to kiss the cruel reality of failure
How foolish are those who resist grace!
Only to miss the pathway to freedom

Lose more
Give more
Love more
then you will find, what you look for....

Be it my desire

One thing I of Lord desire, for all my life hath miry been-
Be it by water or by fire, Oh make me clean, Oh make me clean!
So wash me now, without, within, or purge with fire, if that must be,
No matter how, if only sin die out in me, die out in me...

All for Thee

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

by Francis Havergal

Once again, I am faced with a position to surrender everything to God, not withholding anything for myself. You have graciously revealed yourself....you are too good, you are too gracious, you are too compassionate, you are too caring. This song be my prayer. Lord...help me. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.

Revelation (edited)

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOWWWWW! Rev. Simon Kok rocks, man!!!! The first paragraph of this post will be dedicated to praise His sermon for clarity, faithfulness to the Word and passion. I have never heard any preacher in my life that spoke on Revelation in such a way that concern very much on the context and not confusing (some just answer symbols with symbols, making it as clear as mud). This is entirely a nice pleasant satisfying gift for me. Revelation certainly a foreign book. The heavy use of allegory and symbols making me only desire more clear cut chapters, the last chapter and the letter to seven churches for example.

His sermon was focussed on Rev 20:11-15. He said when you read a passage in the bible, the context of these verses are dependent to the chapter, the chapter to the whole book, the whole book to the bible (Lilis likes this). Then He gave us background on the Roman empire, how the gospel were written in the time of severe persecution, and this Revelation too served to communicate important message for the Christians to cling tightly onto the hope given in the midst of anguish and sorrow. To prevent it being destroyed by Caesar, the message was presented in metaphors. Now, there were a lot of mentioning about beasts, regarding its head, thorns, feet, winged or not. We were adviced not to look into it literally. The details are not as crucial as what or whom they represent. The main point of this book is to remind Christians of the hope that we have, so that we may endure to the end (Lilis likes this). It is not primarily talking about the last judgement as most people would think.

Now, into the passage. Let's just check out what it says:

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. ¹⁴Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

John saw "a great white throne" which is actually the glory of the Lord. Now, earth and sky fled? How could it be possible, since the sea and Hades exist and giving out the dead? It might just saying that earth and sky were destroyed and completely no more. As we talk about this time, I have goose bumps...imagine the awe...standing in the presence of the Lord...(refer to a song I posted long ago"I can only imagine" by MercyMe).

Then, He talked about who* will be present on the judgement day: The Judge (God the Father), the accused (us), the witness (Christ) and evidences (books). Books were opened. The passage indicates that there are two kinds of books. One is book of life and the rest are mentioned only as"books". What is written in book of life, the Bible clearly said that this book is guided by the Lamb of God. Or rather In this book of life, the question asked will be "Have you received the grace of God? Have you believed in Jesus?" That will determine whether your name is included there. The other books as the passage tells us are simply records of the things we did (good or bad deeds, things ought to do but failed to do, things we have done in our life). The significance of these "other" books is that it points us to the fact that we are not only judged by faith but also whether we have lived a responsible life. Whether you are Christians or Non-believers, all the dead will rise and the things they had done in their life will be taken account.

Death and Hades will be thrown in the lake of fire which symbolizes eternal separation from God. Blessed be those who took refuge in God! For they will see no death.

So, how then shall we live? the judgment is not then and there but it is here and now. Our conscience bears witness to us, ready to convict us whenever we sin. Living a life as Christians is not living only by mystical supernatural faith that we neglect the necessity to do our part. When your son is sick, do not only pray for him and believe that God will heal him. Do something about it. Bring him to the doctor, provide for him. If the parents didn't take care of their son (only praying) and the child died, their own conscience will speak judgment probably as long as they live and God is no where to be blamed for the death of their son.

Pas gue bilang 谢谢，你教的很清楚 (trims, apa yang anda ajarkan benar-benar jelas). keterbatasan mandarin gua tidak mengizinkan gua berkomen banyak. Sayang. Lilis AYO belajar mandarin. dia cuma reply with a smile dan bilang 你，努力努力读！(kamu belajar yang rajin ya!). Yes Sir! Revelation is so trendy right now ;p!

* Who will be present in the day of judgment? In the OT (Deut 17:6; 19:15), it was told that a man (accused) can be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses but not on the testimony of one. My writing above only present one (Christ). We forgot that the Holy Spirit is a witness too. Who are the accuser? Satan. Satan actually served also as a witness. So, I think the complete list will be: The Judge (God the Father), the Accused (us), first witness (God the Son), second witness (God the Spirit), the Accuser/third witness (Satan) and evidences (the two kinds of books). Imagine, we do not have Christ and the Spirit on our side? What a hopeless situation!

Disclaimer:
This script is not corrected by the preacher and is not intended to represent his exact beliefs. It is solely interpreted by the writer, much to her own benefit.