Questions Christians should Answer

My friends, are you Christian? Do you really love Jesus? Have you been born again? Are you sure that Holy Spirit dwell within you? Are you sure that you already have eternal life?

My friends, do you really loves Jesus? Do you read the Bible regularly? Do you love reading Bible? I wonder to see many Christians say that they love Jesus, but never read Bible, the Word of God. Do you know that Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh? Logically, if you said that you love Jesus, you should also love the Word of God, which means that you should love the Bible. So, if you say that you love Jesus but never read the Bible regularly, you are a great liar, you never love Jesus. “Well did Isaiah prophecy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines, the commandments of men (Matthew 15:8-9).” So, my friends, if you don’t want Isaiah’s prophecy fall on you… don’t say that you love Jesus, unless you love also the Word of God. We live in the last days where there are lots of false teachers, false prophets, and false apostles. If we never read Bible how can we differentiate them and the most important thing is how can we understand God? We need to read God’s Word and obey it.

My friends, do you really a born again Christian? If you are really a born again Christian, you should have experienced your life changes drastically and there will be regeneration in your life, not through making many commitments (our effort), but supernaturally (God’s grace). It is not because of your works, for by grace we have been saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). God will give you a new heartand put a new spirit within you; He will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. He will put His Spirit within you and cause us to walk in His statutes, and we will keep His judgment and do them (Ezekiel 36:26-27). You will no longer struggle to read the Bible, you will find that your prayers will no longer stuck on the roof, you will long to have fellowship with other believers, you will find that worshipping God and doing Christian life are sweet. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Just as a baby born in this world, having a birthday, you will know by yourself, when your spirit being quickened by God, when all things have become new, when His Spirit enter your heart and your old-self has passes away. So, my friends have you been born again or you just a good person who know Jesus Christ but never allow Him to live His live in you? Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart.

Are you sure that Holy Spirit dwells within your heart? Do you know what the meaning of HOLY? If Christians say that they have Holy Spirit within them but still living in sins, continue falling into the same sins, having the sinful nature, they must be liars. They should question the spirit within them, “Is it Holy Spirit or unclean spirits? Why if it is Holy Spirit I still living in sins?” The only answer is: it is a deceptive spirit with the heaven that never exist. For if we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1 John 1:6). “He who says “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John 2:4)” “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God (1 John 3:9).” My friends, if you continue living in sins and still claim that you have Holy Spirit within you, repent and ask God’s forgiveness, submit yourself to God and believe that Jesus has died for you not only to be your Savior but also to be your King, your Lord.

You are His servants, no more of yourselves, surrender all unto Him: your life, your future, your everything. Believing that your old-self has been crucified with Christ, that you have died to sin and to the world, that you were buried with Him through the baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. So, my friends, are you sure that Holy Spirit is within you or your heart has deceived you all this time? Bible said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)?” Do you already have this newness of life?

My friends, why you do good Christian life? Because you should do it? Because you think that it is necessary to be saved? Because you want to enter heaven? Because you are grateful that you are saved? Or because it is Christ who dwells in you who does that? The problem most Christians have is: they have begun in the Spirit, but now they are being made perfect by the flesh. They have been born again, they have obtained salvation. I believe that they have genuine experience. But then, they try to please God with their own flesh, they start doing good based on commitments, promises to please God and they struggle with it. They can’t keep up with God’s standard. They try to be holy, to be full of love, to be humble, to be patience, etc. These are where they start doing wrong, they start trying to please God with their flesh after they have begun in the Spirit. God main objective is: to make us know that nothing good can come out from us, but human thought is: we should try our best to please God; with our commitments, with our promises, with our flesh to become holier, more righteous, more loving, etc. My friends, God wants us to know that we can’t please God. We are unholy, impatient, and selfish, cannot love others, cannot forgive others, and cannot do anything good from ourselves. God wants us to allow His begotten Son, Jesus Christ, lives in us, to have His Holiness, His Love, His Forgiveness, His Humility, His Righteousness, His Strength, His Power, and His Life in us. He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). It is Christ who forgives, who loves, who is pure, who is holy, who is righteous, who is humble, and who is patience, not us. It is Jesus Christ in us that please God’s standard, God’s righteous demand. It is God’s grace. So once again, doing Christian live is sweet, we are not trying to please God with our effort, our own flesh, but Christ does it in our lives. Praise God. So, my friends, are you still trying to please God with your own flesh? Why don’t you stop trying and start asking Jesus to have His way in your life, to bring His life into your life? And this is eternal life, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You sent (John 17:3).

May these questions bring godly sorrow lead to repentance in you. Jesus loves you.

Alvin Su (AS)

Is Christ divided?

My friends, can you tell me why there are lots of denominations in Christendom? Can you tell me which denomination is the most biblical one? Can you tell me why there are lots of different name of churches in one street? Can you tell me the reason why people start putting their names as the name of the churches? Each time I heard sermons about doctrinal issues, the preachers will say, “According to the tradition of the church, baptism by sprinkling is not baptism at all, only by immersion,” or “You must speak in tongues if you want to join our church,” etc. Why people should follow the tradition of the church or rules of men, instead of the Bible?

Bible said, “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits (Hebrews 6:1-3). So, brethren should we continue quarreling ourselves about the Word, about the doctrine of baptisms (immersion, sprinkling, etc)?

What about speaking in tongues in the church? Should the whole community of the church speak in a tongue at once? Bible said, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).” “Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind (1 Corinthians 14:23)? But why I hardly see the churches which follow the instruction of the Bible, can’t they count? Are they really out of their mind? Does not the Bible clearly state ‘at most three’?

My friends, do you know what the last dying prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ was? He wants His Church to be one as He and His Father are One. His eternal will is to present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27).

Jesus prays for all believers, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one, I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me (John 17:20-23). Jesus also said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or houses divided against itself will not stand (Matthew 12:25).”

But what exactly happen in our Christendom right now? Can the world see that we are one? Can the world see God’s love toward them through us? Are we fulfilling Christ’s dying prayer? The fact that we are not one, the fact thatwe divide among ourselves through many denominations are not Jesus’ will. Each of us says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ”. Paul knew it very well and for this reason he rebuked them sharply, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul (1 Corinthians 1:12-13)?”

Each one of us proudly says, “I am of Martin Luther (Lutheran),” or “I am of John Calvin (Calvinist),” or “I am of Arminius (Armenian),” or “I am of John Wesley (Methodist),” or “I am of Menno Simons (Mennonite),” or “I am of General Booth (Salvation Army), or ”I am of John Smyth (Baptist Church),” or “I am of Holy Spirit (Pentecostal Church and Charismatic Church),” etc. Many of us didn’t realize that we are dividing the Body of Christ, that we are carnal, babes in Christ. Were Wesley, Luther, Simons, Booth, Moody, Arminius, Calvin crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Wesley, Luther, Simons, Booth, Moody, Arminius, Calvin?

Paul said, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able, for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, not he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers, you are God’s field, you are God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:1-9)”.

We are full of ourselves, we are short-sighted, and we are proud people. Do you know that sectarianism is carnal? It comes from our flesh and it could hinder us from entering the kingdom of God? “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).”

So, if you really love Jesus, if you really a servant of God, you will honor His Word more than the tradition of the church or rules of men, will you not? He wants us to be one with other believers. How? No matter which denomination they come from, as long as we see Jesus in them and we believe that we have Jesus in us, we are one, and we are the Body of Christ. How about our different theological views? How can we co-operate with other denominational churches? Bible said, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (Proverb 27:17).” God uses brethren around to sharpen us. So, when we see something in opposite, why don’t we in humility and in love, kneel down and ask God to enlighten us? For we know in part and we prophecy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of three is love (1 Corinthians 13:9-13).”

Does the love of God, peace from our Lord Jesus Christ reign in our heart? Do you know when two or three believers gather together in Jesus’ name, He is there with us? He who is Perfect will do away anything that divide us as brethren and by doing it, we will grow mature, no more as a child who need milk, but as a man, who eat solid food. Praise God!! But if we are always being subjective; believing that we are something, which in fact we are nothing… we would always divide the body of Christ. In other words: we are still babes in Christ, spoke as a child, understood as a child, thought as a child. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:12-14).

I would also say that believers who never have fellowship with other brethren, who think highly of themselves, who believe that Holy Spirit only teaches them and speaks to them more than to the others are the poor Christians. They are the lone-rangers, the lonely prophets. They have lost their contact with the church, the Body of Christ. Do you understand what the body means? Can eyes hear? Can ear see? Of course not, right? And for those lone-rangers, assume that they are just an eye… do you think that they can do all hearing, smelling, walking, talking, breathing, thinking by themselves without helps from other body-parts? Have you ever seen a real eye with height 1.80 m and weight 80 kg? Never, right? For such thing will never occur in life, but spiritually speaking: we see many of them around us. What will happen if eye choose to be independent from the body? They will surely die.

My friends, let us walk toward perfection, hand in hand fulfilling the last dying prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ to become one, no more dividing His body, forget about denomination, about traditions of the church. I don’t mean that you should separate yourselves from any denominational churches and create a new denomination, called ‘non-denominational church’. That’s just the same principle; we are dividing the body of Christ. How then? What God exactly really wants? Bible only says about local churches. Corinthians (church of God which is at Corinth), Romans(church of God which is at Rome), Ephesians (church of God which is at Ephesus), Church in Thessalonia, Church inPhilippi, Church in Smyrna, Church in Pergamos, Church in Thyatira, Church in Sardis, Church in Philadelphia, Church in Laodicea, etc. All of them are the name of the cities. God wants local churches, not Billy Graham’s ministry, Joyce Meyer’s Ministry, etc.

If we live in Rome, no matter what denomination our brethren in Rome come from, as long as they have Jesus and we have Jesus, we are one and when we move to Milan, we should join with other believers in Milan worshipping God. We leave the Church of Rome and join Church of Milan, they are the same, just different name of place. That’s what God really wants. Can the church bigger that a local city, like Church of England, Church of America, or even worst, Roman Catholic Church (who rules over the world within one gigantic system)? No, there is no smaller or bigger than local city church.

Some people will say, “Yes, that’s biblical. But how can we realize it? We can’t see those kinds of churches.” My friends, you may not see it right away but I believe that God is bringing that to happen so that He will present to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). He will do anything necessary to make that happen, even through persecution, natural disasters, wars, false prophets, false teachers, antichrists, heresies, etc.

I believe that this time is time for purification of the church. God is purifying His Church and we will see those denominational churches will come hand in hand bringing the Kingdom of God here on earth, and there will be no more division of the Body of Christ, but we will become one as Christ and the Father are One so that the world will know that the Father loves them as the Father loves Jesus. God bless you all.

Alvin Su (AS)

God is my Father and The Lord is my Provider

When the world tempts me, “It is profit not to be God’s servants, especially when you have good educational background with bright future ahead. You can gain the world.” Bible said, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17). ”

When the world tempts me, “You ruin your future. You have MSc degree from Germany; you are Chemical Engineer, you can work in an international company, raise a family and enjoy life.” With the strength from the Lord, I would say, “My future is at the Lord’s hands.Marriage is an initiative from God; He will provide all I need at His perfect time. Bible said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble (Matthew 6:33-34).”

When the world tempts me, “Hey, Alvin you are so naïve. In this world nothing is free. How can you support your own need if you continue preaching for free and you don’t have other job for you financial support? Nobody will help you forever.” Bible said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). He also said, “And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for the worker is worthy of his food (Matthew 10:7-10).

When the world tempts me, “You are such a fool. You go against the world. Much learning is driving you mad!” Bible said, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world (1 Corinthians 1: 18-19)?” Bible also said, “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1: 25).”

When the world tempts me, “You are helpless. You will lose everything because of your faith. You are irrational.” Bible said, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from Godby faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:7-11).”

When the world tempts me, “You will die soon because of your faith. You are not only crazy, but also dead meat.”By the grace of God, I will say, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

I have served the Lord since I was born again in 15 April 2007. Assuredly, I say to you. The Lord has been gracious to me. He provides all I need, not only that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).” My friends, trust the Lord with all your heart for He is faithful, He will never forsake you nor leave you. He is our Father and Provider.

As servants of God, we should not submit ourselves to mammon. We cannot serve God and riches for Bible said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).” When the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and make us unfruitful like the seed which fell among thorns, please ask the Lord to give you strength and increase your faith. Otherwise, leave your ‘pastor, shepherd, reverent’ title and start your own business because if we commercialize the Church of God, treading their milk and wool for our own benefit because mammon has captivated our heart like Judas Iscariot’s, the Chief Shepherd will fight against you for He will defend His own precious sheep. Be strong in grace, my friends for the Bible said, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things (2 Timothy 2:4-7). God bless you.

Alvin Su (AS)

Apa Tujuan hidupmu

My friends, pernah terpikir kalau hidupnya sapi lebih beruntung daripada kita sebagai manusia? Hah... gimana ceritanya sapi lebih beruntung daripada manusia? Kalau kita memperhatikan hidupnya sapi, dia tahu tujuannya dia hidup, dia hidup untuk menghasilkan susu buat manusia dan kalau dia tidak lagi memproduksi susu, dia tahu bahwa waktunya telah tiba untuk dipotong dan diambil dagingnya. Dia dengan jelas tahu kalau dia ada di dunia ini untuk menghasilkan daging dan susu bagi manusia. Nah kita sebagai manusia, untuk apa kita hidup? Kapan kita tahu kalau waktu kita untuk dipanggil pulang ketemu Bapa di surga telah mendekat?

Ada yang bilang, “Tujuan hidupku: Aku ingin membahagiakan orang tua.” Itu bagus,nothing wrong with that. Tapi sebagaimana sapi siap dipotong kalau dia telah selesai memberikan susu buat manusia, siapkah Anda dipanggil pulang kalau orang tua Anda telah bahagia? Anda telah mendapatkan apa yang selama ini menjadi tujuan hidup Anda, harusnya Anda telah puas hidup di dunia ini dan siap dipanggil pulang alias mati, bukankah begitu? Bagaimana kalau karena satu dua hal, sebelum tujuan itu terlaksana, orang tua Anda telah dipanggil duluan? Masihkah Anda memiliki tujuan hidup?

Ada yang bilang, “Tujuan hidupku: Aku ingin mempunyai rumah dan mobil mewah, impian masa kecilku” Sama halnya dengan pernyataan di atas. Bagaimana kalau karena jalan hidup Anda yang terang benderang, pada umur 40 tahun, Anda telah dapat memiliki semua itu. Apakah Anda telah siap dipanggil pulang karena tujuan hidup Anda telah tercapai?”

Ada yang bilang, “Tujuan hidupku: Aku ingin anak cucuku sukses dan bahagia.” Kalau emang Anda punya anak, kalau tidak? Semua harta benda yang Anda dapatkan seumur hidup Anda akan beralih ke tangan kerabat Anda atau bahkan ke panti sosial. Atau, siapa yang tahu kalau semua yang telah Anda kumpulkan selama hidup Anda dengan menahan segala keinginan mata Anda demi anak cucu, akhirnya habis tidak bersisa di tangan anak Anda sendiri? Apakah Anda mau bersusah payah selama hidup Anda supaya anak Anda bisa menikmatinya dengan berfoya-foya? Kalau emang itu tujuan hidup Anda, Anda termasuk orang yang sangat baik sekali, tapi sekaligus bodoh. Artinya: Anda bekerja sampai mati, Anda tidak menikmatinya tetapi orang lain, meskipun itu anak Anda sendiri. Itu bukan panggilan hidup manusia, tapi kuda. Itulah yang kuda lakukan seumur hidupnya, bekerja sampai mati.

Ada yang bilang, “Tujuan hidupku: Aku ingin jadi orang yang berguna untuk masyarakat, untuk memajukan bangsa dan negara. Aku hidup untuk negeriku.” Suatu pendapat yang make no sense. Itu sama seperti daun berkata, “Aku ingin hidup supaya melalui aku pohon tempatku bernaung mendapat manfaatnya.” Hubungan antara Anda dengan negeri Anda ituseperti daun dan pohon. Tanpa Anda pun, negeri Anda dapat terus berjalan sebagaimana adanya. Anda mungkin dapat menjadi presiden untuk sementara waktu… tapi setelah masa jabatan Anda, another king will reign. Apa yang akan dia lakukan? You’ll never know, dia dapat merusak buah pekerjaan Anda yang telah Anda tekuni bertahun-tahun ataupun meneruskannya. Tapi apakah Anda telah mencapai tujuan hidup Anda?

Ada yang bilang, “Tujuan hidupku: Aku hidup untuk mempertahankan garis keturunan leluhurku. Aku dari turunan ningrat dan aku adalah generasi ke-sekian dari keluarga kerajaan A.” My friends, kalau leluhurmu sendiri tidak mengerti untuk apa mereka hidup, tidak ada gunanya untuk melahirkan generasi selanjutnya.

Pertanyaan mengenai “Apa sih tujuan hidup kita di bumi ini?” adalah pertanyaan yang sangat penting, tapi kelihatannya semua orang mengabaikan hal tersebut. Semua orang sepertinya hidup seolah-olah memiliki tujuan, tapi pada kenyataannya: mereka tidak. Mereka tidak mengerti mengapa mereka dilahirkan di dunia ini dengan sejuta masalah dan pergumulan, melihat keributan, perang, kelaparan, bencana alam, kekerasan dimana-mana. Mereka hanya hidup seperti kebanyakan orang lain hidup, tanpa arah, tanpa tujuan, semuanya monoton. Mau bukti?

Lihat siklus binatang: dilahirkan,bertumbuh menjadi anak, menjadi muda dan dewasa, berkembangbiak, melahirkan generasi selanjutnya, menjadi tua dan mati. Singkatnya: lahir – bertumbuh – berkembang biak – tua – mati. Bagaimana dengan manusia? Tidak jauh berbeda: dilahirkan, bertumbuh menjadi anak, remaja, dewasa, menikah dan berkeluarga, memiliki anak, menjadi tua dan mati. Singkatnya: lahir – bertumbuh – berkembang biak – tua – mati. Sama bukan?

Sekarang kalau dipikir-pikir sejak kita bayi, belajar berjalan, berbicara, menjadi batita. Lalu? Kalau orangtua kita punya cukup uang, masuk playgroup… kalau tidak, langsungTaman Kanak-kanak (TK) atau SD. Lalu? Teruskan ke SMP. Lalu? Teruskan ke SMA. Lalu? Kalau kita memiliki kesempatan, bisa lanjut D3 atau S1 atau kalau tidak, bekerja di sebuah perusahaan. Sebenarnya tujuannya sama, mempersiapkan diri untuk berkeluarga, yang satu menempuh jalur professional, satunya jalur akademik. Lalu? Menikah dan memiliki keturunan. Lalu? Berusaha mencapai kemapanan, kalau dapat… bersyukur, kalau tidak… apa boleh buat, berusaha hidup dari hari ke hari. Lalu? Mata mulai buram, gigi mulai tanggal, jalan mulai bungkuk, badan mulai sakit-sakitan. Lalu? Mati. Semua orang menempuh jalan hidup yang seperti itu bukan? Apakah ini arti dan tujuan hidup?

Sekarang lihat siklus mingguan: Senin ada di kampus atau di kantor, Selasa ada di kampus atau di kantor bedanya kalau hari Senin di kampus belajar Ekonomi, Etika, Manajemen, hari Selasa belajar Fisika Dasar, Kimia Dasar, Kalkulus. Hari Rabu? Sama, ada di kampus atau di kantor, Kamis ada di kampus atau di kantor, Jumat ada di kampus atau di kantor, Sabtu ada di kampus atau di kantor. Hanya Minggu yang sedikit berbeda, sedikit bisa santai, beristirahat. Hidup itu sepertinya: Senin – Selasa – Rabu – Kamis – Jumat – Sabtu – Minggu – dan kembali lagi ke Senin – Selasa - …. .

Belum lagi siklus harian: Bangun tidur, mandi, sikat gigi – sarapan pagi – berangkat kuliah, kerja atau sekolah sampai siang – makan siang – kembali kerja, kuliah atau beristirahat di rumah – mandi – makan malam – nonton TV – tidur. Besoknya kejadian yang sama berulang. Apakah ini arti hidup, my friends? Apakah kita tidak merasa seperti tikus yang berlari dalam roda berputar. Sepertinya kita bergerak dengan kecepatan yang luar biasa, kita terlihat ada kemajuan, padahal kalau dipikir-pikir, hidup kita tidak mengarah kemana-mana. Kita bergerak di tempat, tanpa arah, tanpa tujuan, hanya menyibukkan diri sendiri dan menunggu ajal menjemput.

Jadi apakah tujuan hidupmu, my friends? Apakah Anda puas hidup sebagaimana Anda hidup sekarang? Anda mungkin telah hidup lebih dari 50 tahun, Anda pasti sangat aware mengenai arti kehidupan, so tell me “Apakah Anda menjalani hidup Anda dengan tujuan yang jelas atau hanya berputar-putar tanpa arah?” Atau Anda mungkin baru melihat dunia selama 20 tahunan, also tell me, “Apakah Anda mau menghabiskan sisa hidup Anda yang kemungkinan masih sangat panjang, mungkin 40 atau 50 tahun lagi tanpa arah dan tujuan?” Hidup ini sudah sulit, setiap hari ada masalah baru, masalah yang satu belum selesai, datang masalah lain yang lebih pelik dan begitu seterusnya sampai kita kembali menjadi tanah. Apakah Anda sanggup menjalani hidup Anda yang seperti itu untuk 50 tahun mendatang? Think about it.

My friends, mungkin banyak dari Anda yang tidak sependapat dengan tulisan di atas, tapi itu semua sekali lagi untuk membuktikan perkataan Alkitab dalam kitab Pengkotbah : “kesia-siaan belaka, segala sesuatu adalah sia-sia” (Pengkotbah 1:2) adalah benar. Aku membulatkan hatiku untuk memeriksa dan menyelidiki dengan hikmat segala yang terjadi di bawah langit. Itu pekerjaan yang menyusahkan yang diberikan Allah kepada anak-anak manusia untuk melelahkan diri (Pengkotbah 1:13).

Jika kita pernah melihat film tentang Zombie, seperti Resident Evil. Kita banyak melihat zombie-zombie berkeliaran di kota, mereka berjalan, memakai baju, baca koran, duduk bersama-sama. Mereka melakukan aktivitas layaknya manusia hidup, tapi mereka sebenarnya mati. Sama seperti kebanyakan kita, kita sepertinya beraktivitas, tapi itu semua monoton. Kalau diibaratkan, itu seperti detak jantung manusia yang tidak bernafas,semuanya datar, monoton. Tapi lihatlah detak jantung manusia sehat, ada gunung dan lembah, ada perubahan, ada kehidupan.

Kalau Anda merasa tergugah dan ingin lepas dari kemonotonan dan kesia-siaan hidup, ingin hidup Anda memiliki arti, arah dan tujuan. Anda perlu mencari tahu terlebih dahulu penyebabnya. Satu yang pasti, God is Life, tanpa Dia tidak ada kehidupan, diluar Dia tidak ada kehidupan. Kenapa hidup kita kosong, tampaknya mati? Penyebab utamanya adalah karena hubungan kita dengan Dia bermasalah. Dia adalah Tuhan Pencipta kita, jadi kalau mau tahu apa tujuan kita datang ke bumi ini… mengapa kita tidak bertanya kepadaNya, apa maksud hatiNya menjadikan kita ada? Yesus berkata, “Dan kamu akan mengetahui kebenaran, dan kebenaran itu akan memerdekakan kamu (Yohanes 8:32), Dia juga berkata, “Aku datang supaya mereka mempunyai hidup, dan mempunyainyadalam segala kelimpahan (Yohanes 10:10b). Yesus telah memberikan hidupNya di kayu salib bagi kita supaya kita yang tadinya binasa dan mati dapat beroleh kehidupanNya;kehidupan yang berkemenangan, kehidupan yang memerdekakan. Pertanyaannya: Maukah Anda menerima anugerahNya, menjadikan Dia Tuhan dan Raja?

Sebagai penutup: carilah Tuhan selagi kita dapat, datanglah kepada Yesus selama masih ada Hari Ini sebab daripadaNya lah segala arti dan tujuan hidup kita berasal. “Lihatlah, yang kuanggap baik dan tepat ialah, kalau orang makan minum dan bersenang-senang dalam segala usaha yang dilakukan dengan jerih payah di bawah matahari selama hidup yang pendek, yang dikaruniakan Allah kepadanya, sebab itu adalah bagiannya. Setiap orang yang dikaruniai Allah kekayaan dan harta benda dan kuasa untuk menikmatinya, untuk menerima bagiannya, dan untuk bersukacita dalam jerih payahnya – juga itu pun karunia Allah(Pengkotbah 5:17-18). Akhir kata dari segala yang didengar ialah: takutlah akan Allah dan berpeganglah pada perintah-perintahNya, karena ini adalah kewajiban setiap orang. Karena Allah akan membawa setiap perbuatan ke pengadilan yang berlaku atas segala sesuatu yang tersembunyi, entah itu baik, entah itu jahat (Pengkotbah 12:13-14). Jesus loves you.

Alvin Su (AS)

Why people don’t have time?

Wives say, “My husband changed. Before we married, he loved to give his time for me, but now? Not even 1 hour of private moments a day. He always says, “I am busy” “My boss call me to have a meeting” “I have an appointment with Mr.A Very urgent one, we need to cancel our dinner”, etc.

Children say, “My parents are so busy. When I wake up in the morning, they have already left to their office, when I fall asleep at night, they haven’t come back home. I have everything, but I don’t have their time. They said that they have to do it for me. But, please. I have enough. I don’t need anything else, just their care, their love, their time.”

Husbands say, “My wife changed. At the beginning of our marriage, she was so lovely, she cooked, she prepared the bathroom, etc. But now? She is so busy with her talkative friends: spending the whole day gossiping. She has no more time for me.”

Others say, “My friends have no time for me. They will spare their time if only I made appointment with them 1 week before. They are so busy with themselves.”

It seems to be that 24 hours a day is much less than what it should. God should add more hours a day, should He not? But why don’t we sit down and think how the people some decades ago lived. How could they manage their time?

Mr A lived in the 17^th century. He was a businessman and lived in Hamburg. Once he had to make a deal in Munich. Assume that at that time most people traveled not by cars, trains or aeroplanes, but horses. The journey Hamburg-Munich took 6 days by horse, then in Munich because of some difficulties he needed to spend another 2 days and as soon as he finished the deal he immediately went back home, another 6 days were needed, so in total for making a deal Hamburg-Munich, people of old needed 14 days. But how long the modern people need? Not more than 2 hours. We can send them through email, they sign the deal and fax back to us. Very fast. Logically, if we are businessmen in 21th century and we are making a deal Hamburg-Munich, we save 13 days 22 hours each contract, can you imagine how many days we can save if every weekday we make 10 contracts? You count it by yourself. Do people have arguments to say that they have no time? Do you think people of old had more hours a day than us so that they could manage it? Of course not, so why in this very fast civilization, people have less time? We should have more than them, should we not?

If you are a housewife, how many minutes to defrost the freezing meat by microwave? Count it 15 minutes. What about at our grandma’s time? She needed to boil the water, put the meat inside, waited for 2 hours. Another example: Mrs A, who lived in 17^th century, got salary from his husband. She had planned to buy some vegetables in the market, shoes in the shoe market, and fish in the fish market. So in the morning, she went to local market bought some vegetables, and then went to fish market, bought some fishes, finally in the noonday she could go to shoe market and bought shoes. Why she had to do that? Because at that time there were no one stop shop like in our time. There were no Carrefour, Wal-Mart, REAL, etc. How many hours she needed to do them all? Count it 6 hours, but how about us nowadays? We could just go to Wall-mart and buy everything there within 1 hour. Imagine if this case happens all days… how many hours we, modern people, could save than people of old? But where is the time? It seems to me that we are busier than before. Everybody says, “I don’t have time.”

We are like mouse in the wheel. It seems to us that we are moving forward, but if we are honest to ourselves. We are going nowhere. The world will continue running normally, even if we cease to work, cease to live. One generation passes away and another generation comes, but the earth abide forever (Ecclesiastes 1:4).

Can you answer that? It seems to me that somebody always shouts at our back “Go. Go. Go. Don’t stop, keep moving. You are not there yet. Forget about your wife, your children, your family. Work! Work! Work!” If only we can sit down and think. Why should we go and go and go without end but forget people we love. We are so absorbed by it. Don’t you see that everything is chasing after the wind? Vanity of vanities? Think about it. Jesus loves you

Alvin Su (AS)

One million dollars question to answer (English)

“Why in this crowded world, full of people there are lot of people feel lonely?”

They say:

“Nobody cares” “Nobody loves me” “There is me… or without me… nothing different” “nobody wants to be my friend” “I feel lonely, I feel so bored” “my life is boring”

Their life:

While other people are sleeping in the night, they dress up with their fancy suit, and then go to a place where they have to pay for the entry ticket… sit down, having one or two bottle of alcohol… watching people go mad. The later the night, the crazier the people, men and women are alike. And if they are able to dance, they will dance in the dance floor… with someone they never met before, and then go to hotel. Why? Because they can’t stand the night alone. Depression, loneliness, guilt, sadness, emptiness will always haunts them when the night comes. They can’t simple face the night alone. So what they do? For them, it’s better to pay some amount of money to enter the night club or bar, pay high price of alcohol, sacrifice their sleep than to sleep alone. Have you ever thought about it? If they want to drink alcohol… they can buy it in the market with normal price, by doing it… they can save some amount of money. And they can save more by drinking it at home instead in the club. Also, we are human, not a nocturnal animal… since the days of old we do our activities during the day and sleep at night… but why these people sleep during the day and do their activities at night? Do you know why this happen?

Other people will do anything to have companion. They will treat them with meal, luxury, drink, or money… During the day, they work hard getting the money and at night… they spend it with someone who seems to care about you, nice to talk with… just kill a time so that the morning will come soon. Why? They are afraid of being lonely facing the darkness of the night? You guess…

Others, they will join some community… in the real world or in the cyber world. They will join every community they know… using lot of fake ID… sometimes they become an actress, sometimes a student… sometimes a teenager, sometimes business woman… inviting lot of people they never know… and try to build relationship… it’s really happen in our society. But why this can happen?

Let see the history. Ask our grandma this question, “Grandma… I believe that in your youth, people were not as many as today. They lived quite far from each other for there were lots of spaces, especially at that time most of people were farmers so usually in between 2 houses, there was a big gap as wide as the farm. In my opinion… you should meet people less often than this day… don’t you feel lonely? And also… in your time there was no computer, no TV or for rich people a black and white one with few programs (not like in our time), no telephone (everything done through mails), no Wii, PS3, etc. Don’t you find your life so boring those days?” To my surprise… she will simply answer, “No, I didn’t. I had a big family; we usually spent the days together in the field and the nights gathered together with relatives. Life was interesting.”

So, my question is… why in this civilized, cultured era there are many people who feel lonely? They have family; they have colleagues in the school, work, church, and they must have neighbors. In our time… people build the house next to one another, facing each other and not only that… people build apartments, sky crappers, etc. The logic says that there should be no lonely people in our time since we see people every time. We are not alone, not like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We live together with more than 6.7 billions of people on this planet.

Can somebody tell me… is there any real Friend in this world? Friend that we don’t have to pay or to do something for their companion? Friend that I can meet not only during the night while others are sleeping, but every time He will always be with me? Friend with whom I can share everything with, I can talk to about my life, my passion, my burden, my foolishness, even my dark secrets? If you have already had… you are blessed for many people in this world are looking for Him. God bless you