No Reserves, No Retreats, ... No Regret

No Reserves, No Retreats, ... No Regrets - Willliam Whitting Borde 1887 - 1913
"Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time." Willliam Whitting Borde 1887 - 1913

William Borden, misionari yang belum sempat menjadi misionari , tapi hidupnya sudah menjadi 'misionari' bagi teman-temannya di kuliah. Dia belajar di Mesir sebagai persiapan menjadi misionari untuk menyebarkan kabar Injil bagi orang Muslim di Cina, ironisnya sebelum menyelesaikan kuliahnya Tuhan sudah memanggil dia dalam umur yang sangat muda sekali..25 tahun. Apakah kematiannya sia-sia? Tidak...tidak ada sesuatupun yang sia-sia dalam rencana Tuhan. Borden menulis di Alkitabnya -- No Reserves, No retreats and No Regrets

Chronology / Dates
November 1, 1887 -- birth
1904 -- High school graduation (Chicago)
1905 -- Round-the-world trip
1909 -- Yale graduation
December 17, 1912 -- Sails for Egypt on way to China
April 9, 1913 -- Death in Egypt


http://home.snu.edu/~HCULBERT/regret.htm

The critical question for our generation‏

"The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—
is this:

If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the
friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and
all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties
you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no
human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with
heaven, if Christ were not there? " ~ J.piper

We don't give much to God

The issue that we don't give much to God not because we don't have much to give, in fact because we have too much stored up for our life as our treasure, we obsess, we possess them -- ending up we don't give God proportionally ~ Ant

I can't promise that God will change your life

I can't promise that God will change your life by reading the word of God and doing it, but I know that God can only change our life through reading the word of God and doing it. ~ Ant (inspired from one of J. Piper sermon)

Suppose you received ten million dollars

"He has never done anything greater for anyone, nor could He do anything greater for you, than bring you to Himself. Suppose He put ten million dollars into your bank account every morning for the rest of your life, but He didn't save you? Suppose He gave you the most beautiful body and face of anyone who ever lived, a body that never aged for a thousand years, but then at death He shut you out of Heaven and into hell for eternity? What has God ever given anyone that could compare with the salvation He has given you as a believer? Do you see that there is nothing God could ever do for you or give to you greater than the gift of Himself." - (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, p. 119) ~ Donald S. Whitney

Learn to reject pride

Hari ini merenungi renungan dari C.H. Spurgeon - Daily and Evening, mengingatkan kembali kepada diri kita masing-masing untuk tidak sombong akan hidup ini, apa saja yang kita punya dan miliki semua semata-mata karena kasih karuniaNya, bukan karena karya tangan kita -- yang kita miliki dahulu adalah dosa.

"Oh believer, learn to reject pride, seeing that you have no ground for it. Whatsoever you are, you have nothing to make you proud. The more you have, the more you are in debt to GOD. If HE has made you anything, are you not taught it is grace which has made you to differ? You would have been a great sinner if GOD had not changed you. Therefore, do not be proud, though you have a large estate a wide dominion of grace, once you did not have a single thing to call your own except your sin and misery." - Spurgeon

Efesus 2:8-9
Sebab karena kasih karunia kamu diselamatkan oleh iman; itu bukan hasil usahamu, tetapi pemberian Allah, itu bukan hasil pekerjaanmu: jangan ada orang yang memegahkan diri.

Do you feel loved by God?

"Do you feel loved by God because you believe he makes much of you, or because you believe he frees you and empowers you to enjoy making much of him?" - J. Piper

If God...

"If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist.
If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist.
If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician.
If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor.
But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior. " D.A. Carson

Covetousness (Keserakahan)

Covetousness is desiring something so much that you lose your contentment in God.

The opposite of covetousness is contentment in God. When contentment in God decreases, covetousness for gain increases. That's why Paul says in Colossians 3:5 that covetousness is idolatry. "Put to death what is earthly in you: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry." It's idolatry because the contentment that the heart should be getting from God it starts to get from something else.

So covetousness is desiring something so much that you lose your contentment in God. Or: losing your contentment in God so that you start to seek it elsewhere.

Have you ever considered that the Ten Commandments begin and end with virtually the same commandment? "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) and "You shall not covet" (Exodus 20:17) are almost equivalent commands. Coveting is desiring anything other than God in a way that betrays a loss of contentment and satisfaction in him. Covetousness is a heart divided between two gods. So Paul calls it idolatry.

~ excerpt from John Piper 1988

Strength from God

When we go to God by prayer, the devil knows we go to fetch strength against him, so he opposes us all he can. ~ R. Sibbes

Membatasi Allah

Kalimat 'membatasi Allah' sangat menganggu saya sekali dari hari kemarin -- saya teringat ketika saya berada di dalam ruang kebaktian bersekutu dengan teman-teman seiman, kemudian ketika kita menaikkan syukur kita kepada Allah melalui nyanyian, pemimpin pujian berkata "mari angkat suaramu lebih keras lagi -- jangan membatasi Allah"

Hmm...apakah benar kita dapat membatasi Allah? Saya rasa tidak, bukankah Dia Allah yang Maha Kuasa, bukankah ketika kita sudah dilahirkan baru, secara otomatis kita akan menyanyi dengan hati nurani yang murni bukan karena paksaan dan dibuat-buat, karena bukan oleh hal itulah kita menikmati Allah, tetapi karena kita sudah menikmati Allah-lah kita akan menyanyi dengan sukacita yang penuh kepada Allah. Jadi menyanyi dengan sepenuh hati adalah bukti bukan penyebab.

Bukankah kita yang terlalu membatasi Allah? Seolah-olah Allah hanya dapat bekerja ketika kita mengangkat suara kita lebih keras, atau permainan musik yang mengetarkan hati kita, membuat kita mengebu-gebu dalam hati untuk memiliki hasrat akan hadirat Tuhan?

Ketika kita menyanyi bukanlah bertujuan untuk menurunkan 'hadirat Tuhan', namun karena kita sudah mengalami hadirat Tuhan di dalam hidup sehari-hari kita untuk itulah kita dapat menyanyi dengan penuh hasrat dan rasa ucapan syukur kepada Tuhan.

How is it possible to worship God publicly once each week when we do not worship Him privately throughout the week? (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, pp.93).

God is our cosmic Sugar Daddy

When we don’t have what we want, the world corrupts us with covetousness. And when we do have what we want the world corrupts us with pride. This is what keeps us from loving God and loving each other. We love stuff. And when we don’t have it, we crave it. And when we do have it, we love to talk about it incessantly, and waste time on it. And where is God in all that? At best, he’s there as the cosmic Sugar Daddy. We may even thank him for all our stuff. But there is a kind of gratitude that proves that the gift, and not the Giver, is our god. - John Piper

Refleksi dari Gempa Tahiti

Seharusnya kita juga berada di Haiti sekarang, terjepit dalam reruntuhan tembok, berlumuran darah dan berteriak kepada Tuhan meminta pengampunan, yang memang selalu harus kita lakukan setiap hari bukan hanya ketika berada di dalam bencana. Tidak ada alasan mengapa kita tidak mengalami seperti orang-orang di Haiti terkena gempa yang berskala ritcher 7.0. Kita ada sebagaimana kita ada sekarang hanya karena kasih karunia Allah atas hidup manusia yang penuh dengan dosa.


Lukas 13:1-5
13:1Pada waktu itu datanglah kepada Yesus beberapa orang membawa kabar tentang orang-orang Galilea, yang darahnya dicampurkan Pilatus dengan darah korban yang mereka persembahkan. 13:2Yesus menjawab mereka: "Sangkamu orang-orang Galilea ini lebih besar dosanya dari pada dosa semua orang Galilea yang lain, karena mereka mengalami nasib itu? 13:3Tidak! kata-Ku kepadamu. Tetapi jikalau kamu tidak bertobat, kamu semua akan binasa atas cara demikian. 13:4Atau sangkamu kedelapan belas orang, yang mati ditimpa menara dekat Siloam, lebih besar kesalahannya dari pada kesalahan semua orang lain yang diam di Yerusalem? 13:5Tidak! kata-Ku kepadamu. Tetapi jikalau kamu tidak bertobat, kamu semua akan binasa atas cara demikian."

Don't waste your life

God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work, not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives. ~ John Piper

It isn't about us

"We almost never found God in our wealth, health and prosperity,
however we may find God in our sufferings -- but if we think deeply
it isn't about us being satisfied, but it is about God being glorified -- ironically people always tends to think about themselves." ~ Ant

Without being converted

"The astonishing thing is that people can become religious without being converted. That is, they join churches and start reading the Bible and doing religious things with no change in the foundation of their happiness: It is still themselves. They are the ground of their joy." ~ John Piper

We worship 'functional saviors'

Sometimes we look to other things to satisfy and fulfill us—to ‘save’ us. These ‘functional saviors’ can be any object of dependence we embrace that isn’t God. They become the source of our identity, security, and significance because we hold an idolatrous affection for them in our hearts. They preoccupy our minds and consume our time and resources. They make us feel good and somehow even make us feel righteous. Whether we realize it or not, they control us, and we worship them. (Bridges & Bevington, The Bookends of the Christian Life), p. 72

Functional Saviour

Take a few minutes over the next few days and answer these questions. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and your “savior”:

1. What am I most afraid of?
2. What do I long for most passionately?
3. Where do I run for comfort?
4. What do I complain about the most?
5. What angers me most?
6. What makes me happiest?
7. How do I explain myself to other people?
8. What has caused me to be angry with God?
9. What do I brag about?
10. What do I want to have more than anything else?
11. What do I sacrifice the most for in my life?
12. If I could change one thing in my life what would that be?
13. Whose approval am I seeking?
14. What do I want to control/master?
15. What comfort do I treasure the most?

Counterfeit Gods

Semakin kita...

Semakin kita menggali Firman Tuhan dan merenungkannya, maka semakin kita mengerti dan memahami bahwa ternyata selama ini kita tidak tahu apa-apa, namun itu tidak seharusnya untuk membendung kerinduan kita yang dari Allah untuk mengetahui siapa kita dan siapa Dia melalui FirmanNya. ~ Ant

Everyday

Surely we only have to be realistic and honest with ourselves to know how regularly we need to turn to the Bible. How often do we face problems, temptations, and pressure? Every day! Then how often do we need instruction, guidance and greater encouragement? Every day! To catch all these felt needs up into an even greater issue, how often do we need to see God's face, hear his voice, feel his touch, know his power? The answer to all these questions is the same: every day! (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, p. 33) ~ Donald S. Whitney

Sin is...

Sin is…
The glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought.
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of Christ not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The Person of God not loved.
~John Piper

We are lazy

We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy. R.C. Sproul

I find Sydney to be one of the most selfish cities...‏

This thoughts from Mark Driscoll that I would like to share with everyone. Can we be more loving to others? Can we bring light to this city? Can we start from the church? Can we start from new people who come to the church? What about unbelievers? How can we do outreach? These sort of questions that we always have to ask to ourselves. Hope this thoughts can encourage us even more to love others as Christ has loved us by preaching the gospel.

God Bless your ministry.

"Ultimately I think Sydney is one of the most spiritual towns I've ever seen in the world, but religion here is sport, sex, fashion, leisure. Sydney is man's effort to build heaven but people move here to find they are still not happy so they need more than just a place, they need a person to be in a relationship with."

“I find Sydney to be one of the most selfish cities I’ve ever seen in my whole life, to be honest with you. Everything is about my personal happiness. Get married later or don’t get married at all. Have children or don’t have children at all. Go to church or don’t go to church at all. Look out for your neighbour or don’t look out for your neighbour. Whatever makes you happy. Yet, statistically, people are miserable. Anti-depressants are up tenfold in the last decade. Everyone’s depressed, everyone’s smoking, nervous, busy, in debt, scared, lonely and living for themselves and haven’t realised that if you live for yourself, you end up miserable.”

We are not worshipping if...

Since worship is focussing on and responding to God, regardless of what else we are doing we are not worshipping if we are not thinking about God. You may be listening to a sermon, but without thinking of how God’s truth applies to your life and affects your relationship with Him, you aren’t worshipping. You may be singing “Holy, holy, holy,” but if you aren’t thinking about God while singing it, you are not worshipping. You may be listening to someone pray, but if you aren’t thinking of God and praying with them, you aren’t worshipping” (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, pp.81-82).

How is it possible to worship God publicly once each week when we do not worship Him privately throughout the week? (Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, pp.93).

Stop Worshiping & Idolizing Celebrity Preachers - Paul Washer

People are never satisfied...

"Because even thought I've become Somebody, I still have to prove that I'm Somebody" ~ Madonna.

This is very interesting quote from Madonna, she is indeed very famous and success, but she never satisfied, since people who lives their life just for fame and success will keep craving for more fame and more success. Without Christ we will always thirst with this world's treasure, such as Money, Greed, Beauty, Success, Love, etc.

Year 2009 has passed, we are now entering 2010, let us reflect our live last year, have we treasure Him as our quencher, and even beyond that, we treasure Him for who He is. Be grateful with what you have, do no seek what the world cannot give us nor satisfy us. This year I plead to God my joy and salvation, to treasure Him in every aspects of my life, and I hope we will do the same, if we have treasured Him, keep treasuring Him. Happy New Year 2010.