Living the History

I never get really interested in history since little

I was so excited first, but then...

For  years, it's always the same

What we've learned, what we've known

That's all..

I've never wanted to know more

Because I thought it'd be boring

But that's the past

Now I know much more, and am excited to know much more

I've never known about the world's history

Hearing and seeing others know about it

Kinda made me envy, but also interested

The Century Trilogy by Ken Follet

Has been recommended for a quite long time

I thought I could never read it or even buy it

And now I just finished the first novel, Fall of Giants

It's a bit unbelievable to see it in my school's library -the first novel, that is-

And surprisingly they have 2 books of it -usually, there's only one book for this kind of book-

I tried to borrow the book 2 weeks ago

Unfortunately I have to wait until this Monday since I had mid-term test last week

And yes I learned history, and much more, of course

The life of people from many countries

Lots of point views from many sides

Ken Follet has nailed it into an incredible novel

Everything is felt by just reading

My imagination goes wild with all of the details

Many lessons I get from this book

Some which made my brain can't stop thinking about are..

This feeling I've felt

I guess every student in this world feel it too

The feeling that history lessons are being made up

For the sake of their own country

Only tells the good part and makes us blind to the bad part

Will it continue?

And what lessons had civilization for me? I learned that it ruled by creating classes and dividing people, by making some better than others.

-Virginia Dare, The Enchantress by Michael Scott p 80

It's taken from another book, but I believe that it's so true

I could see it clearly in FoG

Eventhough from a social democratic party like Bolshevik

A fundamentalism of any kind of belief is not good

I believe in it strongly

And so many more from reading this book

So many to think and to tell

I haven't get the right words for it

So I'll continue to the second book, Winter of The World

Now with many unpredictable things have happened in my life, I don't regret buying the second book without hesitation

And I hope I could tell more after finishing this one :)

PS: And I'm terribly excited about the third book that I just known the title, Edge of Eternity, and will be published toward the end of 2014

Giving

Wednesday, 4 Sep 2013

I had Character Building class

The topic is giving

We're given questions about it

Why do you give something to people?

What do you feel when you give something to people?

Do you believe that you'll be given more when you give something to people?

And so on...

And the end of the class, my friends and I were discussing about the questions given

That day, I didn't know I'd be hearing the answers the next Sunday

Sunday, 8 Sep 2013

I was in youth Sunday service

The sermon were answering those questions and it's real good

The topic is actually "Manage Your Money"

But it was more than just that

First of all, he said

Half truth is a whole lie. Half Gospel is not true gospel.
-JA

He read from the bible

"Sowing Generously"

2 Corinthians 9 : 6-11

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

9 As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Briefly, he said that all our money -etc.- are from God

We are not the owner of ours

God is

That's why we have to give it all back to God

By giving it to others

And, will we be given more if we give more?

Of course not, it's all God's not ours

What about verse 6?

John 4 : 37 gives the answer

Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true.

The context in 2 Corinthians is this

Corinthians were rich, Jerusalem needed help

So Paul wanted Corinthians to help Jerusalem

When Corinthians sowed generously -give more-

Jerusalem would reap generously -get more-

It opened my eyes

I've never known the context behind that passage

All I know is who gives more will get more, vice versa

It's all going back to the top

Half truth is a whole lie. Half Gospel is not true gospel.

Independence

Do you know the greatest gift a parent can give to a child?
Independence. To allow them go out into the world and make their own decisions, travel their own paths.
-Hekate, The Enchantress be Michael Scott, p 212

I believe that my parents is one of the protective parents
They were kind of a dictator when I was in Primary School -they still are, but just sometimes now-
They started to negotiate with us -me and my big brother- when I was in Junior High School
And now, I'm still in Senior High School btw, I could feel a bit of that independence

I also believe that my parents are approaching the ideal parents
Yes, they often make mistakes
But they're working real hard on it
Eventually, I really adore them as parents

I like cars, eventhough I don't like to know how it works or it's machines
I like to drive, I started to hold the wheels when I'm in third grade primary school and started to drive for real when I'm in the sixth grade
I made my car -my dad's car- hurt twice
Because of the second time, I stopped driving for almost 2 years
But then I drove again

I'm 17 and I've had a driving license
Until now, I've drove the car 5 times alone -well, I'm not really alone, but my dad weren't there so I count it as alone-
Maybe it seems natural
But for me, it's like a signal they've started to give me that independence

Soli Deo Gloria!

Cantabile SKIPI Choir -my school's choir- has just won a GOLD MEDAL!!
We joined the high school category of a national choir competition held by BPK Penabur -a school in Jakarta-
Five international judges gave scores, and the Gold Medal will be given if it passes 80.
I had a hunch that we will get the Gold Medal, but in last place.
A friend felt that the score will be 0.5 pass 80.
And...
It happened again!
We did get Gold Medal with a score of 80.50!!!

It's our first time in a national competition
Through all of the practice and the hard work
After all of the conflicts
The solidarity got stronger
We got Gold Medal
Hallelujah!

"We, Cantabile SKIPI Choir, has finished the 'battle' and are willing to present this glory of gold medal solely to God! Soli Deo Gloria!"

-Jonathan David (choir member)

So ein Pech

I feel terrible
I don't know...
These days, it has been overwhelming
All of my problems made me miserable and unfocused

My phone...
Just yesterday, at this time
I was trying to register a package for social media service
And it didn't work at all, how much I've tried

And today...
I made a terrible mistake
I had a little thought that I don't want to use the phone again
And it truly happened

I'm in my school choir and today we had a competition
I went to the location by taxi
And.. I simply lost it there
I've tried to contact the taxi, but still...

Well, I'm somehow don't really regret 'the lost'
It made me realize that we should be careful at what we think
But it also made me realize that... God is good
'The lost' is likely planned, and I didn't have to lose my money as well -I really couldn't register the package until the phone's gone-

What a day..

Consider Its Ways and Be Wise!

My QT this morning was taken from Proverbs 6 : 4-11
The devotion book was emphasizing about laziness and how we should not, we must not be lazy
A passage that is so popular is taken from Proverbs 6:6, about learning from ants

Today, I saw more than usual
I read again and again, that verse, also two verses after which is still related to verse 6

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

First of all, ants always make a community
Of course, you won't see an ant alone
They work together
Second, they know what they have to do (8)
They don't argue, they just doing their job happily
Third, no commander, no overseer or ruler (7)
They have responsibility

I remembered something when I think about these...
The Smurfs
Do you know it?
It's a comic made by Peyo
The stories are about a community of blue little things called smurfs
There, all of the smurfs have their own name
Such as Clumsy Smurf, Chef Smurf, Narrator Smurf, Baker Smurf, etc.
They are named by what they do
Isn't it similar with ants' life?
But, they do have a big difference
Papa Smurf exists in Smurf
He who become like a commander or ruler because he is wiser

Now let's imagine...
What's going to happen if humans do the ants' life?

As we now, ants are the same.
Are we, humans, the same?
I believe we are the same, we are humans
But does it stop here? I don't believe so
Smurfs are the same yet different, each one has his own 'particular job'
I believe humans are also different, each one has his own uniqueness
We may not have our own 'particular job', but more than that
Humans can do more than just 1 particular job and that makes them special
Then, humans without commander or ruler.
Human did not have commander or ruler, a long time ago
What if it happens now? A world without commander or ruler..

What do you think about it?
Consider its ways and be wise!

Enough is Enough

Today, I got a new meaning from that message

First of all, I'm glad to say that I am a Sunday school teacher now :D

And this afternoon, I joined the preparation class

One of the discussed topic is God's care in the desert

When the Israelite got out from Egypt

The passage I want to share were taken from Exodus 16, Manna and Quail

These are some verses that keep humming in my mind

4 ".... The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. ...."
16 ".... 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. ...."
18 ".... he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed."
21 "Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, ...."
35 "The Israelite ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan."

Yes, God took really good care of the Israelite in the desert

He provided enough for all of them, for each one of them

But what I see now that I didn't see when I read this passage in the past is

God also gave JUSTICE to the Israelite

Each one gathered enough, the same portion, an omer, not less nor more

That is what I got from that chapter

In the preparation class, I felt that they emphasized God's grace

And I didn't see any discussion about God's justice

For my surroundings who most of the children's family economic are in the middle and upper class

I think that God's care for them are abundant

I believe the children absolutely feel God's grace

But I wonder if they feel this justice that God has given

I believe it will be wonderful, if they become one...

God's grace and God's justice

These two types of teacher exists in my school
One, a teacher that gives all he got, without looking at the students' limit
Two, a teacher that teaches what he knows to the students' limit
They are good friends, yet have a contrary paradigm
One day, both of them joined a camp for teachers
And one of the preacher told them a phrase

Enough is enough

I was hoping teachers got the message well, especially the type one teacher
I know it is very good to teach what you've got
But sometimes, teachers have to know when to stop
It is stressing for students to be taught more than we could absorb
If you really want to teach more, my suggestion is make a club or something :D
Where you can really teach all you want, all you've got
To students who have genuine interest
That will hear and study all your teaching