Tips of the Day

Health Tip of the Day
Healthy sleep depends on moderate eating; he rises early, and feels fit. The distress of sleeplessness and of nausea and colic are with the glutton. -- Sirach 31:20

Top Ten Wishes for the Day
Top ten wishes for the day (are you listening God?)

10. 10 hours of sleep
09. a miracle headache cure
08. greencard
07. a bit of weight loss
06. a 3 bedroom house under $ 350,000
05. my lost Bible and its concordance
04. willpower to exercise
03. 2 months vacation
02. a maid to clean my apartment, cook, and all that stuff
01. a secretary to help me to open all my letters... sigh....

"Silly" Act of the Day
Taking sleeping pills, thinking they would help me sleep and make my headache disappear. They made me sleep alright, however, I have been miserable since I wake up because of the effect.


God bless you all,
Adrianus Indra Setiadi

Visit Indra's blog, "A Moment of Inspiration"


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Prayer Before Sleep

Father, as your child goes to sleep,
Let him have a good night rest.
Protect him from all evil thoughts and dreams.

I want to thank you for today.
Thank you for the prayer meeting,
Thank you for my friends,
Thank you for my job,
Thank you for all incidences,
Good and bad.

Forgive me for every failure
That I fell into.
Forgive me for not being patient,
Forgive me for my lack of faith,
Forgive me for my vanity,
And forgive me for my greed.

Give me the courage
To wake up and face the world tomorrow.
Give me the wisdom
To know that the past already happened
And the future is yet to come.

So let me just live in the moment,
Let me walk by faith.
I do not want to worry anymore,
For it is true what you said,
No one can add one day to their lives by worrying.

I want to trust you.
For you alone knows what is best for me.
You are my Father.
Good night Daddy, I love you!


God bless you all,
Adrianus Indra Setiadi

Visit Indra's blog, "A Moment of Inspiration"


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Loving Yourself

“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Lk 10:27).

Loving your neighbor as yourself.

As God’s love gushes forth filling the cup of our heart, the next step is NOT loving others, but love ourselves first. In the past I skipped this step out of ignorance of God’s commandment. The act of loving others should come forth from the abundance of our heart and not the other way around where we love others in order to gain self-acceptance or self-love.

“If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:3).

When we stand in front of a mirror and look at that person right in front, what do we say to him/her?

You are so ugly. You are too fat. You are too thin. Your nose is crooked. You have made too many mistakes. You are the one who is costing me my life dreams. You are lazy. You bring a lot of disappointment in my life. I do not like you and cannot stand looking at you!

Or

I embrace you and accept you and forgive you for your mistakes. Thank you that through those mistakes I can learn even a lot more about life. You are handsomely created by God. Your beauty is shining brightly. Your heart and your eyes is overflowing with love that whoever gets near you is infected with Life. I love you and thank you for being the temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. I will take care of you and love you the way our Heavenly Father is.

Imagine Picasso, Monet, Da Vinci, Perugino, or Michelangelo. Imagine them after long hours of thoroughly creating a masterpiece and after pouring their heart and soul into this beautiful creation. Imagine... Then out of nowhere someone comes and says, “This is ugly.” What do you think their response would be?

Do we remember that we are God’s Masterpiece and He is the artist, the Creator of this living beautiful artwork called... (fill your name here)?

How would God feel as an artist when suddenly there is someone (often ourselves) saying all the ugly things mentioned above towards His artwork. This is not just an artwork we are talking about. This artwork is living and breathing with the Breath of God; created in the perfect image of its own Creator.

How would God feel?

When someone says an artwork is ugly, that statement insults the artist! Do we have the right to insult ourselves as God’s artwork?

Yeah, but I wish God created me more beautiful and slimmer. Why does He create blind, deaf, and mute people then? Are those accidents? I was born because of a one night-stand, am I an accident then?

Jesus answered in John 9:3 when asked about whose fault it was that the man was blind, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.”

We do not choose where we start. But, we choose where we want to finish. Our starting point is never an accident. It is where it is because God knows that the starting point where we started would bring the most potential beauty in His Creation. Based on that starting point, He knows that the life story of (fill your name here) would be so beautiful that nothing else in the Universe would be able to copy the same story. It is uniquely entitled to the Artist and (your name) alone.

But as I said above, it is a “potentially” beautiful story. It is not going to happen by itself. We are given freewill and it has to be our CHOICE to choose God. The omniscient Creator is the only One who has the keys to unlock all of the secrets of (your name).

Why do we have to ask? Why doesn’t He just give it out of Love?

It takes humbleness to ask. And humility is one of the characters that the Creator would like us, the creation of His own perfect image, to have a reflection of. It is exactly because of Love that He asks us to ask. It is also out of Love that He promises, “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Lk 11:9).

I was born without a normal vision. Instead of 20/20 my vision is 20/200 or 20/50 while wearing glasses. I have to shake my head unknowingly at times in order for my eyes to focus on something. In the past I faced a lot of ridicules and grieve over this condition. I had to use binoculars even while sitting on the front row. I was ashamed because some people made fun of me when I was shaking my head subconsciously. I was angry at God for my condition.

When He touched me (read: “A Macho Man, Lover, Bestfriend, and Child of God”) and changed my life forever, John 9:3 became my answer, and still is.

I am praying for healing. I know God will heal my condition one day, if not on Earth, then in Heaven where I would be fully restored from all of my iniquities.

I became an artist in spite of my condition. Praise God. In the past whenever I looked for directions I had to rely heavily on God. Well, praise God for GPS now! And praise God if one day somebody would be able to drive me around while I am doing a full-time ministry for Him.

Bro Chan


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Create in Me a Clean Heart

Being Jesus disciple has so many advantages. We constantly learn about his teaching and through his teachings we are renewed and purified from our sins and bad habits.

I remember growing up I had a bad habit of saying razor cuts remarks whenever I was mad at someone as a way of defending myself. I was hoping the other person would be hurt by my remark and then back-off. No matter what my circumstances was, I now know there's no reason to justify my bad behavior.

Not only I liked to throw some razor cuts remarks, I also liked to gossip or talk about other people. Sometimes I found it really hard not to share my juicy finding about someone to others. Other times, when I was mad I tend to curse and use bad words. I am not proud of my behavior at all, and back then, I did not know what I did was wrong.

In Matthew chapter 15 verse 18 Jesus says: “But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and it is this that makes someone unclean”. When I read this verse, I felt like I was strucked by a lightning. All this time whenever I say some razor cut remarks, or when I pass on some juicy gossips, or when I use bad words, it shows what is in my heart… anger, hatred, jealousy. Those things made me unclean.

St. Clare of Asisi, Foundress of the Poor Clares, found peace in silence. She spoke only when obliged to do so by necessity or charity. She considered this silence is desirable as a means of avoiding the innumerable sins of the tongue, and for keeping the mind steadily fixed on God

God give us mouth to say blessings, to say encouraging words, to give supportive and good remarks, and to give smile to others, not the other way around. While I am still a long way to do what St. Clare did, I definitely watch what I say. I pray God to grant me a clean heart, so whatever comes out of my mouth may be a blessing to others. Keep in mind, while diet is good for our body, a restrained speech is also good for our spirit.

“A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit” (Ps 51:12)


By: Tina Karim


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You Are My Lord

Like a potter YOU mold me
Shape my life according to YOUR plan

Like a shepherd YOU guide me
When I’m lost YOU search me and guide me back
When I’m hungry YOU lead me to a green pastures

Like a bestfriend YOU walk beside me
Hold my hand when I’m worried
Comfort me in times of trouble
Smile with me in times of joy

Like a teacher YOU teach me
How to love, how to pray, how to stand upon YOUR word, how to follow YOU

Like a father YOU watch over me
Smile proudly everytime I took another step closer to YOU

My Potter, my Shepherd, my Best Friend, my Teacher and my Father . . .
YOU are my LORD.


By: Tina Karim


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How Great is Our God

I was reading a paper when I felt the building shook. I thought maybe the trucks were passing by from the nearby construction site and caused the vibration of the building. Seconds passed, yet the shaking did not subside. When the printer and computers next to me started to shake, I realized it was an earthquake. The tremors grew stronger and stronger for the next few seconds. During that moment, I thought I was going to die.

Praise the Lord, by His divine providence and through His mercy, I am still here today typing down my reflection about how wonderful our God is. In the aftermath of this earthquake, I have been trying to live life as God wants me to, spending quality time with my loved ones as well as spending some quiet moments marveling at His creations.

This earthquake reminded me of how little I am in the grandeur of His creations. It reminded me how great God’s love is and how dependent I am to Him. The Lord is the Master of all and I am one of the Master's creations. Though I may be just a speck of dust in the whole universe, but I am the apple of my Master's eyes.

Being a biology major, I learned about the process of human development, right from the moment of conception until adulthood. In that process, in each step, there are practically millions of chances that something can go wrong. The fact that I was born normal, with all fingers intact on my hands and feet, with fully functioning organs and senses, is in itself the ultimate miracle of God's creation. Yet, it seems that we forget how to appreciate this miracle of life. The fact that healthy babies are born everyday makes us think that this is how it is supposed to be.

We think we can do everything we want with our own power and intelligence. We think we can control everything to suit our needs. We think we can stand on our own two feet and have all things under control. We become selfish, we become pompous. We slowly forget the Master of the universe. We think we do not need Him anymore. We grow apart and further from each other. It only takes a little tremor and shakings to bring us back to the ground, to the realization of who is in control.

An earthquake made me realize that God is still in control. In the whole universe, I may be just a grain of sand, but the Lord loves me that His hands knit me in my mother's womb. His eyes are fixed on me. Among the billions of His creations, He still sees me as a person, someone whom He loves, someone whom He cares with all His heart.

Thank you Lord for loving me so much.


A Reflection from God’s Masterpiece
By: Natalia Tjokro


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One Hundred Percent for God

Often in sport or even in corporate America, we hear this from the coach or the boss, “I DO NOT WANT YOU TO GIVE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT! I WANT YOU TO GIVE MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. I WANT YOU TO GIVE ONE HUNDRED AND TEN PERCENT!!!”

Sisters and brothers in the Lord, as I continue my own journey with God, He opens up one thing about the statement above.

If I could still give 110% then it means my 100% is NOT 100%. If my 100% is the REAL 100% then there should not be anything left in me. If I am able to give 110% and still have 10% extra in my tank on top of my original 100%, it means the original “100%” I say I was giving would be more like 91% instead of 100%.

Why is this fact important? Why does it resonate loudly in me so that I want to make it such a big deal and share it with you all? How could we relate this to our spiritual journey?

Sisters and brothers in Christ, this is the way God wants us to approach our dreams. I am not talking about our dreams at night. I am talking about dreams when we are wide awake; dreams of what we want to become in life.

What is this dream? It is simply God’s calling invested deep within our heart by our Creator.

Dare to dream. Dare to choose. Dare to act upon.

As little children, it was easy to dream. Mom, Dad, when I grow up I want to become . . . (fill in the blanks). Growing up, our dreams start to get a lot of pounding and suddenly without us realizing, we hide behind our comfort zone trying to “playing it safe.” We are trapped inside our daily routine. Living without being alive. Settling for mediocrity and fear. Letting excuses filling our mind. Our life dreams dissipate and instead of 100%, we are living at 23%.

“I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16).

Steve Job, Apple Computer’s CEO, inspired me with the practical side of the verse above.

He said to ask ourselves daily. If we would die tomorrow, are we doing the thing we want to do today? If the answer is no for a stretch of a few days, then there is something wrong.

Are you reaching the dreams God has planted within? Or have you been saying too many “no”s to the question above?

Take a silent moment and listen to God’s voice inside... Be honest in front of the Creator and do a correction course if necessary. Please...

Bro Chan


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God’s Call to Brilliance

I saw this Nike ad on TV and would like to share the words with you all. It reminds me of God’s invitation to us. God calls us to be brilliant and perfect, just the way He is. He equips us to climb the mountain of our dreams, planted by Him deep within. The following words are the inner chatter of ones in that journey to excellence. God calls us to be more than a conqueror. Let’s lift up our heart and say, “Yes Lord, here I am ready to do Your will.”

Bro Chan
__________

Look me in the eye
It’s ok if you’re scared, so am I
But we’re scared for different reasons
I am scared of what I won’t become
You’re scared of what I could become
Look at me
I won’t let myself in where I started
I won’t let myself finish where I began
I know what is within me eventhough you can’t see it yet
Look me in the eye
I have something more important than courage
I have patience
I will become when I know I am . . .

Become legendary


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When Words Run Out

When the words run out… what remains?

Have you had a hopeless situation turned into an even more hopeless situation? I know I have, during the time I was in school. Sometimes in school it seemed there was such a little chance of passing the class after messing up on the midterm and then messing up again on the second midterm. Praying, “God let me pass this test” didn’t seem to help all that much. In fact, it made my laziness grew ever more. I discovered that it was diligence, our ability to be persistent in doing the small things like homeworks, was the key to changing the hopeless situation into a hopeful situation.

So when the teacher recommended 5 problems in the book where there were 30 problems, I did about 27 of those problems eventhough it meant doing extra work. But hey, at the end it did pay off. I did a lot better in my classes. This was the struggle I faced the most during my time in school: being hopeless because I was lazy. After I finished school and earning my B.S. in Accounting and Computer Information Systems, I thought it would be the last time I would ever see a hopeless situation again. Then it strucks me. My life also has moments where there seems to be hopeless situations as well.

In life, the problem may be the same as school but the solution or the application of the solution may be different. Recently, I found myself facing a situation when the words ran out – in the sense that wisdom wasn’t there to advice people on their problems. Scripture reminds us in Psalm 46:10 to “Be still and know that I am God.” I suppose in some way we all want to be the great counselor and advisor to people who come to us for anything and everything that needs solution. In a way, seeing God work through us is a great reward to ourselves. It makes us able to appreciate our intelligence, sometimes so much so that we start taking the credit for it. Instead, the credit should be all for God who gives us our intelligence in the first place. I could not be still and let God does the works that He already plans.

Love can come in many forms: words, actions, writings, emotions, and the like. Consoling the person who is in need of love can be done orally, in the form of advice, but it can also be physically, in the form of just being there. Doing action can be speaking out your mind or it can be with a simple gesture of holding the person’s hand or hugging them.

1 Corinthians 13:13 mentions “So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” In the footnotes of the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) regarding this verse, they mention that faith can yield to sight and hope can yield to possession, but love will always remain. Not finding the wisdom through words can be frustrating, I admit. The reminder for us is that solutions to problems that we are faced with, do not always have to end in words. So when the words run out, sometimes we simply need to love still, even if that means love without words.


By: Vincent Setiono


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Your Eyes

I open my eyes, I see You
Brightness all around me
My hand outstretched and held on Your cheek
My lungs breathe the aroma of heaven
Your smile launches me to the stars
Your gaze, O Your gaze, no words can say...

I am lost in Your Eyes of Love and I am glad
Your eyes embrace me
I am hungry Lord, hungry for You
Your Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, I long
Let me be one with You

Your eyes say it enough
You love me
Your body wretched, torn, pierced, so I may live
Your blood spilled, dispersed, offered, so I may be sanctified
Your soul cast down to the lowest pit of darkness, so I may see Light
It is me who did it to you
I was blind and did not see
My corruption and wickedness put You as the condemned One
Why? Why did not You parry my death blow?

Your eyes say it enough
You whisper, "So that you may believe that I love you"

My lover, my everything, take me home
To that place where roses never die
Where I may gaze into Your eyes forever...

I stand up and still see darkness around me
But I know Your eyes is piercing through it to give hope
I am not afraid for now I know the way home
The path is clear
Follow the light that leads to Your eyes

By: Bro Chan
Dedicated to all prayer warriors around the world


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God's Way Compared to My Way

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts” (Isa 55:8-9).

A beautiful verse indeed. A constant reminder of how God’s ways are way above our ways. How far above? God’s shows us a glimpse of His grandeur through the nature He created to answer this question.

A speed of light is about 670,000,000 miles per hour (or about 1.1 billion kilometers per hour).

With this speed we would go around Earth 7.4 times in a single second!

With this speed we would travel our solar system (from the Sun to Pluto) in about 4 hours!

There are billions of solar system in our Milky Way galaxy, about 200 billions of them to be more precise.

Travelling with the speed of light would take us about 100,000 years to reach from one side of our galaxy to the other!

Here is the glorious glimpse of God’s glory:

If our galaxy is the size of a pea, then the known Universe is the size of a FOOTBALL STADIUM!!! Whoa... Let’s ponder that for a moment...

So when we think we know everything; when we think we are in control; when we are desperate because our problems seem so big, think again!

We have a BIG and INFINITE God that is far beyond the grasp of our understanding.

Whatever situation or desperation or problems we are facing, know that, “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways above your ways and My thoughts above your thoughts.”

By: Bro Chan
Numbers taken from wikipedia


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How Can We Study Happiness?

It is another month in the name of the Lord, another new hope, new strength that the Lord has blessed us with. No matter what have happened, the Lord is still with us, giving us a new ray of hope in the darkness, giving us the strengths to continue our pilgrimage on earth.

The newspaper, Los Angeles Times, in its 9/8/2008 edition published an article on the secrets to happiness. This article caught my attention because I never thought that there are any secrets to happiness. How can we study happiness? How do we measure happiness? Isn’t happiness a state of our mind? Isn’t it another example of feeling that we human experience when all our needs are met and all are going okay?

One secret of happy people mentioned in the article is being grateful. Yes, sometimes we are so occupied with the fulfillment of the standard of the world that teaches us happiness equals wealth. We think that we will be happier if we have more money, better cars, and bigger houses. We will be satisfied if we achieve the American dreams. Yet, in the pursuit of these goals, we lose sight of what we already have. We will never be satisfied. We are stressed, pressured, and started to wonder whether there are any meanings to this life at all. God seemed so far away, He did not seem to care.

I can describe this because this was exactly my struggle not so long time ago. I was having a really hard time getting my projects started. I tried hundreds of different approaches, yet nothing seemed to work, that in my third year of studies, I have no publishable data at all. Then, I started questioning about my ability and I felt so small. I felt that I was such a big failure who could not even do this job. How can I ever produce enough data to graduate in 5 years, the average time it takes for people to graduate?

However, praise be to God our loving Father. He knows what we need, and His help will never come too late. A couple of days ago, from the meditation I read, I was reminded that in facing these struggles; I forgot to include God in the equation. I have to admit that during these days, it was super hard to pray, and I preferred to be by myself. In Luke 5:1-11, it was told that that Simon and other fishermen had caught so many fishes that their nets were tearing and their boats were on the verge of sinking. This was not what happened before Jesus told them where to fish.

Furthermore, I kept on dwelling in the negative thoughts that I started to forget the good things that I have, the classic symptoms of unhappiness. I complained about the projects so much, I forgot to thank Him that I still get paid every month, whether I have results or not. I complained that this life is too challenging, I forgot that there are millions other people whose challenge is to stay alive from hunger and war. I complained that this job is so difficult that I wanted to quit, I forgot that there are friends around me still struggling to find ANY job in the midst of this economic downturn. I forget about being grateful with what I already have in my life.

In the midst of our struggles, let us not forget to include God in our lives and remember to give thanks for our lives at present, which comes with its own ups and downs. Though it may be harder to appreciate what we already have when we are in the middle of struggles, believe that the Lord has promised us a new and abundant life in Him (John 3:16). He has promised and He will do it. There is hope in the Lord, and He will take care of those who hope in Him. In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord said “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” We need to remember that in all things God works for the food of the people who love Him (Rm 8:28). Surrender all to Him and believe that He will make all things beautiful in His time.


A Reflection from God’s Masterpiece
By: Natalia Tjokro


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First Day on the School Bus

Cyan Erdita, my son, has grown that today is his first day getting on the school bus on his own. I thank God for His blessing for this country, America, for its solid infrastructure. My own younger years flashed before my eyes. At seven years old, I had to have my maid accompanying me on public transportation. The Indonesian streets were too dangerous for little children wandering on their own. School bus system just simply did not exist.

Cyan stepped on the bus ready to face his world. I am a proud father. At the same time I have to keep my protective mind in check. My first impulse was not to let go. But thank God I have God. On the way to the bus stop which was only four minutes from our house, Cyan led our morning prayer, “Lord, bless this day. Bless our family and be with us always, amen!” That was when I surrendered and offered the control to God our Father. God has been my faithful Protector wherever I go. I know that is the way God wants it with my son also, but if and only if I let go and give space to Him to be God. So I did.

Psalm 18:3, “My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!”

Cyan, I will be there at the bus stop when you get down from the bus this afternoon. I love you, son.

By: Bro Chan


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Embracing Our Dark Side in God

Let us start off with acknowledging the fact that we all have a dark side and a good side. We may pretend that we are all saints but we tend to be selfish at times, judgmental at times, temperamental at times, moody at times, and the list goes on for some time.

To acknowledge that we have a dark side is not a sign of weakness but a sign of realization. This realization that we are not perfect is a reminder of what God created us for, to depend on His love for us. First we know that “God is love” in 1 John 4:8 and Acts 17:28 says “[f]or ‘In him [God] we live and move and have our being,’” so therefore, we should reflect His loving nature. But nevertheless because of the influence of this world, we will have these characteristics in us, thus reflecting a dark side.

On the same token, since we are all trying to be saints on earth, this is why we keep putting our best face forward. This is why most of us make an effort to show our good side. But if we keep showing our good side, without ever coming to God when the dark side comes up, our perception will become skewed, we start thinking of ourselves as perfect men and women walking on the earth; and so this is why we should acknowledge that we are not perfect, that God is there to accept us when we are asking for His forgiveness, knowing that He will forgive if we but ask.

Matthew Kelly writes in his book “Seven Levels of Intimacy” that “we live in our self-deceptions and they distort our character; intimacy comes to set us free from these deceptions and distortions. But in order for intimacy to do her job, we must be willing to admit to our darkness.” What I came to realize during this month is, first: acknowledging that we all have a dark side does not make us bad people; it is a part of us, it is the complete picture of us. Wanting to better myself is what I can hope to accomplish and can be done if I cling on to God, who is Love, for my example.

Second: To reflect on myself first when I am about to judge others about their dark side, knowing that I have a dark side too.

Third: being able to let others who are close to me know about my faults, fears, and failures can open up intimacy between myself and others to be more accepting of one another, knowing that none of us are perfect and that we are all trying to get to heaven hand in hand. The dark side is there; denying that you do not have it will give it power. Knowing it is there; rely to God to change our dark side into His image, an image of love of one another through the actions of patience, charity, wisdom, kindness, and the like.


By: Vincent Setiono


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Gift of Technology

Through technology, God works wonders. God created human brain and it is going to be our freewill how we decide to use our “superpower.” When it is used properly though, it is amazing how our brain can create such conveniences to make our life better. Thank you Lord.

The latest gift of technology I received from God is the ability to download the bible into my cell phone. Nowadays, morning, afternoon, evening, and night, I can easily access His Words. When I wake up in the morning, or I should say half-awake, with my sleepy droopy eyes, I am making it my habbit to make God’s Words to be the first thing entering my mind.

What a privilege to have this kind of convenience! If I was an early Christian living 20 centuries ago, then what I actually had to do was to have scrolls of scripture on my bedside :-). Even that scenario was not possible since those scrolls were not stored in private homes.

Psalm 119:147, “I rise before dawn and cry out; I put my hope in your words” takes on a different and surprising twist.

Thank you Lord for the gift of Divine Technology.

By: Bro Chan

Note from Editor:
Do you have conveniences in life you would like to share with the rest of us that bring you closer to God? Let us know and share in our comments section...


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Catholic Church and Salvation Dialogue

>Yes sir, I dont remember hindering you from practicing your religion. Now if your position is so weak that you can not stand being confronted with what the Scriptures say, that in another issue.<

Anytime you want a healthy, ecumenical dialogue brother, I am open to that :)

Here is a position of the Church on salvation (or the eternal destiny of our souls, as you referred it in your e mail entitled "The Most Important Thing"):Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6). There is one God, that have revealed himself through Jesus Christ. Therefore, there is only one salvation history, which is centered in Jesus Christ. Everyone have all the graces necessary to be saved, including one who have never heard of Jesus Christ. "For by grace we have been saved, it is not from you, it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8). (Taken from Dominus Iesus, Vatican Declaration of the Doctrine of Faith, Sept, 2000).

The faith become alive with works as St. James said in James 2. However, again, the source of this works is the graces that Christ has given us, for he is the true vine and we are the branches. We can only be fruitful through Him. (cf: Jn 15:5). Anyone who has never heard of Christ but lives in charity can be saved because of what Christ has done to the world and humanity.

Granted, this explanation is a summary, for the topic of salvation is very broad. Salvation is the realization of God's love, and as we know, His Love is boundless, therefore, we can have endless discussion and keep finding new things on His Love.

>I dont convern anyone. If the Holy Spirit has convicted you, that is not my doing. I just use the word of God like it was intended to be used, like a two edged sword.<

Amen, and just like any two-edged sword, if you have ever used one, or seen a documentary of knights using those, they used them through intensive training, and their swords became indispensible for them. Each was borderline paranoid in using only his own sword and not others. There is a reason behind the analogy of two-edged sword. If it was misused, or used without proper understanding, it can cut the user also. That is why our Church has been very careful in interpreting the Word of God. Again, just like anything with God, His Word is also boundless, that is why we can also have our personal meaning. I can read the same verse on Monday and Tuesday, and they might have different meaning depending on what God want to reveal to me during that day. However, the Church, through the authority given by Jesus to Peter that has been handed down faithfully up to our current Pope, is giving us a standard for discerment. Again, the intention is not to bind, but to guard against dangerous misinterpretation of the bible. (Just think my brother, if someone took the verses "an eye for an eye" or "if the eye causes you to sin, pluck it out" literally, the world would be full of blind people).

>Me on the other hand believe that there are gong to be many souls going to hell, I want to make sure that I told as many as I could about the Lord Jesus Christ<

I admire you for your courage and noble intention my brother. If only our Church has more people with your kind of zeal. We believe in God's love, and hell is not created for souls. It was created for the devil only. God has given everything possible for humans so that we can share eternal life with Him. It is a wonderful and precious gift, and we just need to accept it. We believe in His infinite mercy and justice. We believe in His infinite wisdom that we could not possibly fathom. Therefore, we cannot fathom His justice for His ways are not our ways (cf Is 55:8).

Thank you brother, and I hope this e mail finds you well. Let us continue in pursuing the Way, the Truth and the Life.


God bless you all,
Adrianus Indra Setiadi

Visit Indra's blog, "A Moment of Inspiration"


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Dialogue on Immaculate Conception

In a message dated 01/14/2004 10:54:36 AM Pacific Standard Time, Txheat1331@aol.com writes:
>>Can you give me at least one verse of the Scriptures that can support the concept of the Trinity?,<<

Answer:
I am sorry that I have to assume what you mean. You just quoted 1 Jn 5:7, that supports the concept of the Trinity. So I am assuming that you are asking for a verse that supports the doctrine of Immaculate Conception?

Assuming so, allow me to join this dialogue.Lk 1:28 "And coming to her, he said, "Hail favored one! The Lord is with you."

Mary was favored by God even before she bore Jesus. Some translations of the Bible translated "favored one" as "full of grace". Both are right since the original Greek word ("kecharitomene") that St. Luke uses for this can be translated both ways in English.

Understanding this, we know that according to Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you, it is the gift of God". So, the announcement of the angel to Mary confirms that she had been saved even then, thus, it makes sense that she was conceived without original sin. And this is the special gift of God for her.

Far stretch? Not really. The dogma parallels Mary with the Old Testament's Ark of the Covenant. Mary bore Jesus, the New and Everlasting Covenant, inside her. Therefore, it is fitting that she is the Ark of the New Covenant. We can see the parallelism between 2 Sam 6 and Luke 1:39-56 in comparing the Old Testament's Ark of the Covenant and Mary. And I think we can agree that in the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant was so holy. So holy that Uzzah was struck dead by God for touching it (cf. 2 Sam 6:6-7). Was the ark holy by itself? I don't think so. The ark was holy by what's inside. Similar with Mary. Mary become holy because of Jesus. Just as the Ark of the Covenant carries the tablets of the law, manna, and Aaron's rod, Mary bore Jesus, the Living Law of the New Covenant, the Bread of Life, and our Eternal Priest.

Just imagine if the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was THAT holy, how should the Ark of the New Covenant be? The New Covenant is perfect. It is fitting that the Ark should be perfect, too. God has prepared Mary to be the Ark of the New Covenant by making her sinless, preserving her from sin. Ergo, the angel saying that Mary is the "favored one" "full of grace."

Again, if I misunderstand what this dialogue is all about, I am sorry. I am just assuming that this is still about immaculate conception :)


God bless you all,
Adrianus Indra Setiadi

Visit Indra's blog, "A Moment of Inspiration"


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