Johann’s blog

nyata ialah Eusebius. Ia menulis buku mengenai cara meninggalnya para Rasul di tahun 325 yang berjudul: "Rasul dan murid dari Juruselamat telah menyebarkan dan mengkotbahkan Injil ke seluruh dunia". Tulisan dari Eusebius telah ditelusuri dan diselidiki ulang oleh penulis sejarah gereja kondang Mr. Schumacher untuk membuktikan akan kebenaran dari tulisan tersebut.

I believe… do you?

IF SOMEONE HAD A GUN HELD IN  FRONT OF YOURFACE AND ASKED YOU IF YOU BELIEVED IN GOD,WHAT WOULD YOU DO?SAY NO AND FEEL ASHAMED THE REST
OF YOUR LIFE? OR SAY YES, I DO, AND DIE STANDING  UPFOR GOD?
IF YOU WOULD SAY YES,AND STAND UP FOR JESUS CHRIST,
PLEASE READTHIS AND PASS ON.
Note: This is a true article that was printed in a southern newspaper less then a
year ago

TAKE A DEEP BREATH BEFORE
READING
THIS

There was an atheist couple who had a child. The couple never told their daughter anything about the Lord. One night when the little girl was 5 years old, the parents fought with each other and the dadshot the Mom, right in front of the child. Then, the dad shot himself. The little girl  watched it  all. She then was sent to a foster home. The foster mother was a Christian and took the child to church. On the first day of Sunday School, the foster mother told the teacher that the girl had never  heard of Jesus, and to have patience with her. The teacher held up a picture of Jesus and said, "Does anyone  know who this is?" The little girl said, "I do, that’s the man who was holding me the night my parents
died." If you believe this little girl is telling the truth that even though she had never heard of Jesus, he still held her the night her parents died, then you will
forward this to as many people as you can.

Funny, isn’t it?
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says. (Or is it scary?)

Two Things,
Two Things Only
Francis Fangipane

There are so many things to occupy our minds: so many books, so many examples, so many good teachings that deserve our attention, that say, "here is a truth." But, as I have been serving the Lord these past years, He has led me to seek for two things and two things only: to know the heart of God in Christ and to know my own heart in Christ’s light.

Knowing the Heart of God
I have been seeking God, searching to know Him and the depth of His love toward His people. I want to know Christ’s heart and the compassions that motivate Him. The Scriptures are plain: Jesus loved people. Mark’s gospel tells us that after He taught and healed the multitudes, they became hungry. In His compassion, Christ saw them as "sheep without a shepherd" (Mark 6:34). It was not enough for Him to heal and teach them; He personally cared for each of them. Their physical well-being, even concerning food, was important to Him.

A lad with five loaves and two fish provided enough for Jesus to work another miracle, but this miracle had to come through Christ’s willing but bone-weary body. Consider: Christ brought His disciples out to rest; "For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat" (Mark 6:31).

Consider: Jesus personally had come to pray and be strengthened. For John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner, had been beheaded earlier that very week at the hands of Herod. It was in the state of being emotionally and physically depleted that Jesus fed the multitudes - not just once or twice but over and over again "He kept giving [the bread and the fish] to the disciples to set before them" (Mark 6:41).

Thousands of men, women and children all "ate and were satisfied" (v. 42)! Oh, the heart of Jesus! The miracle was for them, but we read of no miracle sustaining Him except the marvelous wonder of a holy love that continually lifted His tired hands with more bread and more fish. Out of increasing weakness He repeatedly gave that others might be renewed.

So, if my quest is to know Him, I must recognize this about Him: Jesus loves people - all people, especially those society ignores. Therefore, I must know exactly how far He would travel for men, for that is the same distance He would journey again through me. Indeed, I must know His thoughts concerning illness, poverty and human suffering. As His servant, I am useless to Him unless I know these things. If I would actually do His will, I must truly know His heart. Therefore, in all my study and times of prayer I am seeking more than just knowledge; I am searching for the heart of God.

Knowing Our Hearts
At the same time, as I draw closer to the heart of God, the very fire of His presence begins a deep purging work within me. In the vastness of His riches, my poverty appears. The psalmist wrote, "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully" (Ps. 24:3-4).

We cannot even find the hill of the Lord, much less ascend it, if there is deceit in our heart. How does one serve in God’s holy place if his soul is unclean? It is only the pure in heart who perceive God. To ascend toward God is to walk into a furnace of truth where falsehood is extracted from our souls. To abide in the holy place we must dwell in honesty, even when a lie might seem to save us. Each ascending step upon the hill of God is a thrusting of our souls into greater transparency, a more perfect view into the motives of our hearts.

It is this upward call of God which we pursue. Yet, the soul within us is hidden, crouching in fears and darkness, living in a world of untruths and illusions. This is our inner man, the soul God seeks to save. Have you discovered your true self, the  inner person whom truth alone can free? Yes, we seek holiness, but true holiness arises from here; it comes as the Spirit of Truth unveils the hidden places in our hearts. Indeed, it is truthfulness which leads to holiness.

God, grant us a zeal for truth that we may stand in Your holy place!

Men everywhere presume they know the "truth," but have neither holiness nor power in their lives. Truth must become more than historical doctrines; it must be more than a museum of religious artifacts - mementos from when God once moved. Truth is knowing God’s heart as it was revealed in Christ, and it is knowing our own hearts in the light of God’s grace.

As members of the human race, we are shrouded in ignorance. Barely do we know our world around us; even less do we know the nature of our own souls. Without realizing it, as we search for God’s heart, we are also searching for our own. For it is only in finding Him that we discover ourselves, for we are "in Him."

Yet, throughout that searching process, as I position my heart before the Lord, it is with a sense of trembling that I pray the prayer of King David, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way" (Ps. 139:23-24).

Let us wash the cosmetics from our souls and look at the unadorned condition of our hearts. I know God has created us eternally complete and perfect in Christ. I believe that. But in the first three chapters of John’s Revelation, Jesus did not tell the churches they were "perfect in His eyes." No! He revealed to them their true conditions; He told them their sins. Without compromise, He placed on them the demand to be overcomers, each in his own unique and difficult circumstance.

Like them, we must know our need. And like them, the souls we want saved dwell here, in a world system structured by lies, illusions and rampant corruption. Our old natures are like well-worn shoes into which we relax; we can be in the flesh instantly without even realizing it. The enemies which defeat us are hidden and latent within us! Thus, the Holy Spirit must expose our foes before we can conquer them!

Concerning man’s nature, the prophet Jeremiah wrote, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). Quoting another of David’s prayers, a similar cry is heard, "Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I shall be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression" (Ps. 19:12-13).

There may be errors inside of us that are actually ruling us without our awareness. Do we realize, for instance, how many of our actions are manipulated purely by vanity and the desire to be seen or accepted by others? Are we aware of the fears and apprehensions that unconsciously influence so many of our decisions? We may have serious flaws inside yet still be either too proud or too insecure to admit we need help.

Concerning ourselves, we think so highly of what we know so little!

Even outwardly, though we know our camera pose, do we know how we appear when we are laughing or crying, eating or sleeping, talking or angry? The fact is, most of us are ignorant of how we appear outwardly to others; much less do we know ourselves inwardly before God! Our fallen thinking processes automatically justify our actions and rationalize our thoughts. Without the Holy Spirit, we are nearly defenseless against our own innate tendencies toward self-deception.

Therefore, if we would be holy, we must first renounce falsehood. In the light of God’s grace, having been justified by faith and washed in the sacrificial blood of Jesus, we need not pretend to be righteous. We need only to become truthful.

No condemnation awaits our honesty of heart - no punishment. We have only to repent and confess our sins to have them forgiven and cleansed; if we will love the truth we shall be delivered from sin and self-deception. Indeed, we need to know two things and two things only: the heart of God in Christ and our own hearts in Christ’s light.

”If there are any not-so-bright person in the room, will they please stand up?” said the teacher.  After a long silence, one freshmen rose to his feet.  "now then young man, why do u consider urself as not-so-bright?" enquired the teacher with a sneer.  "Well, actually i dont", said the student, "but I hat to see you standing up there all by yourself."

The Tent of Meeting

"When Thou didst say, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to Thee, ‘Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek’ " (Ps. 27:8).

A Time to Seek God
There are certain times when the Lord calls us out of the routine of our daily lives. These are special seasons where His only command is, "Seek My face." He has something precious and vitally important to give us that the familiar pattern of our daily devotions cannot accommodate. During such times people are often delivered of sins that have plagued them for years; others discover a depth in their walk with God that leads to greater effectiveness in ministry and prayer; still others experience breakthroughs in their families and are used by God to see loved ones brought into the kingdom.

Yet, here we are not seeking God for things or even for other people. We are seeking God for Himself. Maturity starts as we break the cycle of seeking God only during hardship; holiness begins the moment we seek God for Himself. A touch from God is wonderful, but we are in pursuit of more than just an experience - more than "goose bumps and tears." We are seeking to abide with Christ, where we are continually aware of His fullness within us, where His presence dwells in us in glory.

How do we enter this sacred place? If we study the life of Moses, we will see how he sought God and lived in fellowship with Him.

"Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And it came about, that everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp." Exodus 33:7

Notice that "everyone who sought the Lord would go out." If we are going to truly seek the Lord, we must "go out" as did Moses and those who sought the Lord. We must pitch our tent "a good distance from the camp." What camp is this? For Moses, as well as for us, it is the "camp of familiarity."

Is there anything inherently wrong or sinful with the things that are familiar? No, not in themselves, but you will remember that when Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, He called them to leave the familiar pattern of their lives for extended periods and be alone with Him (Matt. 19:27, Luke 14:33). Why? Because He knew that men, by nature, are unconsciously governed by the familiar. If He would expand us to receive the eternal, He must rescue us from the limitations of the temporal.

This is not to say we neglect our families or that we become irresponsible as we seek God. No. God has given everyone enough time to seek Him. It is there. Having done what love would have us do for our families, we simply say no to every other voice but God’s. We must redeem the time: cancel hobbies, forsake television, put away the newspaper and magazines. Those who would find God, find time.

Sadly, many Christians have no higher goal, no greater aspiration, than to become "normal." Their desires are limited to measuring up to others. Without a true vision of God, we most certainly will perish spiritually! Paul rebuked the church at Corinth because they walked, "like mere men" (1 Cor. 3:3). God has more for us than merely becoming better people; He wants to flood our lives with the same power that raised Christ from the dead! We must understand: God does not merely want us "normal," He wants us Christlike!

For the Holy Spirit to facilitate God’s purposes in our lives, He must redefine both our definition of reality and our priorities in life. Christlikeness must become our singular goal.

For most people, however, our sense of reality, and hence, our security, is often rooted in the familiar. How difficult it is to grow spiritually if our security is based upon the stability of outward things! Our security must come from God, not circumstances, nor even relationships. Our sense of reality needs to be rooted in Christ. When it is, the other areas of our lives experience eternal security.

Yet, our fears run deep and are numerous. Indeed, most of us pass through life umbilically tied to the protection of the familiar. Experience tells us that many good people remain in lifeless churches simply because they desire the security of familiar faces more than the truth of Christ. Even people who have been delivered from adverse situations are often drawn back into hardship. Why? Because adversity is more familiar to them.

Consider that certain prisoners are repeat offenders simply because they are more accustomed to prison life than freedom. Is it not sadly true that often young girls who have been abused by their fathers unconsciously tend to seek out and marry men who eventually abuse them as their fathers did? Groping blindly through life, they sought for the familiar. It is significant that worldwide most people live within fifty miles of their birthplaces.

Humans are cocooned, insulated against change by the familiar. When we work all day only to come home, watch television, then collapse in bed, our lifestyle becomes a chain of bondage. These things may not necessarily trap us in sin as much as they keep us from God.

Moses would leave what was familiar and pitch his tent "outside the camp," where he would then seek the Lord.

"Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Hence, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come." Hebrews 13:12-14

In the same way that Moses and those who sought the Lord went outside the camp, and as Jesus went outside the camp, so also must we, at times, leave the camp of what seems normal and predictable and begin to seek after God. Here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

This is one reason why Jesus said, "when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray" (Matt. 6:6). Christ desires us to leave the familiar, distracting world of our senses and abide in the world of our hearts, bearing in mind that the highest goal of prayer is to find God.

Every minute you seek God is a minute enriched with new life and new power from God. Give yourself a minimum amount of time - an hour or two each day, but do not set a limit, as the Lord may draw you to seek Him on into the night. And continue day by day, and week by week, until you have drawn near enough to God that you can hear His voice, becoming confident that He is close enough to you to hear your whisper.

If we are going to become holy, we must sever the chains and restraints - the bondage of desiring just an average life. We will choose to leave the camp of familiarity and place our tent in the presence of God.