No one to talk to. I longed at times for in-depth conversation. I forgot I could always talk to God.

Women in the Catholic church?

G: Hi Frater :) Have you also read anything on women of the Catholic church? What were the possible roles they were entitled to?

J.K: Ya...bkn hny hak mereka, Gereja bahkan menggelari para wanita itu kudus n ada jg yg digelari sbg pujangga Gereja. Mis. Sta. Katarina Sienna, berhasil menyatukan perpecahan di dlm Gereja yg pada masa itu pny 2 Paus. Paus di Avignon Prancis n Paus di Roma.

G: That's interesting. :) Who was Katarina Sienna in the society at that time? e.g. a nun, a nurse, or others? How did she come about in resolving the conflict between the two popes?

I have just re-published 'women in the history of the church". :) Any comments/remarks from you are heartily welcome there - especially with regards to women from the Catholic church. Or perhaps any books to recommend?

J.K: Catarina Siena adalah biarawati yg sangat suci pd masa itu, dia brhasil meyakinkan Paus di Avignon u kmbli ke Roma n brhasil mengajak para raja Eropa u menurunkan Paus tandingan di Roma yg mengangkat diri menjadi Paus krn lowongnya takhta kepausan yg ditinggalkan Paus terpilih ke avignon. Ada jg buku yg brjudul wanita2 besar dlm Gereja tpi mreka ... See moreitu para ratu eropa dari kerajaan Spanyol, Portu, Jerman, Hungaria n Inggris. Dlm Grj Katolik bnyk wanita yg berperan dlm Gereja sperti, Sta. Theresia Avilla, Sta. Theresia kanak2 Yesus, Sta. Bernadete, Sta. Edith Stein, Beata Theresia Kalkuta, dll. Mereka ini turut menentukan arah perjalanan siarah iman Gereja.

G: Apa yang sdh frater bagikan bolehkah frater tulis di komentar note saya juga? Biar yang lain jg dapat ilmunya. Heheh. :)

Oh ya! Terima kasih sebelumnya. :)

J.K: Bisa jg tpi sy mesti mengatur pernyataan yg baik krn jgn smpe menimbulkan prasangka bahwa sy pendukung gerakan feminisme dlm Gereja Katolik yg anti hirarki. Bisa susah n kacau. Wanita2 yg sy sebut jasadnya msih awet sperti org yg tidur pdhal sdh meninggal berabad2 lalu.

G: Saya kira posisi frater jg adalah posisi saya - bukan mendukung gerakan feminisme, tetapi mengembalikan posisi wanita ke posisi asalnya. Saya tunggu pernyataan frater! :)

J.K: Ok. Sy coba lihat dr sudut pandang Kitab Suci spy netral. Krn memang sy tdk setuju klu perempuan dikata WIFE, Work, Iron, Fun, n Entertain.

January, 26

God Gud! Hjelp mine hjertenskjær venner!

{lr, ds, ...}

Hjelpe meg å se at for hvert håp jeg taper her nede, jeg får et håp i himmelen mer.

Thoughts do count. (cf. Phil. 4:8)

Think upon this, every night: "Son, be a good cheer, Thy sins be forgiven thee." (Mat. 9:2) The men thought they needed healing for their paralytic friend, but Jesus knew better of their need. Thy sins be forgiven thee; that's the greatest need fulfilled.

Appearance

A good fruit can appear bad, while a bad fruit can appear good. (cf. Mat. 7:15-23) Thankfully, "the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7)

Children and hospitality

A good definition of hospitality for children would be: having "you-know-who" over AND sharing all your stuff with them AND smiling.

D: who's that
you know who
me: oh
itu definisi anak2
ttg menjamu tamu
D: ooooh
hihihi
me: :p
lucu ya
D: iyo
me: mereka soale susah puol disuruh share
share mainan, etc, etc
D: mmm
me: kmrn itu aku dibikinin gelang
by a girl
D: so nice
me: punya e de e sendiri pernak pernik e penuh sak pergelangan
yang buat aku cuma 4 biji
eh
5
:p
D: lol
hahaha
me: jd mikir2 pas pulang :p
D: emg susah anak kecil
me: adik e dhewe dikasi 10 biji
pdhal de e punya more than 200, i think
:p
D: hahaha
yah gt emg anak kecil
dulu aku rebut punya e konco
lgs dilaporno guru
=$
makanan
dee wes blg ok
me: haha
D: sek dilaporno
sial
me: seingatku aku dulu demen kasik2
buku2 cerita ta bagi2
D: anak kecil emg plg posesif
me: tp akhire mamaku ngomel2
D: coba liaten lek mainane mau diambil org lain jd apa
perlu diajari pelan2
me: iya ttg sharing
tp masih menjaga belonging sendiri
yang tukang kasih2 spt aku ya salah sih
ngethek2no duik e mama
:p
D: krg firm
haha
me: tepat :p

---

So I concluded: Biblical hospitality is about pleasing God, never about pleasing men. Only in His favour is comfort, which one seeks to have and to give by being hospitable.

Friendship

"A friendship, which makes the least noise, is very often the most genuine and the most useful." (Mary Beeton)

Correspondence on culture

G: Dear brother L,
What do you think of "Cultural Mandate"? Can you recommend an article/book on this issue? Thank you.

L: I think there is a close relationship between the cultural or dominion mandate of Gen 1:26-28 and the great commission or evangelistic mandate of Matt 28:18-20. It is vital that men and women are first converted before they are able to properly cultivate this world to God's glory. Christians should be very concerned about culture since this is what God has called His people to do since the beginning of the world.

I would recommend the books I used for my course in culture: 1) The Calvinistic Concept of Culture by Henry Van Til, 2) Lectures on Calvinism by Abraham Kuyper, 3) A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer. Start with Schaeffer as it's quite short and easy to understand.

I wrote a paper on the Christian pilgrim and culture if you're interested.

G: Thanks! I would like to get more understanding of the word 'culture'. Cultures are always changing; is there any 'best' 'Christian culture' in history? Perhaps the books will help.

I am sure I can benefit from the paper you wrote, too.

L: I think there is such a thing as a culture that is built on Christian principles. Change is part and parcel of the cultural/dominion mandate. The only question is whether it is changing in the right direction or not.

"That little part which I have in Him is no small comfort to me now." (Thomas Shephard)

"I will study more how to give a good account of my little, than how to make it more." (Mrs. Mary Beeton)

Squeezed in the past two years

"You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors." (James 1:3, The Message)

During a pregame talk with the Colorado Buffaloes some years ago I asked the question, "What do you get when you squeeze a lemon?" Of course the standard answer fired back from coaches and players alike, "Lemon juice!”

But what nobody knew that morning was that I had filled the lemon with ketchup. When I squeezed it tight and the red liquid oozed over my hand, they were all taken back. "You're wrong," I then said. "The actual answer is that you get whatever is inside it.”

At that point I had them right where I wanted them, and then asked, "So, what's inside you? What are we going to see when pressure puts the squeeze on you?" The answer is the same to the lemon question; we will see whatever is in you.

The great C. S. Lewis said, "A sudden provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man. It shows what an ill-tempered man I am." James tells us in his letter that "under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors." Maybe this is why the Lord provides so many wonderful opportunities for us to be squeezed.

The origin of the phrase "true colors" comes from naval parlance back in the days when pirates sailed the high seas. Vessels would always fly on their topmast the flag of their country of origin. But pirates were notorious for hoisting the flags of different nations so as to gain an advantage against unsuspecting vessels. However, under no circumstance would any honorable Captain ever fly false colors. Thus, the phrase "true colors" indicates authenticity in both motive and manner.

The Lord wants to make us truly authentic men and women, but to get us there He has to squeeze out the other stuff – and He will do so with unrelenting pressure until there is nothing left to ooze.

So, you been feeling squeezed lately?

Anti my space

Facebook = anti-my-space?

A Baroque fear

"A Baroque fear is deeply felt, but utterly beyond daily reality." Or is it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque

Gold and silver luster, & then rust. Only the rust can be the evidence for the reckoning that they do not last.

No one ever likes war. We are generally too prone, much too prone to avoid it. Even to the battle of daily spiritual warfare, we make ourselves blind. So much pollution is going on, giving place to vices. Even charming vices, those vices in good taste. So much indulged. To ignore this reality is to be at our peril.

Make me acutely aware of the indwelling sin which continues to live in my heart, and correct myself if my understanding has been deceived.

A phony?

Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's. (2 Cor. 10:7)

Resolved

Resolved, to make one resolution each day.

"Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep the resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake." (Jonathan Edwards)