Jumat, 26 Desember 2014

Pandangan Alkitab Mengenai Hukuman Mati

Saat ini sedang marak mengenai pro kontra eksekusi mati narapidana Narkoba. Presiden Jokowi menegaskan niatnya untuk segera melakukan eksekusi mati. Namun ternyata Presiden Jokowi masih belum terlalu yakin akan niatnya itu.  Karna itulah beliau sedang gencar-gencarnya meminta dukungan dari para pemuka Agama.

Para kyai sudah memberikan dukungan terhadap eksekusi mati yang akan dilakukan terhadap napi Narkoba itu.  Mengenai pandangan islam, tentu kita tidak lagi penasaran sebab kita semua sudah tau bahwa bagi mereka masalah mencabut nyawa atau menumpahkan darah adalah persoalan biasa.

Namun bagaimana dengan Kristen ?  Atau lebih tepatnya bagaimana dengan Pandangan Alkitab ?

Sebagai pengikut Tuhan Yesus, jelas pegangan kita adalah Perjanjian Baru, dan Hukum yang kita anut adalah 'Hukum Kasih'.

Dari semua pelajaran yang pernah kita dapatkan di Sekolah minggu, Gereja, Pendeta, atau Alkitab, jelas kita dapatkan bahwa Alkitab melarang manusia mencabut nyawa orang lain, dan hanya Tuhan yang berhak melakukannya.

Dan dari sekian banyak Pengajaran dan Perumpamaan yang diberikan Tuhan Yesus, disana kita lihat tidak ada tempat untuk membala kejahatan, apalagi sampai mencabut nyawa orang lain. Yang ada hanyalah Pengampunan dan Memberkati.

Karena itulah kita merasa lega ketika seorang Uskup menolak keinginan Presiden Jokowi untuk melakukan eksekusi mati terhadap napi Narkoba. Dengan mengatakan 'Hanya Tuhan yang berhak mencabut nyawa'.

Namun mengenai Napi Terorisme, saya mempunyai pandangan yang lain.

Jika ditegaskan bahwa Hukuman mati hanya diberikan pada pelaku EXTRA ORDINARY CRIME, atau Pelaku Kejahatan Luar Biasa, yaitu Narkoba, Korupsi, dan Terorisme.

Maka menurut saya, Teroris adalah EXTRA ORDINARY of EXTRA ORDINARY CRIME.

Jika Korupsi & Narkoba masih mengandung unsur hedonisme humanisme, yaitu 'Nafsu dan Kenikmatan duniawi.'

Jika mengenai ini, kita sebagai umat yang harus selalu Berkaca & Merendahkan diri, tentu masih bisa menoleransi nyawa mereka dan berkata 'Siapa orang yang tidak pernah bersalah ?   Siapa orang yang tidak pernah berdosa ?   Siapa orang yang tidak pernah punya napsu ?'.

Namun mengenai IDEOLOGI untuk MELENYAPKAN KEHIDUPAN ORANG LAIN (Terorisme) ??

Adakah orang yang begitu gila diantara kita, sampai mampu berkata 'saya juga pernah berfikiran seperti itu' ?

Jelas Terorisme adalah jenis Kejahatan yang Paling Keji, dan tidak ada sedikitpun celah toleransi yang bisa kita berikan padanya.

Bukan saja mereka menghujat Tuhan Sang Pencipta, tapi juga menganiayanya dengan membunuh penyembahnya, sebagaimana yang dikatakan Tuhan Yesus kepada Saulus.

Intimidasi dan Aniaya yang dilakukan Teroris agama mayoritas ini mengingatkan kita pada pada zaman Kisah Para Rasul, dimana orang-orang percaya dianiaya dan dibunuh.

Tapi bagaimanapun panjangnya saya memberikan perbandingan, jelas ini tidak bisa menjadi alasan untuk membenarkan eksekusi mati Napi Terorisme. Sebab semua perjalanan Yesus menunjukkan bahwa Dia hanya peduli dengan Pengampunan & Kasih.

Memang ada satu kali Yesus mengucapkan kalimat mengenai hukuman yang pas untuk para Penyesat, yaitu di Lukas 17 : 2.

Tapi harap diingat juga, pada waktu itu kesalahan dan dosa yang paling besar adalah Perzinahan.
Sebab Perzinahan bukan saja menjadi aib, atau membuat sebuah kampung menjadi terkutuk, tapi itu juga akan menularkan penyakit berbahaya bagi orang lain. Jadi hukuman yang pas untuk orang yang kedapatan berzinah, adalah hukuman mati.

Tapi apa yang Yesus lakukan ?  Apakah dia menghukum terdakwa hukuman mati ini?
Tidak, Dia melepaskannya...!!  Itulah bukti bahwa Tuhan Yesus tidak menginginkan kematian orang berdosa.

Namun bagi Yesus, ada satu dosa yang jauh lebih berbahaya daripada para Pendosa lainnya. Ini sekaligus juga menjelaskan pada kita, apakah dosa yang terbesar dihadapan Tuhan, bukanlah seorang Penjahat, Narkoba, Pembunuh, Pemerkosa, dll.  Bagi Tuhan ada Pendosa yang lebih besar dari itu semua, yaitu PENYESAT.

Karena itu sadarilah bahwa Hukuman yang berat telah menanti para Penyesat-penyesat ini..

Ahmad  Deedat

Dzakir Naik

Yahya Waloni

Irena Handono

Insan Mokoginta

Orang-orang ini lebih berbahaya daripada Pengedar Narkoba.  Sebab mereka bukan sekedar meracuni fisik, tapi jauh lebih dahsyat dari itu.  Mereka menyeret orang-orang lemah, masuk kedalam kebinasaan api Neraka.

Jadi jika ada orang yang pantas dihukum mati, maka menurut Alkitab, orang-orang seperti ini, lebih pantas untuk mendapatkannya.

Kamis, 18 Desember 2014

A Merry and Blessed Christmas Wish to All ~ 2014

May your heart be lifted in praise this Christmas
for the wonderful gift of Jesus
and the joy He brings to our lives.
Have a blessed and wonderful Christmas.


Today in the town of David
a Saviour has been born to you:
he is Christ the Lord.
~ * ~ Luke 2:11 ~ * ~

Joy resounds in the hearts 
of those who believe in 
the miracle of Christmas!


Wishing you all the timeless treasures of Christmas�. 
The warmth of home, the love of family 
and the company of good friends.



The Song of the Angels:
"Glory to God in the highest
and on earth, Peace."
~ * ~ Luke 2:14 ~ * ~

Selasa, 16 Desember 2014

Advent & Christmas

JESUS 
 is the Reason 
for the Season


In dictionary "advent" means the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. For Christians it is the first season of the Christian church year, leading to Christmas. It begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. Christmas season for Christians actually begins on Christmas Eve and lasts for twelve days, ending on 6 January. Therefore Advent is a Christian season of preparation for Christmas the Nativity of Jesus. Advent is also a time of repentance as we�re reminded of how much we ourselves also need a Saviour, and we look forward to our Saviour�s second coming even as we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas.

Also is a time in Christian theology about the coming of Christ the first and the second, where the scripture reading for Advent will reflect and emphasise on the Second Advent, including themes of accountability for faithfulness at His coming, judgment on sin, and the hope of eternal life. We focus on Christ past and future, as we affirm that Christ has come, that He is present in the world today, and that He will come again in power. Purple is the colour of Advent, it is colour of penitence and fasting, and also the colour of royalty as we await the coming of the Messiah. Jesus our King, Lord and Saviour, the Word made flesh who will dwell among us to reveal God and His grace to the world through His life and teachings, and through his suffering, death, and resurrection which save us for our sins and gave us salvation.



The circle of the Advent wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end. The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life. Candles (3 purple + 1 pink form the outer circle and 1 white candle in center) symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His son. The four outer candles represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ. The fifth candle, located in the center of the wreath is known as the Christ Candle which reminds us that the incarnation is the heart of the season, giving light to the world.

The candle are lighted beginning with the first new purple candle (symbolise Hope) on the first Sunday of Advent, the next new purple candle (symbolise Peace) is lighted on the Second Sunday of Advent together with the First Sunday of Advent purple candle. On the Third Sunday of Advent the pink candle (symbolise Joy) is lighted together with the purple candles of the First and Second Sunday of Advent. On the fourth or last Sunday of Advent, the last new purple candle (symbolise Love) is lighted together with rest of the purple and pink candles. The white candle "the Christ candle" is lighted on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.


John 3:17-21


17 �Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.�

Senin, 15 Desember 2014

Advent ~ Live the faith

Pray gratefully, 
serve responsibly, 
give generously 
and we will have stronger faith 
and we will be ready 
when Mary presents her Son, 
our Saviour, 
to us on Christmas Day! 


The Lord hears the cry of the poor ~ Psalm 34:2-3, 6-7, 17-18, 19, 23


R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

Christ's Triple Coming ~ Advent Prayer


JESUS CHRIST, our Saviour and King, 
first coming in Bethlehem, 
the �present presence� of Christ in our lives, 
and looking forward to his coming again in glory!


Lamb of God,
You once came to rid the world of sin;
cleanse me now from every stain of sin.
Lord, you came to save what was lost;
come once again with Your salvific power
so that those You redeemed will not be punished.
I have come to know You in faith;
may I have unending joy
when You come again in glory.Amen.


source: New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book

Lord I cry out to You, I desperately need Help. Show me Your Mercy and Empathy. (All I ask this Christmas - My Christmas Wish)


Lord I cry out to You for Mercy and empathy, Lord hasten to help me in this urgent time of desperateness as struggle to make ends meets and in serious personal financial despair. I am falling apart Lord in all aspect of my life but I always know that you are beside waiting to lift me up when I fall. All my hopes and trust in You, Lord. As the season of Christmas is approaching around the corner, help me Lord out of my misery that I am going through so that I will be able to have a happy Christmas this year. You, Lord are the Light and You are coming, shine You Light and take away all my darkness. Heal me Lord from all I am going through as I surrender all into Your mighty hands. Also Lord have mercy on me on sinner like me, as for my mistakes that lead me to all I am going through. Lord, do not let me be put to shame or disgrace by my adversaries but by Your will the Father's will let it be done unto me as You are full of Love, Mercy, Compassion, Power and Empathy. Send me Your angel to lift me up, protect me and grant the Your miracle. All my hopes and trust is in You alone O'Lord. MARANATHA, come Lord come and save me. Amen.


Kamis, 04 Desember 2014

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe ~ 12 December, 2014



On Saturday, December 9, 1531, while on his way for religious instruction, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Indian and recent convert to Christianity, heard singing coming from the top of Tepeyac hill. Suddenly, the singing stopped, and a woman�s voice called out to him: �Juantzin, Juan Diegotzin.� Ascending the hill, Juan Diego found himself before a beautiful woman adorned in clothing that �shone like the sun.� The woman introduced herself as �the immaculate Mother of God� and explained the reason for her appearance: she came to request a church to be built there, and she wanted Juan Diego to take her request to the head of the Church in Mexico, Bishop Juan de Zum�rraga.

"Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything." ~ Our Lady to Juan Diego

O God, Father of mercies, who placed your people under the singular protection of your Son's most holy Mother, grant that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, may seek with ever more lively faith the progress of peoples in the ways of justice and of peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.

Friday, 12 December, 2014
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Reading 1
Zechariah 2:14-17
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!
For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.


Or 

Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
God�s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
�Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.�



Responsorial Psalm 
Judith 13:18bcde, 19
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God,
the creator of heaven and earth.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Your deed of hope will never be forgotten
by those who tell of the might of God.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.


Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise;
from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel 
Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin�s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
�Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.�
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
�Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.�
But Mary said to the angel,
�How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?�
And the angel said to her in reply,
�The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.�
Mary said, �Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.�
Then the angel departed from her.

Or 

Luke 1:39-47
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary�s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
�Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.�

And Mary said:

�My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.�

Stay close to JESUS


If ya' ain't got JESUS, 
then ya' ain't got nuttin', 
buddy!

Call on JESUS today!


JESUS, I am nothing without You.


As for me and my household, 
we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15


Being a Christian doesn't mean I won't fall ....,
It means JESUS will catch me when I do ....

Selasa, 02 Desember 2014

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary ~ 8 December, 2014

Hail, Mary, full of grace, 
the Lord is with you. 
Blessed are you among women, 
and blessed is the fruit 
of your womb, Jesus. 
Holy Mary, Mother of God, 
pray for us sinners, 
now, and at the hour 
of our death. Amen.



In this solemnity, the Catholic Church honours the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Mary had a faith that God's Spirit prepared and a love that never knew sin, for God Father the kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception in the womb of Saint Anne and nine months later, on 8 September, we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both the Eastern and the Western Church had maintained that Mary was free from sin throughout her life. It is a Holy Day of Obligation and Catholics are obliged to attend Holy Mass.

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX officially declared the Immaculate Conception a dogma of the Church, which means that all Christians are bound to accept it as true. As the Holy Father wrote in the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus, �We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.�


O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son, grant, we pray, that, as you preserved her from every stain by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw, so, through her intercession, we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.
Monday, 8 December, 2014
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary


Reading 1
Genesis 3:9-15, 20
After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, �Where are you?�
He answered, �I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.�
Then he asked, �Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!�
The man replied, �The woman whom you put here with meC
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.�
The LORD God then asked the woman,
�Why did you do such a thing?�
The woman answered, �The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.�

Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
�Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
on your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.�

The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.


Responsorial Psalm 
Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

Reading 2
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Brothers and sisters:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ,
in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved.

In him we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.

Alleluia 
Luke 1:28
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.


Gospel 
Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin�s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
�Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.�
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
�Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.�
But Mary said to the angel,
�How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?�
And the angel said to her in reply,
�The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.�
Mary said, �Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.�
Then the angel departed from her.