Free e-book

The Logos Bible Software is giving away J. C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots. You can download it for free until midnight, February 6, 2012. Here is the link.

Pelajaran Berpuasa

Sebenarnya saya memulai disiplin abstinence (berpantang) sejak Lent tahun lalu. Buahnya adalah berat badan saya turun 12 kilo - dari 100 kilo hingga 88 kilo. Sejak itu saya belajar untuk makan tidak berlebihan (diet) dan berolah raga secara regular. Kemarin dan hari ini (in process) saya mulai lagi berpuasa. God willing, saya hendak melakukannya setiap minggu.

Berpuasa atau berdiet

Dari pengalaman pribadi, saya menemukan perbedaan antara berpuasa dan berdiet. Dalam berdiet saya menahan diri dari makan dan minum secara berlebihan, tapi tidak dari hal-hal lain. Artinya, saya masih melakukan apapun yang saya sukai tanpa limit. Saya tidur larut hingga pukul 2 pagi, kadang malah lebih. Saya main game, facebook-an, browsing selama berjam-jam, nonstop.

Dalam berpuasa, saya memusatkan perhatian pada Tuhan, membuka hati selebar-lebarnya untuk mendengar sapaan dan panggilan lembut-Nya. Jam makan saya ganti dengan jam doa. Saya berdoa syafaat bagi beberapa anggota Jemaat, dan pergumulan saya sendiri. Dalam berpuasa, saya peka terhadap waktu, oleh karena saya tidak ingin hal-hal yang tak penting (junk) mengganggu saya berelasi intim dengan Tuhan. Ya, dalam arti tertentu, berpuasa dapat juga dilihat sebagai berpantang makan ’junk food’ dengan hanya mengasup ’heavenly healthy food.’

Disiplin

Bagi saya, disiplin berpuasa penting, terutama bagi pelayan-pelayan Tuhan. Berpuasa mengingatkan kita akan apa atau siapa yang sesungguhnya memuaskan hati kita. Berpuasa bertujuan untuk membebaskan diri kita dari belenggu keinginan-keinginan daging dan mata yang tanpa terasa telah mendominasi tubuh, pikiran, dan imajinasi kita. Berpuasa juga meringankan hati kita untuk melayani Tuhan dan sesama kita.

Tidak bisa tidak, berpuasa harus dibedakan dari diet. Berpuasa adalah sebentuk doa - berdoa secara intensif, ekspresi kebergantungan total kepada Tuhan.

Do You Have a Set Honorarium, Preacher?

This interesting blogpost by Prof. Stackhouse I unexpectedly found when I was browsing through internet on preachers' honoraria. Google is amazing. Just by inserting "honorarium" and "preacher," his article showed up as the first in the list. Check and read, folks! Your church will be much healthier by reading and considering his thoughts here.

By Their Honoraria Ye Shall Know Them
February 13, 2007

(A number of friends have asked me to make this article–published originally in the Canadian journal ChristianWeek–available in this form. So here it is.)

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The way some Christian churches and other organizations pay their speakers, it makes me embarrassed to be a member of the same faith.

Bloodlines For Free

Bloodlines was the book that I purchased because I was planning to preach about the sin of racial discrimination at my church. But unfortunately, I did not have a chance to execute my plan yet. So the book is now just kept in my old white bookcase. You know, pastors like to collect books. Anyway, I would actually like to let you know that today Desiring God has made the book available for free download.

John Piper, the author, says:

Bloodlines is one of the most autobiographical books I have written. It tells my story from racism to the path of redemption. I preached on the theme of Bloodlines yesterday to mark Martin Luther King weekend. The title of the message was “From Bloodlines to Bloodline.” I argued that God is calling his people to move from the alienation of many bloodlines to the reconciliation of the single bloodline that began on the cross of Christ.

I urged my people to read the book. Not because I care about selling books, but because I want them to know my story, to be aware to the global relevance of the issue, and to feel the hope that comes from the power of the gospel.

In making the book available in a PDF version online for free we are trying to remove every obstacle that might keep you from that experience.

Chapter six is the one I tried to unpack in this week's message (to be posted shortly). It is close to the center of the Gospel’s relevance for perseverance in the cause of Christ-exalting ethnic diversity.

Jesus and Religion

I just want to share this critical commentary on Bethke's Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus video that has been viral among facebookers. This will also kinda explain why I don't completely agree with Bethke, but still love him.

Does Jesus Hate Religion? Kinda, Sorta, Not Really
Kevin DeYoung

There’s a new You Tube video going viral and it’s about Jesus and religion.

Specifically how Jesus hates religion.

The video—which in a few days has gone from hundreds of views to thousands to millions—shows Jefferson Bethke, who lives in the Seattle area, delivering a well-crafted, sharply produced, spoken word poem. The point, according to Bethke, is “to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion.” In the past few days I’ve seen this video pop up all over Facebook. I’ve had people from my church say they like it. Some has asked me what I think. Others have told me there’s something off about the poem, but they can’t quite articulate what it is. I’ll try to explain what that is in a moment. But first watch the video for yourself.



Before I say anything else, let me say Jefferson Bethke seems like a sincere young man who wants people to know God’s scandalous grace. I’m sure he’s telling the truth when he says on his Facebook page: “I love Jesus, I’m addicted to grace, and I’m just a messed up dude trying to make Him famous.” If I met him face to face, I bet I’d like Jefferson and his honesty and passion. I bet I’d be encouraged by his story and his desire to free people from the snares of self-help, self-righteous religion.

Free E-books from Monergism

If you have kindle reader, ipad, ipod touch, or any other kind of tablets that can operate mobi and epub files, here is the link to the classical theological e-resource: monergism. All is free. I actually just downloaded Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion, Berkhof's Summary of Christian Doctrine, de Bres's The Belgic Confession of Faith (1561). So enjoy the books and be glad in the Lord.

Memorization

We are oftentimes cynical about memorizing the Bible. But Philip Yancey finds it beneficial in helping him recognizing God's voice. Debra Rienstra calls the process of memorization "stocking up" on words of the Bible, "giving the Spirit a bigger repertoire to work with in speaking to you - more Post-its on the bulletin board." Ben Patterson has an encouraging comment on Bible memorization:

Paul's prayers are especially good for this. Take, for example, his prayer for the Ephesians, that "the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints." Or, "that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." The thought of memorizing prayers seems an artificial and stilted way to restore something as vital as spiritual hunger. but consider what Rabbi Abraham Heschel said to the members of his synagogue who complained that the words of the liturgy should express what they felt. He told them that it was not that the liturgy should express what they feel, but that they should learn to feel what the liturgy expressed. Recited faithfully, great thoughts put into great words can do that for us.... Memorization can be to our hunger for God what practicing a musical instrument is for performance. It can be the singing of the scales of the soul.

Logos Bible Software Free Books

The Logos Bible Software is giving away a book every month starting in January 2012. Click here! You can also subscribe to their mailing list to get the info on their future freebies and free books.

January’s Free Book of the Month is John Owen’s Temptation and Sin. This book contains:

• On the Mortification of Sin
• On Temptation
• On Indwelling Sin in Believers
• Exposition of Psalm 130

Temptation and Sin is more than a fanciful book on behavior modification; this is a powerful resource for anyone looking  to understand and battle sin. Theologian J. I. Packer has admitted to owing more to John Owen than to any other theologian—and owing “more to On Mortification of Sin than to anything else he wrote.”

Not only can you pick up your free copy of Temptation and Sin, you can enter to win the 24-volume Works of John Owen! Just head over to the Free Book of the Month page to download your free book and enter the giveaway!