Seizing the Kairos! - Kebutuhanku atau KebutuhanNya?

Kebutuhanku atau kebutuhanNya?

Salah satu ayat yang cukup sering di salah mengerti dan disalahgunakan adalah:

Filipi 4:19  Allahku akan memenuhi segala keperluanmu menurut kekayaan dan kemuliaan-Nya dalam Kristus Yesus.

Ketika bicara tentang kekayaan dan kemuliaan, kita sebagai manusia yg lahir dan hidup di dunia ini, mempunyai kecenderungan untuk memahami kedua hal ini sebagai kelimpahan harta dan tahta, yang tentunya mampu memuaskan dan mengenyangkan kedagingan kita.

Inilah saatnya kita belajar melihat dari sudut pandang Allah, bukan dari sudut pandang dunia, ataupun sudut pandang kita sendiri.

Firman Tuhan mengajarkan bahwa ikut Tuhan itu adalah memikul salibNya dan ikut menderita Dan mengalami kuasa kebangkitanNya. Bahkan di ayat sebelumnya telah ditekankan bahwa kita harus belajar untuk mencukupkan diri dalam segala keadaan (Filipi 4:11  Kukatakan ini bukanlah karena kekurangan, sebab aku telah belajar mencukupkan diri dalam segala keadaan)

Tuhan lebih rindu melihat anak2Nya mempunyai "stronger self control" dan "better sense of responsibility" daripada berkelimpahan dengan harta dunia. Karena menjadi semakin serupa dengan Kristus dan tercebur dalam panggilanNya adalah "destiny" utama kita sebagai anakNya.

Tetapi kita juga harus berhikmat tentunya. Bukan berarti Tuhan tidak bisa memberkati kita dengan harta. Tetapi kekayaan dan kemuliaanNya haruslah dilihat dari sudut pandangNya. Karena yang terpenting adalah untuk selalu bertanya, apakah yang kita minta setiap hari dalam doa kita adalah kebutuhanku atau kebutuhanNya?

-JH-

Seizing the Kairos! - Snatch them with Love and Mercy

Yudas 1:23-24

(23) selamatkanlah mereka dengan jalan merampas mereka dari api.
Tetapi tunjukkanlah belas kasihan yang disertai ketakutan kepada orang-orang lain juga,
dan bencilah pakaian mereka yang dicemarkan oleh keinginan-keinginan dosa.

(24) Bagi Dia, yang berkuasa menjaga supaya jangan kamu tersandung dan yang membawa kamu dengan tak bernoda dan penuh kegembiraan di hadapan kemuliaanNya

Kitab Yudas ini ditulis dengan nasihat keras karena pada masa-masa kitab ini ditulis muncul pengajar-pengajar palsu yang disebut sebagai golongan Antimonian (melawan hukum) atau Libertine. Golongan ini mempromosikan hidup berdosa tanpa harus takut terhadap penghakiman. Mereka bisa berbuat apa saja dengan tubuh mereka, asalkan mereka percaya terhadap hal yang benar, yaitu terhadap kesalamatan dan kasih karunia dari Yesus Kristus.

Kalau kita paralelkan dengan situasi yang terjadi sekarang di ujung pada akhir jaman ini, paham Antimonian sangatlah kental dan menjamur di kalangan orang-orang Kristen sendiri. Inilah salah satu misi kita di bumi ini untuk menyelamatkan mereka dari api penghakiman karena pengaruh dari ajaran / pemahaman yang menyesatkan ini (ayat 23) tetapi juga harus meminta hikmat dan pertolongan Tuhan (ayat 24, ..."menjaga supaya jangan kamu tersandung...") secara konstan agar roh yang takut akan Tuhan (ayat 23, ".... tunjukkanlah belas kasihan yang disertai ketakutan...") tetap melekat dalam kita agar kita juga tidak terjerat dengan kilau sengatan dari dosa itu sendiri.

Kiranya kita boleh diingatkan dan disadarkan kembali bahwa memang hanya belas kasihan dan kasih sayang yang bisa merubah orang yang paling keras sekalipun. Dan sejahat-jahatnya seseorang,  kita tetap harus meminta pertolongan Tuhan untuk mengasihi orang tersebut. Karena firmanNya berkata bahwa yg harus kita benci adalah "pakaian mereka", bukan orangnya. 

"People don't  care about Jesus, until they know how much Jesus care about them!"

Let's spread the love and show mercy to others and snatch them back from the fire to the Kingdom of God

-JH-

Seizing Kairos! - The God of Process

Genesis 1 - The God of Process

Our God is ELOHIM - A Creative God, a God that is productive, creative, and flawless  in making His creation. He is the true artist, the true engineer, the true designer, and the best project manager there is that ever lived in this world, because Heaven and Earth and all the things inside them are truly His creation.

I believe that He has the capacity and the capability in creating things, spoken only through His words (e.g. Gen 1:3, "God said,...."). In our mind as a human being, we would think that it is best to be effective and efficient in everything that we do, especially living in today's world, where "time is priceless and very valuable asset that will never come back again". I believe that God has everything it takes to create Heaven and Earth only in 1 day.

But God has a different paradigm. Our God is not a result-oriented God. Our God is a Process-Oriented God. He believes in creating masterpieces, a step-by-step approach has to be taken in order to ensure that He could witness and enjoy the process. That's is why the creation of Heaven, Earth, and the first man took in total 7 days, not 1 day.

It reminds us that God values process more than results. He wants to ensure that God's characters and paradigms are embedded and craved in our life through our struggles and challenges. That is why sometimes God does not answer our prayers directly, because He need to see our hearts, our minds, and our soul, grow and expand through our challenges so that  we become more like Christ everyday.

No matter how hard your life could be right now, enjoy the process and be extremely grateful. Love Him and obey Him more than ever even in your darkest hour. Because as God has created this world, right after "night", the "day" will come. The sunrise always come right after it's darkest time of the night.

I believe that God's given destiny in our lives would be revealed one-step at a time, because He wants to witness and enjoy the process of us becoming more like Jesus everyday, for our God is the God of Process.

-JH-

MC JIMBO - Video Profile

THE LIFE OF SAINT PATRICK: A STORY OF FORGIVENESS

Born to a wealthy British-Roman family, Patrick was kidnapped by a band of Irish marauders as a teenager. The raiders carried him off to Ireland where they pressed him into servitude, tending their flocks and fields. Isolated and alone, Patrick clung to his faith to endure the cruelty of his masters.

After six years in captivity, Patrick summoned the courage to risk escape. He ran away from his captors, surviving a 200-mile trek across Ireland to the sea. Upon arrival to the coast, he talked his way onto a shipping vessel bound for his homeland.

Lesson #1 - Don't harbor grudges

After being enslaved in Ireland, you would think Patrick would have embittered at the Irish for stealing six years of his life. However, he dedicated the next 15 years to studying theology in preparation for a return trip to Ireland as a missionary. Despite being kidnapped and cruelly mistreated, Patrick chose forgiveness and showed compassion to his former captors.

Lesson #2 - Go the extra mile to make amends

Patrick was not exactly a welcome visitor back in Ireland-especially when he began teaching a religion that ran contrary to the beliefs held by druid priests. However, Patrick won favor by returning to his former master and paying the full ransom price of a slave as "compensation" for his escape. This generous gesture astounded the Irish and appeased them, giving Patrick a platform to share his religious views.

It seems as if Patrick should have demanded an apology from his prior masters rather than paying them for having been a runaway slave. However, his goal wasn't to make accusations, but rather, by extending forgiveness, to acquire influence with the Irish.

Lesson #3 - When reconciling a relationship, speak the other person's language

During his six years of force labor in Ireland, Patrick gained a working knowledge of the Celtic language. When he returned as a priest, he could speak directly to the Irish in their native tongue. Furthermore, Patrick understood the religious sensibilities of druidism from his time in captivity. Accordingly, he was able to communicate the message of the Christian faith in images that made sense to the Irish.

As legend has it, Patrick created the Celtic cross in an effort to connect the significance of Christ's death on the cross with the Irish people's veneration for the sun. Another popular legend holds that he used the shamrock, another natural symbol, to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity. Whatever the case, Patrick's ability to deliver his message in ways the Irish could understand had a profound impact. Within a century, the entire nation of Ireland had converted to the religious faith of one of its former slaves.

Summary

Regardless of a person's religious beliefs, there's no denying Saint Patrick's enormous influence as a leader. By harnessing the power of forgiveness, the one-time slave persuaded his former captors, and their entire nation, to adopt his Christian faith. By studying the life of Saint Patrick, we find lessons about forgiveness that can be applied to our own lives and leadership relationships.

About

Moran, Patrick Francis Cardinal. "St. Patrick." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 8 Mar 2009.

"Who Was St. Patrick?" The History Channel Online. 2008. A&E Television Networks. 9 Mar 2009.

"Patrick's Life." Religion Homepage. BBC Online. 20 Feb 2006. 9 Mar 2009.

Taken from http://www.giantimpact.com/

"Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant."

-Robert Louis Stevenson-

FIGURING OUT FREE AGENTS

PAYING EMPLOYEES TO QUIT

You've heard of a sign on bonus, but likely not a sign off bonus. While most companies dangle cash to lure employees to join their ranks, one company literally pays its employees to quit. In his blog for Harvard Business Publishing, Bill Taylor explores the innovative approach being taken by Zappos, a Nevada-based online shoe seller.

Why would a company reward its quitters? At Zappos, quitters get a parting gift of cash so that the company's pristine track record of customer service is preserved. By giving employees financial incentive to leave, Zappos weeds out uncommitted workers before they ruin the company's reputation.

Here's how it works. Zappos has high standards for its call center employees, who are expected to provide stellar service to its customers. After an intensive interviewing process, call center candidates enter 4-weeks of immersive training. After a week of training, Zappos makes an offer: either the candidate agrees to fulfill the rigorous demands of their role, or they walk away with $1,000, plus payment for their week of labor�no questions asked.

Some managers may balk at the steep cost paid to those who depart. However, for Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, the quality of a customer's experience is well worth the financial cost incurred to find the right people for the call center. Does Zappos' counterintuitive strategy actually work? Accordingly to Bill Taylor, it's a smashing success.

Zappos has also mastered the art of telephone service�a black hole for most Internet retailers. Zappos publishes its 1-800 number on every single page of the site�and its smart and entertaining call-center employees are free to do whatever it takes to make you happy. There are no scripts, no time limits on calls, no robotic behavior, and plenty of legendary stories about Zappos and its customers.

Zappos' leaders are betting the outstanding performance of highly engaged workers will more than offset money paid out to malcontents. And it's a bet they seem to be winning.

Taylor closes with a final point about the business-customer relationship. "Companies don't engage emotionally with customers," he writes, "If you want to create a memorable company, you have to fill your company with memorable people." Business boils down to relationships, and relationships happen between people. Are you attracting the best people to join your ranks? What price are you willing to pay to find out?

To read more of Bill Taylor's insights about the novel business practices of Zappos, visit Harvard Business Publishing.

Taken from http://www.injoy.com/newsletters/leadership/content/printerfriendly/11_13.htm#2

To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.

Bruce Lee