intro to fall 06

Aha.., setelah dua bulan lebih gua ninggalin kampus tercinta, Liberty, akhirnya hari Senin kmrn tgl 21 Agst bisa balik lagi dgn selamat di kota kecil alias dusun Lynchburg, Virginia, setelah mudik ke Bandung selama libur musim panas, (sempet juga ke Jkt, Pangandaran, Sby, Malang, Bali, tapi itu bukan liburan/piknik, sedih gak seeh...).

Sebelum lanjut, ada cerita pas gua baru mendarat di USA, hari itu tgl 10 Agustus di London ada kasus bomb trap yg dirakit pakai cairan/liquids. Hari itu di semua airport Amrik mendadak ada aturan baru yaitu NO LIQUIDS in the cabin bags. Saking mendadaknya sampe petugas bikin pengumuman-nya pake cara tradisional, di-print terus ditempel di tembok2 bak poster kampanye pemilu...... Wah, gue bawa Biore - Made in Indonesia itu semua LUDES dah disita petugas gara2 gue simpen di tas cabin. Lenyap sutralah, relakan, good bye.... Mineral water pun harus diabisin dulu sebelum naik pesawat connecting/domestic. Galak deh pokonya, rada2 serem.

Nah, tgl 21 Agustus kmrn gua nyampe di rumah Sandusky Drive, kira2 5 km saja dari kampus. Ada 5 orang yg tinggal disini. Ryan P (the owner of the house), Ryan B, sama si Adam Shure, mereka semua tinggal di atas, dgn kamar masing2. Sementara gue dapet tempat di studio apartment/basement yg cukup lega, dgn roommate baru, Ben Forrest, yang sama2 kuliah di seminary.

Hari Rabu kemaren kuliah pertama di semester Fall 2006 ini. ASTAGA!!!! itu yg namanya parkir semua penuh. Busyett... Fall 2006 ini ada 3,200 freshman (mhs baru) yg masuk. Gile bener, pantesan aja parkir semua penuh. Itu berarti hampir 9,000 orang yg tinggal di kompleks kampus sekarang ini, naik 2 ribu tadinya 7,000an. Itu baru mhs undergrad, belon lagi taun ini, Thomas Road Church (gereja induk Liberty) pindah ke kompleks kampus juga, mereka baru bangun sanctuary yg muat 6,000 tempat duduk. Mereka otomatis pindah dengan kantor2nya, so parkir betul2 penuh nuh nuh nuh nuh.. (ko manggil2 nabi Nuh ya hehe..). Gue sampe hrs jalan 2x lbh jauh dr biasanya. Higs.... kesel juga soalnya university/anak2 undergrads selalu bikin parkir penuh dan kami2 di seminary selalu harus ngalah.... emang seeh yg lbh tua ngalah, tapi kadang mereka gak mikir juga, targetin mhs baru segitu banyak tapi parkir-nya gak memadai. Tadi aja pas mo balik gue ngeliat itu opsir2 LUPD (Liberty University Police Dept.) rame2 bikin surat tilang buat 1 barisan mobil2 yg diparkir, yg sebetulnya ga bisa disalahin krn mereka mau masuk kuliah tapi parkir penuh semua sementara lahan segitu2nya.

Kedua, semua stock barang2 penting di Wal-Mart toserba kesayangan kita itu LUDES juga disikat sama ribuan mhs LU yg baru masuk asrama. Gue nyari extension cable buat listrik gak ada sama sekali. Sabun cuci wastafel pun tinggal 1 botol. Gile benerrrr... serem ihhh ini kaya mo perang aja, barang2 sembako pada abis...

Nah, yg satu ini bikin gue rada qeqi, yaitu BIAYA utk daftarin mobil, Januari kmrn gue bayar utk sticker spy bisa parkir di tempat GRADUATE students spt biasanya, itu dulu $75 aja dah mikir2 dulu, eh sekarang tarif parking sticker dipukul rata jadi $300, ALAMAAK.... bisa benjut dompetku. Errghhh....., gak mikir banget deh mereka (para juragan kampus), masa katanya supaya freshman2 itu gak bawa mobil, JUSTRU freshman yg paling kenceng duitnya, mrk sekolah dibayarin ortu yg kaya2, liat aja freshman mobilnya pasti bagus2, terang aja duit segitu buat mereka gak ngaruh, apalagi kalo mrk bayar sekolah dgn study loan, kita2 ini yg anak rantau yg harus itung dollar demi dollar...higss..... rasanya mau nangis deh.

Kalo udah gini, gua biasanya ingat masa2 semester 1 dulu pas blm nyetir mobil, waktu gue jalan kaki di tengah teriknya matahari, dari asrama di ujung selatan ke ke kampus di ujung utara, kira2 4-5 km sehari, krn kampus terlalu luas. Kira2 seperti jalan dari depan Ganesha ITB ke Simpang Dago. Nah, kali ini gue bersyukur krn masa2 itu sdh lewat.... Jadi hilang keselnya. Mudah bukan.... :)

Ok, cukup sekian dengan keluhan... Semester ini gue ambil 12 credit terbagi dalam 4 kelas; 1. Ministry of Teaching - ini yg lumayan susah; 2. Purpose Driven Ministry - agak ringan; 3. Cross-cultural Evangelism & Church Planting - blm keliatan susah or gampang; 4. Systematic Theology I, nahh ini yg susah n cukup berattt..... fhewwww..... Lord, have mercy... (orang2 bule di daerah sini biasa suka ngomong gitu dengan logat coboy/southern yg kental, itu kalo di Indo kira2 sama dengan "astaga naga bonar..." hehehe....

Well, I have to be ready with all of those things. Gotta do what I have to do. Ora et Labora itu betulan lho. The real life is about to begin.... I know His grace is sufficient, because His strength made perfect in my weakness. Tralalalala ......

just a thought

I indeed...., but He

"I indeed baptize you with water . . . but He . . . will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" Matthew 3:11

Have I ever come to the point in my life where I can say, "I indeed . . . but He . . ."? Until that moment comes, I will never know what the baptism of the Holy Spirit means. I indeed am at the end, and I cannot do anything more— butHe begins right there— He does the things that no one else can ever do. Am I prepared for His coming? Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad. When He comes to me, am I prepared for Him to drag every wrong thing I have ever done into the light? That is exactly where He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean is where He will put His feet and stand, and wherever I think I am clean is where He will remove His feet and walk away.
Repentance does not cause a sense of sin— it causes a sense of inexpressible unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am absolutely helpless, and I know that through and through I am not worthy even to carry His sandals. Have I repented like that, or do I have a lingering thought of possibly trying to defend my actions? The reason God cannot come into my life is that I am not at the point of complete repentance.
"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." John is not speaking here of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. "He will baptize you . . . ." The only experience that those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are ever conscious of is the experience of sensing their absolute unworthiness.
"I indeed" was this in the past, "but He" came and something miraculous happened. Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.--

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Tuesday

August 22, 2006

new semester

In the beginning of this new semester, God is fixing something in my life. It may be not comfortable... at all, but I'm willing to obey and listen to Him. We'll just see.
I've tried to change the blog outlook but I couldn't finish it somehow. Now I'll just stick to this one. We have just move in to our house. Things will be normal somewhere next week.

eng .. ing.. eng .. (the end of the holiday)

Memang bukan moment yang terlalu exciting kalo liburan berakhir. Apalagi abis liburan di tengah kampung halaman. OK, need to gear up..... Back to the real world, and hit the road!

Creator of all things,true source of light and wisdom,
origin of all being,graciously let a ray of your light penetrate
the darkness of my understanding.
Take from me the double darknessin which I have been born,
an obscurity of sin and ignorance.
Give me a keen understanding,a retentive memory,
and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.
Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations
and the ability to express myselfwith thoroughness and charm.
Point out the beginning,direct the progress,
and help in the completion.
I ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

St. Thomas of Aquinas

Don Moen

Tgl 28 Juli lalu gue dapet kesempatan nonton Don Moen. (baca bukan don mun, tapi don mo-wen.) Ni orang satu kayaknya awet muda, prasaan dari dulu yah gitu terus padahal dia ampir seumuran bokap gue....
Harga tiketnya gak kira2.... paling murah di ujung-sumujung itu 90ribu, rada ke tengah itu 200ribu. Yah, demi solidaritas gue nonton yg 200ribu. Dodol nya itu pas hari H, si panitia bikin ulah pake upgrade kelas dgn diskon2, so rugi dah... Terakhir nonton kalo gak salah itu taun 2002 or 2003, nonton dengan group yang sama, hanya skrg si Om yg dulu nonton bareng, sudah ada di rumah Bapa di Surga.

Berikut posting kesan salah satu penonton konser...

"Sejak nonton DonMoen minggu yl. ...
ada 2 lagu yg sampe sekarang berkumandang di hatiku...

judulnya... He Never Sleeps..

Oom DonMoen bilang gini:
"One day I realised I had prayed the same thing to God every night," katanya sebelom nyanyiin lagunya...
"He Never Sleeps." ....
"But God is never too tired to hear our prayers, even it's the same everyday. He is one that never sleeps."

Bener banget... gw ngebayangin kalo ada orang curhat dg topik itu lagi itu lagi.. kita yg dengernya seringkali males...
Hmm..padahal seringkali doa doa kita topik nya itu-itu lagi.. walopun dg rangkaian kata-kata yg beda-beda tiap hari.. tapi Tuhan ngga pernah bosen dg pergumulan kita, beban doa kita, keluhan kita..... Hebat yaa....!!!

He never sleeps He never slumbers
He never tires of hearing our prayer
When we are week He becomes stronger
dst..dst...

Lagu laennya..yg berkumandang juga... Still/Be Still My Soul
Disaat banyak bencana dimana-mana... bahkan isyu..isyu gempa, tsunami, via sms, email, etc...
Juga penglihatan beberapa hamba Tuhan...
lagu ini bikin gw damai...
Tuhan lebih dahsyat drpd apapun juga....!!!

When the ocean rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father You are King over the floodAnd I will be still and know You are God
dst..dst...


Thank's Jesus for cover me within your mighty hand...
-fps-