SSEAYP (The Ship For Southeast Asian Youth Program)

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Hearing God's voice

"Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith), To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:" (Hebrews 3:7-8).

Hearing God's voice??? Really? Can I?
Have you ever find those kinds of response? People are usually sceptic about this kind of spiritual experience. However, some are so enthusiastic and eager to experience it themselves.
I've seen some people came and asked, "how could you listen to God's voice, how did He speak to you, what His voice sounds like?" And the most favorite question regarding hearing God's voice is "how could I tell if it is God's voice or just my conscience?"

I want to let you know that God can speak to you and He wants to speak to you! And the good news is, His desire to speak to you is bigger than yours to hear from Him. God can speak to you through your conscience, through His creation, sometimes it is audible, but mostly He speaks to you through His word (the bible). We only need sensitivity and that kind of sensitivity can only be acquired through a relationship with Him. We can never expect to hear from Him if we never have a relationship with Him. The children of God need to hear from God every single day, we even MUST be able to hear from Him. Sometimes there are things which are emergency that God wants you to tell others and warn them about. It takes quietness and obedience! I used to tell my friends who wanted to hear from God, "Hearing God's voice is not a matter of CAN or CANNOT, its a matter of OBEDIENCE! What I mean here is that once you hear from Him you need to do whatever is said. The time you decide to not to hear what He says will cause Him to not to speak to you anymore.

It is important to always be obedient whenever He speaks cause He might want to tell the people about something or just to warn them.

It is written,
"Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith), To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:" (Hebrews 3:7-8).

The same words appears 3 times in the book of Hebrew, in Hebrew 3:7-8, 15, 4:7
What would that mean? He desires to speak to you!

I have an experience regarding the topic. I was attending a TOEFL test one day last year when suddenly I feel like something speaking in my heart to go to a nearby internet cafe. I wasn't planning to go there so I thought I'd just go home after the test to watch movie or something. Later on it happened that I went to the internet cafe, checking my email and my YM where I found a chat awaited. There a woman who was a new friend of mine asked if she could share about something else. So we chatted for more than an hour and it turned out that she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior (she was from another faith). PRAISE THE LORD! Later she told me that she was depressed by what was happening in her relationship with her fiance and she was unsure whether to share with me or not, besides, we never met before and it was just one month that we got to know each other, but she said there was a voice kept telling her to share with me so she did. A few weeks later I got an email from her saying she and her family went to church. AWESOME!!! I never knew that the voice I heard was meant for one's salvation. If I didn't listen to the voice, the woman might never come to Jesus personally.

Another testimony regarding hearing God's voice would be about a friend of mine who prayed for her aunt for salvation. She works as a teacher and got home at noon. She was tired back then when she heard a voice speaking in heart to pay a visit to her aunt who was sick. She tried to compromise as she was so tired but later she decided to follow the voice. So she went to see her aunt to encourage her, to share with her about Christ and just before she went home she felt compelled to pray for her aunt to receive Christ as her Lord and Savior. So her aunt was born again back then. As they finished praying, my friend went back home while keep praying that her aunt may be healed by God. Two days later she got a news that her aunt just passed away. WooAaa!!! Her first expression was "Praise the Lord, my aunt accepted Christ already!" Instead of grieving, she's now full of joy as she has a full assurance of her aunt's salvation.

See! God's timing is perfect. Can you imagine where her aunt would be right now if she didn't listen to the voice within her heart?

My suggestion is that you listen to His voice as He still want to let you hear from Him. Its now or never!!!
How many loss have you gone through because of your disobedient? How many regrets have you feel because of your ignorance?
My friend, let God speak to you.

"While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." (Hebrews 3:15).

ITS NOW OR NEVER!!!

God bless you!
Your brother in Christ,
~Jack Loloin~

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A Final Good-bye

"I am going home to Denmark, Son, and I just wanted to tell you I love you."

In my dad's last telephone call to me, he repeated that line seven times in a half hour. I wasn't listening at the right level. I heard the words, but not the message, and certainly not their profound intent. I believed my dad would live to be over 100 years old, as my great uncle lived to be 107 years old. I had not felt his remorse over Mom's death, understood his intense loneliness as an "empty nester," or realized most of his pals had long since light-beamed off the planet. He relentlessly requested my brothers and I create grandchildren so that he could be a devoted grandfather. I was too busy "entrepreneuring" to really listen.


"Dad's dead," sighed my brother Brian on July 4, l982.

My little brother is a witty lawyer and has a humorous, quick mind. I thought he was setting me up for a joke, and I awaited the punchline - there wasn't one. "Dad died in the bed he was born in - in Rozkeldj," continued Brian. "The funeral directors are putting him in a coffin, and shipping Dad and his belongings to us tomorrow. We need to prepare for the funeral."

I was speechless. This isn't the way it's supposed to happen. If I knew these were to be Dad's final days, I would have asked to go with him to Denmark. I believe in the hospice movement, which says: "No one should die alone." A loved one should hold your hand and comfort you as you transition from one plane of reality to another. I would have offered consolation during his final hour, if I'd been really listening, thinking and in tune with the Infinite. Dad announced his departure as best he could, and I had missed it. I felt grief, pain and remorse, Why had I not been there for him? He'd always been there for me.

In the mornings when I was nine years old, he would come home from working 18 hours at his bakery and wake me up at 5:00 A.M. by scratching my back with his strong powerful hands and whispering, "Time to get up, Son." By the time I was dressed and ready to roll, he had my newspapers folded, banded and stuffed in my bicycle basket. Recalling his generosity of spirit brings tears to my eyes.

When I was racing bicycles, he drove me 50 miles each way to Kenosha, Wisconsin, every Tuesday night so I could race and he could watch me. He was there to hold me if I lost and shared the euphoria when I won.

Later, he accompanied me to all my local talks in Chicago when I spoke to Century 21, Mary Kay, Equitable and various churches. He always smiled, listened and proudly told whomever he was sitting with, "That's my boy!"

After the fact, my heart was in pain because Dad was there for me and I wasn't there for him. My humble advice is to always, always share your love with your loved ones, and ask to be invited to that sacred transitional period where physical life transforms into spiritual life. Experiencing the process of death with one you love will take you into a bigger, more expansive dimension of beingness.

By Mark Victor Hansen
from A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul
Copyright 1995 by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen

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Seeing or Remembering? (Philippians 3:12-21)

There's a story about a man who was slowly losing his memory. After an examination, the doctor said that an operation on his brain might reverse his condition and restore his memory. However, the surgery would be so delicate that a nerve might be severed , causing total blindness.

"What would you rather have," asked the surgeon, "your sight or your memory?" The man pondered the question for a few moments and then replied, "my sight, because I would rather see where I am going than remember where I have been."

In Philippians 3, the apostle Paul made the same choice spiritually.
His past, with it's success and it's shame, he chose to forget. What mattered to him was keeping his eyes on the goal of gaining Christ's approval.

That kind of mindset is one sure mark of Christian maturity. It's what God is working to develop in our lives (Philippians 3:13-15).

"We can't forget our past, of course, but we don't have to live in it."

Any good we may have done is from God, so we can only be thankful. When we confess our sins, they are buried in the deepest sea. Let's not keep dredging them up.

So in this new year, what do you choose? To see or to remember?


"If you keep looking back, you can't make spiritual progress"


God Bless You all


Love from Indonesia,
~Jack Loloin~

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रंदोम THOUGHTS

"Song of The Broken Hope"

There are times when I think I can trust people. But as I try to do so, they fail me. Sometimes I think I really have found the ones I can lean on but as time goes by, they leave me out. The ones that give me hope have been the ones who break it, the ones who strengthened me have been the ones who make me weak. Just when I think I found hope, it disapears from me. Too soon, I tasted happiness for a second but then it turned out brokeness. I wont blame You Lord, just let me see Your plans behind it all.


NOT A SUPERHERO!

I am not a superhero, i don't like striving to be counted in the group of THE COOL ones. I am who I am, I don't like trying to be somebody else juz to fit in. I love the way that I am. Don't ask me to be like what you want me to be. I am not pursuing your dreams for my future but am pursuing God's dreams for my life. I don't care how would you call me, a freak or whatever! I juz wanna hear what God says about me. Am I being so spiritual? You decide, but this is me! YES THIS IS ME!


"What's in a HOPE???"

Hope, have you heard of that word? Have you been hopeing for something? They say it keeps us alive, they say it does not disapoint. Now what you think about hope? What's in a hope that keeps you believing in what you've been dreaming of? Now tell me, what if you never get what you've been hopeing for? What would you call that? Would it still not disapointing? Complicated huh? That is hope. Just like faith and love, hope is unexplainable. I believe there's a marvelous power in hope. We only need to trust!


"People come people go.."
Sitting by the street looking at the oncoming vechicles. They're just like the people in my life, come and go, never stay.
They gave me light as they were right in front of me, but then they left me with shadow as they were passing me by.

Thay gave me breeze as they're coming, but left me with smoke as they're gone..

Nothing last forever but HIS love for me.
He never passes me by, once HE came He'll stay forever.
Now that I know, Jesus is all I need. What else I could ever need?

THANK YOU JESUS

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Be sure with what you're asking of Him!

God taught me a lot of things lately. Now I know He always gives me all that asked of Him but somehow I didn't realise it and not be grateful about it. I know now, all the laughter, tears, happiness and pain happened because I asked Him. I only need sometime to remember when. One thing I've learned, be sure with what you're asking of Him since you never know if it would cause you a regret later. I mean if you knew you'd need more than what you're asking, ask it now! Because He will give what you ask!

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Ketika Yesus jatuh cinta

Di hari Valentine ini, saya ingin berbagi sesuatu hal yang saya pelajari dan temukan tentang Cinta. Saya sudah melihat beberapa kisah cinta, membaca novel fiksi maupun mendengar dongeng tentang cinta sejati. Setiap orang tahu bahwa jatuh cinta itu wajar dan siapapun bisa jatuh cinta, namun ada sebuah pertanyaan menggelitik yang pernah membuat saya berpikir keras, “Pernahkah Yesus Jatuh Cinta?”
Adakah di antara anda yang pernah berpikir demikian? Hal ini mungkin terdengar lucu tapi jika anda menemukan jawabannya, saya berjanji anda akan menemukan kisah cinta terbesar yang pernah tertulis dalam sejarah.

Cukup lama saya menyimpan pertanyaan itu dalam benak saya. Saya ingin bertanya kepada mentor saya, tapi saya takut terdengar konyol dan ditertawakan, hehe , akhirnya saya memutuskan untuk bertanya langsung pada Yang Bersangkutan. Ya, saya bertanya pada Yesus, seperti yang biasa saya lakukan.

“Yesus, pernahkah Engkau jatuh cinta?” Anda tahu apa jawab-Nya? “IYA!”
Haha, wow!!! Tuhanku pernah jatuh cinta!
Mendapat jawaban yang begitu mengejutkan, sayapun akhirnya tergelitik untuk bertanya lagi, “Yesus, Engkau pernah merasakan patah hati?” Sekali lagi Ia menjawab “IYA.” Saya hanya menggelengkan kepala.
Saya menjadi semakin semangat untuk bertanya, “Pernahkah Engkau ditolak oleh orang tercinta-Mu?” Lagi-lagi Beliau menjawab, “IYA”

Satu pertanyaan terakhir yang merupakan pertanyaan pamungkas saya, dan saya yakin jika anda ada saat perbincangan ini berlangsung, anda pasti akan menanyakan hal yang sama. Ya, saya bertanya pada-Nya, “Siapakah nama wanita itu?”
Jawaban yang saya dapatkan akhirnya benar-benar membuka mata saya untuk melihat kisah cinta sejati yang sesungguhnya dan mengenal siapa Pecinta Sejati Yang sesungguhnya. Waktu saya mengajukan pertanyaan mengenai nama wanita itu, Yesus menjawab, “Nama wanita itu adalah Gereja!”

Ya, nama wanita itu adalah Gereja! Wanita yang pernah singgah di hati Yesus dan akan selalu ada di hati-Nya. Wanita yang pernah menyakiti-Nya, wanita yang lebih dari sekali menolak cinta-Nya. Namun apa anda tahu apa yang Yesus katakan mengenai wanita itu?
“Aku masih mencintai dia, dan akan selalu mencintainya. Dialah yang Aku pikirkan seiring kematian-Ku.”

Yesus kemudian berkata, “Manusia memiliki berbagai macam cara untuk mengungkapkan perasaan cinta mereka kepada yang terkasih. Ada yang memberikan setangkai bunga, ada yang menuliskan puisi, beberapa menggunakan lagu, tapi Aku, Aku bahkan memberikan nyawa-Ku sendiri kepada wanita yang aku kasihi, tetapi tetap saja Aku ditolak.”

“Aku terluka, Aku tertolak, Aku merasakan pedih yang sangat mendalam.” “Seandainya saja dia tahu betapa besar harga yang harus Aku bayar untuk membuktikan cinta-Ku, namun Aku sadar, cinta sejati tak akan pernah memaksa.”

Berikut ini adalah penggalan surat cinta yang pernah dituliskan oleh Yesus bagi wanita yang begitu dicintai-Nya :

Teman, mungkin anda sudah terlalu lama menyimpan kepahitan terhadap orang yang anda kasihi, mungkin anda sudah terlalu lama disakiti, mungkin anda merasa tertolak.
Mungkin anda sudah kehilangan kepercayaan anda terhadap semua orang, mungkin anda merasa tak ada seorangpun bahkan Yesus yang mengerti apa yang sedang anda rasakan.
Tapi ini yang ingin Yesus katakan pada anda :

“AKU TAHU APA YANG SEDANG ENGKAU ALAMI KARENA AKUPUN PERNAH MENGALAMINYA! “Aku tahu bagaimana rasanya mencintai, Aku tahu bagaimana rasanya disakiti, dan Akupun tahu bagaimana rasanya ditolak. Aku sangat mengerti karena Aku pernah melewatinya!”

Sekarang bagaimana menurut anda, kisah cinta manakah yang paling besar dalam sejarah? Semenjak perbincangan itu, saya akhirnya sadar, kisah cinta sejati yang sesungguhnya bukanlah kisah cinta Romeo dan Juliet, bukanlah kisah cinta Jack dan Rose di Titanic, bukan pula Beauty and The Beast, melainkan kisah Cinta Yesus dan Gereja. Itulah kisah cinta terbesar yang pernah ada dalam sejarah.

Untuk mengakhiri tulisan ini saya ingin memberikan penggalan surat cinta yang ditulis oleh Yesus kepada wanita yang begitu dicintai-Nya. Gereja, surat ini untukmu.

“Oleh karena engkau berharga di mata-Ku, dan mulia, dan Aku ini mengasihi engkau.
Sampai masa tuamu Aku tetap Dia, dan sampai masa putih rambutmu Aku menggendong kamu. Aku telah melakukannya dan mau menanggung kamu terus; Aku mau memikul kamu dan menyelamatkan kamu.
Lihat, Aku telah melukiskan engkau di telapak tangan-Ku; tembok-tembokmu tetap di ruang mata-Ku.
Sebab biarpun gunung-gunung beranjak dan bukit-bukit bergoyang, tetapi kasih setia-Ku tidak beranjak dari padamu dan perjanjian damai-Ku tidak akan bergoyang.”

Dengan Cinta,
Jesus

Semoga tulisan singkat saya memberkati anda.

Love from Timor, Indonesia
Your brother in Christ,
~JACK LOLOIN~
www.jack-online.co.nr

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