Mengurus Tilang di Pengadilan

Ada peribahasa yang berbunyi: "Sepandai-pandainya tupai melompat, pada suatu waktu akan terjatuh juga." Kalau saya boleh mengartikannya sesuai dengan pengalaman hidup saya, akan menjadi seperti ini: "Setertib-tertibnya kita berkendaraan di jalan raya, suatu waktu pasti akan kena tilang juga." Demikianlah peristiwa naas itu menimpa hamba-Nya yang hina ini pada tanggal 9 November sekitar jam setengah 5 sore.

Anthropology by God

Ichthyology (what a big word!) is fish-understanding. (Ichthy - fish, logy - understanding).  It speaks about fish.  Theology (another big word) is God-undertanding. (theo - God, logy - understanding).  It speaks about God.  Fish understanding, I would think, is more direct than God understanding.  The reason is obvious.  Fish we can catch: from “teri” fish to sharks, from piranha to sarden.  We can catch them and study their behaviour, dissect them and see their organs.  We can take our time and consult other authorities when necessary.  We have control over the fish, the object of our studies.  God understanding is quite different.  We cannot catch Him, watch Him or open Him up.  ‘God is Spirit’ (John 4:24).  In fish understanding man observes and studies fish.  In God-understanding man is, as it were, studied by God.  It is --- let me be a little confusing here --- an anthropology (man-understanding) by God, a very special kind of anthropology.

Let's Touch The Sky

Setelah hampir 20 tahun berkarya, lusinan album rekaman dan penggantian 2 personel, Fourplay salah satu band terdepan di jajaran jazz kontemporer, menelurkan album terbarunya Let’s Touch The Sky.  Chuck Loeb menggantikan Larry Charlton untuk melengkapi 3 personil lainnya: Bob James (keyboard), Harvey Mason (drum & composer) serta Nathan East (bass & vocal). Charlton memilih untuk bersolo karir dan ingin menuntaskan ambisinya memiliki album sendiri. Dulu ia pun menggantikan Lee Ritenour, gitaris pertama Fourplay pada akhir 90-an.  Masuknya Loeb memberikan darah segar kepada Fourplay dan terlihat energinya di dalam album ini.

Something More

Recently I visited Tarus Theological School in Kupang, Timor, an eastern island of Indonesia. Tarus Theological School has fifty-five students and is located outside the city. As you enter you see many chickens because the school runs a poultry farm and students also breed chickens for their personal income. When I met the students I began my lecture by asking them:

Beauty Salon Jesus

I want  to publish Kosuke Koyama's meditation.  I always enjoyed reading his books.  The first time i knew him, when i took Asian Contextual Theology class for master degree.  My lecturer gave an assignment for me to discussed Koyama's theology, a well-known theory Water Buffalo Theology. And our class had an interesting discussion about his theology. Kosuke Koyama is senior lecturer in religious studies, University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.  He was a Japanese Kyodan missionary to the Church of Christ in Thailand, 1960-1968, teaching at Thailand Theological Seminary in Chiengmai.  From 1968 to 1974 he was executive director of the Association of Theological Schools in Southeast Asia. Koyama died on March 25, 2009.