Titus Jonathan's Stories

Kita sering melihat orang yang perbuatannya jahat sekali. Lalu memastikan bahwa orang seperti itu tidak bakal bisa berubah. Kita memandang orang seperti itu tidak layak diampuni. Bahkan kita berharap kalau bisa ia lekas mati saja.  Tetapi pandangan Tuhan jauh berbeda. Dan Ia punya cerita soal transformasi yang dialami oleh seorang muda militan bernama Saulus, y ang membuktikan bahwa di dunia ini tak ada yang tak dapat diubah Bagi Tuhan, tak ada suatu kejahatan yang terlampau jahat yang tak dapat diampuni. Sebelumnya Saulus adalah seorang yang garang, y ang menyeret orang-orang yang beribadah,  yang memanggil nama Tuhan, agar menyangkal imannya. Padahal Saulus sendiri adalah seorang muda yang taat beragama. Tetapi ia justru mengejar-ngejar orang dengan surat kuasa penuh dari pemimpin agama y ang ditanda-tangani oleh imam besar untuk mempersekusi umat Tuhan.  Saulus yang terpelajar dan cerdas mengerti bahwa ia perlu landasan hukum. Surat kuasa itu ia gunakan untuk melegalka...

Who rules the world? is a question that cannot have a simple and definite answer as the world is too varied and too complex. However it is not hard to identify the prominent and influential actors. In this book, Noam Chomsky describes that powerful states, corporations, wealthy elites as well as global institutions have strong influence to shape how the world should be. This situation intertwined with a lot of issues from military intervention, terrorism, the media and propaganda, climate change and the threat of nuclear war –just to name a few. At the end of the day, the economy will be the key knowing the business interest will play the major roles. Like or dislike, the question “Who rules the world?” cannot ignore the U.S. as the only superpower as well as the country who serves as the most active player in the arena of global politics and economy. As an idealist and legalist, Chomsky criticizes the United States foreign policy that tends to be non compliant to international law and...

Everyone knows that Mary was the mother of Jesus, the same knowledge we knew that her pregnancy happened when she was a virgin, when the archangel Gabriel appeared to her in Nazareth to announce that she would miraculously conceive through the Holy Spirit and give birth to Jesus. However, did Mary remain a virgin her whole life? When Catholics are praying to Mary, are they just honouring her, or worshipping her? Is this unbiblical? Who is Mary? At the foot at the cross, what Jesus said about Mary before He died on the cross? Was the word “Behold your son… Behold your mother” just a word of adoption or was there something to understand much deeply in relation to our spirituality? Apart from this, if Mary had other children with Joseph after she gave birth to Jesus, why Jesus asked John --His beloved disciple-- to take care of her? Where were His brothers if He really had biological brothers who were born to Mary? This book reveals a lot of things that will stimulate our thought --or I c...

This is the story of Singapore as written by the founding father Lee Kuan Yew who brought the tiny island, poor and disorder to a city of the future. With deep and meticulous notes, Lee detailed the extraordinary efforts chronologically in explaining how Singapore transformed from the third world to the first. He wrote every word clearly, every sentence structured systematically to build the story alive. Lee was indeed an excellent storyteller. In Lee’s hand, Singapore –the former British colony, devastated by the 2nd World War– rose from nothing to the Asian metropolis with not only the world’s number one airline, best airport, and busiest port of trade, but also the top 5 countries of GDP per capita. Lee built the Singapore people through a good education, kept the government clean, managed the media, upheld the rule of law, taught people about code of conduct and ethics, and transformed the society’s way of life and work through the digital revolution. With the integration of techno...

Beberapa tahun lalu, saya bersama serombongan teman naik kapal nelayan untuk mencari ikan di tengah laut. Maksudnya ingin healing dengan aktivitas memancing di tengah laut, bukan di kolam pemancingan. Bayangan asyiknya berlayar sehari-semalam di tengah lautan bermain-main di kepala menjelang keberangkatan. Saat hari masih sore, kami berangkat menuju ke sebuah kampung nelayan di daerah Binuangeun, Lebak, Banten. Sesampainya di sana, hari sudah malam, dan kami menginap di sebuah losmen sederhana untuk istirahat sejenak sambil menunggu pagi. Sekitar jam empat subuh kami dibawa menuju ke tengah laut menggunakan perahu kecil. Di sana sudah menunggu kapal yang lebih besar, seingat saya ada tujuh kamar tidur di dalamnya. Kapal inilah yang membawa kami ke tengah laut dengan harapan membawa pulang hasil tangkapan yang banyak.  Dari kapal itu kami menikmati pemandangan laut yang begitu indah, dengan semburat sinar matahari dan hembusan angin serta gerakan ombak yang mengayun-ayun kapal. Kami...

What happens with the world nowadays? In Daniel 12:4, the prophet was told to seal up the book until the time of the end. " But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. " Do we live in that time today, when the time of the end is coming? While we are living in the midst of the perilous times, in an era of unprecedented prophetic activity and clarity, there are still questions many people have regarding Bible prophecy. This book is a compilation of 70 frequently asked questions about the end of time as what is written in the Bible, from Israel –started when God made His covenant to Abraham and the journey of Israel as nation until today–, the church –mandated as God’s witness to the world–, the rapture, the tribulation, the millennium, the great white throne judgement, and heaven. The authors, Amir Tsarfati is a native Israeli who –through his nonprofit ministry– provides Bible teachin...

Andrew Jackson was a controversial figure in American history. Elected as seventh president in 1829 and reelected for the 2nd term until 1837, he was marked by both democratic triumphs and racist tragedies during his presidency. Jackson expanded the powers of the presidency in ways that none of his six predecessors had. He was the first president to come from the common people, not from an educated elite. He was the first to build what was recognized as a political party. He was also the first to maintain a large circle of private advisers –what was called his Kitchen Cabinet-- to help him make policy. During his presidency, he showed him as the most contradictory of men. He brought America into a country that professed a love of democracy but on the other hand created society to live with inequality that was prone to racism and intolerance. Jackson was a sentimental man who rescued an Indian orphan on a battlefield to raise in his home, however he was also the president responsible fo...

“ I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. " - Charles Dickens Jika Natal bukan suatu musim, atau suatu momen, atau sekadar event , apakah Natal akan tinggal di hati kita, dan terus hidup sejalan dengan detak jantung kita? Setelah Silent Night dinyanyikan, setelah nyala lilin dimatikan, setelah pohon terang plastik diturunkan dan disimpan di gudang, setelah pintu gerbang gereja ditutup… Apakah Natal hanya lewat sebentar di suatu waktu, singgah tidak bahkan menyapa pun tidak, karena kita mengabaikannya dan tidak peduli untuk apa ia hadir? Apakah Natal tahun ini masih mengguratkan maknanya di hati kita, sedalam cinta yang dikandung oleh perawan Maria, seteguh tekadnya untuk taat, sekuat kerelaan rahimnya untuk dipinjam sebentar demi sebuah rencana yang ia tidak mengerti sepenuhnya?  Apakah hati kita masih tergugah dengan ketulusan para bangsawan dari Timur, orang-orang Majus itu, yang menempuh perjalanan dari negeri yang jauh hanya untuk menyembah Anak k...