About this picture...
01 & 02 Mei 2008...
Great Schedule...
Great Time...
Great Journey...
Great People...
Great adventure....
Great Memories...
I will Always remember all of You My Friend...
Wednesday
Road to Yogya Kost 14
About this picture...
01 & 02 Mei 2008...
Great Schedule...
Great Time...
Great Journey...
Great People...
Great adventure....
Great Memories...
I will Always remember all of You My Friend...
Sunday
Blue Film: Candy for Couples
Polling YADA Institute: ”Untuk menjaga gairah seksual, suami-istri sekali-kali perlu nonton BF (Blue Film)” direspon oleh 104 respondent dengan hasil 66.3% Tidak Setuju, 26% Setuju, 7.7% Tidak Tahu.
Polling ini saya buat untuk mengetahui bagaimana pandangan orang percaya terhadap Blue Film dalam pernikahan, sebab hampir dalam setiap acara talkshow di radio, konsultasi lewat media maupun dalam seminar-seminar yang saya pimpin pertanyaan tersebut selalu muncul. Sekarang saya mengetahui prosentasi jumlah orang kristen yang menyetujui penggunaan materi blue film untuk menjaga gairah seksual suami-istri......
Semenjak Hugh Hefner menerbitkan majalah playboy pada tahun 1953, industri pornografi dan film erotik berkembang luar biasa, bahkan telah menjadi ‘business’ empire’ dengan keuntungan milyaran dollar amerika setiap tahun. Sebagai contoh, dari internet saya industri pornografi meraup keuntungan sekitar 11 Milyar dollar amerika setiap tahun. Dengan kekuatan finansial seperti ini, industri pornografi bisa melakukan apa saja untuk mempertahankan eksistensi bisnisnya, bahkan membesarkannya dari waktu ke waktu.
Orang dewasa, atau suami-istri adalah target market yang lebih strategis dibandingkan dengan anak-anak atau remaja, ditinjau dari sisi daya beli. Karena itu industri pornografi melakukan ”edukasi” secara intensif dan sistematik untuk potensial market mereka ini. Proses edukasi ini rupanya ’berhasil’ menanamkan berbagai alasan ’logic’ untuk menggunakan materi pornografi bagi kalangan dewasa atau suami-istri.
Karena itu tidak heran jika 26 % orang kristen di Indonesia setuju penggunaan blue film untuk menjaga gairah seksual mereka. Mereka yang setuju, sangat besar kemungkinannya untuk menggunakan materi-materi seperti itu. Jika jumlah orang kristen di Indonesia 20 juta (10% dari 200 juta) maka secara kasar 5.200.000 orang kristen adalah konsumen aktif blue film. Andai kata setiap tahun masing-masing belanja 1 keping saja VCD blue film seharga Rp.10.000, maka orang kristen di indonesia menyumbangkan dana sebesar Rp. 52 Milyar untuk Industri pornografi setiap tahunnya.
Masih ada 66,3 % orang kristen yang tidak setuju penggunaan blue film untuk menjaga gairah seksual mereka. Jumlah yang cukup melegakan. Saya percaya mereka ini menyadari hal-hal berikut ini:
Blue film membangkitkan gairah seksual yang semu. Blue film dibuat untuk menggelorakan lust driven. Pemilihan aktor, artis, visual effect, setting cerita semua bermuara untuk membangkitkan gairah seksual penontonya. Gairah seksual yang muncul saat seseorang atau suami-istri sedang menonton blue film akan tertuju pada aktor/ artis yang ada didalam film. Bukankah hal ini masuk dalam kategori perzinahan; Sebab Tuhan Yesus berkata:
Setiap orang yang memandang perempuan serta menginginkannya, sudah berzinah dengan dia di dalam hatinya. (Matius 5:28)
Disamping itu, kebiasaan mengkonsumsi blue film ini akan menimbulkan ribbon effect, yaitu tanpa blue film gairah seksual mereka semakin menurun dan dalam tahap tertentu seorang pria bisa mengalami impotency situational , yaitu tidak bisa ereksi dan melakukan persetubuhan dengan istri, tetapi bisa ereksi bila ada rangsangan dari wanita lain. Demikian sebaliknya dengan wanita, semakin tidak bergairah pada suami tetapi pada pria-pria dalam fantasinya. Dari sini kita lihat, satu kali suami-istri nonton blue film mereka akan mudah terikat dalam kebiasaan ini, kualitas hubungan seksual mereka akan semakin menurun, dan merupakan langkah menuju perselingkuhan serta kehancuran pernikahan.
Blue film mendorong orang untuk berpetualang dalam prilaku seks tanpa batas. Semenjak 10 tahun lalu, pertanyaan seputar oral seks sangat marak dalam seminar-seminar yang saya pimpin, hal ini mendoronga saya untuk melakukan penelitian, ”Darimana munculnya gagasan untuk melakukan oral seks ini”. Hasil penelitian saya menyatakan bahwa semua (100%) pelaku oral seks yang saya teliti, ternyata mendapatkan gagasan untuk melakukan oral seks dari VCD blue film yang mereka tonton. Ketika mengetahui hasil penelitian tentang oral seks tersebut, saya menduga bahwa tidak lama setelah itu ’kualitas’ pertanyaan dalam seminar seks akan meningkat. Dugaan saya terbukti, sejak tiga tahun terakhir ’kualitas’ pertanyaan dalam seminar-seminar seks yang saya pimpin terbukti ’meningkat’. Sejak tiga tahun lalu mulai marak pertanyaan tentang anal seks, bahkan dalam acara-acara yang lebih ’private’ yaitu talkshow di radio, pertanyaan dan pengakuan tentang ’burger’, suatu istilah tentang hubungan seksual antara satu pria dan dua atau lebih wanita sekaligus mulai marak juga.
Mengapa hal-hal semacam ini bisa terjadi. Saya akan coba jelaskan fenomena ini. Manusia pada dasarnya adalah ’the great imitator’. Hampir semua yang ada pada diri kita adalah hasil dari proses meniru. Sewaktu kita kecil, kita meniru semua hal yang dilakukan orang tua kita; Ketika kita sekolah kita meniru guru-guru kita, saat kita remaja kita meniru tokoh-tokoh yang kita idolakan, dan sampai kapanpun proses meniru ini akan terus berlangsung. Proses meniru ini didefinisikan dan dijelaskan dalam konsep ’social learning theori’ ; Firman Tuhan sendiri jelas mengatakan: “Besi menajamkan besi, orang menajamkan sesamanya”. (Amsal 27:17). Nah proses meniru ini akan berjalan dengan sangat cepat melalui komunikasi visual. Bukankah dikatakan ‘one picture told thousands words”. Dunia advertising sangat mengetahui fakta ini, itu sebab nya iklan melalui televisi maupun film sangat efektif dalam proses ’edukasi’ konsumen. Dengan dasar pemahaman ini, tidak heran kalau pelaku oral seks melakukan aktifitas oral seks nya setelah nonton Blue film, dan tidak terlalu mengejutkan setelah meniru prilaku oral seks mereka akan sangat mudah meniru prilaku anal seks, dan prilaku-prilaku lain yang ditampilkan dalam blue film. Pada akhirnya, mereka yang punya kebiasaan nonton blue film akan cenderung terlibat dalam petualangan prilaku seks yang tanpa batas.
Blue film memicu terjadinya ’porn addict’. Hal-hal yang memberikan efek ‘recreational’ berpotensi menimbulkan kecanduan. Untuk proses pertahanan hidup, manusia diperlengkapi dengan kapasitas untuk menghindarkan ’pain’. Kemampuan untuk merasakan nyeri adalah ’alert system’ yang secara natural akan menghindarkan kita dari bahaya. Bahkan ’alert system’ kita diperlengkapi dengan ’auto move system’ yang secara otomatis akan membuat kita melakukan gerakan diluar kesadaran untuk menghindar bahaya. Sebagai contoh, kalau tiba-tiba tangan kita menyentuh sesuatu yang panas, tangan kita akan bergerak untuk menjauhi benda panas yang tersentuh, gerakan ini disebut gerak refleks. Sebaliknya ’survival system’ cenderung mendorong kita untuk mencari hal-hal yang nyaman. Contoh, dahulu sebelum manusia memiliki pengetahuan tentang bahan makanan yang baik untuk dikonsumsi, ’taste’ adalah ’natural guidance’ nya. Buah-buahan yang manis cenderung aman dikonsumsi, sementara yang terasa pahit sangat mungkin mengandung racun yang berbahaya. Namun menyerahkan semua proses hidup pada upaya menghindar ‘pain’ dan mencari ‘satisfaction’ seringkali justru berbahaya. Terbukti tumbuhan tertentu yang pahit seperti kina justru merupakan obat yang luar biasa, rasa manis pada candy justru membahayakan kesehatan gigi bahkan berpotensi menimbulkan penyakit yang lebih serius, Diabetes Mellitus.
Secara natural tubuh kita akan mencari hal-hal yang enak, nyaman, menyenangkan. Dan ketika ada suatu kenikmatan yang kita rasakan, otak kita akan memproduksi neurotransmitter sebagai respon atas input kesenangan tersebut. Proses ini sebenarnya membentuk suatu ’template’ di dalam otak yang cenderung mempertahankan kondisi nyaman tersebut. Upaya otak untuk mempertahankan kondisi nyaman inilah yang kemudian menimbulkan ‘craving effect’. Kalau kadar gula dalam otak saudara turun, saudara akan merasa lapar, dan saudara akan terdorong untuk mencari makanan. ’Rasa lapar’ seperti ini bisa terjadi pada mereka yang mengkonsumsi materi-materi pornografi, inilah yang kita sebut ’craving effect’. Saat seseorang menonton blue film, otak mereka mengenali sesuatu yang menyenangkan, dan terbentuklah ‘template’ nya. ’Template’ ini adalah suatu sistem yang bekerja untuk mempertahankan kesenangan tersebut. Ketika sumber kesenangan tersebut tidak ada, otak akan mendorong untuk mencari sumber kesenangan tersebut. Inilah ‘craving effect’, inilah ’porn addict’.
Karena itu, transformasi prilaku seksual akan terjadi ketika Firman Tuhan dihidupi secara penuh seperti yang dinyatakan dalam:
Roma 12 : 2 ”Janganlah kamu menjadi serupa dengan dunia ini, tetapi berubahlah oleh pembaharuan budimu, sehingga kamu dapat membedakan manakah kehendak Allah: apa yang baik, yang berkenan kepada Allah dan yang sempurna.”
Saudara perhatikan, perubahan radikal seperti yang terjadi pada kupu-kupu yang mengalami metamorfosis bisa saudara alami bila saudara mengalami pembaharuan didalam akal budi. Akal budi yang memiliki tiga elemen (Touch, feeling, and will) bekerja dalam organ tubuh saudara yang disebut otak. Saya yakin ’porn addict’ bisa diatasi dengan ’Bible addict’. Mereka yang ‘Bible addict’ akan membaca dan merenungkan Firman Tuhan, siang dan malam. (draw)
Written by Dr.Andik Wijaya MRep.Med
Polling ini saya buat untuk mengetahui bagaimana pandangan orang percaya terhadap Blue Film dalam pernikahan, sebab hampir dalam setiap acara talkshow di radio, konsultasi lewat media maupun dalam seminar-seminar yang saya pimpin pertanyaan tersebut selalu muncul. Sekarang saya mengetahui prosentasi jumlah orang kristen yang menyetujui penggunaan materi blue film untuk menjaga gairah seksual suami-istri......
Semenjak Hugh Hefner menerbitkan majalah playboy pada tahun 1953, industri pornografi dan film erotik berkembang luar biasa, bahkan telah menjadi ‘business’ empire’ dengan keuntungan milyaran dollar amerika setiap tahun. Sebagai contoh, dari internet saya industri pornografi meraup keuntungan sekitar 11 Milyar dollar amerika setiap tahun. Dengan kekuatan finansial seperti ini, industri pornografi bisa melakukan apa saja untuk mempertahankan eksistensi bisnisnya, bahkan membesarkannya dari waktu ke waktu.
Orang dewasa, atau suami-istri adalah target market yang lebih strategis dibandingkan dengan anak-anak atau remaja, ditinjau dari sisi daya beli. Karena itu industri pornografi melakukan ”edukasi” secara intensif dan sistematik untuk potensial market mereka ini. Proses edukasi ini rupanya ’berhasil’ menanamkan berbagai alasan ’logic’ untuk menggunakan materi pornografi bagi kalangan dewasa atau suami-istri.
Karena itu tidak heran jika 26 % orang kristen di Indonesia setuju penggunaan blue film untuk menjaga gairah seksual mereka. Mereka yang setuju, sangat besar kemungkinannya untuk menggunakan materi-materi seperti itu. Jika jumlah orang kristen di Indonesia 20 juta (10% dari 200 juta) maka secara kasar 5.200.000 orang kristen adalah konsumen aktif blue film. Andai kata setiap tahun masing-masing belanja 1 keping saja VCD blue film seharga Rp.10.000, maka orang kristen di indonesia menyumbangkan dana sebesar Rp. 52 Milyar untuk Industri pornografi setiap tahunnya.
Masih ada 66,3 % orang kristen yang tidak setuju penggunaan blue film untuk menjaga gairah seksual mereka. Jumlah yang cukup melegakan. Saya percaya mereka ini menyadari hal-hal berikut ini:
Blue film membangkitkan gairah seksual yang semu. Blue film dibuat untuk menggelorakan lust driven. Pemilihan aktor, artis, visual effect, setting cerita semua bermuara untuk membangkitkan gairah seksual penontonya. Gairah seksual yang muncul saat seseorang atau suami-istri sedang menonton blue film akan tertuju pada aktor/ artis yang ada didalam film. Bukankah hal ini masuk dalam kategori perzinahan; Sebab Tuhan Yesus berkata:
Setiap orang yang memandang perempuan serta menginginkannya, sudah berzinah dengan dia di dalam hatinya. (Matius 5:28)
Disamping itu, kebiasaan mengkonsumsi blue film ini akan menimbulkan ribbon effect, yaitu tanpa blue film gairah seksual mereka semakin menurun dan dalam tahap tertentu seorang pria bisa mengalami impotency situational , yaitu tidak bisa ereksi dan melakukan persetubuhan dengan istri, tetapi bisa ereksi bila ada rangsangan dari wanita lain. Demikian sebaliknya dengan wanita, semakin tidak bergairah pada suami tetapi pada pria-pria dalam fantasinya. Dari sini kita lihat, satu kali suami-istri nonton blue film mereka akan mudah terikat dalam kebiasaan ini, kualitas hubungan seksual mereka akan semakin menurun, dan merupakan langkah menuju perselingkuhan serta kehancuran pernikahan.
Blue film mendorong orang untuk berpetualang dalam prilaku seks tanpa batas. Semenjak 10 tahun lalu, pertanyaan seputar oral seks sangat marak dalam seminar-seminar yang saya pimpin, hal ini mendoronga saya untuk melakukan penelitian, ”Darimana munculnya gagasan untuk melakukan oral seks ini”. Hasil penelitian saya menyatakan bahwa semua (100%) pelaku oral seks yang saya teliti, ternyata mendapatkan gagasan untuk melakukan oral seks dari VCD blue film yang mereka tonton. Ketika mengetahui hasil penelitian tentang oral seks tersebut, saya menduga bahwa tidak lama setelah itu ’kualitas’ pertanyaan dalam seminar seks akan meningkat. Dugaan saya terbukti, sejak tiga tahun terakhir ’kualitas’ pertanyaan dalam seminar-seminar seks yang saya pimpin terbukti ’meningkat’. Sejak tiga tahun lalu mulai marak pertanyaan tentang anal seks, bahkan dalam acara-acara yang lebih ’private’ yaitu talkshow di radio, pertanyaan dan pengakuan tentang ’burger’, suatu istilah tentang hubungan seksual antara satu pria dan dua atau lebih wanita sekaligus mulai marak juga.
Mengapa hal-hal semacam ini bisa terjadi. Saya akan coba jelaskan fenomena ini. Manusia pada dasarnya adalah ’the great imitator’. Hampir semua yang ada pada diri kita adalah hasil dari proses meniru. Sewaktu kita kecil, kita meniru semua hal yang dilakukan orang tua kita; Ketika kita sekolah kita meniru guru-guru kita, saat kita remaja kita meniru tokoh-tokoh yang kita idolakan, dan sampai kapanpun proses meniru ini akan terus berlangsung. Proses meniru ini didefinisikan dan dijelaskan dalam konsep ’social learning theori’ ; Firman Tuhan sendiri jelas mengatakan: “Besi menajamkan besi, orang menajamkan sesamanya”. (Amsal 27:17). Nah proses meniru ini akan berjalan dengan sangat cepat melalui komunikasi visual. Bukankah dikatakan ‘one picture told thousands words”. Dunia advertising sangat mengetahui fakta ini, itu sebab nya iklan melalui televisi maupun film sangat efektif dalam proses ’edukasi’ konsumen. Dengan dasar pemahaman ini, tidak heran kalau pelaku oral seks melakukan aktifitas oral seks nya setelah nonton Blue film, dan tidak terlalu mengejutkan setelah meniru prilaku oral seks mereka akan sangat mudah meniru prilaku anal seks, dan prilaku-prilaku lain yang ditampilkan dalam blue film. Pada akhirnya, mereka yang punya kebiasaan nonton blue film akan cenderung terlibat dalam petualangan prilaku seks yang tanpa batas.
Blue film memicu terjadinya ’porn addict’. Hal-hal yang memberikan efek ‘recreational’ berpotensi menimbulkan kecanduan. Untuk proses pertahanan hidup, manusia diperlengkapi dengan kapasitas untuk menghindarkan ’pain’. Kemampuan untuk merasakan nyeri adalah ’alert system’ yang secara natural akan menghindarkan kita dari bahaya. Bahkan ’alert system’ kita diperlengkapi dengan ’auto move system’ yang secara otomatis akan membuat kita melakukan gerakan diluar kesadaran untuk menghindar bahaya. Sebagai contoh, kalau tiba-tiba tangan kita menyentuh sesuatu yang panas, tangan kita akan bergerak untuk menjauhi benda panas yang tersentuh, gerakan ini disebut gerak refleks. Sebaliknya ’survival system’ cenderung mendorong kita untuk mencari hal-hal yang nyaman. Contoh, dahulu sebelum manusia memiliki pengetahuan tentang bahan makanan yang baik untuk dikonsumsi, ’taste’ adalah ’natural guidance’ nya. Buah-buahan yang manis cenderung aman dikonsumsi, sementara yang terasa pahit sangat mungkin mengandung racun yang berbahaya. Namun menyerahkan semua proses hidup pada upaya menghindar ‘pain’ dan mencari ‘satisfaction’ seringkali justru berbahaya. Terbukti tumbuhan tertentu yang pahit seperti kina justru merupakan obat yang luar biasa, rasa manis pada candy justru membahayakan kesehatan gigi bahkan berpotensi menimbulkan penyakit yang lebih serius, Diabetes Mellitus.
Secara natural tubuh kita akan mencari hal-hal yang enak, nyaman, menyenangkan. Dan ketika ada suatu kenikmatan yang kita rasakan, otak kita akan memproduksi neurotransmitter sebagai respon atas input kesenangan tersebut. Proses ini sebenarnya membentuk suatu ’template’ di dalam otak yang cenderung mempertahankan kondisi nyaman tersebut. Upaya otak untuk mempertahankan kondisi nyaman inilah yang kemudian menimbulkan ‘craving effect’. Kalau kadar gula dalam otak saudara turun, saudara akan merasa lapar, dan saudara akan terdorong untuk mencari makanan. ’Rasa lapar’ seperti ini bisa terjadi pada mereka yang mengkonsumsi materi-materi pornografi, inilah yang kita sebut ’craving effect’. Saat seseorang menonton blue film, otak mereka mengenali sesuatu yang menyenangkan, dan terbentuklah ‘template’ nya. ’Template’ ini adalah suatu sistem yang bekerja untuk mempertahankan kesenangan tersebut. Ketika sumber kesenangan tersebut tidak ada, otak akan mendorong untuk mencari sumber kesenangan tersebut. Inilah ‘craving effect’, inilah ’porn addict’.
Karena itu, transformasi prilaku seksual akan terjadi ketika Firman Tuhan dihidupi secara penuh seperti yang dinyatakan dalam:
Roma 12 : 2 ”Janganlah kamu menjadi serupa dengan dunia ini, tetapi berubahlah oleh pembaharuan budimu, sehingga kamu dapat membedakan manakah kehendak Allah: apa yang baik, yang berkenan kepada Allah dan yang sempurna.”
Saudara perhatikan, perubahan radikal seperti yang terjadi pada kupu-kupu yang mengalami metamorfosis bisa saudara alami bila saudara mengalami pembaharuan didalam akal budi. Akal budi yang memiliki tiga elemen (Touch, feeling, and will) bekerja dalam organ tubuh saudara yang disebut otak. Saya yakin ’porn addict’ bisa diatasi dengan ’Bible addict’. Mereka yang ‘Bible addict’ akan membaca dan merenungkan Firman Tuhan, siang dan malam. (draw)
Written by Dr.Andik Wijaya MRep.Med
Tanda-Tanda Salah Pilih Pasangan
Bagi Anda yang baru memiliki pasangan baru memang akan merasa bahagia. Tapi apakah Anda yakin bahwa dia adalah orang yang tepat untuk menjadi pasangan Anda? Tanda terpenting yang seringkali kita mengerti mengenai pasangan hidup adalah seseorang yang seiman dan cinta Tuhan. Namun di luar itu, ada beberapa hal lain yang perlu Anda pertimbangkan yang seringkali belum menjadi masalah saat ini karena perasaan cinta yang menggebu, namun pada akhirnya bisa menjadi masalah dan Anda merasa cukup terganggu dengan hal itu. Jadi sebelum Anda mengarah pada hubungan yang lebih serius, sebaiknya Anda simak beberapa tanda bahwa dia memang bukan orang yang tepat.
Lebih Banyak Berkorban
Cinta memang butuh pengorbanan. Dalam suatu hubungan tidak boleh menghitung untung rugi. Tapi jika Anda lebih banyak berkorban sedangkan dia tenang-tenang saja, memang tidak fair. Apabila Anda mau mengorbankan waktu bersama teman-temannya, keluarga hanya untuk dia, sedangkan dia tidak pernah melakukannya untuk Anda. Maka hal ini menandakan bahwa dia bukanlah orang yang tepat.
Teman Mulai Menjauh
Sebelum dia menjadi kekasih, teman-teman mengelilingi Anda. Keadaan berubah seratus delapan puluh derajat ketika Anda menjalin cinta dengan si dia. Satu persatu sahabat Anda menghilang dan menjauh maka jangan salahkan mereka. Mungkin saja sikap mereka dilatarbelakangi oleh sikap Anda yang berubah sejak memiliki dia dan Anda bukan teman yang mengasyikan lagi.
Sahabat Enggan Membicarakannya
Saat Anda membicarakan tentang dia, ekspresi wajah dan body language sahabat Anda terlihat resah. Mulai rajin melihat jam tangan seolah dia tidak betah mengobrol berlama-lama dengan Anda. Atau setiap kali Anda menyebut nama dia dan bersemangat menceritakan betapa hebatnya si dia, sahabat Anda mengalihkan pembicaraan atau hanya menanggapi seadanya.
Hubungan Panas Dingin
Di awal hubungan, sudah pasti Anda dan pasangan sedang hangat-hangatnya. Tapi semakin hari dia berubah menjadi acuh dan dingin maka menandakan bahwa dia belum mau berhubungan serius dengan Anda. Ketika ia melihat Anda begitu serius menjalani hubungan, dia merasa tidak enak hati. Tak heran sikapnya jadi berubah seperti itu. Kalau Anda ingin hubungan yang mantap dengannya, maka Anda telah salah pilih orang.
Terlalu Banyak Usaha
Anda seringkali terlalu usaha untuk sekedar bertemu dia. Anda selalu menemukan cara untuk bisa main ke kantor dan tempat tinggalnya, entah itu sengaja makan di resto dekat kantornya, atau tiba-tiba datang ke kantornya untuk memberi sesuatu. Atau bahkan Anda rela bersusah payah mengatur perjalanan untuk bertemu dengannya di tempat dinas di luar kota. Padahal, sejujurnya dia tidak menanggapi dengan antusias semua usaha Anda itu.
Hidup Terasa Terkekang
Anda yang tadinya super aktif, independen, penuh semangat, tiba-tiba berubah menjadi orang yang tergantung dan tunduk kepadanya. Anda tidak lagi ke tempat yang diinginkan sesuka hati, atau beraktifitas sesuai minat tanpa seizin dia. Jika Anda ingin pergi ke tempat yang Anda inginkan maka ada syaratnya yaitu harus bersama dia. Pergaulan Anda pun mendapat pengawasan ketat darinya sehingga 
terkadang dia akan menginterogasi Anda seperti seorang polisi kepada penjahat. Apalagi saat Anda sedang makan siang bersama rekan kerja lelaki, pasti dia akan lebih memperketat kekangannya.
Berat Tubuh Susut
Berat badan Anda sebelum dan sesudah menjadi pasangannya susut 3 hingga 4 kg. Ada dua kemungkinan terjadinya penyusutan ini, Anda melakukan diet keras untuk mendapatkan tubuh yang ideal atau Anda sering tertekan memikirkan sikap dan perilakunya terhadap Anda yang seringkali menyakitkan hati.
Tidak Percaya Diri
Anda selalu merasa menyesal telah salah pilih baju, aksesori, bahkan kata-kata setiap habis bertemu dengannya. Jangan mencari-cari kesalahan sendiri, karena kehadiran seorang pasangan seharusnya menjadi pendongkrak percaya diri dan penenang diri Anda. Jadi apabila Anda merasa serba salah dan takut, sebaiknya tinggalkan dia mulai dari sekarang.
Suami / Istri Orang
Jika kekasih Anda adalah suami / istri orang, maka sudah pasti Anda salah pilih orang. Karena sudah jelas dia sudah memiliki keluarga tapi Anda masih tetap mau menjadi pasangannya. Lelaki berstatus suami orang memang sangat menarik hati, apalagi rayuannya. Tapi mereka paling senang mengobral janji, egois tanpa memikirkan perasaan Anda. Jadi untuk apa Anda menunggu dia, saat dia mengatakan akan menceraikan istrinya, sudah pasti hal itu jarang sekali terjadi. Pikirkan juga bagaimana perasaan keluarganya, bagaimana Anda menyakiti hati mereka, dan bayangkan bagaimana sakitnya Anda jika Anda berada di posisi mereka.
Jika Anda menemukan tanda-tanda ini dalam hubungan Anda saat ini, cobalah pertimbangkan kembali dengan berpikir secara jernih dan jangan lupa bawa di dalam doa. Namun jika hal itu memang bukan suatu masalah bagi Anda dan Anda yakin dapat melewatinya bersama dengan si ‘Dia', mungkin Anda dapat memutuskan untuk mempertahankan hubungan Anda dengan penuh keyakinan. Tapi tentu saja Anda harus siap dengan konsekuensinya kelak. Namun hal ini tidak berlaku bila dia adalah suami / istri orang. Karena untuk hal yang satu itu, tidak ada jalan kompromi yang dapat Anda ambil selain mengakhiri hubungan Anda saat ini juga.
Seks dan Keguguran
Ada banyak hal yang bisa menyebabkan seseorang mengalami keguguran, di antaranya:
Gangguan kromosom. Kromosom adalah bagian penting dari semua sel yang mengendalikan sifat-sifat sel tersebut. Sperma (benih pria) serta Ovum (benih wanita) juga dikendalikan oleh kromosom ini. Dalam proses spermatogenesis (pembentukan sperma) maupun Oogenesis (pembentukan sel telur), bisa terjadi gangguan yang berakibat tidak normalnya kromosom pada sperma maupun ovum tersebut. Ketidaknormalan ini bisa berakibat sel telur dan sperma tersebut gagal dalam proses pembuahan yang berakibat suami-istri pemilik sel telur maupun sperma tersebut mengalami infertilitas. Bila terjadi pembuahan, hasil pembuahan tersebut gagal bertumbuh dengan baik dan berakhir dengan terjadinya keguguran. Bila terus bertumbuh bisa berdampak pada timbulnya kecacatan. Kecacatan disini bisa ada dua kemungkinan, pertama cacat genotipe, artinya bayi yang akan lahir memiliki sifat bawaan yang tidak normal namun secara fisik normal, yang kedua cacat fenotipe yaitu cacat yang tampak jelas secara fisik.
Gangguan anatomi atau bentuk rahim. Adakalanya seorang wanita memiliki bentuk rahim yang tidak normal sehingga mempersulit terjadinya kehamilan dan bila terjadi kehamilan mudah sekali mengalami keguguran.
Gangguan imunologis. Berbagai hasil penelitian terkini menyatakan bahwa proses implantasi (melekatnya hasil pembuahan pada dinding rahim), melibatkan berbagai proses kimiawi antara tubuh ibu dengan hasil pembuahan. Reaksi ini seringkali disebut sebagai proses imunologis (suatu istilah yang agak kurang tepat). Bila proses imunologis ini berjalan ‘normal' maka kehamilan akan terjadi, bila tidak maka akan terjadi kegagalan implantasi. Itu berarti terjadi keguguran dalam tingkat yang amat dini sehingga tidak disadari oleh yang bersangkutan.
Penyakit infeksi. Penyakit infeksi yang menyerang sistem reproduksi bisa berdampak pada timbulnya keguguran, yang sering terjadi adalah infeksi akibat toxoplasma. Karena itu melakukan pemeriksaan medis sebelum terjadinya kehamilan amat penting untuk memastikan tidak infeksi yang bisa mengancam kesehatan janin dan ibu semasa kehamilan.
Obat dan jamu. Obat dan jamu yang digunakan untuk memperlancar haid bisa berdampak pada terjadinya keguguran. Bila tidak terjadi keguguran, janin yang dikandung bisa cacat akibat obat atau jamu tersebut. Karena itu setiap wanita yang aktif melakukan hubungan seksual lalu mengalami terlambat datang bulan, tidak boleh minum obat atau jamu untuk memperlancar haid sebelum melakukan pemeriksaan medis guna memastikan keterlambatan haidnya bukan karena kehamilan.
Hubungan seksual semasa kehamilan bukanlah penyebab keguguran, namun bagi mereka yang punya riwayat keguguran pada trimester pertama kehamilannya, sebaiknya tidak melakukan hubungan pada saat itu dan menunggu kehamilan memasuki trimester kedua. Menunggu memang seringkali tidak menyenangkan. Namun ingatlah: "Untuk segala sesuatu ada masanya, untuk apapun di bawah langit ada waktunya (Pengkhotbah 3:1)". Be WiSe, always remember Wisdom for Sex Life. (draw)
Sumber : www.jawaban.com
Thursday
What to Do if You Win The Lottery?
This question ‘What to do if you win the lottery?’ is very familiar I hear from many persons who I know. Even I ever asked this question to my husband when he looked so busy with his power-ball numbers. Without any long thinking, he described what he wanted if he won the lottery, from the private jet/airplane, having own hospital for the poor people in my country (Indonesia), etc. Those are general.
If I get that question or someone asks me that same question, the first thing I would tell him that I really don’t need hundreds million dollars in my life. I am pretty sure when I win a very huge lottery (around hundreds millions dollars), right away, at that time, I can not close my eyes, I can not sleep very well. Of course, my heart will full with a huge happiness because I have a lot of money but I am sure beside on it, on the corner of my heart I will have a great worries. I worry about my safety, my family member’s safety. Although I will have some bodyguards, for the example. It means that my life will change drastic, from ‘freedom’ to ‘being body-guarded’. It will make me not comfortable and not enjoyable.
GOD said in His Word, “Where your treasure is, there are your heart!” So, if there are some alternatives, I would prefer to choose not hundreds million dollars, but some million dollars is just more than enough for me. I would take 10% from its net to contribute for God’s work. I also use some of my money to open new business so it will give more vacancies to everybody who needs a job. What is that? I still don’t not exactly but I think it would be connected with the Indonesian things.
What’s else? With all of my money, I would not spoiled my children and my own family. We will have the same life, regular life, with smart and hard working and let them buy their own car with their own money. With that way, I am as a parent, has given several of the greatest things in their life: They will give the respect with their owns, they will know how give the respect with the money they get, they will give the respect with their hard works. Through this way, I will shape a quality generation in my own family.
So, what will I do with the rest of my money? Beside I will save it in my Bank Account and other Bank products account, I will use those money to visit hundreds of beautiful places around the world especially in my country, Indonesia with my whole member of my family every year, also I will use those money to advance my interests and hobbies: buying a new house in safer area with large lawn, so I can create my own landscape; having nursery; having studio for my crafting, painting, etc; having sunny room so I can display my plant collections nicely there, etc.
Are they enough? No! Because in my mind, I am pretty sure that I still have many lists of things I would like to donate/contribute especially for other persons/people who really, really need a HELP.
View on Money
Thought I would share a lil bit about this, since I’ve been thinking about it for awhile. Hope this can be an encouragement rather than forcing out my idea on others.
On the issue of money and the use of money, I find myself living quite a comfortable life, though of course very far from calling myself rich yet.
But looking at my income and stable life, of course that said alone, I’m quite rich to support myself and indulge in what this world has to offer. The fact that I’m graduated from University with overseas students fee also shows that I’m aiming for a rich life (JFYI: overseas students pay about 4-5x more than local students).
The recent discussion on ‘how content are we with the usage of our money’ during Grad Conference has reminded me the importance of money for God’s Kingdom. It has also given me more eye-opener to be more generous in our own giving and support for our church…
Well, at least it’s for me. I’ve remembered the discussion on the poor woman, a widow, who was giving her all for worship to God, even though it’s just two small copper coins. And I’m also reminded all over to be a cheerful giver, in any circumstances (2 Cor 9:7).
I’ve been recommended by lots of people to read this book: Beyond Greed.
On another verse:
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty may become rich”
2 Corinthians 8:9
So, have we been generous enough in our life, even when we are poor?
Jesus sees the woman who gave the two copper coins more generous and heart to worship God. After all, if you never give when you are poor, how willing are you to give when you get richer and richer? After all this world’s possession will be useless when you no longer live in this world ….
It’s a challenge for me to live with God as a focus, rather than pursuing my career, even though it seems tempting at whole lots of time!
On the issue of money and the use of money, I find myself living quite a comfortable life, though of course very far from calling myself rich yet.
But looking at my income and stable life, of course that said alone, I’m quite rich to support myself and indulge in what this world has to offer. The fact that I’m graduated from University with overseas students fee also shows that I’m aiming for a rich life (JFYI: overseas students pay about 4-5x more than local students).
The recent discussion on ‘how content are we with the usage of our money’ during Grad Conference has reminded me the importance of money for God’s Kingdom. It has also given me more eye-opener to be more generous in our own giving and support for our church…
Well, at least it’s for me. I’ve remembered the discussion on the poor woman, a widow, who was giving her all for worship to God, even though it’s just two small copper coins. And I’m also reminded all over to be a cheerful giver, in any circumstances (2 Cor 9:7).
I’ve been recommended by lots of people to read this book: Beyond Greed.
On another verse:
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty may become rich”
2 Corinthians 8:9
So, have we been generous enough in our life, even when we are poor?
Jesus sees the woman who gave the two copper coins more generous and heart to worship God. After all, if you never give when you are poor, how willing are you to give when you get richer and richer? After all this world’s possession will be useless when you no longer live in this world ….
It’s a challenge for me to live with God as a focus, rather than pursuing my career, even though it seems tempting at whole lots of time!
TIPS FOR USING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS IN YOUR SITE OR BLOG
TIPS FOR USING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS IN YOUR SITE OR BLOG
We’ve now looked at a number of popular affiliate programs for bloggers and today I’d like to finish off this series by giving a few tips that should help bloggers get the best results out of any affiliate program that they choose to run with.
1. Consider your Audience
It almost goes without saying - but it’s worth putting yourself in your readers shoes and consider what they might be looking for as they surf by your blog. Are they shopping for specific products? Might they be looking for related products or accessories? What would trigger them to purchase? Start with your reader in mind rather than the product. If you take this approach you could end up doing your reader a favor as well as making a few dollars on the side.
2. Genuine Recommendations and personal endorsements always work best
There are literally hundreds of thousands of products and services for you to choose from to recommend to your blog’s readers but making money from them is not as simple as randomly adding links to them from your blog. Your blog’s readers come back to your blog day after day because something about you resonates with them - they have at least some level of trust and respect for you and perhaps the quickest way to destroy this is to recommend that they buy something that you don’t fully believe will benefit them.
The best results I’ve had from affiliate programs are where I give an open and honest appraisal of the product - including both it’s strengths and weaknesses. The most successful affiliate program I’m involved with here at ProBlogger is Joel Comm’s e-book which I reviewed here. If you read the review you’ll see that I not only tell readers who I believe the book is for but I also mention those it is NOT for. In a sense I critique it. On a surface level one might think that this wasn’t a wise move and that I should have given a glowing review - however the sales that I’ve had through the program have proven otherwise. People want to know what they are buying first and even if they know a product has limitations they will buy it if it meets their particular need.
3. Link to Quality Products
We all like to make sure we’re buying the best products money can buy - your readers are no different to this and are more likely to make a purchase if you’ve found them the best product for them. Choose products and companies with good reputations and quality sales pages. There is nothing worse than giving a glowing review of a product only to send your reader to a page that looks cheap and nasty.
4. Contextual Deep Links work Best
When I started using the Amazon Associate Program I naively thought that all I had to do was put an Amazon banner ad (that linked to Amazon’s front page) at the top of my blog. I thought that my readers would see it and surf over to Amazon and buy up big - thereby making me a rich man. Nothing could have been further from reality - I was deluding myself.
I always says to bloggers that I’m consulting with that they should learn something from contextual advertising when it comes to affiliate programs. The secret of contextual ads like Adsense is that a reader is reading a post on a particular topic on your blog and when they see an advertisement for that same product they are more likely to click it than if they saw an ad for something else. The same is true for affiliate programs. A banner to a general page on every page on your site won’t be anywhere near as effective as multiple links throughout your blog that advertiser products that are relevant for readers reading particular parts of your blog.
So if you’re writing a blog about MP3 players and have a review for a particular product - the most effectively affiliate program that you could link to from within the content of that page would be one that links directly to a page selling that specific model of MP3 player. This is how I use the Amazon program today. It is more work than contextual advertising because you’re not just putting one piece of code into a template but rather need to place individual links on many pages - but I find that it’s been worth the effort.
5. Consider positioning of links
One of the things I go on and on about with Adsense optimization is the positioning of ads. I tell bloggers to position their ads in the hotspots on pages (like the top of a left hand side bar - or inside content - or at the end of posts above comments etc). The same principles are true for affiliate advertising.
6. Traffic levels are Important
While it’s not the only factor - traffic levels are obviously key when it comes to making money from almost any online activity. The more people that see your well placed, relevant and well designed affiliate links the more likely it is that one of them will make a purchase. So don’t just work on your links - work on building a readership. Not only this, consider how you might direct traffic on your blog toward pages where they are more likely to see your affiliate links.
7. Diversify
without Clutter
Don’t put all your affiliate efforts into one basket. There are plenty of products out there to link to so there is no need to just work on one. At the same time you shouldn’t clutter your blog up with too many affiliate program links. If you do so you run the risk of diluting the effectiveness of your links and could disillusion your readership.
8. Be Transparent
Don’t try to fool your readers into clicking links that could make you money. While it may not always feasible to label all affiliate links I think some attempt should be made to let people know what type of link they are clicking on. I also think consistency is important with this so readers of your blog know what to expect. For example here at ProBlogger usually put a note beside or under affiliate links to simply let readers know that that is what they are. On my Digital Camera Blog I don’t do this because of the large number of such links make it clear by the text around the link that clicking on it will take them to some sort of shop or information where a purchase is possible (ie a link my say ‘buy the XXX product’ or ‘get the latest product on XXX’.
9. Combine with other Revenue Streams
Affiliate programs and advertising programs are not mutually exclusive things. I’ve come across a few people recently who have said they don’t want to do affiliate linking because it will take the focus off their Adsense ads. While there is potential for one to take the focus off the other - there is also real potential for both to work hand in hand as different readers will respond to different approaches. You should consider the impact that your affiliate links have on other revenue streams - but don’t let one stop the other.
10. Track results
Most affiliate programs have at least some type of tracking or statistics package which will allow you to watch which links are effective. Some of these packages are better than others but most will at least allow you to see what is selling and what isn’t. Watching your results can help you plan future affiliate efforts. Keep track of what positions for links work well, which products sell, what wording around links works well etc and use the information that you collect as you work plan future affiliate strategies.
What tips would you give someone getting into affiliate programs? What has worked well for you? What hasn’t? Share you experience and ideas on affiliate programs below.
We’ve now looked at a number of popular affiliate programs for bloggers and today I’d like to finish off this series by giving a few tips that should help bloggers get the best results out of any affiliate program that they choose to run with.
1. Consider your Audience
It almost goes without saying - but it’s worth putting yourself in your readers shoes and consider what they might be looking for as they surf by your blog. Are they shopping for specific products? Might they be looking for related products or accessories? What would trigger them to purchase? Start with your reader in mind rather than the product. If you take this approach you could end up doing your reader a favor as well as making a few dollars on the side.
2. Genuine Recommendations and personal endorsements always work best
There are literally hundreds of thousands of products and services for you to choose from to recommend to your blog’s readers but making money from them is not as simple as randomly adding links to them from your blog. Your blog’s readers come back to your blog day after day because something about you resonates with them - they have at least some level of trust and respect for you and perhaps the quickest way to destroy this is to recommend that they buy something that you don’t fully believe will benefit them.
The best results I’ve had from affiliate programs are where I give an open and honest appraisal of the product - including both it’s strengths and weaknesses. The most successful affiliate program I’m involved with here at ProBlogger is Joel Comm’s e-book which I reviewed here. If you read the review you’ll see that I not only tell readers who I believe the book is for but I also mention those it is NOT for. In a sense I critique it. On a surface level one might think that this wasn’t a wise move and that I should have given a glowing review - however the sales that I’ve had through the program have proven otherwise. People want to know what they are buying first and even if they know a product has limitations they will buy it if it meets their particular need.
3. Link to Quality Products
We all like to make sure we’re buying the best products money can buy - your readers are no different to this and are more likely to make a purchase if you’ve found them the best product for them. Choose products and companies with good reputations and quality sales pages. There is nothing worse than giving a glowing review of a product only to send your reader to a page that looks cheap and nasty.
4. Contextual Deep Links work Best
When I started using the Amazon Associate Program I naively thought that all I had to do was put an Amazon banner ad (that linked to Amazon’s front page) at the top of my blog. I thought that my readers would see it and surf over to Amazon and buy up big - thereby making me a rich man. Nothing could have been further from reality - I was deluding myself.
I always says to bloggers that I’m consulting with that they should learn something from contextual advertising when it comes to affiliate programs. The secret of contextual ads like Adsense is that a reader is reading a post on a particular topic on your blog and when they see an advertisement for that same product they are more likely to click it than if they saw an ad for something else. The same is true for affiliate programs. A banner to a general page on every page on your site won’t be anywhere near as effective as multiple links throughout your blog that advertiser products that are relevant for readers reading particular parts of your blog.
So if you’re writing a blog about MP3 players and have a review for a particular product - the most effectively affiliate program that you could link to from within the content of that page would be one that links directly to a page selling that specific model of MP3 player. This is how I use the Amazon program today. It is more work than contextual advertising because you’re not just putting one piece of code into a template but rather need to place individual links on many pages - but I find that it’s been worth the effort.
5. Consider positioning of links
One of the things I go on and on about with Adsense optimization is the positioning of ads. I tell bloggers to position their ads in the hotspots on pages (like the top of a left hand side bar - or inside content - or at the end of posts above comments etc). The same principles are true for affiliate advertising.
6. Traffic levels are Important
While it’s not the only factor - traffic levels are obviously key when it comes to making money from almost any online activity. The more people that see your well placed, relevant and well designed affiliate links the more likely it is that one of them will make a purchase. So don’t just work on your links - work on building a readership. Not only this, consider how you might direct traffic on your blog toward pages where they are more likely to see your affiliate links.
7. Diversify
without Clutter
Don’t put all your affiliate efforts into one basket. There are plenty of products out there to link to so there is no need to just work on one. At the same time you shouldn’t clutter your blog up with too many affiliate program links. If you do so you run the risk of diluting the effectiveness of your links and could disillusion your readership.
8. Be Transparent
Don’t try to fool your readers into clicking links that could make you money. While it may not always feasible to label all affiliate links I think some attempt should be made to let people know what type of link they are clicking on. I also think consistency is important with this so readers of your blog know what to expect. For example here at ProBlogger usually put a note beside or under affiliate links to simply let readers know that that is what they are. On my Digital Camera Blog I don’t do this because of the large number of such links make it clear by the text around the link that clicking on it will take them to some sort of shop or information where a purchase is possible (ie a link my say ‘buy the XXX product’ or ‘get the latest product on XXX’.
9. Combine with other Revenue Streams
Affiliate programs and advertising programs are not mutually exclusive things. I’ve come across a few people recently who have said they don’t want to do affiliate linking because it will take the focus off their Adsense ads. While there is potential for one to take the focus off the other - there is also real potential for both to work hand in hand as different readers will respond to different approaches. You should consider the impact that your affiliate links have on other revenue streams - but don’t let one stop the other.
10. Track results
Most affiliate programs have at least some type of tracking or statistics package which will allow you to watch which links are effective. Some of these packages are better than others but most will at least allow you to see what is selling and what isn’t. Watching your results can help you plan future affiliate efforts. Keep track of what positions for links work well, which products sell, what wording around links works well etc and use the information that you collect as you work plan future affiliate strategies.
What tips would you give someone getting into affiliate programs? What has worked well for you? What hasn’t? Share you experience and ideas on affiliate programs below.
Good Out of Evil
I don’t have many things to tell, but I have small testimony that I want to share..I think.. more and more, day by day, I love this small city of Singapore. This city is nice. But most of all, is because my faith is renewed here. I’m thankful for that.
I remember the days before I came to this city. Days that I spent in my hometown, Jakarta. Can be said, that time was one of the lowest points in my life. I spend my days just watched cartoon, almost all the time. I watched Hello Kitty almost every day. And hope wish I could be part of it. So cute, sweet, and peaceful. Real life seemed too hard to overcome. And in that period also, for the first time I watched Peanuts and fell for the cartoon. I think many of my friends already know how I like the cartoon (Peanuts), but just some of them know that I fell for Peanuts because.. I felt like Charlie Brown.. That boy who always fails, feels ruin everything, and lonely all the time. That exactly what I felt..
Then.. I came to Singapore. Looking for job. Got one, which until today, I’m still grateful about it. I thank God for my job.
I thank God also.. for friends He’s given me here. I thank God also.. for amazing people He put around me that have become a very blessing for me. And most of all, like I said before, I’m thankful for Him to renew my faith, once again.
I’m thankful for so many things, but it doesn’t mean I’m happy always. There still were times I felt sad and hopeless.. but everytime I looked back, remembering stressful moments I went through in Jakarta, and how God took me all the way long from Jakarta to Singapore through many amazing things happened; my faith spoke to me one thing.. “Though I cannot see, God is at work; and though I can’t feel, God is in control.”
One thing that I love in walking with God that.. everytime I look back, there is no regret. Many bad things happened, and many of them because of my own stupidity.. But when I surrendered it to God, He turned out all those bad things into good. I heard this before, that God could bring good out of evil. And I know, it’s for true.
I believe, in a due time, we’ll see that bad things happen to God’s children, turn out to be good for them, and become God’s tool to glorify Him. In a due time (which I have to admit, sometimes takes very long, and perhaps extends to eternity), God will exalt His children - people who love Him and live obeying Him. In a due time, we will see, that God is faithful to His promises.
Okay, I think that’s all..
God bless.
I remember the days before I came to this city. Days that I spent in my hometown, Jakarta. Can be said, that time was one of the lowest points in my life. I spend my days just watched cartoon, almost all the time. I watched Hello Kitty almost every day. And hope wish I could be part of it. So cute, sweet, and peaceful. Real life seemed too hard to overcome. And in that period also, for the first time I watched Peanuts and fell for the cartoon. I think many of my friends already know how I like the cartoon (Peanuts), but just some of them know that I fell for Peanuts because.. I felt like Charlie Brown.. That boy who always fails, feels ruin everything, and lonely all the time. That exactly what I felt..
Then.. I came to Singapore. Looking for job. Got one, which until today, I’m still grateful about it. I thank God for my job.
I thank God also.. for friends He’s given me here. I thank God also.. for amazing people He put around me that have become a very blessing for me. And most of all, like I said before, I’m thankful for Him to renew my faith, once again.
I’m thankful for so many things, but it doesn’t mean I’m happy always. There still were times I felt sad and hopeless.. but everytime I looked back, remembering stressful moments I went through in Jakarta, and how God took me all the way long from Jakarta to Singapore through many amazing things happened; my faith spoke to me one thing.. “Though I cannot see, God is at work; and though I can’t feel, God is in control.”
One thing that I love in walking with God that.. everytime I look back, there is no regret. Many bad things happened, and many of them because of my own stupidity.. But when I surrendered it to God, He turned out all those bad things into good. I heard this before, that God could bring good out of evil. And I know, it’s for true.
I believe, in a due time, we’ll see that bad things happen to God’s children, turn out to be good for them, and become God’s tool to glorify Him. In a due time (which I have to admit, sometimes takes very long, and perhaps extends to eternity), God will exalt His children - people who love Him and live obeying Him. In a due time, we will see, that God is faithful to His promises.
Okay, I think that’s all..
God bless.
TIPS FOR USING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS IN YOUR SITE OR BLOG
We’ve now looked at a number of popular affiliate programs for bloggers and today I’d like to finish off this series by giving a few tips that should help bloggers get the best results out of any affiliate program that they choose to run with.
1. Consider your Audience
It almost goes without saying - but it’s worth putting yourself in your readers shoes and consider what they might be looking for as they surf by your blog. Are they shopping for specific products? Might they be looking for related products or accessories? What would trigger them to purchase? Start with your reader in mind rather than the product. If you take this approach you could end up doing your reader a favor as well as making a few dollars on the side.
2. Genuine Recommendations and personal endorsements always work best
There are literally hundreds of thousands of products and services for you to choose from to recommend to your blog’s readers but making money from them is not as simple as randomly adding links to them from your blog. Your blog’s readers come back to your blog day after day because something about you resonates with them - they have at least some level of trust and respect for you and perhaps the quickest way to destroy this is to recommend that they buy something that you don’t fully believe will benefit them.
The best results I’ve had from affiliate programs are where I give an open and honest appraisal of the product - including both it’s strengths and weaknesses. The most successful affiliate program I’m involved with here at ProBlogger is Joel Comm’s e-book which I reviewed here. If you read the review you’ll see that I not only tell readers who I believe the book is for but I also mention those it is NOT for. In a sense I critique it. On a surface level one might think that this wasn’t a wise move and that I should have given a glowing review - however the sales that I’ve had through the program have proven otherwise. People want to know what they are buying first and even if they know a product has limitations they will buy it if it meets their particular need.
3. Link to Quality Products
We all like to make sure we’re buying the best products money can buy - your readers are no different to this and are more likely to make a purchase if you’ve found them the best product for them. Choose products and companies with good reputations and quality sales pages. There is nothing worse than giving a glowing review of a product only to send your reader to a page that looks cheap and nasty.
4. Contextual Deep Links work Best
When I started using the Amazon Associate Program I naively thought that all I had to do was put an Amazon banner ad (that linked to Amazon’s front page) at the top of my blog. I thought that my readers would see it and surf over to Amazon and buy up big - thereby making me a rich man. Nothing could have been further from reality - I was deluding myself.
I always says to bloggers that I’m consulting with that they should learn something from contextual advertising when it comes to affiliate programs. The secret of contextual ads like Adsense is that a reader is reading a post on a particular topic on your blog and when they see an advertisement for that same product they are more likely to click it than if they saw an ad for something else. The same is true for affiliate programs. A banner to a general page on every page on your site won’t be anywhere near as effective as multiple links throughout your blog that advertiser products that are relevant for readers reading particular parts of your blog.
So if you’re writing a blog about MP3 players and have a review for a particular product - the most effectively affiliate program that you could link to from within the content of that page would be one that links directly to a page selling that specific model of MP3 player. This is how I use the Amazon program today. It is more work than contextual advertising because you’re not just putting one piece of code into a template but rather need to place individual links on many pages - but I find that it’s been worth the effort.
5. Consider positioning of links
One of the things I go on and on about with Adsense optimization is the positioning of ads. I tell bloggers to position their ads in the hotspots on pages (like the top of a left hand side bar - or inside content - or at the end of posts above comments etc). The same principles are true for affiliate advertising.
6. Traffic levels are Important
While it’s not the only factor - traffic levels are obviously key when it comes to making money from almost any online activity. The more people that see your well placed, relevant and well designed affiliate links the more likely it is that one of them will make a purchase. So don’t just work on your links - work on building a readership. Not only this, consider how you might direct traffic on your blog toward pages where they are more likely to see your affiliate links.
7. Diversify
without Clutter
Don’t put all your affiliate efforts into one basket. There are plenty of products out there to link to so there is no need to just work on one. At the same time you shouldn’t clutter your blog up with too many affiliate program links. If you do so you run the risk of diluting the effectiveness of your links and could disillusion your readership.
8. Be Transparent
Don’t try to fool your readers into clicking links that could make you money. While it may not always feasible to label all affiliate links I think some attempt should be made to let people know what type of link they are clicking on. I also think consistency is important with this so readers of your blog know what to expect. For example here at ProBlogger usually put a note beside or under affiliate links to simply let readers know that that is what they are. On my Digital Camera Blog I don’t do this because of the large number of such links make it clear by the text around the link that clicking on it will take them to some sort of shop or information where a purchase is possible (ie a link my say ‘buy the XXX product’ or ‘get the latest product on XXX’.
9. Combine with other Revenue Streams
Affiliate programs and advertising programs are not mutually exclusive things. I’ve come across a few people recently who have said they don’t want to do affiliate linking because it will take the focus off their Adsense ads. While there is potential for one to take the focus off the other - there is also real potential for both to work hand in hand as different readers will respond to different approaches. You should consider the impact that your affiliate links have on other revenue streams - but don’t let one stop the other.
10. Track results
Most affiliate programs have at least some type of tracking or statistics package which will allow you to watch which links are effective. Some of these packages are better than others but most will at least allow you to see what is selling and what isn’t. Watching your results can help you plan future affiliate efforts. Keep track of what positions for links work well, which products sell, what wording around links works well etc and use the information that you collect as you work plan future affiliate strategies.
What tips would you give someone getting into affiliate programs? What has worked well for you? What hasn’t? Share you experience and ideas on affiliate programs below.
Weirdness
During these 2 days,
2. God also says that, we as His princes and princesses, shall not be tails, yet heads. To lead, not to follow.
3. Last but not least is the famous sentence among Christians, is this:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”
Several things have happened .. strangely indeed.
1. This white-guy called me and asked me to join his team to be the programmer.. perhaps even the head programmer if I can solve things they cant solve. Hehe.. This is about a company, which is based on my calculation is a promising company which has a big.. no.. huge perspective to go international. Wait a minute! This company is already go-international.
Anyway, thanks Dad!
2. My friend.. silly friend who has no capabilities except bravery (blabbering about things he can do, yet he can’t.. sad) asked me to join his company to be (yet another) head programmer to develop websites. Which then could lead to tons of websites as I have been told that the clients are not just medium-sized companies, but also high-levels.. even those related closely to governments. Wooohhh!! Thanks again, Pop!
3. Not about company, just my writing about pirates have been selected to win the competition. Might not be that HIGH-lighted as the competitors are about 5-6. But still.. this is the first time I have won something in writing.. English writing. Sadly, it is just about a game. So instead of winning moneys, I won game items. 
Anyway, at least my writing quality has been classified highly. Hurrah!
Here goes the link:
http://www.voyagecenturyonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15169
These bring back old memories.. 
Back then, during high school, I am submitting everything to my Dad about my daily life, while I am doing things to make my Dad smiling at me.
As the result.. although I got 6 or 7 or 8 at my exam marks, surprisingly my score hits the top-rank in my class. And that was even the best result I have achieved ever, compared to my previous nerdy studying-freak guy one year before (which only achieved 2-rank)
At this time, starting from that submission.. I have learnt many things about doing things that is beyond, what people call, DREAMS.
1. Back to some years ago, during the Babylon Tower tragedy.. God’s promise is that everythings that human plans will happen accordingly.2. God also says that, we as His princes and princesses, shall not be tails, yet heads. To lead, not to follow.
3. Last but not least is the famous sentence among Christians, is this:
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”
Lessons from the plant
I don’t have a green thumb. A black thumb maybe, but definitely not green, not even yellow. Hahaha…. Alasannya? Sudah banyak tanaman yang menjadi ‘korban’, mati pas aku pelihara. Ada yg udah ditanamin ama temen selama 3 bulan, buat hadiah ultahku sampe berbunga gitu, trus aku pelihara, sebulan kemudian koit kelupaan disiram. Ada yang salah tanem terlalu dalem, mestinya 1/8 inch kukira 8 inch -_-” Jelas ga tumbuh bijinya, terkubur! Dan macem2 lagi cerita ‘pembantaian’ tanaman di tanganku.
It is never too late for God to restore your life
Meski begitu, aku masi aja ga kapok2 untuk pelihara tanaman. Biasanya, beberapa bulan abis ‘membunuh’ tanamanku, akan muncul lagi keinginan untuk nanam something else, walaupun udah berkali2 janji wes ga mau tanam lagiii…
So anyway, kira-kira 3 bulan yang lalu, muncullah kembali desire-ku untuk bercocok tanam lagi. Being the impulsive person I am, akhirnya beli satu pot kecil tanaman (liat photo di samping, ga tau namanya ampe sekarang, rada dodol jg sih…) which looks to be an easy-maintenance-plant. Tp berhubung saya suka ’sibuk’ (baca: lupa), tanamanku cuma minum kira2 seminggu sekali-dua kali gitu. Akhirnya daun2nya mulai rontok satu persatu sampe tinggal 2 batang doang yg tersisa berdiri di pot itu, completely daun-less!
Temen di kantor bilang katanya serbuk teh itu bisa buat pupuk. So, aku ambil 1 tea-bag dr kantor, aku tuang isinya ke pot ini, berharap bakal membantu untuk tumbuh kembali. Besoknya aku liat… ehh dahannya malah makin loyo… dan beberapa hari kemudian jadi kering dan layu!! Hopeless dah, aku dah lost interest, kayaknya gagal lagi ini. Tinggal tunggu masa2 pembuangan aja. Aku taroh di balcony, trus kelupaan for 1-2 weeks. Aku ga siramin or do anything.
Trus last week I went on holiday to HK. Again, liat tanaman2 cute, pingin pelihara lagi. (Sadis ya diriku?). Akhirnya beli pot mini tanem lavender dr biji gitu. Aku dah mikir, ini tar kalo sukses, kalo sampe gede, aku pindahin ke pot taneman yg mati itu aja. Lumayan ga perlu beli pot baru.
Waktu aku pulang dr liburan, dan mo tanemin itu lavender, I saw my old plant pot.
Lo and behold! There were four tiny leaves coming from the ground!!! WOW! Asli ga nyangka. Ternyata masi ada kehidupan!! I did not completely kill it! Hahaha… Setelah kupikir2, mungkin tanamannya itu mati gara2 aku mostly taroh di kamar, dan ga kena matahari. Kadang2 aja aku keluarin, but maybe it wasn’t enough. Trus sering lupa mengairi, sedangkan beberapa hari yg lalu hujan2 melulu, jadi di balcony itu dia juga diairi. Hasilnya, tanaman itu hidup dan tumbuh. Amazing what the sun and rain can do! Better than what I can do, apparently…. -_-
As I ponder on this, jadi mikir kalo manusia itu mirip ama tanaman ya? Seperti tanaman yang butuh matahari dan air untuk hidup dan tumbuh, kita butuh Tuhan dan firmanNya untuk hidup dan tumbuh. Aku jadi inget di Yoh 15, Yesus bilang, “Akulah pokok anggur yang benar dan Bapa-Kulah pengusahanya. Tinggallah di dalam Aku dan Aku di dalam kamu. Sama seperti ranting tidak dapat berbuah dari dirinya sendiri, kalau ia tidak tinggal pada pokok anggur, demikian juga kamu tidak berbuah, jikalau kamu tidak tinggal di dalam Aku. Akulah pokok anggur dan kamulah ranting-rantingnya. “
Seringkali orang Kristen (termasuk aku sendiri) melakukan segala sesuatu pake kekuatan sendiri. Pelayanan lah, kerjaan lah, masalah lah, terlalu sering kita berusaha selesaiin pake pemikiran kita, padahal Yesus itulah pokok anggur dan kita cuma ranting. Ranting mana bisa berbuah sendiri tanpa batang? Kalo ranting dipotong lepas dari batangnya, tewas dah. Supaya kita bisa berbuah, kita harus jadikan Yesus prioritas dalam hidup kita. Masalah, pekerjaan, pelayanan, semuanya akan beres kalo kita bergantung ama Yesus. Jadikan Dia pokok anggur yg kita harus nempel terus. Jadikan Dia matahari bagi kita yg akan membuat kita tumbuh! Make Jesus the center of your life!
Dan seperti tanaman butuh nutrisi melalui air dan tanah, manusia roh kita juga butuh nutrisi melalui firman Tuhan. Ini pasti semua org Kristen dah sering dengar, terlalu sering malah… tapi memang kebenarannya itu firman Tuhan amat sangatlah penting banget sekali buat pertumbuhan rohani kita. I cannot put enough emphasis on this. Tanpa air tanaman ga akan tumbuh besar; tanpa firman, kita ga akan mature in God. Read, meditate, and apply the Word diligently!
Satu lagi yang aku belajar… Jangan menyerah! Kalau kamu jatuh dalam pencobaan, ato gagal dalam suatu hal dan ngerasa kayanya udah ga mungkin lagi tumbuh, bertahanlah! Jangan menyerah dan putus asa. Mat 12:20 berkata, “Buluh yang patah terkulai tidak akan diputuskan-Nya, dan sumbu yang pudar nyalanya tidak akan dipadamkan-Nya.” Seberapa besarnyapun kegagalan kita, gak ada yg terlalu susah untuk dipulihkan Tuhan.
Waktu aku udah ga punya harapan ama tanamanku itu, aku ga bisa ngeliat kalo sebenernya di bawah tanah itu masih ada kehidupan, kalo akar2nya masih hidup dan akan bertumbuh menghasilkan tunas baru. Sama waktu kita udah nggak bisa melihat masa depan, semua tampak suram, kita sebenernya lagi ga ngeliat aja kalo Tuhan tuh bekerja behind the scene dalam segala hal untuk mendatangkan kebaikan bagi kita (Rom 8:28). At the end of the day, ikut Tuhan akan selalu berakhir Happy Ending. Meski prosesnya kadang2 susah dan melelahkan, tp ending hidup kita akan selalu glorious. Itu harapan yg selalu aku pegang. So, don’t give up! Persevere always because He never leave you nor forsake you!
Let this be an encouragement for you.
It is never too late for God to restore your life
Here are some tips to increase your Google Adsense CTR
This is the first part of two series of articles about How to Increase Your Google Adsense CTR.
Many people think that they just have to copy and paste Google Adsense code into their website and start earning a huge amount of money from it. What a huge mistake! I also thought the same way when I just first look at the people that success in Google Adsense. Later I realized that without optimization, that's impossible. Here I will share all of the tricks to increase my Google Adsense CTR that I found within the last two years.
Here are some tips to increase your Google Adsense CTR:
1. Make sure the ads that are appearing on your site are closely related with your content. This is the first thing you have to do because if your ads are not relevant, there's small possibility that people will click on them.
Then, what should you do to tackle this problem? Here are the tips:
> Create a keyword rich content. I suggest you creating one topic a page.
> Check your keyword rich content and then mark some of your keywords as bold or italic. But don't do it too much, just do it 1 to 2 times per page. Otherwise, Google assumes you are doing spamming.
> Use your keyword in your page title.
> Use HTML Tag H1 as your content title, and put your keyword in it. Don't forget to place this tag at the beginning of your content.
> If all those tips still do not work, there is just one possibility: there are no ads that matched with your keyword! You can check this out by using this marvelous tool from the Digital Point Website. It is called the Google Adsense Sandbox, and located in http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/Adsense-sandbox/ You'll be asked to enter your selected keyword and it will display every Adsense ads that's connected with that keyword. What if your suspicion is correct? Change your keyword! Do not worry; sometimes you just have to change one or two words.
2. Use wide ads (336x280, 300x250 or 250x250). Because these are the best performing ads.
3. Blend your ads with your website themes. For example, if your background color is white, change your ads border and background color to white as well. If your background color is dark (black), use bright color such as yellow as link color. This will decrease user ad-blindness.
4. Place your Google Adsense in these positions:
> Above the fold Above the fold is the top position of your page that's visible without your visitor having to scroll down. This is the best location that works for me. I place 336x280 ad unit in this location and it works very well. Why? Okay, back to our example. Your article is about "how to bake delicious bread". Someone finds it from search engine; when he opens it, he first sees ads about "baking school", "baking book" or "bread recipes". Who won't be interested? o In the middle of an article. This works well if your article is long (more than 500 words). People tend to stop for a while and look for something different while they read. I suggest using rectangular ads (125x125, 180x150, 300x250, 336x280, 250x250 ad unit) for this purpose and make it left justified. > At the end of an article. Many people reported that placing Google Adsense ads at the end of their article tends to work very well. This is because when people finish reading an interesting article, they usually think "okay, what's next?" That's your chance! By placing Google Adsense ads at the end of this article, people will spend a minute to read it and then (maybe) click it. For example, you write an article about "how to bake delicious bread". And at the end of it, there are some ads about "bread recipes". Who won't be interested?
5. Regarding the fourth tip, I don't recommend you placing three ad units in a single page. From my experience, the number of ad unit you place in a single page doesn't affect your CTR. In fact, I even found that placing three text ads in a single page make my ads "unblended". For example, I put 160x600, 468x60 and 336x280 ads on a single page. You know what? My 468x60 ads only showed 3 ads in it, whereas my 336x280 ads only showed 2 ads in it! My suggestion is: use 1 to 2 ad unit and a single link unit on your page (Google allows 3 ad unit and 1 link unit to be placed on a single page).
6. Always use Link Unit! Many people never realize that Link Unit is the most profitable format if put in the right place. Try to place it near your navigation menu. People will misidentify it as a navigation menu and automatically read it. If your ads are closely relevant to your content, there's big possibility they will click it. I move the top navigation in one of my websites to the bottom section and replace it with 728x15 Link Unit Ads.
I hope those tips will helpful for you. Goodluck for your own experience in Google Adsense.
Many people think that they just have to copy and paste Google Adsense code into their website and start earning a huge amount of money from it. What a huge mistake! I also thought the same way when I just first look at the people that success in Google Adsense. Later I realized that without optimization, that's impossible. Here I will share all of the tricks to increase my Google Adsense CTR that I found within the last two years.
Here are some tips to increase your Google Adsense CTR:
1. Make sure the ads that are appearing on your site are closely related with your content. This is the first thing you have to do because if your ads are not relevant, there's small possibility that people will click on them.
Then, what should you do to tackle this problem? Here are the tips:
> Create a keyword rich content. I suggest you creating one topic a page.
> Check your keyword rich content and then mark some of your keywords as bold or italic. But don't do it too much, just do it 1 to 2 times per page. Otherwise, Google assumes you are doing spamming.
> Use your keyword in your page title.
> Use HTML Tag H1 as your content title, and put your keyword in it. Don't forget to place this tag at the beginning of your content.
> If all those tips still do not work, there is just one possibility: there are no ads that matched with your keyword! You can check this out by using this marvelous tool from the Digital Point Website. It is called the Google Adsense Sandbox, and located in http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/Adsense-sandbox/ You'll be asked to enter your selected keyword and it will display every Adsense ads that's connected with that keyword. What if your suspicion is correct? Change your keyword! Do not worry; sometimes you just have to change one or two words.
2. Use wide ads (336x280, 300x250 or 250x250). Because these are the best performing ads.
3. Blend your ads with your website themes. For example, if your background color is white, change your ads border and background color to white as well. If your background color is dark (black), use bright color such as yellow as link color. This will decrease user ad-blindness.
4. Place your Google Adsense in these positions:
> Above the fold Above the fold is the top position of your page that's visible without your visitor having to scroll down. This is the best location that works for me. I place 336x280 ad unit in this location and it works very well. Why? Okay, back to our example. Your article is about "how to bake delicious bread". Someone finds it from search engine; when he opens it, he first sees ads about "baking school", "baking book" or "bread recipes". Who won't be interested? o In the middle of an article. This works well if your article is long (more than 500 words). People tend to stop for a while and look for something different while they read. I suggest using rectangular ads (125x125, 180x150, 300x250, 336x280, 250x250 ad unit) for this purpose and make it left justified. > At the end of an article. Many people reported that placing Google Adsense ads at the end of their article tends to work very well. This is because when people finish reading an interesting article, they usually think "okay, what's next?" That's your chance! By placing Google Adsense ads at the end of this article, people will spend a minute to read it and then (maybe) click it. For example, you write an article about "how to bake delicious bread". And at the end of it, there are some ads about "bread recipes". Who won't be interested?
5. Regarding the fourth tip, I don't recommend you placing three ad units in a single page. From my experience, the number of ad unit you place in a single page doesn't affect your CTR. In fact, I even found that placing three text ads in a single page make my ads "unblended". For example, I put 160x600, 468x60 and 336x280 ads on a single page. You know what? My 468x60 ads only showed 3 ads in it, whereas my 336x280 ads only showed 2 ads in it! My suggestion is: use 1 to 2 ad unit and a single link unit on your page (Google allows 3 ad unit and 1 link unit to be placed on a single page).
6. Always use Link Unit! Many people never realize that Link Unit is the most profitable format if put in the right place. Try to place it near your navigation menu. People will misidentify it as a navigation menu and automatically read it. If your ads are closely relevant to your content, there's big possibility they will click it. I move the top navigation in one of my websites to the bottom section and replace it with 728x15 Link Unit Ads.
I hope those tips will helpful for you. Goodluck for your own experience in Google Adsense.
What do You Say in Your Prayer?
Usually we value a prayer through how the person can express his/her prayer in the words and sentences. We will say his/her prayer is good, very good, nice, very nice, wonderful prayer, etc because of the words/sentences he/she mentions. Is it true? Sometimes I think it is fine as long as the prayer can touch our heart and can invite our heart and soul closer to HIM. But one thing appears as a question, does he/she say the prayer from the bottom of his/her heart? We can not judge him/her, just HE would know very deeply the bottom of his/her heart.
Talking about ‘Prayer’, it reminds me to my beloved Father. When everyone of us (I am sure) prays for ourselves, we will go to the quite room and start to say the prayer in our heart without any words come out from our mouth, but not for him. I was always impressed every time I heard he said the prayer in his room, I could hear everything he mentioned and was always ended it with ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ (Doa Bapa Kami). Every time he prayed, it was always ended by that prayer.
Through that simple example, we should take an important learning that we should not forget the prayer that Jesus ever taught more than 2000 years ago. He taught us from that prayer, we should not be egoist to put our needs in the first place, but we should worship HIM first as God of God, Lord of the Lord then would be continued with the others as we can learn together that prayer below:
The Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13)
1. Our Father in heaven, holy is Your Name. Worship Him! Whether by inner acknowledgment or outward motion, bow before the King, your Father and Shepherd, in faith, love, humility and surrender, the attitude of worship. Whisper or speak His names (some are listed in the appendix), letting them remind you of all that He is, all that He has, and all that He wants to share with you, His precious bride.
2. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Surrender to Him! Our King reigns — He always has and He always will. Today, the goodness of His kingdom is demonstrated wherever His will is known and followed. Pray that the King will reign in your heart and do His will through your life this day. (Mark 14:36, John 4:34, 5:30; Romans 12:1-2, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
3. Give us this day our daily bread. Trust Him for daily provision! Jesus, Himself the Bread of life, longs to equip you with the riches and resources of His life. When you give yourself to Him, He gives Himself to you. You become one with Him — not in the New Age sense where the human personality is absorbed into a pantheistic force — but in the privilege of sharing in His life. All that He is and has becomes available to you so that He can fulfill His purpose in you. This is covenant relationship, and it’s far more wonderful than human thoughts can conceive. (Matthew 6:33; John 6:35-63; Psalm 62:5-6; Ephesians 3:14-19)
4. Forgive us as we forgive. Thank Him for His Grace — and share it with others! God calls us to “be holy” as He is holy; nothing less can qualify us for the heavenly throne room of our King. That means there must be no hindrance to the biblical oneness between Him and you, nor between you and His other friends. (Matthew 6:14-15; Hebrews 4:14-16; James 5:16a; 1 Peter 1:16; 1 John 1:9, 3:2-3)
5. Deliver us from the evil one. Battle in prayer! Stand firm in the spiritual victories Christ won for you at the cross. They are living realities for those who belong to Him. So trust His Word and authority, then stand immovable against the enemies of the Kingdom. (Exodus 14:13; 2 Chronicles 20:6-15; Psalm 18; Matthew 16:19; Ephesians 6:10; 1 John 4:4; Revelation 12:10-11)
6. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever! Praise Him! trust Him! The Kingdom belongs to God, but He shares its riches now and forever with His children who trust and follow Him. Unbounded grace is lavished (though we may not always recognize it) on those who love Him enough to hear His heart, share His concerns, and walk in His purpose. (Mark 11:22-24; John 15:7, 14:12-14; Philippians 4:4-7, 19; James 1:5-6, 4:3)
Amen.
THE ADULATION OF MAN IN THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE
Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life “is more than a bestseller, it’s become a movement.”[1] In the words of the author himself his megachurch program is “Revival awakening or miracle…Over 12,000 churches from all 50 states and 19 countries have now participated in 40 Days of Purpose. Many of these churches have reported that it was the most transforming event in their congregation’s history.”[2] “Rick is also the founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community that serves and mentors those in ministry worldwide. Over 60,000 pastors subscribe to Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox.”[3] On this Webpage he states, “Our Purpose is to encourage pastors, ministers, and church leaders with tools and resources for growing healthy churches…Every resource you purchase helps provide free resources to the over 1.5 million pastors and lay pastors in third world countries. God has allowed us through your support to reach over 117 different countries on all 7 continents.”[4] The movement is becoming a global empire. Warren asserts, “God is a global God…Much of world already thinks globally. The largest media and business conglomerates are all multi-national…Get a globe or map and pray for nations by name. The Bible says, ‘If you ask me, I will give you the nations; all the people on earth will be yours.’”[5] (Warren, however, has overlooked the fact that this promise was made uniquely to Christ Jesus, and not to megachurches seeking expansion). Even the business world is looking on with awe. Forbes.com in an article called “Christian Capitalism Megachurches, Megabusinesses” acknowledged that,
“Maybe churches aren’t so different from corporations…Pastor Rick Warren, who founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., in 1980, has deftly used technology as well as marketing to spread his message… No doubt, churches have learned some valuable lessons from corporations. Now maybe they can teach businesses a thing or two. Companies would certainly appreciate having the armies of nonpaid, loyal volunteers.”[6]
The empire of influence of which Warren boasts is echoed by thousands of pastors and Christian leaders around the world. At least eighteen million copies of his book have been sold since its release in September 2002. It is now selling in many translations. Literally thousands of churches have used the book and the materials that accompany it during special campaigns called 40 Days of Purpose. The book is divided into forty chapters purporting to explain in 40 days the five purposes of one’s life. Indeed, the thesis of the book is found on p. 136,
“He [God] created the church to meet your five deepest needs: a purpose to live for, people to live with, principles to live by, a profession to live out, and power to live on. There is no other place on earth where you can find all five of these benefits in one place.” [7]
Warren is dead wrong in his list of “deepest needs”. On the authority of the Bible, the first and foremost need of any man is perfect righteousness before the All Holy God. It is Christ Jesus’ righteousness alone that God will accept as a propitiation for any man’s sin and sin nature. This primary need of man is constantly shown in the Bible but Warren does not even mention this foundational truth in his list of “deepest needs”. Warren’s quick switch from God’s purpose to man’s methods falls under the first temptation ever recorded in the Bible. Satan offered to Eve the fruit as the way of achieving a spiritual purpose, “in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”[8] Warren teaches that God “created the church to meet your five deepest needs” just as the Roman Catholic Church says, “The Church is the mother of all believers.”[9] Warren, like Rome, has switched from obedience to the Word and Person of the Living God to submission to a church to achieve one’s needs. It is the oldest and cleverest temptation known to man.
Warren’s gospel, the root flaw
The Apostle Paul showed the need for the Gospel by the fact that whole the world is guilty before God. He declared, “now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”[10] All are “by nature children of wrath”[11], guilty before the all Holy God. To appear before Him, therefore, each needs a perfect righteousness. James summarizes the whole condition of man when he says, “for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”[12] Guilt before God shows the need for the Gospel and as such is the basis for the Gospel. Conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit drives the sinner to trust truly on Christ Jesus alone, as the publican in the parable of the Lord cried out, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”[13] With Warren, this conviction of guilt is reduced by psychological terminology to the condition of “unconsciously punishing of oneself”. He states,
“Many people are driven by guilt…. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. When Cain sinned, his guilt disconnected him from God’s presence, and God said, ‘You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.’ That describes most people today—wandering through life without a purpose. (pp. 27-28)
Rather than sin being shown to be an evil of infinite significance because it is committed against an infinite Person, Warren’s pop psychology defines sin as acts of people “sabotaging their own success”. He continues,
“God won’t ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?” (p. 34)
“If you learn to love and trust God’s Son, Jesus, you will be invited to spend the rest of eternity with him. On the other hand, if you reject his love, forgiveness, and salvation, you will spend eternity apart from God forever.” (p. 37)
Biblically speaking, it is absolute folly to tell an unconvicted sinner merely to “learn to love and trust God’s Son, Jesus”. No one can be saved without recognition of his own sin personally against Holy God, and without turning away from that sin. So while it is true that the only thing that matters “is to learn to love and trust Him”, this love and trust is impossible unless the Holy Spirit has convicted a person that he is a depraved sinner without any hope in himself. Warren does endeavor to define sin when he states,
All sin, at its root, is failing to give God glory. It is loving anything else more than God. Refusing to bring glory to God is prideful rebellion, and it is the sin that caused Satan’s fall—and ours, too. In different ways we all lived for our own glory, not God’s. The Bible says, ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’” (p.55)
While this is true, Warren still has not acknowledged personal guilt and personal need for Christ’s perfect righteousness and perfect sacrifice. Warren’s persistent declarations one’s “self worth” and “true self”, as we will shortly document, totally negates what he says about “prideful rebellion”. The book and movement, on the contrary, major in upholding “self worth” and “true self” thus endorsing the very “prideful rebellion” it states is cause of our fall, even as it was Satan’s. This type of a contradictory statement made by Warren makes it difficult to analyze the book. While this is so, it is all the more necessary to do such an analysis. Without the Apostle Paul’s conviction, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing,”[14] there can be no true faith in Christ Jesus, nor even a growth in sanctification before God. The first key flaw in the Warren’s gospel message is the negation of the very basis needed for salvation. As the Lord Himself proclaimed, “they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” [15]
The heart of Warren’s gospel
Warren’s gospel message gets worse as he proceeds in the book. He assures his readers,
“Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is receive and believe. The Bible promises, ‘To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.’ Will you accept God’s offer?” (p.58)
What Warren has neglected in his teaching of John 1:12 is that the following verse, v. 13, explains how a person is born again, “which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Warren has completely ignored the fact that to receive and believe is not of the will of man, but of God. It is the grace of God that makes a person willing to believe, for the heart is changed by God’s power alone. To leave out this essential point changes the focus from God to man. Such a change of focus from God to man is lethal to salvation because there is no power within man to change himself. This grace must come from God. If, however, Warren had taught his readers to look to God for His grace, he would not have a ready-made message that is marketable. For Warren it is advantageous to leave out “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”. In leaving out this essential factor of the Gospel he can in fact propose that which this verse of Scripture rules out! The Lord is consistent in His Word, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”[16] Eternal life is bestowed on a person not because man begins the work, but it is because God gives salvation out of His mercy and grace. Such is the written purpose of God. Warren’s written purpose is the opposite. It begins, he says, with man, “Real life begins by committing yourself…” But this is a deception for which Warren will have to pay before the All Holy God. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked…It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”[17] The power and dread of God’s vindictive wrath is great. There will be eternal misery for those who teach a false gospel, their punishment shall come from God’s own hand.
Warren progresses in his bogus gospel message,
“First, believe. Believe God loves you and made you for his purposes. Believe you’re not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you’ve done, God wants to forgive you.
“Second, receive. Receive Jesus into your life as Lord and Saviour. Receive his forgiveness for your sins. Receive his Spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill your life purpose. Wherever you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: ‘Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you.’ Go ahead. “If you sincerely meant that prayer congratulations! Welcome to the family of God!” (p. 58-59).
According to Warren’s teaching, it is the prayer that one whispers that changes a person for eternity. Instead of magnifying the enormity of sin and setting forth its eternal consequences, Warren says, “Believe that no matter what you’ve done, God wants to forgive you.” With one sweet lie he attempts to wipe out all the teaching of the prophets in the Old Testament and the Lord Christ Jesus and the Apostles in the consistent teaching on the abhorrence of sin and the need of repentance. In place of the Gospel as “the power of God unto salvation” “in which the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith,”[18] Warren merely gives a whispered prayer. It is difficult to envisage a greater insult to Christ Jesus, whose perfect life and perfect sacrifice are the basis of genuine salvation.
The Apostle Paul declares that the righteousness of God is manifested, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.”[19] Before God, sin had to be punished and true righteousness established. God’s holiness demanded the perfect life and perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus to satisfy His wrath against sin. But for Warren, as we had seen, sin is said to be “sabotaging…success” so the whole concept of perfect righteousness being manifested before God is totally missing. With the omission goes the omission of the concept of grace as the means of obtaining that perfect righteousness. According to Warren’s doctrine, salvation is “bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity.” In Scripture, salvation is God’s action based on Christ’s finished work on the cross that is credited to the true believer, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”[20] God’s direct action shows His grace so that our eyes are fixed on Him in faith. Understanding Warren’s bogus gospel, and outrageously presumptuous “welcome to the family of God”, we can but repeat the words of the Lord, “woe unto you…for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men.”[21] By a false gospel and false assurance of admittance into the family of God, Warren has excluded further seeking for the truth, “woe unto you…for ye have taken away the key of knowledge.”[22] The Gospel, in which the finished work of the Lord is proclaimed, is such that it cannot be changed by a lie that ignores repentance and adds a whispered prayer that insults the meaning and application of redemption. This replacement of Warren’s purpose for God’s purpose has dreadful consequences: “though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”[23] Christ Jesus the Lord and His Gospel cannot be insulted with impunity. As the receiver of stolen goods is as accountable as the thief, so one who promotes such a pretended gospel is as accountable in the sight of God as the impostor himself.
Self worth: the Glorification of Man
Basic to Warren’s program is the strong appeal of promised instantaneous results in the enhancement of one’s imaginations of his own self worth. What is completely ignored is the solemn fact that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope is outside of himself and in Christ Jesus alone. Although Warren states that the book is “not about you” (p. 17), the main focus is persistently on building up one’s “self worth”. He continually appeals to the reader’s self-interests. The following are some examples,
“The way you see your life shapes your life. How you define life determines your destiny” (p. 41).
“You are a bundle of incredible abilities, an amazing creation of God. Part of the church’s responsibility is to identify and release your abilities for serving God” (p. 242).
“The best use of your life is to serve God out of your shape. To do this you must discover your shape, learn to accept and enjoy it, and then develop it to its fullest potential” (p. 249).
This equates exactly with the Hinduism in its teaching, “By understanding your true Self, by coming to know one’s own undying soul, one then arrives at the knowledge of Brahman itself…”[24] While Warren’s teaching is comparable with Hinduism, the most likely source of Warren’s teaching is Carl Jung. Discovering one’s “power of the inner voice” or one’s fullest potential is what Jung taught, “Only the man who can consciously assent to the power of the inner voice becomes a personality.”[25] What is much more serious is that Warren’s teaching has the same basic premise as Roman Catholicism. The Vatican’s official foundational starting point is man himself. Rome states,
“It is man himself who must be saved: it is mankind that must be renewed. It is man, therefore, who is the key to this discussion, man considered whole and entire, with body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will. This is the reason why this sacred Synod, in proclaiming the noble destiny of man and affirming an element of the divine in him, offers to co-operate unreservedly with mankind in fostering a sense of brotherhood to correspond to this destiny of theirs.”[26]
“Discovering one’s shape accepting and enjoy it developing it to its fullest potential” is same basic foundation as the Church of Rome and Hinduism have, as we have already seen, but the same is true also of Islam and Buddhism—all of them have for their focal point the basic goodness of mankind. Warren summarizes this basic foundation in the following words,
“If you are that important to God, and he considers you valuable enough to keep with him for eternity, what greater significance could you have? (p. 63)
The Scriptures, however, depict no such value or goodness within man. Rather the Holy Spirit teaches that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?”[27] “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.”[28]
Warren even goes so far as to distort a Scripture text to uphold his treasured concept of “true self.” He states, “The Bible says, ‘Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self’” (p.19). The passage he quotes is a contrived paraphrase of Matthew 16:25 from The Message. The Lord in fact said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” The Lord clearly taught that we are to consider our lives dead in order to follow Him. This passage does not teach anything about “true self” or self esteem. Warren used the counterfeit paraphrase to fantasize that the Lord had spoken of “finding yourself, your true self”. The craze of finding your “true self”, one of the hallmarks of the 1960’s hippy crowd, has now made its mark in this popularized debasing of Christianity.
Self-exaltation “salvation” is worthless
This same glorification of man Warren teaches in many different ways.
“You only bring him [God] enjoyment by being you. Anytime you reject any part of yourself, you are rejecting God’s wisdom and sovereignty in creating you” (p. 75).
“When you are sleeping, God gazes at you with love, because you were his idea. He loves you as if you were the only person on earth” (p. 75).
But Warren does not stop here with his adulation of man. The height of his glorification of man is found in the statement that makes the personal worth of the reader the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross. In doing so, “self-worth” is pushed to the point not only of perverting the Gospel but also of insulting the Lord Himself. Warren states,
“If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at Christ with his arms outstretched on the cross, saying, ‘I love you this much! I’d rather die than live without you’” (p. 79).
These words “I'd rather die than live without you” are part of a lyric of the “backstreet boys.”[29] These words, put into the mouth of the Lord Christ Jesus by Warren, are a blasphemy. Christ Jesus the God-man, does not have a love that is dependant on man. If he had such a dependancy, He would not be God. To teach that the love of the Lord Jesus Christ is unholy, as Warren has, is both an insult and irreverence. It exalts sinful man to a position of control regarding the eternal Son of God. Can such an imagination be anything other than profanity? “He opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name.”[30]
In Scripture, Christ’s love and sacrifice were to demonstrate that God is “just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”[31] Nevertheless, Warren’s doctrine makes living with sinful man the centerpiece of God’s purpose. In Scripture, the focus of God’s purpose was the demonstration of His justice and holiness in the Person and sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Sinful man was included in this great manifestation of the righteousness of God as a recipient by grace of the redemption paid. Warren’s grandiose glorification of sinful man to the extent that Christ Jesus would rather die than to live without him totally reverses the biblical message that God does all for His own glory. All is of Him and from Him, and therefore all is to Him and for Him. He made all creation according to His will and for His praise. The Lord God Almighty’s purpose exposes the ridicule, vainglory and even blasphemy of Rick Warren.
Fallen man is depraved in every part of his nature and being, and it is not within his power to undo his depravity, to save himself or rescue himself. To try to aggrandize the fallen man, as Warren does, is futile because there is no moral salvation in man’s worth. A person’s only hope lies outside of himself, in divine worth and power. Human nature as such is dead in trespasses and sins. Water cannot flow uphill, nor can the natural man act contrary to his corrupt nature. All human beings are destitute of the principles and powers of spiritual life. They are cut off from God, the fountain of life. They are spiritually dead as a condemned criminal is said to be a dead man. Thus the Lord Christ Jesus declared, “for from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”[32] Christ declared, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” He signified that that which is propagated by fallen man is depraved. If the principle of self-worth and the ability to choose Christ were true, the conclusion would inevitably follow that those who used their ability to choose Christ could lawfully boast of their active participation in their salvation. But the truth is that faith itself is God’s gift, “for by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”[33] Until one realizes his personal condition of being spiritually dead before the All Holy God, one will never properly appreciate God’s grace. Salvation begins not in self worth and self-movement but by divine power. Scripture is utterly clear on this matter: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.”[34] “For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”[35] God gives life to the spiritually dead will of man by giving His grace. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that overcomes the pride of the natural man, so that one is ready to come to Christ to receive life. In the Lord’s own words, “the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”[36] As the Lord also explained, “It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes unto me.”[37]
“Self-salvation” promoted on the basis of human worth and dignity is ingrained in human nature. It is found in all man-made religions. It is pivotal to the message of Warren’s book and movement. Warren’s teachings deny the biblical truth that man is totally depraved. Subsequently, he denies the absolute necessity of God’s grace. The relationship between spiritual death and grace is graphically given in Scripture, “that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”[38] Without understanding the total depravity of those to whom the Gospel is given, the Gospel will remain a dead letter. In leaving out the biblical truth that “there is none righteous, no, not one”[39] and substituting for it the self-worth of man, Warren’s arrogance has reached a level predicted in the Scripture, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”[40]
Conclusion
Now that we have documented that a bogus gospel message is given in the 40 Days of Purpose in The Purpose-Driven Life we are obliged to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”[41], and to “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”[42] Through the Warren movement, multitudes are being deceived on the very meaning of the Gospel of salvation. Vast numbers sincerely believe that they have received Christ as their personal Savior while in fact all that they have received into their right hand is a man-made ritual and “covenant” commitment to a church, which they have obligated themselves by vow to fulfill. While many of the articles regarding Warren commend the good things Warren has had to say, they forget that Lord Himself and His Apostles utterly condemned the presentation of a false gospel. How can we expect any true revival and the bringing of the everlasting righteousness of Christ Jesus into the lives of men and women, if we are not willing to exposed pretensions of him who embraces a “christ” unknown in the pages of Scripture, who presents a sham gospel and who is willing to commend the devotees of the apostate system of Rome? He is a deceiver who willfully defrauds, after all the light of the Gospel of grace has been clearly set forth. It must not be thought strange that there are deceivers of the Lord Christ’s name and dignity now, for there were such of old, even in the Apostles’ times. The danger and evil of departure from the true Gospel is in effect and reality a departure from God Himself. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”[43] ?
For more information on the false teachings of Rick Warren, the legion of false teachers he promotes, and the false translations he uses in his Purpose Driven Life book, I recommend the documentary book entitled: Who’s Driving the Purpose Driven Church? by James Sundquist. It is published by Bible Belt Pubishers and available at Southwest Radio Church Ministries at: http://www.swrc.com/offers/index.htm#h616
Or call Toll Free 1-800-652-1144
Richard Bennett of “Berean Beacon” WebPage: http://www.bereanbeacon.org/
Permission is given by the author to copy this article if it is done in its entirety without any changes.
Permission is also given post this article in its entirety on Internet WebPages.
Source : http://www.bereanbeacon.org
“Maybe churches aren’t so different from corporations…Pastor Rick Warren, who founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., in 1980, has deftly used technology as well as marketing to spread his message… No doubt, churches have learned some valuable lessons from corporations. Now maybe they can teach businesses a thing or two. Companies would certainly appreciate having the armies of nonpaid, loyal volunteers.”[6]
The empire of influence of which Warren boasts is echoed by thousands of pastors and Christian leaders around the world. At least eighteen million copies of his book have been sold since its release in September 2002. It is now selling in many translations. Literally thousands of churches have used the book and the materials that accompany it during special campaigns called 40 Days of Purpose. The book is divided into forty chapters purporting to explain in 40 days the five purposes of one’s life. Indeed, the thesis of the book is found on p. 136,
“He [God] created the church to meet your five deepest needs: a purpose to live for, people to live with, principles to live by, a profession to live out, and power to live on. There is no other place on earth where you can find all five of these benefits in one place.” [7]
Warren is dead wrong in his list of “deepest needs”. On the authority of the Bible, the first and foremost need of any man is perfect righteousness before the All Holy God. It is Christ Jesus’ righteousness alone that God will accept as a propitiation for any man’s sin and sin nature. This primary need of man is constantly shown in the Bible but Warren does not even mention this foundational truth in his list of “deepest needs”. Warren’s quick switch from God’s purpose to man’s methods falls under the first temptation ever recorded in the Bible. Satan offered to Eve the fruit as the way of achieving a spiritual purpose, “in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”[8] Warren teaches that God “created the church to meet your five deepest needs” just as the Roman Catholic Church says, “The Church is the mother of all believers.”[9] Warren, like Rome, has switched from obedience to the Word and Person of the Living God to submission to a church to achieve one’s needs. It is the oldest and cleverest temptation known to man.
Warren’s gospel, the root flaw
The Apostle Paul showed the need for the Gospel by the fact that whole the world is guilty before God. He declared, “now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”[10] All are “by nature children of wrath”[11], guilty before the all Holy God. To appear before Him, therefore, each needs a perfect righteousness. James summarizes the whole condition of man when he says, “for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”[12] Guilt before God shows the need for the Gospel and as such is the basis for the Gospel. Conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit drives the sinner to trust truly on Christ Jesus alone, as the publican in the parable of the Lord cried out, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”[13] With Warren, this conviction of guilt is reduced by psychological terminology to the condition of “unconsciously punishing of oneself”. He states,
“Many people are driven by guilt…. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. When Cain sinned, his guilt disconnected him from God’s presence, and God said, ‘You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.’ That describes most people today—wandering through life without a purpose. (pp. 27-28)
Rather than sin being shown to be an evil of infinite significance because it is committed against an infinite Person, Warren’s pop psychology defines sin as acts of people “sabotaging their own success”. He continues,
“God won’t ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?” (p. 34)
“If you learn to love and trust God’s Son, Jesus, you will be invited to spend the rest of eternity with him. On the other hand, if you reject his love, forgiveness, and salvation, you will spend eternity apart from God forever.” (p. 37)
Biblically speaking, it is absolute folly to tell an unconvicted sinner merely to “learn to love and trust God’s Son, Jesus”. No one can be saved without recognition of his own sin personally against Holy God, and without turning away from that sin. So while it is true that the only thing that matters “is to learn to love and trust Him”, this love and trust is impossible unless the Holy Spirit has convicted a person that he is a depraved sinner without any hope in himself. Warren does endeavor to define sin when he states,
All sin, at its root, is failing to give God glory. It is loving anything else more than God. Refusing to bring glory to God is prideful rebellion, and it is the sin that caused Satan’s fall—and ours, too. In different ways we all lived for our own glory, not God’s. The Bible says, ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’” (p.55)
While this is true, Warren still has not acknowledged personal guilt and personal need for Christ’s perfect righteousness and perfect sacrifice. Warren’s persistent declarations one’s “self worth” and “true self”, as we will shortly document, totally negates what he says about “prideful rebellion”. The book and movement, on the contrary, major in upholding “self worth” and “true self” thus endorsing the very “prideful rebellion” it states is cause of our fall, even as it was Satan’s. This type of a contradictory statement made by Warren makes it difficult to analyze the book. While this is so, it is all the more necessary to do such an analysis. Without the Apostle Paul’s conviction, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing,”[14] there can be no true faith in Christ Jesus, nor even a growth in sanctification before God. The first key flaw in the Warren’s gospel message is the negation of the very basis needed for salvation. As the Lord Himself proclaimed, “they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” [15]
The heart of Warren’s gospel
Warren’s gospel message gets worse as he proceeds in the book. He assures his readers,
“Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ. If you are not sure you have done this, all you need to do is receive and believe. The Bible promises, ‘To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.’ Will you accept God’s offer?” (p.58)
What Warren has neglected in his teaching of John 1:12 is that the following verse, v. 13, explains how a person is born again, “which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Warren has completely ignored the fact that to receive and believe is not of the will of man, but of God. It is the grace of God that makes a person willing to believe, for the heart is changed by God’s power alone. To leave out this essential point changes the focus from God to man. Such a change of focus from God to man is lethal to salvation because there is no power within man to change himself. This grace must come from God. If, however, Warren had taught his readers to look to God for His grace, he would not have a ready-made message that is marketable. For Warren it is advantageous to leave out “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”. In leaving out this essential factor of the Gospel he can in fact propose that which this verse of Scripture rules out! The Lord is consistent in His Word, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”[16] Eternal life is bestowed on a person not because man begins the work, but it is because God gives salvation out of His mercy and grace. Such is the written purpose of God. Warren’s written purpose is the opposite. It begins, he says, with man, “Real life begins by committing yourself…” But this is a deception for which Warren will have to pay before the All Holy God. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked…It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”[17] The power and dread of God’s vindictive wrath is great. There will be eternal misery for those who teach a false gospel, their punishment shall come from God’s own hand.
Warren progresses in his bogus gospel message,
“First, believe. Believe God loves you and made you for his purposes. Believe you’re not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you’ve done, God wants to forgive you.
“Second, receive. Receive Jesus into your life as Lord and Saviour. Receive his forgiveness for your sins. Receive his Spirit, who will give you the power to fulfill your life purpose. Wherever you are reading this, I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity: ‘Jesus, I believe in you and I receive you.’ Go ahead. “If you sincerely meant that prayer congratulations! Welcome to the family of God!” (p. 58-59).
According to Warren’s teaching, it is the prayer that one whispers that changes a person for eternity. Instead of magnifying the enormity of sin and setting forth its eternal consequences, Warren says, “Believe that no matter what you’ve done, God wants to forgive you.” With one sweet lie he attempts to wipe out all the teaching of the prophets in the Old Testament and the Lord Christ Jesus and the Apostles in the consistent teaching on the abhorrence of sin and the need of repentance. In place of the Gospel as “the power of God unto salvation” “in which the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith,”[18] Warren merely gives a whispered prayer. It is difficult to envisage a greater insult to Christ Jesus, whose perfect life and perfect sacrifice are the basis of genuine salvation.
The Apostle Paul declares that the righteousness of God is manifested, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.”[19] Before God, sin had to be punished and true righteousness established. God’s holiness demanded the perfect life and perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus to satisfy His wrath against sin. But for Warren, as we had seen, sin is said to be “sabotaging…success” so the whole concept of perfect righteousness being manifested before God is totally missing. With the omission goes the omission of the concept of grace as the means of obtaining that perfect righteousness. According to Warren’s doctrine, salvation is “bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity.” In Scripture, salvation is God’s action based on Christ’s finished work on the cross that is credited to the true believer, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”[20] God’s direct action shows His grace so that our eyes are fixed on Him in faith. Understanding Warren’s bogus gospel, and outrageously presumptuous “welcome to the family of God”, we can but repeat the words of the Lord, “woe unto you…for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men.”[21] By a false gospel and false assurance of admittance into the family of God, Warren has excluded further seeking for the truth, “woe unto you…for ye have taken away the key of knowledge.”[22] The Gospel, in which the finished work of the Lord is proclaimed, is such that it cannot be changed by a lie that ignores repentance and adds a whispered prayer that insults the meaning and application of redemption. This replacement of Warren’s purpose for God’s purpose has dreadful consequences: “though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”[23] Christ Jesus the Lord and His Gospel cannot be insulted with impunity. As the receiver of stolen goods is as accountable as the thief, so one who promotes such a pretended gospel is as accountable in the sight of God as the impostor himself.
Self worth: the Glorification of Man
Basic to Warren’s program is the strong appeal of promised instantaneous results in the enhancement of one’s imaginations of his own self worth. What is completely ignored is the solemn fact that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope is outside of himself and in Christ Jesus alone. Although Warren states that the book is “not about you” (p. 17), the main focus is persistently on building up one’s “self worth”. He continually appeals to the reader’s self-interests. The following are some examples,
“The way you see your life shapes your life. How you define life determines your destiny” (p. 41).
“You are a bundle of incredible abilities, an amazing creation of God. Part of the church’s responsibility is to identify and release your abilities for serving God” (p. 242).
“The best use of your life is to serve God out of your shape. To do this you must discover your shape, learn to accept and enjoy it, and then develop it to its fullest potential” (p. 249).
This equates exactly with the Hinduism in its teaching, “By understanding your true Self, by coming to know one’s own undying soul, one then arrives at the knowledge of Brahman itself…”[24] While Warren’s teaching is comparable with Hinduism, the most likely source of Warren’s teaching is Carl Jung. Discovering one’s “power of the inner voice” or one’s fullest potential is what Jung taught, “Only the man who can consciously assent to the power of the inner voice becomes a personality.”[25] What is much more serious is that Warren’s teaching has the same basic premise as Roman Catholicism. The Vatican’s official foundational starting point is man himself. Rome states,
“It is man himself who must be saved: it is mankind that must be renewed. It is man, therefore, who is the key to this discussion, man considered whole and entire, with body and soul, heart and conscience, mind and will. This is the reason why this sacred Synod, in proclaiming the noble destiny of man and affirming an element of the divine in him, offers to co-operate unreservedly with mankind in fostering a sense of brotherhood to correspond to this destiny of theirs.”[26]
“Discovering one’s shape accepting and enjoy it developing it to its fullest potential” is same basic foundation as the Church of Rome and Hinduism have, as we have already seen, but the same is true also of Islam and Buddhism—all of them have for their focal point the basic goodness of mankind. Warren summarizes this basic foundation in the following words,
“If you are that important to God, and he considers you valuable enough to keep with him for eternity, what greater significance could you have? (p. 63)
The Scriptures, however, depict no such value or goodness within man. Rather the Holy Spirit teaches that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?”[27] “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.”[28]
Warren even goes so far as to distort a Scripture text to uphold his treasured concept of “true self.” He states, “The Bible says, ‘Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self’” (p.19). The passage he quotes is a contrived paraphrase of Matthew 16:25 from The Message. The Lord in fact said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” The Lord clearly taught that we are to consider our lives dead in order to follow Him. This passage does not teach anything about “true self” or self esteem. Warren used the counterfeit paraphrase to fantasize that the Lord had spoken of “finding yourself, your true self”. The craze of finding your “true self”, one of the hallmarks of the 1960’s hippy crowd, has now made its mark in this popularized debasing of Christianity.
Self-exaltation “salvation” is worthless
This same glorification of man Warren teaches in many different ways.
“You only bring him [God] enjoyment by being you. Anytime you reject any part of yourself, you are rejecting God’s wisdom and sovereignty in creating you” (p. 75).
“When you are sleeping, God gazes at you with love, because you were his idea. He loves you as if you were the only person on earth” (p. 75).
But Warren does not stop here with his adulation of man. The height of his glorification of man is found in the statement that makes the personal worth of the reader the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross. In doing so, “self-worth” is pushed to the point not only of perverting the Gospel but also of insulting the Lord Himself. Warren states,
“If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at Christ with his arms outstretched on the cross, saying, ‘I love you this much! I’d rather die than live without you’” (p. 79).
These words “I'd rather die than live without you” are part of a lyric of the “backstreet boys.”[29] These words, put into the mouth of the Lord Christ Jesus by Warren, are a blasphemy. Christ Jesus the God-man, does not have a love that is dependant on man. If he had such a dependancy, He would not be God. To teach that the love of the Lord Jesus Christ is unholy, as Warren has, is both an insult and irreverence. It exalts sinful man to a position of control regarding the eternal Son of God. Can such an imagination be anything other than profanity? “He opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name.”[30]
In Scripture, Christ’s love and sacrifice were to demonstrate that God is “just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”[31] Nevertheless, Warren’s doctrine makes living with sinful man the centerpiece of God’s purpose. In Scripture, the focus of God’s purpose was the demonstration of His justice and holiness in the Person and sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Sinful man was included in this great manifestation of the righteousness of God as a recipient by grace of the redemption paid. Warren’s grandiose glorification of sinful man to the extent that Christ Jesus would rather die than to live without him totally reverses the biblical message that God does all for His own glory. All is of Him and from Him, and therefore all is to Him and for Him. He made all creation according to His will and for His praise. The Lord God Almighty’s purpose exposes the ridicule, vainglory and even blasphemy of Rick Warren.
Fallen man is depraved in every part of his nature and being, and it is not within his power to undo his depravity, to save himself or rescue himself. To try to aggrandize the fallen man, as Warren does, is futile because there is no moral salvation in man’s worth. A person’s only hope lies outside of himself, in divine worth and power. Human nature as such is dead in trespasses and sins. Water cannot flow uphill, nor can the natural man act contrary to his corrupt nature. All human beings are destitute of the principles and powers of spiritual life. They are cut off from God, the fountain of life. They are spiritually dead as a condemned criminal is said to be a dead man. Thus the Lord Christ Jesus declared, “for from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”[32] Christ declared, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” He signified that that which is propagated by fallen man is depraved. If the principle of self-worth and the ability to choose Christ were true, the conclusion would inevitably follow that those who used their ability to choose Christ could lawfully boast of their active participation in their salvation. But the truth is that faith itself is God’s gift, “for by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”[33] Until one realizes his personal condition of being spiritually dead before the All Holy God, one will never properly appreciate God’s grace. Salvation begins not in self worth and self-movement but by divine power. Scripture is utterly clear on this matter: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth.”[34] “For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”[35] God gives life to the spiritually dead will of man by giving His grace. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that overcomes the pride of the natural man, so that one is ready to come to Christ to receive life. In the Lord’s own words, “the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”[36] As the Lord also explained, “It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes unto me.”[37]
“Self-salvation” promoted on the basis of human worth and dignity is ingrained in human nature. It is found in all man-made religions. It is pivotal to the message of Warren’s book and movement. Warren’s teachings deny the biblical truth that man is totally depraved. Subsequently, he denies the absolute necessity of God’s grace. The relationship between spiritual death and grace is graphically given in Scripture, “that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”[38] Without understanding the total depravity of those to whom the Gospel is given, the Gospel will remain a dead letter. In leaving out the biblical truth that “there is none righteous, no, not one”[39] and substituting for it the self-worth of man, Warren’s arrogance has reached a level predicted in the Scripture, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”[40]
Conclusion
Now that we have documented that a bogus gospel message is given in the 40 Days of Purpose in The Purpose-Driven Life we are obliged to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”[41], and to “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”[42] Through the Warren movement, multitudes are being deceived on the very meaning of the Gospel of salvation. Vast numbers sincerely believe that they have received Christ as their personal Savior while in fact all that they have received into their right hand is a man-made ritual and “covenant” commitment to a church, which they have obligated themselves by vow to fulfill. While many of the articles regarding Warren commend the good things Warren has had to say, they forget that Lord Himself and His Apostles utterly condemned the presentation of a false gospel. How can we expect any true revival and the bringing of the everlasting righteousness of Christ Jesus into the lives of men and women, if we are not willing to exposed pretensions of him who embraces a “christ” unknown in the pages of Scripture, who presents a sham gospel and who is willing to commend the devotees of the apostate system of Rome? He is a deceiver who willfully defrauds, after all the light of the Gospel of grace has been clearly set forth. It must not be thought strange that there are deceivers of the Lord Christ’s name and dignity now, for there were such of old, even in the Apostles’ times. The danger and evil of departure from the true Gospel is in effect and reality a departure from God Himself. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”[43] ?
For more information on the false teachings of Rick Warren, the legion of false teachers he promotes, and the false translations he uses in his Purpose Driven Life book, I recommend the documentary book entitled: Who’s Driving the Purpose Driven Church? by James Sundquist. It is published by Bible Belt Pubishers and available at Southwest Radio Church Ministries at: http://www.swrc.com/offers/index.htm#h616
Or call Toll Free 1-800-652-1144
Richard Bennett of “Berean Beacon” WebPage: http://www.bereanbeacon.org/
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Source : http://www.bereanbeacon.org
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