Reformed Children

  Heidelberg Catechism #5: Questions 9,10m 11 Pdt. Heru Lin 27 August, 2025 A person was found with thirteen cars and sevenr cars in his house after it was investigated when he was found to be guilty of corruption. By tricking people, he made a lot of profit. Before, he thought President Prabowo would pardon him because he (the person) was on his (Prabowo's) side. A few days larer, he was punished, instead of being pardoned.  That is a sin that is to the detriment of other people (those hit by the corruption), but what about sins that do not? They a,so should be punished. The ninth question of the catechism is "Does God expect humans to follow his law which cannot be done by humans?" Basically, why doesn't God lower his standards after humans fell to sin? They can't reach perfection. Is this unfair? God expects us to love him with all our heart, soul snd strength, and our neighbors as ourselves, but we are flawed humans. The New Testament doesn't lower the sta...

 Heidelberg Catechism #4: Questions 6,7,8 Vik. Happy Manurung Wednesday, 20th of August Romans 5:12 Question #6 of the Heidelberg Catechism Did God create humans as sinful? No, humans were created well and in the image of God: so they could understand, love, glorify and enjoy God (W.S.C 1 - "Glorify God and enjoy him forever") and with moral freedom, that we could choose if we wanted to obey God or rebel against him. Of course, we took the second path. However, when we fell into sin, we lost that moral freedom, and we, no matter how much good we do, fall short of God. However, when Christ came, we can finally be regenerated only through the Holy Spirit. Question #7 of the Heidelberg Catechism Where did our depraved nature come from? Total Depravity (the T of TULIP, an abbreviation of five Calvinist theological principals) is the total, all encompassing human nature of sin derived from the fall, which affects us in all respects. Where did our depravity come from? The Heidelber...

 This is an english text of Richard L Pratt's Public Seminar on 19th August 2025. The public seminar is titled "joy in life's struggles? ". This event is free and you do not need to register to enter. This only includes the dialogue of Richard L Pratt.  Richard Pratt: Good night! I'm so glad to be with you tonight. Thank you for coming out in the evening like this. Although I cannot see you because of the bright lights I believe you are there. I'm always glad to be with you in these evenings when we do special seminars. What we'll do is read from Ephesians 4, the first six verses of this chapter. "  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.   Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hop...

Freedom and Liberation from Sin  Chapel Gabungan Jadi S. Lima Wednesday, 13 August (I had forgotten to bring the chapel notes home, so it is not as complete as usual) Jesus has liberated us from sin. He is Our Long awaited Messiah who is freeing us from the slavery of sin. Every 49 years, the Jews celebrate the year of Jubilee after seven cycles of Sabbath Years). In Luke 4:14-30, Jesus declares that He has come to bring Good News, proclaim good news, freedom and proclaimed the "Year of the Lord's Favor". Jesus and his coming is our religious independence from sin. This is like a proclamation of independence. In August 17, we will have the celebration of independence politically, but a much greater independence is one from sin.  Reflection: I just learned about Jesus' first sermon and how it was the "proclamation of our spiritual independence". I learned about this perspective and I think it is very fitting as we approach Indonesian independence day. 

 Hello! Today what I want to write about is something I think is fairly unspoken about.  When parents announce the sex or gender (I will leave the terms neutral for now) of a child, it is called a "gender reveal". "Reveal" is straightforward and "gender" usually is too. However, actually this phrase is not right, because of a big difference in words. What is the difference between sex and gender? They are not the same, and actually gender is a modern term which is influenced by modern liberalism  when it comes to sex. Sex is the biological term and gender is the sociological term. Your gender (how you sociologically are, male or female) should be your sex (at birth).  So, the example of "gender reveal" is wrong, it is a sex reveal, as what it is revealing is if the child will be a boy or girl at birth.  Something I don't like is using "gender" for everything. I think this is because of "sex" being taboo since it has other ...

 Hello! I previously made "Humans, Boredom and God", about boredom and its relationship with God. Today, we are covering almost the opposite of boredom - humor and a sense of humor, that is the quality of being amsuing, or informally "funny". Our main questions are: 1) is humor a byproduct of sin? 2) what is humor? We will also think about the "goodness" of humor. Humor is a distinctly human characteristics and these distinct human  characteristics are very interesting to think about.  1) Is humor a byproduct of sin, and what is humor? Humor is the sense of being amusing. What is the purpose of humor? Generally, its purpose is to amuse people. Is the need for amusement a byproduct of sin? This is a rather challenging question. Before sin, humans were  happy  in a perfect, godly way. However, when humans sinned, there came deficiencies like sadness, boredom, and insatisfaction. Amusement's purpose is to mainly relieve humans from defiencies of boredom a...

  Heidelberg Catechism #3: Questions 3,4,5 Daniel Ekasaputra Ongkowijojo Wednesday, 6th of August (Recap: The first and second questions were about how God was our relief and joy in life or death, and about how God has freed us from sin and suffering. In the first meeting, it was an introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism, a catechism unique for being comforting and was made by Zacharias Ursinus (more subjective/mystical) and edited by Caspar Olevianus (more objective). The third question of the catechism is "How do you know your sin and misery?". Take a look at Romans 3:20. It says through the law (Torah), we become aware of our sin. We can use the Torah as a mirror, which objectively shows our sin and its size. Torah also has Good News, and both gives us hope and reveals us of our depravity.  The fourth question asks about what the Torah teaches. Matthew 24:37-40 answers this question: its main, overarching teaching is to love God and our equals (Tuhan dan sesama). The fif...

 Hello! Today, I am doing a unique post, about boredom.  Boredom and the sense of "excitement" or "fun" is so ingrained in our lives we rarely think about it deeply. Yet, just thinking about boredom from a deep perspective quickly lets you come to a fascinating realization: 1) humans are the only one to feel boredom, 2) another unique human trait is they are the Imago Dei 3) God cannot become bored. First, humans have many unique traits, but one of them is a sense of boredom and excitement. When there is a lack of interesting or exciting things, humans naturally feel bored. Boredom, however is not an independent thing, but the absence of excitement/interest.  Next, the second point is about how humans are the image of God, and from this trait, they also have many other unique attributes like rationality, curiosity, morality, justice, etc. However, some of the human unique traits also stem from sin, and we will cover that soon, Third, boredom is certainly not derived...

We often think of the Trinity as a complicated, complementary, and a confusing idea. We think of "God is love" as a warm idea because its very simple and direct, but God is love because he is Triune. The Trinity changes in the Christian life. We often negatively think of the Trinity, as something odd and problematic. We make ways to explain it, and many see it as irrelevant. We say what the Trinity isn't (Not three gods, etc) but not what the Trinity truly is. God is a mystery who has revealed himself, the Triune God has revealed the Trinity. "Trinity" does not appear in the Bible, but it is not a false idea. It is not an invention from the church, but an expression of the truth in the Scripture. It is a distinctly Christian idea, and the Athanasian Creed tells us that God is Triune, and without the Trinity, we are not Christians. This is why the Trinity is so important. Christianity centers around God, and that God is Triune.  Nowadays, people associate the wor...