FROM THE DESK OF THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT Shalom .... God's partner in the Marketplace, Happy labour day or Mayday for all of us who work. We have just heard of a sad incident from a brutal acts of terrorist in Sri Lanka that claimed the lives of hundreds of souls of worshipers commemorating Easter. We really pray that the families left behind are given the strength and true comfort of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the network of terrorist actors so that they experience an encounter with the God of Revival with mercy and grace just like Paul's story. In Indonesia, it seems we are still not really finished from the democratic election that took place during the election of the President and Vice President directly and members of the legislature. The time needed by the KPU (Election Committee) to complete the vote count, coupled with the many news Hoax can trigger an unstable situation, hence we invite all of God's people to stand in the GAP, so that when the announcement on May 22 later, supporters of the two candidates can refrain from potential horizontal conflicts and / or other things that cause instability. One of the facts of history was in ancient times when the supremacy of Rome, the Kingdom was a lot of invasion surrounding countries even to the Middle East. After the conquest of an empire, they not only left their troops, but also politically sent their leaders to rule over the place, one of the objectives of which was to ensure that Roman law also applied to the colony. The same thing must happen when the Kingdom of God invades this world or the marketplace. God wants to make sure whether the law or culture of God's Kingdom will apply to that place. But what if people who are sent to create new cultures such as the culture of God's Kingdom are affected by this world culture? You can be sure the process of infiltration of the Kingdom of God will not occur. The Word of God says, that we are warriors, where warriors do not think about their interests other than submit and carry out their master's orders, show life like broken bread and wine poured out for this world, so that our nation may experience God's Kingdom. The way that God wants us to do is certainly not a violent or physical approach, but through the way of life of Christ that is manifested in our lives every day. Without such a culture or way of life, it is impossible for us to fulfil His noble plan. Representing the entire National Board, we express our gratitude for all your prayers, donations and participation for the ICCC-Indonesia (International Christian Chambers of Commerce). See you in next month's edition and Lord Jesus bless you, your family and business and your work. Umbu Pekuwali National President ICCC Indonesia www.iccc-indonesia.com 1
REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR ASIA Mr. Benjamin B Juwono, ICCC Regional Director for Asia visited Singapore on the 29th of March 2019 for a meeting with Mr. Wilson Cheah and Ms. Norma Sit on how to rebirth dan revitalize ICCC Singapore. The Lord is faithful and we believe in his due time, ICCC Singapore will become blessings to other countries in Asia
INSPIRATION, WISDOM, TESTIMONY
From Business Intelligence to Biblical Wisdom by Robert Rouse Let me share a story about how God orchestrates events in our lives to accomplish his will and help us find our calling. I started this blog not long after moving to a new department in my company. The road I’ve been speeding down since then is worth describing. My first attempt at getting the transfer failed. Another engineer who hired on at our location shortly after me got it instead. Later on, I discovered that the divine plan 2
was better than my own. A few months after that first interview, another job in the same department came available, but this one was far better suited to my skills and one which I knew would be much more interesting to me. It would involve a great deal of database manipulation for reporting, analysis, and whatever else might need to be done with our computer systems that I could help with. Around that same time frame, I was envisioning a draft concept for a bible search/study tool that I have coined “MetaV.” All I had was the idea and an illegible sketch. I was certain that I’d have to invest in some new tools and steadily, patiently learn some new programming language to make it work with the database I had begun building. That all changed when I swapped jobs and began learning about newer ways to gather, compute, analyze, and visualize data. Nearly every month I have learned of new tools and techniques which help me take leaps forward in various projects for this site and at work. Many times I just “happen” to discover them. As one who believes in God’s omnipotence rather than luck, I can see how he uses things like this in “secular” circumstances to teach us and mold us spiritually. There is really no difference between our work lives and spiritual lives. God is everywhere, in control of everything and every part of our day. The field collectively known as Business Intelligence includes players like SAP (Crystal Reports), IBM Cognos, and of course Microsoft (plus many others). Then, along comes Tableau. It turns out that the people that make the most annoying Facebook games collect and analyze user data in ways you wouldn’t believe – and they use Tableau to do it. I thought: what if I could use that to analyze scripture? What if we applied business intelligence tools to find biblical wisdom? Now, don’t get me wrong – only the Holy Spirit can truly bring understanding of his words. But, having a tool that provides a view of scripture you’ve never seen before can be a big help in beginning that process. I am happy to report that Tableau does have a free version of their software for use with public data that I have begun applying to MetaV. Thanks to the awareness of new tools gained through my new job duties, I am using weeks-old technology to create things like readability graphics without having to learn any special programming or making any investment other than time. With a little more of that investment, an integrated view of the entire Bible with a map, timeline, and details about each verse in a single interactive view is not that far away. Had I gotten the job I originally went for, I don’t know that I’d be this far along in the process. I don’t know that I would have found the tools to help me do the things that I believe God has equipped and called me to do. I do know that his timing and his plans are perfect. When that time is right, readers of this blog will be the first to discover an entirely new approach to bible study. 3
Christian Wisdom in Silicon Valley: Tech Company Embraces the Rule of St. Benedict Do you remember "What would Jesus do?" Here's a new question: What would Benedict do? You've probably heard something about the Rule of Saint Benedict, a famous work written in the sixth century by Benedict of Nursia, the founder of Western monasticism. For fifteen hundred years The Rule has guided monks in their shared religious life by encouraging prayer, obedience, and manual labor. It also served as a foundation for the idea of a written constitution and the rule of law across medieval Europe. Which brings us to today. D. Richard Hipp is the founder of a public domain database management engine called SQLite that's used in major browsers, smart phones, Adobe, and Skype. Hipp is asking a question almost never heard in the high-tech world: What would Benedict do? Hipp, a professing Christian, has put forward a new set of community standards for SQLite programmers based on the Rule of Saint Benedict. The Rule, and now the community standards of SQLite, include the following duties: "First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole strength. Then, love your neighbor as yourself. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal." Digging a little deeper into the Rule of Saint Benedict, we find these admonitions, most of which come straight from God's Word: "Be not proud. Be not addicted to wine. Be not a great eater. Be not drowsy. Be not lazy. Be not a grumbler. Be not a detractor. Put your hope in God. Attribute to God, and not to self, whatever good you see in yourself. Recognize always that evil is your own doing, and to impute it to yourself."
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As Christianity Today's Kate Shellnutt reports, SQLite's developers are on board, pledging to "govern their interactions with each other, with their clients, and with the larger SQLite user community in accordance with the 'instruments of good works' from the fourth chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict." Amazing. Of course, the code of conduct is a suggestion, not a mandate. It's an invitation to true wisdom. "No one is required to follow The Rule, to know The Rule, or even to think that The Rule is a good idea," the company maintains. "The Founder of SQLite believes that anyone who follows The Rule will live a happier and more productive life, but individuals are free to dispute or ignore that advice if they wish." And, not surprisingly for Silicon Valley, there are more than a few users who do dispute the Rule of Saint Benedict's applicability to a popular software application. "I am quite baffled by this," said one commenter. "I mean this is some strange place to promote Christianity." Another said, "Religious discrimination isn't ok, and being annoyed by it isn't blowing things out of proportion." Hipp, however, is unapologetic in the face of such criticism. "The values expressed by the current [code of conduct] have been unchanged for decades and will not be changing as we move forward," he said on an SQLite message board. "If some people are uncomfortable with those values, then I am very sorry for them, but that does not change the fact." Now, making The Rule a guide for so-called secular business isn't as outlandish as you might think, either. One study concludes that "these monastic organizations turn out to be highly successful businesses with remarkably low employee turnover and high profitability," and that "the RSB can contribute, outside of the monastic context, to the creation and running of more 'humane' organizations." It's amazing, isn't it, how empowering God's rules can be for all of life, and not just for what is so often called the religious part. While we may not be in the position of a Richard Hipp in the high-flying software industry, surely we can use our influence in whatever corner of the world God has placed us to show our neighbors His love for them and His desire that they flourish in Him.
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International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) lahir dari kepatuhan terhadap visi yang diberikan selama kurun waktu enam tahun kepada seorang usahawan Swedia J. Gunnar Olson, yang diteguhkan dengan nubuatan dan terbukanya pintu kesempatan disekitarnya yang sebelumnya tertutup. ICCC merupakan panggilan yang serius dan menantang bagi pengusaha Kristen untuk mengenali jaman yang sedang kita masuki dan dengan terang dari pengenalan itu memasuki dimensi iman yang baru yang disediakan bagi mereka yang …” takut akan TUHAN … berbicara satu sama lain … dan menghormati namaNya.” (Maleakhi 3: 16) Visi ini memanggil para pengusaha dan kaum profesi di seluruh dunia yang terbeban untuk saling berhubungan, bertukar pendapat, memperdagang-kan barang dan menyediakan jasa, saling mendukung dan menguatkan secara rohani dan materi. Berdasarkan eksistensi dari visi itu sendiri memproklamirkan otoritas Kristus yang mutlak diseluruh dunia. Pada intinya ICCC adalah kehendak TUHAN untuk memperluas tali kasih-Nya, melalui gereja-Nya, didalam dunia usaha. Hal ini menuntut para pelaku bisnis mencari terlebih dahulu Kerajaan-Nya dan segala Kebenaran-Nya. Urapan tersedia bagi mereka yang dengan mata melihat dan telinga mendengar panggilan jaman. Sebagaimana halnya Raja Daud yang menerima urapan untuk menjadi raja, jauh sebelum dia menjadi Raja, yang keadaan pada saat urapan diberikan sama sekali tidak mungkin bagi Daud untuk menjadi Raja, demikianlah ICCC memanggil para pengusaha Kristen sebelum peristiwanya terjadi untuk mengalami kebebasan masuk ke dalam dimensi baru, dimana sasaran, strategi dan perencanaan bersama-sma diwujud-nyatakan sesuai dengan iman di dalam Kristus.
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ICCC mencanangkan panggilan itu sejalan dengan rencana TUHAN bagi jaman ini sebagai kunci memperoleh berkat dan pertumbuhan dan agar dapat bangkit berkemenangan diatas gelombang ombak yang mengancam. Panggilan ICCC: “Mereka akan menjadi milik kesayanganKu sendiri, firman TUHAN semesta Alam pada hari yang Kusiapkan. Aku akan mengasihi mereka sama seperti seseorang menyayangi anaknya yang melayani dia. Maka kamu akan melihat kembali perbedaan antara orang benar dan orang fasik, antara orang yang beribadah kepada TUHAN dan orang yang tidak beribadah kepadaNya.” (Maleakhi 3: 17-18) KEYAKINAN IMAN ICCC:
Satu-satunya TUHAN pencipta segala sesuatu dalam kesatuan Trinitas: Bapa, Anak, dan Roh Kudus.
Keilahian TUHAN Yesus Kristus. Kelahiran-Nya dari rahim seorang Perawan. Karya penebusan dosa manusia melalui kematian-Nya diatas kayu salib. Kebangkitan-Nya. Hak otoriatas diri-Nya atas dunia dan Kedatangan-Nya yang kedua kali dalam Kuasa dan Kemuliaan-Nya.
Alkitab, sepenuhnya sebagai Firman TUHAN yang memberikan inspirasi dan berbagai peraturan bagi kehidupan yang dilandasi iman.
Keselamatan pribadi orang berdosa dan kebutuhannya untuk mengalami proses regenerasi melalui8 karya Roh Kudus dalam menuju menjadikannya sebagai manusia yang dikehendaki oleh TUHAN, seutuhnya.
TRANSFORMED WORKING LIFE Transformed Working Life (TWL) adalah Pelatihan resmi dari Kantor Internasional bagi anggota ICCC dalam memperlengkapi anggota dengan pengetahuan dan pemahaman latar belakang, tujuan dan penerapan prinsipprinsip Kerajaan TUHAN bagi dunia bisnis dan profesi. TWL diperuntukkan bagi anggota dan dapat diikuti secara cuma-cuma, namun terbuka juga bagi siapa saja yang berminat untuk mengikutinya.
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TWL diselenggarakan dalam bahasa Indonesia dan dilengkapi dengan buku panduannya, yang telah diterjemahkan kedalam Bahasa Indonesia juga, sehingga para peserta betul-betul akan memperoleh manfa’at yang besar dan mengalami transformasi dalam kehidupan pribadi maupun bisnisnya. TWL difasilitasi oleh anggota National Board yang terlatih dan dikoordinir oleh V.P. Teaching: Benjamin B. Juwono bersama dengan Teaching Team: Johanis S. Najoan dan Eliezer H. Hardjo Transformed Working Life (TWL) akan ditayangkan dalam salah satu channel di Indonesia agar dapat dimanfaatkan oleh para pebisnis & profesional Kristiani di Indonesia bagaimana menerapkan prinsip-prinsip Kerajaan Tuhan dalam kehidupan berbisnis dan bekerja mereka. TWL bagi members secara rutin diadakan pada hari Sabtu ke 2 setiap bulan dan terbuka dan dianjurkan bagi semua member untuk mengikutinya sebagai pembekalan wajib.
TWL SERIES
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DEVOTIONAL God and Money Scripture Reading — Matthew 6:19-24 “No one can serve two masters. ... You cannot serve both God and money.” — Matthew 6:24 Maybe you have heard that the Roman god of love was Venus, and the god of war was Mars. To many of us, those are just the names of a couple of planets. But to a Roman army, it was crucial to sacrifice to Mars and pray for victory before going into battle. And a young Roman man would pray to Venus that the woman who had stolen his heart would return his love. Our historical memory is short, and most of us don’t know that the ancient Syrian god of wealth and prosperity was called Mammon. Jesus lived just across the border from Syria, and he knew about Mammon. This was a false god that represented the love of money and the material wealth and comforts and power it might buy. Jesus also knew that you cannot have any other god alongside the Creator of heaven and earth. That would be idolatry. Therefore, he said, “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” Idolatry always involves a different way of looking at the world and doing business. And gradually the idol takes over. Greed and worry—accompanying so much of the pursuit of prosperity today—replace the moral guidelines of the Bible, and calm trust in God’s blessing disappears along with them. Trampled human relationships and nervous breakdowns are sometimes signs that, somewhere along the line, serving Mammon has squeezed out serving God. Who are you serving today?
Prayer Lord God, earning a living is an important part of our daily life. Help us to serve you alone, and to trust you for our daily bread. Amen.
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CORPORATE MEDIATION AND SERVICES Corporate Mediation and Services (CMS) is known as the emergency clinic provided by the ICCC Indonesia to help and assist any company owned by the ICCC Indonesia members, individually and/or a partnership corporation belong to two or more members. In addition, CMS is also providing assistance to any company belong to nonmembers as long as they are willing to follow the rules and biblical principles offered by and through CMS. I. SCOPE OF SERVICES: 1. To link and bring the companies together. 2. To provide consultation to the company in trouble. 3. To provide training to the staff using Transformed Working Life (TWL) training materials. 4. To act as a mediator between two or more parties that involve in conflict due to many reasons. II.
PROCEDURE: 1. The ICCC Member to contact CMS Centre 2. The participating consultant to visit the company or companies which require help, to discuss about the problems and possible help and assistance to solve the problems. 3. To pray together 4. To set-up the follow-up 5. The CMS will evaluate and submit a proposal on how to handle the problem.
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MATCHMAKING & NETWORKING I. ANTI BACTERIA – ELSOZO SANITIZER
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SPIRIT OF CHANGE JAKARTA AGENCY Please call Simon Aditan: Mobile: +62-816974647, +62-81285847155
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III. GMT TRAVEL
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NATIONAL BOARD - ICCC INDONESIA National President
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Umbu Pekuwali
Vice Presidents: Admin/Secretary -
Tonny Soetjoadi
Finance/Treasurer - Johanis S. Najoan Membership/Mentoring/Network - Simon Aditan Teaching / Training - Benjamin B. Juwono Business Development/Micro-Enterprise - Efendi Sitorus Young Professionals –
Maria E. Sitorus
Board of Advisors -
Manimbul Luhut Sitorus & Mohan U. Vasandani
Corporate Mediation & Services Coordinator Intercessors Coordinator – Eliezer H. Hardjo Kantor Nasional ICCC Indonesia: Website: www.iccc-indonesia.com Pertokoan Pulo Mas Blok B I / 8, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan. Jakarta 13260 Telp (021) 4890211, fax: (021) 4722274. E-mail: iccc.indonesia@yahoo.com, iccc.indonesia@gmail.com
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