“I would like to buy about three dollars worth of gospel, please.
Not too much – just enough to make me happy, but not so much that I get addicted.
I don’t want so much gospel that I learn to really hate covetousness and lust.
I certainly don’t want so much that I start to love my enemies, cherish self-denial, and contemplate missionary service in some alien culture.
I want ecstasy, not repentance;
I want transcendence, not transformation.
I would like to be cherished by some nice, forgiving, broad-minded people, but I myself don’t want to love those from different races – especially if they smell.
I would like enough gospel to make my family secure and my children well behaved, but not so much that I find my ambitions redirected or my giving too greatly enlarged.
I would like about three dollars worth of the gospel, please.
(D. A. Carson, Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians, pp. 12-13)
Belakangan ini di media lagi rame ngomongin tentang recall Toyota. Sebenernya udah dari Agustus tahun kemarin sih, di San Diego empat orang meninggal yang kemungkinan gara2 pedal gas nyangkut di floor mat. Terus sejak itu, media mulai rame, GM bikin incentive program, Honda yang notabene saingan Toyota pasang iklan yang lumayan “mengejek” Toyota.
Mungkin karena peristiwa di atas, semua mata mengarah ke Toyota. Yang pada akhirnya ktemu lagi defects lain. Sekarang, masalahnya bukan cuma floor mat, tapi juga masalah pedal gas, juga masalah rem. Alhasil, 8 juta mobil di-recall, konon biayanya sampai $2 billion. Di Jepang sendiri, hampir setengah penduduknya pakai Toyota. Dari Kaisar, pejabat pemerintah, sampai orang biasa. Perusahaan Jepang terbesar (by market capitalization) ya Toyota.
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Di hadapan anak-anak di Rumah Pintar Cakra Cendekia-1 Markas Divisi I Infranti Kostrad, Cilodong, Depok, Jawa Barat, Minggu (31/1/2010), Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono mengenalkan lima Presiden RI yang pernah memimpin sebelum dirinya.
“Anak-anak, siapa presiden RI yang pertama itu,” tanya Presiden Yudhoyono, sambil menunjuk jejeran foto-foto Presiden RI yang terpampang di dinding tembok Rumah Pintar tersebut. Anak-anak kemudian menjawab serempak, “Soekarno….”. Presiden kemudian mengenalkan bahwa Presiden Soekarno adalah proklamator.
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