Inspiring the birth of a generation of revolutionist

Can ONE talented people inspires to the birth of a generation of revolutionist? YES, Jesus did. He's not only talented, He is God! His life forever inspires the whole world. In this article, I would like to draw your attention to few guys who i believe very very very few of you know them.

I was practising my chops (drums rudiments that is!) just now while watching X-Games classics on ESPN. I was touched by the courage, persistence and disciplines of the athletes. Btw, this are X-games athletes...making big tricks with skateboard, BMX, motocross bike, rally car, inline skate etc. You might not have heard of a guy named Mat Hoffman. He started revolutionary BMX tricks that inspires today's generation of BMXers. Tony Hawk, a pro skater also did the same thing with skateboard. He come up with lots of tricks that evolved by the later generation of skaters. These two guys inspires a generation of revolutianist among the X-gamers and until today, most of the tricks we see are all inspired by both of them.

Having said that, I want u guys to check out this guy name Danny Way, Jake Brown, Travis Pastrana..watch their videos in youtube and you'll amazed what those people can do to impact their generation & the next generation. They broke their bones, fail to do tricks but yet they still keep on moving, they still keep on believing in their talent. They just focus on their talent and with work hard and persistence, they reach their goal. By the way, Danny Way is the first and only skaters so far, who manage to jump over the Great Of China with skateboard! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdamrGj7bsg&feature=related)

Now, can you imagine in our east malaysian society, a guy who're professional skaters or dancers or singers or movie maker who makes a huge impact in their generation, thus inspiring the birth of a generation of revolutionist. Can you imagine, a person who's talent is to draw comics can make a huge impact in our generation? Can you imagine a person who's life is about futsal can make a huge impact in our nation? I do. I have seen lots of potential in this generation of ours. Church should be alert and discover these hidden talents.

All of us are gifted with talents, never let anybody put u down just because your talent is not famous/interesting compare to others. Don't give up on your talents when people say being succesful is to be a businessman, lawyer, doctor, engineer etc. who earn more than 10k a month! Use whatever talent you have. Starting today, pray to God and believe that He will use you to inspire a generation of revolutionist who will impact the nation. I'm still in the process of sharpening my talents & discovering a new one...this will never stop and i hope the same goes with you too. OK, need to return to my practice now...have an inspiring week guys! God bless

Danny Way

Jake Brown

Travis Pastrana

TALENT IS NEVER ENOUGH

Few days ago my dad bought me a book...since he knew that i'm a big fan of John C. Maxwell. He bought a great book titled TALENT IS NEVER ENOUGH. I'm still reading it and it was so inspiring. From weeks or months to come, i'm gonna share what i've learned & practiced after reading the book.

I used to think that with my talent i can go further in life...in my career as musician or in ministry. I was wrong...talent alone is never enough..there's another element needed for us to go further & higher. I've also seen many talented people, especially young people who fall..not because they're NOT talented, but they fall because they ARE talented people and the problem is when talented people think that talent is all they need. Talent is just a small percent of what can contribute to ones success. I really recommend u guys to find this book and i believe it will inspires you as much it inspires me.

In conclusion, here's are the thing that complement a person's talent:

BELIEF lifts your talent

PASSION energizes your talent

INITIATIVE activates your talent

FOCUS directs your talent

PREPARATION positions your talent

PRACTICE sharpens your talent

PERSEVERANCE sustains your talent

COURAGE tests your talent

TEACHABILITY expands your talent

CHARACTER protects your talent

RELATONSHIPS influence your talent

RESPONSIBILITY strengthens your talent

TEAMWORK multiplies your talent

What ONE life can do to IMPACT

I have seen in my ministry life many Christians have give up either on their ministry, their church, their friends and their own life. I've seen christians who're once ministering at their top-highest level of spirituality and passion and now, some of them living their life as if they never know who they're once before and what God has done in their life. It's such a sad situation. It bring tears to my eyes as I see my friends & other people drifting away from their calling.

The numbers of youth attending church these days are growing really fast and yet I am not surprise if we gonna lose this generation soon...sooner than we think. Why is this happening in our generation? Most of us can come up with many reasons...which is true but in my opinion, the reason why some Christians can't run the race till the end is because they have not realize what God can do with their life.

Years ago, my aim of being a christian is to enter heaven. While waiting for His second coming, I will try my best to be a good christian, living my life according to the bible. And if i'm blessed enough with some talent, I will serve God in church...and apparantly I find myself involve with the music ministry in my church back when I was 13 years old. Playing drums from church service to inter-denomination service. That time being a Christian and a church musician, I thought the highest level of ministry i can go is to play music in the state level youth conference. Those time, any church musician who manage to play at the youth conference is considered as the best musician. It was a big event, held at the capital city of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu.

Well, God is good...He manage to grab me before I play there (youth conference). I didn't manage to join my team to serve at the youth conference because my whole family move to peninsular malaysia. Why did I say God is good when He grab me away? Well, I will become a big head church musician if I were to play there.

Looking back, I want to tell you that being a christian is not about serving God at the largest venue, popular conference / service, recording album, touring the nation with your ministry group and so on. Well, all these are just part of the ministry but doing it doesn't make us be the highest level or the elite christian. That's not the main reason God created us.

Imagine if you were to reach those level. You'll be thinking, "what else needed? I've reached my goal as a Christian. I've involve in the biggest ministry ever!"...I have impacted the nation. Sounds true, but not quite true. First and foremost, we know that “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is not from works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NET) Nothing that we do can make us righteous other than by the grace of God. So, I thought whatever I do, if it’s big, then I can consider myself making a big impact and inspiring others. But God rebuke me. My life, my renewed life is not solely for doing church ministry, organizing events and stuff…my renewed life is to impact other people 360 degrees through my words, my thoughts, my actions, my music…in fact, EVERYTHING about my life, when I’m at the pulpit, when I’m not serving in church…EVERYTHING about my life is meant to give impact to the people around me.

Some Christians divide church ministry and their daily living. Hey, our life is a ministry! Every single thing that we do is for God (Colossians 3:17). I want to summarize all this through the following lines:

Don’t think that you're making a big impact when you’ve become a great preacher.
Don’t think that you’re making a big impact if you’re a worship leader in a big conference.
Don’t think that you’re making a big impact if lots of people know how talented you are.
Don’t think that you’re making a big impact if your voice can’t be heard by thousands.
Don’t think that you’re making a big impact if you only know how to do ministry but not ministry itself.

But

You’re making a BIG impact when you willing to spend some time listening to a friend who are struggling with his sin.
You’re making a BIG impact when you willing to help your church’s usher to arrange the chairs or clean the church.
You’re making a BIG impact if you willing to take unpaid leave just to take care your sick relative.
You’re making a BIG impact if a person sees you on stage while you worship lead, saying “I know him, he’s not just a worship leader, he’s my mentor”
You’re making a BIG impact if you found yourself praying for your troubled friend over the phone when she called you at 4 a.m.

The list goes on and on…making an impact with your life not about quantity; it’s about the quality of your life. I believe that if a person connected to God, whatever he do with his life is an impact towards others. If you can see how your life can be used to impact others, the word “retire” from ministry will never surface. Let us continue to impact others with whatever we have. Just like the little boy who make a BIG impact by giving his 2 fish and 5 loaves to Jesus.

Have a blessed day.

Time to change

I'm counting my days...asking GOD & myself. Have I done enough for the next gen of leaders? Have I really impacting their life and have they learn something from me? Before I begin a new journey, I have to end this journey. Changing route, heading towards a new land. Changes doesn't always feel good at first but it sure make a whole lot difference in ones life IF it's a good changes. In the past I've made some changes in my life which is not a good changes tho it seems like a right thing to do at first. It's a painful experience.

We all need to change, leaders need to change. We need to move forward and let the new leaders take over our place...don't hold on to your position, but hold on tight to your commitment towards the ministry...that shows what kind of leader you are.

I don't know why, i have this little worry in my heart concerning the young leaders. Not that I don't trust them, but I felt that they're more than just a leader or brothers & sisters to me...they are like my own children. I felt that as a "father", i want to see my children (the young people of RYC) growing up to be a better person...better than myself....achieving BIGGER things in life compare to what I've done. I want them not to repeat my mistake..i want them to remember whatever life's lesson I've thought them and whatever advices i gave.

This is not a "good bye" but this is a "I put my trust in you, i know you can do it without me by your side". Just as we leaving our parents to live a life on our own, so does us, as a leaders giving wings for the younger leaders to fly.

To change to a better condition, we need to leave the old condition of us even if it's a comfort zone for us. Changes requires us to lose some in other to gain. This what scares most leaders...to let go. The fear of losing their so-called "glorious moment" in ministry.

It's time to change to a new wineskin..-"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, “The old is good" Luke 5:37-39

I'm ready for a change. How about you?

What I’ve learned from serving in the youth ministry

Some brief history about my ministry life before I serve in RYC (Relevant Youth Church). I’m a typical church musician. What I know during that time is, playing drums atau pelayanan mimbar adalah pelayanan utama gereja..yang lain-lain tu nda penting, bahkan bukan pelayanan yang sesungguhnya. Basically I’m a typical narrow minded, pemuzik gereja yang berpandangan sempit. Itu dahulu, 14 years ago…thank God He love me and renewed me. I start to serve in church as musician when I’m 15 years old..so u guys can guess my age..haha .

Anyway, when it comes to youth ministry, what I see is a bunch of youth having a service like normal Sunday service but added with games, casual outfit, slightly heavy music and you can jump (IF your church allow such things!) So, that’s how I see the youth ministry. Itu dahulu. Coming to KL, serving in the same church since 1999 until now, I have no interest in the youth ministry because I see it as a boring ministry..sekadar memenatkan ja dan saya sendiri tidak terlibat didalam youth ministry pada waktu itu..kalau terlibat pun, sebagai pemuzik ja..biasalah, “orang-orang seni” di gereja ni kan macam artis, datang bila dijemput untuk nyanyi-nyanyi…hahaha..kalau yang tersinggung tu, bertobatlah..kalau anda yang ketawa tu, puji Tuhan, kita semua pernah melalui zaman2 itu sebelum bertobat dulu.

Fast forward the years, gereja kami tahun 2007 dimentor dan ingin saya katakan, RYC bermula dan tetap bertahan pada hari ini kerana campur tangan Tuhan melalui mentoring di gereja kami. Ntah kenapa, sebelum mentoring masuk, sebelum Relevant Youth Church ada, saya diangkat jadi youth leader gereja. Siapa yang tidak hairan? Saya sendiri hairan sebab saya sendiri tidak pernah terfikir untuk jadi pemimpin. Namun kerana kemurahan dan anugerah Tuhan lah saya ada pada hari ini sebagai leader yang Tuhan percayakan bagi memimpin Relevant Youth Church. Anyway, the details about how I become a youth leader you can ask when we meet la ya.

Anyway, I doesn’t have yearssss of experience in youth ministry. 2 tahun setengah ja pengalaman bah. Tapi saya sangat sangat sangat bersyukur pada Tuhan kerana dalam 2 tahun lebih saya melayani sebagai youth leader, Tuhan membuka hati saya, pemimikiran saya, mengubah hidup saya bahkan, perspektif saya mengenai pelayanan turut berubah. Ingin saya kongsikan apa yang saya pelajari sewaktu melayani di RYC.

1) Youth ministry is about RELATIONSHIP
I realize that youth ministry is not only about wearing funky casual outfit for service, it’s not about playing heavy music and jump to it, not even playing games or the ice breaker. Hey! Youth di luar sana yang tidak kenal Tuhan pun melakukan hal yang sama. That is a very narrow view of youth ministry if you look it that way. As I mention in my previous post, youth ministry is about RELATIONSHIP. VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP (Me & GOD) and HORIZONTAL RELATIONSHIP (Me & the people around me) seperti dalam Matius 22:37-40. The music, concerts, games etc. is just some “accessories” of youth ministry..penting, namun bukan yang terpenting.

2) Youth ministry is about being RELEVANT
As I mention in my previous post (CONTEMPORARY vs RELEVANT). Most of churches think that having the latest hi-tech sound system and music instrument is relevant. Some might think that having lots of activities is relevant. Apa yang saya pelajari, youth ministry yang relevant adalah pelayanan yang memenuhi keperluan youth itu sendiri. Masih ingat Hirarki Maslow (Hirarki Keperluan manusia)? Youth ministry is about being God’s hand in meeting the youth’s need…bukan sekadar memenuhi keperluan rohani mereka. I believe all of us are created for a relationship.

3) Youth minister serves throughout the season
Maksudnya, apapun keadaan yang kita lalui, kita harus tetap konsisten dan bersemangat dalam melayani anak-anak muda ini. Dalam kata lain, setiap yang melayani di youth ministry adalah orang yang TIDAK melayani dengan mood-moodnya. Kalau moodnya hari tu baik, bersemangatlah dia melayani. Kalau moodnya tidak baik, tidak la tu bersemangat.

Now, what about someone who’re burnout? Obviously he/she need to rest…TETAPI…selalunya apa yang saya lihat orang-orang yang berehat dari pelayanan ni tidak dimonitor progress mereka oleh pastor/pemimpin gereja, dan youth leader yang burnout itu sendiri tidak mau submit dengan pemimpin mereka. This happen in most of our BM churches. Kurangnya follow up pada orang yang sudah burnout/jatuh. Makanya tidak hairan kalau orang yang sama burnout pada tahun-tahun berikutnya…burnout nya pun kerana hal yang sama.

Serving in the youth ministry kita harus bersandar pada kekuatan dan kemurahan Tuhan untuk tetap bersemangat melayani Dia dalam apapun keadaan. Saya sendiri pernah merasa mau berehat dari memikirkan RYC atau pelayanan lain, namun saya ingat bahawa saya ni hamba Tuhan…HAMBA TUHAN. Yang namanya HAMBA, mana boleh suka-suka berhenti dari pelayanan kan? So, we rest when God wants us to rest…He is the Master and we’re the servant.

4) 24-7
Praying for the youth 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Pray for the youth in your church as much as possible…while driving, while watching tv, while reading, while in class...anywhere, pray for God’s covering upon the students in your church. That’s the responsibility of the youth leader…bukan sekadar sibuk mengatur program.

Oh btw, your phone need to be on 24 hours a day and please don’t put it on silent/vibrate mode unless you’re required so. Why is this important? This is from my experience, some of the youth will sms / call you around 2 or 4 in the morning. Telling their problems…cry over the phone..ask you to pray for them..even hal-hal yang kecil pun mereka akan hubungi kita. Why? Because they see us not only as leader…but as a friend, a brother…even as father. Bertobatlah kalau anda merasa itu hal yang membebankan. Being a youth leader, I’m seeing myself not only as a leader, but as a brother and father. So, 24-7 you make yourself available to your youth…of course you got work to do, but you got what I mean right?

5) Youth leader MUST have a BIG heart
Dalam RYC, saya belajar bahawa tiada istilah “saya bagi kau 3 peluang saja”. Anak-anak muda memang cenderung untuk buat kesilapan. Seperti dalam Amsal 22:15 Kebodohan melekat pada hati orang muda, tetapi tongkat didikan akan memgusir itu daripadanya”. Sewaktu mula-mula menjadi leader RYC, banyak sekali “kebodohan-kebodohan” yang melekat pada hati saya dan saya puji Tuhan, mentor-mentor, pemimpin-pemimpin dan teman-teman sepelayanan saya banyak menegur dan membantu saya.

So leaders, expect the unexpected. Kita memang mempunyai harapan yang tinggi pada anak-anak muda kita, namun kita harus tahu bahawa mereka juga spesis seperti kita yang pasti ada kelemahan. So, milikilah hati yang BESAR untuk menampung kelemahan dan kesalahan mereka. Ingat, seperti Yesus membenci dosa dan mengasihi orang yang berdosa, begitulah hendaknya kita membenci dosa generasi ini dan mengasihi mereka yang berdosa.

6) Youth leader always want others to improve
Ini yang saya pelajari pada tahun ini. Memberi dorongan dan sokongan (doa, moral & kewangan) kepada youth leaders dari gereja lain. Kita sama-sama melayani di ladangnya Tuhan, kalau hanya kita sabotaj/memburukkan/tidak menyokong pelayanan youth di gereja lain, bukan kah itu mementingkan diri sendiri?

Kita bermati-matian berdoa agar Tuhan melawat generasi muda di Negara kita yang terdiri daripada 14 buah negeri. Adakah gereja kita sendiri dapat menjangkau semua anak-anak muda di 14 buah negeri ni? We need TEAM! We need youth leaders from other churches to work together with us. Makanya kita perlu mendorong satu dengan yang lain dan saling me’network’kan diri agar generasi kita dapat mengenal Tuhan.

7) Youth leader connected to their pastor
Saya banyak mendengar keluhan dari kawan-kawan sepelayanan saya dari gereja-gereja BM yang lain. Mereka mengatakan bahawa pelayanan muda-mudi gereja mereka tidak diberi kebebasan untuk melakukan aktiviti. Ada 2 hal yang dapat saya perhatikan dari situasi seperti ini. Pertama, youth leader itu sendiri tiada hubungan bapa-anak dengan pastor mereka. Kedua, pastor mereka sendiri memiliki pemikiran yang lama (ini perlu kemurahan Tuhan dan doa-doa yang terus menerus ni).

Namun, selalunya masalah didapati pada hal yang pertama tadi. As a youth leader, I’m seeing my pastor not only as my pastor, but as my spiritual father, my mentor, my friend and my leader. We need to build the father-son relationship…build the trust. Bila ada hubungan, kepercayaan akan mulai timbul. Saya pernah melihat youth leaders yang sepertinya “allergic” dengan pastor mereka. Tidak tenang kalau duduk dekat…dalam kata lain, kepahitan sama pemimpin alias memberontak sama pemimpin. Nah, makanya tidak hairanlah kalau youth ministry di gereja mereka tidak maju, pemimpin youthnya sendiri tidak berada di bawah payung gereja (pastor gereja). So friends, kalau anda merasa bahawa Roh Kudus menegur anda di area ini, bertobatlah. Kongsikan visi anda kepada pastor anda dan dengar pastor anda menyatakan visi dan harapannya untuk pelayanan muda-mudi di gereja.

This is another long post of mine. But I hope you’ll be inspired by this as much as I’m get inspired by God while serving Him in RYC. Until then, have a blessed day.

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

Yep...you spell it right, ATTITUDE. I recently dig in on of my dad's favourite writer; John C. Maxwell. I read his book titled "The Difference Maker". That book talks about our attitude. Our attitude make things look differently. Here's what I've learned and I want to share them to you:

What ATTITUDE can do for you :

1) Your attitude makes a difference in your approach to life
-The happiest people in life don't necessarily have the best of everything. They just try to make the best of everything.

2) Your attitude makes a difference in your relationships with people
-The Lense Principle : We are determines how we see others
-The Pain Principle : Hurting people hurt people and are easily hurt by them
-The Elevator Principle : We can lift people up or take them down in our relationship
-The Learning Principle : Each person we meet has the potential to teach us something

3) Your attitude makes a difference in how you face challenges
-no society has ever developed tough men during time of peace. We all grew as the result of overcoming diffculties. The better your attitude, the more likely you will be to overcome difficulties, grow, and move forward.
-When a problem comes into contact with someone who has a positive attitude, the result is often something wonderful.

4) Your attitude is the difference maker
-your attitude has a profound influence on how you see the world-and thus on the way you live out your life

So folks, always remember, the problem is not the problem itself, it's the attitude of us towards the situation. We only live once, maximize the use of our life to inspire & impact other life. Be blessed :)