Overnight Success

“Overnight success takes time,” as Bro. Francis Kong, well-known Christian motivational speaker and prolific author, put it. (Our Tuesday Circle of Care attended his talk, “Surviving the Economic Crisis: Developing a Personal Culture of Excellence,” that he gave recently in the New Millennium Evangelical Church.) He also pointed out, “There is no such thing as a shortcut to success. But there’s an expressway to disaster.” I agree 100%. If we shortcut the process, we will end up short-circuiting it. Some people may think that church is a picnic. But, it’s more about sleepless nights, mental torture and emotional anguish. (I know. I’m a bit exaggerating. But you get the picture, right?) Yet, as Brother Francis added, “In tough times, leaders work together as a team.”


I praise God He gave me the privilege to work with a great team. The relief work we got involved with these past weeks is another crystal clear expression of our battle cry, “One God. One Mission. One MGC.” Volunteers poured in not only to donate but also to help pack thousands of bags of relief goods. Yet, like any overnight success, this took time and effort. Tiring but fulfilling. One volunteer remarked, “Ang sarap talaga maglingkod!” (“It’s so satisfying to serve!”) There was simply no shortcut here. It’s another “Only God” experience for our church. I believe we made God smile again.

Keep in mind though that we will not rest on our laurels. There’s more work to be done for the Lord. In his talk, Brother Francis also asked, “What do you have? Do you have dreams or memories?” Memories are great to have. But dreams are greater to have. If we have more memories than dreams, it shows we live in the past. If we have more dreams than memories, it shows we live in the present with our eyes on the future. And we need not come up with our own dreams. God already envisioned it for us. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV) We are to dream His dream. It may take time. All of us need to be on the team. There will be no shortcuts. But, since it is His dream, we are bound to fulfill it. I am excited with what God is doing and will be doing in and through our church.

Brethren, together let us seek to become an overnight success!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God Knows Judas Not Pay

In the National Geographic Magazine (May 2006 issue), in its cover story, The Judas Gospel , Professor Eliane Pagels of Princeton University claimed that the so-called gospel of Judas “ changes the history of early Christianity. ” Even UP Professor Randy David took notice of the Judas Gospel: “Strictly from a sociological standpoint, I think the discovery of the Gospel of Judas makes Christianity a far more interesting religion than what centuries of metaphysical theology has made of it.” (A Gospel for the Postmodern, Phil. Daily Inquirer, April 16, 2006) That’s why I spoke in our Young Pro Fellowship a few days ago on God Knows Judas Not Pay (A Biblical Response on the Judas Gospel). I believe opportunities like this hype on the Judas Gospel or the Da Vinci Code opens a door for us to share the true Gospel. For those who did not attend last Thursday, let me share briefly why we reject the Judas gospel. I came up with the acronym J-U-D-A-S. J udas was portrayed as a traitor in the Bibl
Read more

“Ubus-ubos Biyaya, Bukas Nakatunganga”

Image
That’s what my mother always told us when we were still kids. (Translation: “You spend everything today, you will have nothing tomorrow.” ) Image source: So, What's New ? Dionie did just that. Last April 2008, he won PHP14,125,032 in the Lotto 6/42 draw. Excitedly, he “lived the life of a millionaire, something he had been longing to experience. He lived in a P4-million house in a posh subdivision, drove around in a sports utility vehicle [which he bought the very same day he claimed his prize] , and gave goodwill money, ranging P1,000 to P 850,000, to relatives and friends. He also gambled daily, womanized, and went on regular drinking sprees.” (Source: Manila Bulletin ) He estimated that he squandered a minimum of P100,000 almost every day. He also lent money even to people he did not really know. “I just gave them and told them not to pay me back.” (Ibid) His bank had to issue him a special card so he can withdraw huge amounts of money quickly from the automated teller m
Read more

“Don’t drink the Kool-Aid!”

Image
Forty years ago, this expression became known as a description of blind obedience.   Source: Los Angeles Times On November 18, 1978, members of Peoples Temple, a cult group in Guyana, drank Kool-Aid drink laced with cyanide to commit a mass suicide “at the behest of their charismatic but paranoid leader, Jim Jones”. [1] According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica , “The death toll exceeded 900, including some 300 age 17 and under, making the incident one of the largest mass deaths in American history. ”  [2]  What made those people submit to such atrocity? According to Stella Morabito, a senior contributor to The Federalist online magazine, Peoples Temple is “Exhibit A… [of]  the dangers of the cult mindset or how vulnerable all people are to cult tactics.”  [3] She pointed out that, Coercive persuasion has immense power to shape and twist the human mind.  …[Jones’] utopian preaching of a humane world in which all lived happily in harmony resonated with the
Read more