Some are easier to fight than others.
Some will last longer than others.
Some will take more effort to overcome.

But only the wise will choose the right battles to fight for the moment. You cannot overcome all your battles at once. You will lose some, but you will want win those that are more important.

Those are the battles you should choose to fight.

It’s been a while since I’ve followed up on this whole tidbit-sized tips on leadership and ministry issues. So here’s one more to add to the list.

Being in the military have allowed me to see how people from all walks of life come to live and work together. When things go well, it is a celebrated sight. But when things get ugly, they really become very ugly. Not everyone has/can be treated the same way. You can’t use the hard approach all the time, neither can you use the soft approach at every opportunity. So this is something I’ve picked up from a leader recently with regards to a Church setting:

Feed the Sheep
Rebuke the Swine
Shoot the Wolves
Bark at the Dogs
Pray for the Shepherds

This requires some inferring which I believe you can do.

–
Pray for me and the others,
Willywei

1. There is no “one size fits all” solution.
2. It is not the people’s fault. It is is organization’s fault.
3. You can use the Bible to correct political and military issues.
4. People who dream don’t necessarily have the vision
5. Deficit financing doesn’t work. Never rely on it especially to build a nation.
6. The best solution might not be the most popular decision.
7. Always be thrifty and practical.
8. Be all things to all man.
9. Always be on the ground and touch the people’s heart.
10. Be like a curious child.
11. As far as material things are important, the soul is more important.
12. You don’t have to be the subject matter expert to solve the problem. Seek the experts to solve it with you.

These are just a few things I’ve picked up from him while watching the tribute on television. Thank you Dr Goh.

[Goh Keng Swee]

- Greys Anatomy | Submitted by cyncupcake (via quote-book) (via dotheboogie)

[via Alcopop]

It’s very interesting to find out statistically where both males and females of our generation get their advices from.

Just a food for thought.

Apologies for the long hiatus from this space.

I think I want to take this short time I have left before leaving for Pasir Ris MRT station to just share about the last 5 weeks in National Service.

It hasn’t been easy to serve a nation where my immediate family is about 6000km off-shore. And it is harder when you face a mild culture shock being one of the eldest in your army company with a different educational background.

Life has been different. After 6 days of field camp, you start to see things differently. You don’t see clean running tap water the same way again. You don’t see a urinal unit or a toilet bowl the same way again. You also won’t see piping hot food the same way again. I’ve learnt to cherish the many things we take for granted from day to day. Even a cold shower is a blessing.

I know that during the short month so far, I have been built up physically and mentally against pain barriers. We are taught to not know of pain any longer. We are taught to focus through distractions and understand that giving up is not an option. It’s tough and it’s brutal.

I wake up every morning to cold breezes and vulgar commanders. I tell God each day to help me tame my tongue in an environment as such. There are many expectations to meet, politics to dodge and people to please. It is not much different from a Manhattan office.

But I ask myself this question: “Have I fallen back spiritually?” It’s a difficult question to answer because how do you qualify “fallen back”? If it is the lack of reading the Bible, then yes. If it is the lack of having godly fellowship between men, then yes. If it is not being able to attend church on a regular basis, then yes. But if it is not relying on God from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute, then no. Each moment, to pull through from training to training, I can only lift my eyes up up to the sky and say, “God, help me.”

Ah wells, it’s only another 4 more weeks before I get posted to another unit. I’ll try to update more regularly. In the mean time, have a great week ahead while I go back into the jungle again. Haha. All the best to those having exams!

Today I’m going to share with you about the ugly truth (not the movie) of leadership. Nobody is going to tell you this, if they do, they are rare. And I might even get into trouble for doing this.

There are leaders who shouldn’t be in leadership positions. And there are people who want to be leaders because of the “air-time” they get, and for the glory of more Facebook friends. It’s the sad truth. When it is time for the award ceremony, heaps show up. But when a job is called to be done, no one would even bother. These days we lack leaders who are willing to run the leg work, do the dirty jobs, and get their hands in.

And it sucks because we are already in such lack for people who are willing to work! You might not see this in a student-run ministry, but I cannot say the same for churches.

So Joel, I’m warning you when you choose your leaders. Check their hearts first. Get those who are willing to fight to the end with you, who share the same vision as given to you by God.

Don’t be afraid to be the “bad guy”. If you have to scold, scold. But do so in love. If you have to rebuke, do so, likewise in love. If you have to remove them from position, don’t hesitate. Somebody has to do the “dirty work”, rather than to let the ministry suffer. Jesus in Revelation points out the shortcomings of certain churches and is not afraid to axe them out if they don’t change. What more us?

What you want to be choosing are servant leaders. Servants first, then leaders.

–
Serve, then lead,
Willywei

Many ministry leaders often ignore the benefits of empowering and delegation. Some don’t know how to execute delegation well because they are control freaks (I used to be one). And the result is often a physical and emotional breakdown, which would also be a spiritual disaster.

Don’t confuse “delegate” with “designate”. To delegate work does not entirely mean to designate work. To delegate means to appoint authority, to share the burden, to sow a vision and commitment. Designation gives me the impression of leaving the poor fella there to run the entire show by himself. When you delegate work, make sure you follow up. You need to always have a plan B if that person screws things up. If a mistake is made, it is not just the delegate’s fault, it is also yours. For me delegation has always been a great way to help me teach/train delegates on-the-job.

With delegation, empowerment comes naturally. This is important because you are sharing power. It will make you look less like a power hungry dictator and it will help the people working for you want to work with you. The idea to convey here is to work together along side and not working from a top-down hierarchy. Of course, exercise delegation and empowerment with discretion. As more important jobs came along my way, I chose to delegate them to the guys that I think would grow best through them. And I know that they will benefit from it.

And this is important for ministries with fast turnover rate. I will explain more about making yourself dispensable in the next email, and why whatever I have said in this email will hold hand in hand.

–
Pay it Forward and Leave No Men Behind,
Willywei

Apologies for the break between emails. I’ve been busy preparing for my enlistment. I’m trying to outwit my Basic Military Training period for the next 3 months. Haha. So to achieve that, I’ve been harvesting advice from friends and making the appropriate arrangements.

Anyway, today I was reminded again about burning out. And I want to remind you how to avoid or have it easier during those treacherous times.

Practically:

1. Rule of 3.5 Nights
   • Don’t spend more than 3.5 nights doing direct ministry (campus ministries have a tendency to do things at night). By half a night I mean from 6pm to 7:30pm, which means you have 8pm onwards to yourself for other stuff.
2. Rule of 5%
3. Rule of Delegation
   • Jethro tells Moses in Exodus 18:13-23 to train reliable and honest men. Paul does the same to Timothy too in 2 Timothy 2:2
4. Manage Your Expectations
   • Are you expecting too much from yourself or the ministry? Who are you labouring for? For Christ or yourself? If you can realign yourself back to the right track, it’ll make it easier when you serve.

Spiritually:

1. Endure Hardship
   • As an athlete or soldier (2 Tim 2)
   • As a witness/fan/imitator (Heb 12:1-3)
   • As a child (Heb 12:7-10)
2. Observe Sabbath
   • God has intentionally created the Sabbath for the purpose of “ultimate rest”. Go do a word study on “Sabbath” in the Bible and you will come to understand that Sabbath is not just a ritual to observe but a precursor of what is to come. (See Exodus 20:8-11 for yourself)
   • Know your limits and learn to take time-outs.
3. Have Times of Silence and Solitude
4. Feed Yourself
5. Look and Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

Some say that burn-outs are avoidable. Personally, I think that God places burn-outs in strategic times of our lives to remind us who really is in-charge and what the bigger picture really is. And of course, if you’re having a hard time now, don’t forget to call on your godly friends (:

–
Burn Brighter,
Willywei

How did your presentation go at school?

Today I was reminded about doing the “littler things”. Girls will tell you that they don’t really care about the bigger things (they’re not entirely true) like buying them rings, or bouquets of flowers, or dining at fancy restaurants. They care more about the smaller things like how you remember that it’s their mother’s birthday, or you randomly email her a cute picture that reminded you of her (cuteoverload.com is pretty good btw), or just walking her home to her doorstep. So the point I’m trying to make here is, while you plot the “bigger things”, don’t neglect the “smaller things”. They act like spices to your meal. They make things taste better.

What’s the idea here? In the same way you deal with the girl you’re courting, you can utilise the same principle for your upcoming ministry. Allow me to explain.

Your ministry deals with people. In fact, you will be dealing with A LOT of people at one go. It will help if you notice the small things that people like or dislike and use that to your benefit.

When Dong and I were working together, I had to know how to work with Dong to make our partnership effective. Dong wasn’t a difficult person to work with – I actually really enjoy working with him – but he has his quirks and I had to respect them (or get around them) so that the ministry benefits from it. I know that Dong likes to eat at Don Don, so we usually either takeaway or eat there before our meetings. And before Upcells, we seldom meet up to discuss what we are going to talk to the leaders about. So initially we worked it out that Dong covers the Bible study materials (because that is Dong’s strength), and I cover the more administrative and welfare issues (he knows that I’m better at this). And we cover each other’s backs if we miss out on anything. We also made it a point to never fight in front of our leaders or send conflicting messages.

If you can, get a notebook to jot the little things that people important to you derive joy from. And also make note of the things that irk them, so you don’t accidentally step on their toes. I tend to keep them in my memory, others use the notes function in their iPods or handphones.

Trust me, doing this will pay dividends. It is an investment worth making.

–
Small can be BIG,
Willywei