 I just picked up a book by Bill Hybels. He wrote about Jesus willfully violating "widely accepted leadership laws. It’s a short book but I kind of got stuck at the first law that Jesus willfully broke: Build a Team of Highly Qualified Leaders. When Jesus chose his leadership team, he picked out the "untrained, uncouth (not refined), and underage." The more I read, the more I saw myself in the first disciples’ life. I couldn't help but look back on my own discipleship journey and let me say that I'm glad that our college pastor, Bruce Ho, willfully violated this leadership law. I was very opinionated, rough around the edges and my main gifting was in the ministry of offense. I am not sure if it was a calculated decision on Bruce's part that I became a part of the campus team but one thing I'm sure of, he was faithful to work with the students that he had. For that I am grateful for the opportunity to grow and learn under P Bruce's leadership. That's why I am so glad that I'm a part of a movement that values the next generation. My prayer is that we would be faithful to the task at hand and take full advantage of the tremendous open doors that we have.
I don't really like travelling.  Waiting in line to check in. Waiting in departure lounge to board the plane. Waiting for the plane to land. Waiting to get out of the plane. Waiting to get through immigration.  Waiting for the luggage. Waiting to get through customs. Waiting for your ride to pick you up. In short, a lot of waiting. One thing that I do appreciate about the whole process is the fact that I get to see familiar faces and places. One thing that I do appreciate about being in airports, I get to be alone with God. I mean alone with no distractions. There are no pressing needs to be met. I am just there waiting. When was the last time you waited on God without any distractions, pressing needs, or something. Sometimes God is waiting for our familiar face in that familiar place.
 There was an interesting article on Midweek magazine about the recent visit of the Dalai Lama to Hawai'i. He was spreading the message of peace and happiness. “We are social animals. For an individual to live a happy life - this I believe is the point of life - and even our individual existence, it depends very much on other people,” he said.
So what does happiness really look like? One of the most famous phrases in the US Declaration of Independence is "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Of these three unalienable rights, the pursuit of happiness is probably the most alien to us. Oh we definitely know how to pursue careers, relationships, and material things. These make us happy right? Only for a little while because I hear so many stories of people changing careers because they're not happy. Or even walking away from lifelong relationships because it brought more heartache than happiness into their lives. And I definitely know that I would not be happy if I'm still using my first computer which only had a floppy drive, 486 processor, and Windows 95 operating system. (For those of you who don't know what these are, Google computer in the dark ages, hahaha)
So I want to pose a question to you, what does it really mean to be happy? Can you pursue happiness? Looking forward to reading your replies and will probably use some to start a series of blogs on the Pursuit of HAPPYness. 
 After a dinner appointment last week, I was able to catch the tail-end of the American Idol show. I actually sat there and enjoyed the Bon Jovi songs, sorry to admit that I grew up during the glam-rock days of the early 90's, sigh.
Anyway, our church here in Hawaii just started a series called "A Love that Lasts." This week, P Billy spoke about building blocks in lasting relationships and he used American Idol as an illustration a couple of times. So it got me thinking, you can learn a lot of life lessons from watching this show. So in honor of the last four finalists, here are four building blocks to a lasting relationship from American Idol:
- LISTEN. I know that this is not profound and we all probably know this, but we still neglect to do it. In the beginning of the season, tons of people audition for the show. And some are really DIFFERENT. However, they weren't stopped from performing and the judges sat there and listened. We should do the same. LISTEN. I often cut people off verbally(nicely, of course), but most of the time mentally (which is even worse, coz I'm nodding my head and not listening at all). If we're going to be able to reach people that are different or not so different from us, we need to stop, give your full attention and LISTEN.
- ENCOURAGE. This is where Paula Abdul comes in. She would really go out of her way to say something really positive. Sometimes she says something like, "nice outfit, you really look good tonight!" I know, I know, it’s a singing competition and she's talking about her dress, but we could all use an encouraging word from time to time. Maybe you'll have to really look for something encouraging to say, just remember not to lie, hehehe.
- BE REAL. Randy Jackson, "Yo, yo, yo. Check it out dawg, it was a good performance but It just didn't move me." Or, "Yo, you took that song and made it your own, dawg. I mean, you made me feel the lyrics and all the emotions that come with that song." We need to be able to communicate our real life experiences with people. That means, sharing both the bad and the good, and sharing it constructively. Sometimes, what people need to hear is not how you overcame a struggle with the power of God. But how we struggled to hold on as God's power overcame the situation you were in.
- BE TRUTHFUL
 . As much as I dislike Simon Cowell and as much as I would like to disagree with the shocking things that he says, I still concur with most of his opinions. So, it doesn't matter how unpleasant the delivery of the criticism is, we still need to listen to the truth in it. However, we don’t need to communicate it the same way as Simon does. We need to communicate the truth in love, in a way that it will be received. You may be correct and the truth is on your side but the right thing to do might not be show how correct you are or that you are telling the truth. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the first few episodes of every season, but a person who can’t sing say that their friends compliments them about their singing or that they should enter American Idol. (That’s not telling the truth in love) Actually, that's not telling the truth, period.
I can’t say that I’m an expert in making lasting relationships or that it’s as simple as following this list. What I do know is that I know a lot more than what I’m applying in my relationships. What I do know is I can’t change the whole world, I can’t even change the people around me. But I do know that armed with the love of God, I can change one relationship at a time.
 I love the Spiderman movie series. Spiderman 1 and 2 are probably two of the best superhero movies ever made. And I can't wait to see the third installment this week. I'm in Hawaii so Joseph Bonifacio and I will have to pay close to $10 to see it but it doesn't matter coz its Spidey.
So while waiting for this weekend's opening, I came across this test that will let you know which superhero you are most likey to be. I took the test just for the fun of it.
Take a look at my results.
You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.
Your reresults:
You are Superman
Superman 75%
The Flash 70%
Green Lantern 70%
Hulk 65%
Batman 55%
Iron Man 55%
Robin 52%
Spider-Man 45%
SUPERMAN? I thought I would come out as Batman, which is my fovorite superhero (coz he's rich and have a lot of toys). So basically I like him because I want to be rich and have a lot of toys. And he doesn't have any special powers. Can you imagine being a superhero and not having any responsibility? (you know, great power, great responsibility)
Anyway,I don't totally agree with the results coz Superman is one superhero that I can't relate with. First of all, he was born with all his powers, I on the other hand don't have any special powers until the holy Spirit came on me (Acts 1:8). Secondly, he took it upon himself to be the savior of the known world, I know I need a saviour in Jesus Christ. Finally, he flies solo and he doesn't need anyone else (he's superman), I need people around me like Christian, Joseph, LA, etc to accomplish my purpose and destiny.
Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?"
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