Do You Have a Reading Mentor? #1Book1Week November 2020

 

Do you have mentors? I hope you do. If you can, find one mentor for each skill that you want to develop. As for me, I want to develop in these areas: leadership, evangelism, attitude, and developing others (L.E.A.D.). As for evangelism, the late Charles H. Spurgeon is one of my distant (long death) mentors. I've read a dozen of his biographies and books. All in my library at home. I wish I can meet him in person and learn by observing his life. But he is the man of the past born in British in 1834 and died in 1892. His passion for winning souls is very contagious. His sermons are powerful and God-centred. Another thing that I admire about Spurgeon is his love for books. I want to emulate his reading habit but I'm far from his genius, concentration, and comprehension power.

From an early age, Spurgeon was a reader — and gradually became a ferocious reader, usually reading 6 books per week (that's #6Books1Week) even amid a busy schedule of sermon preparations (usually he preached 4-10 sermons a week), writing books and editing the monthly magazine. By the end of his life, he amassed a library of over 7,000 books. No doubt this reading habit played a major part in moulding his mind to powerfully unpack biblical truth with the clarity and imagination he is known for. The Prince of Preachers advises: "Give yourself unto reading. The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own. You need to read [books]." Yes sir! Of course, he read mostly heavy theological books (just admire his God-given brain, don't need to compare) but he also read many 'secular' books.

If you know Spurgeon, my goal to read #1Book1Week is nothing in comparison. And that is good 😆 If I'm ahead, he will never be my mentor 🤭 To read my sort-of review for these books 👇 CLICK THE LINKS:

#1 Bribery and Corruption:Biblical Reflections and Case Studies for the Marketplace in Asia (2018) by Bishop Hwa Yung

#2 The 5 Essential PeopleSkills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts (2004) by Dale Carnegie

#3 The Holiness of God (1984) by R.C. Sproul

#4 The Leader’s Greatest Return: Attracting, Developing, and Multiplying Leaders (2020) by John C. Maxwell

#LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain #LeadersAreReaders #CharlesHSpurgeon

FB Page: https://facebook.com/LEGASI.tv/              
Podcast: https://anchor.fm/LEGASI.tv/           
YouTube: http://bit.ly/LEGASItv

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Bribery and Corruption: Biblical Reflections and Case Studies for the Marketplace in Asia (2018) by Bishop Hwa Yung, Sort-of-Book Review

 

Bribery and Corruption: Biblical Reflections and Case Studies for the Marketplace in Asia (2018) by Bishop Hwa Yung

Hwa Yung was the bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia from 2004 to 2012 and was the Honorary President of the IFES when he wrote this book. I have met Hwa Yung a few times during camp and conferences. He is a very smart, articulate, quite humorous, and passionate man. It is no surprise that he wrote this book because he - consistently and compassionately - cares about the Christian witness in the world. About this book, he wrote: "This short book is one attempt to respond to the need to help Christians in Asia find a biblical response to the real pressures they face in the marketplace, which takes seriously both the Scripture and the context in which Asian Christians function."

I love this book because the context is in Asia (especially, Malaysia) and not some foreign Western countries. Although both the West/East guilty of the same sins of bribery and corruption, the complexity (or uniqueness) of our culture, socioeconomic, and even theology make a vast difference. The practice of giving 'duit kopi', for example, has been part of our culture. Is it a love gift or bribery? My friends who work in JKR and constructions often face this dilemma. As I read Hwa Yung's thesis, I can't help but to think that corruption has gone too deep in the Malaysian systems that I wonder is there any hope to reverse the order? Maybe not. Or at least, not fully.

The goal is not zero-corruption but calling the Christians to be "salt" and "light" in the marketplace. "God calls His people, not just to save individual souls, but also to bring Kingdom values to bear on the sociopolitical issues of the day," said the bishop. Instead of giving us step by step guidelines, which is impossible due to the complexity I have mention, he provides us with a Biblical framework, fundamental principles, and (what I call) self-awareness evaluations (Bishop might disagree). Three case studies at the end of this book are very interesting too 

#ServeToLead #1Book1Week #LeadersAreReaders #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain #BishopHwaYung #BriberyAndCorruption

FB Page: https://facebook.com/LEGASI.tv/            
Podcast: https://anchor.fm/LEGASI.tv/         
YouTube: http://bit.ly/LEGASItv

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

 

 

Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians (2017, 2018, New and Expanded Edition) by Anas Alam Faizli, Book Review

Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians (2017, 2018, New and Expanded Edition) by Anas Alam Faizli

The title of this book says it all. “Malaysia’s socio-economic structure can be summed up in four words: ‘Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians.’ Malaysia is blessed with abundant natural resources, with petroleum being the most precious,” writes Anas in Chapter 9 Malaysia: High Income Nation, Low Income Rakyat. “Land, resources, a large youthful population - Malaysia has all the essential ingredients to flourish. How did this small countries of 30 million people manage to gain the unsolicited title of being among the region’s most unequal nations of rich and poor? What happened?” As of this writing, by the end of 2020, the population in Malaysia is expected to reach 33.1 million. Everything mention in this book is still happening - even worst. So, what happened?

Maybe I’m too pessimistic and over-simplistic. As I finished reading these 34 essays on “Malaysia’s problems,” the impression that I get can be boiled down in one word: Corruption. Corruption to the core. There are three key issues that Anas tackles in this book, namely - Energy (or Resources), Education and Economy - to borrow Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz’s 3E in the foreword of this book. The first part about Malaysia’s petroleum resources hit hard on me as Sarawakian, especially in Chapter 5 Higher Royalty Versus State Ownership of Petronas, which is an issue that we still fight until today. Yes, rich Sarawak, poor Sarawakians. In the second part, Anas highlights socio-economic issues such as education, health care, inequality, foreign workers, poverty, welfare, women’s empowerment, environment, Islam, etc. To me, his insight on education is very interesting and persuasive. While I do not totally agree with all of Anas’ analysis (as with some other subjects too), I wholeheartedly believe that “education is one of, if not the most, important solutions to all the problems that we are facing today.” In parts three and four, he expands on the previous subjects and added some other issues.

This book ends with a positive note. In fact, every chapter ends with some potential solutions and proposals for a betterment. There are “endless possibilities,” said Anas. “Nothing is impossible, no matter how hopeless the situation seems. Always remember that the sun only comes out after the darkest point of the night. The same goes for Malaysia.” To be honest, I’m almost giving up on Malaysia. But books like this, by caring fellow Malaysian, never fail to rekindle my fire and hope for Malaysia. Read it! Thank you Anas Alam Faizli. May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you.

FB Page: https://facebook.com/LEGASI.tv/           

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/LEGASI.tv/         

Instagram: https://instagram.com/legasi.tv/         

YouTube: http://bit.ly/LEGASItv         

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.