Three Lessons from a Professional DDR Player
Sterling C. Franklin
(known by many as ‘ DJ Sterf ’ or ’ The Dancing Preacher ’)
Originally given at Libertyville Covenant Church, 2007 - Libertyville, IL
Basic outline:
Lesson 1: Your life should be completely lived in service to God.
Lesson 2: Develop your talents, but not for your own glory.
Lesson 3: Follow God’s Calling on your life.
Concerning God-given Talent…
I’m known by many as ’DJ Sterf,’ the world-record holding Dance Dance Revolution player. I once was a Radio DJ, but those days are long gone. I also put out an album, which was hilarious, but I kept the nickname for my time playing rhythm games. In living your life, you may be given gifts and talents that bring you to interesting places that you would never have imagined. This is the way DDR has been for me.
Proverbs 18:16 (NASB)
A man’s gift makes room for him
And brings him before great men.
What[so]ever you do…
What do you do with these opportunities? We are called to do everything to God’s glory, and we are called to do all things well, as if we were standing before the Lord and serving Him.
Colossians 3:17
Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the God and the Father through Him.
Do all things heartily…
Colossians 3:23 (NASB)
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men…
Two worlds?
Calling vs. Activities/Hobbies -- Should there be a separation, or should your calling fuel everything else you do?
A single world…
Lesson 1: Your life should be completely lived in service to God.
Romans 12:1 – Offer up your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing unto God.
Glorify God and reach others through your hobbies! What do you like to do? Who has God allowed you to meet through those hobbies? Why not share Jesus with those people? God has put us in this world to be lights shining in the midst of darkness -- those who have not yet seen the light of hope through Jesus need to hear.
Hobby & Calling
God can and often will use a person’s talents and interests for His Glory. We are indeed called to use the spiritual gifts and abilities we’ve been given by God in each area of our lives. One of my major gifts is Evangelism, or telling others about the good news of Jesus Christ -- that He died for our sins, rose from the grave, and provides forgiveness and eternal hope to those who put their faith in Him. We are all called to evangelize, and even more, make disciples of all people groups. Who can we reach with the message of Jesus?
…DDR & Ministry?
I toured around many states of the United States as the ’Dancing Preacher.’ In those shows, I would be invited mainly because of my excellence at my hobby, but I would also be adamant on sharing Jesus, as my calling is to preach the Gospel. I’ve done hundreds of charity events and church services because of my odd talents, but I have been able to share Jesus with many and encourage others because of these opportunities.
What have I accomplished with DDR?
I’m pretty much done with everything there is to do. I have a AAA on every song’s hardest difficulties on the first ten years of American-released mixes on Single play, and on Double play, I have about 600 more perfect scores to add to the list. My rank is 1 on the major global scoretrackers.
I hold Guinness World Records at the game. Guinness Gamers is a publication that the company puts out, and I’ve had records published in there as well as Twin Galaxies publications, which is another major gaming score organization. The most recent Guinness Gamers record is a perfect score on a set of DDR, which can only be tied now.
I have videos on YouTube, Ustream, Motion.TV, and Google Video. I present evangelistic messages in various ways in these videos, whether it be a challenging Scripture, a direct invite to know Jesus, or even an illustration, but I have over 3 million hits to my videos alone, not including my website or outreaches that I am involved in.
This has been a neat evangelistic endeavor that I would never have imagined having, even five years ago. I evangelize in different ways -- sometimes I go up to people on the street, go to college campuses, or even have Bible studies online. Church is not the only place to evangelize! We need to go where people are in the world in order to reach them -- we can’t rely on someone coming to visit a church building to find Jesus. How will they hear without a preacher? (That may be you!)
Most importantly, many of the people I have been able to reach through this have never heard the Gospel message. Some are quite opposed to it, and I do pray that one day they will come to know the Lord, but many have been quite receptive to it and have made decisions to follow Jesus because God put me in the right place to do His work.
Lesson 2: Develop your talents, but not for your own glory.
Who gave you your talents?
Who sustains your life?
Who deserves glory, honor, and praise?
It’s not us!
Think of the Parable of the Talents
(Read Matthew 25:14-30)
What is a “talent” here?
A HUGE sum of money. This is a symbol for everything we have been given by God for His Kingdom. What have we been given that we need to develop?
Has God given you…
Five talents? Make five more!
Two talents? Make two more!
One talent? DON’T bury it.
God has given us different gifts! Each one of us is unique in so many ways, and we are all MUCH loved by God. Do we love Him back? What gifts has He given you?
Mercy?
Encouragement?
Teaching/Prophecy?
Evangelism?
Healing?
Hospitality?
Romans 12:4-8 – We are part of a Body.
What is your calling? Sometimes God will guide us specifically to do something in life. Sometimes the gifts He has given us are indicative of what we should be doing for Him, as well.
Lesson 3: Follow God’s Calling on your life.
You are at an age at which you need to pray about what God’s specific role for your life is.
How are you using our time?
Do all things to God’s glory!!!
(see 1 Corinthians 10:31)
If you haven’t followed Jesus, He calls for you to follow Him. Revelation 3:20 makes it clear that Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks. Will you let Him be King of your life today?
If you are following after Him, has God called you to full-time ministry? If you don’t know, we will take some time to pray about it. Be sensitive to God’s voice.
I believe God calls us ALL to full-time ministry, whether it is in a church or in a workplace or wherever we are placed. We need to honor Him in everything we do and use our gifts to increase His Kingdom.
But in thinking about this, maybe God has called some of you to be missionaries overseas, or even missionaries here in the States. Perhaps He has given you the leading to be a pastor, or an evangelist, or a teacher. If He is calling you, follow Him! It’s important! You will find the most fulfillment in life when you are following after the Lord’s leading.
So we will take some time to pray. Remember the brief lessons that I’ve shared with you today --
Lesson 1: Your life should be completely lived in service to God.
Lesson 2: Develop your talents, but not for your own glory.
Lesson 3: Follow God’s Calling on your life.
Let’s close in prayer, and let’s seek God as to how we should follow Him today.
Closing Prayer
