ASI 2020: Three Angels' Messages - Our Urgent Calling

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Young Professionals

Felecia Lee

ASI 2020 Young Professionals: Felecia Datus

Hi everyone, it's so good to be with you for ASIYP.

This virtual conference I know is the first of its kind and so many of us are so excited about what is going to happen.

I'm Felicia Dattis with the Center for Online Evangelism and we believe in empowering you and equipping you to share the gospel to meet the needs of people who are online.

So I do pray that at the end of this presentation, this little talk, that you are encouraged in what the Lord has been leading you to do online.

But first I want to start off by sharing a story that happened some time ago.

2 women came into an emergency room and both of them were scheduled to have a hysterectomy done.

However, the first woman was not scheduled initially to have it on that day, but because she was bleeding and her hemoglobin level was dropping very quickly, her surgeon decided to go ahead and do the surgery that very evening.

So during the operation she started to she continued to bleed more and it was requested that she needed a blood transfusion done.

So the blood bank sent blood work, sent blood to the operating room and they hooked her up.

The transfusion began and it was during the transfusion that the surgeon noted that the blood that they were giving her was not O.

And most of us know that in order to receive a blood transfusion, if you don't want issues to happen, you need to make sure that the blood types match.

And so they stopped the transfusion, They removed all of the blood products from the room, sent it back to the blood bank, and later on, an investigation revealed that the blood bank personnel thought that the woman who was having the surgery was the second woman.

And of course, their blood types were different.

And so they stopped the surgery, they sent her into ICU, they had to resuscitate her.

And after a long time, they were able to stabilize her, take her back into the operating room with the correct blood type.

And thankfully, fortunately, she survived and she was able to be discharged.

I know the fear for many people is going into a hospital thinking that the doctors and the nurses that they have it all together and then finding out that they make a tragic mistake like this.

This is 1 of those events that they say should never happen but on rare occasions it actually does.

So imagine going into a hospital placing your life into the hands of these individuals and because of some error, your life is put on the line.

And I wonder at times, could we be guilty of the same things?

Could we as a church, could we as young adults be eager, be sincere?

Because no 1 in the blood bank or no 1 in the operating room was trying to harm the patient.

None of them were being malicious about it.

But despite their genuine want to help, their error almost cost this woman her life.

And could it be that in our case that we are sincere, we are genuine, we want to share the gospel, we want to meet the needs of people, we want souls to be saved, but we're giving them the wrong blood.

The Bible does say that it is through the blood of Jesus that we have the forgiveness of sins, that we are made pure, that we are sanctified, that we are made holy, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb.

And it is the blood of Jesus that people need, not some other form of blood.

And so what I want to do is to look at our theme for this convention, 3 Angels Message, our urgent calling and how it relates to digital evangelism.

Now, the word that I want to emphasize most on here for the next 15 minutes or so is that word in the phrase, our urgent calling.

So I was doing a little bit more research, especially in regards to productivity.

And it's said that especially in the workplace, When workers, when employees actually are under the sense of they have to meet a deadline and there's a sense of urgency if they are working in a hurried manner, that actually creates more of an environment to make mistakes.

And so I want to read for you this quote by Inc.

And it says that rushing to get things done as fast as possible so you can take more on can mean that you don't think through the job as critically and that you can make more mistakes.

There's another quote that says, when you rush, you're reacting to your to-do items for the day rather than being proactive about that.

So we can apply that in the workplace, but when it comes to spirituality, when it comes to sharing the gospel, how do we apply that?

We can become very zealous for souls and we sense that urgency.

There's so many people who have yet to know about Jesus.

That in a state of, in a hurried state, in a state of urgency but not guided by the Holy Spirit, we can actually make mistakes.

It's even worse if now we're promoting and talking about online evangelism, taking the work that we're doing on social media, on YouTube, start podcasts, start blogs.

Now that we have these platforms in which we can reach millions of people, now the mistakes that we make, if we are not careful, those mistakes can have even grave, can have more grave results.

So as we're looking at this medical case and we're saying that what people need is the blood of Jesus, nothing else.

Anything else will be detrimental to their spiritual health.

And even though we might be sincere, even though we are genuine, even though we want people to know about Jesus, we still need the Holy Spirit to guide us to make sure that we're not giving them the wrong blood.

How do we have the sense of urgency, recognizing that this call is urgent and we need to work urgently.

We need to work as fast as possible so that more people can come to Christ, but at the same time to be aware that if we're not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we can make grave mistakes.

So the first thing that we need to do as young professionals as lay people is to constantly be in prayer I know it may sound cliche But it's true working with the holy spirit as we go throughout our day abiding in christ Jesus says in john 15 as you abide in me my word abides in you ask whatever you will and it will be done for you.

As the branch cannot exist or cannot thrive, cannot bear fruit if it's not a part of the vine, we too cannot bear fruit if we are not abiding in Christ.

And 1 way that we abide in Christ is through constant prayer.

As you are about to launch your online ministry, as you are starting your business, constantly be dedicating yourself to the Lord in prayer so that you're in connection with the Holy Spirit.

The second thing that I want to encourage us, especially as Millennials, young people, people who are online, if you have a social media account, 1 way that we can start giving people wrong blood is when we answer in a heated state.

Someone says something, or we might want to present truth or doctrine, but we're not in a, the Holy Spirit does not have control of us.

We're either angry or we're either very passionate.

And instead of taking a step back, instead of breathing and asking the Holy Spirit, how do I respond to this?

We respond in a negative or critical or judgmental way.

And that's 1 of those things where you're sincere, you're genuine, but you're doing the wrong thing, giving the wrong blood to the person.

The third thing is that we have to be careful about the things that we share to make sure that we're sharing it in context.

Now that we all, at any moment, with just a click of a button, we can post something, we can share, we can preach, we can talk and start a podcast, there's that temptation to, and this has happened to me personally several times as a matter of fact, I'll be reading a book, see a great quote, and I think, wow, this is powerful.

But what I tend to forget is that I'm reading the book and I have the full context, but if I just take that 1 paragraph or that 1 sentence and I post that online and say that is digital evangelism and then people get all riled up and I think well they are just rejecting truth what I'm not realizing is that I'm posting this or sharing this without giving any context or any background and so again sincere wanting to help people but giving the wrong blood.

We also want to be careful to not present our own personal convictions or our own opinions as doctrine.

For instance, I remember 1 time really studying where Jesus said, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, cast it away from you.

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out.

It's better to enter the kingdom of God maim or blind than having your whole body thrown into hell.

But recognize that that scripture does not say that everyone should cut off their right hand.

For the person whose right hand causes them to sin, whatever that thing might be, you need to cut it off and take it away from you.

But that personal conviction that we have, we can then begin applying that or putting that on other people and thinking that because the Holy Spirit is drawing us to do that, that means that everyone else needs to do it.

And so we begin to present this as doctrine, sincerity, but wrong blood.

We also need to learn as young professionals, as people who are starting online ministries, to care for people.

We might see an individual and think they need to come to jesus We need to get them right into church and we see them more as a project rather than building Relationships with them and that brings us to of course the right kind of blood the method of Christ alone where Ellen White says that we ought to follow his method which was that he mingled with men as 1 who desired their good.

He won their confidence And he bid them to follow me, follow him.

And he was building that relationship with people.

He was showing them love, having compassion on them.

And in so many cases, and again, speaking from experience, we can lose that sense and forget that people really desire and really need love.

And then as the Holy Spirit fills your heart and fills them, we can continue to walk with them.

It reminds me of this other medical mishap that happened.

2 women came into an emergency room again.

Both were having complications in their abdomen.

The second woman actually, she was 3 months pregnant and she was bleeding and she thought that she was having a miscarriage.

The second woman was having pain in her abdomen.

And so when the second lady who was 3 months pregnant, the nurse came into the room and said, let's take a walk, We need to do a CAT scan on you.

She questioned the nurse and she said, is this really what I need to be doing, a CAT scan?

I am, you know, should I be doing a CAT scan?

And the nurse said, yes, the doctor said that this is what you need to do and we'll find out.

The CAT scan will reveal why you're having pain.

The nurse said, again, it's just a CAT scan that you need.

ASI 2020 YP Highlights: Pete Lingas & Sarai Mendoza

So 1 thing that we're really excited about today is these YP highlights.

Because these are like, these are exciting because these are what young professionals are really doing in their lives.

Hashtag reality, hashtag make it happen, I don't know.

Thank you so much for allowing me to highlight precision movement, the business here in San Bernardino, California.

I'm a physical therapist, my name is Peter Lingus, and we have a full on facility that includes sports rehab, sports performance, sports recovery.

So let's say someone is injured and they want to get a program for their specific problem.

It's unlike any traditional physical therapy location.

Typically physical therapy exercises for us, we do that plus We try to get people back to a higher level of performance.

It shows a little bit of the facility and just a little bit of highlights of what we do here.

So imagine a world where you can run any distance, play any sport you want to play with, jump to any height you want to jump to, all without pain.

I am my doctor in physical therapy, and I am board certified in orthopedic rehabilitation and sports rehabilitation.

I think if people buy into good movement, it will set them up for success for the rest of their careers.

Whether they want to run a short distance or run a long distance, The mindset is very important.

The camera systems that we have, they are made by a German company.

And what they do is they can analyze your body angles.

We can get you on a treadmill, let's say you're a runner, and we can measure your body angles and as you're running your normal cadence, we can capture these movements, we can put it to slow motion, we can analyze it, and we can predict your risk for injury.

Becoming involved with the community is very important to me.

The business concept is to be able to reach out to anyone who wants to learn precise movement, efficient movement, and potentially improve their performance.

The vision is to create a unique experience that you cannot find elsewhere so when you're ready we are here to move with you.

Ever since I was a little kid, I've always been interested in business, actually.

So At the age of 10 or so, I started counting money.

My dad was involved in businesses and there's something about money or something about organization that I enjoyed.

And as I got to high school, got to college, I actually wanted to avoid business.

Something just deterred me from the business world and I decided to shift towards a medical type of focus.

Something where I could help people and serve people better.

I was the type of athlete that loved playing basketball.

I never would stretch or do anything to take care of my own body and I stumbled upon physical therapy.

Thankfully, I was able to get into physical therapy school, learn more about the body, learn more about how the body's optimally supposed to move.

And since then, I've actually tried all these exercises out myself and I'm actually, I feel like moving better now than I was 10 years ago.

So from that information, from the knowledge base that I've gained, now my mission is to empower active people to be able to get back to their level of function or even higher.

I love it when people say, hey, you know, I want to get back to this certain speed or this certain height, but I can't right now because of my pain problem or my limitation.

And a lot of what we do is to try to identify those limitations, identify those barriers, and try to build steps to get them back to the highest level they can be.

Obviously, there's a ceiling for most people, but we try to get as close as we can to that ceiling.

That way, we can really empower them to have and pick an activity that they really enjoy.

So after graduating physical therapy school I decided to specialize in certain aspects of physical therapy more in the sports and orthopedic realm and I had all this information in my head and I didn't really know what to do with it.

I could work for a hospital system or a private practice, and which I did, but I kept finding myself limited into what I wanted to do.

I've always envisioned a place, somewhere of a sanctuary for active adults or active people to come into that they can just feel excited to work out, excited to exercise, and excited to repair themselves.

And so after those years of training, after a lot of coaching and mentorship from my parents and other mentors, I decided to, with a lot of prayer as well, decided to pull the trigger on starting a business.

And this envisioned and it kind of transformed into Precision in Movement.

So now, as I mentioned before, it's an ideal environment.

And hopefully when you walk in, you're able to kind of get a sense of, hey, this is a place where I can finally learn about my problem, learn how to fix it for the short term and for the long term.

Being a young professional in this world, in this day and age, is quite tough.

There's a lot of distractions, influences that distract us from our true mission.

So for myself, it took me a number of years to figure out what God wanted me to do, but I feel called and feel like it's a great match for my personality, for my mission and vision, and it's been a really great transformative experience for myself.

So for someone who's trying to embark on this entrepreneur dream, who is also a Christian, I would definitely recommend 5 things to focus on.

So the first thing that I like to do and which has helped me significantly in my stress levels and my purpose in life is to really prioritize time with God.

In the morning time I wake up, I read a devotion, I spend earnest time in earnest prayer, and I just really try to see God's will.

And that's, I would say, the number 1 thing that's helped me with stress levels, with having wisdom on making decisions every day, and just having a fulfillment and enjoyment in life.

Number 2, I would also look for your purpose.

So purpose for myself, like I said, was to really help other people get through their physical pain.

But as over the years, I think God showed me to also not just attack and target the physical pain, but also help people with their spiritual and mental pain as well.

So thankfully with the avenue of fitness and exercise, we're able to target that.

Growing and constantly trying to improve yourself is also important.

Having a growth mindset, that means believing that you are not a fixed person, meaning that you can always grow, meaning you have to also put your ego beside, and just try to really see what God wants you to do, see what things you need to improve on, whether that be from your own schedule in your personal life, whether that be in your business, whether that be in the way you structure your day.

Continue to grow, talk to other people as well to see how they've adapted their lifestyle to match that growth mindset.

And so definitely focus on having a growth mindset.

Number 4, I would definitely recommend networking.

We obviously don't know everything, and I myself don't know everything, so I'm excited when I get to go to events like ASIYP where I can talk to like-minded professionals just to pick their brains on how to do a budget or how to grow your business.

Just try to reach out to people who have that similar value system, that Christian value system, and they're hoping to grow and hoping to impact the world just as Jesus did.

The last thing I would recommend is just trust.

You're most likely going to make mistakes, but what you do with that mistake is you learn from it, grow from it.

And definitely, again, trust in God is important because He obviously has the ultimate answer.

It's hard being someone who likes to have control but try to trust God in his plan and definitely try not to rely on your own strength, definitely include God in your decision making, Trust that He's there to bless you abundantly and in them and because of that He will bless other people as well.

If you guys have any questions at all about entrepreneurship, about a medical business or anything of that nature, go and reach out to me.

I'm happy to call, text, or email you back.

And today we also have with us Sarai Mendoza, who is from Fresno, California.

And today she's going to be sharing with us a really cool dream that she had that she sort of stumbled upon a few years ago.

And so I don't want to give it all away, but Serai, why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your background, where you're from and what you do?

Yeah, so I am a California native through and through.

I grew up in Bakersfield, California and I have been living in Fresno for the last 5 years.

I've been teaching here, Upper Elementary, And I just have a passion for mentoring and guiding young people.

And so with that being said, I will be pursuing my master's in school counseling.

So yeah, that's a little bit about me in a nutshell.

I am that dream that you were talking about, I am actually in the process of publishing a children's book.

So it seems obviously like you have a big heart for service and For ministry or a teacher you really care about people and now you're publishing a book which is incredible I know at some point in your experience There was like a really pivotal time when you had like this awesome roommate that you had.

Seth Hill

ASI 2020 Young Professionals: Seth Hill

And you know, our next speaker is actually someone who went through this.

And I know Seth Hill personally, and all that he has gone through in starting up his own business.

And he's told me bits of his story of sewing hammocks and attics and all sorts of crazy stuff.

But a little bit about Seth on his actual bio is that Seth Hill is the founder of Sway Hammocks and Kinetic Sourcing.

And Sway is an outdoor company that has the mission of bringing comfort, security, and warmth to everyone through the products that they create.

Now, Kinetic Sourcing is actually something new that they've been doing, an international sourcing company with the same mission of bringing comfort and security and warmth to every relationship that they encounter.

And they have actually been helping during the COVID-19 crisis with sourcing supplies, PPE.

Seth will tell you all about these different things.

But Seth's number 1 passion is being able to help others that are going through hard challenges by using what he's gained from his experience in business.

And so while you ponder what it takes to start your idea, we're going to hear from Seth.

I just want to thank you guys so much for coming to this ASI Young Professionals event.

Even though it is from a distance and we can't all be together, that is a real bummer.

But I hope that through my story and the other stories that will kind of be told throughout this time with ASIYP that you guys will be able to grow a lot of value and learn and network and hopefully bring more people into the kingdom by using your skill sets.

That's what it's all about is living out a life that is meaningful.

So here's to happiness and let's get started.

So the way I wanna structure my talk this morning on about 15 to 20 minutes, which is really a bummer because I really wish we were face to face because I love doing the Q&A.

So real quick plug, at the end of this, if you guys want to get the contact information from the ASI people I'm sure you'll be able to Reach out in various different ways and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or connect Always meet love meeting new people.

So there's that So the way I want to structure my talk this morning is in 3 parts.

Kind of who I am, give you a little bit of background and context for the situation that I find myself currently in, how I got started in this world of entrepreneurship and the professional world, and then 3, kind of bringing it all home with 7 points that I'll go through briefly about what I've learned and these are by no means exhaustive of my entire experience there's only so much you can cover in a 15 minute time span but I hope to drop some nuggets that you guys can kind of take back, chew on, and think about, and hopefully they'll impact you to be able to make a greater difference in your personal lives and in impacting the lives around you guys.

I grew up mostly in North Carolina, a little bit of time in Kentucky, and then ended up graduating high school.

And after all of my K through 12 experience of hopping around to different schools in different states, back and forth between North Carolina and Kentucky, and never having more than really a two-year stint at a school.

I stuck with Southern, went there in 2011, ended up graduating in 2017 in May, and by and large it was a good experience.

Now if you guys know me personally, which some of you may, some of you may not.

You know that I have a different kind of view on education.

I view education as 1 of the most prized possessions we have on this earth, but the way that we currently deliver education through our systems, talking about higher education, some lower education as well, I think is not the greatest.

I think there's a lot of different ways that we could learn practically how to do things while doing it rather than talking about how to do it and then try to go do it and realizing that the things we were talking about how we thought the world worked really don't match up to how the world actually works And there's a lot of stuff that's mixed in there that makes that so complicated, but overarching that experience at Southern was a good 1 and it set me on a path to become the person I am today.

So the kind of going back a little bit, I want to start my story from when I was 16 years old.

So when I was 16 years old, thought I had a pretty normal average life.

You know, I had 2 siblings, 2 younger sisters.

Everything seemed on the outside, at least for my 16 year old self, to be pretty typical.

Never thought myself too far outside of any mold.

But my life dramatically shifted in October 16 of 2008.

I came home 1 day and with my mom and 2 sisters and we had found out that my father had taken his own life.

So from a 16 year old's perspective that radically changed the way that I viewed the world, the way that I viewed myself, the way that I viewed my relationship with God, and how God related to people of suffering.

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ASI 2020 Young Professionals: Felecia Datus

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