It’s 1:20am and I’ve been thinking about hunger. No, I am not hungry but the thought that every church planter, pastor, missionary, church worker, youth pastor must be hungry. It would be so sad to have demotivated and apathetic Christ followers.

I’ve been reading up on some secular magazines like Fast Company, INC and Success and read how many of the world are hungry for their cause – whether it’s fighting for health, internet marketing, personal branding, million dollar business ideas and sometimes try to compare it to the hunger I have when it comes to advancing God’s kingdom.

Not that I’m saying God’s love is equivalent to how passionate and hungry I am for the ministry. I hope you get what I mean. If the world would dedicate their heart and soul for a cause that has shorter life span and value, how much hungry should we be when we know that the message of the gospel is the solution to man’s ultimate problem.

It can’t be church as usual for us. Discipleship is never a time in time out thing. It is our lifeblood. The gospel so transforms me that I am forever hungry to work and spread the message.

I remember when I was still in high school. Pastor Ferdie Cabiling, our senior pastor in Victory Ortigas, then was still a youth pastor, would visit us on a regular basis and share the word of God passionately. Whether he was speaking to us as a small group or preaching to thousands – the fire was there. One time our siblings had an interesting discussion. The topic was ” Do you think Pastor Ferdie is always on Fire?”

On my first three years of ministry, I work alongside Pastor Ferdie and I got my answer. HE IS ALWAYS ON FIRE. Why? Because the message of the gospel has consumed him and there is no other option but spread the message through discipleship and hard work. He taught us never to back down from any challenges. He taught us the value of hard work especially in ministry. He taught us that you don’t  focus on you but  you look at the big picture. Be a team player. No lame excuse was big enough to back down from doing God’s work. The youth pastors at that time would label working under Pastor Ferdie as BOOT CAMP for want to be pastors. For that I want to honor and thank him.

If you are a minister of the gospel – step up to the plate and show how hungry you are – not to prove anything because you have nothing to prove but because Christ is worth being hungry about.