DDR record holder is an ordained preacher
He is an ordained preacher from Cary, NC who has landed in the 2008 Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition for his skill with Dance Dance Revolution. Out of a possible 490 million, he scored 487,065,870 points.
On YouTube he is known as djsterf, and his videos have had millions of hits, The Cary News said.
He is also an ordained minister, a dancing preacher if you will. His minor fame has caught the disapproval of some Christians who believe dancing can lead to other things. But Sterling Franklin, 27 says, “David danced before the Lord, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” The Cary News said.
Of course, it would be equally valid to question whether Dance Dance Revolution is about dancing, gaming or sports. Gamers call it DDR and it actually is a dance platform with colored arrows. Players simply dance on the platform guided by what they see on the screen and the music played. There are points for every cue met, and higher levels of difficulty, The Cary News said.
Originally a Japanese game played in arcades in 1998, it became extremely popular when the game was adapted to home video game consoles. Teenagers came to love it, The Cary News said.
Franklin says he would rather simply be a preacher. “But as the dancing preacher I get to do what I love both ways.” He uses his success in DDR to explain Christianity, The Cary News said.
He says, “It’s like in Colossians 3, your audience is the Lord, and remember, He’s watching all the time, so you want to do your best. That’s pretty much the bulk of how I connect the two if I preach about it,” The Cary News said.
His teen life
When Franklin was in his teens he didn’t play games. He went to church, joined clubs, played sports and studied hard. In 2004 when he was 21 he went to the N.C. State Fair and he and a friend came across the game, The Cary News said.
The friend dared him to give it a try, and Franklin did—and at standard difficulty, was extremely bad at it. But he was bitten and kept at it, going to the mall on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning when there were no people around, The Cary News said.
Of the success he’s enjoyed he says, “We’re supposed to be in the world, not of the world. People have hobbies.” Preaching however is a passion he was called to at an early age, The Cary News said.
Two years before, he was ordained at the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill as a nondenominational minister, and he lives a clean life. No drinking nor swearing, and rarely listening to music, The Cary News said.
Franklin doesn’t really see DDR as a dance. In Norway, DDR is an officially recognized sport. For Franklin, it is more of a tool he can use to touch other people’s lives and tell them about the gospel, The Cary News said.
And his priorities are clear. He has done some 50 tournaments but will only travel outside of N.C. for a church event. Being The Dancing Preacher has also been advantageous in getting more preaching engagements particularly when reaching out to young people, The Cary News said.
True, he is close to scoring another world record, as in an average five-song set, he takes about 2,400 steps. Franklin bought his arcade game that he keeps in his parents’ garage, and where he trains. He says, “If people say I can’t do something, I want to prove them wrong,” The Cary News said.
Biggest dream
Even as he is about to hit his next DDR milestone, he has one biggest dream right now—to have his own place to preach. With the economy being the way it is churches tend to give priority to pastors with families, The Cary News said.
At 27, he is ready to take the plunge if he finds the right girl. There are girls he meets along the way through DDR—fans largely. Franklin says, however, that the girl he wants to get involved with should like games and lead a Godly life, The Cary News said.