The Heath Mullikin Project

Mark Batterson, the Lion Chaser

It’s only fitting that we take Monday to spotlight the man whose book inspired this site. Mark Batterson is the Lead Pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC. They are reaching the city in an innovative way by meeting in theaters and coffeehouses throughout the area. It’s truly an amazing story. You can read more about he and his family here. On top of being a pastor, Mark travels the country speaking at various conferences and has written three books In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, ID: The True You, Wild Goose Chase with a fourth (Primal) on the way. I love listening to his weekly podcast and his blog, MarkBatterson.com is on my reading list. Here are a few video clips from Mark. One is him telling the story behind [Read more…] about Mark Batterson, the Lion Chaser

Take Action Thursday-Extreme Makeover Home Edition

This past Lion Chaser Monday, we looked at the Montgomery family who had just been featured on Extreme Makeover Home Edition. My wife and I just found out the show is coming to the Triad area of NC(Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point). We have signed up to volunteer sometime between November 11 and 18. The builder is in Lexington-Hedrick Creative Building-but all other information is being kept under wraps. My challenge is that if you live in the area then go here and sign up to be a volunteer. You will be able to take part in changing a family’s life, one brick at a time. There’s a need for skilled and unskilled labor. I am so excited to be able to participate in this. Next Friday, there will be a pep rally in Lexington at Reeds Baptist Church. We can talk about making a difference all we want, but here is a genuine opportunity that will affect an entire community. Maybe you’re not in the area, but you can still pitch in by donating towards the project here. And while I’m at it, here’s some love for Ty Pennington and his latest book.

ifollow and Youth Ministry Resources

My good friend Scott Simmons finished his first book and it has become a great discipleship tool that many youth groups are using. Our group is almost through with the 10 week study and has thoroughly enjoyed it. ifollow is a great resource for groups or individuals looking to take the next step in their journey with Christ. Scott is the Director of Youth Ministries for the Wesleyan denomination.

Welcome to the Planet is a great resource that will take your youth group through the 5 purposes of the church. This 6 week study includes powerpoints, outlines, transcripts, and games to help you promote and implement this great series.

Check out these other great sermon series:

Thoughts on Clemson and the World Series

So, Clemson pulled off a huge upset Saturday against Miami and control their own destiny to get to the ACC Championship for the first time where they will more than likely face Georgia Tech who barely eeked out a win against the Tigers earlier in the year. Yes, that was a long sentence. Let me see if I got this right. Clemson has 3 losses by a combined 10 pts and merely has to win out to make the championship game. Hmmm. That sounds oddly familiar. I wonder how many callers to WCCP have lamented those losses and regretted being thisclose to being a BCS contender. If and when Clemson accomplishes either of these two firsts(making the Championship game and winning it to earn a BCS bid) I will take my hats off to them…literally. I have 3 Clemson hats that I will burn. I will keep my Clemson toboggan because it keeps my ears warm when I leave the gym. Seriously. I’m 100% positive that moving away from Tigertown removed all orange tinting from my glasses. So, Clemson fans prepare the best(Orange Bowl tickets baby!) or the worst(explaining to your son why Clemson was mediocre again and why next year will be better-just give him the same speech you’ve given him the past 10 years and that your father gave you).

The World Series starts tomorrow night and at a decent hour. Thank you MLB! It’s the first time in a long time that the two best teams from the season are meeting in the World Series. No Wild Card teams here(and no small market/low budget teams either). It should be a great series. However, as a Red Sox fan, I am facing a stark reality: these Yankees are different. There big free agents signings did not blow up in their faces this year(CC and Tex). Every move the Yankees have made in the last 7 or 8 years had been iffy. Jason Giambi, Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, Carl Pavano…none of their moves worked out…until now. And so, we are left facing the possibility of a new Yankee dynasty that could run the table for the next 3 or 4 years though Joe Girardi’s managerial moves are often questionable. The Red Sox face some big off season decisions. The last thing we(and the world) needs is more Yankee’s titles.

Lion Chaser Monday-The Montgomery Family

If you watched Extreme Home Makeover last night then you heard the story of the Montgomery family and saw their lives changed. Nathan left his engineering job to start Salt and Light, a ministry to the less fortunate. Somewhere along the way, he and his wife decided to “Chase Their Lion” and because of that countless individuals have been fed, clothed, and helped in their time of need. What if he had kept his old job and not pursued his purpose and passion? How many lives have been changed because of his family’s sacrifice? Sometimes, God births something in our heart that cannot be contained. Fear and doubt creep in and try to dissuade us from walking in obedience. Eventually, we must make the choice to pursue it with all we have or let the dream die a lonely, painful death. Despite obstacles(and probably naysayers) the Montgomery’s allowed God’s vision to become reality in their lives. There’s lots of coverage of their story here. There are many videos covering various aspects of the show and their ministry. It’s a great behind the scenes look at a great show, but also an up close look at the Montgomery family as well. It’s inspiring stuff. You can find out more about their ministry here and make a donation here. They have have a Facebook page and a Twitter account. Are you being salt and light? A great ministry…a great family.

What’s on my mind

Friday just got a little heavier than I intended. Here’s what’s been going on as I take you through my train of thought. Warning! This may be scary.

1. Spoke at revival at Liberty Wesleyan Church this week. Had a great time and felt the Lord speak to me and through me. Awesome to reunite with Travis and Autumn Ward who I used to watch wrestling with every week. God challenged me so much through the messages and was faithful to help me overcome a cough that has progressively gotten worse. Speaking got all sorts of topics going through my head.

2. Found out late Wednesday night that my grandfather(on my dad’s side) has cancer and only a few months to live. Papa Robert is 90 so they are still looking at options. This has got me thinking about the things I don’t know about so many in my family. I want to hear their stories, disappointments, and ask questions like,”what would you change if you had it all to do over again?” I want to capture all of this on video. What if genealogy could jump off the page and speak to us? All of this got me thinking about my regrets. This made me glad that…

3. We didn’t have Facebook or Myspace when I was growing up. I think if I were to look back I would be embarressed and ashamed by some of the pictures, statuses, and tweets I would have posted. It would have been weird hoping my parents never saw my page and revealing my true self to the whole world. On the other hand, it may have kept me honest because maybe I would’ve made better decisions if I knew the whole world were watching. I just think that changing my relationship status once a week and posting “couple” pics would be weird. Would I have cussed on Facebook as much as I cussed in real life? Maybe I would’ve cussed less, cheated less, and been a better person. Oh, I went to church more than anybody and am thankful that the influence of Godly parents, Sunday School teachers, neighbors, pastors, youth pastors, and friends won the day and helped me avoid a whole lot of regret. I realize now that being there didn’t “save” me, but in a way it did. I still had to choose Jesus for myself, but all those hours at church and with the church opened my eyes to what life truly was about. It’s sad how many “good” kids I see go through this downhill progression where they forsake their faith and party hard all for the world to see. It will be hard to tell your kids not to drink when they’ll be able to see all your underage drinking pictures on the internet. I guess it’s odd that what used to be secretive and only your closest friends knew is now posted for the whole world to see. You used to hear stories of people partying, but now we’ve got pics, updates from the party, and statuses from the morning after. I think we’ve gotten so sensitive to not want to be judgmental that we don’t exercise any judgment at all. There’s this attitude that sin is unavoidable so you might as well go with the flow.

4. I try to use the internet and Social Media to share my faith and encourage others. I think they are wonderful tools to communicate with the world. I think that all of these things are making it possible for my children and (hopefully) grandchildren to know my story. I want to make it a great one…one they can be proud of.