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Fitness Anytime?

My wife and I visited the gym together today. We are scheduled to meet with a trainer on Friday. It’s called Anytime Fitness in Thomasville and I’m digging it so far(after 1 day). The trainer was a cool dude, a Christian, and really seems to know his stuff. And may I say in the most heterosexual way that the dude is buff. He’s about my height and I’m thinking,”That’s me in 6 months.” So, this is something Karen and I are going to do together. I’m off Mountain Dew. If 2 of my teens catch me with one I have to fork over $5 to each of them. In it’s place, I’m drinking coffee and water. The trainer said,”Pour some Mountian Dew on your car and see what happens.” Can’t believe I’ve been lining my guy with that stuff for 30 years. Better quit talking about because there’s a Pepsi machine stocked with it just down the hall. All the more reason to move my office to the nearest coffee shop with WiFi. Thanks for your prayers as I strive to get healthy and undo some of the damage that a youth pastor’s schedule and diet have done to me over the past 12 years.

Hey, if you have a pet and you live near Easley, may I suggest my uncle who’s a vet. Here’s an article I just found on him.

Have a blessed day.

When the Answer is not the answer

Lets say you’re trying to build a team. You have some young people on the team who are getting some much needed experience. While your team is not enjoying much success you feel that this experience will pay off in the long run. In an effort to be succesful now you bring in two industry veterans who have a track record of not making any teams better and whose presence will stunt the growth of the young people you’ve invested time and money in. This is how the Memphis Grizzlies do business and why they will never be a good(let alone, great) team under the current leadership. Here they have a great young nucleus, but instead of letting them develop over time they decide to bring on Allen Iverson and Zach Randolph, two notorious ball hogs and chemistry killers. I find myself scratching my head over these decisions, but then I remind myself,”This is the Grizzlies.” What’s this got to do with anything useful I might have to say? Too many times, I’ve seen churches, organizations, and universities scrap long range plans by trying to hit a home run with a big name. Again, too many times, no consideration is given to how the new person will fit into the organization. Let’s say you bring in someone to your organization whose been very successful in their area of expertise, but have no idea how to work or deal with the people on your team. That spells disaster faster than you can say “Bad PR.” Even if you’re bringing them in to overhaul a certain area(which may be desperate for it) you’ve got to give consideration to how it affects the entire team, church, organization, etc. Knowing when and how to do all of this is a mark of good(or poor) leadership. End up on the wrong side of these kind of decisions too many times and you could find yourself shopping yourself out to anyone who will take you. Unless, those in authority over you are clueless themselves and have no qualms with you running their organization into the ground. In that case, you’ll enjoy a long run with the Memphis Grizzlies or …um, other organizations I know.

The Nines and Tony Morgan Live in Lynchburg

In my blogging haste I forgot to mention a few things.

Great post from Perry Noble today on opportunity. Read it and ask yourself the hard questions.

Today, I will be catching as much of The Nines as possible over at Tony Morgan’s blog. The Nines is a free conference featuring some of the church’s greatest leaders. They each have 9 minutes to share their insight. I pray it is influential and beneficial for all who watch. These minister’s are truly annointed and I hope to get a portion of that!

Wesley Grubb and I are heading up to Thomas Road Baptist Church tonight to catch a conference with Tony Morgan tomorrow. Tony is my blogging inspiration and is one of the church’s great strategic thinkers and leaders. He’s got three books you can check out here. They’re all very insightful and have practical applications.

Getting ready for the 642 tonight! Have a great day.

Making Money with a Blog

I’m not sure if you realize this, but there are people who make their entire living from their blogs. I would dare say that most, if not all, of these people are blogging about something they are truly passionate about. In other words, they get paid to do and talk about something they love. Now there’s a novel idea. I’ve been getting paid to do what I love for over a decade now. However, I’m looking at other ways to provide for my family that won’t take time away from them or my ministry. I found out the hard way that free wordpress.com blogs aren’t suited, designed, or intended for making money. So, I’ve been looking into other alternatives. Blogger is also free and allows for ads, promotions, and capture pages. However, you don’t have full control over the layout and design. After doing lots of research, I’m looking into a wordpress.org blog. Lots of people use this from ministry to business experts. One of those guys who I’ve been reading is David Risley. He’s got a 3 day program called 3 Day Money that I’m currently in the middle of. It has opened my eyes to lots of new things and ideas. David is passionate about helping people make money blogging about something they are passionate about. The thing I needed the most help with figuring out how to setup a new wordpress.org blog and get hosting and a domain name(he will explain all of this). I’ve found that I’m only halfway through the course, but it’s already been well worth the price. All of this is leading to the new site/blog I will be launching soon. Not as soon as I would like, but I want to get it right. His course is by no means a “get rich quick” deal. It’s an education to help you work smarter at building your online blogging presence. The only changes you’ll see here at heathmullikin.com is maybe some design stuff. I may eventually move it to wordpress.org, but just for the design options. So, if you’re a serious blogger or just starting out, go check out David’s course and see how he can help.

What is Joy?

Here are some of the main points from my sermon Sunday. It was part of our Engage Series based on the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. I asked(and tried to answer) 4 questions: What is Joy? What does Joy look like? What does Joy sound like? Can anyone/anything steal my Joy?

First, Joy is expressed through emotion, but it is not emotional. It is an anchor for our soul that keeps us steady in good and bad times. Where as, happiness is based on circumstance, joy is based on what Christ has done for us. The opposite of happiness is sadness, but the opposite of joy is fear. As long as we have fear, our joy can not be complete.

Secondly, Joy is seen is obedient action. Our joy will either: bring out the joy in other believers or attract others to Christ in us. Without Jesus, there can be no joy. Without obedient action, there can be no joy. It takes something on our part, or a response on the part of others to complete our joy. Joy is seen in the steadiness of character in uncertain times. I also feel that one can have true joy despite suffering from depression and that Christians should seek Godly counseling and medication when necessary. Some Christians I know have experienced the grace of God that allowed them to live with their depression without treatment. Others I know would not have been as productive in life or faith without it. I don’t see suffering from depression as a lack of faith or an absence of joy.

Thirdly, Joy is heard in our praise to God and our testimony to others. It is heard in our prayer requests and praise reports. The some mouth that rejoices in what the Lord has done can not also participate in the cursing of others. We either speak words of life or words of death. What kinds of words do people hear us using? Do people hear us and think,”wow, he sure is rejoicing in the Lord” or “wow, I didn’t know you could put those 2 words together?” Show me someone with a foul mouth and I’ll show you someone lacking in joy.

Finally, I don’t believe God would go to the trouble of letting His Son suffer and die if, after all was said and done, there would be loophole by which Satan could take away what has been given to the believer by the Spirit. No one can steal our joy, but we sometimes hand it over too easily. Sometimes, it’s like we leave our car unlocked, give the keys to a stranger, and say,”my car’s right there. It needs a little gas, but it runs just fine.” We don’t protect our joy from the situations around us. If you feel like someone stole your joy, it’s because you are giving it to them!

I think a lot of us have allowed Jesus to come into our hearts, minds, and lives, but we’ve never let him unpack. He’s like a roommate we are forcing to sleep on the couch. We can never experience or bear the Fruit of the Spirit until Christ is allowed to fully unpack His stuff. That may mean some of our stuff has to go. It may mean giving up more space than we planned. This whole process can be painful, but the joy that grows from it is worth it.

By no means is this meant to be the be all, end all on joy. They’re just the thoughts the Lord laid on my heart for the past month or so. How’s your Joy?

Clemson 2009 and a Perry Noble vid

Here’s a hilarious vid of Perry Noble and Dabo Swinney. I hope I don’t have to explain the joke to you.

Now, yesterday I told you I would give you my preview for this year’s Tiger team. I think Tommy Bowden’s legacy can be summed up in two words: unfulfilled potential. Not only in his coaching, but in the program’s failure to turn blue chip recruits into NFL studs. Guys like Todd McClinton, Wily Korn, Roscoe Crosby-guys who came in highly touted but never reached their full potential. 15 Bowden coached Tigers are in the NFL. By comparison, over 20 Gamecocks are on NFL rosters. The full blame doesn’t fall on Bowden or the program, but they must share some responsibility. Sadly, will we add CJ Spiller’s name to the list? He is a great player, but has he improved since his freshman year? He was fast and elusive when he got here. Think he regrets not playing 4 years with Tim Tebow at Florida? For new coach Dabo, this year is a wash. Unless the Tigers go 2-11 or something crazy like that his job is not on the line. I see 7-8 wins for them(sound familiar) and a mid range bowl bid. Dabo either takes the program places Bowden could not or he is gone after three to four 6-8 win seasons. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results then…