First, pretend that you’ve read my blogs from last week about our family getting sick in Ohio, how we had a great time, how we are home and well now, how I contemplated overcoming my gun phobia, and various other holiday musings.

1.  Now, back to the present.  God showed up in a tremendous way at church yesterday.  I found out Saturday I would be filling in as worship leader because Scott caught a stomach bug.  Scott’s wife, Kelsey, is our children’s pastor and she brought the heat with her sermon yesterday.  Anyway, this was my first time leading worship with some of the new guys in the band.  Practice was a little shaky, some of which was due to my scratchy throat and recent illness.  Once the services started, all worries were set aside and God blessed our efforts.  The second service in particular was electric.  There are just some songs you know will get people going.  Days of Elijah is one of those that gets Denton going.  Praise to the Lord for His goodness and working things out.  His plans always do.

2.  Thanks to Handbrake I’ve been able to put some movies on my Ipod.  When you listen to a movie through headphones you pick up so much that is missed in the theater.  My love for The Karate Kid went up about 10 notches after watching it on the Ipod.  I have been trying to find the soundtrack ever since.  I never realized that there is music from start to finish.  I also had never noticed something interesting during the beach training scene.  When Miyagi and Daniel return to the truck there are two men who have placed their beer bottles on the truck.  One of them is wearing what appears to be a Washington Nationals hat about 20 years before the team was created.  It could have been an old Washington Senators hat, but it’s interesting either way.  I remember leaving the theater and trying out all the new karate tricks after that one.  Sadly, Marketplace Cinemas is no longer with us.  Lots of memories there.

3.  I had three goals for Thanksgiving week:  stop drinking Mountain Dew, read two books, and spend lots of time with my kids.  One out of three isn’t bad when you’re chilling with the kids.  Of course, the two seconds I left Drake alone he busted his lip.  He is turning into a daddy’s boy for sure.

4.  I got to see about 8 minutes of the Clemson-Carolina game Saturday.  It’s hard getting out of anti-Bowden mode.  I had to keep reminding myself that I was a Clemson fan again and they played well.  Now, who will the new coach be?  I’m just happy it won’t be Lane Kiffen.  I say give Dabo the job.  He finished 4-2 and only lost to two of the top teams in the conference.

It’s good to be back at the office.  Hope everyone has an awesome week.

Two weeks of illness led to two weeks of minimal posts.  My apologies.  Today, you will get the Heath Hodge Podge.

1.  Karen is in New York for her grandmother’s funeral so my mom is here helping with the kids.  Karen said it was 3 degrees there.  Wow.

2.  Here’s what I’ll say about the BCS.  Any team that is not undefeated has no argument about whether or not they should be in the Championship Game no matter who they beat.  If you can’t take care of your business then that’s your fault to leave it up to computers and pollsters who only watch the games of 5 or 6 teams.  The BCS has become major league baseball in that only a few teams have a shot to win it all, but the BCS doesn’t have a Tamba Bay Rays in the championship either.  Just once I want them to let Boise St. and Utah play for the title.  At least we would have an undefeated champion.  Can you imagine pro sports being decided by preseason rankings?  Oh, and Clemson going to the Gator Bowl is awesome.  You can fly down and back on the day of the game for $250.

3.  I want to find the place where they are printing all of these “Christian” t-shirts that are ripping off other ideas and put a stop to it.  There’s no need to try to change the Starbucks logo into something catchy and Christian.  And wearing Christian t-shirts does not count as witnessing.

4.  I’m starting to think that there are few things in life that live up to their hype.  I especially think that there is a great leadership mirage in the church.  Just because you get great results doesn’t mean that the process and the leadership were correct in their approach.  I think that God realizes what’s at stake more often than we do and has to cover for our laziness/unwillingness to change/procrastination.  God’s blessing does not always mean that God approves.  God has really been hammering me on preperation and creativity.  I think God always blesses our best efforts, but sometimes we don’t even give the effort.  I think we get complacent when we take God’s blessing for granted.

5.  Yesterday was a great day at church.  Charlie finished up his series on “Purple cows, Raging fires, and Open Doors.”  God is moving in our midst and I am excited to see what the future holds.  Now, if we can just get the youth room done before New Year’s Eve.

6.  We are going ice skating this Saturday.  I have never not gotten hurt while ice skating.  My head still hurts from the last time.  Pretty sure that was a concussion I got.  Now, roller skating is a different story.  We used to go every Thursday night and the kiddie rink in the corner at the Anderson place was makeout city.  It’s good that as we get older, we want to make out in public less.  Nothing sweeter than watching an older couple hold hands though.

7.  I did not get on the internet last Thursday or Friday.  It was at least 48 hours and I didn’t die or start sweating profusely.  I was sweating from the fever but not internet lacking.  Seems that the only prescription was more cow bell, chicken soup, and sleep.  That was the worst cold chills I’ve ever experienced.

8.  Saturday was the Denton Christmas parade.  We ran out of candy and silly string on our float before the parade was over.  Next year we need to ration them better.  It was fun.  I did see several Mary and Josephs walking around and some of them were smoking.  One Mary was kind enought to hold baby Jesus to the side while she slowly gave herself nicotine poisioning.  Lots of the church floats fall under the #4 category.  Our theme was “have a rocking Christmas” and the kids had mics and guitars and dressed the part.  The plan was to have music playing but it wasn’t loud enough.  Next year, I think we will just a trailer with a sign for our church.  No theme, just a bunch of us waving and throwing out candy.

9.  My office needs a little touch up so I better get to it.  Lots of sheet music to organize!  Later peeps!

1.  Where are Max and Ruby’s parents?

2.  Where are Little Bear’s clothes?  His parents wear clothes.  Why is he running around naked all the time?

3.  Okay fellow Heroes watchers:  Where are Nathan Petrelli’s wife and children?

4.  Is Arthur Petrelli really dead or did he just lose the Catalyst?

5.  Why does the DVD drive on the Macbook pro keep spitting out DVDs without reading them?

6.  Why do I have 25 copies of some worship songs, but can’t find 1 for the song I want?

7.  What is all this stuff on my desk?

8.  Why do I have more posters than wall?

9.  How far is it to Austin, Texas from here?

10.  What is Matt sending me in the mail?

11.  Does Bluefish TV harass anyone else about sending back a package you never received?

12.  Why is it difficult for me to have hard conversations with close friends?  Why is it so hard to say,”I’m dissapointed”?

13.  What if the grass is greener on the other side because there is a lot of “fertilizer” there, but you couldn’t smell it from the other side?

14. Is it hypocritical for a denomination to have a “stewardship emphasis” when their ministerial students graduate with more school debt than they can pay back on the salary they make at their local church?  Wouldn’t a true “stewardship emphasis” steer students away from going into debt that could cripple their life, marriage, and ministry?  Hey, I graduated with zero college debt, praise the Lord, but too many of my comrades struggle for years to get back to square one.

15.  Iphone or Blackberry Storm?

16.  Should the government provide Festivus poles for people offended by Christmas trees?  Why is it okay to be offended by a little baby, but not by an overweight man who invites small children to sit on his lap so he can make promises he can’t keep?

Will Starbucks cure this mood I’m in or do I need to listen to Christmas music the rest of the day?

First off, check out the comments from yesterday’s post.  A guy from Bluefish TV gave a sincere apology.  I knew the governement was screening all communication, but I’m not sure how Bluefish found the rant on this obscure blog.

Now, onto the list:

1.  Campaigns that Work by John McCain

2.  Raising Sane Kids in an Insane World by Britney Spears

3.  I Done it My Whey: My Presidensity-by George W. Bush

4.  Business Solutions that Work-by american automakers

5.  Being a Great Teammate-Stephon Marbury

6.  The Gun Carriers Bible-Plaxico Burress

7.  Magnificent Structures-Trehel Corp.(the people who brought you the chapel with the cracked floor and the insanely humid dorm)

8.  Weight loss for Winners-Oprah Winfrey

9.  Winning Resumes-the college advisors of all my friends who can’t find work

10.  Where in the World is Joe Biden?-from the creators of Carmen Sandiego

11.  Dog Lovers Guide-Michael Vick

12.  Oops, our Bad-authors of the failed government Bailout

13.  Quick and Easy Albums: the story of Chinese Democracy-by Axl Rose

14.  Organizing Your Office for Success-Heath Mullikin

15.  From ideas to reality-Heath Mullikin

16.  Copyright:  the wit and wisdom of Claude Heath Mullikin-file this one under #15 as well

17.  The Pastor Title Handbook:  250,000 names to choose from-from the authors of 1,000,000 Baby Names

18.  How to make your point without repeating yourself everyday-Sean Hannity

19.  A Coaching Legacy:  the Tommy Bowden story-by Bobby Bowden

20.  Superman Returns:  the Novel-by Bryan Singer

1.  I heard yesterday that sometimes it takes a $2 funnel to save a multi-million building.  That would be a great book title.

2.  Tomorrow we are taking the youth group ice skating.  It got more votes than Lazer Tag.  I am not a good ice skater.  I always seem to get injured.

3. I discovered that our old youth group has it’s own bowl game now.  I really like that Roadys logo.  We never did get a good one in SC.

4.  I am really close to dropping Myspace.  As for Facebook, I don’t want to join your cause, race you, come to your event, or do anything else that forces me to add one more application.  Myspace has gone nuts with those things and my page looks like Hebrew because everyone has to have a cool screen name like “SW4597h!”  I may give it another week and then it’s history.  I will have to cut and paste all my old blogs though.  That was some good stuff.

5.  If you’re on Facebook then you’ll want to check out these sweet pics of me and my friends from High School.  They were put up by Stephanie Roll who married my longtime tag team partner, “Bad” Brad Finley.  Yes, I was skinny and that is a stand alone mustache.

6.  Today, we will be trekking to the mall to see Santa.  How do you explain to five year olds the reason there are Santa’s everywhere?  Milena asked,”Can we hug him?”  My answer, “Only after we check his ID and breath.”

7.  I am pumped for the live action GI JOE movie coming out next year.  Matt hopes that Scarlett will defect and join Cobra with the Baroness.

8.  After watching the special on the History channel about the actual plot to kill Hitler, I am more inclined to go see Valkryie starring Tom Cruise as the German officer who speaks with an American accent.  Brings back memories of Kevin Costner in Robin Hood.  Lots of good movies coming out in the next three weeks, but I don’t think “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is one of them.  I think Keanu Reeves was typecast as the emotionless alien.  Bring back Bill and Ted!

9.  The Red Sox are looking to sign Mark Teixiera.  It means that either Ortiz, Youkillis, or Lowell will have to go.  Gotta be Lowell.  I think Teixiera is one of those players who gets numbers without elevating his teammates.  Kinda like Allen Iverson and A-Rod.  He would be a monster addition to the lineup and his hard nosed play(what in the world does that even mean) will fit right in with the team.  I think that CC Sabathia will not be worth all the money the Yanks gave him because he won’t bring them a title.  Yanks just throw money at guys.  Red Sox bring in and develop players who fit into their system.

10.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  The Mullikin Christmas tour begins on December 22nd so we will be looking to catch up with all our SC friends.

1.  So, in case you didn’t hear, a reporter threw his shoes at President Bush in Iraq. His networks response was that he should be released  “in accordance with democracy and freedom of expression Iraqis were promised by the new era and American authorities.”  Ironic that Iraqis didn’t have any of that until Saddam was overthrown by US forces commanded by President Bush.  Bush laughed off the incident.  Saddam would have ended the guy’s life and career.

2.  We closed out our service yesterday with “How Great is Our God” and it was amazing.  I also heard, for the first time, someone sing “O Holy Night” without an operatic voice.  Michelle nailed it and really moved us even deeper in the service.  Check this out to hear what happens when “O Holy Night” falls into the wrong hands, err, voice.  I am still trying to figure out all the knobs on our sound board and why the equalizers aren’t hooked up.

3.  It appears that the DVD drive has gone bad on the Macbook Pro.  From reading various Mac Forums, it appears that this is a common problem.  Talked to a lady at church whose Dell laptop just went out for the second time since she bought it in April.  She was not looking forward to spending two hours on the phone with a foreign country.

4.  Credit to Charlie Collins for this bailout plan.  Instead of spending $700 Billion on this crapshoot, why not give every American homeowner $1 million.  We figured if there were 350 million people and 60% were homeowners then that would be about 250 million.  Any way you cut it, it would be alot less than what has been proposed.  Can you imagine if all the homeowners got the money to pay off all their debt?  Dave Ramsey’s head would explode with joy.  Of course it won’t happen because big business pays for elections and perks.  We, the taxpayers, just pay for the bailouts.

5.  Why is it that the best loogees come up when you’re driving and it’s too hard to spit out a car window when you’re going 55 mph?

6.  Why is it that I have all the answers to questions that are never asked and none of the answers to things I need to know right this minute?

7.  Is it possible to have an internet session on Windows Vista without seeing the little blue circle(formerly the hour glass)?  It is possible to do anything on Windows Vista without there being a long and awkward pause in your work?

8.  Ice skating is much harder than it appears on the Olympics.  Especially is you don’t know how to get your skates tight enough.  I did make it all day without falling thanks to Audrey’s encouragement and the wall.  By all day, I mean 6 laps.  My feet were killing me.  Oh, and never go ice skating at a place hosting 5 birthday parties on the same day.  It was a wee bit crowded.

9.  Is it just me, or does Christmas seem to come faster each year?  People always say, Christmas will be here before you know it, and they are correct.  Sadly, we won’t be watching New Year’s Eve fireworks from our balcony at the Shingle Creek resort this year.  We will, however, be watching the first annual Denton Ball Drop at our church.

10.  If you’re a Dean Cain fan, then check out the Lifetime Movie Network.  He’s on there all the time, not that there’s anything wrong with it.

Have a great Monday!

1.  When I woke up this morning there was a 9 week old Beagle named Daisy in a box next to our bed.  I think we got her yesterday.  I think she’s won my heart.

2.  My buddy, Travis, called the other day and asked if he just saw our Alma Mater, SWU, on the ESPN ticker playing VMI.  Sure enough, it was and here’s the box score.

3.  Maybe winning American Idol isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Maybe having a 6,000 square foot house isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

4.  Just watched the New Ric Flair DVD.  Dude, I love wrestling.  It has changed so much in the past 25 years.  Some good.  Some bad.  I’ll be posting about those changing in the coming days.  It’s influence on me can be seen in all the Facebook pictures of me holding up the Four Horsemen sign.

5.  I think we went through Christmas last year without watching Christmas Vacation everyday.  I hope that doesn’t happen again this year.  That’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year round.

6.  I think I want this for Christmas.  Too classic!  Where is Matt LeRoy and his one legged jump shot?

7.  So, last night I was losing in the semifinals of two fantasy football leagues.  Thanks to David Akers, the Philly Defense, and a poor showing by Westbrook I won both games.  Don’t know that that has ever happened before:  Two leagues featuring the same players head to head on a Monday night.  So, this weekend I will be playing for two championships while my ESPN team is but a fading memory.  I’m the Phil Helmuth of Fantasy Football.  If it weren’t for luck I’d never lose.

8.  I think I just finished reading a book written by a doctor about her interviews with serial killers.  She was trying to make sense of their urge to kill.  Some people are just crazy.

9.  I think Auburn hired a coach who has a 5-19 career record and lost 10 straight this year.  The guy they just “fired” um, who resigned of his own free will, only averaged 8.5 wins over the last 10 years.  Nice going.  I can’t wait to talk to my brother, an Auburn alum, about it.  He’s got it double bad since his wife is a Florida grad and the Gators are doing just fine thank you very much.

10.  I think the rearranging of the youth room begins today!

Peace out folks!

1.  81 year-old Joe Paterno got a three year contract extension.  Penn State has improved the last few years and calls for his retirement have subsided.  Multi-year contracts in college football mean nothing.  They are only there to “insure” recruits that the coach is on solid footing.  I hope I’m still in the game when I’m 81.

2.  I believe leadership is inclusive and exclusive.  I believe that those called to lead certain groups/churches/organizations is an exclusive groups and it’s not for everyone.  However, I believe those leaders are called to include others as the group moves forward.  I think I know what I’m trying to say, but I don’t think I said it very well.

3.  Okay, okay.  I got a nudge to comment on this whole Illinois Governor fiasco so here it goes.  The whole deal is that this guy(I can’t spell or say his name so he is “this guy”) was trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama.  He had his list of names and was going around, allegedly, to see who the highest bidder was.  This, of course, is illegal.  It is not, however, unheard of.  Politics world-wide has a long history of this “pay to play” style of involvement.  Elections have been bought and sold as easily as government positions.  I think there are three issues going on here.  #1 is that this guy, the Illinois governor, is rumored to be a complete nutjob(that is the scientific name).  Not just the typical jerk politician, but crazy crazy.  One former colleague informed this guy of a death in his family while this guy was on the phone.  This guy covers the mouthpiece and asks the man, his colleague and friend, if he can count on his family for a campaign contribution.  No hanging up the phone.  No “I’m sorry for your loss.”  Normal people don’t do this.  #2 is that Chicago politics has been steeped in corruption for a looong time.  Read any book on the Kennedy election.  See how many former Governors are in prison or may soon be going to prison.  Will it ever change?  That’s not to say that all Illinois and Chicago politicians are corrupt.  Which leads us to  #3.  Barack Obama now must overcome this scandal that he may or may not have had anything to do with.  So far it appears that no one on the Obama team knows who talked to who or when, but there are lots of recorded conversations between “this guy” and members of Obama’s team, who to his knowledge had no contact with the governor’s(this guy’s) office.  Now, Obama is appointing many people to his staff and Cabinet who have ties to Chicago.  This is not unusual.  We often promote and use who we know.  It happens everyday in churches, clubs, and schools.  However, with the cloud of corruption hanging over Illinois, I wonder how wise it is to continue promoting people from there.  On a side note:  Obama has not promoted or named any Republicans or southerners to his staff and cabinet.  President-elect Obama needs to realize  that something stinks in Chicago and if he’s not careful it will follow him to the White House.

4.  The good thing about the library is that you can check out movies for free.  The bad thing is that I end up getting movies like Camp Rock and Alice in Wonderland.  Camp Rock wasn’t that bad, but the lip syncing in all the musical movies gets to me as well as the fake guitar playing.  At least learn some chords and fake it right.  I really got it to see my kids dance.  Drake is a dancing machine, clothed or unclothed.

5.  Christmas is a week from tomorrow.  Valkyrie, Bedtime Stories, the Spirit, 7 Pounds, and the Wrestler are some of the movies I want to check out over the holidays.  Gotta look at plugged in online to check out their content before we go.  I also want to take the girls to see Bolt.  Looking forward to a week home and preaching in Denton on the 28th.  My sermon is already done so I can rest easy over the Holy days.  We also get to introduce our family to our new Beagle, Daisy Mae.

6.  I’m reading a book on Duke’s 91 and 92 National Championships.  I’ve got them on tape somewhere.  It’s not as easy to get acquainted with college players anymore because so many of them leave school early.  When you go to 4 Final Fours in a row(three championship games in a row) then everyone gets to know you, and non-Duke fans learn to hate you even more.  I guess I didn’t realize or remember how close we came to a UNC-Duke national championship game which would have eclipsed all sporting events before or since.  It would have also started Armageddon.

Well, it’s a busy day with lots to do.  Anyone else read Francis Chan’s “Crazy Love?”  Starting on that today.

1.  Ran into(not literally) a very polite deaf guy at Wal-Mart today.  Is it wrong to yell insults at non-lip reading deaf people?  What about making obscence gestures at a blind person?  Just don’t do it.  Be nice.

2.  Youth Christmas party tonight!  Looking forward to White Elephant(Andy says we can’t say Dirty Santa at church) gift exchange.

3.  The dog chewed up my cell phone charger yesterday.  Luckily, Wal-Mart has everything and a trip to the Verizon store in Asheboro was not necessary.  I am still adjusting to not leaving anything near where the dog can get to it.  I also have to do the same thing with Drake who can open child proof caps with ease.  I’m telling you, my son is a Phenom.  “The Man-Child” Drake Mullikin!

4.  Had a friend who had to get a CAT scan yesterday.  Pray that everything is okay and the doctors can find the source of the pain he’s been having.

5.  I am amazed at home many teens from my ministries have entered the armed forces.  5 in the past 4 years(4 this year).  4 in the army and 1 to the Marines and that’s not counting Karen’s brother, Bill, who just graduated from basic training a few weeks ago.  I admire them all and salute their service.

6.  Cowboys and Panthers have big games this weekend.  Not as Big as The Denton Drakes and the Denton DeLux who will be playing for Fantasy Football championships and immortality.

7.  The last two weeks on Heroes have had major mark out moments for me.  Did you notice who was playing Hiro’s mom.  Yup, it was the girlfriend from Karate Kid II, Tamlyn Tomita.  This week, did my eyes deceive me or was that Michael Dorn(Commander Worf) playing the president?  I think we’re gonna get back to season one awesomeness soon.

8.  It’s official, Drake is starting the terrible 2’s.  Totally different than the girls.  He’s still adorable even when he turns into the hulk.

9.  Oh, if I haven’t mentioned it before, I am not pleased about the Karate Kid remake staring Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith.  Nothing against the Smiths, but some things should be left alone and put in a place of honor at the Smithsonian where they belong.  I may organize my first boycott.

10.  Whether you’ve had a bad day, week, month, or year it doesn’t change the fact that God deserves your praise.  Let’s make 2009 a year that sees lives changed, leaders raised, and love shared.