The Heath Mullikin Project

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What is Christian Perseverance?

Run the race with Perseverance

The past five weeks have been some of the most trying of my entire life.  I have seen a young man I loved and invested in die much too young.  I have questioned my progress and maturity.  I have faced stress on every level and in every aspect of life.  It has been intense to say the least.  Not coincidentally, I had been preparing a message on perseverance as part of a new sermon series at Oakway Wesleyan and Common Ground Community Church(did I mention that I started pastoring 2 churches in the midst of all this).  That message came at just the right time for me.  Here’s what James chapter 1 says:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Anyone can be a flash in the pan.  In the era of YouTube, anyone can be famous and some people are famous just for being famous.  Perseverance is not about being satisfied with the daily grind.  It’s about making the daily grind count.  It’s about not overlooking the little things that matter in our efforts to do one great thing that matters.  Not everyone wants to pay the price, be tested, and work their faith out over time.  Most want the answer now, success now, happiness now, riches now….

How can we persevere if we are not tested?  God’s not trying to take away the life you want.  He’s trying to give you the life you were created to have.    Paul writes in Galatians 6:

8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

It’s hard to persevere when you reap destruction.  Destruction always leaves collateral damage.  Perseverance isn’t just about you, but it’s about your loved ones around you.  I’m going to hang in there.  I don’t want my son or The Son to think I’m quitting on them.

 

 

Modern Day Circuit Rider

Horse
Modern Day Circuit Rider

As I mentioned before, I am now pastoring two churches.  One is 118 years old and the other is 6 years old.  They are 10 miles apart.  On Sundays, I drive to Common Ground Community Church at 8:30 am to hang out and speak at the 9:30 am service.  I greet people before the service because as soon as the message is over I drive back to Oakway Wesleyan to speak in the 11 am service.  I want to thank my man Kristoffer Fox for his great advice and saving my voice.  His tips have helped me make it through each Sunday with a strong voice.  My wife has been amazing through all of this as she has to get our kids ready, pick up a family for church, teach Sunday School, and then take them all home after church.  We are firm believers in the “Wesleyan Hour”-a good Sunday afternoon nap.  Later I’ll post my weekly schedule and how I’m trying to balance all of this.

Back to the churches.  You could not find two churches more different or similar.   One has transitioned to a more contemporary worship style while the other was planted as a contemporary church for the community.  One meets in a traditional church building and the other doesn’t.  For all the differences there are important similarities.  Both are filled with people who love Jesus and desire to see the community transformed by his power.  This was evident on August 7 as we held our first joint service together with 102 present( Both churches have between 45-60 people for a Sunday service.)  There is a spirit of cooperation to see where this “partnership” takes us.  My desire is to see healthy Christians and healthy churches.  Over the next few months we will initiate some things to bring us all closer to Christ and each other as we strive to show His love to Oconee County.  This “circuit rider” deal wasn’t a scheme they had planned for me when we moved to South Carolina a year ago.  No, I volunteered.  I saw a church that would be needing a pastor and I sensed God opening the door for something amazing.  With Oakway’s approval I became a dual pastor to Common Ground.  I see this as my “for such a time as this” part of my life.  So far, only a few people have told me I’m crazy to my face.  The rest of them told my horse.

Why does your church have yard sales?

Church Yard Sale
Church Yard Sale?

This week, my wife, Karen, has been hard at work getting things ready for our church yard sale.  I have done my fair share of yard sales for youth fundraisers.  Some have done quite well and some…haven’t.  There was one where I had to sit on a block of ice for 15 minutes because people put more money in my jar than the other pastor’s(this was of course rigged).  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with youth fundraisers as long as it doesn’t take away from the ministry.  If you’re doing a youth car wash every weekend then…you may want to re-think that.

In the last year, I’ve heard of 2 churches(both Wesleyan) having monthly yard/hot dog sales to pay the mortgage on their new buildings.  Before I go off on a rant let me say that both of these buildings were built in better economic times.  I’m sure the church leaders never foresaw having to use valuable church space to store yard sale stuff year round because they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the payments.

Now, church yard sales can a be a good thing because they get people on your campus in a non-churchy environment.  It’s a great way to meet new people and for people to check out your church.  On the other hand, [Read more…] about Why does your church have yard sales?

Books for Summer Reading

Read any good books lately?

I recently purchase a Kindle. It has been well worth the price so far as I have turned wasted time into reading/learning time. I love the fact that Kindle is not only a device but software for my Mac and iPhone. That way, if my wife is reading on the Kindle, I can keep up with my books on these other platforms. Amazon is having a great sale on Kindle books right now. Here’s what I’ve purchased recently for my summer reading:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Stretch Deck-Downloaded this on Kindle for iphone so I’ve always got 50 great stretches with me.  With pics and descriptions.

That should be enough to keep me busy this summer.  What’s on your reading list?

 

First Day of Summer Vacation

I should not see this during Summer Vacation.

Today is the first day of summer vacation.  My girls just finished second grade.  I know there’s an age where “sleeping in” becomes the cool thing to do, but I guess my kids aren’t concerned with being cool.  They were up at the usual time of 6:50 am this morning.  And so, for the first of 100o times this summer, I got up and put a movie on for them and tried to keep their decibel level down since my wife is in bed sick.  Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t want to waste the summer.  I want to invest in my kids and prepare the girls for 3rd grade.  I’m thankful for their great teacher who kept us in the loop with the things they struggled with.  Is it weird that twins struggled with the exact same things?  In a few weeks we’ll head off to youth camp in NC and one of my goals if for us to learn Spanish this summer.  I’m sure we’ll get to it later.  Today, however, I wanted to sleep in.  That’s one thing I don’t like procrastinating about.

Attend a Rural Church? Try the Rural Pastor’s Podcast for encouragement, tips, and trends to lead your church to a whole new level!

Don’t Let a Hacked Blog Stop You

Do you need a fresh start?

Several months ago, this blog was hacked.  I started blogging on MySpace years ago, then moved to notes on Facebook.  Next came dailydoseofheath.wordpress.com before I finally bought Heathmullikin.com and moved to a hosted account.  Later on, The Daily Dose of Heath became a video show as I did my best to be One Man, One Mic, Three Minutes.  That’s when, due to a weak login and password, the blog was hacked with a code so embedded that the good folks at Bluehost couldn’t even pin point everywhere it was.  I purchased WordPress Defender to ensure that nothing like that ever happened again to my blog or any blog that I built.  I then set up the domain www.heathmullikin.com to forward to ChaseYourLion.com as I took some time to determine my next step.

After much prayer and deliberation, I have decided that this blog will do 2 things:

1.  Tell my story as the pastor of a rural church and…

2.  Encourage other rural pastors(although non-rural pastors are certainly welcome).

That’s why this week, I will be launching the Rural Pastor Podcast and fire the keyboard back up for some new adventures.

I’m excited to get a second chance at blogging here.  Starting from scratch isn’t all bad as I will get to apply a lot of what I’ve learned now from the very beginning.  With that said, I will leave most of the blogging advice for Chase Your Lion where this week I will be announcing how new/wanna be bloggers can get over the hump and get started.

If you’re a Rural Pastor I encourage you to join the discussion and contact me with any questions, comments, or topics you think should be covered by the blog and podcast.  Have a great week!

 

Attend a Rural Church? Try the Rural Pastor’s Podcast for encouragement, tips, and trends to lead your church to a whole new level!