The Heath Mullikin Project

1.  Tony Dungy retired yesterday from the Colts.  I don’t think he’s a Parcell’s type who will make 8 returns to the game.  I think he believes that he has a higher calling than football and it is not his life.  Critics of Tony Dungy are as rare as Clemson basketball victories in Chapel Hill.  Football’s loss is the world’s gain.

2.  Jim Rice was finally elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his 15th and final year of eligibility.  It’s a long time coming.  One of my top ten pet peeves is the Baseball Hall of Fame voting.  What has Rice done in the past 15 years to make himslef a more deserving Hall of Famer?  Nothing.  It’s just that the Baseball writers who vote for this honor are a bunch of morons.  They have made being a “first ballot” Hall of Famer a distinction at the expense of other deserving players.  Bunch of morons.  I think they secretly ru(i)n the BCS too.

3.  Still struggling to replace the church’s Macbook pro.  I have sought the counsel of wiser Mac people than myself and still don’t know the best solution.  Maybe one day Mac’s and PC’s will be completely compatible.  They will probably announce that the day after the finals of the NCAA Div. 1 Football tournament, the MSNBC tribute to George W. Bush, the New York Times scathing critique of President Obama, and I buy Superman Returns.

4.  Who’s the biggest loser?  The couple who spend 30 minutes talking to the comic store owner about their Hero Clix tournament or the guy who waits in line behind them while his son, Drake, goes nuts?  I finally left in disgust and will probably never go back.  Why keep going to a comic store that you know won’t have any titles you want unless you’re on the subscription list?  Why does a comic store order 5 copies of a book people really like and 20 copies of books people have never heard of?  My options for new comic stores are Salisbury and Greensboro which are both about 15 minutes further than the one in Asheboro.  Yeah, I know.  My life is pretty amazing when this tops my list of struggles and frustrations.  If I start wearing comic tees everyday and amassing a Hero Clix collection that takes over my living room then I will hope someone pulls an intervention with me.

5.  Speaking of interventions, I am planning one with a colleague as we speak.

I’m off to replace a car battery.  Twitter that.

1.  Florida won the BCS title last night.  I pretty much pull against all teams from conferences that have Big or Pac in their name.  Good thing Stoops won his BCS title in his first try cause since then he’s been el choker grande.  Think about this, the NCAA governs all aspects of division 1 football except for the national title.  A football playoff would mean “too much time away from the classroom.”  Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t all bowl games DURING CHRISTMAS BREAK?  The NCAA has the power to make or break your career and livelihood, but not to crown it’s own national champion.  The national championship is crowned by a group consisting of only 66 schools(out of around 119) from only major conferences(the BCS) and also by writers(the AP poll) who only watch games featuring(guess who?) those same 66 schools.  To me, you make all teams enter 12 team conferences with a conference championship game and then those 10 champions would have a playoff.  Top six teams get a bye and you’re talking 4 extra weeks of football.  This is the Heath plan.  I noticed Tim Tebow had John 3:16 on his eye black but he played like John 11:35 in the first half.  In the end, the Gators proved that the SEC is head and shoulders above the rest and that the Big 12 was a Big Fraud this year.

2.  John Smoltz signed with the Red Sox.  I like Smoltz.  I like the Red Sox.  I’m just not excited about this signing.  It gives their rotation some needed depth, but I’m still reeling from the Texiera disappointment.

3.  I’m pretty sure that Wesleyan Life is the only magazine that Barack Obama hasn’t been on the cover of.  At what point do we reach Obama overload?  At what point will the media realize,”Oh wait, he got elected so we can stop shoving him down people’s throats now”?  I’m rooting for him.  We need him to make wise decisions.  We need him to be fiscally prudent.  We need him to release all the details about Area 51, JFK, WMD’s, and Windows Vista.  Oh, and he needs to pull all of the NCAA’s funding until we have a college football playoff.  If he did that in his first term then there wouldn’t even need to be an election in 4 years because no one could beat him.

4.  I am going to invent a tired meter for children.  It can guage how tired kids are and how likely they are to throw a public tantrum.  I’m also going to invent childproof diapers that only adults can remove.  Last night I tied all of our kitchen table chairs to the table so Drake can’t move them and climb on things anymore.  There’s still enough room to eat, but not to move them into the living room.

5.  I think TNA is trying to go old school ECW.

6.  I was a victim of Ebay fraud the other day.  Thought I was getting a MacBook Pro at a great price.  Instead, the “seller” was trying to steal my personal information.  Ebay was great when I forwarded the email from him that looked very Ebay authentic.  Within a few minutes they alerted me to the fraud and saved me a lot of money.  I wonder if Western Union knows that they we also part of the plot?  So, back to the Mac replacement drawing board.  And yes, as I type this on a Windows machine, once you go Mac you never go back.

Got to go to my first Charlotte Bobcats game last night.  They were playing the Boston Celtics.  We had $10 tickets, but Pastor Charlie has a contact who got us into the lower level with great seats.  It was a great game that went into overtime.  I didn’t realize how many turnovers there were until I saw the stats on ESPNews.  Charlotte won surprisingly and they seem to be a team that is much better than their record would indicate.  The Celtics are tough because ,of their starting 5, 4 of the guys can create their own shot.  Raymond Felton had to be the player of the game hitting some clutch jumpers, but he also missed some key free throws in regulation.  All in all, a great experience.  I had some sushi(PHilly roll of course), we parked directly across from the arena, and were able to get their in around an hour.  I will def be going to more games in the future.  Like alot of NBA games, it will be listed as a sellout, but most of the upper deck was empty.  Tickets could be had easily on the street and apparently they don’t crack down on scalpers here like they do in Philly.  Oh yeah, MJ was sitting on the end of the Bobcats bench about 100 feet from us.  The pleasent surprise of the night was the play of Adam Morrison who hit some key baskets and scored more than twice his average.  He does however need to change his name to “Aam” because he plays no D.  Guess I need to change my first name to “Claue.”

Dude, it was rough getting the girls up and going to school this morning.  At least that’s what it sounded like as I lay half asleep in bed.  So what have we been up to this past two weeks.

1.  Trip to SC.  Stayed with my folks and enjoyed some relaxation from the 22nd to the 27th.  Kids got lots of stuff that makes lots of noise.  I read 4 books while we were there.  My goal is to read one a week this year so I’m off to a good start.

2.  Youth room remodeling.  This is a work in progress.  Everything has been moved and most of the wires have been run.  Now we just have to mount the TV’s, knock down a wall, re-wire the lights, paint, hang some fabric, get someone to donate some kickin game systems, and see God change the lives of teens in South Davidson.

3.  New Year’s Eve.  We had the first ball drop in Denton history and karaoke.  Over 115 showed up for this event and the resized youth room came in handy.

4.  Trip to SC part deux.  My grandmother had a stroke on New Year’s Eve and there was also a wedding in Central that I wanted to attend.  So I left on the 2nd(Karen and the kids were under the weather) for a 1 day trip.  My grandmother was able to walk with a walker, but has a long rehab ahead.  The wedding of Joy Medders and Josh Tietji was great and I got to see I hadn’t seen in over a year.  Joy’s parents, Sam and Suzie, seemed to be on cloud 9(as well as the bride and groom).  It was a great day.  And then I got lost trying a new shortcut on the way home.

5.  Prayer and Praises.  On December 29, there was an accident with the church’s Macbook Pro involving Coca-Cola.  The Apple Store informed me that it would be $1250 to fix it.  This got me down for several days, but God has proven faithful(yet again) by lifting my spirits and opening doors to replace/fix the Mac for less.  The turnaround in how I felt from Thursday to Saturday was amazing.  Then we got to…

6.  Sunday worship.  What a way to kick off 2009!  We had an awesome time of testimonies.  People were praising the Lord for addiction recovery, renewed relationships with family and Christ, our church, and God’s goodness.  Several who testified have recently lost their jobs and some are losing their homes.  They still praised the Lord.  I believe that God used 2008 to humble many of us and break our pride.  All of this was in preparation for 2009 and God’s blessing that I believe is coming.

7.  2009.  I am a blessed man.  I have a wonderful wife who believes in me and takes care of me.  I have three beautiful children who God has entrusted to me and Karen.  I have an outstanding family who give us unconditional love and support.  I have the best friends money can’t buy who are all over the place.  I am part of a great church with a great team and a youth group and sponsors who are a joy to be around.  So, from the Austin city limits to the Pickens County line, from Chichester Ave. to Highway 109, from Fenway Park to Death Valley, from Rick’s Restaurant to Pancho’s and everywhere in between:  God bless us every one.

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.

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.