Chase Your Lion

What do Lion Chasers eat?

I had a student one time who was dealing with some serious anger issues. Caught up with them one day to talk about things and they were listening to their iPod. When they took off the earphones all I could hear was rage being pumped through at a barely legal decibel. I said, “Dude, what are you listening to?” “Just some music” was the reply. I asked if they listened to the music because they were angry or if they were angry because they listened to the music. Blank stare. I told them they were just feeding their anger with the music. They had a right to be angry about things happening in their life that was no fault of their own. The problem wasn’t the anger, but the outlet of it, and I believed that their music choice was only escalating an already volatile situation. I helped them picked out some different music and, while their home life did not settle down, they began to deal with things in a healthier and more productive manner. What are you feeding yourself? Yes, if you literally eat junk all the time then eventually your health(and figure) will reflect that. Rather, what are you feeding your mind and soul? The old saying(probably originated with a youth pastor) is, “Trash in. Trash out.” Are you reading anything that is trashing your mind? I am an avid blog reader. Over at Church Relevance, they’ve complied the top 100 Church blogs. Many of them are by pastors. I don’t read all of them, but the ones I do read greatly inspire me. I encourage you to add some of these to your daily reading list. They will lift your spirits and challenge you to chase your lion everyday. #26 on the list is my personal favorite by Tony Morgan. Now, here’s a tidbit for you newbies on how to easily keep up with all the blogs you want to read. Many of them allow you to subscribe by email by entering your information. Many of them have a big orange button(like the one on the right over there) that allow you to subscribe to the RSS feed and receive the blog in whatever format is best for you. Personally, I use Google Reader and it highlights any new entries when I check it. You just need a free google account. By the way, if you’re not using Gmail and all their other tools then I highly recommend them. It basically gets all your life in one place. I would love to hear from you which of the blogs listed you find the most inspiring, entertaining, practical, or helpful. Have a great week and happy reading!

An Extreme Day

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.

Purpose Killers-Prejudice and Bitterness

Have you ever tried to pursue something, but you felt this weight that was holding you back? Have you ever felt that there were just some things that you could never get past? Have you ever carried a grudge for so long that it started to eat away at you from the inside? It is impossible for a person to “Chase Their Lion” while carrying a grudge or prejudice against groups of people. You may be thinking to yourself,”I’m not prejudiced”, but certain thoughts and feelings crop up in certain situations or when you hear certain stories. You may not be outwardly prejudice, but you harbor negative feelings towards different races, religions, or people. This is an issue that cuts both ways and always hurts everyone involved. Maybe yours is an issue more personal than that. Maybe someone has hurt you and you carry anger and unforgiveness in your heart. Whatever the case may be, we need to let go of the things that would hinder us. We need to do whatever it takes to become the person God created us to be. And God did not create us for hatred, bitterness, prejudice, or grudges. He created us to love Him and love others and to express that through our service. Here are some resources to help you change your thinking, overcome bitterness, and Chase Your Lion!

You Were Born For This

One of the goals of Chase Your Lion dot com is to help people realize the daily possibilities that God has for us. How often have we let opportunities to change someone’s life pass us by because we weren’t focused or were too busy? In his latest book, You Were Born for This, Bruce Wilkinson tackles the issue of people finding those daily works God has planned for them. Wilkinson is the author of the best-selling The Prayer of Jabez which changed the way many people pray. He helped move us from small prayers to big prayers. Now his goal seems to be to move us from meaningless actions to eternity altering acts of love and kindness. His books are easy to read but challenging and many of them have helped millions of people in their journey of faith. May these resources spur you on as you Chase Your Lion!