Purpose, Discipline, and Enjoying the Journey ft. Pastor Mike Haman | Episode 24

In this episode of the TLW Podcast, we sit down with Pastor Mike Haman, lead pastor of Healing Place Church, for a powerful conversation on calling, discipline, leadership, and faith. Pastor Mike shares how he went from college basketball to ministry, the challenges of stepping into pastoral leadership, and what it looks like to serve people while building something that lasts. We also talk about daily disciplines, balancing family and responsibility, and the one piece of advice he would give his 18 year old self: enjoy where you are on the way to where you’re going.

This episode is full of wisdom for leaders, athletes, entrepreneurs, and anyone trying to live with greater purpose and intentionality.

In this conversation, we cover:

• How Pastor Mike knew he was called to ministry
• What it was like stepping into leadership at Healing Place Church
• Why discipline matters in every area of life
• How to think about family, faith, and work in the right order
• The importance of enjoying the present while pursuing the future

If this episode encouraged you, make sure to subscribe, share it with someone, and leave a comment with your biggest takeaway.

Work With TLW: https://trainleadwin.com/services/

Podcast Produced by JCB Media: https://www.instagram.com/thejcbmedia/

#TrainLeadWin #SuccessMindset #PurposeDriven #Leadership #Podcast #Entrepreneurship #FailureToSuccess #GrowthMindset #PersonalDevelopment

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the TLW podcast. I am Jonathan Pixley here with my co-host, Dr. Sean Owens. Dr. Owens, welcome back as always. Coach, I'm so excited, man. Let's go. This is gonna be a fun one. Yeah. And then we have our other partner, Jace Augustus, with JCV Media behind the scenes making us uh operate so that we actually can function because we know nothing about how to do all this. We can talk, but we can't do any of the other stuff, right? Strict facts. So uh nobody would be hearing us talk if it were not for Jace Augustus. And um to say the least, we have I I use the word esteemed every once in a while, right? We've got to figure out another word for this guest, um, Mike Heyman, who is uh the lead pastor along with his wife Rachel at the Healing Place Church uh here in Baton Rouge, but also really all over the world.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Um welcome, first of all. Uh glad to be here, man. It's an honor to sit in this room with this group, man. I feel like I'm one of the boys.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Let's go stay all day, baby. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Well, um, we are honored and privileged to have you for sure. You mean so much to the community and to so many people, and for you to find time in your schedule to be able to fit it in. And I mean, I know you know you got to go take your son Trevor to McNeese. Congrats on that, by the way, that he's gonna put the wall there and appreciate it, and uh continue his career. But um, again, thank you for being here. Yeah, honored, honored to be a part. Give a little bit of background on uh Pastor Mike first, and then uh we'll get into the to the good stuff. Um, he and Rachel have been pastors uh at lead pastors at Healing Place since 2013.

unknown 1:41

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Correct? Right. And then I think for about 16 years before that, you served the church in one capacity or another. You also uh are an accomplished author. I did not know that until I did uh the research. You wrote a book called The Second Mile, which basically, from my research, and I now I gotta go read the book, yes, um it is talking to individuals about how to maximize their day through godly principles and maximize their lives through godly principles. Did I make am I right about that? I think you're in the ballpark. You're in the ballpark. I'm in there. Okay. Well, bring me all the way through then. Tell me about it a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Yeah, so the the uh the concept of the second mile, and it's one of the core values of our church. Um the second mile is taken from the the gospels in Matthew 5.41. Jesus said, if anyone asks you to go with him one mile, go two. And what Jesus was referring to, I read that one day, um, of course, that's in the Sermon on the Mount, one of his most famous messages. And when I came across, you know, the second mile, what does it mean? Why would he say if anyone asks you to go one mile, go two? There was um in that day in Judea, they were under what was called the law of impressment. And it was under Roman military occupation, and a Roman soldier could choose any Jewish citizen and say, Hey, listen, you, I want you to carry my gear for a mile. And uh the maximum is a mile and no further. And the Jew was obligated to do what the Roman soldier told him to do. So the first mile is obligation. Jesus said, Don't just do what you're obligated to do, go above and beyond. So the second mile is it's a it's a spirit of excellence. It's about doing not just what's expected, um, but going the distance and then some. And so that is kind of the spirit we tried to embrace at healing place. Um, and so uh I there's a a lot to that. So that book was birthed out of that verse and that experience when the Lord was really testing me about my own faith, saying, Hey, don't just do enough to get by, you know, don't just you know um maintain status quo, but be your very best in everything that you put your hand to. And so that's kind of the the idea behind that.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

That's really cool. And you talk about going the second mile. You actually um, in order to become what you did prior to going into ministry, which you were a college basketball player.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Um not at your level, but I played.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

I was gonna say, I mean, look, it you were a great shooter, you're the second best shooter in the room, but I mean, outside of that, it was uh You referred to me, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Second best shooter, but we're not even the best athletes in this room. Is that okay? Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 4:18

You are right. Um, but as a college basketball player, I mean you had to apply some of those principles just to get to that level, right? And uh, and and and exceed at that. So um let's let's dive right in. Okay, talk to us about and tell our viewers what caused you to decide to go into ministry, okay, and then what were some of the the difficult things that you had to deal with while kind of forging that path?

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Um, it is interesting. I've shared this with our church, but ministry, this calling to be a pastor and to serve in our community, I didn't choose it. It chose me. You know, it's one of those things, in fact, in all honesty, it's something I resisted for a long time uh growing up in this community. Sports was my life, and so I lived to play ball, and I thought that's what I wanted to do long term. Um and always resisted anything as it related to church or ministry. I'd come out of a church situation that was uh painful. Um just felt burned a little bit, disappointed, really distrusting anything, organized religion, always had faith in God, but just didn't want to be a part of the church. When I was in college, um my, I think it was my sophomore year, the head coach came to me and said, Look, there's a group that's wanting to start this FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and we want you to, would you lead this Bible study? So I said yes, not knowing what I said yes to. That put me on a path where really there was a spiritual awakening in me. Um you know, the guys on the basketball team would come, the baseball team would come, some of the girls, basketball, the the Bible study began to grow, and I found there were things resonating in that environment that really it struck a chord with my purpose. You know, I thought I was there to play ball, I thought I was there, you know, to to win games, win championships when really I was there to win souls, you know. And so there, the the after the Bible study began to grow, some of the players would come to me and be like, Hey, you know, have you ever thought about going into ministry? I said, I will never preach the gospel, I will never be a pastor, there's no integrity behind the pulpit. I want nothing to do with that. And that was stemming from some of the painful experiences I'd had as a kid growing up. And then one day my assistant coach came to me and he said, Well, Mike, did you ever think, because I said, I'll never preach, there's no integrity. He said, Did you ever think God might be calling you to restore some of that integrity that you feel is lost? And that's what really resonated with me. Wait a second. Instead of complaining about the problem, maybe God is calling me to be a part of the solution. And so sometimes the the seeds of your the the source of your frustration are really the seeds to your inspiration. I was so frustrated with with how church was in my past, but God was using that as an incubator to inspire me to be a part of the solution. So then I called the only pastor that I trusted, and that was my youth pastor, and uh Pastor Dino Rizzo. And I said, Dino, look, I'm about to, I'm in school, uh, I'm studying to be, you know, I don't, I've got a I'll have a degree in computer science. All I know is basketball, I've never been to Bible college, but I feel the Lord calling me to give my life to something more. He said, Well, we're starting a church in South Baton Rouge, a healing place for a hurting world. And this was back in 1993. Wow. And so I knew that I knew that I knew that I had to come back home. Once I got out of school, I came back here and started serving at the church. I was the lawn-keeping guy, did landscaping, weed eating, you know, I did everything outside the building, stacking chairs and, you know, setting up tables and, you know, setting environments. Then I became the youth pastor and then just slowly began to, you know, be a part of the church that God was blessing. And as the church was growing, I was growing. And so that was back in 1993. And here that is 33 years later.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

So I'm a 1993.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

I'm gonna ask you this. I we actually asked our previous guest this as well. You've written a book, I get that. When's the bio coming out? Seriously, it's an amazing story. Oh man. Um and I mean, I don't I don't think I understand typically when you think of a biography or an autobiography, like people, it's you gotta be super famous nationwide. I I don't agree with that. I think the story is what sells.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

Have you ever thought about it?

SPEAKER_00 8:44

Yeah, well, you know, I I do believe everyone has a story. There is a testimony. Yeah, you know, and in fact, the scripture says in Revelation 12, verse 11, we overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. So it's what Jesus has done for us, and then it's the story of that that we tell to others. So everybody's got a story to tell. And uh, so you know, and I feel like the Lord has given me through the church a platform to be able to speak that. You know, that kind of comes out in the in the messages in our teaching and in our series, and you know, you try to personalize what you're sharing with the church. And so, in bits and pieces, I think I I've probably communicated a lot of that, but maybe I need to put it in right.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

I don't know. Why not? And you heard it here first, just like when we talked to Jenny earlier, yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Okay. Let me ask you this, Mike. So you come back to Baton Rouge and starting a church, and I cannot imagine what the logistics are like associated with starting a church. And it's it's really fun, you know, looking at where the church is now and thinking back to these little tiny mustard seeds being planted. Talk to us briefly about some of the obstacles that y'all had to go through getting a church off the ground, really with just a few people.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Yeah, well, you know, you they say that that dreams are for free, but hustle is sold separately.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Can I say come on somebody? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

It's uh we had a dream in our heart because I think the Bat Baton Rouge at that time in the early 90s was spiritually broken. Uh, and and I think there were people that were looking for hope and looking for healing. And so the idea of being a healing place, I think it resonated with a lot of people. But that comes with a uh a lot of effort. And so we spent the early years of the church, and and Pastor Dino Delin and the team did a phenomenal job in laying the foundation as Christ and Christ alone. You know, Jesus is our source of healing. And then from there, healing looks a lot of different ways, you know, just like every church has its own thumbprint. We were trying to figure out, okay, who are we in this community? Because there are a lot of great churches, and a lot it takes all different kinds of churches to reach all different kinds of people. So we weren't trying to be the best church in the city, we were trying to be our best for the city. And what does that look like? And you know, it really flowed from Pastor Dino's heart and serving, serving, serving. Hey, uh, we may not be the best preachers, but we can serve. We may not have the best music, but we can serve. We may not be the most trendy, cool, whatever, but we can serve. And Jesus said the greatest among you will be the servant of all. So we just said, let's busy ourselves with bringing value to people and serving them. And that's where this whole second mile, you know, serving and second mile are synonymous, you know. Um, so uh uh the the first you know several years of the church trying to figure out what is our voice in the community, what is our thumbprint, where do we bring value. If we saw a need, we we tried to meet it. You know, the story of the Good Samaritan. I'm sure that the guy when he woke up that morning on his way to work had no idea that his day would change when he sees a man in the ditch. But he decided not to pass on by like the priest and the Levite, but he said, I'm gonna get in the ditch with this guy. And so, you know, if it's it's about noticing the needs around you and and bringing value to people in Jesus' name. And so hopefully that's still the mission. 33 years later, hopefully we're still doing that, you know. Um, but hope hopefully we're doing that at a you know with a greater level of impact. Yeah, you know, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Talk about the transition. Um I've often said that you know, while going from the assistant coach to the head coach is only a one-seat move, it's a big it's a big move. Giant right and uh the responsibility associated with it. So talk about the transition from all of the things that you were doing to serve the church to becoming the lead pastor.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Well, I I wore many different hats. Like I said, I was the the landscaping long guy to start out with, and then the youth pastor for a number of years. We did college ministry, college and young adults for a few years. Uh, and then I served as the missions pastor, which was kind of unique because I didn't feel like I was a missionary. I'm a local church guy. I'd I'd never even been out of the country. And um, but so for five years uh served in that capacity. And looking back at it now, the Lord knew exactly what he was doing in my life. Each one of those assignments taught me certain lessons that I would need as the lead pastor. And uh, you know, to get an understanding, a heart for the world. If you're gonna be a healing place for a hurting world, you have to have a vision, you know, that's compatible with that. And my world went from here to here as the missions pastor. And then stepping into that lead role, you know, you I honestly I felt two things. I felt overwhelmed and I felt underqualified. Overwhelmed and underqualified. Lord, surely you got the wrong person. This is not me. I, you know, you try to avoid it. You do you almost like Moses in his conversation with God during the burning bush, you know, Moses is trying to tell God, you got the wrong guy. You know, I can't talk, and you know, who am I? And what are they gonna say? All these excuses that Moses had, and God was just saying, Hey, well, well, wait a second. I'm gonna do something amazing. Do you want to be a part of it or not? And it's like, okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

So, yeah, yeah, well, Lord, I don't think that I'm ready, but obviously you do. And there was a sense of desperation that kept Rachel and I on our faces, you know, praying, seeking the Lord, I mean the fear of God, the weight of the responsibility that we would carry, because Healing Place had such a great name in the community, you know, and the legacy of the church being able to steward that, honoring the past, and yet being committed to the future. That that was a that was a big thing for me. I always want to honor where we came from. And, you know, always speaking well of Dean O'Delin and man, their sacrifice. I mean, they're the ones the Holy Spirit through them birthed the church. They laid the foundation. I'm simply building on what they have laid. So it was really easy for me not to take credit for anything because it didn't start with me. I'm I'm simply uh a son of the house with a greater level of stewardship. And so we we and we still feel that, you know. Um, 13, 14 years later, now as lead pastors, we still sense that the church does not belong to us. It didn't start with us, and it's not going to end with us. You know, we're running our lap, you know, it's like the four by one hundred meters. I got the baton now, and I'm running my lap, and I'm giving it everything I got. But one day I will put that baton in somebody else's hands. That's right. And my prayer was to always hand it off better than how I found it. You know, so you know, there there's the those those are the things that I think about, um, and I still feel overwhelmed and underqualified, you know, but by the grace of God. And we have such an amazing team. We really do. Um, and you if you surround yourself with the right people, you know, and and that's been our our our focus has really been to build the staff, to build the team, and to let eagles fly. They gotta have the capacity to spread their wings. So you can't micromanage, you have to empower.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

It's interesting you say that. I feel like multiple guests we've had on the podcast have echoed those sentiments completely that they look to surround themselves with individuals who have other gifts and talents and abilities that they themselves may not have. And because you're not worried about having one of your peers or colleagues or someone who works directly underneath you at doing something better than you, because you don't you're not scared of that, you allow the the you allow the corporation, you allow the church, you allow the business to flourish more and more because you're pulling in talent that is going to take the take it actually further than you can do yourself. Right. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

100%. If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room. And so insecure leaders, they they can't they can't maintain high capacity people because they feel threatened by somebody else's gift. Yeah you know, and I'll be the first to say I am not the best preacher on our staff. I I'm not, and I'm okay with saying that. You know, I'm not the the smartest leader, you know. I mean, we've got some high capacity, highly gifted, fully committed people that it brings me joy to celebrate them, to give them space to use their gifts and to encourage. It's almost like, I mean, you know, you guys have kids. When you see your kids succeeding, it brings you more joy than anything you ever accomplished in your life. 100%. So if you're truly a father, I feel like if I'm truly a father in this house, I will have more joy seeing my sons and daughters succeed than anything that I ever accomplished.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Real quick, um, and and this wasn't on the original agenda, but I I do want to ask this because I don't think our viewers would ever think about it this way. Especially when they see you up on stage doing your thing, right? Um your involvement in the business side of the church. Um talk about that a little bit and and and the struggles and the and the fulfilling things and whatnot.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Yeah, well, that I appreciate you bringing that up. That has probably been what the the part of church life that has stretched me the most has been that. Yeah. You know, like I said, I never went to Bible college, so I'm not sure I have the even the theological training, um, but I'm not a business guy.

SPEAKER_02 18:33

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

And there is the business side of the church. You know, uh a couple Sundays ago we had 19,000 people in church at a healing place campus somewhere. And there are 12 campuses. There are local and regional campuses, and then there's international campuses. And there's things like budgets and HR and hiring and firing and equipping and training and you know, forecasting trends and growths, and you know, uh doing analytics for where your next can where will you plant your next campus and developing leaders. There's a whole, you know, there's there's a business side to the kingdom that I really had to learn. You're kind of thrown into the deep end. I feel like, you know, pastorally, it would came a little more natural. I love people, I love being with people, I care about people, I love the word, and I love to learn the word. And so those things came very naturally. But what was what was the biggest stretch was okay, let's look at budgets. You know, let's let's let's talk about spending.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

You're involved in all that.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Yes. Have to be, right?

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

We have a staff, uh, currently it's a little over a hundred people that that that are employed, like I said, 12 campuses, and uh, and then you know, within campuses, even there's different departments. You got kids and you got you know, your students, and you got men's and women's, and you got HR, and you got finance, and you have, you know, so you have all of these churches within the church, and then the umbrella is HPC. And they, I guess, in an organizational sense, they put me in the top box, and I'm like, oh Lord, you better fill every box in this org chart. Um so yeah, that's it's been fun to learn that though. And but but also to bring the right people around you. We have some great minds that serve. I've got uh I've got a board of trustees, I've got five businessmen. They're not on staff, they they run their own businesses, but they serve as financial overseers. You know, they approve our budgets. So we set a budget, they approve it, and we spend within that budget. And um, and then I also have spiritual overseers. You know, these are pastors and ministry leaders that their primary responsibility is my personal health, making sure that I'm good as a husband, as a father, and of course as a uh pastor. So having the right people around you, I feel like I've I've been able to do well within that structure because I cannot do it all by myself for sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

What part about your job? I say I hate to say job, but what part about what you do every single day brings you the most joy?

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Um what part of it? Well, I uh again, I love people and I love helping people. And when you can see value being brought to a person, whether it's it's in a counseling session or you know, sometimes when I'm up there preaching and teaching, you can see the light bulb come on.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

That must be so cool to be able to see the eyes.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

It's fun. It it really is. And when you know they get it, um uh you in alter moments when you give people a chance to respond and they're up there and they're receiving prayer and ministry. You know, I I I've got several friends that are doctors, and I'm amazed at you know the surgeries that they perform and the skill that they have. And I talk to them about you know what they love most about what they do, and you know, they're bringing healing. Healing to physical bodies. And I feel like, in a sense, the Lord has has gifted our church to bring healing to souls and emotions. And when you when you see somebody get it, see somebody helped, you see somebody encouraged, I live for that. You know. And that's fun. Preaching and teaching is fun, but honestly, the highlight for me on Sundays is the 30 minutes before service and the 30 minutes after service, walking up and down the aisles, walking through the concourse, getting a chance to meet people, love on people, let people know hey, God sees you, God cares about you, we love you. It's so much fun. It's a lot of fun. And to be an ambassador of that is a big responsibility. I know people look at us as pastors, as representatives of God. And, you know, we we have a high, high level of responsibility to walk in integrity, humility, holiness. Um, but it's fun to know people and care about people. The other day, I probably shouldn't share this, but can I share a story real quick? Of course. So the other day, the other night, uh, we were at um Superior Grill, okay? And uh and I love Superior Grill because I see half the church up in there, man. I don't have to go to homes to make you know pastoral visits, but I'm going to Superior because the HBC is up in there. So I went into the to the men's bathroom. And when I walked into the door, uh there were two kids, two grade school boys, and they were at the sink, and you could tell they were kind of, they were, they were splashing around, they were being boys, you know, and they stopped, they looked at me and they said, Pastor Mike? And then they looked at each other and they said, Pastor Mike. And then they started jumping up and down, they went, yay, yay, yay, yay. And so I'm standing there and I'm like, well, I'm gonna jump around too. Yay! So all three of us were jumping in a circle, saying, yay, yay, for like 30 seconds. It was it was such a dude moment. And then they dried their hands and they left. That was hard, guys, bro. Come on. But but to know people and to care about people and and to walk with people through life, that that that's what brings joy to us. You know, where everybody is broken somewhere. Nobody has it all together. That's right. Even the most successful of us, man, we're we're hurting somewhere. And so to be able to get in there and walk with people and help them find hope and healing in Christ, that to me is the joy.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Let's let's touch on healing for a second. Quick little deviation. Um, you had a bit of a health scare. Would you mind just brief walking us through that and what as you come out of it, looking back, you always talk about purpose behind the pain. And would you mind just giving us a quick little you know rundown on what you learned through that experience?

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Yeah, well, so I started having pain in my right calf muscle. Because they're so big, right? Yeah, they're so massive, you know. I mean, I work them out and they just grow. Rachel's so impressed with my calf. Of course. Um but so I started hurting. I thought, well, maybe it's because we were running stadiums uh, you know, with a group of guys. We um and so I thought, well, maybe I pulled something, tweaked something. I am in my 50s now, and so that kind of you know comes with age. It was nagging and it just wouldn't go away. So about seven days later, and I noticed my legs starting to swell. And Rachel's like, you need to get that checked out. And I'm like, ah, it'll be all right. It'll be all right. Well, so I called a friend of mine who's uh uh orthopedic. He's got uh some buddies and cardiovascular, set me up to go get it scanned. And long story short, they found I had blood clots in my calf muscle. And they said, Listen, we need to we need to check and make sure that it's not anywhere else in your body. So they admitted me to the hospital, ran some tests, and found that I had blood clots not just in my leg, but I had it in my lungs, and I had it in my heart. And I never realized the danger that I was in. You know, I'd never heard of DVT, deep vein thrombosis, but you know, one of the doctors said, We we don't always understand how blood clots travel, but yours had taken a slight right, had it gone left just two millimeters, you wouldn't be here. Had you waited another 24 hours to get it looked at, you wouldn't be here. And then the it was the sobering, oh my, I had no idea how close to death's door I was. I wasn't even praying for a miracle because I didn't know I needed one. I just thought I'd had a little calf strain. And uh, and it made me realize the the brevity of life, you know. And um, I was reading a scripture just yesterday in Exodus 9.16. The Lord is speaking and he says, I spared your life for a purpose. I had mercy. I spared your life for a purpose to show you my power and to make my name famous throughout the earth. And I thought, Lord, you spared me for a reason. There's a reason why I'm still here. And I want your power to be displayed. May my life be a testimony of your power, and may you become famous. I want to I want to bring honor and glory to you in this and whatever I do, I want you to be exalted. And so every day that I have, I see it as a gift. You know, I've got three kids. I've got a grandson now that's nine months old. You know, man. I know, isn't that crazy? That is wild. I'm a pops. A pops. Some of you are what Rachel's name is. Yeah, so so I'm Pops and Rachel's lolly. So we got Lolly and Pops. And uh that little grandbaby loves his lolly. Oh, he loves Lolly. And uh but no, so you you know, you just realize that every day is a gift, and how we live it is our gratitude to him. Yeah, you know, I'm I'm just thankful. I want God to know I'm thankful. The church was praying for me. Man, that uh I felt such love and support, but it also is a it's a reminder of how short life is. And uh man, I I want to make the most of every moment God's given me.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

You uh you you did a sermon a while back, and I texted you after the sermon because you you used a conversation that you had with a a local business person, I think, about basically the pillars that he operates by or the standards or whatever. Um and I asked you to send me those. And um we have since that day, we had to we reformed it because I don't want to just plagiarize it, right? But we reformed it um and we created a list of pillars that TLW, train lead win, is is going to live daily by and do business by and deal with clients by. I'm gonna list them for you. Okay. There's five of them. And I want you to tell me, all of them are are obviously impactful because other pillars, but I want you to tell me which one stands out to you the most from a standpoint of how you go about your life. Okay. Um the first one is honor God above all else. You can't use doubt. That's the easy one. Okay, okay, so we're gonna go two through five. Okay, so I got four chances here. That's right, that's right. Um, the second one is discipline is diligence, okay? Value people over profit, lead through service, not self, and build legacy through integrity.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Oh, man, those are good pixels. Pillars. Come on. Wow, you can build some great things on those four or five things.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

I think so. Wow. So obviously, honor God above all else is number one. We know that. And you're a pastor, so you don't get to use that one. That's cheating. Gotcha. So what are the uh which one? If you had to pick one. Oh man. You gotta pick one.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Well, they're all they're all great. They they really are. Um, and I think each one of those values, it it speaks to like a kingdom principle, you know. Um I maybe it's the what was the second one you said? Discipline is diligence. Yes. You have value people over profit. The discipline one. I I guess for me, um that that the the the disciplines resonates in my world um because I never felt like I was naturally gifted. Some people, bro, you were a gifted athlete, man. Now, I'm not trying to say you didn't work hard, but you had a gift. I never felt gifted athletically. I felt like anything I achieved, it had to come through just discipline and diligence. And then, you know, he's stepping into ministry and again feeling overwhelmed and underqualified. Okay, I'm not the most charismatic, the most outgoing, the most well-spoken, the most knowledgeable. I looked at everything I didn't have, but one thing I could do was be disciplined. And if I could commit to doing the little things as if they're big, then I would see God do the big things as if they're little. And so I thought, okay, let me lock into the disciplines and then let the rest of the Lord what whatever you want this thing to look like. Because I have a responsibility. I got to do what I can. You know, and any I was telling a group of guys this morning, we we were talking about uh just how transformation works in somebody's life. And oftentimes God requires us to participate in our own transformation. Whether it's, you know, he told the man with the withered hand, stretch forth your hand. He told the uh the lepers, go show yourself to the priest. God will require something of us. And so the disciplines, okay, Lord, let me do my part and then trust you to do yours. And so when it comes to like reading the Bible, when it comes to memorizing scripture, when it comes to personal prayer, when it comes, and this this kind of bleeds into every area of your life. You know, the last one you talked about legacy through integrity. Well, you're not gonna have integrity unless you got disciplines. You know, you're gonna mistreat people and chase the dollar if you don't have disciplines. You know, so I think there's a little bit of discipline rooted in each one of those. So for me, what resonates is that um uh I think uh that there are no great secrets in ministry or in business, only daily disciplines. And if I'll commit to the process, I love what the process produces. A lot of people want the end result, but they don't want to commit to the process. And so for me, that the disciplines resonate.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

Love it. Yeah, you kind of just stole my thunder with my next question. I was gonna ask you what your daily disciplines are, but uh I know, I know obviously prayer. Yeah, I know uh working out is significant in your life. And you're back to full speed after everything? Thankfully, yes.

SPEAKER_00 32:47

No limitations, no restrictions.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Any other have-to's in your life besides the constant prayer and the spending time with the Lord and the exercise. Is there anything else that you look at as like my day is not complete if I don't do this?

SPEAKER_00 33:00

Yeah. Um and it kind of goes to the time with the Lord, but I I'm a big one-year Bible guy. You know, so um uh in fact, it it is interesting. There was a kid in our youth group years ago that uh is now pastoring a church in uh Florida, and I was speaking for him uh back in 2010, and he gave me the one-year Bible. And I'd never heard of the one-year Bible, but I I thought, wow, this is great. Let me let me look through this. So I started reading the one year in 2010, and I've read it every year since then. For me, I love how systematic it is, you know, because it it brings me from Genesis to Revelation and not just, well, I I've got my favorite passages and my favorite books and my it it helps me to see a comprehensive, you know, view of this of the scriptures and the ark of God throughout history. But then it also breaks it up into bite-sized chunks, Old Testament, New Testament, Psalm, and Proverb every day. So if I can get the word in me, I think that is the single most important discipline I think that I've been able to embrace is a steady diet of scripture and then try to put the scriptures to memory. Memorizing scripture is a big deal to me. You know, the Joshua 1.8, the Bible says, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate therein both day and night, to observe, to do according to all that is written therein. Then you'll make your way prosperous, and then you'll have good success. And so, you know, that meditating on the word, that that word in the Hebrew is the same word for mutter or mumble. You're just speaking the word, you're kind of speaking the word, speaking the word. And so when I'm memorizing scripture, man, I'm thinking about it, I'm saying it out loud, I'm rehearsing it, I'm speaking it over my life, I'm speaking it over my children, I'm speaking it over the church, you know. So of all the disciplines that I gotta do this every day, it's time in the word for me, because that's how I hear from God. I can't say that I've ever heard an audible voice, you know. So prayer for me is not just what I say to him, but it's more importantly, it's what he says to me. And so I'm I'm hearing from God as I'm reading the scripture. So just making sure that I'm a man of the word, uh, because culture is really loud, and you know, there are trends and things that are popular and things change, but man, the word of God just keeps you steady, it keeps you anchored. And if you have a routine in the word, routines build roots. In fact, it comes from the same root word, routine and root. You if you want roots, you've got to have routines. And so those are the routines that have helped me to stay planted.

SPEAKER_02 35:39

You and Rachel have uh obviously you've committed to the church. You've all also obviously done a phenomenal job as parents and committed to your family. However, we all know that the idea of work-life balance is a myth when it comes to time. Right? Because you're you're gonna spend more hours during the day, just like we're taught when we're young. We go to school for more time than we are at home, right? But the idea of work-life balance and the idea of quality time while you're there. Um, talk about the importance of that to you and Rachel and your family.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Well, I'm glad you say Rachel, because she is good about helping me to stay balanced. Sometimes, as as men, we're very career focused, you know, high achievement oriented. Man, we're gonna go all in for something. She's good about helping me to see, hey, can you throttle that back a little bit? Hey, look, check your schedule. We have this game, don't forget this practice. Hey, you know, we're gonna go see the kids on the, you know. So I I lean on that. I need her to help remind me of that, to keep me healthy in my margins. Because I I can be, and you know, like anybody, I mean, you know, you you're gonna go all in for something because you want to be the best at it. You know, you you're you're driven to be your very best. And so having the balance in there, she's super, super helpful to make me realize, okay, slow down. In fact, she told me today I was running, uh running, running out the door. She's like, you did this to yourself. And I'm like, no, I have nobody to blame for my schedule but me. And uh so um, but yes, I I do think this. You know, the the idea of prioritizing, you, you know, you got your God, you got your family, you got your career, and then, you know, your hobbies or interest or whatever. So sometimes we have this kind of a, you know, a totem pole approach to okay, God first, family second, whatever, whatever. And I think that's kind of archaic. Um, there's a different paradigm that I was taught to look through, and it's been a lot more helpful. God first, everything else is second, everything else. And if God is first, he will talk to you about what to elevate and what to eliminate. Yeah, you know, so there are times if I'm listening to the to the voice of the Lord, and God's never going to put me in an unhealthy position. But we all know there's sometimes you sacrifice nights at the house because you got to invest in whatever at the office, you know. And then there's sometimes you got to say no to the office to be with the family. You know, and I found that I was living just from guilt to guilt. I was at the office feeling guilty for not being home. And then when I was at home, I was feeling guilty for not being at the church doing XYZ. And I couldn't live according to guilt. I wanted to live according to God. Okay, Holy Spirit, talk to me. What do I need to elevate? What do I need to eliminate? And listening to that, that's been a much more workable model in helping me to maintain the margin.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Yeah, that's healthier for sure, and easier to manage, I would think, as well. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

So, but it's good. It's good. Um Coach Pixley's got a question that he closes all of our guests with. And I'm not gonna see what's thunder. Um let me do it. Yeah, I'm gonna let you do it because I I love seeing how everybody responds to this. I'm really eager to see what you hear what he does.

SPEAKER_02 39:12

Okay, okay. So I we'll use 18-year-old Mike Heyman. Okay. And knowing what you know now, you at your current age, Pops, is sitting across from 18-year-old Mike Heyman. And you can only offer one piece of advice. One piece. What's the one thing that you would look at 18-year-old Mike Heyman and go, you need to know this?

SPEAKER_00 39:44

Oh, wow. Yes. Um, and I hope the 18-year-old version of me would get it. Okay. This is what I would say to the younger Mike Heyman. Don't know if I would have the capacity to actually understand it and embrace it or not. But but I would say it this way: I would say, enjoy where you are on the way to where you're going. Enjoy where you are on the way to where you're going. Because I spent so much of my developmental years, and nothing wrong with ambition, but I was so driven I couldn't enjoy today. I was so focused on improvement and getting better for tomorrow. And I I would I didn't enjoy the relationships. I didn't value even the struggles. I didn't laugh as much as I should have laughed. I I should have taken the pressure off of myself and said, okay, you can be high achievement oriented and still be content in the moment. You'll never win the day if you're not in the day. There you go. And so I was never in the day because I was focused on tomorrow. And then there's somebody out there working harder than me, getting better than me right now. There's somebody in the gym shooting jump shots, running sprints, getting better. I could never rest. I could never enjoy. I could never let I'd say, Mike, enjoy where you are on the way to where you're going. I'll tell you this: I'll tell the 51-year-old version of Mike today. I got to tell myself that today. Same thing. Yeah. You know, I the old man still hadn't learned it. Yeah, it's real. So I don't know if the 18-year-old kid would get it, but this guy is still trying to, hey, I'm here in this moment enjoying relationship, friendship. I can't worry about tomorrow. Man, I got to enjoy today. And uh, because I don't get today back. Hopefully the blood clots taught me that. Yeah. And hopefully wisdom and life experience will teach you that.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

So I'm going to tell a story to close here. Um that most people only people in my family would know. Um when my brother Chris lost his son a while back. Jackson got the rest of his soul. My nephew. Um I was trying to I guess hearing down a path, like we have some things that we have to get done in order to honor Jackson, you know, and uh tell me how you want to go about this. So the very first thing he said was, um, if there's any way we can get my came in to do the service, could you see if that could happen? And I said, absolutely. And um, I remember I reached out to you and we we went back and forth a little bit because you had this date, that date, and this and that, the other. And at the end of the day, not to get into all the minutia of that, um, you basically said, I'm going to make this work. And I will never forget that. I will never my family will never forget that. Um you are probably one of the busiest people any of us knows, for sure, um doing the Lord's work, which is even better. But for you in your position to say, and you say, I need to slow down, for you to go, okay, whatever this other stuff, I'm gonna make this happen. Um, and then you you did the service and you told the airplane story, and I've heard it before, and I still I tell people all the time, I said he's he's the best storyteller I know because I know the answer, I know what's happening, and then when he gets to the end, I'm still like, oh, that's what happened. Like still excited, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

Right. You kind of appreciate you, Jonathan. Thank you, man. And uh my kids are like, the airplane story again.

SPEAKER_02 43:43

Show us heard before? And uh and so many people when when we left um just commented on how an amazing job you did, which I know you always do, but um I remember I remember walking up to you at the very end before we drove away. And I said, that's why it had to be you. And I'm sure I know many other people who would have done an amazing job in that scenario, but it had to be you. Um, because that was the first thing out of my brother's mouth. And I was like, I've got to make that happen for them, um, if at all possible. And you did that. And and um to say that we appreciate that is the understatement of the world. Um, it was an amazing time for our family, amazingly difficult, obviously. And um, it wouldn't have been the same had you not done that. So I want to thank you publicly uh for that. It was it was unbelievable, and uh it will be something that we we never ever forget.

SPEAKER_00 44:43

So we love you, love your your family. Uh it's an honor to serve. I I I wish I could say yes to everybody, you know. I was thankful I could say yes to that. And um, you know, walking with people through their pain is one of the greatest privileges of being a pastor. Seeing the faith that your family had, hearing the words that your brother spoke. My goodness. I'm like, man, you don't need me, man. He said everything that needed to be said. But uh, you know, to be able to wrap our arms uh around the Pixleys, that that meant a lot to me. Well, it was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02 45:19

So we'll close there. Thank you so much for joining us today. Yeah, grateful. Appreciate it. And uh a lot of fun always having you here, and uh a lot of of really, really good stuff for our viewers that um, you know, all of our guests bring different aspects to the podcast, and you certainly brought a very different aspect to this today. So we appreciate you. And I know you got to get to McMe state with Trevor, so we're gonna get you out of here. So from the TLW podcast, I'm Jonathan Pixley with Sean Owens, Jace Augustus with JCB Media. This is Mike Heyman, Pastor Mike Heyman. Thank him again for coming on. Go get it.