LionHearted

A man sees a lion on a snowy day and does the unthinkable: he chases it. That single decision turns into one of the most memorable courage stories in the Bible, and it’s the spark for today’s five-minute start on Starting Right with Danny Mack. We lean into 2 Samuel 23:20 and the story of Benaiah, one of David’s mighty men, to ask a simple question with big consequences: when fear shows up, do we retreat to what’s safe or do we step forward in faith?
We also pull wisdom from Mark Batterson, senior pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C., and his book “Chase the Lion.” The message is direct: the fear of failure keeps us from God-sized goals, God-given passions, and the kind of obedience that builds a powerful testimony. If the best results were always easy, everyone would have them. Instead, real spiritual growth and Christian leadership often require a risk that doesn’t “make sense” on paper but makes room for God’s purpose to unfold.
Along the way, we connect the dots across Scripture, from Abraham and Moses to Esther and Peter, and we read the punchy Lion Chasers Manifesto: run to the roar, become part of the solution, face your fears, fight for your dreams, dare to fail, and chase the lion. 

Transcript

Welcome And The Daily Format

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Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mack. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and let me help you start your day right.

Mark Batterson And The Big Idea

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Mark Batterson is the senior pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. He has recently written a book called Chase the Lion, in which he challenges Christians to get over the fear of failure and to take steps of faith to accomplish some great things for God's kingdom and for God's purposes. The scripture verse he uses as a basis for this comes from the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 23 and verse 20.

Benaiah’s Lion Pit Moment

SPEAKER_00 0:47

This portion of scripture is talking about David's army, his mighty men that are in this battle with King Saul. It says, There was also Baniah, son of Jehoidah, a valiant warrior from Kebzil. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions of Moab. Another time on a snowy day he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. You have to picture this whole scene that it's talking about here. The snow's falling, it's cold, it's miserable. Boniah and this lion cross each other's path, and Boniah gives chase to the lion. The lion doesn't chase him, he's chasing it. And somehow the lion falls into a pit, and Bonaiah goes in there after it and kills the lion that could have weighed as much as 500 pounds. He should not have been able to do that, but he did. That took a lot of guts. That took a lot of courage to say, I'm going to go in there and I'm going to defeat this thing. There are some scholars who believe that the lion had been a problem. It had been killing people, it had been raiding some of their camps, it had been doing things. Baniah was wanting to get rid of it. And when he did, he became a local hero, which gave to him a special place in David's army.

The Fork In The Road

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In all of our lives. There's a time where we get to a place that's really scary for us. We don't know what the answers are, we don't know what to do, we don't know how to move forward. But it's really a fork in the road. If we go one way, it's safe, it's easy, and we'll be okay. If we go the other way, there may

Risk And Reward Across Scripture

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be a risk involved, but the rewards could be really great. Really great for your testimony, really great for your ability to share what God is doing in your life. But it's risky. It's a risky way to go. What I do know is that we will never accomplish anything great if we don't take a risk. If the best results were always the easiest results, everybody would have the best results. But we don't. Often our lives require that we take risks, that we step out, do something that may not make a lot of sense, but in the end it produces something special, often something incredible. Christians are often nervous about this risk and reward concept, but the Bible is full of them. In the Old Testament, it's Abraham putting Isaac on the altar, it's Moses saying to Pharaoh, Let my people go. It's Rahab harboring the Jewish spies, it's David taking off Saul's armor, it's Esther walking into the king's court uninvited. And in the New Testament, it's the wise man following the star, it's Andrew dropping his fishing nets, it's Zacchaeus climbing the sycamore tree, it's Peter getting out of the boat. God rewarded them. And through their obedience to his plan and his purpose for their lives, they literally changed the world simply because they were willing to take a risk.

The Lion Chasers Manifesto

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Mark Batterson in the book gives us this what he calls the Lion Chasers Manifesto. It goes like this. Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Run to the roar. Set God-sized goals, pursue God-given passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Stop pointing out problems. Become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Face your fears, fight for your dreams, grab opportunity by the mane and don't let go. Live like today is the first day and the last day of your life. Burn sinful bridges, blaze new trails, live for the applause of nail-scarred hands. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Dare to fail. Dare to be different. Quit holding out, quit holding back, and quit running away. Chase the lion.

Personal Challenge And Closing Invitation

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I encourage all of you to look at the dreams and the plans that God has placed into your heart and your life, the opportunities that are before you. Don't disregard an opportunity or plan simply because it might look hard and scary. Sometimes that's the way to the biggest reward for you and for his kingdom. God's placed abilities and plans beyond your wildest dreams inside of you. Never, never let yourself think that you aren't worthy to accomplish something great for God. He does have a plan for you. Have a great day, my friends. We will talk to you again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today. And I invite you to join me Monday to Friday right here on Starting Right with Danny Mack.