Mark Batterson: Why You’re Missing Your God-Ordained Opportunities
New York Times bestselling author Mark Batterson debuts an exciting new weekly series Thursday, May 24th, on TBN, the world’s most watched faith-and-family network. Based on his recent book of the same title, Chase the Lion takes viewers deep into the heart and soul of what it means to be a risk-taker—and to win!
Batterson, the founding senior pastor of National Community Church, a vibrant eight-campus congregation in Washington, D.C., explains that the book and series are themed on one of his favorite Scripture passages, 2 Samuel 23:20: “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done great acts. He struck down two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.”
In the exclusive TBN series, Batterson expands on this single Scripture about the exploits of one Jewish warrior. “While most people would see the lion and run, Benaiah did just the opposite,” says Batterson. “For him the lion represented an opportunity to step into his destiny. After killing the lion, he landed his dream job as King David’s bodyguard and eventually became commander-in-chief of Israel’s army under King Solomon.”
Batterson notes that, unlike Benaiah, far too many people find themselves fleeing challenges rather than facing and conquering them head-on. “We forfeit our dreams on the altar of fear,” he says. “Or we chase after the wrong things. We’re so busy climbing the ladder of success that we fail to realize it’s leaning against the wrong wall. At the end of our lives, our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained opportunities we left on the table, the God-given passions we didn’t pursue, and the God-sized dreams we didn’t go after because we let fear dictate our decisions.”
Each week on Chase the Lion, Batterson brings a profound and life-changing teaching designed to help viewers embrace what he calls the “Lion Chaser’s Manifesto”—”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. 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 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. Quit running away. Chase the lion.”
Don’t miss the exciting new weekly series, Chase the Lion with New York Times bestselling author Mark Batterson, premiering Thursday, May 24th, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern / 6:30 p.m. Pacific, exclusively on TBN. Find out where TBN is airing near you with our channel finder, or watch TBN on our livestream HERE.
