Show notes
Can you be a husband, a father, and a leader and still not feel like a man?
Pastor Mel Mullen grew up in poverty with four siblings and a father who spent years in a mental institution. His mother raised the family on $27 a month, and whatever food and hand-me-downs neighbours dropped off. His father eventually came home and worked another 35 years, but never knew how to be the dad his kids needed. When Mel was 32, already a husband, a father of two, and a pastor, he got the call that his father had taken his own life. On the drive over the Rocky Mountains to the funeral, he told his siblings something he had never admitted out loud: he was just like his dad.
That drive through Rogers Pass became the start of a two-year process of rebuilding himself from the inside. Mel went from slipping out the back of ministers' meetings to taking charge of his family, his church, and his own life. He wrote 31 personal statements on index cards, each backed by a Bible verse, and read them daily until he believed what he was saying. Those statements became the foundation of his book Be a Man.
In this conversation, Mel shares how he learned to honour his father without becoming him, why your life follows what you believe and speak, and what changes when a man stops pointing back at his childhood and takes responsibility for who he becomes. He also tells the story of how a 30-day favour turned into founding Home Church, now in 13 nations and 128 locations, and how his daughter Christy "came through the telephone" when a pastor friend called asking if anyone wanted to adopt a baby.
🔹 THE DRIVE: The moment on Rogers Pass when Mel admitted he was becoming his father
🔹 THE 31 CONFESSIONS: One statement for every day of the month, and why repetition rewires belief
🔹 FALSE CONFIDENCE: What to do when your strength is really fear wearing a mask
🔹 THE CALL: How a 17-year-old with a list of career options heard "I have a work for you to do"
🔹 AGES 16 TO 24: Why the decisions made in these eight years shape the rest of your life
Now approaching 80, Mel believes his greatest decade of influence is still ahead. This episode is for every man who knows he needs to grow up but has never had someone show him how.
⏱️ What's Inside:
0:00 Intro
0:42 Growing up poor with a father in a mental institution
9:12 Taking responsibility for who you become
10:12 How to honour your father without becoming him
12:58 Asking "what's wrong with me?" honestly
14:28 From the back row to the front seat: building confidence
17:11 Why what you speak shapes who you become
18:10 The mindset shift every man needs to make
19:29 False confidence, ego, and anger
21:53 How to discover who you really are
22:28 First steps for anyone curious about faith
26:10 How Mel knew he was called to ministry
27:40 What 60 years of ministry taught him about God and people
29:18 Encouragement for when life isn't going well
30:35 The 30 days that turned into 54 years
33:56 Adopting Christy
37:12 You Choose: a book for 16 to 24 year olds
38:40 What a successful life actually looks like
39:34 Why his 80s will be his greatest years
40:40 The legacy he hopes to leave
41:27 The One-to-One discipleship guide
42:17 What happiness looks like to Pastor Mel
Connect with Pastor Mel Mullen
Website, books, and the free 31 Confessions → melmullen.com
Home Church → Visit any Home Church location in Canada or around the world
Books → on Amazon (click the links) Be a Man, You Choose, and Experience Jesus and His Church
Money isn't the main currency of a good life. This podcast gives you the tools to build a life of meaning and fulfillment.
Free Ultimate Goal Setting Framework → thecurrencyofhappiness.com
Subscribe on YouTube → youtube.com/@thecurrencyofhappiness
Instagram → instagram.com/thecurrencyofhappiness
Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts → Search "The Currency of Happiness"
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#BeAMan #ChristianMen #Fatherhood #MelMullen #HomeChurch #Manhood #GenerationalHealing #ChristianPodcast #FaithAndFamily #Mentorship #PersonalGrowth #TheCurrencyOfHappiness
