F3 Knoxville

Author: Kick-Flip

Nine Line

THE SCENE:  50 and clear.  Perfect for a beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Reach for the sky
Chinook OYO
Michael Phelps OYO
Finkle swings OYO
Imperial walker IC x 9
Tempo squat IC x 9
Tempo werkins IC x 9
Carolina dry dock IC x 9
Heals to heaven IC x 9
Parker Burpee x 2 OYO
Projectivator from 9

THA THANG:

Mosey to Jucomanjaro.  Stop at the coupons and do 20 curls, 20 shoulder presses, 20 triceps, 20 curls, and hold over your head while I explain what comes next.

Nine Line:  Divide into groups of 3.  As you run up Jucomanjaro, there are nine lines spaced 100’ apart.  At each line is a cone with an exercise.  Run to the cone, perform the exercise, and run back to the base of Jucomanjaro.  Perform 2 parker burpees at the base, then go back up and move to the next cone in sequence.  Each team starts at a different cone, to keep us spaced out.

Exercises were:

  • Base: 2 parker burpees
  • Line 1: 30 merkins
  • Line 2: 30 flutter kicks 4-ct
  • Line 3: 30 carolina dry dock
  • Line 4: 30 heals to heaven
  • Line 5: 30 diamond merkins
  • Line 6: 30 hello dolly (4-ct)
  • Line 7: werkins
  • Line 8: 30 side crunch (15 each side)
  • Line 9: 30 mountain climbers (4 ct)

MARY:

Run down Jucomanjaro, performing 15 air squats at each cone.  Mosey back to the shovel flag.  10 rosalitas + 10 hello dolly + 20 LBC.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 8 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Bottom line up front – Today’s Word was about thinking about the broken men (Sad Clowns) in your life and inspiring them to better themselves.  I opened by echoing part of Butterknife’s Word from a couple of weeks ago.  This group means so much to me.  You guys challenge me to be better as a father, husband, and friend.  I am grateful for you all.  BUT…

 

I want you to imagine yourself as an American soldier, on a humanitarian mission in little mountain village in Afghanistan.  It is a peaceful and beautiful early fall morning, but you sense a tension in the villagers.  All the sudden, the peace is shattered, and your unit is under attack from a hidden enemy.  You and another soldier take cover behind the heavy wheel of a Humvee and are returning fire when, to your left, you hear a thud and a groan.  You look over and see that he’s been hit in the leg and is bleeding.  What do you do?  In that moment, what is your obligation to that solider?

Get him into a safe position!  Apply first aid – help him put pressure on the wound to stanch the bleeding – elevate his feet!  Once he’s stable, you secure the scene – continue to return fire until advantage is won!  Next, call in the casualty and get a medevac on the way!

The battlefield version of dialing 911 is “calling in a nine line”.  It is a standardized, efficient, way to send casualty information by radio traffic.  Here is the format:

  • Line 1. Location of the pick-up site.
  • Line 2. Radio frequency, call sign, and suffix.
  • Line 3. Patient precedence: (A – Urgent, B – Urgent Surgical, etc.)
  • Line 4. Special equipment required: (Extraction equipment, ventilator, etc.)
  • Line 5. Number of patients:
  • Line 6. Security at pick-up site: (e.g. enemy troops in area, approach with caution)
  • Line 7. Method of marking pick-up site: (e.g. smoke signal)
  • Line 8. Patient nationality and status: (e.g. US military, US civilian)
  • Line 9. NBC Contamination: (e.g. nuclear, biological, chemical)

The expectation is that you will relay this information in less than 25 seconds.  Therefore, you have to know exactly what you’re going to say before you make the call.  Before you call in the nine line, you must first pause to deliberately and accurately evaluate the wounded man’s condition.  Where is he?  What is the situation?  How bad off his he?  Ultimately, how are we going to get him out of this mess that he’s in?  Now…call in that nine line!

I want to use that as a metaphor.  In the battlefield of life, there are wounded men around you.  Think about the men in your life – your coworkers, your neighbors, your brothers, your friends.  Which of those men is a casualty?  The coworker whose health is so poor that he can’t play with his own kids? (I’ve been that man).  The friend who has checked out from his marriage? (I’ve been that man).  The brother who drinks every night – not to relax, but to retreat? (I’ve been that man).  The neighbor who is pretending to have it all together, but you know it’s just a façade?  (I’ve been that man).  Who is a hot mess right now?  Now, prep a quick nine line for him.  What I mean is…pause to deliberately and accurately evaluate that wounded man’s condition.  Where is he (physically, relationally, spiritually)?  What is the situation (health, relationships, habits)?  How bad off his he?  Ultimately, what can we do to get him out of this mess that he’s in? 

I love this group…BUT…we are missing something – THAT MAN.  The mission of F3 is to “to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership”.  If JUCO is going to make a real impact on the Hardin Valley community, then we must bring out the men who need to be invigorated.  Those who are hurting need to come and be encouraged.  Those who are self-absorbed or arrogant need to come and be humbled.  Those who are listless need to come and be spurred into action.

Q-Source 1.1 says this about those men, “A man needs help to get right.  The boats of some men have been so long capsized that they have gradually surrendered to a life of being swept downstream by circumstances.”  You are called to be that man’s disruptor.  You are called to bring a disturbance to his life which is led only by inertia.  Bring him out.  F3 is not going to save his marriage, it isn’t going to give his life purpose, it certainly isn’t going to redeem his soul.  But…waking up early, working hard with hardworking men, being challenged by challenging words, praying together – those habits just might spur MOVEMENT, then ACCELERATION, then MOMENTUM in the right direction. Over time, the impact of that routine can be huge.

Bring that man out here.

MOLESKIN:

Repeating part of Stye’s Word from last week; Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

Romans 15:1-2, “We who are strong must help those who are not strong. We must not do what pleases us. But each of us must please his neighbor. He must do what is good for him and what will help him do better.”

Q Source 1.1 https://f3nation.com/drp-2

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Prayers for Darryl in the hospital.  Rejoicing for Bailey!

Devils Tower

THE SCENE:  60 and raining.  Perfect for a heavy beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

  • Overhead claps
  • Moroccan nightclub
  • Cherry pickers
  • Mountain climbers
  • Tempo merkins

THA THANG:

Mosey under the roof at the senior center.  Ready to take on The Devils Tower.

There is a tower of 12 CMUs.  Each man grabs a CMU and performs exercises per the Q.  Exercises included;

  • CMU Curls
  • Thrusters
  • Goblet Squats
  • Alpos
  • Shoulder press
  • Flutter kick chest press
  • Tri
  • Upright rows
  • Heavy Freddy
  • Uneven Merkins L
  • Uneven Merkins R
  • Walking Lunge
  • Heavy LBC
  • CMU Curls
  • Single arm row L
  • Single arm row R
  • Blockees
  • CMU Swings
  • Burpee Jump Overs

Bear crawl with the CMUs to my truck and put it away.  Back to the Devils Tower – and repeat it all again!

MARY:

None

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 5 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Let’s talk about remembering well…

The Native American tribes of the Kiowa and Lakota have a legend…  A group of girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. Trying to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them. Hearing their prayers, the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground towards the heavens so that the bears could not reach the girls. As they tried to climb the rock, the bears left deep claw marks in the sides.

This story is the fanciful origin of a massive butte that protrudes from the prairie in the Black Hills of Northeastern Wyoming.  Some call it Bear Lodge Butte – but it is better known as the Devils Tower.  This massive rock stands 867 feet from summit to base.  Chaco and Whipper might tell you that it is one of the finest crack climbing areas in North America.  It was on this day 114 years ago – Sept 24, 1906 – that President Teddy Roosevelt named the Devils Tower our nation’s first national monument.

The Word that I want to share this morning is about the importance of personal monuments – relics – souvenirs – mementos.

Seven times in the book of Joshua, the people of Israel erect stone monuments.  They have different occasions each time, but the purpose is always the same.  They build to commemorate God’s faithfulness… or as a witness to the unity that is established with another tribe….or as a reminder to serve the Lord and live in obedience with the Torah…or as a reminder of their potential for unfaithfulness…  The purpose of the monuments is to prompt them to revisit those ideas from time-to-time.  During the building of one of those monuments, Joshua tells the tribesmen that they are doing this; 1) so that you will always have a reminder of what happened here, and 2) so that your children will one day ask about the monument and you’ll have an opportunity to tell them the story and lessons learned here.    

Monuments serve as aides to our memory.  They are tangible connections to something once experienced.  As life happens and memories fade, a monument prompts us to remember what was once so vivid. 

Almost two years ago, I took a weekend away with two good friends.  We stayed in a cabin in the Cherokee National Forest and spent three days engaging each other in very intentional conversations about life, and in prayer.  We took stock of our lives and each felt a strong sense of recommitment to be better fathers, husbands, friends, and followers of Christ.  I will forever look back on that weekend as a pivotal moment in my life.

One afternoon during that weekend, the three of us each decided to have some quiet time.  We sat around the cabin reading and praying, and at one point we each ended up walking alone through the woods.  As I walked and reflected on the changes that I was feeling in myself, I noticed a lone white rock on the ground – it stood out in a surrounding of dried leaves.  I picked up the rock and put it in my pocket to be a reminder of that weekend away and what it meant in my life.  (Interesting sidebar: As I sat down for dinner that evening, I pulled the rock from my pocket and set it on the table.  My two friends stared at me, then at each other – then they both took a white rock from their own pocket and set it on the table.  Unprompted and unbeknownst to the others, we each had picked up the same memento from our walk in the woods).  To this day, this white rock and a photo of my wife are the two things that sit on my bedside table.  The rock serves as a reminder of that time which was so significant in my personal journey.  I can’t tell you how many times it has brought me back to that weekend and reminded me of the change that started there.  Occasionally, my kids have asked me about it, and I have shared the story with them.

Here’s the punchline.  When you have a significant moment in life… a MILESTONE, an AWAKENING, a RECOMMITMENT – I encourage you to commemorate that memory that with a monument.  It could be a rock – or a photo – or a tattoo.  Whatever it is, place it somewhere that you’ll see it often and be reminded of what was once so vivid to you.  Remember and revisit that time, because, “remembering well is as important as doing well” (hat tip, Jonita Mullins).

MOLESKIN:

Good to have new daddy, Mathlete, back out in the gloom.

If your wife snorts at the idea of a tattoo to commemorate your significant moment…tell her that KickFlip put you up to it.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

IPC Week 4 available at JUCO tomorrow

Hardship Hill next Sat!

The Monsters Men Fear

THE SCENE:  65 and clear.  Perfect for an IPC beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Skipped. 
WARM-O-RAMA: 

Warmup OYO while we talk through the workout.

THA THANG:

IPC Week 3

MARY:

None

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 6 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I have a routine that I follow when I leave the house in the morning.  I make a cup of coffee, pack my lunch, grab my stuff, and I’m out the door.  In one hand, I have my duffel bag with a change of clothes and my lunch – in the other hand I have my morning coffee.  I leave through the back door, walk across the deck and down the steps, turn the corner around the house, and get into my car which is sitting in the driveway. That’s my routine…and it almost never changes.

A few weeks ago – on a Tuesday before F3 – my routine did change just a bit.  For a reason now long forgotten, I didn’t make coffee that morning.  That meant that I had something I almost never have when I leave the house – a free hand.  And I used that hand to do what I almost never do – shine my phone’s flashlight to light the dark path through the backyard and around to my car.  I remember having a sense that morning – a sense that I wanted to see within the darkness – like something was there that I needed to be on a high-state of readiness for.  A skunk? A raccoon?

I used my flashlight to shine across the deck, down the steps, across the yard, to my car.  Nothing…my instinct was clearly misfiring.  I turned off the flashlight, put my bag in the backseat, got into the front seat, and turned the key in the ignition.  Then, in the bright glow of the headlights, I saw…A PERSON STANDING IN FRONT OF MY CAR AND STARING AT ME.  For a moment, my blood froze, and I was stiff with the shock.  It quickly thawed when I realized that the wild-eyed pajamaed person was my 7-year old son.  He’d heard me leaving the house and ran out to say “goodbye” and “have a good day”.  Sweet kid – but he startled me half to death at five in the morning.

Driving to meet you guys for the workout that morning, I was reminded of a couple of things.  The first was a bit of scripture that I am working with that 7-year old to help him memorize; “2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.”  The second thought came from a book that I read him each night for a few weeks earlier this year, Sails of Capri.  In the book, the characters fear sailing their small ship into a cove which is said to be cursed.  Local myth was that man-eating sea monsters lived in a cave within that cove.  The reluctant adventurers finally sail into the cove and into the mouth of the cave, where they discover a breathtaking blue grotto (the real Grotto Azzura in Capri).  One of the main characters reflects about their adventure with these words, “Most of the monsters men fear are in their minds.  They would vanish like smoke if we would only let them”. 

Let’s talk about monsters that we fear.  No – not bats, or snakes, or spiders…  Here are the five most common fears that men have.  

  1. Failing.
  2. Being Incompetent.
  3. Being Weak (or Being Perceived as Weak).
  4. Being Irrelevant.
  5. Looking Foolish.

I can relate to each of those.  When I’m being honest with myself, I’ll admit that those fears manifest in a facade of coolness or disinterest.  Ultimately, what those fears cost me is deep intimacy in relationships.  Why wouldn’t I be silly with my kids or dance with my wife?  Fear of looking foolish.  Why wouldn’t I lean in and be a better mentor of that younger man at work?  Fear of being irrelevant.  Why the heck do I find it so hard to consistently lead my wife spiritually?  Fear of being incompetent.  If you are like me, the irrational fears that you harbor are keeping you from enjoying your relationships to their fullest potential. 

Yet… “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” – Joseph Campbell.  When I do allow myself to be unguarded with close relationships, I find that the fear was all in my mind and that my loved ones delight in the most unguarded version of me (bad dance moves and all).  The closeness that I crave was there all along – masked by insecurities which ended up being paper monsters.

When I saw that apparition in the dark a few weeks ago, I was afraid.  Then it turned out to be my son, and I realized that there is nothing more precious to me than that figure standing in front of me (which I first feared).  Likewise – when you courageously step through your fears and experience healthy relational intimacy (which you thought was a monster) – it may, in fact, lead to something that you cherish deeply.

“Most of the monsters men fear are in their minds.  They would vanish like smoke if we would only let them”.

Here’s 2 Timothy 1:7 again, this time from The Living Bible translation, “For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them.”

Be willing to let down your guard with those closest to you and experience relational intimacy.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Do it again this Friday at JUCO – Wanderer is hosting IPC Week 3, his VQ!

Hardship Hill

Protect Your Critical Infrastructure

THE SCENE:  72 and clear.  Perfect for an IPC beatdown.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Skipped. 
WARM-O-RAMA:  Warmup OYO while we talk through the workout.
THA THANG:  IPC Week 2
MARY:  None
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA:  23 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

We remembered this morning, the 2,977 lives which were taken 19 years ago in New York City, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.  That number incudes 343 firefighters and 60 police officers who worked desperately to evacuate 25,000 people from the World Trade Center buildings before they collapsed.  Those lost were not just our countrymen – citizens of 78 different nations died in those tragedies.  It was a solemn day for the world.

After we mourned our dead, our challenge was to learn and apply lessons from that tragic day.  The events of Sept 11 exposed vulnerabilities in the national systems which protect us.  The Department of Homeland Security was created and charged with preventing future terror attacks – and the FBI has cataloged at least 42 major domestic terrorist attacks which were prevented in the nineteen years since 9/11.  In February 2003, a year and a half after the Sept 11 attacks, the White House released a report titled, “The National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets”.  Airports, interstates, powerplants, bridges – can you imagine a nation without them?  No, they are critical infrastructure – and they are vulnerable.  After the crisis that we went through, federal leadership recognized that we must dramatically improve how we protect these important assets from disaster and sabotage.

Let’s talk an application to your life, a specific challenge to think about, and a plea…

  • The Application:  Think about your personal “critical infrastructure”.  I’m not talking about your house…  I’m talking about your mind, your heart, your eyes, and your mouth.  These are essential to your vitality.  Can you imagine your life without them?  No – and they are vulnerable!  We must dramatically improve how we protect these important assets from disaster and sabotage.
  • The Challenge:  What do you need to do to better protect your critical infrastructure?  Which one of these resonates with you?  Maybe you’re like me and they ALL hit home…
    • Your Mind: Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”.  What are you filling your mind with?  What do you think about day in and day out?  How do you allow your thoughts to persist – constructive or destructive?  What changes are needed for you to better protect your mind?   
    • Your Heart:  Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”  What do you spend your energy, time, and treasure on?  What are you devoting yourself to?  Is that thing or cause worthy of your heart?    What changes are needed for you to better protect your heart?   
    • Your Eyes: Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light”.  Do you feel full of light? What do you watch for leisure? Murder, adultery, pride – these are things that our God hates.  Are you consuming them as entertainment?  Do you gulp through your eyes fake pictures of fake naked women and fill your body with that counterfeit romance?  What changes are needed for you to better protect your eyes?   
    • Your Mouth: Proverbs 13:3 “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin”.  Proverbs 15:4, “Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”  Do the words that come out of your mouth bring life and sweetness to a conversation?  Are you careful with your tongue – or do you wield that powerful weapon like a fool?  What changes are needed for you to better protect your mouth?   
  • The Plea:  DON’T WAIT UNTIL DISASTER HITS BEFORE YOU EVALUATE YOUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND MAKE THE NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS.  Don’t wait until you’ve been gut punched before you protect your mind, heart, eyes, and mouth.  Don’t wait until your marriage is falling apart before you finally admit that consuming pornography is mental adultery – and it has a very real and terrible impact on your relationship with the most important woman in your life.  Don’t wait until your kids are grown, gone, and want nothing to do with you before you realize that you were foolish with your tongue and that the destructive words you spoke over them brought death to that relationship. Don’t wait until you are laying on a bed one day breathing your last, to look back with regret and realize that you spent your thoughts and gave your heart to things which have no significance in eternity.

Evaluate your critical infrastructure and make the needed changes.  Break habits and start habits today.

MOLESKIN:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Valley Church is launching this Sunday – 5:00 pm at HVA.  See Booster for details.

Dream Come True

THE SCENE:  67 and clear.  Perfect.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered.

WARM-O-RAMA: 

  • Reach for the sky!
  • Let it hang!
  • Abe Vigoda – IC x 8
  • Cherry pickers – IC x 8
  • Mountain climbers – IC x 8
  • E2K L/R – IC x 10

THA THANG:

Mosey to the recruitment center.  Grab some CMUs and head to the cinema.

Stairway to Seven:  Perform all exercises then carry the CMU to the next line.  First line is 3 reps of each – each line increases the number of reps by 3 (e.g. 2nd line is 6 reps, 3rd line is 9 reps…7th line is 21 reps – total of 84 reps).

Exercises are;

  • Curls
  • Goblet Squats
  • Overhead presses
  • Jumpovers

Carry to the next line – increase rep count by 3….

Early finishers do some ab work.

At line 7:  Turn around and go back down the stairway – starting with 21 reps (each line decreases by 3 reps).

Exercises are;

  • Tricep extension
  • CMU Lunge
  • Upright row
  • Calf raises

Finished early to move on…

Mosey to the cinema steps for Diego

Partner 1 runs to the top of the stairs while Partner 2 does exercises.  Switchero.

  • 100 – Split Merkins
  • 150 – Overhead press
  • 200 – Heavy LBC
  • 250 – Curls
  • 300 – Squats w/ CMU

MARY:

ABCs

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 5 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

“Dream come true”.  Have you ever said those words?  Maybe about a vacation? Or about working from home during the pandemic?  Or about fatherhood?  Or after a purchase that you’d anticipated for many years?

For my family, last Saturday was a day of dreams coming true.  For my sons’ entire young lives, they have desperately wanted a dog.  My reluctant wife finally relinquished, and we picked up our Bernese Mountain dog mix named “Rose”.  Romping through the house, chasing and being chased – for my sons, it is their dream come true.

My wife and I have a dream of one day traveling in an awesome RV – staying in national and state parks, seeing all the countryside that our beautiful nation has to offer, meeting people, exploring…that is a dream of ours.  On Saturday – the same day that we picked up our dog – we also made arrangements to buy a small travel trailer and a truck.  We took one small step toward our dream coming true.

In Genesis Chapter 28, we read about a strange dream.  Jacob, running from his homicidal brother and alone in the wilderness, laid down to sleep.  In his dream, he saw a stairway stretching from the earth to heaven and angels were ascending and descending on it.  At the top of the stairway stood God and He said to Jacob, (paraphrased) “I will give you this land.  Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth.”  When Jacob woke up, he did a couple of things.  First, he showed wonder, “What an awesome place this is!”  I can imagine him thinking – God, you’ve met me here in the wilderness when I thought I was abandoned and you showed me the blessing of my future – what a dream come true…  Then he took a stone and made a pillar to commemorate the dream.  Then he poured oil on the stone.  Finally, he made a vow to God.

I want to ask you to think about your dreams in two ways this morning.

First – what in your life is a dream come true?  What – if you didn’t have it – would be something that you’d say, “if only…that would be a dream come true”.  Maybe your health?  I know if I were terminally ill, I could hear myself saying, “If only I was healthy…that would be a dream come true”.  What is it for you?  Your marriage?  Your good job?  Whatever that thing, I’m challenging you to have fresh gratitude for it today.  Like Jacob after his dream, say “how awesome!” that you have this in your life.

Second – what is a dream that you have for the future?  What do you look out at and wish, “Dream, come true!”.  When Jacob woke from his dream, he set a stone.  Years later, he would return to that stone and build it into an altar – but that day, he set one stone.  What is one stone you can set – one thing you can do to advance toward your dream?  Jacob poured oil on the stone – a sacrifice, a financial investment.  What is one small thing you could do to invest in your dream?  Finally, he made a vow, a promise, he talked about his dream.  Maybe you can tell your dream to a trusted friend.  Words are powerful.  Speaking words out loud is powerful.  Telling a friend, speaking those words, seeking advice, making a plan – that is a step toward your dream.  Proverbs 15:22 “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.”  What dream can you look at and say, “Dream, come true”?  Take a small step toward making it happen.

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no VISION, the people perish”

Proverbs 20:5, “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.”

“Vision without execution is delusion”.  Thomas Edison

MOLESKIN:

Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”