F3 Knoxville

Immediate, Present, Fast & Steadfast Confession

JUCO

THE SCENE: Cool (59F in June? Say what!)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered (Hooray no distancing or partner restrictions!)

The workout below is mostly a repeat of what I did for my ‘spiritual birthday’ last year (S/O to 5k again for the idea to celebrate this): Birthday ABC’s (modified from 24 reps to other things in the workout).

WARM-O-RAMA:
Moroccan night club IC x 10
Hillbillies IC x 10
Rotational Merkins IC x 10
Tennessee Walking Chair IC x 10
Hand Release Merkins 5 OYO
Slurpee 5 OYO
All PAX on the curb
Run to first line 50%, run 60% back to curb, 70% to second line, 80%, 90% to third line, 100% back to curb
Calf Raises on the curb until the 6 gets there for a few reps.
THA-THANG:
Today’s Theme: ABC’s – Arms, Burpees, Core

Mosey to big parking lot across grassy knoll

Big Parking Lot – Do the following exercises and run to the next light pole. At the end of the parking lot do a non-burpee exercise the first PAX to get there calls out.

Arms 10 x Walking Merkins (Wide, Plank walk into Diamond, repeat, counting each Merkin as 1)
Burpees 10 x Burpees
Core BBS x 10
First PAX to the end of the parking lot leads an exercise until the 6 is up. (Guardrail led this one)

Mosey to CMU pile

Coupon Pile – 3 stations (7-minute timer)

Arms – Top of Hill 3 x Pull-ups + 10 Hand-release Merkins
Burpees – Bottom before the stairs 3 x Blockees + 10 Burpees
Together when your partner gets done do Core – Bottom after the stairs – 3 x Louganis (BBS + CMU above your head) + 20 4ct Heavy American Hammers

Call time, get a 10 count. Mosey to large parking lot.

Large Parking lot again – At the end of the parking lot do an exercise the first PAX to get there calls out. 

Arms 10 x Merkins
Burpees 10 x Burpees
Core 10 x 4-ct Flutter kicks

5k got to the end first and led (Hello) Dolly.

Mosey back to the AO for Dealer’s Choice. When the JUCO Rush PAX joined us, we did Burpee-cides! (approx 3 minutes)

Sprint/run/jog to first parking line, do a Burpee, sprint back to the curb
Sprint/run/jog to second parking line, do 2 Burpees, sprint back to the curb
Sprint/run/jog to third parking line, do 3 Burpees, sprint back to the curb

Repeat was planned but we stopped to catch our breath the last 30 seconds of the workout.

MARY:
Dealer’s Choice (Voldemorts happened) above prior to Burpee-cides

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 PAX (15 for the beat down [1 left early], 6 for Rush)

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Where were you on the night of June 23, 2019? @5k gave me this idea in 2020. This is another thought in parallel to that but about the next step after but alongside repentance – confession. The main points of what I’m saying below come from a sermon linked here – Doug Wilson – Confession of Sin.

So where was I on June 23, 2019? I was having years of my sin exposed. There’s quite a bit more to this, but you can read Let The Word of Christ Dwell in JUCO Richly and Look a Turtle (Press On!) for more of the story. The JUCO PAX know it well as they have walked diligently with me for the past nearly 2 years. But the point I’m getting at is that June 23 I had an option and was literally asked “is there anything else you need to tell me?” I chose to hide my sin rather than confess. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 28:13 “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” This was so very true of the decision I made and the consequences that have followed me even to this day.

So today we’re discussing confession of sin, defined here as “an ongoing form of spiritual housekeeping.”

1 John 1:5-10 – 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

From here we have 2 images to discuss and a final application / discussion point:

Image #1 – Two houses where large families live. One is always messy and the other is always cleaned up.

All other things held equal, the difference between the two is one thing: the one that is cleaned up is clean because when a meal is eaten, the dishes are washed / put in the dishwasher right away. When clothes are dirtied, they are put in the laundry hamper. When toys are played with, they are picked up right then. In the other house, “it can be done this Saturday” is the refrain commonly heard.

The same is true of confession – as Romans 10:8 says “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);.” When we confess our sin regularly, we keep and restore fellowship just as we regularly clean our houses.

But what if this has not been our habit? Keep reading.

Image #2 – a cluttered, dusty garage that we haven’t cleaned for 20 years.

Where do we start?! It’s so messy, so dirty, so… could it just be set on fire and everything in it be burned up so we don’t have to deal with it? The thing to do is to pick up the one sheet of paper, the one dirty towel, the (insert area of conviction in your life that you’re avoiding dealing with by confession & repentance right now) and deal with it. You don’t have to dig all the way to the floor (though you may need to at some point to be able to walk in the garage). The analogy is this: we aren’t responsible for confessing sins we’ve forgotten about. Confess the ones you do know about, and not only will be weight be lifted but also your memory will improve.

Hebrews 12:1-2 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

God will honor your diligence, but not your slothfulness and excuse-making. Confession begins now and it may take some time. It might be tempting to feel it’s too much or too overwhelming, but deal with the one thing the Holy Spirit is working on in your heart now. You will not regret it as I did.

Application point / discussion:
When you confess, especially before the Lord, we are also encouraged to confess (appropriately) to others as a means of grace that God uses to sanctify us and willingness to make restitution, as a means of accountability, or a combination of both. When most men in F3 sin, they sin against their wives (as I did). That means that when we sin, both when it’s obvious and evident and especially when we want to hide it, we need to first confess it to the Lord because it’s against Him primarily, first, and foremost (Psalm 51:4) but also to the human against whom we sinned (James 5:16).

But what if we’ve done this thing over and over? What if we’ve gone long in sin and don’t think we’ll be believed? Wilson suggests the Word points us to two ways of doing this:
The Slow (or Steadfast) Way – by walking out repentance over 20 years (which is applicable especially when we cannot wisely make confession or restitution)
The Fast Way – by confessing additional sin (explained below).

Now you might be thinking “why would I make things worse by telling on myself more here?!?” And you’d be right – it may make things worse. But only at first. The true motivation behind confession is seeking restoration of the relationship that was broken by sin. We do this with the Lord and only He can truly forgive sin. But in the same way we love because He loved us (1 John 4:19) we also do that with one another because He has forgiven us (Matthew 6:15; Matthew 18:35). So, when we confess our sin AND additional sins along with it, we show that we’re not just looking to smooth things over but instead are seeking to show true repentance (as marked by the things in 2 Corinthians 7:8-11) and genuine sorrow.

Sin clutters, gets in the way, entangles your feet. The next time you’re failing over and over again remember it’s impossible to live a godly life with unconfessed sin. Stop trying to be good with unconfessed sin in your life. Take off the backpack (or, in F3 terms, the rucksack) and run. Confess immediately, presently, and as fastly & steadfastly as you can. Trust God with the outcome. It is worth every moment of freedom from sin and in the long run will reap a harvest of righteousness.

MOLESKIN: I had trouble remembering all of the PRQ’s that were shared. Next time I’m going to just type them up on my phone so I’ll have them here too. Prayed for: Butter Knife’s friend, Booster’s

Also a hearty welcome back to Tinker Bell and a welcome to JUCO Dumpster Dive!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Wesley House workday this Saturday so let Judge Judy know if you’re a G0. Dog Pound CSAUP is July 24th has been rescheduled for to August 21