THE SCENE: Cloudy, temp about 32 degrees
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Mountain Climbers, 10 Windmills, 15 Second Squat, 10 Rockettes, 30 Second Squat, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and Backward, 60 Second Squat
THA-THANG:
Mosey to CMU parking lot. Instead of CMUs, each man grabs a pair of bricks which will be along east curb of parking lot. We will Dora. While partner one does exercises listed below with the bricks, the other man runs to other curb, does 10 Rocky Balboa, and runs back to replace partner with the exercises. Here are the exercises with the bricks:
- 100 Overhead Presses
- 100 Curls
- 100 Rows (brick at each side)
- 100 Triceps (brick on either side of head)
- 100 Punches (both hands = 1)
- 100 Wings Up
- 100 Wings Down
- 100 Wings Out
Put bricks down. Mosey to Mini Cardiac. We will Bernie to Park Sign then sprint to crosswalk.
Mosey to Stop Sign at Northeast Corner of Admin Bldg. We will stop to do 20 American Hammers.
Mosey to small parking lot below the Coliseum. We will do Doras again. This time, while one partner does exercises, the other runs up stairs, left on Coliseum sidewalk, and down to the driveway to small parking lot to reunite with partner who will then make the same run. These are the exercises the partners will work on:
- 100 Hello Dollies (4 ct)
- 100 Squat Jumps
- 100 Merkins (4 ct)
- 100 Iron Mikes (both feet = 1)
- 100 Flutter Kicks (4 ct)
Mosey to parking drive by apartments and soccer fields. We will do 20 Bicycle Kicks.
Mosey to parking lot that is south of playground. 20 Squats.
Mosey to Mini Cardiac. We will, once again Bernie to Park Sign then sprint to AO.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
26 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth. Psalm 145:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
And it’s no, nay, never
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover
No never no more. — Old Irish Folk Song
I used to belong to a Sunday School class in a church that I formerly went to that had nice, intelligent, and friendly people in it. I found myself missing something in the class, however. What it took me some time to realize was that people weren’t opening up in the class. They freely talked about worshipping God, about helping others, about walking the right kind of life – but they weren’t revealing themselves in the process. They talked about how “people” needed to apply the Bible’s lessons to their lives but not about how those lessons should be applied to their own lives. They weren’t talking about the true challenges they faced in their Christian journey. They weren’t talking about their BROKENNESS. I remember wishing people would talk from their hearts. I remember one woman in the class being more likely to do so. I followed her example one time but no one else in the class did. And, after a time, I figured, “heck, I’m not going to talk about my problems if no one else does.” And so, I withdrew and finally just left the class. Maybe I should have confronted the class. Instead, I found a church where people do freely reveal themselves.
Men, it is important to REVEAL ourselves to God and to others we can trust. We are broken creatures in so many ways. As humans, we mess up! We find ourselves making the same mistakes, sinning in the same ways, despite our promises to ourselves that we will not do the same thing again. I certainly find myself making the same mistakes over and over. It as if sin is inherent in my nature. And, if we believe the Bible, SIN TRULY IS IN OUR INHERENT NATURE. In the Old Irish Folk Song above, the singer proclaims “never no more will I play the wild rover” (i.e. drinking so much that one gets snockered). Yet, the song is one that is sung with the comic knowledge that one absolutely will play the wild rover again, when the hangover is gone and the temptation arises. Despite our best claims to stop the sin within us, we sin again and again. This could be in regards to many different things: pornography, greed, animosity, overuse of power, coveting, prejudice, infidelity, or just plain worrying too much. If we truly look at ourselves, consider every sinful part of ourselves – we are likely to feel great shame and may want to give up on ourselves.
But, we have a great and glorious God. We have a God that actually wants us to reveal that sinful part of ourselves to Him. He wants to know us fully. And what happens to us when we truly reveal ourselves to Him? LOVE happens. Think about what happens here in F3 when a brother reveals his brokenness to the group. Do his brothers turn their backs on Him and run away? Do they smite him? Do they ignore him? I think not. They embrace him. They let him know that they understand. And, as his brother, they see themselves in him. They know that they too have messed up, have been broken. When God sees us revealing ourselves to one another, He Smiles from Above. He celebrates. He say, “Now that is what I want my children to do!” Because through that revealing, we heal. We get the feedback of love from our fellow man and from God. And, it when we are strengthened by love, that is when we can experience True Change.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers to end racism and for our country to be more united. Prayers for wife of Ribbed, praise for healing of Choir Boy’s wife, praise for Cap’n Crunch’s 25 wedding anniversary, prayers for Cheatsheet in the care of his mother and daughter, prayers for Veggie’s safe return back to college in the state of Michigan.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CSAUP from 6:30 am to 9 am at Asylum on Saturday, January 30.