F3 Knoxville

Meeting God on the Mountain

THE SCENE: overcast
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

SSH – Tempo Squat – Tempo Merk – Mtn Climbers – LBAC fwd/bwd – Burpees – Cherry Pickers – Stretches

THA-THANG:

  1. Parking Lot (NW Corner along Rec Ctr)
  • 10 merkins – mosey to end of parking lot – 10 Bobby Hurleys
  • Rinse and Repeat – 5x
  • 1 minute plank
  • Mosey to Playground

2. Playground

  • Begin with 4 Pull-ups
  • 15 Merkins + 5 Pull-ups (5 rounds)
  • 1 minute plank
  • Mosey to Friendship Bell

3. Friendship Bell

  • 20 Merkins
  • 1 Minute Plank
  • Mosey to K-25

4. K-2(5) (OUR HIGHEST PEAK!)

  • 10 Merkins at Bottom
  • Sprint up hill
  • 10 BBS at Top
  • Rinse-Repeat x5
  • 2 Minute Plank
  • Mosey to Shovel Flag

MARY:
No Time

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10STRONG

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I shared with the guys a story from our family trip to Scotland. We spent almost all of our time in the Highlands with some hiking along the Great Glen Way, seeing the lochs and castles and the most beautiful, rugged green hills and grey skies. While anyone can see the sights and enjoy the beauty, many people have shared that there’s a feeling Scotland has. I felt it.

I experienced the thinness of the veil between heaven and earth. In the far north, Loch Broom opens up to the North Sea, and hides a small village called Ullapool. It is shielded from the North wind by the hills that surround it. On our only morning there, I woke up early to walk up the hills, to be alone. I wanted to ask God how we’ll make it through the season of change in our family’s life. As the hill climbed above the town, above the tree line, above any sign of humanity, I heard God.

More accurately, I sensed something so faint that I was surprised at how tiny and ephemeral it was. I imagined I would reach the top and cry out into the wild solitude . But it felt wrong to yell – I could only whisper. Through my ragged breath and the incessant North wind, I felt a message from God, like a memory. It was like a large library with hundreds of shelves, with thousands of books, and millions of pages – with one page lit up. It was the image of Jesus being baptized, with the Holy Spirit descending on Him, and the Father speaking over Him: “This is my Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”

On a lonely, achingly-beautiful and lonely mountain, I met God. I am exhorted once again to fix my eyes on Jesus in this difficult season, and because I am in Christ, I receive the Spirit upon me and the Father speaking those very words over me as well. “You are my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.”

Like my namesake, the prophet Elijah, I met God on the mountain. Not in the wind, not in the fire or the earthquake, but in a still, small voice in the hills above Ullapool.

MOLESKIN:
We praised God for an answered prayer and prayed for a continued concern for Tuba’s family.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Family Q with Pool Party; service opportunities – details in Slack.

Heavy Metric Workout #2

THE SCENE:  64 and clear.  Perfect for a beatdown
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered 
WARM-O-RAMA:
 

  • SSH
  • Hairy Rockettes
  • Finkle Swings
  • Willy Mays Hays
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Cobra, Down dog
  • Merkins

THA THANG:

30 minutes to get as many cumulative reps as you can. The following list of exercises are performed in sets of 25 reps. After completing each set of 25 reps, run 25 yards (6 parking spaces), do 2 burpees, and return for the next set. Here are the exercises:

  • 150 curls
  • 125 heavy squats
  • 100 OHP
  • 75 CMU swings
  • 50 Thrusters
  • 25 Blockees

When you finish the blockees, start over and push until the timer is up.

Once through the circuit is 525 reps.  How many cumulative reps?

MARY:

Flutter kicks
Prone row
LBCs
Merkins
Rosalita

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 9 of the best men I know.  Welcome FNG “Ocho”!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The reflection this morning was simple.  We set aside a few minutes to review progress made toward our goals.  First, as a group…  In January, we talked as a group about some of the ways that we’d like to see The Project move forward in 2022.  Some ideas were;

  • Fitness. We now have a few metric workouts to measure performance (military fitness PT, and today’s heavy PT baseline).  Let’s re-do those occasionally to see how our performance is trending.  Weekly Push/Pull/Plank challenge on Slack.
  • Fellowship. Consistency in the gloom and chatter on Slack.  Outside of the gloom – Hiking daytrips…  ..  Bonfires…  Spring camping trip…
  • Faith. More deliberate discipleship.  Developing smaller shield lock groups within the larger Project group.  Meditating on and committing scripture to memory.  Leading our families in study, prayer, and faith.
  • More men in attendance. More Sad Clowns who need something like F3.  Specifically, more newly married men and new fathers – those are critical points in a man’s life and full of anxiety.  We have a wealth of experiences to share with those men – let’s find ‘em!
  • Family Workout! It’ll be great to get the families together monthly. It’s also a service to the community to we are uniquely gifted to provide.  I think this will largely define The Project’s evolution in 2022.

 

Then, we turned our thoughts inward to reflect on personal goals.  Six months ago (or 3 years ago), what did you want to change in your life?  What goal or goals did you have?  Did you make a plan?  Did you tell a trusted friend?  How are you progressing?  If you’re on track – awesome!  If you’ve tapered off, today is a great day to get back started.  If you haven’t already, write it down.  Break it down into simple steps.  Seek accountability.

Proverbs 4:25, “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.”

Hebrews 12:1-2, “…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, 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.”

Philippians 3:14, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

 “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

MOLESKIN:

We first did this workout in January.  Every man who repeated today increased his score!  Every. Single. One.  We ARE getting stronger, men!

Here are the scores;

  January July Delta
Rocket 515 550 35!
Snaggletooth 525    
Erector 550    
Mathlete 525 599! 74!
Tuba 510 516 6!
Bobbitt 516 565 49!
Kickflip 510 565 55!
Wingman   525  
3-Peat   500  
Ocho   325  
Boy George   535  
Skewer   450  

 

For more evidence of our fitness acceleration, see this BB from March

USAF Fitness Measurement – Round 2

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Partner Rifle Carry = Fun

THE SCENE: Mid 70s, nice, no rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Cherry pickers, lil’ baby arm circles, tempo squats, harry rockettes, tempo merkins.

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the big parking lot

  • Bear crawl to the first line, 1 burpee
  • Duck walk to the second line, 2 burpees
  • Bear crawl to the third line, 3 burpees
  • Duck walk to the fourth line, 4 burpees
  • Etc.

Mosey to the Coupon Pile

  • Partner up and rifle carry a cinder block to the hill
  • One partner runs up the hill while another does curls
  • When the first partner gets down, partner rifle carry around the median
  • Switch roles

Mosey to Sophomore Hill

  • Stay with your partner, run to the first corner, wait to be touched by group behind, then run to the second corner, all the way around

Mosey to the flag

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I am due to become a first time father, likely this month. And with that comes many worries. Small, simple worries like: Do I really know how to change a diaper? And deeper, more significant worries like: Are we going to fail at this? Are we going to be financially okay? What if my son doesn’t follow Christ? Especially in today’s culture, these are worries that are always lingering. If I am not careful, it can take over my mind and effect the way I view myself and God. When these times come, I remind myself of Philippians 4:6-7, which says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It is interesting that he doesn’t say that when we make our requests known to God that He will instantly solve our all problems and our worries will go away. It says the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. So, instead of my mind being filled with worries, fears and anxieties, it is filled with the peace of God. 

So, I know I am not the only one with worries, fears and anxieties, whether with kids, work or something else going on. Whatever that thing is that is on your mind right now, give it to the Lord, cast it on Him and the peace of God will come and guard your heart and mind.

 

It’s OK to be slow (to anger :-)

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

• Reach for the sky
• Let it hang
• Cherry Pickers
• Hairy Rockettes
• Tempo Merkins
• TN Rocking Chairs
• Plank; Right hand up; Plank; Left hand up
• Mosie to the courtyard

THA-THANG #1:

Courtesy of “Funk Roberts” on YouTube. I accidentally fartsacked a couple of weeks ago and found this workout to do at home. Do each exercise twice for 30 seconds with a 30 second rest in between.
1. Side Straddle Hop
2. Merkins (fingers out, shoulders back, elbows in)
3. Forward Lunges (keep core tight)
4. Freddie Mercuries (slow, hands out, elbows out, rotate to focus on your core)
5. Mountain Climbers
6. Seal Jacks (engage rear delts, back exercise)
7. Wide Push Ups
8. Reverse Lunges
9. Wide Crunches
10. Burpees

THA-THANG #2:

• Mosie to the coupon pile
• Everyone grab a coupon
• Break into 2 groups
• Group #1 carries to bottom of freshman hill and starts the rotation. Group #2 stays at the coupon pile and starts the rotation from there.
• At bottom of hill, Coupons (x15 each)
◦ Curls
◦ Presses
◦ Tricep extensions
• Bernie to top of hill and do 5 pull-ups
• Mosie back to coupon pile, Coupons (x15 each)
◦ Bent over rows
◦ Kettle bell swings
◦ Bench press
• Run to bottom of hill

MARY:
No time!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Psalm 103:6-11
6 The Lord gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
7 He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
Eph 4:26
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
James 1:19
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,

Tim Keller on Anger

• https://youtu.be/2v-2ewGCQB4
• Note that God reveals himself as slow to anger. Its OK to get angry. To be like God, however, we need to do it slowly and at the right things.
• Anger is not the opposite of love; hate is and the ultimate form of hate is indifference
• Anger has a basic goodness. In this form is it response to love being threatened.
• What do we get angry about? There’s our loves and maybe our idols.
• On the flip side, what are things that should be getting angry about but don’t?
• In Mark 11, Jesus got angry about sin in the temple keeping Gentiles away from God. Yet, in his anger we are told he began to teach the people. He was in control of himself the entire time.

A work of your hands

THE SCENE: Cloudy with a chance of lightning.  No rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  1. Projectivator
  2. Overhead clap
  3. Seal squat
  4. Basilisk
  5. Merkins

THA-THANG:

  1. Mosey to the playground
  2. Ring of fire (pushups) w/ one PAX taking turns doing 5 pull ups
  3. Mosey to blocks
  4. Carry blocks to steps
  5. Enjoy the steps (25 reps each):
    1. Curls
    2. Squats
    3. Overhead Press
    4. American Hammer (2 count)
    5. Tricep extensions
    6. Heavy LBCs
  6. Ring of fire (heavy squats) w/ one PAX taking his block to the top of the stairs and doing a blockee
  7. Enjoy the steps (11 reps each):
    1. Curls
    2. Squats
    3. Overhead Press
    4. American Hammer (2 count)
    5. Tricep extensions
    6. Heavy LBCs
  8. Return equipment
  9. Mosey to the playground
  10. Ring of fire (pushups) w/ two PAX taking turns doing 5 pull ups
  11. RTB
    MARY:
    Boy George, Borg, and Mathlete led some ab exercises

    CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
    Isaiah 2:6 (context: end times; judgement day)

    For you have rejected your people,

    the house of Jacob,

    because they are full of things from the east

    and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,

    and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.

    Their land is filled with silver and gold,

    and there is no end to their treasures;

    their land is filled with horses,

    and there is no end to their chariots.

    Their land is filled with idols;

    they bow down to the work of their hands,

    to what their own fingers have made.

    So man is humbled,

    and each one is brought low—

    do not forgive them!

    10 Enter into the rock

    and hide in the dust

    from before the terror of the Lord,

    and from the splendor of his majesty.

    11 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,

    and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,

    and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

    12 For the Lord of hosts has a day

    against all that is proud and lofty,

    against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;

     

    Thesis:  What idols do we have? What works of our hands are we worshiping?

    ANNOUNCEMENTS:
    Family workout:  8am July 9th, Shield lock backpacking trip July 15-16, Shield lock pool party August 6th