F3 Knoxville

Tears of Joy

THE SCENE: Insert info about the weather, etc.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Motivators, starting with seven.  10 Tempo Merkins.  10 Cherry Pickers. 10 Windmills.  Ten Twisties.  Ten Baby Arm Circles forward and backward.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the stop sign by the main park road and the road that goes to Admin Bldg.  We will do 10 Imperial Walkers and 10 Lunges with each foot.

Mosey to the bottom of Mt. Everest.  We will do Ten Speed Skaters, then run up Mt. Everest.  Those reaching the top can do invisible skip ropes until everyone arrives.

Mosey to the steps at the front of the admin bldg.  We will go around the loop that goes from the Admin Bldg to the Coliseum.  We will stop at the following spots to do the following exercises:

  • On porch of Admin bldg:  20 Merkins
  • At south curve of loop:  20 Squat Jumps
  • At benches of Coliseum:  20 Bench Dips
  • At north curve of loop:  20 Squats
  • Rinse and repeat above two times.

Next, we will have a snowball fight in the grassy area in the middle of the loop.  Last man hit by a snowball gets a free breakfast from your Q.

Mosey to Pavilion that is close to AO.  We will do 20 Bench Dips then run to AO parking lot to do 20 Iron Mikes (one leg = 1).  Rinse and repeat but with 20 Decline Merkins at the Pavilion.  Rinse and repeat one more time but with 20 Picnic Table Pull-ups at the Pavilion.  (Note:  we will do 20 Iron Mikes in the parking lot with each rinse and repeat).

Mosey to the baseball field directly behind AO parking lot.  We will go to grassy area.  We will have a game of Ultimate Frisbee Football.

Mosey to AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Eleven men, no FNGs.  Great to have La-Z Boy visit our AO this Saturday morning.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Feeling The Tears of God Brings Joy

I heard in interesting story on NPR this past Monday.  It was about a man named Brandon Jackson who was recently released from prison after being convicted of armed robbery 25 years ago.  The conviction was based on a 10-2 split jury decision in the State of Louisiana.  Louisiana courts began to allow 10-2 decisions on such felony cases during the Jim Crow era.  The purpose was to be able to dismiss the votes of the occasional black juror that might make up a jury and vote someone innocent.  No one actually witnessed Brandon Jackson commit the alleged robbery.  His conviction was based on the testimony of a witness who had changed his story a number of times and got off on a lighter sentence based on his testimony.  The Louisiana Supreme Court in 2020 declared a split-jury conviction on such a felony case to be unconstitutional.  However, the ruling was not considered to be retroactive.

Brandon Jackson spent his time in Angola prison, a notoriously violent prison.  After an altercation with correctional officers, five of his years was spent in solitary confinement.  He got out on parole one month ago.  He has always maintained that he is innocent.  I don’t know whether he was innocent or guilty of the crime but I liked his interview.  Imagine your own reactions to our world today if you had spent 25 years behind bars.  He told the interviewer about how he waited at the counter of a grocery store for a long time waiting for someone to check him out.  Finally, an employee showed him how to scan his own items.  He was baffled and amazed.

I also liked some of the things that Brandon Jackson had to say about happiness and joy.  He said happiness is fleeting but that joy is something different.  He said that he doesn’t hold any grudges or regrets about what happened to him in the past.  Now that he is out of prison, he wants to help those in his community who may also have been in trouble.  He commented that, perhaps God had allowed his imprisonment to happen to prepare him for some purpose he needs to fulfill. As for joy, he finds it in small things.  He finds joy in sipping coffee with his mother each morning and reading the bible with her.  He finds joy in simply going outside.  This man, who had spent so much time behind bars, remarked, “We had a little rain one day, so I just went outside and stood in the middle of the backyard.  I wanted to feel God’s tears pour on me, so I just stayed there.”

The great Christian theologian, C.S. Lewis, also talked about the difference between happiness and joy.  He also said happiness is fleeting.  Joy is different.  It is a walk, a journey, a state of being.  C.S. Lewis indicated that people long for joy but do not find it in riches, fame, or power.  He said that when we finally discover joy, we find that joy itself is not what we are really seeking.  It is the Source of Joy that we seek.  That source, Lewis says, is God and Jesus Christ.

Brothers, may each of us find the source of Joy in our life journey.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Crawdad’s friends in the Ukraine.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Brolympics on November 5 this year!

Bringing Habits HOME

THE SCENE: 39 and clear. Perfect weather for a VQ

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Completed

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH x20 (IC)
  • Cherry Pickers x5 (IC)
  • Dive Bombers x5 (IC)
  • Squats x15 (IC)
  • 30 seconds on your own

THA-THANG:

Mosey to the quad.

Ghostman Baseball shamelessly stolen from Blindside and Choir Boy…sounded like fun and thought we should give it a try! Split into two teams. First team runs to first, completes the exercise, returns home while the other team does the Home exercise. Switch when running team returns. Second round: Run to 1st, do the exercise, run to second, do the exercise, return home. Continue the pattern until you reach home. You do not need to run back from home.

  • First Base
    • 15 Merkins
    • Big Boys at Home
  • Second Base
    • 30 Smurf Jacks
    • American Hammers at Home
  • Third Base
    • 5 Burpees
    • Flutter Kicks at Home
  • Home Plate
    • 30 Squats
    • Plank

Mosey towards the duck pond and stop for 50 Boosters (Toe Merkins) on the curb

  • Welsh Dragons up the hill near the duck pond parking lot (bear crawl forward x4, 1 merkin, tap each shoulder, plank jack – repeat and increment merkin, shoulder tap, plank jack each time until you get to 10 or your arms fall off!)

Mosey to parking lot west of the flag.

  • Seven of Diamonds (7, 14, 21, 28 of each exercise) at the four light poles
    • Split back into same two teams from baseball.
    • One team will do exercises clockwise and other will be counter-clockwise. First team to complete all exercises wins.
    • Round 1 – Squats
    • Round 2 – LBCs
    • Round 3 – SSHs

MARY:
PAX took turns calling out exercises until time

  • Spotter – imperial walkers
  • Doubtfire – gas pumpers
  • Erector – heels to heaven
  • Kickflip – squeaky dollies
  • Room Service – pickle pointers
  • Data – supermans

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 HIMs and 1 2.0
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
From “Habits of the Household” by Justin Earley

Habits are kinds of liturgies. They are little routines of worship, and worship changes what we love. Habits of the household are not just actions that form our families’ routines, they are liturgies that form our families’ hearts. This is why we should choose then so carefully.

Think of it like this: when it comes to spiritual formation, our households are not simply products of what we teach and say. They are much more products of what we practice and do. And usually there is a significant gap between the two.

My challenge to you this morning is to think through some existing habits in your household that you could change or new ones you could implement.

For me, one habit I’ve started to do at night is give my son a bedtime blessing. Another one we’ve changed is that we put away all screens in our house on Sundays.

MOLESKIN:
N/A

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Check out the new F3 Knoxville Podcast that Blindside is putting out.

No Hard Feelings

THE SCENE: Cloudy, temp in 50s
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Side Straddle Hops, 10 Imperial Squat Walkers, 10 Gas Pumps, 10 Tempo Merkins, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 Windmills, 10 Twisties.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to Bat Cave.  We will do the following going counterclockwise:

  • Run down stairs and do 20 Carolina Dry Docks.
  • Run to grove of trees at climb of Mt. Everest and do 10 Burpees.
  • Run to summit of Mt. Everest and do 20 Hello Dollies.
  • Run to Bat Cave and do 20 Star Jumps.
  • Rinse and repeat two more times.

Mosey to stop sign at southeastern corner of Administration Bldg.  Do 20 American Hammers.

Mosey to Area 51.  We will split into teams of two for Doras.  While one partner runs to the curb by the hill at Area 51, does 5 decline merkins, then runs back, the other partner works on the exercises listed below.  Teammates then switch.  Here are the exercises:

  • 200 Rocky Balboas, both feet = 1.
  • 200 Flutter Kicks, both feet = 1.
  • 200 Bicycle Kicks, both feet = 1
  • 200 Baby Crunches

Mosey to park entrance on Northshore, then take perimeter trail past the utility bldg.  We will stop to do 20 lunges, both legs = 1.

Mosey to bottom of Mt. Everest.  We will stop to do 50 Baby Crunches.  We will then run up Everest.  Those reaching the roadway first do more Baby Crunches until the six is there.

Run to top of the Space Needle and then mosey to the AO.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Ten men, no FNGs.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

NO HARD FEELIMGS

I gave a message about this topic and this song by the Avett Brothers a few years ago.  I think the topic is important enough and the song is amazing enough to cover again.  The topic is Forgiveness and the song by the Avett brothers is “No Hard Feelings.”

The Lord commands us to forgive.  In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  In Matthew 6:14 Jesus says, “If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”  And, in discussing the idea of forgiveness, Jesus said to forgive one who has sinned against you not seven times but seventy times seven times.

These commandments are made not only for the benefit of those who have sinned against us but for us who must do the forgiving.  If we hang on to the anger, the bitterness, the hurt of being wronged, these “hard feelings” can eat us up inside.  In their song, “No Hard Feelings”, the Avett brothers recognize the destructiveness that unforgiving hard feelings can have despite the goodness that life offers us:

Lord knows they haven’t done
Much good for anyone
Kept me afraid and cold
With so much to have and hold.

Yet in their song, the Avett brothers recognize the difficulty that we, as humans, have in forgiving.  It is difficult enough those people in that other political party or the neighbors who keep their front yard messy.  But how do we forgive someone who has truly hurt us or one of our family members?  The quality of “true forgiveness” is a Christ-like virtue that we must continually strive to attain.  The narrator hopes for that state by saying,

When the sun hangs low in the west
And the light in my chest
Won’t be kept held at bay any longer
When the jealousy fades away
And it’s ash and dust for cash and lust
And it’s just hallelujah
And love in thoughts and love in the words
Love in the songs they sing in the church
And no hard feelings.

The fact is that we humans, as sinners, find it so very hard to forgive.  Christ asks us to turn the other cheek.  That takes a bravery that is quite difficult for us to muster.  In the Avett Brothers song, the narrator looks at his own life and wonders if by his death he can accomplish the task.  The song uses a beautiful image of walking straight to the life after death and running into the savior.   The narrator of the song yearns for the final result of godlike forgiveness within himself by chanting the final line of the song four straight times:

Will I join with the ocean blue
Or run into the savior true
And shake hands laughing
And walk through the night
Straight to the light
Holding the love I’ve known in my life
And no hard feelings

Lord knows they haven’t done
Much good for anyone
Kept me afraid and cold
With so much to have and hold
Under the curving sky
I’m finally learning why
It matters to me and you
To say it and mean it too
For life and its loveliness
And all of its ugliness
Good as it’s been to me
I have no enemies
I have no enemies
I have no enemies
I have no enemies.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Down Under’s son, Hunter, age 17, who had hoped to go into military after high school where he is in ROTC.  He learned that due to a medical condition, he will not be qualified to go into the military.  Prayers of thanks for the mother of Steam’s future bride.  Steam’s future mother-in-law found out that her breast cancer is now in remission after chemotherapy and radiation.  Prayers for our brother, Sparkler, as he continues to recover from his rotator cuff surgery.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Board Meeting!

Holiness is Not a Trait. It is a Result

THE SCENE: The weather outside is the weather. 

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Did this very well.

WARM-O-RAMA:

Blindside warm-upy things (I do the same warm-up every time I Q, pay attention). 

THA-THANG:

Tennis Courts: Each court has a different routine. Both are explained and PAX chooses where to begin. When one is finished, complete the other one. Repeat each routine 5 times. 

  • Routine 1: 
    • 5 Burpees to start 
    • Shuffle along baseline right to left
    • Sprint diagonally to net shuffle along net right to left sprint diagonally to far baseline
    • 5 Burpees 
    • Retrace steps, shuffling left to right this time
    • 5 Burpees at the start
  • Routine 2: 
    • 10 Merkins at the first corner
    • Lunge down baseline
    • Sprint to the opposite baseline along the sideline 
    • 20 LBCs at baseline
    • Lunge to net
    • Bear Crawl to the middle of the net
    • 10 Squats
    • Bear Crawl back to the sideline
    • Walk back to start

Tennis Court Kraken: Grab a CMU. Kraken consists of completing an exercise, taking a lap around the outside of the fence, passing your previous station, and going to the next. All exercises are 20 reps. 

Stations:

  • Merkins
  • 4 ct. Flutter Kicks 
  • OH Press
  • 4 ct. Hello Dolly
  • Squats 
  • Calf Raises
  • LBCs
  • Imperial Walkers 

MARY:

Back and forth between Squat and Merkin Ring of Fire 

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

20 HIMs; 1 FNG (Squeakers); 5 PreRuckers; 1 PreRunner; Several Kotters

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Holiness isn’t a trait. It is a result.

MR. ROGERS @ 50

THE SCENE: CLEAR AND COLD.  VERY NICE.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

2 OF ;  GET-UP, NAVY SEAL BURPIE, V-UP, IRON MIKE, MERKIN, BIG BOY SIT UP, MT. CLIMBERS, AMERICAN HAMMER, SIDE STRADDLE HOP, BEAR CRAWL (1), SQUAT, RUN TO FOOTBALL FIELD
THA-THANG:
AT THE FOOTBALL FIELD:

EXERCISES AT EACH GOAL LINE AND EVERY 10 YARD LINE.  O E YOU COMPLETE THE 1ST EXERCISE RUN DOWN THE FIELD AND BACK . REPEAT THE FIRST EXERCISE MOVE UP 10 YARDS AND DO THE NEXT EXERCISE, RUN DOWN THE FIELD AND BACK REPEAT THE 1ST 2 AND MOVE TO THE 3RD.  AND SO ON.

1 MOVEMENT EVERY 10 YARDS, STARTING AT THE GOAL LINE. 1 GET UP.  5 NAVY SEALS , 10 V-UPS, 15 IRON MIKES, 20 MERKINS, 25 BIG BOY SIT UPS, 30 MT. CLIMBERS, 35 AMERICAN HAMMERS, 40 SIDE STRADDLE HOPS, BEAR CRAWL 10 YARDS, 50 SQUATS.

 

MARY:
SOME AMERICAN HAMMERS AND SOME BOX CUTTERS
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
23
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
AT 50 YEARS OLD I ASK MYSELF, WHY AM I DOING THIS? ALL OF US HAVE SOME KIND OF DRIVE KEEPING US MOVING.

THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION,  PERSONALLY,  IS…I HAVE NO ANSWER.  I TRULY DON’T KNOW WHAT MY DRIVE IS OR WHY.  I DO KNOW I FEEL A DRIVE.  I ALSO KNOW NOW, AT 50, THAT ITS OK TO NOT KNOW.

YOU MAY NOT KNOW WHY OR WHAT DRIVES YOU BUT AS LONG AS THE DRIVE IS A POSITIVE ONE, ITS OK TO NOT KNOW.
MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.