F3 Knoxville

Constant Promised Growth

THE SCENE: 59, Misty Rain (that wet stuff, if you recall)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Step overs, Tempo Merkins, Mountain Climbers, Cherry Pickers and OYO
THA-THANG:

Today was all about measuring some physical achievements to see how we are progressing.  Is our effort producing fruit?  Remember, this isn’t a competition expect for against yourself.  We last did this on a hot day in July.

  • 100m dash
  • Max Pull Ups
  • # of heavy thrusters in 2:00
  • 1 Mile Run time
  • Time to do 50 Curls
  • Time to do 50 Tricep extensions
  • Max Merkins consecutive

MARY:
Had time for some Imperial Walkers when we got back and then counted off.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 HIMs (1 runner joined us for the prayer)
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Some of you may have found today you were faster and stronger than last time in some things. That’s awesome and maybe IPC was good for something.
But for those of you with a few trips around the sun, you know that isn’t always going to be the case.
Being out here with Respect or Double respect probably means you are not as fast as you once were.
The graph of max merkins over the years is more of a mountain than a growth chart.
Do I share this to bring you down on a Monday morning?
Not at all. Because progress and growth on biceps means nothing compared to the plans God has for your soul.

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
1 Tim 1:8

The graph of your soul’s growth has some peaks and valley’s in the beginning but once God will takes hold of your heart and He works on it and ultimately sanctifies you, it’s a rocket launch once you zoom out enough.

Are you growing as a worshiper? That’s what we’ll be doing forever.
Is your soul able to sing like never before (see Matt Redmond’s 10,000 reasons for an awesome song and inspirations to this word)

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Matt 24:13
So regardless of progress measured today, know that God is in the process of making all things New.

Consider the 10 yr old boy who upon asking his mom about the MRI results (news wasn’t good, 20% growth) here is how the conversation went:

In true John fashion, he has handled the news better than the rest of us. The first thing he asked me when he walked in the door after school was, “So have we heard about the MRI yet?” I told him that the tumor had grown, though just a little bit. His immediate response was, “That’s OK, God has it ALLLLL under control and after here, we will get to be together forever in heaven!” He didn’t have any questions for us, other than he wondered what day of the week it would be when he got to heaven, and if they would have the same days of the week that we have here. Heaven is a very real place to him, and God‘s promises are very real to him. The faith of a child is an amazing thing, and we are so grateful to the Lord for the way we see His Spirit in John!

We should all think a bit more like John.  The graph of his soul’s growth and faith is a rocket launch!

Here are the numbers from last time and this time for the guys here today.  Bold = better.  Keep up the strong work.  Shrubbery, way to crush it on the pull up, mile time and merkins!

HIM
Butter knife
Data
Guardrail
Guardrail
Nadia
Shrubbery
Shrubbery
Survivor
Wanderer
Wanderer
Date Oct 31 Oct 31 July 25 Oct 31 Oct 31 July 25 Oct 31 Oct 31 July 25 Oct 31
100M 19 15.51 17 16 15 16.92 15.48 skip 15.85 16.75
Pull ups 11 15 26 26 4x 21 24 5 5 4
Mile 7:06 6:55 7:27 7:11 6:56 6:30 6:18 9:46 9:11 9:40
Thrusters in 2:00 45 60 27 cmu 44 47 42 35 45 35 coupon 48
50 Curl time 44 50 1:00 cmu 54 1:10 :43 40 1:30 :46 coupon 1:04
50 Tri ext time 45 dnf :47 coupon 42 45 :37 47 1:00 :45 coupon 42
Max consec. Merkins 36 23 22 35 40 34 56 29 13 30

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for our John (see above), Booster (see Slack), Wanderer’s dad and Data.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Brolympics Saturday!  Get signed up to help.

 

The Human Heart

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

Reach for the Sky, Let it Hang, Arm Circles, Hip Circles, Cherry Pickers, Stretching, Tempo Merkins, Tempo Squat.
THA-THANG:
Imperial Walker to the Shopping Plaza, then use rocks for upper body.

JUCOmanjaro needed visiting and beautiful scene during the decent.

More Rocks for upper body.

MARY:
Heels to heaven.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
New Tattoo has the Human Heart front and center to cover scar on my chest.  Jewish culture believed Spirit, Soul, Body, Mind, Will and Emotions were centralized in the human heart.  They believed everything comes together in the heart, but today the world tells us the brain is in charge and the Jewish culture wasn’t advanced enough to know medically how it works.  I’d like to give God more credit and continually renew my sense of wonder, awe and fear of the Lorad, and I’ve been on a questioning journey for the past 5-7 years.

Science can’t keep the sinus node of the heart going forever nor create the spark that starts it.  So maybe something more is happening in the heart than what man is understands or accepts today.

Same kind of radical thinking is necessary to process Oswald Chambers, “a man who wrote profoundly and elegantly on prayer, made a radical statement when he said, “The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God.” Good heavens—it’s not? What then is the purpose? “Prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God.” A mighty truth is being uncovered here.

Oneness with God is the goal of our existence. It’s not merely to believe in God, although that is better than not believing in him. It is not merely to trust in God, though that is far better than simply believing in God. It is not even to worship God, which is higher still.
The destiny of the human soul is union with God. The same oneness that Jesus talked about with his Father is our destiny as well. That’s what we were made for. Prayer is one of his primary means of doing it, drawing us to himself, getting us to pour out our hearts before him so that we can receive his heart toward us.”  Moving Mountains, Eldredge

Confidence in your salvation and approaching God in prayer with a desire for oneness can lead to peace and healing and freedom from sin that most won’t experience when the practice of their faith overpowers the purpose of their faith.
MOLESKIN:
wildatheart.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Thank you for prayers for me for the last 10 months.  Today we prayed for Guardrail’s father, Stitch’s uncle’s passing, and Wanderer’s father.

Howl

THE SCENE:  Cool, moist, dark
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:  Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • Phelps
  • LIH
  • Moroccan Nightclub
  • Werewolves
  • O.A.T. Planks
  • Doubletap squats

THA THANG:

Mosey to King College lot for “Toss O’ War”.  Form 2 teams for a competition.  There are two lines of cones separated by 200’, and a 20# medicine ball in the middle.  Perform exercise at your cones, sprint to the ball, and throw it as far as you can toward the other team.  You cannot touch the ball while it is in the air, but once it hits the ground you can stop it.  Play for 5 minutes, then call a winner.  Exercises were;

  1. 25 Carolina dry docks
  2. 30 O.A.T. Planks (15 each side)
  3. 25 4-count flutter kicks
  4. 20 Iron Mikes
  5. 40 Merkins
  6. 20 Doubletap squats
  7. 20 mountain climbers
  8. 35 LBCs
  9. 15 Shoulder taps (4 ct)
  10. 30 Imp lunges (15 each side)
  11. 25 Star Jacks
  12. 15 Donkey Kicks

Mosey to AWW Hill for “Wolves Hunt the Rabbit”.  There are 14 trees going up the hill.  One PAX – the “rabbit” – starts at tree #5 and does 2 burpees per tree, then sprints to the next.  The rest of the PAX – the “wolf pack” start at tree #1 and does 1 burpee per tree and sprint to the next.  Will the wolves catch the rabbit?

Mosey to the steps to nowhere.  One PAX names a core exercise, then sprints to the top of the steps and back.  Continue until all PAX have gone.

2 rounds of Howling Monkeys.  Run back down.

Run back for another round of Toss O’ War.

MARY:

2 minutes left – dealers choice

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

Me and 15 of the best men I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Wolves are both fierce and tenderhearted.  We should be as well.

  • “The righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1).
  • “Blessed is the one who remains steadfast under trial” (James 1:12).
  • “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13)

When life requires it of you, be ready to spring into action with zealousness – fierceness – intensity! You should be alert, vigilant, fearsomely protective, fiercely loyal to your pack…   Continue to be strong in the ways that count.

But simultaneously

be soft in the ways that count.

  • Be tenderhearted with your loved ones (Ephesians 4:32).
  • Show humility.  Have sympathy for those less fortunate.  (1 Peter 3:8)
  • Avoid arguing.  Speak evil of no one.  Be gentle and courteous (Titus 3:2)

Be approachable and relatable for your kids – and be patient with them.  Show affection and make yourself emotionally available to your wife – pamper her.

To be a wolf is to be a fearsome warrior, but it is also to be tender nurturer.  You are called to be both.

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for Wanderer and his father, Solomon

Prayers for Data

Prayers for Booster and his family

Hat tip to Levi Lusko

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

HEAVY PT @ JUCO

THE SCENE: 41
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Done.
WARM-O-RAMA:

  1. Projectivator x7
  2. Squats 5 Tempo + 5 4-ct
  3. Merkins 5 Tempo + 5 4-ct
  4. Mountain Climbers x10
  5. Growing Baby (LBAC) x10
  6. Moroccan Nightclub x10
  7. 5 Cherry Pickers
  8. 5 Burpees OYO
  9. Stretch OYO
  10. Mosey to Physical Plant
    THA-THANG:

Mucho Chesto: 10 Merkins, 10 Diamond Merkins, 10 Wide Merkins, 10 Stagger Left Merkins+10 Stagger Right Merkins=50 Merkins (2 Rounds)

HEAVY Lazy Dora: Partner up, 1 CMU/pax

  • 100 Merkins on CMU (switch every 10) while battle buddy holds plank on CMU (Both take CMU to the top of the stairs and back down)
  • 200 Heavy LBC holding CMU above head (switch every 20) while battle buddy does 6″ leg hold w/ CMU above head (Both take CMU to the top of the stairs and back down)
  • 300 Heavy Squats (switch every 25) while battle buddy holds Heavy Al Gore (w/CMU)(Both take CMU to the top of the stairs and back down)

MARY:
PAX CHOICE

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
10STRONG

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God is Holy – set apart, altogether different, perfect, yet He reveals Himself to us through creation, through the Scriptures, through beauty, family, the church, our circumstances. In Jesus, He shows us who He is, and I’m amazed that He reveals Himself to me as a Friend. Not a casual acquaintance, or a buddy, but a Friend – One who laid down His life down for us. “A Friend loves at all times, and a Brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). “A man of many friends may come to ruin, but there is One who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). These verses point to the need of a man for friendship. Few men are willing to admit they are lonely. Some men acknowledge they are searching for friendship, and F3 meets that need for several. Some find in their wives a best friend. But we find in Jesus, a Friend that fulfills the kind of true love and intimacy that we need and search for, and God created us for. Friendship may sound unnecessary, or trite, but this need in me is a way for me to understand God’s love for me.

Ephesians 3:14-21 is a powerful and beautiful passage that contains so much, but it also speaks to me of God choosing me for love and intimacy:

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

There’s nothing better…

MOLESKIN:
Great to spend time with my JUCONIAN BROTHERS! 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Brolympics next weekend – check Slack for details

11’s, Diamonds, and Dragons at JUCO

THE SCENE: 35 and clear

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: administered

WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH IC x 20
Cherry Pickers IC x5
Arm Circles Forward and Back IC x 10 each
Merkins IC x10
Squats IC x10
30 Seconds OYO

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Sophomore hill, stop halfway for some Imperial Walkers, and Bernie to the top of hill.

11’s between the trailers and handrail. Perform burpees at trailers and rows at handrail.

Mosey to quad with some Guardrail led flutter kicks on the way

7 of diamonds at the quad, start with 7 and increase by 7 at each corner (7, 14, 21, 28)

  • Round 1 – squats
  • Round 2 – SSHs (single count)
  • Round 3 – flutter kicks (4-count)

Mosey towards the flag and stop in parking lot for Welsh Dragons.

Mosey to the flag

MARY:
10 reps of Freddy Mercury’s IC

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
8 Bootcampers and 8 RUSHers

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

From “The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football” by Jeff Benedict and Armen Ketyian

Kyle Van Noy was a top high school football prospect in the state of Nevada in 2008. He was being recruited by LSU, Nebraska, Oregon, UCLA and twenty others. BYU had attempted to contact him, but he wasn’t interested in playing at a university tied to his church.

On April 29, 2008, BYU head football coach , Bronco Mendenhall, stepped into the pulpit to speak at Kyle’s church in Reno, Nevada. Kyle was forced to go by his parents, but was all ears as Coach Mendenhall spoke of the way geese fly in a V formation and that even if one goose fell out of formation, another goose would wait with him until he either died or was able to rejoin the group. Kyle had never heard anyone speak like that, especially a football coach. His interest was piqued.

Throughout the recruitment process, Coach Mendenhall and Kyle developed a deep friendship. Kyle would sometimes call him for advice in various situations he ran into. Despite their friendship, Mendenhall laid out in detail the requirements of the BYU honor code that would be required if Kyle decided to play football at BYU. Despite offers to Oregon, Colorado, UCLA, and Boise State, Kyle eventually settled on BYU, saying “I wanted to play for a coach who cared more about me as a person than a football player.”

Just a few days from National Signing Day in 2009, Kyle called Coach Mendenhall to tell him he had been arrested for drunk driving. Mendehall’s policy prohibited him from offering scholarships to players who weren’t living in compliance with the honor code. He didn’t make exceptions – not even for the best recruits. Mendenhall offered to help Kyle Van Noy find somewhere else to play, but he was insistent that he wanted to play for BYU.

Mendenhall went to his AD and worked out a deal that Kyle could come to BYU, but he would have to sit out the entire 2009 season and go a full year without violating the honor code. Kyle and signed with BYU.

One month later, Kyle had a run in with the police over alcohol consumption but no charges were brought against him. Coach Mendenhall would not find out, but he decided to fly to Provo and confess in person. As he sat in Coach Mendenhall’s office, he told him, “I need help.” Coach Mendehall responded with the following quote from former BYU president Jeffrey R. Holland: “It is the plain and very sobering truth that before great moments, certainly before great spiritual moments, there can come adversity, opposition, and darkness. Life has some of those moments for us, and occasionally they come just as we are approaching an important decision or a significant step in our life.”

Mendenhall looked Kyle in the eye and told him not to worry about the second incident, “That’s why I gave you the one-year plan”, he told him.

Kyle Van Noy sat out the 2009 season and then played linebacker at BYU from 2010-2013. He earned a myriad of honors throughout his time at BYU and was named the All-Independent Defensive Player of the Year his senior year. Kyle Van Noy was picked by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft and is still in the NFL today after signing with the Los Angeles Chargers in May, 2022.

I don’t where Kyle Van Noy would be if Coach Bronco Mendenhall hadn’t believed in him and given him a second chance. Obviously, he is an immensely gifted athlete that could have thrived on any D1 football roster. However, would he have continued to struggle with things outside of the field like he did in high school? We’ll never know, but the one person who believed in him, Coach Mendenhall, set boundaries and enforced consequences for Kyle’s actions. As a result, he has seen a lot of success in his NFL career that may not have come otherwise.

Who are the people in your life that need you to believe in them? You may not be a head football coach of a national program, but you may be the father of a son who needs to understand what it is to be a man and take responsibility for your actions, what it means to be a true High Impact Man (HIM).

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sign up for Brolympics on Nov. 5 hosted by The Asylum