F3 Knoxville

Tag: Mailbox

Cold and Difficult Things

THE SCENE: Clear, calm 21°
WARM-O-RAMA:
Kept it quick to get moving.  Maracan Night club, Side Straddle Hops Imperial Squat Walkers
THA-THANG:
8 HIMs +  5 Rushers + 1 surprise Rucker

1st Cold thing: the Guardrail (obligatory with the name and all) 30Dips, Plank with feet on Guardrail

  • Black snake the long way to the big parking lot
  • Hard thing 1: 20 Merkins/20 BBS then 15/10/5.  Just like we did on Monday.  Did you feel stronger?
  • Bernie to the new parking lot for Guantanamo Line (Feet up while one guy runs the line and tries to throw feet to the ground)
  • Hard thing 2: Little Drummer Boy Lead by Median (Side straddle hops, high knees & Burpee with each “rum pum pum pum”  22 if you are counting.
  • Hard thing 3: Mosey to CMU pile & partner up for 2 cycles of each team collectively performing
    • 20 Pull Ups
    • 40 Tri curl with CMU
    • 60 Overhead Press
    • 80 Squats
    • 100 Curls
  • Long way home via courtyard with a some bear crawls down some stairs b/c why not

MARY:
Dealers choice of Freddie Mercury, Box Cutters, Pickle Pounders, Imperial Walkers, Heels to Heaven, LBC
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Last week was Thanksgiving and maybe you went around the table and shared something you were thankful for but this morning I’m going to challenge you each to think of something hard in 2020 that you are thankful for. Maybe it was a hard workout or maybe it’s something bigger than that.

Thankfulness is not sticking our heads in the sand and pretending like 2020 has been great in every regard. Biblical thinking on suffering is not taking that approach of being thankful in all circumstances (1 Thes 5:18) by simply thinking of the eternal hope that we hold onto and ignoring the pain of loss.

It is not mutually exclusive to be thankful and affirm that COVID has caused a lot of pain this year. There is the loss of life and health. There is the loss of normalcy. There is the loss of hugs at a Thanksgiving gathering or travel to see loved ones. The economic loss is real too.

My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.  Psalms 119:71 NLT

Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
C.S. Lewis

If we really graduate from God’s school of Thankfulness, we are thankful not just in the trial, but for the trail. And not just because the pain brings us closer to God, though that would be worth it, but because God knows what He is doing and the pain, the loss, the trial are part of His will because he loves us.

Consider Christ who suffered and was not at all outside the will of God. It is in these sufferings we can be closest to God.

Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
1 Peter 4:13‭, ‬19 NLT

“The dominant characteristic of an authentic spiritual life is the gratitude that flows from trust – not only for all the gifts that I receive from God, but gratitude for all the suffering. Because in that purifying experience, suffering has often been the shortest path to intimacy with God.”
– Brennan Manning

Powerful time of sharing challenges from the year that we are thankful for.

MOLESKIN:
Thank you guys for sharing your hearts.  It was great to look in your eyes this morning as you shared some really hard things that this year brought.  God has carried through us all a lot.  God has given us hope and to see how we have drawn closer to him.  It’s an honor to see God at work in each of you and speak truth into our hurts: God is bigger than that challenge, God wants you to draw near to him in the hurt.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Based upon the amount of steam rising off all your shoulders and heads you worked really hard this morning, but @spotter takes the prize for looking most like he was on fire.

Cover to Cover

THE SCENE: 40ish and rainy…GREAT!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Cherry Pickers x10, Hairy Rockettes x10, SSH x30
THA-THANG:
Mosey to pull-through and perform 20 merkins/20 BBS x repeato reducing by 5 each round.

Mosey to library overhang.

Ascending suicides with burpees under the library overhang and heels to heaven under the cafeteria overhang.

Start with 5 of each and add 5 each round while sprinting between the two overhangs. 105 burpees/105 heels to heaven

Next, split PAX into two groups. Group 1 lunged to the cafeteria wall then sprinted to the library. Group 2 bear crawled around library overhang then sprinted to cafeteria overhang. If you pass another PAX while in the rain, both have to perform a burpee. Repeat for three rounds.

MARY:
Flutter Kicksx30, Hello Dollysx20, Freddy Mercuries x15

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 men drug themselves out of bed knowing it was low 40’s and raining to go outside and beat themselves up. Awesome!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

2 Thessalonians 3:13-15

13 As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

These three verses offer a lot of great advice for us to take to heart. Read them, apply them, and get better. Let’s look to our brothers and strive to bring them up, even if that requires causing shame. For through that shame, they will either decide to make themselves right or will continue in their lost state.

MOLESKIN:
Proud of the JUCO crew that made the hard choice this morning.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Join the service channel and look for opportunities.

Pool Boy’s 2nd Annual Black Friday JUCO Discount Coupon Special

THE SCENE:
41°F and mostly dry except some dew on the grass around the retaining wall near the coupon pile (more on that later)

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER (Administered): Fitness, Fellowship, & Faith.
Started with asking the PAX to think about their prayer requests they might have at the beginning of the workout rather than at the end. It was productive as we had 4 requests shared at the end and a good sense of community. Disclaimer was administered + cell phone check + COVID distancing (that included no sharing COUPONs, especially on Black Friday!)

WARM-O-RAMA:
9 x El Capitan OYO
9 x Werewolf OYO
10 x Tempo Squat IC
9 x Rotational Pushup… I mean Merkin
9 x Moroccan Night Club IC(in honor of Erector being back after recovering from COVID)
9 x Calf raises on the curb (nice and slow) OYO
9 x Derkins on the curb OYO

THA-THANG:
To the COUPON pile: Falling Indian Run + COVID. Every 5 seconds the front PAX “falls off” and lunges (whatever kind of lunges he wants)

TODAY’S SALE: Everything is $9.99!

Pick your coupon(s)! But as with all deals, you can’t share them with others!
Everything is $9.99
But it’s a different deal than last year. Each round is AMRAP 9 of 3 exercises PLUS…
2 yes count them TWO Mary (ab) exercises for FREE
Rd 9 9 9 Mary 1 (10 ea) Mary 2 (10 ea)
1 OHP Goblet Squat Thruster Flutter Kick Rosalita
2 Tricep Extension Kettle Bell Swings Hodor Pickle Pounder Pickle Pointer
3 Rows Colt 3 Blockee Heavy Freddie Heavy Big Boys
4 Choose your own deal! Which round of deals did you like the best and do it

After you complete a round you take a lap around the retaining wall near the coupon pile and repeat.
Rounds 1-3 were 6 minutes.
Round 4 was 4 minutes

I asked the PAX how many times they thought I’d used the word “coupon” today and the number they came up with was 99. So we started on 99 LBC’s… but about 15 or so I gave them a (we have to get back to the #shovel-flag) discount.

Mosey back to the AO. Stop at first stop sign to do burpees until the 6 arrived and did a few burpees themselves. Turn right and mosey to the next stop sign. Jail break to the #shovel-flag from there with one caveat – you cannot go in the grass. Two routes were possible and I think Spotter may have beat out Dart Gun by a hair but it was a great finish

MARY: ALL THE DEALS!
So many deals but we already got our extra MARY in!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA:
9 PAX who got deals at 5:30am.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM (this is actually better defined as “The Word” or “Words of Wisdom” as stated in General Tips for Your First Q on the F3nation website – S/O to Erector for pointing this out to me yesterday at #the-project).

It’s Black Friday once again. This year, we reflect differently than any other. And yesterday was really no different in the sense that 2020. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks. This means we have to consider what are we giving. John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. It’s easy to want to pull back and want to “protect” what “is our” in 2020. After all, we have a “responsibility to provide” (1 Timothy 5:8, and this specifically applies more heavily to men though women are called to work hard and provide for their families as well).

But there’s more to it than that and we know it. Jesus calls us to a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice. We have such a problem with greed, envy, jealousy, etc. in our affluent society we don’t even notice it. But Jesus called us to be radical. How radical? Look at what He said in Matthew 6:19-24:
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.[f]

This flips on its head how we think – we ask “is a tithe required?” rather than asking “God, how much can I give away?” A tithe is at best to be perceived as “the bare minimum” and we need to ask God to change our hearts if we think or feel this way – God loves a cheerful giver.

The coats we collected and gave away for KARM are an example of this. “How many coats can I give?” should be our refrain. I even have a coat that missed the deadline that I need to give to Spotter/Mailbox to take to over. This reminds me of a song I’ve come across this year which has lyrics I want to leave you with. It’s called “Simple Living“. The lyrics are about the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus. I’ve put the lyrics below with the bold part emphasized to what I shared during the COT this morning (each is linked separately / including the songs on the right side of the forward slash)

Spotify: Simple Living (Stuart Townend) / Simple Living (Keith & Kristyn Getty)
YouTube: Simple Living (Stuart Townend) / Simple Living (Keith & Kristyn Getty)
Apple Music: Simple Living (Stuart Townend) / Simple Living (Keith & Kristyn Getty)

A rich young man came to ask of Christ:
“Good teacher, will you tell me,
What must I do for eternal life?
I’ve kept your laws completely.”
“Sell all you have, give to the poor,
Then heaven’s treasure shall be yours.”
How hard for those who are rich on earth
To gain the wealth of heaven.

Now Jesus sat by the off’ring gate
As people brought their money:
The rich they filled the collection plate;
The widow gave a penny.
“Now she’s outgiven all the rest –
Her gift was all that she possessed.”
Not what you give but what you keep
Is what the King is counting.

O teach me Lord to walk this road,
The road of simple living;
To be content with what I own
And generous in giving.
And when I cling to what I have
Please wrest it quickly from my grasp;
I’d rather lose all the things of earth
To gain the things of heaven.

Consider what you are holding onto. That is your treasure. You may give lots, (and you need to have love while you do it – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3) but it’s what you keep that shows your heart. As Jim Elliot said:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

MOLESKIN:

Welcome back to the gloom Erector! Glad you’ve recovered from COVID!

Prayed for Kick-Flip’s & 5k’s physical recovery so they can join us in the gloom instead. Prayed also for Ribbed’s M’s upcoming surgery (and solo rucking… :scream: emoji). Prayed for Gump & his family who are isolating due to COVID.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Check out the #service-opportunities channel on F3 Knoxville Slack! Lots of ways to step up and GIVE of yourself and also to involve your M and/or 2.0’s.

Thinking of prayer from the start of the workout seemed to work well.

“Gump Day” (Friday’s at Dunkin’) wasn’t the same without you, brother!

Monopoly

THE SCENE: 46 degF, early morning cool down felt like 40 degF.  No complaints!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Welcome to F3: Fitness/Fellowship/Faith

I am Survivor and will be on Q today.

    • This is a free workout.
    • I’m not a professional.
    • You’re here on your own volition.
    • Modify as needed.
    • Covid Guidelines and I have a phone.


WARM-O-RAMA:
Reach for the Sky

Let it Hang

Hip Circles (in cadence) x 4 each direction

Plank Dog x6

Left Leg Lunge:

    • Push Knee Out x6
    • World’s Greatest x6
    • Kosak Squat x 6
    • Pickle Twist x6

Plank Dog x6

Right Leg Lunge:

    • Push Knee Out x6
    • World’s Greatest x6
    • Kosak Squat x 6
    • Pickle Twist x6

Plank Dog x 6

Cherry Splitter (wider Cherry Pickers) in cadence x 6

Wide Stance World’s Greatest in cadence x 6

Plank Dog x 6

Hurdler Merkins x6 each leg

Plank Dog x6

Mosie to Curb:

Lunge and Twist (left knee forward, twist left…) curb to curb

Toy Soldiers (ankle stabilization) curb to curb

Elbow to In-step (left elbow to left foot arch/in-step) curb to curb

Run 50%, Run 75% curb to curb

Mosie to Stones at Guardrail behind Strip Mall

Arm Raises with Small Stones Wide x12, Front x12, Empty Can x12, OHx12.

THA-THANG:
Strip Mall Parking Lot = Monopoly Board

There was a “GO” and arrow, and if you pass Go, you will collect 200 dollars, correction – REPS.

At Baltic Ave = use large stones and do Shrugs with Calf Raises on flat ground x50

Mosie from GO to Sherwin Williams

Jail Just Visiting (southwest of Sherwin Williams) = use large stone and do Squats x 50

Strider from Sherwin Williams to Men’s Salon

Free Parking (southeast of Men’s Salon) = Merkins x 50

Mosie from Mens Salon to back of Maple Street B

Go To Jail (northeast of Maple Street B) = Big Boy Situps x50

Pax passed GO x 2 and collected 400-500 reps

Mosie to Flag until Wanderer said we had to beat Rush back, then Jailbreak ensued

MARY:
Wanderer called out flutter kicks, Mailbox called out Hello Dolly’s, Guardrail called out Heals to Heaven, and Survivor called out Plank.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
God uses story.  It is the language of our hearts.  Media, Hollywood, the world, and an enemy are telling stories that mislead.  The true stories in the Bible are still speaking (including what is still possible and available).  [Referenced Hound Dog’s COT Monday and Isaiah 6 taking us to the throne room of God and a hot coal being pressed to Isaiah’s lips.]  The true story Jesus tells us in John 10:10 is not two separate sermons or stories; It is one.  “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  This is the true story we are born into.  Reading the Bible more spiritually post-cancer, I realized a verse that relates to John 10:10 is Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”  Above all else guard your heart because there is an enemy, and from your new heart where Jesus resides, abundant life can flow from it.  Then Psalms 37:4, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Decided to read this literally, by delighting in the Lord, HE will literally give me the pure, holy desires in my heart (not give me what I desire).  Desire is the fuel that waters Passion, and Passion is the soil from which Purpose can Grow  =   Abundant Life.  Agriculture theme exists throughout the Bible, and it is not just for the people of the day to be able to understand, it is because it is how this works.  To be continued another time…
MOLESKIN:
Local Pastor made the statement that “Passion is the Soil from which Purpose can Grow” back in Feb 2020.  Great feel good statement and I knew it seemed accurate, but I needed more of a story to go with it in order for transformation.  Delight yourself in the Lord, guarding your heart against the thief, and He will give you the desire that your soul craves (passion), have the courage to follow opportunities through as He calls (purpose), and you will have abundant life in Christ.  

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Prayer requests for Covid, Job Interview and Intervention through Prayer against strongholds and bondage ourselves and loved ones are facing.  Call to spread the word “Repent” and God will heal our land.

Here Am I, Send Me!

THE SCENE: High 30’s with the wind chill.
WARM-O-RAMA:
Warm-up: Cherry pickers, baby arm circles, side straddle hop, merkins, etc., ~5 min.
THA-THANG:

  • We began with weighted shoulder exercises, front, side, seal & overhead claps (15 each).
  • Brief mosey on the scenic route around shops, 2nd entrance of Pellissippi where we did Gores and planks.
  • Mosey to guardrail derkins, calf raises, & dips.
  • Mosey to coupons (along the way, we did duck walk as well as 2 lines of alternating burpees, lunges, jump squats, etc.)
  • Coupons: 30 each: curls, back/lat, shoulder tap planks, tricep, thrusters, with various coupon-core exercises mixed in.
  • Run up hill to 3 pull-up / hold Gore alternate, followed by Rifle carry coupon.
  • Mosey back with various exercises along the way.

MARY:
Various core exercises (Imperial walkers, pickle pounder, etc)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 HIMs, 1 FNG: Butterfly. Wanderer, Wheelchair, Survivor Survivor, Almost, Guardrail, mailbox, spotter, Pool Boy, Butter Knife, Footsie, Hound Dog, Butterfly
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

I teach at the Southeast Institute of Biblical Studies, a 2-year, tuition-free school. Men who graduate receive a Bachelor of Biblical Studies, having completed an intense program. This year I taught Hebrew grammar/vocab, Research & Development, and am currently teaching the 2nd year students Prophets I. Prophets I is Isaiah, Jeremiah, & Lamentations.

Our word this morning was from Isaiah 6, specifically, a favorite of mine, and one that reminds us of our calling as men. It is my prayer that each Christian would undergo what I call, “an Isaiah 6 moment.”

As Isaiah stands before the throne of God, he sees God’s holiness and his own wretchedness. Seraphim call out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah is undone…ruined, a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips.

Yet, God prepares and uses him anyway. A burning coal is touched to his lips, not to harm him, but to purify him. In like manner of Christian baptism, we are buried into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, not to harm us, but to cleanse us and begin a new life of service as those who have received the forgiveness of sins.

Isaiah then overhears a conversation among God and the heavenly host, “Who will go for Us?” Isaiah responds, “Here am I, send me.” Because of what God has done for him, there is no other response to be uttered. Perhaps, as we age, we lose the zeal of hands shooting up like they did in a grade school class, “pick me, I know the answer!” or a sports team, “put me in coach!”

God, in fact, gives Isaiah his commission, to go and preach a terrible and difficult message. Isaiah, understandably, asks, “Lord, how long?” God responds that his commission will continue until the cities are devastated and without inhabitant…until God has removed men from the land.

Isaiah received a tough ministry. Thankfully, we aren’t living in the days of the Assyrian conquest and the Babylonian destruction. Nevertheless, we live in strange times: COVID, election uncertainty, civil unrest, moral decay…and it’s only November!

We are called, though, to understand a spiritual message and receive Isaiah’s example. Whether it is in my faith, my family, my job, F3, or any area of my life, I should see that God is looking for “a few good men” to stand and deliver. We aren’t promised easy; yet, we are challenged to faithfully deliver His message.

Who will go? Do we understand what God has done for us? And how does that make me respond? You? As for me, “pick me; put me in coach; Here am I, Send me.”