F3 Knoxville

Loopy Guardrails

THE SCENE: 70 degrees, clear, dark and muggy just how we like it
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Moroccan Night club | Newton’s Cradle | Cherry Pickers | Mountain climbers
THA-THANG:
Count off into groups of 3 for a Railroad Run the the bottom of the parking lot by the duck pond

Parking Lot Hill Loop

  • Bernie Sanders & Wheel Barrows (or bear walk if solo)
  • Lunge Walk & Crawl Bear down
  • Sprint and Frog Jump Back up

Guard Rail Loop – 3 stations (2 on guardrails on the East side of campus)

  • Station 1: Derkins x20, Guardrail hops x20
  • Station 2: Tricep Dips x20, Guardrail climbs x20 (Plank on ground perpendicular to guardrail, climb to hands on top of guardrail plank)
  • Station 3: 4 count Flutter kick x20, One leg Turkish Get ups x20 (10 each leg)

Mosey back to AO Flag: 10 Burpies, 10 Cross climbers

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
19 HIM’s for the Thang, 1 FNG, Welcome Mailbox.

6 HIM’s did a long run.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Eph 5:15-16 Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of time because the days are evil.  Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is

Discerning the will of the Lord for your life and your behavior takes some personal rules.  They apply to you and are a little different for everyone, but you should have some guardrails in your life to keep you safe.  1 yr ago this past Sunday was my biking accident and I learned two things about guardrails
1) They are hard so don’t hit them but what is on the other side is worse

2) If you are by something that needs a guardrail, don’t go alone
Guardrails protect and direct
Personal Standard of behavior – Keeps you from doing spiritual damage to your life and those you love (Borrowed this definition from Andy Stanley)
* Simple but hard example: Alcohol – if you are getting drunk or more than one person mentioned your drinking as a problem, that’s a problem; that is sin.  Set some boundaries and hold to them.  Zero drinking for some, accountability for all.
* Harder to measure but way more common: Work-a-holic or crippling financial debt – get some guard rails up.  Set some spending limits, make lifestyle changes that put God and family first and work and money in the back seat.  Get a firm stop time on work and respect family time.
* Hardest thing for most men: Sexual sin.  How are you protecting your family from your sex drive crashing your marriage into the ditch?  Make some guardrails, yes rules.  Hitting a guardrail hurts, but learn to like them being there and then don’t hit them- don’t even get close.  They are there to protect you.
 * Even something as good as Fitness may need a guardrail – we can get so into F1 that we neglect other areas – we skip devotional times to post better times or more workouts.  Have guardrails to keep fitness from becoming an idol. Fitness is good but get some guardrails to direct you to the best thing in life – a life lived for Jesus Christ.

Learn to love the guardrails – it’s not a restriction to hate but protections that show God is moving in your life.

Put up some guardrails in your life, share them with a brother – don’t go alone where the danger is high and keep your life on the most God glorifying path.

MOLESKIN:
Keeping mind that guard rails are personalized and not prescriptive for all: share in the group me some of the guardrails that you have in your life that have protected you and that you would want some brothers to hold you too if you were getting too close or over the guard rail.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Prayers for a fellow HIM’s wife’s cancer diagnosis, Poolboy and Judge Judy & fam.

Recruit some FNG’s…. business cards available to help with that but your personal invite will work best!

Healing The Wounded

THE SCENE: Humid, temp in low 70’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

20 Plank Jacks, Plank arm and leg raises, 10 Cherry Pickers, Michael Phelps, Little of This and That.

THA-THANG:
Mosey to Southern Ball Fields Parking Lot.  Do 20 Hello Dollies, four count.

Mosey to perimeter trail near the Pavilion of the south ball fields.  We will do Nickel, Dime, Quarters (run one light do five of exercise, run two lights do ten, run five lights and do 25 of exercise) all the way to the beginning of Cardiac Hill.  These will be the exercises we will go through:

  • Star Jumps
  • Merkins
  • Big Boy Sit-ups
  • Squat Jumps
  • Dive Bombers
  • Imperial Walkers (four count)

At Cardiac Hill we will run up the hill, stopping at each of the turns and finally at the benches to do the following exercises:

  • Turn 1:  20 American Hammers
  • Turn 2:  20 Flutter Kicks
  • Turn 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Benches:  Bench Dips
  • Rinse and Repeat

Mosey to parking lot where we keep CMUs.

We will go around the parking lot, stopping at each corner to do exercises.  We go around the parking lot four times, doing the following exercises at each corner:

  • Corner 1:  20 Carolina Dry Docks, 20 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1), 20 Squats, 20 Diamond Merkins  (sprint to Corner 2)
  • Corner 2:  20 Mountain Climbers (four count), 20 Smurf Jacks, 20 Iron Mikes (four count) 10 Burpees (bear crawl to Corner 3)
  • Corner 3: (with CMUs) 20 Overhead Presses, 20 Curls, 20 Rows, 20 Coupon Swings (Bernie Sanders to Corner 4)
  • Corner 4:  20 Bicycle Kicks (four count), 20 Box Cutters, 30 Baby Crunches, 40 “Mississippi second count” Boat Canoe  (Lunge to Corner 1)

Mosey back to AO.

MARY:
30 Baby Crunches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Ten Men, No FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
As HIMs, we desire to help others.  But how to we handle people that are difficult to help?  Who resist or slap down our offers of assistance with “yes buts”, turning their backs to you, snide remarks, or an attitude that says either that “people aren’t no damn good” or “to hell with you and your advice.”  In my last message I talked about the need to resist the urge to strike back with caustic words; the need to be patient with such people; and, the need to stay Strong with them hanging in there with them.

One thing that can help you is to try to understand where the person is coming from.  These are often folks who have been hurt in their pasts.  Because of that, they lack trust in others and also lack trust in themselves to overcome difficulties.  There is a song by Nick Cave that, I believe, captures well how past painful experience can lead to a tragic attitude of “people ain’t no damn good.”  Ironically, the name of the song is “People Ain’t No Good.”  I don’t think this is Nick Cave’s stance on life although I am sure that, like all of us, he has certainly felt this way.  Rather, it is the stance of the narrator of the song.

Throughout the song, the refrain is “people they ain’t no good.”  Then we find out more about the narrator.  We find out how he married his love under cherry trees and under blossoms they made their vows.  We hear how the sun would stream on the sheets of their bed, how they were awoken by the morning bird, how they would buy Sunday newspapers but never read a single word due to their love for one another.

But, then we hear about how the winter stripped the blossoms of their love.  How like a fist, the difficulties hit them.  How his wife drew the curtains, made of wedding veils, on the narrator.  And, so the narrator cries, “to our love send a coffin of wood. . . to our love a valentine of blood. . . to our love let all the jilted lovers cry “that people just ain’t no good.”

Then, we hear how others may have tried to help this narrator but how he (and, this is the gut-wrenching tragedy of the story) bitterly turned down their help.  Here are the tragic lines about the people who tried to help him:

It ain’t that in their hearts they’re bad
They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you’re ill of health
They bury you when you go and die
It ain’t that in their hearts they’re bad
They’d stick by you if they could
But that’s just bullshit baby
People just ain’t no good
Through the song, we come to understand the stance of the narrator.  It is a tragic stance but we have empathy for him because we can understand the reason for his pain.  Let us, as HIMs, be patient, be loving, be kind, be strong.  Work to understand those who turn away our attempts at love.  Help those who are bitter to learn that, although all of us screw up, some people are pretty damned good.

MOLESKIN:
Prayer of thanks that Mr. Jinxy received good news from the cardiologist.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The REWARD at Panera!

Been a long time, JUCO…

THE SCENE: 71 and clear and muggy as hell.

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Finally did it right this time.

WARM-O-RAMA:
1. 15 SSH – 4ct, IC
2. 15 Tempo Squat – 4ct, IC
3. 10 Arm circles – 4ct, IC (both directions)
4. 15 Merkins – 4ct, IC
5. 10 Cherry Pickers – IC

Form 2 Lines: Death March (last person 3 burpees, then run to front of line) to Physical Plant.

THA-THANG:
1. CMU: 20 bicep curls, 20 overhead presses, 20 squats, 20 BBS w/CMU
2. Bear crawl dragging CMU to Hill
3. Doras (partner-up): 1 partner starts on 100 merkins, 200 BBS, 300 squats while other partner starts on sprint w/CMU up/down the hill – switch off with partner until rep count complete. Return CMUs to Physical Plant.

4. Final Push: Sprint in big parking lot – light pole to light pole.

Mosey to Shovel Flag for Marys.

MARY:
Weed Whacker led in Flutter Kicks and WAXJOB led the Wax Job Special: ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Booster, Mandolin, Spotter, Nutmeg, Finger Food, Trolley-RESPECT, Pool Boy, Guard Rail, Ginger, Mermaid, Commission, Chaco-RESPECT, Anchor Man, Jitters, Wax Job, 5K,5 Sgt Slaughter, Erector, Weed Whacker, J-Lo, Focus, Nadia, Gump, and me, Snaggletooth

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We commit time and discipline to strengthening our physical bodies. How are we strengthening our spirits for the battles we are in? Ephesians 6: 10-18 gives us a good picture of the spiritual battle that wages around us.

The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

MOLESKIN:
Once again, I’m moved by how blessed we are to be able to get better together. But I’m also amazed by the struggles that we have in our individual lives: marriage, family, work, church. Life is tough and not all of us are winning in our struggles, but there is tremendous hope in Christ: We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
A few announcements were made…

JUCO IPC week 4-DONE!

THE SCENE: Nice! mid 60s at JUCO
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Quick:  15 SSH, 10 mountain climbers
THA-THANG:
Iron PAX challenge Week 4.  LAST ONE!!!

  • 100 merkins/squats and 200 yd coupon carry
  • 100 Bonnie Blairs/coupon swings and 200 yd coupon carry
  • 100 Walking lunges/squat thrusters w/ coupon and 200 yd coupon carry

3 rounds total for 900 total reps and 1800 yds of carries.

MARY:
Nada.  Some PAX helped others finish up.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
22 crushed Iron PAX challenge week 4.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
1 Thess. 5:17 “Pray without ceasing”.  My pray life has been something of a constant struggle. I just simply haven’t made it the priority it should be.  It should be part of our everyday lives and practically a constant state of mind.  Jesus warns against “meaningless repetition” in Matthew 6:5-8.  In context, it sounds more like he is calling out people who may try to sound good before men with their prayers and don’t have their focus on the fact that they are speaking to God.  However, I think it is reasonable to apply any meaningless prayer that one may say.  For example, I tend to have a standard before-meal prayer that I always use.  There is no real meaning and no true thankfulness behind it.  He says to “pray to your Father in secret” so that you don’t focus on being seen by men.  Make sure you are keeping your focus on speaking to your Creator.  Maintaining a relationship with God requires spending time in prayer with Him just like any relationship requires a time investment.  Sometimes it may be difficult to find the words, but if we put in the time, God will hear even if we don’t know what to say.
MOLESKIN:
Nice job to all the PAX this month for completing the Iron PAX challenge!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:

JUCO Slaughterhouse

THE SCENE: Bout 60 degrees and brisk with a high chance of smoke.  Named 38 as the “magic number” due to next day’s birthday.  19 PAX total, 2 FNG (Nadia and Focus)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Side Straddle Hops x 19; Cherry Pickers x 7; Overhead Clap x 19; Moroccan Nightclub x 19; Mosey to start point of Tha Thang

THA-THANG:
Set up in a parking lot with a 0.3 mile road/loop around it.  Each of 4 corners contained 2 exercises.  Wrote in chalk what exercises belonged in which corner.  Complete exercises in your corner, then run the perimeter; sprinting the short sides and moseying the long.  When you reach the 3rd corner from your start, do those exercises.  Rinse and complete until time is called.

Corner 1:  CMU shrugs (one in each hand) x 38 ; Lunges x 38 (count each leg)

Corner 2:  Broad Jumps x 38 (not bunny-hops like IPC) ; Pickle Pounders x 19 (4-count)

Corner 3:  Bent over rows x 38 (8x12x16 CMU assisted) ; Flutter Kicks x 19 (4-count)

Corner 4:  Little Man in the Woods x 19 (4-count) ; Diamond walk x 38

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Joshua Chapter 24; Discussed that the most notable verse (actually, just the last line of verse 15) “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” is often taken out of context.  When seen/spoken alone without understanding the background for the verse, it can be taken as a snub/insult toward others rather than its true nature, which was a challenge by Joshua to the leaders of the Israelites (think massive crowd, not just a few people).  After serving as a proxy for God’s words, laying out all of the blessings that He had provided to Israel, he issues the challenge:  “If it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”  Emphasis on SERVE.  Issued a challenge to look deep inside and evaluate what and who we serve, and whether, if someone laid out a laundry list of our blessings, we were doing our part as individuals in our families, churches, and communities to serve them as God has served us.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
IPC week 4 Friday morning; Early start:  5:15, regular start 5:30