F3 Knoxville

Cooperation and Accountability

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Pele (Jon Lindberg)
PAX: Mr Jinxy, Veggie (Rylen Huddy), High Heels (Henry Ritchie), Pele (Jon Lindberg), Choir Boy, Waffle House (Brady Greene), Lulu (Greg Huddy), Snitch (Cory Beilharz ), lebowski, Honeydew, CRISPR
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
WARMUP: SSH x20 4 ct IC, Windmills x10 4ct IC, BAC forward and backward x10, Grady Corns x20 4ct IC, Bolt 45s, short mosey to show pain stations, Cherry Pickers x10 4-ct IC

THE THANG:
We will work together to accomplish a difficult task, which will be completing a high number of reps of various exercises, all together, as a PAX. As we complete the reps, we will cross off the markers to track progress. If we do not complete all reps with 5 minutes left, we end with 30 Deconstructed Burpees, otherwise, we will do Stargazers. I RECOMMEND GETTING IN LOOSE GROUPS OF 3-4. Tasks:
CMU Pile:
– 700 Curls (Marker indicators 20 reps each, 700/20 = 35 markers)
– 700 Overhead Presses (Marker indicators 20 reps each, 700/20 = 35 markers)
– 700 Rows (Marker indicators 20 reps each, 700/20 = 35 markers)
BABY CARDIAC:
– 30 Sprints up Baby Cardiac (Marker indicators 1 trip each, 30/1 = 30 markers)
SUICIDES:
– 30 Suicides (Marker indicators 1 suicides each, 30/1 = 30 markers)
CORE WORK:
– 700 LBCs (2-ct) (Marker indicators 20 reps each, 500/20 = 35 markers)
– 300 Big Boy Situps (Marker indicators 20 reps each, 300/20 = 15 markers)
– 300 American Hammers (2-ct) (Marker indicators 20 reps each, 300/20 = 15 markers)
PAVILION:
– 700 Jump or Step Ups (2-ct) (Marker indicators 20 reps each, 700/20 = 35 markers)
– 200 Decline Merkins (Marker indicators 10 reps each, 200/10 = 20 markers)
– 400 Bench Pullups (Marker indicators 20 reps each, 300/20 = 15 markers)

We actually got through TWO ROUNDs of this! Nice work!

MARY:
Not this time.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hot Toddy Quadruple Q (Quoddy Toddy) next Saturday!!
COT:
So I used this same Q on the evening of the January 6 riot at the Capitol in 2020 because I wanted to do something collaborative, where we work towards a common goal. And I’m doing it again today because we need more of that as a nation, because right now, guys, we are still a broken and lost community.

COOPERATION: I find that activities like what we did today, where guys of different perspectives on life collaborate and cooperate and work together, are very important these days. As the saying goes, Team Work Makes the Dream Work. I didn’t always get to do the exercise I wanted at several points in the workout, but my group did, or it needed to be done reach our goal. I’m sure the same goes for all of you. But there’s something satisfying and dare I say FUN in doing a task together and accomplishing something. If more HIMs around this country would embrace that mentality, I think we would be a much stronger nation.

ACCOUNTABILITY: The second concept that I think this workout exemplifies is accountability. If we didn’t reach our goal, we held ourselves accountable and did the punishment exercise. We talk about accountability a lot in F3, and I think that’s a real strength of this group. Whether it’s giving a shout out to a Brother who hasn’t posted in a while, or hasn’t Q’d recently (Thanks for the call-out, Crawdad!), or guys that participate in Shield Locks, or do a weight loss challenge, or whatever, we hold each other and ourselves accountable. Because without holding each other and our colleagues and fellow citizens accountable for their actions, it is much easier to slack off, break the rules, not make those hard decisions and take those difficult actions that help everyone, including yourself.

SO COOPERATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Those are the two concepts I wanted to focus on in the workout and my Word. Those are two things that I think are important to being a HIM and an effective Leader, and two things that are sadly lacking in today’s society.

Lose Yourself

AO: asylum-daybreak
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: Pusher, Brick, Backflow (Wesley Hunt), High Heels, Steam, Honeydew, Choir Boy, Drum Major, lebowski, Pele (Jon Lindberg)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
WARMUP: 25 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Tempo Merkins, Curly Stomps, 10 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 8 Twistees, More Curly Stomps, 10 Tempo Jumps Squats, 8 Windmills, 10 Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward, Little of This and That.

THE THANG: Mosey to the Pavilion. We will start with a totem pole where we will do five exercises. We start with the first for 30 seconds. We then add the second exercise and do 30 seconds each. We then do three exercises for 30 seconds each, etc. until we have done five exercises for 30 seconds each. We then cut off the first exercise in the totem pole so that we do only four exercises for 30 seconds each. We continue this process until we only have the last exercise to do for 30 seconds. By the time we are done we will have performed each exercise five times. Here are the exercises:
Mountain Climbers

Picnic Table Pull-Ups

Decline Merkins

Iron Mikes

Bench Dips

Mosey to the Caribbean Parking Lot. From the East End of the parking lot we will run around the parking lot stopping at every other island to do one of the following exercises. After doing the exercise at the eighth island, rabbits will sweep other men back to the start. We will then do the next listed exercise and repeat the process. Note: We will do each of the exercises at the beginning before starting the running. Here are the exercises:
– 20 Merkins
– 20 Imperial Walkers (2 Count)
– 5 Hand Release Merkins

Mosey to the entryway near the AO. We will each pick up a CMU size rock by the entryway and bring it back to the pavilion. We will do the following exercises in sequence but run around the pavilion twice before doing the next exercise.
20 Overhead Press

20 Overhead Bench Press

20 Curls

20 Rows

20 Tricepts

20 Squats with CMU at chest

Mosey to the AO.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Forg 3 will be next Saturday. The Hot Toddy Quadruple Birthday Q (Snitch has joined Charmin, High-Heels and Lilydipper will be the following Saturday on February 1

COT:
Message: Lose Yourself

Some of you know that my mother-in-law, Ruby Grimes, who had coped with significant dementia for the past year, died on Tuesday, January 14. The week I spent in Kentucky after her death and my involvement in her visitation, funeral, and burial, was powerful for me.

When, in preparation for the funeral, we met with Reverend Bill Fort, who had been Ruby’s minister and known her for 25 years, he commented that in the days when he was a young man in seminary, he and many of his fellow students dreamed and talked about what they would like to achieve as ministers. One of Bill’s favorite professors didn’t admonish the students for desiring “big things” as ministers but also told them this: in true ministry, we don’t grow larger in serving God but actually grow smaller.” Bill Fort then told our family that Ruby Grimes exemplified that statement. And, Bill was correct. At Ruby’s visitation before her funeral we met an incredible number of people who told us about how much Ruby had impacted their lives. She did that in ways that didn’t make newspaper headlines – rather, Ruby’s ministry was about loving others in small but consistent ways that grew on those she was around and made them better for it.

My wife, Jan, spoke at her mother’s funeral and, in her reflections, informed us that we can all learn lessons from Ruby Grimes. One lesson is that as a servant of God we should Lose Ourselves. You see, Ruby was not about taking the limelight. She shined the spotlight on you. If you visited her house she made sure you were comfortable, that you felt special, that you deserved the best. And you felt her love and interest as genuine.

Ruby Grimes didn’t have a college degree. She went to college for one year and then gave up the college dream after marrying her husband, Dorlan Grimes, when he was training to serve in the military. She was not some high ranking official in a company. She was not the president of a social club. She was a mother of two children who later worked as a kindergarten teacher, a phone operator, and in administration for local schools.

What Ruby did best was smile at others, truly get to know them, and love them truly. She was the adoptive grandmother for all kinds of kids on her block in her neighborhood. I remember spending Christmases at Ruby’s and Dorlan’s home when, on Christmas day, there would be neighborhood children coming by to give a card or gift to Ruby because they loved her so much. At the visitation before Ruby’s funeral we met children from four different families (some of these children were now middle age) that informed us how much Ruby had meant to them as children and impacted them in their lives. By the way, Ruby’s refrigerator was always lined with pictures those “adoptive grandchildren” would send her throughout their lives.

So, the message for today is Lose Yourself. Guys, it’s not about us if we are to be true HIMs. It’s about others. Where is your focus? When we over-focus on ourselves we get in trouble. Of course, all of us tend to do that and we all get in trouble. But if we do over-focus on ourselves, Ruby’s message to you would be, “Oh, that’s ok. You are a good person and I see that goodness in you. You are going to be just fine. You just go on being you. Now, can I get you another slice of pie?”

Prayer Requests

Prayers for the brothers going to Forg 3 in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area and for Steam and Brick who have been so busy planning it. Prayers for Backflow with the upcoming birth of his fourth child. Prayers for his family as well. Prayers for three of our brothers coping with health issues: Sparkler, Jenner and Eliza. Prayers for Dorlan Grimes, husband of Ruby Grimes (discussed in message above).

45

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Brick
PAX: Pele (Jon Lindberg), Pusher, Steam, Curveball, Lilydipper, Duggar, Lizzy, Rooney(Carl Whipple), Swimmies (Nathan Chesney), Crash Dummy, Stitch, Glamper, Renaissance
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
WARMUP:
SSH
Good mornings
Cherry Pickers
Imperial squat walkers
Arm circles

THE THANG:
Mosey to rock pile
Curls 15
Rows 15
Shoulder press 15
Run to end of sidewalk
Rinse and repeat 2 more times

Flutters, Dollys, and Big Boys in parking lot on the way

Mosey to Bros Bowl
-Merkins 9 at 9, 18 @ 12, 9 @ 3, 9 @ 6
Rabbits do LBCs
-Squat Jumps
Rabbits do Flutters

Musical chairs around the benches at top with music

Flutters, Dollys, and Big Boys in parking lot on the way back

Table rows under of Pavillon

Run to flag

Rocky Balboas
Sprints

MARY:
The Knoxville Cherry Picker
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Forge!
COT:
The Window of the Heart

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:3)

One of the most remarkable capacities of the human mind is the capacity to direct its own attention to something it chooses. We can pause and say to our minds, “Think about this, and not that.” We can focus our attention on an idea or a picture or a problem or a hope.

It is an amazing power. I doubt that animals have it. They are probably not self-reflective, but rather governed by impulse and instinct.

Have you been neglecting this great weapon in the arsenal of your war against sin? The Bible calls us again and again to use this remarkable gift. Let’s take this gift off the shelf, and dust it off, and put it to use.

For example, Paul says in Romans 8:5–6, “Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (my translation).

This is stunning. What you set your mind on determines whether the issue is life or death.

Many of us have become far too passive in our pursuit of change and wholeness and peace. I have the feeling that in our therapeutic age we have fallen into the passive mindset of simply “talking through our problems” or “dealing with our issues” or “discovering the roots of our brokenness in our family of origin.”

But I see a much more aggressive, non-passive approach to change in the New Testament. Namely, set your mind. “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

Our emotions are governed in large measure by what we consider — what we dwell on with our minds. For example, Jesus told us to overcome the emotion of anxiety by what we consider: “Consider the ravens. . . . Consider the lilies” (Luke 12:24, 27).

The mind is the window of the heart. If we let our minds constantly dwell on the dark, the heart will feel dark. But if we open the window of our mind to the light, the heart will feel the light.

Above all, this great capacity of our minds to focus and consider is meant for considering Jesus (Hebrews 12:3). So, let’s do this: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

100 Years of Virtue

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: Lizzy, Title IX (Christian Prescott), Pusher, Glamper, SlideRule (Stephen Sloan), Sparkler, Curveball, MD Hammer, Pele (Jon Lindberg), Rooney(Carl Whipple), Tenderfoot, Crash Dummy, CRISPR, Unibráu (Nick Robinson), Duggar, Brick
FNGs: None
COUNT: 17
WARMUP: 1 All-Important Burpee, 10 Imperial Walkers, 10 Iron Mikes, 20 Plank Jacks, On back leg and arm stretches, 10 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward

THE THANG: Mosey to end on parking lot with nice restrooms. We will do 20 American Hammers.
Mosey to the Amphitheatre. We will bear crawl on grass, step up to next level and continue to the top. Run back down through parking lot below and rinse and repeat.
Mosey to Haslam Sign at Ball Fields. We will do 20 Hello Dollies.
Mosey to nice pavilion past ball fields. We will do Doras. While one partner runs around the pavilion, the other does exercises. Then partners switch. Here are the exercises:
100 Picnic Table Pull-ups.

100 Incline Merkins

100 Bench Dips

100 Decline Merkins

Mosey to ball field with artificial turf. Then run past the ball field and up the hill to the street.
Mosey east on road to the encircled garden by roadway circle. We will do 20 Rocky Balboas on curb surrounding garden.
Mosey to the Coliseum. Next, we will run counterclockwise ¾ of the way around the loop, stopping at each ¼ to do 15 Carolina Dry Docks. Those finishing the third ¼ first sweep everyone back.
Mosey to Haslam’s Rock. Here we will have a 20 Second Sky Gazer.
Mosey to AO.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Smokies Convergence this Saturday in Seymour. Hot Toddy Triple Q at Asylum on January 11.

COT:
Message
On December 29, Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100 years old, the longest living president in the United States. He served one term as president, losing the race for president to Ronald Reagan the next election. Losing the race for presidency hurt. But, Carter continued to serve our nation and the world in many different and powerful ways after he lost the election. He established the Carter Center to expand human rights and promote health around the world. Through the Carter Center he helped to practically Guinea Worm Disease, a disease that haunted Africa for centuries and affected 3.5 million people. He monitored more than100 elections around the world. Through Habitat for Humanity, he helped build over 1000 homes in over a dozen countries. He had many other accomplishments as well and because of the accomplishments, became the only president of the United States to earn the Nobel Peace Prize.

While achieving all this, he continued to preach Sunday School at his Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. He taught his church members but also had many visitors for his class. Some would come because he was president or because of his post-presidency accomplishments. But, as President Barack Obama noted, “I’m willing to bet that many . . . were there, at least in part, because of something more fundamental: President Carter’s decency.”

The following words are directly from President Obama about Jimmy Carter:

Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did – advocating for the public good, consequences be damned. He believed some things were more important than reelection – things like integrity, respect, and compassion. Because Jimmy Carter believed, as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in God’s image.
Whenever I had a chance to spend time with President Carter, it was clear that he didn’t just profess these values. He embodied them. And in doing so, he taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service. In his Nobel acceptance speech, President Carter said, “God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace.” He made that choice again and again over the course of his 100 years, and the world is better for it.

So brothers, we have lost a good man. Let his legend live on and inspire us. May we each yearn for and learn to live the life God created us to live: one of grace, dignity, justice and service.

Prayers
Prayers for our brother, Sparkler, as he makes decisions regarding his upcoming treatment for Prostate Cancer. Prayers for Brick’s children after the divorce this past year. Prayers for all suffering mental or physical pain, including those who suffered injuries or the loss of loved ones in the recent incident in New Orleans. Prayers for those who work for the City of New Orleans.

100 Years of Virtue

AO: asylum-pm
Q: Lilydipper
PAX: Lizzy, Title IX (Christian Prescott), Pusher, Glamper, SlideRule (Stephen Sloan), Sparkler, Curveball, MD Hammer, Pele (Jon Lindberg), Rooney(Carl Whipple), Tenderfoot, Crash Dummy, CRISPR, Unibráu (Nick Robinson), Duggar, Brick
FNGs: None
COUNT: 17
WARMUP: 1 All-Important Burpee, 10 Imperial Walkers, 10 Iron Mikes, 20 Plank Jacks, On back leg and arm stretches, 10 Tennessee Rocking Chairs, 10 Tempo Squats, 10 Little Baby Arm Circles Forward and 10 Backward

THE THANG: Mosey to end on parking lot with nice restrooms. We will do 20 American Hammers.
Mosey to the Amphitheatre. We will bear crawl on grass, step up to next level and continue to the top. Run back down through parking lot below and rinse and repeat.
Mosey to Haslam Sign at Ball Fields. We will do 20 Hello Dollies.
Mosey to nice pavilion past ball fields. We will do Doras. While one partner runs around the pavilion, the other does exercises. Then partners switch. Here are the exercises:
100 Picnic Table Pull-ups.

100 Incline Merkins

100 Bench Dips

100 Decline Merkins

Mosey to ball field with artificial turf. Then run past the ball field and up the hill to the street.
Mosey east on road to the encircled garden by roadway circle. We will do 20 Rocky Balboas on curb surrounding garden.
Mosey to the Coliseum. Next, we will run counterclockwise ¾ of the way around the loop, stopping at each ¼ to do 15 Carolina Dry Docks. Those finishing the third ¼ first sweep everyone back.
Mosey to Haslam’s Rock. Here we will have a 20 Second Sky Gazer.
Mosey to AO.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Smokies Convergence this Saturday in Seymour. Hot Toddy Triple Q at Asylum on January 11.

COT:
Message
On December 29, Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100 years old, the longest living president in the United States. He served one term as president, losing the race for president to Ronald Reagan the next election. Losing the race for presidency hurt. But, Carter continued to serve our nation and the world in many different and powerful ways after he lost the election. He established the Carter Center to expand human rights and promote health around the world. Through the Carter Center he helped to practically Guinea Worm Disease, a disease that haunted Africa for centuries and affected 3.5 million people. He monitored more than100 elections around the world. Through Habitat for Humanity, he helped build over 1000 homes in over a dozen countries. He had many other accomplishments as well and because of the accomplishments, became the only president of the United States to earn the Nobel Peace Prize.

While achieving all this, he continued to preach Sunday School at his Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. He taught his church members but also had many visitors for his class. Some would come because he was president or because of his post-presidency accomplishments. But, as President Barack Obama noted, “I’m willing to bet that many . . . were there, at least in part, because of something more fundamental: President Carter’s decency.”

The following words are directly from President Obama about Jimmy Carter:

Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did – advocating for the public good, consequences be damned. He believed some things were more important than reelection – things like integrity, respect, and compassion. Because Jimmy Carter believed, as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in God’s image.
Whenever I had a chance to spend time with President Carter, it was clear that he didn’t just profess these values. He embodied them. And in doing so, he taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service. In his Nobel acceptance speech, President Carter said, “God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace.” He made that choice again and again over the course of his 100 years, and the world is better for it.

So brothers, we have lost a good man. Let his legend live on and inspire us. May we each yearn for and learn to live the life God created us to live: one of grace, dignity, justice and service.

Prayers
Prayers for our brother, Sparkler, as he makes decisions regarding his upcoming treatment for Prostate Cancer. Prayers for Brick’s children after the divorce this past year. Prayers for all suffering mental or physical pain, including those who suffered injuries or the loss of loved ones in the recent incident in New Orleans. Prayers for those who work for the City of New Orleans.