Pool Boy – Page 14 – F3 Knoxville

12 Days of Jesus’ Birth

December 24, 2021 Pool Boy

THE SCENE: Something about a midnight clear.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered.
WARM-O-RAMA:
Tempo Squat x 10 IC
Tennessee Rocking Chair x 10 IC
Tempo Hand Release Merkin x 5 IC
Overhead Clap x 10 IC
Baby Arm Circles Forward x 10 IC
Baby Arm Circles Backward x 10 IC
Imperial Squat Walker x 10 IC
Lunges – Forward 5 ea
Lunges – Backward 5 ea
Lunges – Side to side 5 ea

THA-THANG:
Falling Indian Run (Burpees til the 6 passes you) to the middle of the large parking lot.

11’s in the parking lot – a new favorite of mine. Across 2 parking spots (approx 20 feet):
Squats -> Lunges to the other side of the 2 parking spots
Merkins -> Bear Crawl to the other side of the 2 parking spots

Do 20 BBS or until the 6 is done. Rest 20 seconds.

Falling Indian run to the CMU pile. Every PAX grabs a CMU and then the Q goes over the workout:

12 days. That’s how long it took the wise men to find Jesus. Well, not really but there are 12 days of Christmas so we’re going to celebrate them today. At least with 12 exercises:

1. Burpee
2. Merkins
3. Squats
4. V-ups
5. Curls
6. Goblet Squats
7. Skull Crushers
8. Thrusters
9. Superman (may change)
10. Tempo Squats (w or w/o block)
11. Bench Press
12. Pull-ups (go up hill to start with explanation at bottom with Weinke there)

After every round of exercises, run up the stairs, do a pull-up or touch the far wall, and run back down. Repeat until 6:10 and just enough time to get back to the Shovel Flag.

MARY:
12 Mary Exercises. Or that’s the number I wrote the night before the workout. Actual “Mary” – 1 Burpee
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
7 JUCOninans

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
What to say here? 2021 has been the year of waiting. The year of patience. The year of getting told no. No to reconciliation. No to leadership. No to moving.

Yesterday I was encouraged to think over the song “God Moves” by Sovereign Grace Music / Bob Kauflin. The words are profound (I read verse two for the BOM – italicized below):

VERSE 1
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm
Deep in His dark and hidden mines
With never-failing skill
He fashions all His bright designs
And works His sovereign will

CHORUS 1
So God we trust in You
O God we trust in You

VERSE 2
O fearful saints new courage take
The clouds that you now dread
Are big with mercy and will break
In blessings on your head
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense
But trust Him for His grace
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face

CHORUS 2
So God we trust in You
O God we trust in You
When tears are great
And comforts few
We hope in mercies ever new
We trust in You

VERSE 3
God’s purposes will ripen fast
Unfolding every hour
The bud may have a bitter taste
But sweet will be the flower
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain
God is His own interpreter
And He will make it plain

I’m not sure exactly where this is going, but that’s probably about the same that God’s people felt 2000 years ago. They were under Roman control. No Word from God had come in hundreds of years. God felt distant and silent. But Luke tells us a different story was unfolding that God’s people didn’t even know until it had happened.

Luke 2:1-14

The Birth of Jesus Christ

2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration when^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,^[b] who was with child. ⁶And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.^[c]

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”^[d]

Just when the people of Israel did not expect it, that is the exact moment God worked.

CS Lewis from the Screwtape Letters (written hypothetically in the pen of a senior demon writing to a junior one and thus the Enemy is God):

“He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

God is indeed pleased with us when we trust in Him as we go through trials. He may just have a smiling face behind a frowning providence this year, this Christmas season.

MOLESKIN:
I had no idea how the workout would turn out. It was fun but hard and modifiable so I think the PAX enjoyed it, but after leading 40+I may even start recycling some workouts until someone either tells me they’ve read this or calls me on it in a workout.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
No current announcements. Merry Christmas!

Don’t Die Hard! Die Right With The Lord!

December 22, 2021 Booster

THE SCENE: 33 degrees and it felt great!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Cherry Pickers (IC) 4 CT X 10
Overhead Claps X 10 (IC)
Baby Arm Circles Forward & Backwards X 10
Randys – up 6-12 and down 6-12 inches X 20
Tempo Squats (IC) 4 CT
Tempo Merkins (IC) X 10
Mosey to CMU Pile

THA-THANG:

Nakatomi Plaza Tower from Die Hard had 35 floors, so we did 35 squats to kick off the workout.

John McClanes versus Hans Grubers

We re-enacted Hans Gruber falling out of Nakatomi Tower by seeing who could hang on the pulll-up bars; 2 groups of 6 men; Lil Spice won Heat A & Wheelchair won Heat B; we all did wall squats while we waited.

This is fun battle between McClane and Gruber which featured 15 reps of the following exercises in cadence:

CMU squats
CMU press
CMU curls
CMU swings
CMU triceps

At the end of these exercises, 1 McClane team member and 1 Gruber team member were timed for 1 minute to see who can do the most reps of one of the exercises in the round.

Round 1: Hand Release Merkins
Round 2: Squats
Round 3: Big Boy Sit-Ups
Round 4: American Hammers
Round 5: Merkins
Round 6: Calf Raises

Hans Gruber’s team won…but not in the movie…which WAS A CHRISTMAS MOVIE!

MARY:

Planks to Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby – we did merkins during (rump bump bump bump)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

16 men combined between Rush and Bootcamp

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Drew & Laura Stockton are from Sweetwater but sold everything and are full-time missionaries in Nicaragua. I met Drew back in 2018, helped him develop a fundraising plan to ask family, friends, neighbors, church members and churches to help them fulfill God’s calling to sell everything and move to the 2nd poorest country in the Americas to serve the poor and unchurched.

Since 2018, my wife and I support them monthly. On Sunday, they came to speak to my church Life Group (they are in the US visiting family over Christmas).

They shared triumphs and tribulations along with some valuable life lessons.

They miss a community of friends to hang out with, encourage, and support each others (especially her) – Lesson – be a community to those in your sphere of influence; even if serving as a missionary is your calling, we all need a community!

If God keeps telling you something, listen and do it (ie. become full-time missionaries or teaching English for free to help people get out of poverty)

If God asks you to do something and you don’t know how, he will find the way to make it happen

Things happen on God’s time, not ours. When it’s meant to be, it will!

Luke 11:28 “He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Pool Boy on Q Friday at JUCO
2.0 Workout at the Project on Friday

I Want Christmas Presents and I Want Them Later?!

December 3, 2021 Pool Boy

THE SCENE: 43°F
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER – Administered
WARM-O-RAMA:
12 x Snow Angels (skipped because it involved SSH’s… idk what would have made me do this but everyone wants to do a 12-days themed Q so that was as afar as I got)
11 x Tie Fighter (if Baby Boomer is Present) or Baby Arm Circles IC (also skipped)
10 x OHC IC
9 x Tempo Squats IC
8 x Tempo Merkins IC
7 x Imperial Walkers
6 x Werkins IC
5 x Pickle Pointers
4 x Pickle Pounders
3 x Rainbow Drops
2 x Monkey Humpers
1 x Burpee

THA-THANG:
To the CMU pile – Falling Indian Run with a burpee.

We grabbed 2 CMUs first and then went back for 11’s (I forgot but then read from my Deinke)

11’s Squats & Merkins or Burpees & Cherry Pickers (choose your own adventure – PAX chose the boring option of Squats & Merkins)

At CMU Pile – get 2 blocks each (yes, 2!)
5 exercises, 10 reps per round. After each exercise run down and back to the crossing road (we went to the golf ball until Mermaid threw it back)

10 Deadlifts / Rows / T-spine rotations
10 Double Incline Merkins / Incline Merkins / Merkins
10 Double Goblet Squats / Goblet Squats /
10 Shoulder Shrugs / Single (middle) Shrugs / Air Shrugs
10 Double Swings (YHC did these) / CMU Swings / Seal Clap Squats

Bonus / wait for the 6:
Core chosen by the first PAX done.

Return Indian Run with burpees back to the Shovel Flag (even got some extra work in from Curveball thanks to the side parking lot he took)

MARY:
Dealer’s Choice (well, except nobody’s SSH’s were involved in the making of this Mary).

Boat / Canoe Row, row, row your boat on pitch courtesy of Wax Job
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
5 PAX showed up and showed out!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Patience. Boy have I had to have some this year. It hasn’t gone AT ALL like I’d hoped (much less dreamed). Reconciliation with my ex? Nope, she’s gone. Taking the PE Exam to get my license? Um, let’s not talk about my study habits. Finding a house to buy? 0 for 6 (that a .000 batting average for you baseball fans there). Still living with my parents? Yeah, that one is still embarrassing even though I know it’s where I should be based on the house thing.

I don’t want to be patient! I don’t want to wait!

But there are so many good things I know to be true. God is still on His throne? Check. Christ is Lord no matter what is happening in our country and around the world? You got it. We have an opportunity every day to get better by humbling ourselves before Jesus and submitting to His Word? Yup, still can do that every single day.

All of these things remain. In the season of Advent, Christians celebrate that 2,000+ years ago Jesus became a man, he was born of a virgin (he had no original sin), so that He could live a perfect life, die on the cross for those who would believe (the elect), be buried for 3 days, and then raised from the grave. This is the newborn king we celebrate. This is the reason Christmas exists…

But when did Isaiah prophesy? Over 600 years before Christ and the Old Testament was completed over 400 years. There was silence. Nothing. The USA has barely existed for over half of that 400 years. This is how long the Jews had to wait for Yeshua, the Messiah, to come. They waited and waited and did all kinds of things and waited some more.

And then, one glorious day, we read the following in Luke 1:26-38

²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin betrothed^[a] to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”^[b] ²⁹But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

³⁴And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”^[c]

³⁵And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born^[d] will be called holy—the Son of God. ³⁶And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant^[e] of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary believed it! (and so did Joseph). These two Israelites that were ordinary, walking in their daily lives just waiting in the betrothal period to be married. They were waiting too! But after 400 years of silence and over 600 years, the following prophecy (one of many, of course) was fulfilled:

Isaiah 9:6-7

⁶For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon^[d] his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called^[e]
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

So today, just one question (and not my usual three questions). It’s similar to my last BOM/backblast on Faithfulness the last time I was here at Shamrock:

What is God calling you to wait for? A relationship? A house? A new job? (big things). A good night’s rest? A healthy and delicious meal? There are LOTS of verses on waiting. But one has stood above them for some time for me:

Psalm 84:11

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.

At just the right time Christ became human to save the world for God’s glory. You and I can trust Him for our eternal security and, when we walk uprightly, we know that if He is upholding something from us then it is for our good and can wait for it with joyful patience.

MOLESKIN:
My past 3 BOMs I’ve fully typed out prior to leading the workout and giving them. I think it has greatly helped with the delivery of what I desired to say (trying to Ephesians 5:10). Soli Deo gloria.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Christmas concert at Cornerstone Church of Knoxville tonight at 7pm. HMU via text / DM on Slack for more info.
Christmas Party at Judge Judy’s House December 11th. See Slack too.

Pool Boy’s 3rd Annual Black Friday JUCO Discount Coupon Special

November 26, 2021 Pool Boy

THE SCENE:
Deals for days! After we enjoyed a day of thanks we had just enough PAX to have the right amount of gloom as getting up and going shopping on Black Friday should be! (Actual weather: ~38°F and although it rained yesterday evening we were pretty dry.)

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER (Administered):
I’m not a professional Pool Boy or anything else. Know your injuries especially after Thanksgiving Day being yesterday.

WARM-O-RAMA:
5 each leg x El Capitan OYO
10 x OHC IC
5 x Werewolf OYO
10 x Tempo Squat IC
7 x Tennessee Rocking Chair IC
5 x Decline Pushup on Curb IC
15 x Calf raises on the curb IC (5 left leg only, 5 right leg only, 5 both legs)

THA-THANG:
Single Coupon – Grab a Coupon from the back of my car and start a Falling Indian Run – the PAX at the front of the line counts to 5 and then “falls off” and does a either Goblet Squats, Thrusters, or Blockees until the 6 passes him and then falls in. We stopped about halfway and did some core and then did a mosey the rest of the way (this was harder than YHC remembered)

TODAY’S SALE IS A REPEAT FROM 2019: Everything is $9.99!

9 hard reps	99 “easy” reps	Mary until done
Werewolves w/ or w/o a block	Calf raises	Boat-Canoe 3 sec rotate, 5 each followed by a 10 count break then repeat Boat-Canoe
Blockees / Burpees	1/4 pushups	Flutter kick
CMU Lunge	1/4 squats	BBS
Wall pull-ups / hangs (no block)	Wall jumps	LBCs

Next Up: AMRAP Dora with Unlimited COUPONS! (semi-repeat from 2019)

AMRAP DORA for time with core after each round (2019 we did this where we rotated through the exercises with a person in between, but this time we’re just having the partner run to the concrete pad just past the dumpster because the exercises are meant to be quite heavy.

First round:
Curls
Thrusters
Rows
OHP
CORE @end after timer, 30-count rest:

Second round:
Swings
Goblet Squats
Tricep Extensions
Piston (Hodor if Ribbed had showed up)
CORE @end after timer, 30-count rest:

Put up Coupons. Mosey back. Stop at overhang, dip a bit.
Mosey back to the AO with no time for Mary.

MARY:
Ain’t nobody got time for that!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA:
4 PAX who got major discounts!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
The origin of the word “holiday” actually comes from a concatenation of the words “holy day”.
What is the focus during the American / Western Civ. season between the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas? The reason I like to call this “Black Friday: Discount Coupon Special” is that it’s so easy to miss what we’re supposed to be Thankful for (Christ’s redemption of us for His glory by His perfect sacrifice on the cross and subsequent resurrection from the grave) and what we are celebrating at Christmas (the miracle of God condescending by becoming a man and one in in every way like us, yet without sin).

With this knowledge, what ought we to do? 3 things we’ll take this Advent Season from a passage you probably didn’t think I’d talk about to start the Christmas season with:

Romans 8:12-17 – 12 So then, brothers,[e] we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons[f] of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Refocusing our gaze on Christ in the busyness and stress of all that is going on in our world is EXACTLY what our souls need.

1. v.12-13 We have debt – but not to the flesh but to the Spirit who called us to Christ. This is the Gift of Christmas.

When you give that gift to your friend, to your wife, to your son or daughter – you give out of what God has given you – and you and we have the opportunity to acknowledge that it’s not in us but all from Jesus

2. v.14-15 We have the Spirit of God that confirms us as children of God.

Anyone who has or has seen a young boy (say under 10) cry out to his father knows that Jesus said “¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11). We know that this is true, but we can appropriate this for ourselves because of the solid foundation with this promise from God. This is another gift from God.

3. v.16-17 Because we have the Spirit, we are co-heirs with Christ and have the privilege to suffer with Christ.

This may not seem like the greatest thing, but that is the beauty of what Christ did for us. He suffered outside the camp for us so that we can be made like Him. His substitutionary death for us on the cross to redeem us allows us to say with the apostles in Acts 5:41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

So, as you go through Advent, see what debt you have (to the Spirit). Remember that you are a child of God who gives you the gift of Salvation, which is eternity with Him. And remember that we can rejoice when suffer because that is what Jesus did for us and it puts us in the best company and place. And that gift is, ironically, the best place for us because it identifies us with Christ.

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

MOLESKIN:
Prayed for Data & his marriage – we are rooting for peace and love for you and your M, sir!
I’m still looking for a house to buy so could use some prayer there as well.
Also a BIG SHOUTOUT to Baby Boomer who drove past Shamrock to join us this morning. It was a pleasure and the 2nd-f at our coffeeteria at Dunkin was great.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Christmas Party December 11th at Judge Judy’s abode, 5-7pm. See #annual-christmas-party in Slack for more info and to sign up to bring something for Hot Providence.

Help Make More Disciples

November 22, 2021 Booster

THE SCENE: 47 and windy but at least it wasn’t raining!
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Cherry Pickers (IC) 4 CT X 10
Overhead Claps X 10 (IC) followed by Michael Phelps
Tempo Squats (IC) 4 CT
Tempo Merkins (IC) X 10
Mosey to cover

THA-THANG:

AMRAP Tabata Stations – 30 seconds of work/10 seconds of rest (while moving to next station)

Dips on benches
Flutter Kicks
Bobby Hurleys
Toe Merkins
Carolina Dry Docks
Step Ups
Big Boys

Back to the Basics at the Library

Merkins X 20
Squats X 25
Run the courtyard
Rinse & Repeat

MARY:

Hello Dollies X 20
LBCs X 20
American Hammers X 20
Mosey then jail break to AO for 50 Toe Merkins & 35 squats until 6:15

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

10 men didn’t let the threat of rain keep them away from starting the week off with a win!

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

My church, Valley Church, just became “official” so our board, pastor, etc. just participated in a “charge conference” through the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. The meeting was on Zoom but it was great to participate, represent our church, and be “charged” with leading its growth.

The pastor who led the meeting shared a brief but powerful sermon. My presentation this morning nor this write up did justice to the words she shared but you’ll get the idea.

Disciple Making Strategy: Sharing the love of Jesus to make disciples for the transformation of the world.

The Great Commission

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The Great Command

³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[^c^] ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[^d^] ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The Great Compassion

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

The preacher summed up her sermon by sharing that we need to live our John 12:34-35 if we’re going to be true disciples and encourage others to join us.

John 12:34-35

I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.

MOLESKIN:

Data’s VQ is on Friday, December 3rd! Please be there to support and encourage him!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: