F3 Knoxville

Deny the Fleeting Pleasures of Sin

THE SCENE: 60s with rain
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Cherry Pickers x 7, Tennessee Rocking Chairs x 7, SSH x 20, Tempo Merkins x 10, Tempo Squats x 10.
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the first overhang.

  • Plank Jacks x 25
  • Squat Jacks x 20
  • Wide Merkins x 15
  • Big Boys x 10
  • Burpees x 5

Mosey to the long overhang down the stairs.

  • 21s with an animal walk of some sort in between (bear crawls, crawl bears, inchworm, crab walk, flamingo)
  • First set of 21s was Bobby Hurleys and Merkins
  • Second set of 11s was Monkey Humpers and Big Boys without animal walk in between

Head back to the flag.

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
It was just a short word because of the downpour that was going on. My challenge was first to consider writing out Scripture as a part of your devotion. It has really helped me slow down, see more about the Word and understand it better as a whole. I just finished writing out Hebrews and we are going through Hebrews 11 in our youth group. So, the passage I read was Hebrews 11:24-26:

“24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”

Moses could have had anything he wanted, he had access to every luxury known to man at this time. He was the son of the king of Egypt, a world power at the time. He had all this comfort, wealth, anything he wanted, but he saw that these pleasures, these sins were just temporary, they were fleeting. And he understood Christ and the reward that He brought. It might not have been immediate to him and, ultimately, he didn’t even get to go into the land that the Lord called him to, but he understood that following Christ meant more than earthly rewards. It meant heavenly, eternal rewards that are far greater than anything this world can offer.

So, the challenge is pretty simple. As HIMs, we should seek to forsake the fleeting pleasures of sin and follow the One who can promise eternal rewards.

Be Ruthless

THE SCENE:   High 50s and calm.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMERAdministered
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • LBAC F/B
  • Seal jacks
  • Projectivator
  • Squat baby pumps
  • Merkin baby pumps
  • Hillbilly mountain climbers

THA THANG:

Mosey to the guardrail.

  • 20 dips + 15 derkins + 10 split squats left. Bear crawl to the curb, crawl bear back.
  • 20 dips + 15 derkins + 10 split squats right. Bear crawl to the curb, crawl bear back.

Mosey to Jucomanjaro.  Grab a block.

First, do all exercises and run to Cone 1 and back.

Each successive round, drop the highest rep exercise – and run one cone farther

Exercises were;

  • 40 Tricep extensions
  • 35 Goblet squats
  • 30 Curls
  • 25 Rows
  • 20 Derkins
  • 15 Thrusters
  • 10 CMU swings
  • 5 Blockees

So…

Round 1:  40 + 35 + 30 + 25 + 20 + 15 + 10 + 5 + Run to Cone 1

Round 2:  35 + 30 + 25 + 20 + 15 + 10 + 5 + Run to Cone 2

Etc…

Round 8:  5 burpee jumpovers + Run to Cone 8

 

MARY:

Sprints – winner leads 10-ct of core exercise

Jail break!

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA

15 of the best men that I know

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
What is something baby Moses and baby Jesus had in common?  In two incidents separated by more than a thousand years, they each survived the mass murder of their contemporaries.  In both cases, a paranoid monarch degreed shortly after their birth that all male babies be slaughtered.  Those in power were fearful of losing that power.  Pharaoh saw that the Israelites were growing in number and decided to cull their population to preserve his reign.  Likewise, after being told that a mighty king had just been born but not yet identified, Herod had all the baby boys killed to protect his throne.

Their strategy was coldblooded and cruel…  Why did they have babies killed?  Because they knew this to be true – that if you can kill something in its infancy, then it never grows to maturity.  It is far easier to snuff something out when it is tiny, because it is more vulnerable.  If that ruthless tactic can be used for evil, then it can be used for good.  Brothers, I want us to steal this strategy away from our enemy and use it to fight our battles.  Every day, we war against sin and temptation.  But what if we could kill them as babies, so that they never grow up to destroy us?   

In Genesis chapter 4, we find Adam and Eve’s sons after they have each made sacrifices to God.  When God favors Abel’s offering instead of his, Cain becomes envious and bloodthirsty.  God meets him in that moment and says, “…watch out, because sin is crouching at the door, ready to pounce on you! You must master it before it masters you.” (Genesis 4:7, The Voice translation).  That imagery of sin… crouching…pouncing…makes me think of a lion getting low in the grass so that his prey either does not see him – or if they do, they think he is just a harmless little thingPounce, you’re dead.

Is there baby sin crouching in your life?  So small that you cannot see it unless you’re really looking… Whimsically tiny and apparently harmless… A little anger?  A little jealousy?  A little lust?  A little arrogance?  Each of these, when it is all grown up, can bring RUIN to a manBe ruthless and KILL that vulnerable baby sin before it grows up and is far harder to kill.

One example from my life:  During a season, I was consumed by a lust for images of fake women.  Mercifully, I’m not fighting that particular battle this week, this month, this year… But here’s something that I’ve just recently noticed.  Every time I open Facebook on my phone, I see fitness videos and pictures.  Three times out of four there’s a woman working out in see-through yoga pants, or a sports bra, or – I kid you not – when I was preparing for this, I opened Facebook and the very first video that popped up was a woman working out in a thong bikini (what kind of person works out in a thong?!).  Baby lust.  Baby sin.  Facebook, “stop showing me crap from this group…”.  It’s such a ridiculous little thing – but I had to snuff it out before that baby lust grew up and enslaved me (again).

God, help me to hate all sin in my life with a righteous and passionate hatred.

Search out the baby sin in your life.  While it is little and vulnerable, KILL IT.  

“You must master it before it masters you.”  Genesis 4:7

MOLESKIN:

Prayers for JJ’s family, for Josh’s family, and for Andrew’s family.

Hat tip to Levi Lusko

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

AMRAP and Mental Reset

THE SCENE: 50’s and clear

F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH 15 (IC)
  • LBAC F/B 10 (IC)
  • Tempo Squats 10 (IC)
  • Tempo Merkin 10 (IC)
  • BBS 10 (IC)

THA-THANG:

5 Rounds of AMRAP sets for 5 minutes each.

Start in a parking lot and run to the first long separator line. (not the space lines but the long ones perpendicular to all the space lines) Do the first exercise, return to the starting point and run to the second line for the second exercise. Repeat going to the 3rd and 4th line for the 3rd and 4th exercise.

Repeat for 5 minutes. Call recover when time is up and don’t forget to recover. Mosey to a new parking lot or start from the other end to change it up.

Round 1 Legs

  • 10 Lunges
  • 5 Burpees
  • 10 Squats
  • 5 Burpees

Round 2 Core

  • 20 BBS
  • 20 American Hammers
  • 20 Hello Dolly
  • 20 LBC

Round 3 Upper/Back

  • 20 Birddog
  • 10 Merkin
  • 20 Superman
  • 10 Side to Side Merkin

Round 4 Core

  • 20 Flutter kick
  • 20 Freddy Mercuries
  • 20 Pickle Pounders
  • 20 Pickle Pointers

Round 5 Heavy
Grab a coupon. Shorten the run or adjust according to time.

  • 10 Curl
  • 10 OH Press
  • 10 Tricep Extension
  • 10 CPR (Curl, Press, Tricep Raise)

MARY:
Returned to the flag for dealers choice till time.

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Mental Reset

The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.

  • Romans 8:6

Romans 8:6 tells us our mind can be set on the world and death or on the Spirit and life. Often we need a mental reset or to clear our mind from what it’s set on and get it set back on good things.

How can we do this? Our mind is made to think and be engaged. It doesn’t really work to just be unset but we have to set our thoughts on something good and replace worldly thoughts. There are many ways to do this but here are 2 things I’ve found helpful.

  • Scripture – reading or reciting scripture can be a great tool. Write helpful or challenging verses on index cards. Have a regular devotional. Read blogs and sermons that encourage or instruct.
  • Prayer – a theme of the month at Juco has been prayer. Praying is a great way to focus on others and on the Spirit. Pray for the worries challenges and temptations of life.

It’s easy to get focused on worry, temptations and distractions. Don’t get set on these but replace them by setting your mind on things of the Spirit.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

OYO Together

THE SCENE: Colder than it should be
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:

Abe Vigoda x 7, Hairy Rockettes x 10, Tempo Merkins x 7, Cherry Pickers x 7, Moroccan Nightclub x 20

THA-THANG:
Mosey to the big parking lot and line up on the curb.

The thing: Run to the first line and back and perform 10 of any exercise (Dealer’s Choice).

Run to the second line and back and perform 20 of any exercise.

Repeat for all ten lines. Culminating in 100 reps of your last exercise.

Caveats: No repeating any exercises and must change muscle groups each round. Also, the first person to get to each line has to perform one burpee and Bernie back.

All of the PAX completed all ten levels of this “Choose your own adventure” workout. Dartgun and Butterknife took turns on the Burpee/Bernie combo.

Poolboy gave the PAX a generous 30 count recover as we lined up for a longer than normal jailbreak back to the shovel flag.

In the shovel flag parking lot, perform 11’s with Bobby Hurleys and Diamond Merkins.

MARY:
None

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
12 men made the hard choice this morning.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Re-emphasized the monthly JUCO challenge. Prayer. This challenge has been difficult to be consistent with. It’s important that you make a concerted effort each day to set aside a time and place to truly get 10 solid minutes of focused prayer/meditation in. Something I have added to the challenge in this past week is to have a specific topic/focus each day for your prayer time. So far we have had: Immediate Family, Extended Family, Church Family, The Lost, Personal Growth, and Government. I encouraged the PAX to experiment with having a different focus each time they pray to allow for more meditation on these specific areas. Also encouraged the PAX not to avoid prayer due to embarrasment/shame over how long it’s been since they prayed. God will welcome you with open arms, not shame you for your negligance.
MOLESKIN:

Dartgun and Butterknife are fast…

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Still collecting items for the Street Hope Project: Trash bags, copy paper, and napkins

When You Run, Let Go of Your Burdens

THE SCENE: Mid-40’s. Mostly dry (rare for a recent Pool Boy Q)
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Administered + COVID
WARM-O-RAMA:

IC Tennessee Rocking Chair x 6 (sorry I had to cut it 1 rep short for Ribbed)
IC Tempo Squat x 10
IC Monkey Humper x 10
OYO Lunges x 5 each leg
IC Pickle Pointer x 10 IC
OYO Burpee x 5

Grab CMU from the trunk of Pool Boy’s Dead Dinosaur-consuming Yaris-resembling vehicle.

OYO Goblet Squat x 10
OYO Monkey Humping Goblet Squat x 5
Demonstration Bulgarian Split Squat
IC Glute Bridge (aka Pickle Pointer) w/CMU x 10
OYO Blockee x 5

THA-THANG:
Stop #1 – Crossing before the overhang
Monkey Humping Goblet Squat x 10
Blockees / Burpees x 5
Lap around median (not Guardrail’s 2.0)
Recover + 30 count
Mosey with CMU to stop #2

Stop #2 – Modified Aiken legs w/ or w/o CMUs
10 Goblet Squats
10 Step Ups
20 Lunges (10 each leg)
20 Bulgarian Squats (10 each leg)
Run around Triangle Loop
Recover & Mosey to Stop #3

Stop #3 – From the Bottom to the top (Bernie Up, Run/Jog Down)
Bottom – 10x Rows
Top – 10x Pickle Pointers (bonus points for taking the CMU up – S/O to Dart Gun, Erector, Spotter, & Butter Knife!)
Bottom – 10x OHP
Top – 10x Side crunch (really side plank but I said side crunch so some did each). Do the other side on the 2nd time through
2x through (4x up & down) the hill then 10 x Rows + 10x OHP
Flutter Kicks x 25 IC led by Spotter. Recovery count led by Survivor
Mosey to CMU Pile

Stop #4 – Wall sit while PAX put up CMUs at CMU pile
Falling Indian Run back to the Shovel Flag. Every 5 seconds the PAX at the front of the line steps off to the side and does Squats (1st time through) / Merkins (2nd time through) until the back of the line gets to the PAX and then he falls in. 2x through then we made it to the Shovel Flag.

MARY:
Mary-Go-Round (not yet in the Exicon but I’m going to keep submitting it!)

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
16 PAX including 3 2.0s – Kickflip, Wanderer, Survivor (2.0 Bolt), Hound Dog, Butter Knife, Erector, Ralph, Borg, Spotter, Mustard, Dart Gun (2.0’s Blow Dart & FNG Lawn Dart), Ribbed, Pool Boy

CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Over the past little while, I’ve been wrestling with what to do with Q’s. I get crazy ideas that don’t work and have to rework a lot of what I say and do as well as modify mid-Q sometimes. But there’s one thing that I have been constantly working for and toward: shedding things I don’t need.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

I hope my Q’s to serve the PAX and to do that best I try to think is brief but only as brief as needed.
As Einstein said “Everything should be as simple as possible, but no simpler.”

So the question is – today, what are you holding onto that you need to lay down? We have a cloud of witnesses surrounding us (whether you believe that is those who have gone on to be with the Lord before us or your F3 brothers here in the Gloom with you each morning).

1 John 2:16 says “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Which of (if not 2 or all 3 of) these things do you need to lay down?
1. Lust of the flesh – sex, food, physical cravings.
2. Lust of the eyes – money, cars, clothes
3. Pride of life – power, arrogance, self-focus

Bonus material – Watch a talk from Andy Stanley on controlling your appetite from Passion 2011.

MOLESKIN:
Prayed for Ribbed’s M, Ralph’s cousin’s husband, and for us all to seek more and more reconciliation amid the tensions of all ethnicities.

S/O to Mustard for running the ~1/2-mile each way to get it and then doing a hand off since I left my BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW PHONE (yes, I lost my old one this week) AND MY WEINKE at the bottom of Sophomore Hill. Mustard did this while I was having some post-workout mumblechatter with my sponsorRibbed. #SecondMileService
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Sign up for a Q!