Warm-a-Rama 20 ssh i/c 15 plank jack i/c 20 Cherry picker i/c 15 Imperial walker i/c Capri lap around library 20 seal jack i/c 20 Windmill i/c 10 seal wave i/c
The Thang
Mosey to front steps of library
Run up steps, 2 burpees, run down steps, 1 burpee Nur up steps, squat every 2 steps, 2 burpees, run down steps, squat every 2 steps, 1 burpee
Wosey to west side of library back steps
AMRAP station As one HIM climbs the steps rest of PAX complete exercise. Round 1 merkins Round 2 lbcs Round 3 wide merkins Round 4 right side plank Round 5 diamond merkins Round 6 left side plank
Six HIM got better today by winning THAT FIRST BATTLE and leaving the fartsack behind, demonstrating their grit at the Grit Mill for a Dicey Chappie Burpee beatdown. It went a lil’ something like this…
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 18 IC
Prison Merkins – 10 IC
Swartz Jacks – 18 IC
Shoulder Tap Merkins – 10 OYO
Seal Jacks – 18 IC
Carolina Drydocks (AMRAP, to last man ‘standing’) *Ruxpin outlasted all, won the last man standing award: Kudos for the push!
Mosey to lot behind Calvary United Methodist.
THE THANG: (Partner up: 6 PAX, 3 Teams)
Routine: Roll THE BIG DICE (3) down parking lot, Bearcrawl/Crawlbear (at the whims of the Q) to the dice, do # of Burpees rolled. Roll again (Next team). Rinse and repeat to opposite end of lot. Covering the distance, each team got 2 rolls.
Remember team totals. Highest total wins, and winning team dictates what losing teams must do (Ab work)
Team 2 dictated the losers had to do 73 LBC’s, of course, all PAX joined the fun.
YHC shared the following 3rdF here:
“Out of every hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the ONE, the ONE is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” ~ Heraclitus
Are you one of “the real fighters”? Are you “the ONE” who is the warrior? To some degree this is why we train ourselves under the burdens we do…to prepare ourselves to be THE ONE who “will bring the others back.” You see here what Heraclitus said was that THE ONE was not only about the fight, he was about the others.
“‘I believed therefore, I spoke,’ we also believe, Therefore, also we speak.” 2 Corinthians 4:13
Jeff Schreve shared: “The life of the Apostle Paul is a story of grace, glory, and suffering. God worked miracles in and through Paul as He used him to speak the truth in love and lead multitudes to faith in Christ. As Paul presented the truth of man’s utter sinfulness and the Savior’s sacrifice and victory over sin, death, hell, and the grave, many people had their feathers ruffled. In fact, both Jews and Gentiles often reacted to the gospel message with violence. Paul was beaten, whipped, and imprisoned numerous times for preaching the truth and obeying the Lord. His unwavering commitment to Christ and His Word resulted in his beheading under the persecution of Emperor Nero.
Could Paul have avoided all the suffering? Yes! He could have easily quit preaching the unadulterated truth. He could have dialed down his message to tickle the ears and fit in with the sinful culture. He could have bowed to the demands of Rome and played ball with the corrupt Jewish religious leaders. He could have turned his back on his Lord and his calling and saved himself a ton of grief and pain. He could have wilted under the pressure, but he did not! He truly believed that Jesus died and rose again, therefore he spoke the truth without stutter, stammer, apology, or equivocation. He was faithful to Jesus Christ all the way to the finish line, regardless of the circumstances and the backlash.” The Apostle Paul was THE ONE who was a warrior for Christ.
I believe we are living in the last of the last days. The signs of Christ’s return are all around us. One of the telltale signs is the hatred we’ll receive for standing up for the Lord and His Word, especially without compromise or apology. America used to value Christianity and uphold the authority of the Word of God—but those days are gone. Today, faithful followers who hold to the clear teachings of Scripture are vilified, mocked, scorned, marginalized, and attacked. Can physical violence be far behind? I think not.
What’s the answer? Should we water down the message to make it more palatable to a sin-sick world? Never! If we really believe, we will speak up and speak out, just as 2 Cor. 4:13 states. And if we grow silent in the face of persecution, moral decay, and social lunacy, did we really ever believe at all?”
So, this is about being THE ONE, or at the very least being a real fighter…for the sake of others. Don’t merely be a target. Fighting “to bring the others back” [to Christ], HIM train themselves physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally and morally to be real fighters, even if it means standing alone for the sake of their family, their church, and the communities in which they serve.
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PAX mosey’d back to the beginning point at other end of parking lot, did about 4 mins of Plank Pulls with the sandbag mini’s (PAX planked side-by-side and pulled sandbags bag and forth between them).
Return mosey to AO, alternating with sandbags overhead between PAX.
COT/BOM:
Announcements: Headless Horseman RuckWOD, Roving RuckF3st Friday, Oct. 30 at CHOP in Milton. Sign up to earn the patch at rucksonparade.com DONUT RUCK, (Family Ruck) Saturday morning Oct. 31 following the workout in Georgetown. Plan is to meet at Del Tech and Ruck around campus to Dunkin…because America runs on Dunkin! Patches will be earned by all! Great opportunity for some family 2ndF among the PAX
Prayers: Prayers for Allen Chorman (Woodstock’s dad, recovering from open heart surgery); for Dietrich (Waterfall’s 2.0, starting school today); for Carol (Chappie’s M, having elbow surgery tomorrow morning); for Eugene (a personal struggle over last few days); for Peddles and all the BMX competing this weekend in Milford.
Another workout, another Q. Privileged and honored to lead. Shout out to all who posted!
YHC decided to take the route of building the confidence and competence of the Grit Mill PAX today with a Q’ing For Dummies style of workout. It was not quite a Q School but PAX simply kept moving and did some work by the numbers. Great morning for it as we added FNG Mr. Eugene H. Krabs to the crew to make it a Wednesday 6 PAX…we’ll call him Eugene for short. Here’s how it went down today:
Disclaimer given.
Announcement – We’re going to move around a bit today, workout, and practice a bit by the numbers (in cadence!).
Warm-O-Rama:
SSH – 18 IC
Squat – Woodstock
Moroccan Nightclub – 50 IC
Windmill – 18 IC
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
The Thang:
(Mosey to parking lot at old bank)
BANK (Legs)
Al Gore (hold for 3 count, up for rep) – 18 IC
Split Jacks – 18 IC
Tempo Squats – Woodstock – 18 IC
Mountain Climbers – Waterfall – 20 IC
Sumo Squats – Ruxpin – 18 IC
(Mosey out rear to NW 2nd St. Left to parking lot behind Berry Short Funeral – ended up across the street at Christ Episcopal Church…watch our for that car!…and that car!)
BERRY SHORT (Abs)
4-Count Freddies – 25 IC
Gas Pumpers – Woodstock – 15 IC
Hello Dolly – Gump – 18 IC
Flutter Kicks – 20 IC
3rdF Breather Taken here:
I picked up a thread on IG awhile back that applies to why we do the [hard] things we do. It was an exchange between two brothers who were talking about the limits of your body.
“Do you remember the marathon talk?” One of them asked. “I was complaining about doing a marathon on three weeks notice and you gave me the ‘what’s stopping you’ speech.” I asked him to elaborate, so he gave me a rough summary:
KW (brother): Whine, whine marathon wine.
CW (me): What’s the problem?
KW: It’s going to suck. I probably won’t even finish.
CW: Why? Are you going to quit?
KW: Well no. But I didn’t train for this.
CW: So you think you will reach a point at which you cannot physically take one more step?
KW: Well probably not. But I’ll be so slow!
CW: True. But that has nothing to do with whether or not you will finish. You make that decision yourself. And you’ll make it before the race starts. Kyle’s team started and finished 26.2 miles together in the Men’s Military — Heavy division of the race, which means they did the course in full uniform with boots and rucks weighing at least 30lbs each.
Kyle could barely walk for two days afterward, but as he put it, “that’s beside the point.”
It’s incredibly difficult to metabolically break the body of a healthy person. Yes, you can Kipping Pull-up your way to a torn shoulder, but if you’re moving in a way that doesn’t endanger you mechanically, your body can keep going through almost anything. The difficult part of learning this is when you realize that it’s your mind that doesn’t want to come along for the ride.
When you stop short (whether its a marathon, a 5k, a ruck, a marriage, or whatever manifestation of challenge life throws at you) it’s not that your body *can’t* keep going. It’s that on some level you’re making a decision not to.
Throughout life you will hear quitters come up with all kinds of excuses, as if everyone else isn’t going through the same kinds of excuses.
HIGH IMPACT MEN are not men of excuses, but of perseverance, endurance, and problem solving…overcoming any obstacles and adapting to any inconveniences.
SOME VERSES:
Galatians 6:9 ESV And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Romans 5:3-5 ESV More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Hebrews 10:36 ESV For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
(Mosey down N. Church, Left onto Front St. to parking lot at Social services — because of time PAX had to head for AO)
SOCIAL SERVICES (PAX choice, must be IC)
Clock ran out…never stopped here
(Mosey return to AO with several Prison Breaks along the way)
Number-Rama
Name-O-Rama
COT:
Naming of FNG: Again, welcome to Eugene! (Thin Spongebob SquarePants and Meding Seafood
Announcements: Donut Ruck info TBA in near future. Woo! Hoo!
Prayers: Woodstock’s dad, Allen Chorman, and family; YHC’s nephew, Aaron deployed; for social media “warriors” and our nation as we head toward elections, etc.
3 HIM faced the GLOOM on this beautiful end of summer morning.
WARM-O-RAMA
20 SSH IC
20 CHERRY PICKERS IC
20 WINDMILLS IC
Up Straddle Hop- legged side straddle hop 10 IC each leg
20 GRADY CORN IC
BLARTAir Chair position and grab the handlebars of their Segway. Pax bend at the knees – left, forward, right, back is 1 count
THE THANG– PAX moseyed .5 mile to the local church (hey did I ever tell you I did that roof?? haha) We sat in the parking lot under the beautiful sky, in the cool of the GLOOM and began the BRUCE LEE AB exercise.
Bruce Lee 6 ab exercises: 20 reps, 3 sets. 30 seconds rest between
1. Hammer, IC
2. Leg raises, IC
3. Double tap LBC’s, 10 each side
4. Heel Touches, IC
5. Crunchy Frog,
6. Rosalita Wip Ab exercise from Rosalita position. Legs together at 90°. Cadence count. Out for 1, together for 2, legs down to 6 inches for 3, back to 90° for count. Burns more when done slow.
HIGH-YA -abs like “the Dragon”.
F3 MESSAGE
The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord . All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the Lord , And your thoughts will be established. The Lord has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord ; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished. In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil. When a man’s ways please the Lord , He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice. A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. Divination is on the lips of the king; His mouth must not transgress in judgment. Honest weights and scales are the Lord ’s; All the weights in the bag are His work. It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness, For a throne is established by righteousness. Righteous lips are the delight of kings, And they love him who speaks what is right. As messengers of death is the king’s wrath, But a wise man will appease it. In the light of the king’s face is life, And his favor is like a cloud of the latter rain. How much better to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul. Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud. He who heeds the word wisely will find good, And whoever trusts in the Lord , happy is he. The wise in heart will be called prudent, And sweetness of the lips increases learning. Understanding is a wellspring of life to him who has it. But the correction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, And adds learning to his lips. Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. The person who labors, labors for himself, For his hungry mouth drives him on. An ungodly man digs up evil, And it is on his lips like a burning fire. A perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer separates the best of friends. A violent man entices his neighbor, And leads him in a way that is not good. He winks his eye to devise perverse things; He purses his lips and brings about evil. The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, If it is found in the way of righteousness. He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord .
3 PAX jumped into action at the Grit Mill (1-yr-old AO) after winning TFB (THAT FIRST BATTLE…the fight with the fartsack) and posting for a Chappie beatdown. Nothing re-invented here but a good one (mumble chatter says) with the 4 x 4 borrowed from the CHOP. The 4 x 4 is a simple tour around the block, executing 4 exercises on each of the 4 corners, with select transitions in between. YHC introduced this routine a few years ago at the CHOP AO in Milton; it has since become a bit of a measurement for PAX to determine personal progress. YHC brought it to the Grit Mill…well, because it requires grit!
WARM-O-RAMA • SSH – 18 IC • Low-Slow Squat – 10 IC • Calf Raises – 15 OYO • Calf Raises – Suzanne Somers style 15 OYO • Grit Millkins (Hold plank for cadence, down/up for rep) – 18 IC • Superman/Rip-cord – 3 rounds each (10 count)
THE THANG – Grit Mill 4×4 (4 corners x 4 exercise each for total body workout)
Corner #1: Upper body • Drydocks – 5 • Wide-arm – 10 • Regular – 15 • Derkins – 20 Transition to corner 2: Lt. Dan
Corner #2: Abs • Hooch Nightmares – 9 each leg IC (Borrowed from F3Naperville) • 4-Count Freddie’s – 18 IC • X’s & O’s – 18 OYO • American Hammers – 18 IC Transition: Bearcrawl/Crawlbear to pedestrian sign, Karaoke rest of the way to corner 3
Mid-Point break in action for 3rdF — An updated version of message from a few years back; here’s what YHC shared:
The words, “O well” were the trademark words of DS Allen, one of my Drill Sergeant’s in basic training. DS Allen was a SFC (platoon sergeant) and any time there was an issue or we got ourselves into a pickle of sorts, that’s what DS Allen would say…”Oh well, private!” He always said it real slow and cool, of course.
DS Allen taught me to walk circumspectly and to be watchful–a good discipline for all leaders…for all HIM.
Once while we were in the field the chow hall had trucked hot food out to us for lunch, a precious commodity especially in that stretch of winter where for about 2 weeks the average windchill was about -30. After eating chow I went to dump my trash in the trash-can, and as I was doing that, I kind of had my head down and wasn’t paying much attention to who else was around me. Another soldier came up and starting stuffing his trash into the can, but he was stuffing it down in between the trash-bag and the trash can instead of inside the bag. I distinctly remember trying to stop the guy, saying with a commanding voice, “Hey! Hey! Hey!” The other soldier put his hand firmly on top of my Kevlar helmet and promptly lifted my head. It was at that point that I discovered the “other soldier” was DS Allen! Oh man, I must have turned 10 shades of red or white as a ghost! I’m not sure. And while I was close to it, I’m still glad I didn’t come up swinging!
And DS Allen, well, he just stood there looking at me face to face, eye to eye. He cracked a “possum eatin’ crap” grin and then without saying a word, he turned and walked away. In that moment he taught me a lot about being a good leader, he could’ve really busted my chops but didn’t (he wasn’t worried about his own ego). Also without saying a word, he taught me yet another lasting leadership lesson: Walk circumspectly, be watchful and alert. Know who’s around you and what’s going on around you at all times.
Here’s how this applies: In Galatians 5:16 Paul wrote, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Here the Greek word for walk is “peripateo“; it is from this that we get our English word parapet: A barrier which is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof or terrace. This is a protective wall that keeps one from going over the edge. Paul was likening that to the Holy Spirit who the Lord has given to help us to walk circumspectly, to keep us from going over the edge.
Here’s what is really neat: In the same chapter in v. 25, he goes on to say “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” But in this verse he uses a different word for walk. Here it is “stoicheo.” This word means to proceed in a row as the march of a soldier; to go in order. So the Bible says that living and walking by the Spirit is like marching precisely in formation, staying in step with the One who is leading us, the Spirit of God.
In both cases the Bible says, Walk this way. But in both instances in the passage, it is a walk that offers both the protection and leadership of the Spirit of God. Just some crucial things to think about which will help us to be the HIM God has called us to be. But whatever you do, don’t say, “Oh, well!”
Back at it for the final stretch…
Corner #3: Legs • Sumo Squats (real ones) – 18 OYO • Mexican Jumping Beans – 18 OYO • Monkey Humpers – 18 IC • Smurfjacks – 18 IC
Transition: Prison Break to corner 4
Corner #4: Full body • Burpees – 18 OYO • Mt. Climbers – 18 IC • Flying Squirrels – 18 OYO • Mule kicks – 18 OYO …Ouch! Transition: Mosey return to AO
COT/BOM:
Announcements: Family Day at Bridgeville Rifle & Pistol Club is this Sat., 9/29 from 10-5; Leadership Pow-Wow Wed. 9/2 at Summit’s from 6:30 till (Dogs/Chips/Snacks, RSVP to Chappie ASAP)
Prayers: For F3 First State PAX and families; for Waterfall & Felicia as they work to resolve challenges with Dietrich; for YHC’s nephew, Aaron who is currently deployed; etc. God is good, what YHC forget, God did not–He’s got it covered.
The 4 x 4 proved it’s worth at the Grit Mill as well. Great push by the PAX, especially near the end to finish strong. Afterall, its not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Aye!
Chappie, out!
Post Workout Trip Home – who would want to miss this?
After Warm-o-rama PAX moseyed to the desired workout location, on the way we found 2 Milford Police officers in a nice sized parking lot and decided to change direction to workout in front of the police. We began by doing 30 Monkey humpers in front of the cops, one got out and tackled Chappie, lol jk we did not do monkey humpers and chappie did not get tackled, but we had a blast in the parking lot, this is where we completed the Spartan.
PAX line up and sprint 100 yrds, do 10 exercisesat the finish and walk back to the start all together. Q starts each sprint race with a verbal call. Continue until you have done 30 x100 yrd sprints and 10×30 = 300 exercises. PAX will be nursing home walking for several days.
30 burpees
30 merkins
30 squats
30 flutterkicks
30 ssh
30 lbc
30 hand release werkins
30 lunges
30 American hammers
30 shoulder taps
30 mountain climbers
squat potato
With 2 minutes remaining in the GLOOM QIC Gump grabbed a sandbag and we completed the squat potato.
Hot potato in squat position. PAX form a circle with everyone facing out. PAX then pass a heavy object around the outside of the circle while in squat position until the Q says halt. Add more objects in depending on the size of the circle
F3 message
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’
All the HIM were thrilled to hear we werent going to spend the morning running our guts out this morning instead we stayed right where we warmed up and completed the Super 21 sandbag special
Super 21 DEFENITION: Do 1 merkin followed by 1 situp; 2 merkins / 2 situps; 3 merkins / 3 situps, etc., etc. ……. up to 21 merkins/ 21 situps (total of 231 merkins and 231 situps). Insert other exercises in between to allow for recovery
Super 21 #1 – #10, Bear crawl across parking lot come back and complete Monkey Humpers x 21 IC,
Super 21 #11-#13, We were lucky enough for the town of Milford to leave us a nice pile of sandbags at the Library, so we all grabbed a sandbag and LT DAN across parking lot and DAN LT back where we preformed Mountain Climbers x 21 IC,
Super 21 #14-#16, then sandbag side lunge across parking lot and side lunge the opposite direction back followed by squats x 21 with sandbag OYO
Super 21 17-20 then we held sandbags overhead while we toy soldier marched across parking lot and we held sandbags above our heads and high knees back (suck). We skipped the extra exercise for time sake
Finished super 21 (21 MERKINS 21 BIGBOYS) bear crawl across parking lot crawl bear back. Finished up the morning with 21 Burpees OYO (no sandbag lol)
F3 MESSAGE.
When a man’s ways please the Lord , He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Proverbs 16:7 NKJV
A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
Proverbs 1:5 NKJV
He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
Proverbs 13:20 NKJV
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5 NKJV
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 NKJV
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
James 3:17 NKJV
Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.
Us four and no more cut through the soupy fog to post at the Grit Mill and cut through the soupy humidity–all the way around it was a thick soupy Gloom!
Warm-O-Rama:
SSH – 10 IC
Albatross Wings – Single Count IC
20 x Forward Arm Circles
20 x Backward Arm Circles
20 x Seal Claps
20 x Overhead Claps
Swartzjacks – 10 IC
IW – 20 IC
Compass Squats – 10 IC (Squat while jumping to turn N, E, S, & W = 1 rep.)
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
Patriot Chase to Milford Church of God (Parking Lot) – 1 PAX ran ahead with the Shovel-Flag, while rest of PAX did 3 Burpees. PAX would then run to catch the flag, and slow down til all PAX caught up. PAX rotated through carrying the Shovel-Flag and doing Burpees (rinse & repeat) til destination was reached. Soupy Patriot Chase!
The Thang: (Had to break out the brand-new Workout Deck purchased during the quarantine–YHC couldn’t wait any longer…)
Upon arriving at the MCOG parking lot, PAX did mosey variations (Mosey, Nur, Side-Shuffles, etc.) back and forth across lot, taking turns drawing cards from the F3 Workout Deck (i.e. “Deck of Death”) at the starting point each time.
YHC Shared the following 3rd Word (3rdF) somewhere around mid-workout:
In Mark 10:17-22, we read: “As Jesus started on his way, a [rich] man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?”Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
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This portion of Scripture is not just about a [rich man]. Too many people read it and conclude, “I’m not rich, so it doesn’t apply to me.” But the passage is about so much more: As the man approaches Jesus, he’s got one thing very wrong. He wants to know what he must do. (I.e. what he can do to gain eternal life.)
After Jesus points him to God and begins to list the commandments, the man grows perturbed. His response: “Teacher all these I have kept since I was a boy,” tells us he was oozing with self-righteousness. He’s worked hard; he’s kept all the rules; he’s tried his best.
But Jesus sees things differently. Jesus’ response is key: “Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
YHC wants you to see what Jesus’ love looks like in this story: He loves the man too much to allow him to continue in his self-deluded little world of sweat, hard work and determination. He is not willing to stroke the man’s ego and tell him how wonderful he is. Instead, Jesus issues a command. It’s a very poignant moment: Jesus loves the man–and He lets him walk away. He doesn’t chase after him or lower the bar. He doesn’t negotiate and settle on a lower figure that the man will be willing to give. Jesus demands it all.
That is the command and there’s no budging. It’s not just hard. It is an impossible command. Jesus set the bar so high precisely because He loves this man. The point is this, and it is the point for us all: The man had reduced eternal life to SOMETHING HE COULD ACHIEVE, that it was within his power to gain–yes, I can do that!
But now he was confronted with something that was absolutely beyond him. He was brought to a place of realizing he could not do what he thought he could do.
Jesus loves us too much to stroke our egos as well, and tell us how fabulous we are. Instead, He issues commands that are far beyond our ability to obey in order to drive us to him.
Don’t run from that. It doesn’t feel comfortable; it doesn’t give us warm fuzzy feelings about how great we are. But in that moment, in that place of weakness, we can learn to whisper these two words: I can’t. And THAT honors God far more than you’ll ever know.
The man’s right response to the command would be to fall on his knees and speak the words, “I can’t do it.” Only then, with his self-confidence and self-righteousness in tatters and his heart exposed, would he be ready to receive the kingdom of God like a little child. (Mark 10:15)
Perhaps the best summary YHC can give you of what I’m sharing today, is found in Titus 3:8, “He [God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.”
Truly, HIM have whispered these two words: I can’t. And in that very moment they’ve not only expressed trust in God, but have found Him to be the One who can!
With that, we got in a couple more rounds, then us four and no more mosey’d back to the AO. It’s a wrap!
COT:
Announcements – PAX invited to get in on the “Suns Out Guns Out” ruck this month.
Prayers: Chappie’s mom; Chairman; etc.
Soupy day with the fog and the humidity/heat, but the PAX showed up and cut right through it like a deck of cards–a Workout Deck, that is! PAX didn’t quite make it through the deck so it was only kinda a Deck of Death. No worries, YHC will break it out again soon!
Our country and countries across the world are being greatly affected by COVID-19. Here is the “official” statement from F3 Nation on what is happening right now.
We are a #Starfish. Our mission is explicitly to invigorate male community leadership. Our hope is that we, to some degree or other, have done this. Therefore, we urge you to look locally to your Nant’ans for guidance on what you may want to do on the ground where you are. From Charlotte, we can’t know what the best practice is for Omaha, nor would we pretend to. Omaha will know what to do for Omaha, the same is to be said for regions across the Nation.
Be smart. We’ve all likely seen by now the many practices that are recommended by the CDC and other experts. In fact, very many of the great Leaders and Nant’ans of F3 have already put out guidelines for how they suggest things be handled locally in their regions. For example, in Puget Sound, where the virus made US landfall, they have been adjusting their COTs to not include a BOM, encouraging men to stay home if they feel sick, no partner work, etc. Again, look local for what you all might do to avoid spread of both the virus and any panic that may surround it.
LEAD. It is times like these that we now get to put into practice all this stuff we’ve talked about over the years. We have attempted to get ready for the expected, while staying ready for the unexpected… this is truly unexpected, unprecedented even… Lean in, do good, find a way to be useful and of service to your family and your community (even if that truly is staying home because you aren’t sure if you’ve been infected) and then articulate your vision of how you intend to help people… persuade them to join in the help, and exhort them as necessary.
Men, THIS is the kind of thing that we were made for. THIS is the kind of thing that you’ve been getting ready for by posting and living third. Go make cool stuff happen… we will get through this just fine.
We love you, and if the Nation can help in terms of resources, communication or otherwise, on a level past your local region, let us know. We will. ISI,
