Gump

Chosen Suffering

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QIC – Toy Soldier

Warmup

  • SSH – 25 IC
  • Derricks – 20 IC
  • Moroccan Night Club – 40 IC
  • Windmill – 20 IC
  • Seal Jack – 20 IC
  • Mountain Man Pooper – 20 IC

The Thang

Mosey to middle school

  • 20 Burpees bear crawl to next sidewalk
  • 40 Iron Mike inch worm to next sidewalk
  • 60 Merkins nur to next sidewalk
  • 80 American Hammers crab walk to last sidewalk
  • 100 LBCs
  • wosey to school 3rd F part 1
  • pole to pole side shuffle, switch side shuffle, mosey, jail break, mosey, jail break, mosey to Possum Point Player parking lot.
  • Arm circles 15 small forward/backward, 15 large arm circles forward/backward.
  • Merkin Routine 10 diamond, 10 regular, 10 wide fingertips forward, 10 Ranger, 10 wide fingertips out, 10Carolina Dry Docks.
  • Mosey to hotel 50 dips.
  • Mosey to eye center 3rd F part 2.
  • Mosey to Circle

COT

  • Number Rama: 18 PAX
  • Name-O-Rama
  • Announcements
  • Prayers

3rd F:

Chosen Suffering

Our desire to get uncomfortable is at an all-time low. Chosen suffering is a mindset. Never willing to settle for the easy way, an Elite person constantly moves toward pain to push themselves beyond their current abilities.

Growth means stretching away from our comfort zone. Nothing stays the same you either progress or regress. Growth requires pain, which is why it’s difficult to stay on top.

People matter; choosing the right ones to be with matters. Pain unifies us and love sustains us.

Elite people understand that short bursts of choosing the right way doesn’t make enough of a difference. Building habits take time. Deep rooted good habits must be formed. It’s the long term, sustained commitment that turns normal into special. Show up and give over and over. Discomfort shows its face during intense training, intense studying, rehabbing an injury, building one’s business, raising a family, managing people and so on.

The elite surround themselves with others who help them master their craft. If you’re not willing to pay a high price but are looking for a quick solution instead, you’re headed down a road to nowhere. The elite are curious, they are thinkers and problem solvers with a growth mind set. Deep suffering is far more fun to talk about than to live. Greatness is developed. Humans will get nowhere unless they compile information, make a plan, and act on it. Good to great isn’t an overnight thing. The only way to transform is to earn it.

Commitment means your life reflects your beliefs and I was committed. Spent mornings, afternoons, and most evenings in the wrestling room. The rate at which a person works is a window into the soul of what he values as priceless. There is a clear connection between effort and workload that occur when few are watching. There’s a massive chasm between believing something and committing to it.

Becoming elite is a choice, people aren’t born elite. Winning is never something we can completely control. Those who suffer the greatest do so because of their deep love of what they’re doing. Deep suffering moves us from good to great. Sense of value in our lives must be built from the inside out. Anything worth having requires suffering. Living on impulse without discipline gets us nowhere. Your goal should be to wake up better than you were today. Every great performance relies on solid training. Gratitude comes from the underlying belief that one’s life is no accident. The elite figure out what needs to get done, and they do it. Many people establish their wants, but they don’t consistently practice the habits to bring their desires to complete fruition. An elite individual understands that sustained success is the result of repeated good decisions over time. The elite don’t speak or think of excuses, they problem solve.

Falling short is painful, but pain is a gift. We waste our pain when we don’t learn from our losses and discomfort. Every person fails, but what’s more important is how we each manage the hurt. The elite assess, plan, and repeat until they’re refined. A strong plan and solid execution will increase our odds for the desired outcome.

Failure is a gift. Change happens with action. Harden oneself, but never get down on oneself. Excellence is the ability to do work every single time no matter who’s watching. Most people are unwilling to give at the required level to get what they want.

Struggle is at the center of all growth. We need people who care about us and challenge us to move from where we are to where we want to be.

The Elite work ethic is having the ability to repeatedly take yourself into chosen suffering. Eliteness comes from the absolute love for their desired outcome. Competency relies on training. You have to know that you’ve paid the price. Day in and day out you work on areas that need improvement.

Elite athletes are problem solvers. Humans say what we want, but we aren’t willing to back up with action. Instead, we offer excuses instead of taking responsibility. Successful people own their decisions and stand by the results. Hone in on the things you can control like your thoughts. Winning isn’t something we can control. However good you think you are there is always someone better. Choose each day to work alongside others who push you to greater levels of suffering. Wrestling teaches transformational lessons in humility because it’s raw and real, there’s no hiding. It’s the simple things done well and repeatedly that separate good from great. Winning is less controllable than your effort. Control what you can. Our effort should deplete us and bring us intense discomfort. We are capable of so much more that we think we are. It’s human nature to fall back into complacency to find the easy way out. As a wrestler you have to define your priceless, that objective or goal you’ll do anything to achieve. Actions speak louder than words. Too often we say we want success, but when struggling becomes more than what we imagined we give up.

Becoming elite is about letting go of the things that hold us back and pressing on. In every stage of life, complacency longs to sneak in. We must fight this natural desire to be easy on ourselves. We should be hard on ourselves, but never down on ourselves. We are built for glorious things and made to stretch ourselves. We will always need to choose suffering because it’s healing. We have a soul that long to be challenged and lifted.

Recovery Punishment

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QIC: Semi

Warm-a-Rama
20 ssh i/c
20 seal wave i/c
20 Cherry pickers i/c
20 mountain climbers i/c
20 Windmill i/c
20 shoulder tap i/c

The Thang

Mosey to bridge

Dan lt to top of bridge
5 burpees
Lt dan rest of way across bridge

Toy soldier set
50 lbc
25 e2k
15 big boys

25 derkins
Backwards lunge to top of bridge
Forward lunge back down

3rd F

====================================
But I say to you… Love your enemies!
====================================

Matthew 5:43-48 ESV
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’   But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.5.43-48.ESV

Love your enemies!

50 urkins
Side shuffle to top of bridge
Side shuffle back down

31 reverse crunch
Karaoke across bridge switching sides halfway

Mosey back to AO

25 Single leg hip thrust per leg
15 backwards big arm circles
25 split squats

Number Rama
Name Rama
COT

4 HIM showed today: Semi, Ruxpin, Gump, Woodstock

https://youtube.com/shorts/1cnANFLDzyA

The Spartan

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WARM-O-RAMA

20 SSH

20 CHERRY PICKERS IC

20 WINDMILLS IC

20 MOROCAN NIGHT CLUBS

20 GRADY CORN

CHAIRMAN LAP

THE THANG

 THE SPARTAN

LINE UP AT IN THE PARKING LOT, DO 30 MERKINS NEXT PAX  LINE UP AND SPRINT TO THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PARKING LOT WALK BACK. RINSE AND REPEAT 10 TIMES FOR A TOTAL OF 300 MERKINS.

F3 MESSAGE:

And it came to pass, when He drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mountain called Olivet, that He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here.  And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you loosing it? ’ thus you shall say to him, ‘Because the Lord has need of it.’ ” So those who were sent went their way and found it just as He had said to them. But as they were loosing the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of him.” Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord !’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

Luke 19:29‭-‬40 NKJV

This is my question for you? Are you getting the donkey for Jesus? In other words are you listening to what the Lord asks of you, or does life bog you down and restrict you from serving the Lord. If we are doing what the Lord asks of us he will make the way for us, could you imagine what the owner of the donkey thought about this? Could you just give away your car? Obviously not,  but because the disciples were doing what the Lord asked Jesus made the way for them.  Men we have to put aside our busy lifestyle and simply just get the donkey.

Grit Mill Grit [with a Ruck]

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DATE: 3/24/21

QIC: Chappie

The Grit Mill was greeted by 8 PAX who won THAT FIRST BATTLE against the fartsack and posted for a ruck beatdown–tailored by YHC to limit being too mobile with hopes of bringing some recovery to an ankle feeling every bit of 53-yrs-old.

PAX included FNG Steve McDougall (n.k.a MacDaddy). As YHC was welcoming our FNG, he asked if YHC knew him or remembered him. He looked familiar but had to jog YHC’s memory. Amazing! Steve was the guy who came into my room when I was hospitalized with COVID19 back in December. Then, he put a new IV in my arm, we talked for awhile, YHC EH’d him (anywhere, anytime, baby!). But the most remarkable thing YHC remembers is that before Steve left my room, he knelt beside my bed, grabbed my hand, and prayed for my recovery. That’s a HIM right there! Since that week in mid-December Looney Tunes EH’d him as well. Sometimes it takes a few contacts with F3 HIM before guys will actually post. EH! EH! EH! Welcome to F3 MacDaddy! (So named because he’s carried several “Mac” nicknames, especially in the USMC, but now he’s got 5 children.)

Anyway, YHC created a ruck workout with some Grit (he hopes) but with limited mobility (travel), and here’s how it all went down:

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 18 IC
  • Windmill – 10 IC
  • Ruck Jump Squats (side jump over ruck, squat. rinse & Repeat) – 10 OYO
  • Cherry Pickers – 10 IC

Now, for some Jack…

  • Smurfjacks – 10 IC
  • Swartzjacks – 10 IC
  • Splitjacks – 18 IC
  • Sealjacks – 18 IC
  • Bombjacks – 10 OYO

THE THANG:

  • Deadlifts x 50 ☆ Overhead carry around library
  • Ruck Step Ups x 50 (sc) ☆ Suitcase carry around library (half/half)
  • Overhead Shoulder Press x 50 (sc) ☆ Lunge-walk 1/2 around library
  • Ruck Pull Side-to-side x 50, (due to time) FOLLOWED BY Ruck Merkins x 50

The following 3rdF was shared mid-workout:

UPDATED 3/24/21 for the Grit Mill

If you’ve been around F3 First State for any length if time, then you know I often share 3rd F messages based upon my personal military experiences. This one has 3 core components: A military experience, an F3 leadership principle, and a biblical text that most are at least familiar with.

Let’s start with the biblical text and work backwards. When I enlisted to join the PA Army National Guard (“Roll on!”), we were sent off to “pre-basic” right before we shipped out to Ft. Sill, OK (and other places) for regular Army Basic Training. On the first night of pre-basic, after lights-out, nobody knew what to say or if they should say anything at all! All of us troops just lay there in our “racks” in silence. I thought about it for what seemed like an eternity, but after only a minute or two, there in the darkness, I decided to say the Lord’s Prayer…OUT LOUD!

My fear was that nobody would join me. And we were all feeling a little scared —- I’d call it a fear of the unknown about what was ahead of us—completely unfamiliar territory—as we were entering a new phase of life, a part of which would be dominated by Drill Sergeants…doing what Drill Sergeants do!!! (We had drill sergeants in pre-basic there at Ft. Indiantown Gap.) So as I began to recite the Lord’s Prayer, imagine my surprise when everyone else in our barracks chimed in, and 40-some men recited the prayer together!! I think it settled all our hearts that first night.

I did it because my desire was to be a good witness. And I did it because I suspected everyone else lying there in the dark held the same fears I had (their joining in the prayer affirmed this reality). However I DID NOT do it to demonstrate leadership. Yet in doing so, I would say that I discovered leadership. I unknowingly began to discover a principle of leadership, a principle defined in F3 as Individual Initiative (I2). As our workouts are always PEER-LED Individual Initiative (I2) comes to the forefront. Here’s a summary of what we must all do as leaders to instill and grow Individual Initiative:

  1. A leader must teach what he knows
  2. A leader must make clear the mission
  3. A leader must reward I2 whenever and wherever he sees it. “Leaders always get more of what they reward and less of what they punish.”

I couldn’t have defined it that night way back in Nov. 1989 when I found myself leading 40 other [YOUNG] men in the Lord’s Prayer, but in inadvertently taking the initiative, I BEGAN to discover this critical principle of leadership which also applies in many areas of life; it IS that which helps to define each of us as HIGH IMPACT Men: INDIVIDIAL INITIATIVE! It doesn’t matter whether an opportunity arises at home, in the workplace, or in the community in which you serve…Take the initiative and lead!

COT:

  • Number-Rama
  • Name-O-Rama – naming of FNG
  • Announcements: Rucking in Millsboro for Roving RuckF3st Friday, followed by Bible Study at the Country Kitchen
  • Prayers: For Beau’s family as they grieve the loss of this little boy; for Gavin and a miracle to heal his spine; for Woodstock facing some big stuff today (details to be shared later). For all of the men in the circle to be intentional with Individual initiative today.

Good times getting after it with rucks. Awesome to see some growth at the Milford, DE AO The Gri[s]t Mill. As always, humbled to Q, but even more humbled to have an FNG join us who cared for YHC when hospitalized with the Rona. Again, welcome to F3 MacDaddy.

Chappie, out!

Smurf jacked

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warm o rama

  • 20 ssh ic
  • 20 windmills ic
  • 20 cherry pickers
  • 20 morocan nightclubs
  • 10 grady corn

The thang

PAX MOSIED TO THE LOCAL CHURCH (SOME GUY I KNOW DID THE ROOF TO THIS CHURCH, IN CASE I HAVENT TOLD YOU)

25 SMURF JACKS IC

2 LAPS AROUND CHURCH

10  hand releaseMERKINS

25 SMURF JACKS IC

2 LAPS AROUND CHURCH

10 hand release 

20 Wide arm

25 SMURF JACKS

2 LAPS AROUND CHURCH

10 hand release 

20 wide arm

30 merkins

Run back to AO approximately 2 miles over all great push today guys!!

All guts no Glory

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Warm-o-Rama

  • 20 ssh IC
  • 20 Moroccan night clubs IC
  • 20 windmills IC
  • 10 big arm circles
  • 20 grady corn IC

THE THANG MILLENIAL Mary maddness

PAX complete 100 of an exercise first one done hollers DONE  PAX bear crawl to other side of parking lot complete 100 of another exercise and crawl bear back. Rinse and repeat.

100 LBC

100 flutterkicks

100 leg lifts

100 double tap Freddie’s

100 reverse crunch

100 e2k 50 each leg

100 lower case outlaws

100 over head press

F3 MESSAGE

Shadrach meesach and abenda nego were thrown into a fire for not bowing down and praying to the king and they lived and didn’t even smell like smoke. David as a little Shepard boy defeated a Giant with a sling and a rock! Daniel was alive in the morning when he was thrown into the lions den, Moses split the red sea when the Israelites were facing rough seas ahead and certain death from behind, Noah built an ark and lived thru a flood that killed every living thing on the earth. Elijah challenged and defeated 450 baal profits on Mt Carmel. What do all of these have in common FAITH! We will certainly face challenges in our time here on earth. Every single one of us will face difficulty, marriage difficulty, work problems,, money problems. It may seem like you are at the end of your rope but in His own words Jesus taught us that if we believe and have faith as small as a mustard seed we could move mountains! Then there is the greatest miracle in the Bible, Jesus, for all of humanity, willingly stretched out his hands and was killed on a Cross, thrown into a cave and rose from the dead 3 days later.  he promised us if we believe in him he has prepared a place for us and we will be with him in heaven.  Have faith!, So gentlemen think of it like this, what is 100 years of suffering compared to an eternity in Heaven? Stand strong in faith, act like men, Believe in Jesus.

March Merkin Tour de Force

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DATE: March 2, 2021

QIC: Chappie

The first workout for March arrived and so did 14 PAX for YHC’s March Merkin Tour de Force. It’s March so there’s got to be Merkins; lots of Merkins! Plenty today but no doubt there’s more to come.

Disclaimer:

  1. Welcome to F3!
  2. F3 is a non-profit men’s workout group. We don’t own anything and, therefore, make no claims on rights or permissions from the church. The church therefore assumes no liability, nor does F3 (i.e. you can’t sue us).
  3. You are here of your own accord
  4. I’m not a professional, so anything I instruct you to do is only a suggestion, but give your maximum effort. It’s you against you!
  5. If there is an exercise you shouldn’t do, modify. 6. We will not leave you behind, but we won’t leave you where we found you either!

F3 has 5 Core Principles we adhere to:

  1. We are: Open to all men
  2. We are: Always free
  3. We are: Always outdoors…rain or shine, hot or cold
  4. We are: Always peer-led in rotating fashion
  5. We: Always end with a COT

WARM-O-RAMA:

  • SSH – 10 IC
  • Swartzjacks – 10 IC
  • Stop & Go Merkins (Down, hold 2, 3 up, rep) – 10 IC
  • American Hammers – 18 IC
  • Single Arm Flying Squirrels (5 each arm) – 10 OYO
  • Imperial Squat Walker – 10 IC
  • Cherry Picker – 10 IC

*Walk-thru explanation of Starfish Stations (group up – groups of 3 to 4 PAX)

THE THANG:

STARFISH/MARCH MERKIN TOUR DE FORCE: Groups picked a station and began working toward completing each one. Not all stations were completed by all PAX, but March definitely came in like a lion (i.e. Plenty-O-Merkins = Plenty-O-Roarin’…and man, those Swerkins!). Here’s each station:

  • 100 Merkins
  • 100 Plankjacks (5 Brick Merkins @ quarters, brick under PAX and down all the way to touch with chest)
  • 100 Drydirks (Drydocks w/feet on boardwalk benches)
  • 100 Swerkins (10 reps/10 sets, lap to platform and back after each set, resume)
  • 100 Tilted Kilts (Gas Pumpers tilted on side, feet over top of parking block, 50 reps each side)
  • AFTER first station PAX returned to center platform to complete 10 Burpee Step-ups. Subsequent rounds: 5 Burpee Step-ups

Overtime Grand Finale Crowd Pleaser: JACK WEBB! (Ratio: 1 Merkin, 4 OHC… to 10 Merkins, 40 OHC’s)

Arms. What arms? You didn’t need them today, did you?

YHC shared the following 3rdF somewhere around mid-workout:

IF – By RUDYARD KIPLING

If you can keep your head when all about you 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,    

But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,    

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,    

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;       

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster    

And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken    

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,    

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings    

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings    

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew    

To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you    

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,       

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,    

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute    

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,       

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

—————————

YHC heard this poem a few weeks ago and immediately looked it up, then sent it to my oldest son in California. The poem is embedded throughout with biblical wisdom. While not all of it is found in 1 Cor. 16:13-14, much of it is captured in the phrase “act like men.” That phrase ought to echo in our hearts in minds throughout each day. When we’re making decisions or responding to situations and opportunities we ought to be asking ourselves how would a man act in this moment. Responding is such a manner will inevitably lead to being HIM; it will lead us to becoming better husbands, fathers, neighbors, co-workers, etc.

Here (1 Cor. 16:13-14) the Bible says, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” (emphasis added)

Here are 5 quick commands for you today which, if you do them, will help you to be a HIM…a better husband, father, man:

  1. Be on the alert
  2. Stand firm in the faith
  3. Act like men
  4. Be strong
  5. Let all that you do be done in love

As mentioned, everyone got in their fair share of Merkins–it’s March!

COT:

  • Number-Rama
  • Name-O-Rama
  • Announcements: ShamRuck Family Ruck coming up on Mar. 13 +@ 3:17 p.m. Meeting at Georgetown Circle (Aegis AO) and rucking to McDonalds for a Shamrock Shake. Also, we’re planning to strengthen our 2nd & 3rdF’s by starting a study of the book Chosen Suffering by Tom Ryan, Head Coach of the Ohio State wrestling team. Up for discussion: Do study at Saturday Coffeeteria or on Mondays from 0500-0600hrs? Starting end of March or early April. Watch for the poll on our F3 First State Groupme. GREAT BOOK! Recommended reading by Toy Soldier.
  • Prayer: We lifted up baby Beau, his body is rejecting the new heart and he’s back on the transplant list; continue prayers for Gavin – praying for a miracle for this young man to walk again after being paralyzed from a snowboarding accident in January

Honored to Q up the first March Merkin Madness beatdown with a Tour de Force. Welcome to March gentlemen!

Shaky arms,

Chappie, out!

You Don’t Know Squat

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Date: 02/23/2021

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 20 IC

Bolt 45’s – 15 squats to halfway down.   15 squats halfway to full down.  15 full squats.

Cherry Pickers – 20 IC

Smurf Jacks – 20 IC

Moroccan Night Clubs – 20 IC

Lt. Dan’s – Approx. 50 Yards

Hydraulic Squats – 10 IC (6 Count)

Mosey @ .5 mile to the Hill by the Goshen Church

The Thang

Burpee Squats – 10 IC

Ballerina Toe Squats – 20 IC

Split Jacks – 20 IC

Alternating Side Squats – 20 IC

Burpee Squats – 10 IC

Bobby Hurleys – 20 OYO

NUR up the hill and run down.  Plank for the 6.

Tempo Merkins – 20 IC

Inclined Toy Soldier Set – 100 LBC’s, 50 E2K’s x2, 25 Big Boys OYO.  Plank for the 6.

F3 Message – See Below

Mosey @ .5 miles back to CHOP

Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust.  Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayer. 

F3 Message 02/23/21 – Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

REAL YOU, REAL PRAYER – #8051

Monday, November 20, 2017

It was one of those real short nights. I had just spoken for a large youth event, and the night went late for the best of reasons: God brought hundreds of young people to faith in Christ that night. The counseling of all those kids took a blessedly long time. Now Jason, who was one of the organizers, took me to my hotel that night and he told me he would be picking me up in a few hours for my very early morning flight. I said, “I’m sorry you have to get me so early when you’ve been up so late.” He said, “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll just roll out of bed, throw on a baseball cap, and come on over.” (Which, by the way, I think is the major reason there are baseball caps.) Well, bless his heart, that’s just what he did. When we got to the airport, I asked him if we could pray together before I went on my plane. He respectfully took off his baseball cap, and we had a neat time of prayer. When I opened my eyes at the end, he still had his cap off. And a very creative hair style – I mean, it was all over the place! He even laughed about it. The cap covered what he didn’t want anyone to see-except when he was praying.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Real You, Real Prayer.”

Actually, prayer should be the time when we are willing to expose what we don’t want anyone to see or know otherwise. It’s meant to be the place where we can be 100% honest and 100% transparent. And when we are, some amazing things can happen.

Our word for today from the Word of God begins with Hebrews 4:13, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” In other words, there is no point in posing or role-playing when you’re with God. He already knows your deepest feelings, your deepest failings, your deepest struggles. Our hat is always off in front of God, whether we take it off or not. He knows everything we cover up for other people. There’s no point in trying to put a tie on for God if “everything is uncovered and laid bare before Him.” Right?

Now we might worry about how God will respond if we really get real with Him. Well, listen to verse 15. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.” The Savior you’re approaching is the one who has been here, who has been, while fully God, fully human. He gets us!

When God the Son was here, He experienced temptation from Satan himself. He experienced loneliness, abandonment, agonizing over God’s will, grief, family tensions, homelessness, excruciating pain, even dying. So you come emotionally naked to one who has lived…not necessarily all your exact circumstances, but feelings very much like yours. You’ll not shock Him with your struggles-He already knows. You won’t be rejected for your feelings-He understands.

And when you come with the cover off, you leave with resources from God that can change everything. Hebrews 4:16: “Let us then (in other words, since we’re going to a God who knows all about us, who has walked in our moccasins) approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

God wants to pour out His mercy and His grace on the hardest, hurtingest parts of your heart and life. But the real God will only help the real you. You don’t come with your “cap off” to show God what He doesn’t know about. You come totally exposed emotionally and spiritually because God will only help you with what you honestly open up to Him.

So when you’re praying, don’t come to God with the official you, with the image you show everyone else, with the dressed up, touched up, covered up you. Uncover in His presence what you can’t uncover to anyone else. And let His grace; let His healing come pouring into the parts of your heart that need it the most.

Come like the old hymn says, “Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me.”

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

The Escalator (The Self Inflicted Kind)

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Date: 2/11/21

QIC: Gump

Warm o Rama

  • 20 SSH
  • 20 cherry pickers
  • 20 windmills
  • 20 grady corn
  • Bolt 45

The Thang

Slaughter starter (say that 5 times fast) 20 Burpees OYO

THE ESCALATOR

  • Pax did 10 burpees followed by 1 Chairman lap (1/4 mile)
  • 10 burpees, 20 mexican jumpin beans 1 Chairman lap
  • 10 burpees, 20 mjb, 30 merkins, 1 Chairman lap
  • 3rd F message (Below)
  • 10 burpees, 20 mjb, 30 merkins, 40 squats 1 Chairman lap
  • Slaughter finisher 20 burpees OYO

3rd F message

Todays 3rd F message came from the Courageous Bible study (based off the movie) Its a great Bible study that helps identify what it takes to become the courageous man that God has called us out to be.

COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP

John Hagee defines leadership
as, “the discipline of deliberately
exerting

special influence within a group
to move it toward goals of
beneficial permanence that fulfill
the group’s real needs.” I feel
that the most significant word in
this sentence is ‘influence’ and
so we can say in brief,
“Leadership is Influence.”
Growing up, the image I had of a
leader was that of someone who
headed an institution. But I soon
realized that I was a leader in my
home, in my church and in my
friends’ circle because of

the influence I exerted on these
groups. As we go higher in our
leadership position we influence
more people. We can identify
people as good or bad leaders
depending on what kind of
influence they exert.

Nehemiah is an example of an
excellent leader. When it was
reported to him about the
miserable state of the Jerusalem
wall, he was a captive in a
foreign land. His

immediate reaction was of great
sorrow. But he also fasted and
prayed, confessing the sins of
the Israelites and asking for
God’s guidance in his future
endeavors. He saw the need and
heard the call. He already had a
good job of being the king’s cup
bearer, but took the risk of
pursuing a difficult task. He faced
mockery but continued to deal
with injustice. Indeed he
motivated and gave leadership
and direction to a

hopeless and demoralized
people. Nehemiah’s dependence
on God and his positive influence
on the people enabled them to
rebuild the wall in fifty two days.
Not only did he rebuild the wall
he also made the people confess
their sins and affirm their faith in
God’s Law. The book of
Nehemiah ends with a simple
prayer, “Remember me with
favor, O my God.”

When we look around us we will
notice that people are looking for
good leaders. Jesus was moved
with compassion when He saw
the multitudes that “were
harassed and helpless, like
sheep without a shepherd.”
(Matt.9:36). Are we ready to be
the godly influencers

Proverbs 11
Where there is no counsel, the
people fall; But in the

multitude of counselors there is
safety.

Proverbs 11:14 NKJV

Bass Ackwards

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DATE: 02/09/21

QIC: Chappie

Congrats to Waler for pulling off an excellent VQ Warm-O-Rama! Glad to finally get you in the line-up; great job brother. PAX can’t wait for your official VQ. Kudos to the dirty dozen who won THAT FIRST BATTLE in the Gloom and posted in the rain to do a lot backwards, hence the title of this Backblast…

Warm-O-Rama: (YHC tried to remember the details, hope this is accurate)

  • SSH – 20 IC
  • Mt. Climbers – 20 IC
  • Imperial Walkers – 21 IC
  • Merkins – 10 IC
  • Cherry Pickers – 16 IC

The Thang: Waler handed it over to YHC and off we went…bass ackwards

  • Nur to Willow Street,
  • Mosey to Mulberry Street,
  • Nur toward new entrance for H.O.B. Elementary School,
  • Mosey to pick up the six,
  • Nur to entrance of H.O.B. Elementary

Wosey to other side of storm pond, partner up for a little trip to…

Burpback Mountain:

  • Partner 1 mosey’s to bottom of hill, then Nur back to the top,
  • Partner 2 does Burpees
  • Partners swap & rinse and repeat until Burpees are complete
  • Team Goal: Completed 100 Burpees cumulatively. Just keep moving! “I hate Burpees, let’s do Burpees” was the name of the game.

PAX got a breather at 50 Burpees for the 3rdF:

Andy Stanley shared a quote this past Sunday from Albert Speer which really caught my attention; so much so that I wrote it down right away.

First, if you don’t know who Albert Speer was, you’re not alone. He served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during of World War II. He was convicted at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Speer later died in 1981. And as a right hand man of Adolph Hitler, we’d not typically think of him, a Nazi, as a man worthy of quoting, moreless someone to learn something/anything from.

Still, there are lessons to be learned even from some who’ve gained them the hard way. In his memoirs titled: Inside the Third Reich, Speer gave this profound statement: “Resist the evolution of a court.”

When you begin to understand his statement, it is incredibly powerful and poignant. It means to resist the development of a group of people around you, so-called friends, who will tell you only what you want to hear.

The Bible refers to this in reference to the end times and sound doctrine, but I also want us to apply it today in terms of that big word: ACCOUNTABILITY.

Second Timothy 4:3 says, “For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires.”

In other words, men will not want to hear the truth and as a result they will hang around— they will gather a court of—those who tell them only what they want to hear and tickle their ears.

Truth is, there is no such thing as autonomy, there’s no such thing as a self-made man, there’s no such thing as a man who can fully hold himself accountable. Can you hold yourself accountable? No!

Accountability by definition requires a shield-lock with others who will speak truth to us. Accountability is about ideal relationships between men.

Here’s how Dredd started his chapter on accountability in his book F3 Q Source:

“The HIM seeks accountability because his life is not his own. No matter how dedicated or deliberate a HIM is in the building of his Guardrails, there will be some stretches of his road that he will not be able to protect through his own Bricklaying. These are a man’s Blind Spots, the hardwired gaps in his nature that he cannot protect without help.” (103)

“Because he is a servant who lives for the mission, the HIM treats his blind spots like any other obstacle in his life—as a problem that impedes movement. Because a problem can and must be remedied, the HIM does so by seeking accountability.” (104) The HIM does so by “resisting the evolution of a court.”

“Nobody likes being held accountable, held to a standard through enforcement and consequence. But accountability shines the light of hope into a man’s blindspots.” (104)

As HIM let’s strive to resist the evolution of a court; let’s strive to develop the F3 First State 2ndF (Fellowship), and let’s strive to stay out of the danger zone of [perceived] autonomy and, instead, develop ideal relationships between some of the guys in this group for mutual accountability! You’re in danger if you don’t have another man or two who can tell you the truth, brutal truth if need be.

RESIST THE EVOLUTION OF A COURT!

After completing Burpback Mountain, PAX returned to the AO…mostly bass ackwards.

  • Nur up Mulberry Street toward AO,
  • Mosey to pick up the six,
  • Mosey Left onto Clifton Street til PAX are together,
  • Prison Break for 10 secs.,
  • Mosey to Union Street,
  • Mosey up Union,
  • Prison Break for 10 secs.,
  • Nur rest of the way back to the AO

Round of [wet] Mary: (Must be in cadence)

  • Hello Dolly (sitting) – Compliments of Ruxpin
  • Flutter Kicks – Compliments of Chattahoochee
  • Big Boys – Compliments of Waterboy
  • Big Boys (Again!) – Complements of Woodstock
  • Crab Jacks – Compliments of Fireplex
  • “Reverse Plank” – Compliments of Quattro 😉
A Round of Mary

Time!

COT:

  • NUMBER-RAMA
  • NAME-O-RAMA
  • Announcements: PAX will be doing the Rucking Challenges “Love Your Ruck” rucking challenge for this week’s Roving RuckF3st Friday (2/12) in Georgetown. Join the fun and love your ruck!
  • Prayers: Praise for successful implant of Pacemaker in Chairman’s dad, Denny, expected to be released today. Continued prayers for Gavin. YHC’s son was able to visit with him for about 1 hr. on Friday. Gavin is overwhelmed at times by what the future holds, whether he will ever walk again or not. We’re continuing to pray for a miracle by the hand of the God for whom all things are possible. Prayers for all PAX that we’d make ourselves accountable to a few guys in the group so that we’re more successful at being HIM in our homes, workplaces, and the communities in which we serve. RESIST THE EVOLUTION OF A COURT!

Lots of Nur today. I.e. bass ackwards, legs will be feeling it tomorrow. But, hey, you can’t skip leg day…unless, of course, you do (shout out to the Fartsackers, you got lapped)!

Grateful for the opportunity to lead once again, and honored to introduce Waler into the Q rotation.

~Chappie, out!

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