Warm-a-Rama
20 Michael Phelps  i/c
10 hip circles each direction oyo
15 seal waves i/c
20 plank jacks i/c
Capri lap around circle, side shuffle halfway, switch directions for other half

20 seal jacks i/c
30 marocan night club i/c
10 mountain man pooper i/c

The Thang

Each HIM grabs a large coupon and 2 small coupons

Coupon Tabata :20/:10

halos each direction
monkey grabs

floundering blocks
block cliff hanger

toe touches
press jacks w/coupon

squat front raise w/coupon
halos

coupon chops per side
sprawled coupon curl

Flys (laying on back)
bridge chest press

backwards lunge to block crusher per side       rows

3rd F
Stand Firm and Act Like Men

Number Rama
Name Rama
COT

8  HIM showed today: Semi, Boxcar, Bunt, Probe, Yukon, Chauffer, Fireplex, Motown

Warm-a-Rama
20 Michael Phelps  i/c
10 hip circles each direction oyo
15 seal waves i/c
20 seal jacks i/c
30 marocan night club i/c
15 mountain man pooper i/c

The Thang
Each HIM grabs a coupon

Tabata – 25/12

Modified merkin
Squat to coupon

Lung
Split squats

press jacks w/coupon
squat front raise w/coupon

3rd F
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/14ZnESEgYci/

Modified merkin
Squat to coupon

Coupon chops
sprawled Curls coupons
(3/4 round due to time)

Number Rama
Name Rama
COT

9 HIM showed today: Semi, FNG (Flipper), Probe, Struedel, Fireplex, Quattro, Motown, Chattahoochee, TREX

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE

PAX: Chattahoochee, Fireplex, Probe, Streudel, Woodstock

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 20 IC

Cherry Pickers – 15 IC

Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down.  15 squats halfway to full down.  15 full squats.

Mountain Climbers – 15 OYO

Windmills – 15 IC

The Thang

Pax completed the Hindenburg BLIMPS routine from the Exicon at the CHOP.  From the FD Flag pole mosey to Strawberry Alley and perform 1^st exercise, Mosey to Union Street/Strawberry Alley and perform 1st exercise, mosey to Union Street/Front Street and perform 1st exercise.  Mosey back to the FD Flag pole and perform 1st exercise.  Plank it up until all PAX are in.  That completes one round.  Rinse and repeat until all 6 Rounds are complete with the other identified exercises. Round # 1 – 10 Burpees, Round #2 – 20 Lunges (10 each leg). Round #3 – 30 Imperial Walkers. Round #4 – 40 Merkins. Round #5 – 50 Plank Jacks. Round #6 – 60 Squats.

F3 Message 01/22/26

The Jobs We Don’t Want To Do – #3008

As our kids were growing up, Saturday was always chore day at the Hutchcraft house. It was the day we got our leaves raked and bagged, rooms got cleaned – or hosed out like a monkey cage – it was the day the garage got dug out, the dirty clothes got clean, broken things got fixed, you know. Now it wasn’t that kids jumped out of bed on Saturday morning saying, “What do you have for me to do today, Dad?” No, Saturday mornings often involved some delicate labor negotiations – especially when it came to someone getting a job that meant more time and more dirty work than some of the others. That child might say, “I don’t want to do Job A. I want Job B.” To which I would reply, “I pay the allowances and the bonuses around here. (See, usually there was extra pay for extra work). Don’t forget lesson #1 of working – you don’t pick your jobs. The person who pays you decides the jobs you’ll do.”

Well, I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about “The Jobs We Don’t Want To Do.”

Now our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 10, where Simon Peter is being assigned by His boss to do an unpleasant chore. Peter has been preaching Christ to Jewish audiences who knew the Scriptures and respected God’s laws. Now, God wants Peter to now reach out to go to the house of Cornelius, a Roman military leader, to reach out to this Gentile. Now Peter’s lifelong feeling about Gentiles could be summed up in one word – “yuck!” They didn’t know the Bible; they ate what the Jewish law called unclean foods; they lived outside God’s laws. Well, God sends Peter a vision to prepare him for this job he is not going to want to do. It’s a vision of a sheet with animals that Peter, as a Jew, considers unclean to eat.

Acts 10:13 – “Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter, Kill and eat.’ ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’ The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.” Well, immediately Peter finds at his door men who have come to invite him to the house of Cornelius, the Gentile. The Bible says, “Peter said to the men, ‘I’m the one you’re looking for’…Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.” And the next day he’s off to meet Cornelius.

God gave Peter a job he really didn’t want to do. But Peter knew who the Boss was, and that the One who pays you decides the job you’ll do. Peter obeyed, and it led to some amazing results. Now maybe God has given you an unpleasant chore, and you’re balking, just like my kids on a Saturday morning.

It could be God is leading you to befriend a person who isn’t very attractive, who may be pretty demanding. Or the assignment may be to share Christ with someone who isn’t much fun to be around or is hard to talk to; or to minister to a group of people that you find irritating or even repulsive; possibly to work closely with someone who is definitely not your type. Whatever the job you don’t feel like doing, tell the Lord your reservations – like Peter. Then go ahead and do it anyway – like Peter. And like Peter, you’ll probably get some important results – in what it will do for them and how it will grow you.

I’m really glad Jesus doesn’t just hang around with people who are His type – you and I wouldn’t stand a chance. No, He will reward you generously for doing the unpleasant chores, the ones that will stretch you. So if your Lord is giving you a job you don’t want to do, will you trust His judgment over yours? Then start on it today without delay. It is an assignment Jesus has been preparing for you long before today. Believe me, doing what the Boss says to do will pay off!

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

Date: 12/25/2025

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE

PAX: Chattahoochee, Fireplex, Motown, Probe, TRex

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

12) Side straddle hops – IC (4 Count)

11) Big boy sit-ups OYO

10) Jiminy crickets OYO

9) Donkey kicks – OYO

8) Windmills – IC (4 Count)

7) Mountain climber IC (4 Count)

6) Goofballs (ladder climbers) – IC (4 Count)

5) Cherry pickers – IC (4 Count)

4) American hammers (4 Count)

3) Mountain man poopers – IC (4 Count)

2) Tempo merkins (4 Count)

1) Set of Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down.  15 squats halfway to full down.  15 full squats.

The Thang – 12 Days of Christmas Part Three or Doce Dias de Navidad La Parte Tres.  Each exercise was completed and repeated in descending order just as the Twelve days of Christmas Song would be sung.  After the Tuck Jump at the end of each evolution Pax completed a Nur across the Fire Department parking lot and a run back before starting the next exercise.

1– Tuck jump

2 – Mountain climbers (4 Count)

3 – Hand release, diamond, wide & ranger merkins

4 – LBC’s (4 Count)

5 – Burpees

6 – Donkey kicks

7 – Iron Mikes

8 – SSH’s (4 Count)

9 – Apolo Ohno’s

10 – Shoulder tap merkins – ATM’s

11 – Full motion squats

12 – Big boy sit-ups

Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust.  Prayers were offered for multiple needs within the attending PAX, but please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.   

F3 Message 12/25/2025

How Christmas Rightsizes the World – #10160

December 19, 2025

One of the amusing sides of Christmas is people shopping in departments they never otherwise shop in – generally clueless. Let me give you an example that I can relate to – men shopping in the ladies clothing department. Oh, we’re a mess. Now, if you need a good laugh; you’re feeling a little down, you ought to go to the ladies garment department somewhere; especially the more personal the item is, the funnier it is to watch men shopping. They’re slightly embarrassed, generally incompetent at what they’re doing, and it’s very important if you’re going to go shopping for a woman during the Christmas season that you get the woman’s size: your wife, your mother, your sister, your girlfriend, or whatever. And you trust that the tags are right, of course, on the size. You know that a small had better be a small, because you don’t know anything. A large had better be a large. Now, you want to know how to sow some confusion and have some fun? (Don’t anybody do this, please.) Imagine if someone snuck into that store late one night and just changed the tags around. Well, people would make a lot of wrong choices, all because the sizes were wrong. Now, that doesn’t happen to clothes, but it does happen to people, and it takes the Christmas Story to straighten out small and large.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “How Christmas Rightsizes the World.”

Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Luke 1:52-53. Mary is pregnant; she’s carrying the baby Jesus, and we get a little idea of the insight God has given her as she prays this prayer, what is often called The Magnificat. She says, “God has brought down rulers from their thrones, but He has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but He has sent the rich away empty.”

You know, Mary has the right sizes on the right people. She has the smalls on the small, and the bigs on the big. You see, the world would call these the big people – those people who are called rulers and rich. But she says, “the rulers have been brought down. The rich have been sent away empty.” God’s heroes – the people the world calls small. They’re identified as the humble, who He lifts up, and the hungry, who He fills up.

You see, what is a big deal to men is a little deal to God – big deal like money, gifts, title, fame. That’s a little deal to God. Conversely, what’s a little deal to men: “You don’t have much money. You don’t have much influence. Not many people know you. You’re average.” See, that’s a big deal to God. You hear people say all the time, “Well, I’m just a… I’m just a student. I’m just a mother. I’m just a secretary. I’m just a helper. I’m just a Sunday school teacher. I’m just a laborer. It’s just a small church. It’s just a little class. I’m just a choir member.” With God, there are no “just a’s,” not in God’s value system.

Bethlehem, we’re told, was “little among the villages, but out of you (little village) will come the Prince,” Mary, the peasant but the Mother of God’s Son. Shepherds, the outcasts of their society, the first evangelists. I wonder if you have the two qualifications for God’s heroes: humble, which means you are totally depending on the Lord, and hungry, restless to know and serve Him more. God likes to make folks like that big for Him – the humble and the hungry.

Remember to give attention to the people others ignore. They’re the big people to God – children, the poor, the powerless. Oh, by the way, don’t ever call yourself “just a…” again. God does His biggest things through the smallest instruments. Call big what God calls big. Make sure you’ve got the right size.

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

AO: Aegis, Georgetown, DE

Pax: Bunt, Chattahoochee, Chauffer, Fireplex, Motown, Pickles, Probe, Quattro, Semi, Toy Soldier.

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 20 IC

Windmills – 15 IC

Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down.  15 squats halfway to full down.  15 full squats.

Cherry Pickers – 15 IC   

The Thang

Explanation of the Directive God gave Joshua in regard to the wall of Jericho and the number seven.  Pax conquered Jericho this gloom in F3 fashion thanks to a phone call from Quattro on December of 2019 planting a seed for the original beatdown on 12/2019 and quoting the verses from Joshua 6:4-5,20-21 New King James Version (NKJV).  Round #1 – Karaoke around the circle switching directions at halfway and complete 7 hand release merkins.  Round #2 – Nur around the circle and complete 21 LBC’s.  Round #3 – side shuffle around the circle switching directions at halfway and complete Aiken legs – 7 squats, 7 box jumps, 7 lunges (10 each Leg), 7 split Jacks (7 each Leg).  Round #4 – high knees around the circle and complete ATM’s – 7 alternating “merkin” shoulder taps, 7 tempo merkins, and 7 fast merkins.  Round # 5 – Lieutenant Dan around the circle and complete 7 four count mountain climbers.  Round #6 – Toy Soldier march around the circle and complete a set of 7’s.  1 big boy to 1 merkin, two big boys to 2 merkins ascending to 7 of each.  Round #7 – mosey 7 laps around the circle and complete ascending Burp & Merks up to seven merkins.  The twist is we are going to repeat each of the previous exercises before starting the next lap around the circle.

F3 Message – 11/08/25

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

F3 Message 11/08/25

Joshua 6:4-5,20-21 New King James Version (NKJV)

⁴ And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.” ²⁰ So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. ²¹ And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

The Power of Powerlessness – #8890

February 5, 2021

I had just finished speaking. I was talking with two men, and the subject was manhood and what it really means. In the course of our solving many of the world’s problems, I learned that one of the men had a black belt or its equivalent in three different forms of martial arts. I hired him as my bodyguard. Well, almost. The man has the ability to take control of most any hostile situation – except for one. He told me there is only one position in which a person is totally powerless, no matter how strong or how skilled they are: lying face down on the ground. You’re absolutely powerless there.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Power of Powerlessness.”

When Mr. Black Belt told me about the total vulnerability of being face down on the ground, General Joshua flashed into my mind. That’s Joshua as in the Book of Joshua in the Bible. In fact, there’s a wonderful blueprint for winning life’s unwinnable battles in the account of Joshua’s most powerless moment. It’s recorded in Joshua 5, beginning with verse 13, and it’s our word for today from the Word of God.

Joshua is leading the Jews into the Promised Land that God has said He would give to them. But immediately, they come upon this massive, seemingly impregnable city; the walls are looming toward the sky. It’s the world’s oldest city, Jericho. There’s no way Joshua’s going to breach those walls with anything he knows how to do. You know what? You may be facing one of those “Jerichos” in your life right now, where the size of the challenge is a lot greater than the resources you have.

So, this one’s for you. Joshua 5 says, “When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and he saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’ ‘Neither,’ he replied, ‘but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.’ Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, ‘What message does my Lord have for His servant?'”

Here’s Joshua, the man who has never lost a battle, going face down on the ground in the most powerless position a man can be in. I don’t think Joshua ever surrendered to anyone. But standing before the Commander of the Army of the Lord, he falls down in total surrender. Most Bible scholars believe this “Commander” is actually the Son of God making one of His pre-Bethlehem appearances in the Old Testament.

Face down before Jesus. Could that be where He wants you right now? Maybe that’s the only way you’re ever going to conquer your Jericho; the only way you’re ever going to have peace. When Joshua surrendered, God gave him the miracle plan that pulverized the walls of Jericho. The issue wasn’t really the conquest of Jericho; it was the conquest of Joshua. The issue in your life really isn’t the conquest of your impossible challenge; it’s the conquest of you. It sometimes takes a “Jericho” to level some of us Joshuas.

It could be that you’ve given Jesus everything: your talent, your time, your money, your service; everything but one thing. Control. It’s still my way, my will, my agenda, my plans, my timing. There’s someone or something that you’re still holding tightly in your hands, and you’re afraid or you’re unwilling to surrender control. And, consequently, your Jerichos will remain standing.

The most powerful position in the world is powerlessness. The secret of peace; the secret of the release of God’s power into your situation is total surrender. At that point, He will commit all His forces to the battles in front of you. To finally surrender is to finally win.

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE

Pax: Chattahoochee, Fireplex, Probe, Streudel, Toy Soldier

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 20 IC

Plank Jacks – 20 IC

Cherry Pickers – 15 IC

Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down.  15 squats halfway to full down.  15 full squats.

Windmills – 15 IC

Hydraulic Squats – 10 IC (6 Count)

The Thang

Mosey to Park Pavilion.

Each Pax completed Aiken legs – 20 squats, 20 box jumps, 20 lunges (10 each Leg), 20 Iron Mikes (10 each Leg).  After the completion of each evolution, Pax will take a lap around the pavilion circle.  Two full evolutions were completed by each Pax.

Pax Moseyed to the municipal parking lot and completed the Burp & Merk – Burpee with ascending merkins up to 10.  Each PAX completed a Bear Crawl to each parking space and completed a Burpee with a hand release merkin.  Bear Crawl to the next space and complete a Burpee with two hand release merkins.   Continue until completing a Burpee with ten hand release merkins.

A break was taken for the F3 Message before moving on to the next exercise.

Each Pax completed the bottom feeder/deconstructed toy soldier set.  Crab walk forward from the Governors Walk to the opposite curb and then crab walk backwards to the Governors Walk and complete 100 LBC’s.  Rinse and Repeat but completing 50 E2K’s on each side. After the final crab walk, Pax completed 25 big boy sit-ups.  Mosey back to CHOP.

F3 Message – See below

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

F3 Message 10/09/25

When Things Are Overwhelming – #9541

August 7, 2023

My wife always said I usually try to cram in one more thing before I leave for an appointment. No, she was right. Yeah, she’d say that I usually try to make it up on the road, and sometimes I do have to plead guilty I guess. And it usually works okay if the weather’s on my side. And then there are those very rainy days when it’s a little tougher to hurry. You know, you’re zipping down the highway at top speed, and suddenly you feel yourself losing control of the rear wheels. You ever had that happen to you? Yeah, it’s what they call hydroplaning. The water builds up under those tires so that well, you’re suddenly skiing. You’re skimming along on water rather than on the pavement and the rear of your car starts to go somewhere you don’t want it to go. Now, if that’s ever happened to you, you know it is a scary feeling to start hydroplaning because, well, you’re going so fast and you’re starting to start losing control.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “When Things Are Overwhelming.”

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 42. As we read this, the author is hydroplaning. Well, he didn’t have a car, he had a chariot. And I don’t know if chariots hydroplane or not, but things were moving so fast for him, he was beginning to lose control. In fact, listen to some of the descriptions he gives. He says, “My tears have been my food day and night.” Then as you read on later in this very personal Psalm, he uses words like this: “Why are you so downcast oh my soul? Why are you so disturbed within me?” Then he says, “My soul is downcast within me. All Your waves and breakers, Lord, have swept over me.” This guy’s in bad shape!

He says, “Man, things are just totally out of control.” I was there not too long ago feeling this way. I think it was accumulated over a period of several weeks. Challenges had just been getting much bigger than my resources. Personally I felt like my faith was kind of like a fitted sheet on a king sized bed and I couldn’t quite get it over that fourth corner. I couldn’t get it to reach far enough to cover the particular challenges and the pressures that were accumulating. And I’ll be honest with you, I was overwhelmed, I get there sometimes. I was pretty anxious, I was feeling like I would never catch up. And then I wandered into Psalm 42, where I was hit with a very probing question by a man who was feeling things out-of-control like I was. And as it turned out, that question turned out to be the answer.

Here’s our word for today from the Word of God. The question is in Psalm 42:2. It says this: “When can I go and meet with God?” So the writer says, “I’m losing control. It’s bigger than I am. When can I go and meet with God?” You know, just like the writer of that Psalm, I needed to stop the world and get away for 24 hours with my Bible and a notepad and meet with God. And I did.

That’s been repeated many times. Maybe that’s the prescription for you right now. You say, “Well, there’s too much for me to stop right now.” See, that’s why you need to. Set a time to stop. Stand back, and listen to your Lord for an extended, unhurried chunk of time – for hours, not just minutes. Write down what you’re feeling and what you’re thinking as you’re in His presence for that extended time. And ask Him for a fresh look at the people and the pressures so you can see the forest and not just the trees. Ask Him to help you see it through His eyes. Set some priorities while you’re in that away spot. Make plans. Weed out things that can go. You can trust what you get from God when you’re in an extended time in His presence. And those need to be scheduled on a pretty regular basis.

So, if you’re traveling at high speed, you feel yourself losing control, slow down, hit the brakes, carve out time away where your Lord can show you what He wants, and He can have your undivided attention.

The number one question you have to answer right now is this: “When can I go and meet with God?”

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

Warm-a-Rama
20 Michael Phelps  i/c
10 hip circles each direction oyo
15 seal waves i/c
20 seal jacks i/c
30 marocan night club i/c

The Thang

Chappie run (water in mouth) to ball fields. Find stack of coupons. Each HIM grabs 2 coupons.

home plate
10 standing twist with coupon
10 coupon chops per side

Nur w/coupons to first base
10 merkins rows w/2 coupons
10 sprawled Curls coupons
15 knee up to squat jump
10 reverse lunge into knee drive w/coupon
20 iron mikes

Bear crawl w/coupons to second
10 ballistic row per side
10 goblet clusters (squat to overhead press)
10 reverse lunge into knee drive w/coupon

3rd F

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/tVBJH589anv6n7VU/?mibextid=D5vuiz
What is your pre game routine?

Crawl bear w/coupons to third
20 press jacks w/coupon
10 squat front raise w/coupon

Nur w/coupons to home plate

Mosey back to AO

Round of Mary

flutter kick, gas pumpers, v ups, 4 count Freddie, and American hammers

Number Rama
Name Rama
COT

9 HIM showed today; Semi, Probe, Chauffer, Toy Soldier, Fireplex, Quattro, Bunt, Chattahoochee, Motown

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE

Pax: Chattahoochee, Fireplex, Probe, Streudel, Toy Soldier

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

Burpees – 10 OYO

SSH – 20 IC

Cherry Pickers – 15 IC

Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down.  15 squats halfway to full down.  15 full squats.

Burpees – 10 OYO

Windmills – 15 IC

The Thang

Pax moseyed to the Park pavilion and completed 10 burpees.  Pax moseyed to “Oh Hill No” and completed 10 burpees at the bottom of the hill, nur’d up the hill and moseyed back down for 10 more burpees.  Next all Pax moseyed to the Town parking lot and completed 10 burpees.  A short mosey to the Boat ramp for 10 more burpees.  Nur up the big hill to the Church parking lot for 10 burpees.  Mosey to the Police Station and complete 10 more burpees.  A short mosey to the flag pole at the fire station and complete 10 burpees.  Nur up the hill to Mill Street and back down and finish up with a toy soldier set of 50 LBC’s, 25 E2K’s each side, and 15 Big Boy Sit Ups. One final set of 10 Burpees compliments of Chattahoochee.

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

F3 Message 08/12/25

The Jobs We Don’t Want To Do – #3008

As our kids were growing up, Saturday was always chore day at the Hutchcraft house. It was the day we got our leaves raked and bagged, rooms got cleaned – or hosed out like a monkey cage – it was the day the garage got dug out, the dirty clothes got clean, broken things got fixed, you know. Now it wasn’t that kids jumped out of bed on Saturday morning saying, “What do you have for me to do today, Dad?” No, Saturday mornings often involved some delicate labor negotiations – especially when it came to someone getting a job that meant more time and more dirty work than some of the others. That child might say, “I don’t want to do Job A. I want Job B.” To which I would reply, “I pay the allowances and the bonuses around here. (See, usually there was extra pay for extra work). Don’t forget lesson #1 of working – you don’t pick your jobs. The person who pays you decides the jobs you’ll do.”

Well, I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You about “The Jobs We Don’t Want To Do.”

Now our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 10, where Simon Peter is being assigned by His boss to do an unpleasant chore. Peter has been preaching Christ to Jewish audiences who knew the Scriptures and respected God’s laws. Now, God wants Peter to now reach out to go to the house of Cornelius, a Roman military leader, to reach out to this Gentile. Now Peter’s lifelong feeling about Gentiles could be summed up in one word – “yuck!” They didn’t know the Bible; they ate what the Jewish law called unclean foods; they lived outside God’s laws. Well, God sends Peter a vision to prepare him for this job he is not going to want to do. It’s a vision of a sheet with animals that Peter, as a Jew, considers unclean to eat.

Acts 10:13 – “Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter, Kill and eat.’ ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’ The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.” Well, immediately Peter finds at his door men who have come to invite him to the house of Cornelius, the Gentile. The Bible says, “Peter said to the men, ‘I’m the one you’re looking for’…Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.” And the next day he’s off to meet Cornelius.

God gave Peter a job he really didn’t want to do. But Peter knew who the Boss was, and that the One who pays you decides the job you’ll do. Peter obeyed, and it led to some amazing results. Now maybe God has given you an unpleasant chore, and you’re balking, just like my kids on a Saturday morning.

It could be God is leading you to befriend a person who isn’t very attractive, who may be pretty demanding. Or the assignment may be to share Christ with someone who isn’t much fun to be around or is hard to talk to; or to minister to a group of people that you find irritating or even repulsive; possibly to work closely with someone who is definitely not your type. Whatever the job you don’t feel like doing, tell the Lord your reservations – like Peter. Then go ahead and do it anyway – like Peter. And like Peter, you’ll probably get some important results – in what it will do for them and how it will grow you.

I’m really glad Jesus doesn’t just hang around with people who are His type – you and I wouldn’t stand a chance. No, He will reward you generously for doing the unpleasant chores, the ones that will stretch you. So if your Lord is giving you a job you don’t want to do, will you trust His judgment over yours? Then start on it today without delay. It is an assignment Jesus has been preparing for you long before today. Believe me, doing what the Boss says to do will pay off!

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE

PAX: Chattahoochee, Fireplex, Gump, Probe, Ruxpin, Streudel, Whirlybird

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

Imperial Walkers – 20 IC

Cherry Pickers – 15 IC

Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down.  15 squats halfway to full down.  15 full squats.

Moroccan Night Clubs – 51 IC

Windmills – 15 IC

Hydraulic Squats – 10 IC

The Thang

The Super 21 Cycle on a Hill starting from Strawberry Alley to Mill Street on Chestnut Street.  1 Merkin to 1 Big Boy Sit up. Nur up the Hill.  21 Merkins to 21 Big Boy Sit ups. Run down the Hill. 2 Merkins to 2 Big Boy Sit ups,  Nur up the Hill. 20 Merkins to 20 Big Boy Sit ups. Run Down the Hill 3 merkins to 3 Big Boy Sit ups. Nur up the Hill 19 Merkins to 19 Big Boy Sit ups.  You Get the pattern..!!  Pax completed the evolution down from 15 Merkins to 15 Big Boy Sit ups on top of the hill and to 8 Merkins and 8 Big Boy Sit ups at the bottom of the hill.  A break was taken for the F3 message.  Pax finished strong with 1 burpee at the bottom of the hill and a Nur up the hill to complete 21 Burpees before the Circle of Trust.

F3 Message

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

F3 Message 07/01/2025

Pushing the Goal, Missing the Process – #5022

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Chimney Mountain! I had to get to the top of it. Why? Because it was there! Of course, I had to drag my young family into this obsession with me. One vacation day, I made that “Daddy’s Great Adventure for the Day.” Now it wasn’t a steep hike; a trail through the woods that gradually took you to the top of the mountain. As we walked along, my wife and the kids kept noticing little things – like chipmunks and squirrels and flowers and interesting rocks. Of course, whenever we noticed one of those little things, we had to stop; which was not my favorite thing to do. I had a goal, folks, and chipmunks and interesting rocks didn’t help me get to it. At one point, they stopped us just to listen to the wind blowing through the tall pine trees. That’s nice, you know, but not if you wanted to see the top of Chimney Mountain before sunset. Finally, my frustration made it to my mouth, “Honey, the reason for this hike is to get to the top. Don’t you understand?” To which she said something like this: “Oh, I thought we came to enjoy the hike.” Great! I was interested in the result; she was interested in the process!

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Pushing the Goal, Missing the Process.”

Later, my wife and I were reflecting on our different perspectives about our Chimney Mountain expedition (and we did finally get to the top, by the way). My wife said, “I wonder if this was a little like God and us. We are more interested in getting the result we want, and He’s more interested in the process.”

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Samuel 22:31, “As for God, His way is perfect.” I think when the Bible talks about God’s way, it isn’t just talking about where we end up. It’s talking about the road He takes us on; the methods He uses. OK, I’ll have to agree with my wife – the process. And His process is always perfect, but certainly not predictable.

In Isaiah 55:8-9 it says, and God is speaking here, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.'” God’s ways, God’s means of getting us to the answer are unpredictable: “beyond finding out” in the words of Romans 11.

Which brings us to whatever mountain you’re working on right now. If you’re like me, you’re focused on the result you need: the money, the life partner, the healing, the place to live, the job, the change, the answer! You’re in a hurry to get to the top of the mountain. But God, the God whose ways are perfect, is asking you to slow down and enjoy the hike, let the process be beautiful, not just the destination.

The easy part for God is giving you your answer; showing you the top of the mountain. The hard part for God is you – getting you to be the man or woman He redeemed you to be. And He’s using this climb to develop faith in you, or deeper personal holiness, or humility, or to move you from trusting in yourself to totally trusting in Him. He wants you to become a better you on the way to the answer that you want so much.

I’m by nature a goal-oriented person. Just ask my fellow hikers. But in recent years, God’s teaching me an exciting new way to pray: “Lord, I ask You for this answer we need, but please do it in Your time and in the way that will bring You the most glory and us the most growth.” Surrender to your Lord is more than just, “God, give us what You think is best.” It’s a total surrender to whatever timetable He wants, whatever process He wants to use, and whatever He wants to make you go through on your climb up the mountain.

We want to scale the mountain. God wants to change the mountain climber, and He’s using the trail to show you what you need to be. You are His goal. So, enjoy the process.

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex

Date: 06/05/2025

AO: CHOP, Milton, DE

Pax: Chattahoochee, Deez, Fireplex, Probe, Streudel, Toy Soldier, TRex, and Welcome FNG (Punch List)

QIC: Fireplex

Warm up

SSH – 30 IC

Windmills – 20 IC

Cherry Pickers – 20 IC

Imperial Walkers – 20 IC

Hydraulic Squats -10 IC

The Thang  All Pax grabbed a block and ran to the intersection at Mill Street.  Pax completed 20 Merkins each side with one hand on the block.  Pax utilized the block and the curb to complete 20 abyss merkins.  Pax completed a Lt Dan with the block down Mill Street to Federal Street.  All Pax completed 20 double count American Hammers with the blocks as well as 20 Big Boy Sit-ups with the blocks.  Leaving that pain station each Pax completed a 50 Yard bear crawl with the block before moseying to the M&T Bank parking lot.  At that station each Pax completed a Bolt 45 set in cadence with the block.  All Pax moseyed around the bank parking lot with the block before returning to CHOP to complete a murder bunny evolution across the Fire department parking lot before completing the final pain station.  Each Pax completed 10 Alabama Ass Kickers using the block as a base and finally 10 Blockees.      

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

F3 Message 06/05/25

The Tripper Upper – #5092

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

In high school, our teenage son lived a very, very busy life which I think might go with having this last name. And I could sometimes find him finally ending up on the couch for just kind of a collapse, you know, and he deserved it. He would set up this little comfort zone there. He’d have his New York Giants mug, and his school books, and his TV guide, in case he had time to watch. And most important, he had his phone. Unfortunately, the phone hooked up two rooms away. That means the cord was stretched to the max to get it to the couch, and I could tell when he had the phone there, because I kept hearing people muttering through the house after they tripped over the cord. It was right where everybody had to walk to get to the living room or to the kitchen. And I’d say, “Son, you’ve got to do something about this thing that people keep tripping over.” Well, so do you!

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Tripper Upper.”

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Romans 2:24. It’s a sobering indictment of first-century Jewish believers. Listen to these words, “As it is written, God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” “The Gentiles” really means the unreached people, and basically the Jews were the reached people. And He is saying, “You believers, you know, because of you, the unreached people are blaspheming God.” He talks a little bit about why, for example in chapter 2, verse 21. He says, “You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?” Then He says, “God’s name is blasphemed because of you. You’re not living what you say you believe, and people are tripping over the contradictions.” It’s like my son’s telephone cord. It’s in the way. You’ve got to ask, what is there in my life that may be keeping someone from Jesus and from heaven?

It’s a terrible thought to think that someone might end up in hell forever because I turned them off to Jesus by my inconsistency. Maybe your temper is canceling out your message about a loving Savior. Maybe the humor that you use is contradicting the purity that you say Jesus stands for. Maybe your sarcasm is a little hard to reconcile with the compassion of Jesus. Maybe your gossip and your backstabbing is confusing people. Maybe it’s the fact that you tend to be so negative. Maybe it’s your laziness at school, or your complaining attitude, or your laziness at work. You know, a Christian ought to be the best employee that an employer’s got, so that they give credit to the name of Jesus.

You ought to be the hardest-working student in that class whether you get the best grades or not. You’re an advertisement for your Savior. I know you’d hate to be a reason for someone to reject Christ, all because you never dealt with your “tripper upper.”

Actually, if you would let Jesus change that part of you; that part that is out of control, that’s inconsistent, that’s confusing to an unbeliever, it might just create the curiosity they need to start investigating a life-changing Christ. It might give you the best opening you’ve ever had to share Christ. They’re going to say, “Man, what happened to you,” because it will be in an area where they never saw you this way before. And that is a powerful testimony.

My son and I had to solve that cord problem before someone got hurt, and he had to do something about the thing that kept tripping people up. I hope you’ll do that in your spiritual life. I believe that you can provide an uncluttered path to the Jesus who your friends so desperately need if you’ll just get rid of that “tripper upper.”

Respectfully Submitted,

Fireplex