On 25 February 2021 8 HIM beat the fartsack and posted at the CHOP for a little fun in the gloom
Warm up – 25 SSH, 20 windmills, 20 mountain climbers, 20 cherry pickers, 15 arm circles forward 15 backwards all IC except arm circles
THE THANG- mosey to the entrance of HOB
20 merkins, 20 Bobby Hurleys ,toysoldier set 60/30/15, 30 flutter kicks IC
Mosey to fishing pier- 20 wide arm merkins, 1 round of Cpt. Thor 1 to 4 ratio 1 bigboy 4 American hammers til you reach 10 and 40, 25 split jacks, 20 hello dollies IC. 10 burpees.
Mosey back to CHOP but oops the Q forgot something at the first pain station stop back at HOB for 10 burpees. Then return to CHOP
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.”
#1 – 100 Jump Squats-20 Merkins Lt Dan across parking lot – Plank til 6
#2 – 100 LBC-20 Merkins Standing long jump across parking lot- Al Gore til 6
#3 – 100 Lunges (50 each leg)-20 Merkins Duck walk across parking lot- Plank til 6
#4 – 100 Calf raises-20 Merkins Bear crawl across parking lot-Crab plank til 6
Mosey back to circle
#5 – 100 Crab jacks – 10 Burpees
COT:
Number Rama
Name O Rama
Name FNG (TRex pronounced T-Rex…welcome to F3 brother!)
Announcements, Prayer Request and Prayer
Greenhouse Effect Coffeeteria: IF you have to ask: The local “Blackwatering” watering hole is closed to indoor coffeeteria’ing, so we moved to one of Aegis Site-Q, Quattro’s, greenhouses. Perfect location
3rd F (between rounds #3 & #4):
Reputation and character have been recently discussed on group me. Reputation is what people think of us while character is what we really are, what we do when no one is looking. Listen to the following and think about them, do they reflect your character?
Trustworthy,
Loyal,
Helpful,
Friendly,
Courteous,
Kind,
Obedient,
Cheerful,
Thrifty,
Brave,
Clean, and
Reverent
On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty, to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
Be prepared
Many boys learned these, the Boy Scout Law, Oath and Motto. I recited them almost every Thursday from 6th grade to age 21. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, these words were becoming part of my character. At age 39 I can still say that these words help to guide me. As a parent I can’t help but think about what I am doing to instill values in my kids as they grow to shape them into good and productive people. Throughout the next day or two think about the words that help to guide you and make you who you are? What do they say about your character? Are you happy with that answer? If not, what are you going to do about it?
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
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,
Moseyto 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.
21 All i/c Seal Jacks Seal waves Imperial walkers Mountain climbers Ssh Windmill
The Thang
Mosey to the playground behind old HOB
2 Rounds
2 plankswerkins (hands in swing, merkin, extend arms out like superman, return to start) 4 pull ups 8 swerkins 12 hanging knee raises 16 big boys
3rd F Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away from the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. James 1:2-18 ESV
2 rounds
2 hanging leg lifts 4 pull ups 8 swerkins 12 hanging knee raises 16 big boys
Mosey back to CHOP
Round of Mary 20 big boys 11 big boys i/c, 1 up, 2-3 down
Number Rama Name Rama COT
11 HIM showed today: Waterboy, Doubtfire, Fireplex, Chattahoochee, Chappie, Ruxpin, Strudel, Looney Tunes, Woodstock, Semi, Quarto
You: If you got whooped by your fartsack this morning
If your fartsack hit you as hard as Poirier hitting McGregor, if you’re reading this from a distance, or, if you sadistically enjoy recalling what you’ve been through in the Gloom, here’s how it went down:
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 10 IC
Swartzjacks – 10 IC
Windmill – 15 IC (via Woodstock)
Toy Soldier Squat Jumps (Toe touches [Toy Soldier], Jump w/hands to side & slightly out, down to Squat – Rinse & Repeat)
Single Arm Flying-Squirrels – 5 each arm, OYO
Seated Reverse Crunch – 15 IC (On six, hands to side/slightly back for stability, Feet 6″, knees together, bring up to chest, extend back out to 6″, knees slightly spread, bring to chest, extend back out to 6″, rinse & repeat)
WACH Merkins – 10 OYO, Wide-Arm to Close Hand (Wide-Arm down, on Up hands come off ground and go to Close Hand, back up, hands go to Wide-Arm, Rinse & Repeat)
TODAY, GOTTA KEEP MOVING! — We’re going to do a few sets of double-deuces as we go (22 double-time steps under ruck to increase pace and to remember the average veteran suicide rate is 22/per day).
THE THANG: *Rest position for each workout is Plank, if you stop moving plank it up!
RUCK UP – 30lbs • 10 – No Crawl Dragon (Stationary w/ruck)
Movement to dentist office: • 75 – Ruck Squats
Movement to Orchard St. • 75 – Shoulder to Shoulder
Movement to Mulberry St. • 75 – Ruck Swings
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YHC took a brief moment to share the 3rd F:
Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also lovedthe church and gave Himself up for her.”
As I was laid up with Covid19 in early December I’d announced on the F3 First State Groupme that I was going to “make the best of my time” by watching every episode of Band of Brothers. I mean, really, who ever gets the time to do that? None of us! We’re hard-working family oriented HIM! I was licking my chops with anticipation of an uninterrupted block of quarantine so that I could watch the series without excuse. I assumed I’d be down for 3-4 days and then jump back into action (well, I did not expect to be out over a month!).
What I also did not anticipate was that Band of Brothers would have to wait. I tested positive, so that meant my wife (a school teacher) also had to quarantine and teach from home. Have you ever tried to watch Band of Brothers while your wife is teaching 4th graders remotely from the next room? It really doesn’t work…at all. Band of Brothers was out!
Another blissful thing I did not anticipate as I lay on the couch growing worse each day, was the joy I had watching and listening to my wife teach her students. While I initially fussed (under my breath, of course) about being unable to watch the B.O.B. series, I was met with the pleasure of hearing/seeing my M teach. I’d sacrifice B.O.B. again to hear/see her do what she does. I honestly believe she’s THE BEST teacher around! I always have. I’d say that even if she wasn’t my M. She is one of those rare people who is doing what she loves, so she loves what she’s doing. She is one of those rare people who is doing EXACTLY what they’re called to do–and it is most obvious not only in the way she teaches, but, as much, in the way she genuinely loves each of her students.
Band of Brothers you’ve got nothing on my M! I loved watching and hearing her in action. There’s no way I could’ve (or should’ve) demanded she teach elsewhere in our house just so that I could corner the market on watching an HBO series. I love the whole series; it’s excellent! I’ve watched it before…a few times, but I was blessed instead to follow the Biblical counsel of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians: “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also lovedthe church and gave Himself up for her” (5:25). As HIM let’s pursue sacrificial ways (great & small) to demonstrate our love for our wives–giving them our all as Christ gave His all for the church.
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Movement to Shipbuilders • 75 – Ruck Deadlifts
Movement return to AO, Endex
NUMBER-RAMA
NAME-O-RAMA:
COT:
Announcements: Nuttin honey
Prayers: Rocky family lifted up during their time of grieving the loss of a loved one; our brother Streudel lifted up as he’s facing some tests/results today.
Ruck workout complete, to include many reps in honor of the 75th Ranger Regiment, four sets of double-deuces to be kept aware that there are an average of 22 American vets daily who take their own lives, and a total of .86 miles.
Shout out to Chattahoochee celebrating his 4-yr-Manniversary today. He was our longest serving Site-Q and is one of the most consistent PAX you will see. Follow him! Great to know you brother!
Always honored to lead. Thanks to all the PAX who won THAT FIRST BATTLE, dropped the DRP, and posted even knowing it was going to be a ruck beatdown. Let’s keep getting comfortable being uncomfortable. Aye?
Aye!
~Chappie, out!
Ran out of time. Here’s what we missed:
Movement to Pediatrician’s at Willow St. • 75 – Ruck Pulls
Well it didn’t quite feel like, as Madonna sings, “the very first time,” but its been more than a month since YHC Q’d thanks to COVID 19–THE “One-Niner” and it was great to be back! Had the opportunity to Q, thought long and hard about it, then jumped in headfirst.
Here’s the skinny:
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH – 18 IC
Swartzjacks – 10 IC
Smurfjacks – 10 IC
Splitjacks – 10 IC
Windmill – 10 IC
Cherry Pickers/Hairy Chiggers/Crab Flippers – 10 IC
Chairmanlap mosey around the short block
THE THANG:
PAX walked perimeter of church building (safety brief walk around), as they would mosey this route between exercises.
Pretty simple…spell your full name, taking laps around the church between each letter. See image below. (For those who Fartsacked this is an easy one to catch up on; it’ll take you about 45 minutes.) Check it out:
Somewhere in the middle of the middle names PAX took a breather for the following 3rdF:
F3 is about leadership. In fact, our F3 Mission Statement is: to Plant, grow, and serve small workout groups of men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
That means what we do here on a micro scale is to spill over into our homes, workplaces, and into the communities in which we live. It means that what we do as a group must spill over into the communities in which we exist: Milton, Milford, and Georgetown.
We’ve done a little of that over the past few years, collecting toilet paper and cooking breakfast for residents at the Home of the Brave, collecting crayons for the young girl distributing crayons to sick children at AI, collecting peanut butter for the Milton Food Pantry, painting the future shelter near Lowes, bringing food to the collection container on the Georgetown Circle, etc.
I’m bringing this to your attention to say that we need to be even more attentive to opportunities for us to lead [together] in our communities during 2021.
I’m also bringing it up today to refer back to a word that has been added to leadership in F3 circles in recent years (at least as far as YHC knows). This is for personal application and its a word mentioned in Dredd’s book Q Source. It is the word virtuous. Virtuous Leadership. That is a very particular kind of leadership.
Virtuous is defined as: Having or showing high moral standards. F3 exists to bring about leadership in men which is marked by its high moral standards.
We can look all around us in the world and see leadership which is absent of moral standards. The political realm is one place this is easily seen. Truth be told, in the end, leadership absent of high moral standards isn’t really leadership at all!
This was the substance of the statement by President John Adams when he stated: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
Virtuous leadership means we’re not just leading in our homes, workplaces, and in the communities in which we serve, but that in each of those areas we are LEADING RIGHT.
In that vein the Bible says that leaders must “be above reproach…not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious (quick to argue, quarrel or fight), not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled.” (Titus 1:7-8)
This is the standard for leadership in Scripture because as go the leaders, so goes the home, the workplace, and the communities in which they serve.
In 2021 let us be HIM by striving to be men who practice virtuous leadership.
Names spelled in full, it was time to circle up:
COT:
Number-Rama
[Full] Name-O-Rama
Announcements: Just be smart and use common sense concerning how you feel and whether you post or not (see write up on GroupMe
Prayers: For those on IR and those in our community out of action due to Corona virus, get well soon; for the State of Georgia and their run-off elections today; for the nation (march & Trump rally in D.C. tomorrow, 1/6); etc.
Well, it didn’t feel like a Virgin Q, but physically, it felt like it was the first time YHC worked out in years–a full month of the “One-Niner” has ransacked YHC’s legs and lungs. Still, thankful for all the men who posted, humbled to have good health, and grateful to be back!
