Bolt 45’s – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats
Cherry Pickers – 15 IC
Jiminy Crickets – 10 OYO
Windmills – 15 IC
Hydraulic Squats – 10 IC ( 6 Count)
The Thang
An Inclined Toy Soldier Set was completed on the grass hill behind the stone parking lot – 100 LBC’s, 50 E2K’s x2, 25 Big Boys OYO.
Pax completed one lap around Mill Street and back to the flag pole at the Firehouse.
Captain Therkin – 1 big Boy to 4 American hammers; 5 Merkins . 2 Big Boys to 8 American Hammers; 5 Merkins in ratio up through 10:40 with 5 Merkins.
Pax completed one lap around Mill Street and back to the flag pole at the Firehouse. A short break was taken for the F3 Message.
Pax finished with a modified Super 21 beatdown for the abs-so-posa-lutely kickoff beatdown. 1 Merkin to 1 Big Boy Sit up. 2 Merkins to 2 Big Boy Situps. 3 Merkins to 3 Big Boy Situps, etc., etc., etc. Q elected to start at 21 in descending fashion. All Pax completed the round of 21 descending through the round of 15 of each to complete the beatdown.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayer.
Some years ago, my wife got a very serious case of hepatitis. Later, the specialist told her that the battle for her liver was so acute he could hear the blood rushing to save it, “Just like Niagara Falls,” he said. Thank God, she recovered fully with no trace today of that disease or any of its effects. But it took a while – seven months of bed rest. That was an interesting time for Daddy – suddenly known as Mr. Mom – and for our three children. Thankfully, our church brought dinner to our home almost every night. God bless them! It’s a good thing. I mean, if it had been up to me to feed the kids, they probably would have been on the cover of something like World Vision magazine eventually. But as tough as it was, my wife said she had much to praise God for in her recovery from hepatitis. For one thing, no one could really look to her or count on her for seven months. Here’s what she said about it: “God gave me the gift of cleansing my schedule!” He weeded out a lot that didn’t matter after all and left only what did matter.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Only Two Days On Your Calendar.”
If you look at many of our calendars, they are packed to the edges. Some days the date book boxes are just too small to write everything in. Our life is congested with places to go and things to do, and we’re overdosing on stress. We could all use a priority check. We could all use a little schedule cleansing so we can focus our time on the things that really, really matter.
Now I’m no magician. I can’t make your responsibilities disappear, but I can give you a simple grid that may make your life a little more doable. And it’s not my idea. It’s actually Martin Luther’s idea. He said he had only two days on his calendar – one of those is Judgment Day. He tried to evaluate everything in light of the Judgment Day that’s coming for all of us. God talks about that great values-clarifier in 1 Corinthians 4, beginning with verse 2, our word for today from the Word of God. Paul writes: “It is required that those who have been given a trust” – and I just want to add, “we all have” – “must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court … It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”
If it’s not going to matter there, how much should it matter here? Earlier, Paul talked about things that are just “wood, hay, and straw” that will burn on that day. That’s a priority check.
Luther said he had only two days on his calendar: Judgment Day and this day. It’s the only day I can live right now. I don’t need to be weighed down with yesterday. It can’t be changed. I don’t need to be fretting about the future. I’m not there yet and I can’t control it.
What I have is today, one 24-hour slice of life in which to honor my Lord in everything I do. So this day will count on that day! Maybe that’s what Paul had in mind when he said, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Keep your eyes on the prize, all day long and each new day.
God will take a life that you have lived for Him with His priorities, one day at a time and He will make a life out of those days that will fulfill you and glorify Him. It’s a great way to live – two days on your calendar: Judgment Day and this day.
Bolt 45’s – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
SSH – 20 IC
Imperial Walkers – 20 IC
Four Count Freddie’s – 31 IC
Hydraulic Squats – 10 IC ( 6 Count)
The Thang
Pax paired up to complete as many Burpees as time allowed. One PAX Nurs up the hill to Mill Street from the flag pole pad area at the fire station and runs down while the other works on his burpees. Pax rotate positions upon completion of each Nur and run down the hill at approx. .14 miles for each lap. When all Pax reach 50 Burpees a break for the F3 message took place. Pax continued the evolution for a second set of 50 Burpees.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
There’s a mountain in northern New Jersey that has an intriguing view. It’s called Garrett Mountain, over the city of Paterson, New Jersey. In the 1980s, Paterson happened to be the fourth poorest, middle-sized city in America. Now, if you had driven around that city then and that’s all you saw, you would think the whole area of north Jersey was poor. But just beyond Paterson on the horizon, you can see some of the wealthiest communities in America.
If you drove around some of those towns, you’d think the whole area was well-off. If all you saw was Paterson, you’d say, “There’s no countryside around here.” If all you saw were the suburban communities, you’d say, “There’s no city here.” See, I like Garrett Mountain, because it gives me a bigger view than I can get when I’m right in the middle of things. Up there, you can see the bigger picture. Maybe you need a mountain like that right now.
1 Samuel 8:4 says, “All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel. They said to him, ‘You’re old and your sons don’t walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us such as all the other nations have.’ But when they said, ‘Give us a king to lead us’ this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they’ve rejected, they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now, listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.’ Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king.”
Samuel has a frustrating situation. The structure of the judge ruling Israel on God’s behalf is coming unglued. He’s being unappreciated by the people he has given so much for. Does that sound familiar? These people are off on a total tangent that he knows is wrong. They’re trying to get a king, when all they really need is God ruling through the judges. Maybe you have some frustrating people in your life. Different issues, but frustrating.
What did he do when the people frustrated him? It says, “So, he prayed to the Lord.” What they did displeased Samuel, “So he prayed…” He didn’t tell them off or blow up. He takes the people and his feelings straight to the Lord when he’s frustrated. Do you?
There are two good results when you do that. First, the Lord gives Samuel the big picture. He says, “This isn’t against you. It’s part of a pattern.” And he defuses the emotions. It’s like being on that mountain overlooking both the suburbs and the city. You can see the whole picture when you take the frustration to the Lord. You can see where things are coming from, and where things are going. You’re above that limited view you have when you’re right in the middle of the aggravation. When you take the frustrating people to the Lord, He gives you the big picture instead of you just reacting to an incident.
Secondly, He gives you a balanced response. He told Samuel to listen to them and then warn them. Listening to frustrating people gives you credibility. They’ll listen if you’ve listened to them. Then warning them fulfills your responsibility to tell them the results of the way they’re going. Some people listen without warning people; some people warn people without listening to them.
When people’s actions displease, frustrate, and hurt you, would you go to God first? You know what He’ll do? He’ll take you up on a mountain where you can see the whole picture, and help you respond in a balanced way. When people frustrate you, go over their head. Go straight to the Throne Room of the King.
18 Seal jack i/c 18 Imperial walkers i/c 18 Mountain man pooper i/c 10 Hip circles each direction oyo 18 Seal waves i/c 18 Plank jack i/c
The Thang Each HIM grabs a coupon and woseys to bank parking lot.
1 HIM pushed sled as timer as rest of PAX AMRAPS the following exercises
Sprawl and curl w/coupon Pess jacks /w coupon Block chop R w/coupon Block chop L w/coupon
3rd F Jesus led with intention and so should we.
Your team needs your hard skills; that’s a given. You wouldn’t be able to do your job without a professional understanding of the equipment and principles of your role in video, audio, and lighting. Chances are, you’re a generalist or perhaps an expert in just one of those categories, but either way, you have you “know” what you’re doing to develop your process and your team into an excellent, competent production.
But hard skills only get you so far as a production leader. You’re not just a tech anymore, but rather a steward of your house, and your team needs more than your technical expertise.
Your team needs your intention.
This means that you can’t simply show up to work and hope for the best, and it probably starts the night before your Monday office hours. In a recent chat I had with Justin Firesheets, a co-contributor here at Church Production and the head project manager for production at Church of the Highlands, he mentioned that his work day actually starts the night before. He sits down for just a few minutes and plans out his day so he can hit the ground running the next morning.
That sort of intention shows great wisdom, friends. Now, it might look a little different for each of us. Perhaps that means you spend the first few minutes of your office day doing the same thing, but whatever it looks like for you, it means that you don’t fly by the seat of your pants.
You might not think so, but Jesus lived this way. It’s a mistake to think that he was more of a hippie than an intentional leader, that he just followed the whimsical notions of the Holy Spirit in a happy, flowery hopscotch across Judea for three years.
Jesus was much the opposite of that. His parables were full of the thoughts of an intentional leader, so much so that scholars now believe Jesus was not a carpenter, but a stonemason business owner, something akin to a modern subcontractor. He knew what it meant to run a business and have people rely on him for their livelihood. He didn’t work in a haphazard manner.
For that matter, it’s a mistake to think that the ways of the Holy Spirit are whimsical. The intentions of Jesus were driven by an unfathomable connection to the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked into his desert fast with intention, driven by the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked from city to city with intention, driven by the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent his disciples to find a donkey and an upper room, driven by the Holy Spirit. Jesus intentionally embraced his torture and excruciating death, driven by the Holy Spirit. The pattern is unmistakable.
It Only Takes a Few Minutes
This is the crazy r and a great leader is about five minutes. Intention doesn’t take much time; it just requires a simple pause to gather tasks and priorities and organize them on paper (or tablet) into a workable plan. Ten minutes, tops. That’s a lot of bang for buck
Mosey to playground behind library
15 swerkins 5 pull ups 10 screaming lunges per leg
Mosey back to bank parking lot
Sled rounds x 2 Sprawl and curl Curls for the girls Merkins Pretzel sticks L Pretzel sticks R American hammers Flutter kicks Lbcs Press jacks Gas pumpers
Return Coupons
Fireplex made his 100th beatdown today
Number Rama Name Rama COT
7 HIM showed today: Semi, Probe, Fireplex, Chattahoochee, Streudal, Toy Soldier, Quattro
Pax: Deez, Bunt, Ruxpin, Toy Soldier, Probe, Streudel, Fireplex
QIC: Fireplex
Warm up
SSH – 30 IC
Cherry Pickers – 20 IC
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Windmills – 20 IC
The Thang
PAX completed the Hindenburg BLIMPS routine from the exicon. We modified the sprint portion to a straight line up the Chestnut Street Hill stopping at Mill Street for Stopping Points #1 & #3 of each round. Sprint back down Chestnut Street to Front Street for Stopping Points #2 & #4 of each Round. Plank it up until all PAX have completed the exercises at each stopping point. Rinse and repeat until all 6 Rounds are complete. 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. Pax completed the rounds through Round #5 as time was a factor. We ended strong with 50 plank jacks and 60 squats.
F3 message –The 3rd F was shared after completing round #4.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
They keep it under glass that seals out any air getting to it. And when it’s not on display, it’s kept underground in a vault – actually a bomb proof vault. It’s the most important document in the history of the United States. Yep, the Declaration of Independence.
The men who signed it on that hot July 4th in Philadelphia knew it was very important, but I wonder if they could have possibly conceived what a sacred piece of paper it would become to the nation that it birthed. Here were subjects of the English king, daring to declare their independence from their king. It changed their lives forever. It changed the world forever. And once a year, every Fourth of July, America stops to remember that Independence Day.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Dependence Day.”
Now, for America’s founding fathers, it was a Declaration of Independence from their king that changed everything. But for you, as a child of God, it’s your “Declaration of Dependence” on your King that changes everything.
Now, when it comes to God running our lives, you know what? We’ve all declared our independence. Even if our theology compels us to officially say we trust God, we are, for the most part, “Sinatra-ites.” Yeah, you know Frank Sinatra’s signature song? I’ll sing it for you. No, I won’t. “I did it my way.” Yeah, even for us Christians, that’s often how we really live, I’ll do it my way. We’ll figure this out by ourselves, we’ll find a way, we’ll make it happen, we won’t wait, we’ll get it done now. We tend to depend on our plans, our schemes, our cleverness, our talent, our experience, our persuasiveness, our hard work, our connections. We’ll count on our programs or our own strength.
That’s why we need to declare our dependence daily! It’s in our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus makes it very clear how anything that matters in our life really happens. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” In other words, the fruit of your life doesn’t come from you, it comes from Jesus, through you, like the life of the vine comes through the branch.
Then He goes on to say, “If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Or nothing that matters, nothing eternal, nothing that really works over the long haul – nothing. He doesn’t say, “Without Me, you can’t do much.” No, nothing! He says it all comes from Him.
So the size of your life depends on how big your dependency on God is, as opposed to cranking it out yourself. Joni Eareckson Tada once said that when she went to Africa, she was greeted by believers there who said, “Welcome to Africa, where our God is bigger. He is bigger because we need Him so much more!” Actually, we need Him every bit as much. We just have other things we can depend on. So our lives are smaller because our view of God is smaller, because we don’t depend on Him desperately for each day’s needs, each day’s choices, each day’s strength, and each day’s answers.
You know what the language of dependency is? Prayer. You can pretty much tell how dependent you are on God by how often you feel the need to cry out to Him in prayer. There is so much more waiting for you if you’ll only learn how powerful it is to recognize your powerlessness before God.
Look at the frequency and the fervency of your prayers in any given day, and you’ll be able to tell how dependant you really are on Him. Each new morning, in the presence of Almighty God, you need to sign it again – your Declaration of Dependence on your King, because that signature will make all the difference.
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)
Mosey from the AO to “Oh Hill No”
Over the Hill Set – Modified Burp Back Mountain
Split Pax into two groups or if it is a smaller group you can complete it as one unit together.
1st round the 1st group Nur’s up the hill and mosey back down while 2nd group completes clock merkins on the incline completing 5 reps each at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, & 9 o’clock. Rinse and repeat until your partner returns. Switch stations and repeat.
2nd round the 1st group bear crawls up the hill and mosey back down while 2nd group completes the same evolution of clock merkins. Rinse and repeat until your partner returns. Switch stations and repeat.
3rd round the 1st group completes the inch worm up the hill and mosey back down while the second group completes the same evolution of clock merkins. Rinse and repeat until your partner returns. Break for the message
F3 Message
Final round the 1st group completes the crawl bear up the hill and mosey back down while 2nd group completes the same evolution of clock merkins. Rinse and repeat until your partner returns. Switch stations and repeat.
All Pax Nur up and moseyed down the hill Twice to complete the set.
Toy Soldier Set – 100 LBC’s, 50 Y2K’s x2, 25 Big Boys OYO
Mosey back to the AO for the Circle of Trust including announcements, prayer, the Count-O-Rama & the Name-O-Rama. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
It’s important for fathers and sons to do things together – like when my son helped me with the yard work so we could bond. I remember one day when my oldest son was about five. It was a hot day. I was mowing and my son was following around after me clipping. I looked over to him and I smiled. About five minutes later he came over and yelled over the mower, “Daddy, could you please do that again?” I said, “Could I do what again, son?” He said, “Daddy, could you smile at me again? Your smile keeps me going.”
Ephesians 6:4 has some great parenting instructions: “Fathers do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” God says, “Don’t tear your children down. Bring them up.” A father has incredible power to be either one – to make your son or daughter feel inadequate and small, never good enough, or to make your son or daughter feel competent, worthy, appreciated, and valued. It’s clear which one God expects from a father, and from a mother.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12, Paul is likening the lives of believers to a positive father. Here’s what he says, “For we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God.” Do you see the verbs there? Three words that are the godly ways of a father – to encourage your child, comfort your child, and urge him or her to live a godly life.
How are you doing? Did I just describe most of the conversations you have with your son or daughter – you’re encouraging, you’re comforting, are you urging? Think about the comments, for example, made years ago by one of President Clinton’s most impressive advisors, a man named Bill Galston. The news article I read back then said he was at the peak of his career when he resigned from his position. No one could believe it! Why?
Well, Bill Galston had worked hard trying to balance time with his ten-year-old son and his hugely significant job. He took his son to his White House office so they could talk while he worked. He even woke up at 6:00 in the morning so they could spend a few minutes together. But Bill was at the breaking point. He couldn’t do both. His son wrote him a letter saying, “Baseball is not fun when there’s no one there to applaud you.”
There’s just no substitute for a father. In the moments that matter to our children: the proud moments, the hurting moments, the amusing moments, the arriving home moments, the serious moments. And there are few sources more influential on earth than your approval of your son or your daughter. Could it be that there’s been too much emphasis on what’s wrong with your son or daughter, on what you want them to improve, on their weak points rather than majoring on the positive?
So much of the sense of security and sense of worth comes from knowing that Dad is pleased with them, that Mom is pleased with them. Focusing on the encouraging, on praising what’s good about them, on noticing even the slightest improvement, on building up not tearing down, concentrating on the things that matter to them. Realize what your most important job is. Bill Galston told the President of the United States, “You can replace me. My son can’t.”
Does your son or daughter need to hear your applause again, see your smile again? Maybe you need to make a new beginning by asking their forgiveness. Or start now to make it your daily mission to build them up, focus on their good points, and give them all of you sometime during that day. Your son or daughter is looking your way for something only you can give them; the smile that keeps them going, because a father’s smile is powerful, life-giving encouragement.
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Imperial Walkers – 15 IC
Windmills – 15 IC
The Thang
B.O.M.B.S. – 50 Burpees, 100 Overhead Claps, 150 Merkins, 200 Big Boy Sit-ups, 250 Squats. After every 25 evolutions of each exercise, PAX will NUR up to Strawberry Alley from Front Street and mosey back approx. .02 miles. Time limited the Nur and Mosey and affected the last 250 Squats. They were completed without the Nur/Mosey “break”. When all was completed, Pax Nur’d up the grade & moseyed down approximately .5 miles.
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.
The tornado sirens went off near our daughter’s house a few nights ago. She knew what to do. She and our son-in-law quickly herded their three children into the basement until the danger passed.
Unfortunately, Nikki Carpenter lived outside of town where she couldn’t hear the tornado sirens. She and her three young sons had no time to prepare, and there was no basement in the trailer where they lived. For me, Nikki’s story seems especially moving on this Mother’s Day weekend.
When part of the storm system that hit our area moved on to Yazoo County, Mississippi, Nikki Carpenter was getting Austin (1), Ethan (2), and Layne (7) ready for their day. The tornado was a monster – an E-F4 packing up to 170 mile per hour winds and measuring 1.75 miles wide. As the tornado bore down on their trailer, Nikki grabbed a mattress, threw it over her boys, and lay on top of it to protect them.
It took neighbors more than two hours to work their way through the debris to get to that trailer – or what was left of it. Those three little boys were pulled out alive. Mom didn’t make it. Her mother said: “She saved those kids and gave her life.”
Here was a mom, doing what mothers do on a daily basis – sacrificing herself for her children. In this case, letting all the wrath of a tornado fall on her so it wouldn’t fall on the ones she loved.
And for me, a moving reminder of the One who covered me so I wouldn’t die. My Jesus let all the wrath of all my sin fall on Him, so it would never fall on me. He died; I lived.
That’s what happened on a cross on a hill outside the city of Jerusalem. Strip away all the religion and all the ritual, and that’s what Jesus is all about. The only Son God has, choosing to lay down His life to save you and me. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:11, 18).
There’s no way anyone could take the life of the Son of God. He made the tree He was nailed to and the men who put Him there. The only way He could die was if He gave His life. And that’s what He did: the brutal ripping of His body with Roman whips, the crown of thorns jammed onto His head, the spikes driven into His hands and feet, and the spear thrust into His side. Worst of all, the hell of being totally cut off from the Father, because He was carrying our sin. Nobody did all that to Him. He let it happen, because it took that dying to pay the death penalty for my sin.
That’s how much He loves me. That’s how much He loves you. He loves you too much to lose you.
So like a loving mother taking the brunt of that tornado, Jesus put Himself between you and the eternal death penalty of your sin. “God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9). Jesus’ sacrifice removes all your sin from God’s book the moment you tell Him, “Jesus, You are my only hope. I’m resigning from living my life my way, and I’m pinning all my hopes on what You did for me on that cross.”
One day I chose to give my life to the One who gave His life for me. Things have never been the same, because Jesus didn’t just die for the world. “He loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20)…and for you.
Bolt 45’s – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats
Windmills – 15 IC
Cherry Pickers – 15 IC
The Thang
We completed a Modified Burp Back Mountain at “Oh Hill No”….Pax completed 50 Burpees each. 10 Burpees, then NUR up the hill to the first light pole and run down. 10 More Burpees, then NUR up the hill and run back down. Each Pax completed 5 rounds for 50 Burpees. We took a break for the 3rd F message that referenced slowing down. We completed 5 more burpees and a final NUR up the hill and a run down before moving on to the next pain station. At the Bank parking lot, we completed a 10:40 Captain Therkin set which is 1 big boy to 4 American hammers then 5 merkins. 2 big boys to 8 American hammers then 5 merkins. 3 big boys to 12 American hammers then 5 merkins. We completed the set up to 10 big boys, 40 American hammers and 5 merkins.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
I hear a lot of wives complain about communication being a problem in their marriage. It sure was for my wife and me on a trip we took one summer. We had a lot of miles to cover in our van in one day – one very hot day. The day the air conditioner decided not to work, which meant we had to travel with all the windows down or have a sauna on wheels for the next 12 hours. I had a lot of work to do on this trip, and my wife enjoyed driving, so she was in front where it’s really good for the driver to be, and I was in the back of the van with my computer. Now, about communication? No way. No matter how important the information was, we couldn’t possibly yell loud enough to overcome the wind. All you could see was lips moving; it was like a silent movie. So, we had to save up anything we wanted to say for toll booths, traffic jams, and any place where we had to slow down. Those were the only times we could hear anything!
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Slowing Down So You Can Hear.”
Our word for today from the Word of God, we’re in 1 Kings 19:11-13. God’s prophet Elijah has been on a fast track of activity and now he’s hit this time of deep emotional turbulence. He really needs to hear from the Lord. He does, but not in the form he might have expected.
Here’s what the Bible says, “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” That day, in a quiet whisper from heaven, God’s servant received just the word he needed from God.
God often whispers. And you’ve got to be quiet to hear what He has for your heart. We like the dramatic spiritual experiences – the winds and the quakes and the fire. And sometimes God does speak to us through the high-octane spiritual moments. But often what our heart most needs to hear comes in His gentle whisper. And like that day of the roaring wind in our van, you can only hear what He’s trying to say when you slow down.
Which you may not have done much lately. Which may explain why your soul is getting so dry and brittle and why there’s confusion instead of direction, why there’s weakness instead of power, more frustration than peace. You’ve been traveling too fast to hear the whisper of God.
God’s message to you is, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps.46:10). You’ve just got to find some time when you and the Lord can have some quality time. You’ve got to get back your daily quiet time with Him. You’ve got to get those Sabbaths that you’ve been losing or neglecting.
And it may be that God has brought some of the difficulty of recent days into your life for the express purpose of slowing you down so you can hear Him. God uses a lot of instruments as brakes on our overheated lives like an illness, an injury, the loss of your job, a financial crisis, a crisis in your family. When we won’t put on the brakes, the Father who loves us will. If He has you in a slow down zone right now, don’t fight it. Don’t just endure it. Open up your heart to your Lord to hear what you might never have been able to hear at 70 MPH.
In our high speed lives, the times to slow down become very important. They might be the only times you can really hear what God and others who love you have to say.
Bolt 45’s – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats
Cherry Pickers – 15 IC
Imperial Walkers – 20 IC
Windmills – 15 IC
Mosey approx. .25 miles around the Mill Street block back to CHOP
The Thang
B.O.M.B.S. – 50 Burpees, 100 Overhead Claps completed as a single count SSH with an Overhead Clap, 150 Merkins, 200 Big Boy Sit-ups, 250 Squats. PAX partnered up and worked on exercises while partner Nur’d up the Chestnut Street hill to Mill Street and ran back down. Each PAX should try to complete their half of the listed exercises.
F3 Message
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.
I love to drive through Custer State Park in South Dakota because if you’re lucky you get to see a lot of buffalo. Now, seeing them is one thing – riding them is another. We were recently in South Dakota. One important part of our ministry, of course, is reaching what one researcher called the most devastated young people in America, and we were there for an outreach among Native American young people. Reservation young people are in just great need of the Lord. We were with our Lakota Sioux Christian brother and we saw some buffalo, and we joked a little bit about hunting them, and so on. Then he said, “You know, I know someone who rides buffalo in parades and on holidays.” I said, “Wait a minute. Did you say rides a buffalo?” I can’t imagine boarding one of these wonderful wild animals. Well, somebody asked this buffalo rider, “What’s it take?” He said, “Patience.” Then he said, “If you neglect him one or two days, he won’t be tamed anymore.”
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Buffalo Riding.”
Our word for today comes from Romans 7:19. It talks about the buffalo inside you and me – a wild beast that does not want to be tamed. Verse 19: “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Verse 24, “What a wretched man I am!” Paul says. “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” It’s pretty hopeless up to this point. And then here’s the good news. “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
There’s an animal inside me that wants to go against God. The hymn writer says, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it … prone to leave the God I love.” We know what God wants. We want it too, but we keep choosing to let that part of us that gets out of control run us. We can’t tame it, but we’re not without hope. There’s a Savior, not only from the penalty of sin, but from the power of sin. Romans 6 says, “sin will no longer be your master.” When we surrender that wild part of us to Jesus, He begins to tame what has always ruled us. But you can’t tame it once and for all. It takes patience, like the buffalo rider said.
Luke 9:23, “Take up your cross daily, and follow me.” If you neglect that buffalo, that animal inside of you one or two days, well, he won’t be tamed anymore. That sin has beaten you. And it has to be beaten now on a 24-hour basis. Twenty-four-hour little victories. Some of us have made the mistake of thinking that one great spiritual experience would tame the buffalo once and for all. But it keeps getting away from us again. It keeps riding over us. We miss the daily part.
If you conquer sin one day at a time, and if Jesus is the only one that can conquer it, then it stands to reason you have to be with Jesus each new day. You notice something that happens consistently when you miss a day or two of your time with Jesus. The dark side of you starts to surface again. I see it happen to me. I see traits that I was seeing less of, and suddenly I start seeing more of it again and so does everyone else close to me. It’s as if that daily surrender time with Jesus is the only dam that holds back the parts of me I hate. You miss being with the Savior from sin, and the sin starts to leak back in. You need a consistent get-together with the Lord Jesus where you again make Him Lord of your stubborn sins.
That’s largely the margin between victory and defeat because we’ve all got a buffalo to tame. Let him go unattended for a couple of days, and that sin will stampede right over you again. But you can ride the buffalo that has ridden you by daily turning over the reins to the one who died to tame the animal in you – the Savior, Jesus Christ.
