We started this morning off with a Patirot Run to church. PAX lined up behind 2 shovel flags and we took off in a friendly manner to the back field at the church. We posted flag in the middle of the church field and completed bear crawl ring of fire
Bear Crawl Ring of Fire
Combines exercises we have all come to love/hate. Circle up around shovel flag. Begin by bear crawling around in circle until Q says stop. Upon stopping, first Pax completes 10 merkins while other Pax plank, then next pax in line completes 10 merkins while other pax plank. Keep going around until all pax have completed the 10 merkins. The suck factor greatly increases the more pax you have (longer planks). PAX circled up and we bear crawled in a cirlcle until Q shouted HALT. We then planked it up while each HIM (19 of us uggg) completed the merkins. in between sets we recovered to our 6 to complete an ab exercise.
1st round _10 merkins, DR W AB exercise- Dr. W is a sufferable 8-count ab exercise that combines Dolly, Rosalita, and the W; often within the 6MOM. Always a #CrowdPleaser. 1 is legs apart like a Low Dolly, 2 is legs together, 3 is raise the legs to Rosalita position (45-60 degrees-ish), 4 is spread ‘em, 5 is The W (hands together and stretching forward between your legs), 6 is the return to your back (legs still up), 7 is legs together, 8 is legs down. 5-8 Dr. W’s is a good start to get the pax coordinated with the counting. 10 is a magic # that most build up to 15 is just dumb and torture #FetalPositionMaker Qtip – We always emphasize that the W is on the 5 count. Kinda breaks down the motions and gives a 2nd starting point.
2nd round 10 diamond merkins, 10 IC Seated Flutter Kicks with hands raised in Hallelujahs. Move immediately to hands behind you. 10 IC slightly reclined flutterkicks. Move immediately 10 IC normal flutter kicks.
3rd round 10 werkins, Toy soldier set, 60 LBC, 30 E2K each leg, and 15 BBSU
F3 message was inserted here, it will be at the end of the backblast
FInal Round- 10 ranger merkins. We recovered to our feet once we finished the Bear crawl ring of fire, and lined back up to head back to the AO.
once we got back to AO the real final round was 15 burpees to wrap things up.
Number o rama- 19 HIM beat the fartsack and faced the Gloom.
Name o rama- we welcomed 2 FNGs to the group and named them Waterboy, and Cowbell
Circle of trust- we ended like we always do in strength we circled up and offered prayers to JESUS.
Third F message
A few weeks ago it was RovingRuckfest and it was at broadkill Beach. Just so happens Chappie was on vacation so naturally I was alone for this trip. I kept thinking, im going to go home and go back to sleep, but I didn’t. I decided to pray ruck. I hit the beach with 20 lbs in my ruck and a 40 lb sandbag, and I’m praying, and rucking. It was fabulous. The moon lit the sky and the tide had recently passed for the night leaving the beach entirely deserted.. There wasn’t a single foot indentation on the whole beach. I reminisced as if in a daydream about a poem. I’m sure we have all heard the poem, footprints in the sand”. I chuckled to myself as I turned around to my surprise, there was but 1 set of footprints in the sand. I said “Lord I see 1 set of footprints here and this Ruck is getting heavy. His reply to me was, how do you think I feel, these footprints you see behind you are my footprints. You see we tend to carry on our shoulders, to much weight. We cary stress, worries, failures, disappointments, and it weighs us down and restrains us from doing what God has truly called us to do. When we carry these things, just like the Ruck it slows us down, it holds us back, it weighs on us heavily and God already paid the price. I reluctantly carried on, with a new appreciation about my day. We are not alone, Life may seem hard at times but with faith in Jesus we will endure the race that has been set before us. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 Squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Windmills – 20IC
Toy Soldier Set – 50 LBC’s, 25 E2K’s (each side), 15 Big Boys
Mosey (Patriot Run) approx. .47 miles to the school
The Thang
PAX completed the Hindenburg BLIMPS routine from the exicon. We modified the sprint portion to a straight line between FOUR light poles that were approx. .02 miles apart. Sprint to pole#1 and perform an exercise at pole #1, sprint to pole#2 & perform exercise, sprint to pole#3 & perform exercise & lastly to pole #4 & perform exercise. Plank it up until all PAX are in. That completes Round #1. Reverse directions and perform the second exercise working back to the pole where it all started. Rinse and repeat until all 6 Rounds are complete. Round # 1 – 10 Burpees, Round #2 – 20 Lunges (10 each leg). Round #3 – 30 Merkins. Round #4 – 40 Imperial Walkers. Round #5 – 50 Plank Jacks. Round #6 – 60 Squats. Chattahoochee caught the planned spelling error on the reversal of the imperial walkers and the merkin sets. So…we completed 40 merkins to make up the difference when we returned to Aegis.
F3 Message – The 3rd F was shared after completing Round #4.
Mosey (Patriot Run) approx. .47 miles back to Aegis
PAX finished the beatdown strong with 40 merkins OYO.
Count-O-Rama, Name-O-Rama, and the Circle of Trust. Please keep all of our HIM in your thoughts and prayers.
Welcome to FNG – Yukon.
F3 Message – 07/04/2020 – Excepts from Tony Cooke Ministries
Quotes, Stories, and Illustrations for the 4th of July
“Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove religion from politics.” – George Washington’s Farewell Address to Nation
“Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.” – John Wayne
“America was established not to create wealth but to realize a vision, to realize an ideal – to discover and maintain liberty among men.” – Woodrow Wilson
General Omar Bradley said, “America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America.” Bradley also said, “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount… The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.”
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not but religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” – Patrick Henry
“We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel.” – Benjamin Franklin (From the debates at the Constitutional Convention, June of 1787)
2 Chronicles 7:14 – if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Proverbs 14:34 – Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people… it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other…” – John Quincy Adams
Only in America
1. Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance. 2. Only in America are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink. 3. Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions, while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front. 4. Only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke. 5. Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our junk in the garage. Hello. 6. Only in America do we use answering machines to screen calls and have call-waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place. 7. Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
The Inscription on the Statue of Liberty, written by Emma Lazarus Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
No King But Jesus! The Colonists grew in their resilience and confidence in God, to the point where one Crown-appointed Governor wrote of the condition to the Board of Trade back in England: “If you ask an American who is his master? He will tell you he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ.”
The Committees of Correspondence soon began sounding the cry across the Colonies: “No King but King Jesus!”
From America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, Fame Publishing.
“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” – George Washington
1 Timothy 2:1-4
1. Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2. for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3. for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4. who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
“In reading over the Constitutions of all fifty of our states, I discovered something which some of you may not know: there is in all fifty, without exception, an appeal or a prayer to the Almighty God of the universe…. Through all fifty state Constitutions, without exception, there runs this same appeal and reference to God who is the Creator of our liberties and the preserver of our freedoms.” – D. James Kennedy
“History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.” – General Douglas MacArthur
“I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one of two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity.” – John Quincy Adams
“Under God” and the Pledge of Allegiance The words “under God were taken from Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address, “…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth…” and were added to the Pledge of Allegiance on June 14, 1954 by a joint resolution of Congress, 243 (Public Law 83-396). (The Pledge was initially adopted by the 79th Congress on December 28, 1945, as Public Law 287.) On June 14, 1954, President Eisenhower signed into law the pledge:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which is stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
President Eisenhower gave his support to the Congressional Act, which added the phrase, “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, saying:
“In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”
President Eisenhower then stood on the steps of the Capitol Building and recited the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time with the phrase, “one nation under God.”
From America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, William J. Federer, Fame Publishing.
“In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gave you.” – Amy Tan
“My County, ‘Tis of Thee” was written by a Baptist minister, Samuel Francis Smith. “The Pledge of Allegience” was written in 1892 by a Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy. The words “In God We Trust” are traced to the efforts of Rev. W.R. Watkinson. Rev. John Witherspoon, a Presbyterian minister was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
“The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as American citizens. The time is come – it is now – when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. America’s future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God’s government.” – Peter Marshall
“Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” – Pope John Paul II
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” – John Adams
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of Liberty.” – President John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, Friday, January 20, 1961
“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility — I welcome it.” – John F. Kennedy
“Freedom is the last, best hope of earth.” – Abraham Lincoln
“…I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’” – Martin Luther King, Jr. (From his “I Have a Dream speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963)
“Patriotism is not so much protecting the land of our fathers as preserving the land of our children.” – Jose Ortega Y Gasset
A teacher went into her classroom about fifteen minutes before the class was supposed to begin and caught a bunch of boys in a huddle on their knees in the corner of the room. She asked what they were doing, and one of them shouted back, “We are shooting craps.” She replied, “That’s all right. I was afraid you were praying.”
During the dark days of the American Revolution, when the Continental Army had experienced several setbacks, a farmer who lived near the battlefield approached Washington’s camp unheard. Suddenly his ears caught an earnest voice raised in agonizing prayer. On coming nearer he saw it was the great General, down on his knees in the snow, his cheeks wet with tears. He was asking God for assistance and guidance. The farmer crept away and returned home. He said to his family, “Its going to be all right. We are going to win!” “What makes you think so?” his wife asked. “Well,” said the farmer, “I heard General Washington pray out in the woods today—such fervent prayer I have never heard. And God will surely hear and answer that kind of praying.” And the farmer was right! It happened because Washington put his hope in God.
“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” – Thomas Paine
“I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” – Patrick Henry
“The U. S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.” – Benjamin Franklin
In June of 1863, just weeks before the battle of Gettysburg, a college president asked Abraham Lincoln if he thought the country would survive. President Lincoln replied: “I do not doubt that our country will finally come through safe and undivided. But do not misunderstand me… I do not rely on the patriotism of our people… the bravery and devotion of the boys in blue… (or) the loyalty and skill of our generals… But the God of our Fathers, Who raised up this country to be the refuge and asylum of the oppressed and the downtrodden of all nations will not let it perish now. I may not live to see it… I do not expect to see it, but God will bring us through safe.”
“Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, or literary. Let us cherish these sentiments, and extend this influence still more widely; in full conviction that that is the happiest society which partakes in the highest degree of the mild and peaceful spirit of Christianity.” – Daniel Webster.
The United States of America is 226 years old today (July 4, 2002). That’s a long time for a nation to remain free. But, when you take the long, historical view, America is just a CHILD among the nations. Egypt, China, Japan, Rome, or Greece all make America’s history seem so short. Consider what a brief time we’ve really been here as a nation: When Thomas Jefferson died, Abraham Lincoln was a young man of 17. When Lincoln was assassinated, Woodrow Wilson was a boy of 8. By the time the nation mourned the death of President Wilson, Ronald Reagan was a boy of 12.
Edward Gibbon, author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, has attributed the fall of the Empire to:
1. The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society. 2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies for free bread and circuses for the populace. 3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal. 4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people. 5. The decay of religion–faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people.
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Delivered November 19, 1863 Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
“I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in the Assembly every morning…” – Benjamin Franklin, 1787 Constitutional Convention
TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES This, from a Canadian newspaper, is worth sharing. America: The Good Neighbor.
Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a Canadian television Commentator. What follows is the full text of his trenchant remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:
“This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts.
None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.
I’d like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10?
If so, why don’t they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon – not once, but several times – and safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don’t think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I’m one Canadian who is tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those.”
Stand proud, America! Wear it proudly!
Quotes by Ronald Reagan “I believe this blessed land was set apart in a very special way, a country created by men and women who came here not in the search of gold, but in search of God. They would be free people, living under the law with faith in their Maker and their future.”
“Our liberty springs from and depends upon an abiding faith in God.”
“The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable, and as morality’s foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide.”
“If we lived by the Golden Rule, there would be no need for other laws.”
“I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land. We need God’s help to guide our nation through stormy seas. But we can’t expect Him to protect America in a crisis if we just leave Him over on the shelf in our day-to-day living.”
“My fellow citizens, those of you here in this hall, and those of you at home. I want you to know that I have always had the highest respect for you, for your common sense and intelligence and for your decency. I have always believed in you and in what you could accomplish for yourselves and others.
And whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears; to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty’s lamp guiding your steps and opportunity’s arm steadying your way.
My fondest hope for each one of you, and especially for the young people here, is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here.
May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek Divine guidance, and never lose your natural God-given optimism.
And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill…My fellow Americans, on behalf of both of us, goodbye, and God bless each and every one of you and God bless this country we love.”
14 HIM beat the lag from the new hours of Daylight Savings Time and posted at CHOP in Milton, DE for some ab work. Plus, the PAX got in their fair share of Merkins for March Merkin Madness (actually only 147 total).
WARM-O-RAMA: (Intended for Phyfe but he couldn’t make it because of working the Blue Light Special today – no worries, we’ll get him on the schedule again.)
SSH – 18 IC
Swartzjack – 18 IC
Smurfjack – 18 IC
Plankjack – 18 IC
Crabflippers – 18 IC
THE THANG:
PAX lined up single file at the edge of the field which had 6 cones lined up evenly from one end of the field to the other (lit up with chem-lights – you gotta admit it was cool looking!)
RR Tracks to the far cone (approx. 175 yards)
Cone #1 – COP Hello Dolly – 50 IC (…and the mumble chatter begins)
Mosey to parking lot – 6 Merkins OYO
First 3 guys back to lot had to grab a Restrictor Plate (Sandbag)
Mosey out to Cone #2 – COP X’s & O’s – 18 OYO
Mosey to parking lot – 12 Merkins OYO (from here on Restrictor Plates were voluntary, at least for the most part. Well, see what happened was…instead of mumble chatter there was some “mumble yelling” by the enforcer, Leatherman, to get everyone to step up and shoulder 1 of the 3 sandbags (i.e. some guys appeared to be bypassing the bags)
Mosey out to Cone #3 – COP 4-Count Freddies – 25 IC
Mosey to parking lot – 18 Merkins OYO
Mosey out to Cone #4 – COP Box Cutters – 30 IC
Mosey to parking lot – 24 Merkins OYO
Mosey to Cone #5 – COP Dying Cockroaches – 30 IC
Mosey to parking lot – 30 Merkins OYO
Mosey to Cone #6 – COP American Hammers – 30 IC
This is how it went…back and forth like suicides, only for abs instead.
PAX circled up for 3rdF:
One of the more popular Bible verses referred to in F3 circles is Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Most of us have shared that verse as part of a 3rdF, and if not, all of us have at least heard it because it’s been shared regularly.
Iron sharpening iron is a pretty simple concept. We all get it—I think that’s why its included in the Book of Proverbs—its masculine practicality speaks to the hearts of all men!
I’m referring to it today in terms of the leadership principle/practice of ACCOUNTABILITY. By very definition, without accountability there’s no iron sharpening iron. Having no accountability makes you about as useful as the file hanging by itself on a hook in my shed. (P.S. – proper use is critical!)
The question I want to pose is this: In an age when there is so little accountability (i.e. men refuse accountability) do you have someone to whom you’ve MADE YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE—willingly? I’m not talking about your workplace, where you’re subordinate to a supervisor or to someone who holds your paycheck. But I’m talking about a brother in the Lord, a brother in this circle, or another man, who, in any given circumstance can not only encourage you but call into question a decision, a motive, a response, a reaction, or a path you’ve taken? Have you made your heart receptive to the counsel of someone who might even wound you so that you’ll continue to grow and mature as a man, a husband, a father, and friend? Earlier, Proverbs 27 also says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend…” (27:6). If you don’t have that other piece of iron in your life (I think Mr. T’s words might be for you: “I pity the fool!)
The term ACCOUNTABILITY as its defined in our F3 lexicon is: “Submitting to a standard through enforcement and consequence. To practice Accountability, there must be a STANDARD (and objective measure of performance or behavior…p.s., you’re NOT it!), ENFORCEMENT (an external force to apply that Standard), and CONSEQUENCE (the result of the Enforcement of the Standard). This is certainly a larger definition by context than just a friendship with a brother from another mother, yet it still applies to iron sharpening iron.
That verse means that when iron is rubbed against another piece of iron it SHAPES and SHARPENS it. Similarly, we as men, can help each other become better by our discussions, criticisms, suggestions, ideas, and accountability. As HIM we should not only provide that kind of influence, whether good or bad, but we MUST welcome it as well!
The verse implies both the pleasure and advantage of accountability. Accountability means you have wise and profitable discourses by which you sharpen and are sharpened. I.e. something is added—you are filed, made smooth, or are given a good edge by accountability with another High Impact Man (HIM)…or other High Impact Men (plural). One last question: Do you have the MORAL COURAGE to make decisions for which you will be held accountable?
(Sources: QSOURCE by DREDD, F3nation.com Lexicon, & TBKC)
THE THANG #2:
PAX moved to the wall for a short game of Merkin Dice. PAX took turns rolling the BIG dice to determine the number of Merkins to be done between 10-Count BTTW’s. It went a little something like this:
Roll #1 – 10 reps
BTTW – 10 Count
Hand Release Merkins – 10 OYO
Roll #2 – 5 reps
BTTW – 10 Count
Tempo Merkins – 5 IC
Roll #3 – 6 reps
BTTW – 10 Count, courtesy of Leatherman. Recount courtesy of Doubtfire
Prison Cell Merkins – 6 OYO
Times up…and good thing because somebody’s pain was starting to become “special.” Lol. Plus, PAX had to have time to name our FNG>
COT/BOM:
Number-Rama
Name-O-Rama
Naming of FNG – Welcome FNG Jeff Chorman, now known in F3 circles as Woodstock
Announcements:
Softball games Saturday in Milton to raise support for Delaware Food Bank: Bring your non-perishable food items to the ball fields (Suggestion: You could ruck them to the ball fields.)
2nd Annual Shamruck: Family Ruck this Sunday (3/15). Stepping off from the Big Lot’s parking lot in Milford at 3:17 p.m. Rucking 1 mile to McDonald’s for Shamrock Shakes. Rucking 1 mile to return to parking. Bring a ruck (40 lbs if you weigh over 150, 20 lbs if you weigh under 150. If the kids can’t ruck pull ’em in a wagon, bring friends, etc. Let’s just enjoy some time together under ruck and having some quality 2ndF and giving our families the opportunity to get to know one another.
Prayers: Stafford Family, effected by cancer. Family of Trion’s M’s uncle, Roger. YHC’s friend, undergoing brain tumor removal tomorrow. Other PAX’s families battling for the marriages, etc. P.S. – don’t forget to pray for Quattro, who is sick.
Grateful for the beautiful weather and the amazing full moon to workout under. More than anything, YHC is grateful for the HIM who posted and the accountability that is available (for all who are willing) through this special esprit de corps among F3 brothers. Thanks for posting men!
12 HIM showed up for the early morning beatdown, 37°
Warmup:
25 SSH
11 Michael Phelps
25 Windmills
25 Mountain Climbers
25 Cherry Pickers
Bolt 45 set
The Thang:
Mosey to Food Lion Parking lot
Crawl Bear from one light to the next
25 Burpees
Bear Crawl Back
3rd F Leadership Nuggets:
1) Servant Leadership: Jesus was our ultimate example of servant leadership. Whether we are leading a business, a sports team, a church, a class, a or squadron, we are all in a leadership position. Servant leadership is all about making the goals clear and then doing whatever it takes to serve those around us to help THEM accomplish THEIR goals. They don’t work for us or serve us, we serve them. Good leaders must first become good servants. Give your Power away!
2) Team work: Jesus engaged a team of 12 to accomplish his mission. I remember the story of this man lost on a country road in his pickup truck and found himself on the road and into the ditch. He walked to a nearby farm to ask for help. The farmer pointed to his old decrepit mule and said Ole Worwick can pull you out. The man, with doubt, accepted the offer. The farmer hitched Ole Warwick to the man’s pick up truck and said “pull Fred, pull Jack, pull Ted, Pull Warwick” And Ole Warwick pulled the truck right out of the ditch with no problem. The man asked in amazement, “why did you call out all of those names?” The farmer said with a grin on his face, “you see, Ole Warwick is blind and as long as he believes he is part of a team he will pull just about anything!” Teamwork is a powerful tool, just see what the 12 disciples were able to accomplish in such a short period of time. A group can accomplish things which the cumulative individuals of the group could never bring about. Such is the case with this amazing group of HIM!
15 HIM beat the fartsack in the rain: Gump, Bovine, Quattro, Leatherman, Vanilla, Chairman, Beeker, Waterfall, Ruxpin, Chattahoochee, Chappie, Fireplex, Streüdel, Wildwing, Doubtfire
Warmup:
25 SSH IC
25 Cherry Pickers IC
25 Windmills IC
20 Triple Bears IC
30 Sumo Squat Jump OYO
Mosey to HOB
The Thang:
Dragon Crawl from one light pole to the next
25 Burpees
3rd F :Be the Buffalo: When storms brew on the Colorado plains, they typically move in from the west, many times building in strength and intensity as they travel eastward. Cattle and buffalo share the plains as their home, but their response to the impending storms is very different. Cattle will attempt to avoid the storms by running away from them. They scatter and run with the storm for a longer period of time, increasing panic in the herd as well as the chance of injury. Buffalo, however, will gather together, turn, and run directly into the storm, thereby reducing the duration of time in danger and increasing their chances of emerging unscathed on the other side. By nature, most people want to avoid confrontation. Like the buffalo, the best relationships are the ones that encourage each other to continually turn headfirst into the issues. So much of the health of our relationships is riding on our ability to confront each other well!
Buttkickers halfway around circle Toysoldiers the other half.
Mosey to school for BOMBS
Split up into 2 man teams 1 pax does exercise the other mosey’s half way across school yard Nur’s back as a team 50 Burbees, 100 overhead arm claps in jackwebb position, 150 merkins, 200 bigboys, 250 squats
Mosey to library- Lt. Danger across parking lot Lunge walk back.
Mosey to Armory- Toy soldier set 50 LBCs, 25 E2Ks, 15 bigboys.
1 set of Aiken legs 20 Squats, 20 box jumps on step, 20 Lunges, 20 Splitjacks.
Mosey back to the AO for number-rama, name-o-rama and COT
Bolt 45’s IC (4 Count) – 15 squats to halfway down. 15 squats halfway to full down. 15 full squats.
Windmills – 15 IC
Burp & Merk – Burpee with Ascending Merkins up to 10
Chilly Jacks – 25 IC
20 lunges (10 each Leg) – OYO
20 split Jacks (10 each Leg) – OYO
The Thang
B.O.M.B.S. – 50 Burpees, 100 Overhead Claps, 150 Merkins, 200 Big Boy Sit-ups, 250 Squats. PAX partnered up and worked on exercises while their partner ran a “Chairman Lap” out the back driveway of the CHOP parking lot, left toward Union Street, and then left back to the CHOP. The distance per circuit is approximately .25 miles. Pax switched off with their partner after each lap. Each PAX completed their half of the listed exercises before moving on to the next exercise. The entire “Thang” was complete before a break was taken for the 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.
F3 Message 02/04/20 – From Ron Hutchcraft Ministries
A BUCKET OF WATER, OR A THREE-ALARM FIRE – #7744
I’m a tornado and hurricane kind of guy. I mean I don’t like them but, I’ve lived where you learn about those things. I’m not an earthquake kind of guy. I’ve never lived where those mattered much. But when I was in San Francisco, I was where earthquakes are a big deal! Most people there still have dramatic stories to tell about what happened during that big quake in 1989, the one that interrupted the 3rd game of the World Series. Some of the heaviest damage and injury was in the Marina District of San Francisco.
Well, actually, I was doing a youth radio program back then, and we went there to record part of it. In fact, we were right on the comer of Beach Street and Divisadero where several buildings collapsed or burned, including one that had been totally consumed by fire. One of the neighbors described the scene for us, one very different from this quiet neighborhood with beautiful rebuilt homes. The night of the quake was total chaos. This neighbor described that awful fire with the unbearable heat that had destroyed the building on the other comer. He said, “The fire started out with a gas leak. It was small. If I could have gotten over there, I literally could have put it out with a bucket of water. But then it started to spread and pretty soon there was no way to stop it.”
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “A Bucket of Water, or a Three-Alarm Fire.”
God believes in fighting fires when they’re small, when you can still put them out with a bucket of water. He talks about it in Ephesians 4:26-27, our word for today from the Word of God, and some of the most insightful verses in the Bible for preserving relationships. Here’s what God says, “In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Could it be that you have let a fire smolder in some relationship in your life? Let it go, let it grow and you will have a blaze on your hands you cannot control.
Maybe there is a strained relationship in your life right now, between you and your mate, or you and a child, you and a co-worker, you and your parent, you and a spiritual brother or sister. Maybe there’s trouble in your marriage and so often, honestly, it’s the guy who’s the last to admit that anything’s wrong. Men – let’s face it – tend to be postponers when it comes to dealing with relationship difficulties. But I’m telling you, the fire isn’t going to stay the same size. Relationships of all kinds burn down when someone lets the small fire just go, until it becomes this uncontrollable inferno that can do so much damage.
In fact, the Bible says that when you let conflict or strain or anger go longer than a day, you literally give the devil himself a place to get into your relationship. Four verses later, in Ephesians 4:31, God lists the kind of ugly things that come from letting relationship fires go unaddressed: “All bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, every form of malice.” Look, can you see some of those flames maybe right now growing in a relationship of yours.
Don’t wait another day to do something about the fire. It’s as small now as it’s ever going to be. Gently confront what you have to confront, forgive what you have to forgive, apologize for what you need to apologize for, and overlook what you have to overlook, but deal with whatever is between you, whatever is breaking or broken.
Because I’ll tell you this, the devil is standing there with his gasoline can ready to pour gasoline on that fire so everyone involved will get burned. You need to come running with whatever water it will take to put it out now. A bucket of water now is a whole lot better than a 3-alarm fire later.
Bolt 48’s IC (4 Count) – 16 squats to halfway down. 16 squats halfway to full down. 16 full squats.
Windmills – 24 IC
Jiminy Crickets – 8 OYO
Mosey .5 miles to “Oh Hill No” by way of the Black “Mamba” Snake Run
The Thang
The Super Sheldon Cooper Mamba Style. Inch worm or “Mamba Slither” up the hill, run down and complete 8 Burpees, 8 Squats, 8 Merkins & 8 Big Boys. Plank for the 6. Dragon Crawl up the hill, run down and complete 8 Burpees, 8 Squats, 8 Merkins & 8 Big Boys. Plank for the 6. Crawl Bear up the hill, Bear Crawl down and complete 8 Burpees, 8 Squats, 8 Merkins & 8 Big Boys. Plank for the 6. I had a few more “Mamba Hill Slithers” planned had time allowed. Break for the F3 message. See Message Below….
Mosey .5 miles back to CHOP by way of the Black “Mamba” Snake Run
F3 Message 01/30/20
CP CURRENT PAGE: VOICES | TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020
Kobe Bryant’s death reminds us life is not fair
By Greg Laurie, CP Contributor (The Christian Post)
I could hardly believe the news this weekend: Kobe Bryant, the LA Lakers basketball superstar, had died in a helicopter accident near Los Angeles. Eight other people, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, also perished in the crash.
How could a champion like Kobe, so vibrant and full of life, suddenly leave us?
Kobe Bryant was among the very best to play in the NBA. He played 20 seasons with the LA Lakers, won 5 championship rings and finished with 33,643 career points. At 41 years old, he was a living and breathing legend that even other NBA stars were star-struck by.
He even picked his own nickname, “Black Mamba,” after the fastest lethal snake in the world — and passed it on to his daughter Gianna, a budding basketball star, whom he called “Mambacita.”
The truth is, the vast majority of us didn’t know Kobe personally. Maybe we went to one of his games, but that was the extent of our relationship with him. Yet his death somehow has touched millions of Americans deeply. I believe it’s because it suddenly jolted us to the reality that life is not fair.
Why are people like Kobe and his daughter and the other passengers aboard that fateful flight taken while others will wake up tomorrow to face a new day?
There are no easy explanations, but here are three things we should keep in mind as we reflect on Kobe’s passing:
1. Life Is Precious
I have a smartwatch. Periodically, I will get a message on it that simply says, “Breathe.” Funny thing is, I was breathing already, but it’s reminding me of something that I should never take for granted.
Every day is a gift. Every single heartbeat and every breath you take is a blessing. Don’t take it for granted. And don’t take your health or your family for granted either.
The Bible reminds us, “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 NLT).
Kobe was a very successful man with many beautiful things, but I am certain he would have traded it all for one more precious day of life. He was not given that choice.
2. Don’t Ask ‘Why?’ — Ask ‘Who?’
I remember the day 11 years ago when my wife and I heard the devastating news that our son Christopher had died in an automobile accident on his way to work. It was as if all the air was sucked out of the room and time stood still. I felt as though if words could kill you, I could have died on the spot that day.
In my time of pain and darkness, I called out to God, and He was there for me. The Bible says He is “the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3).
Sometimes things happen in life that are unfair, and we will never get a satisfying answer for why they happened. At times such as these, I have learned that the right question to ask is not “Why?” but “Who?” Who do you turn to at a time like this?
You turn to God and ask Him for the strength you need to go on another day. And you cry and mourn.
The Bible says, “Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15 NLT). Many people wept with us when our son Christopher died. Right now, Kobe’s family needs support and love.
We need to remember to pray for Kobe’s wife, Vanessa, and his children, Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. Kobe is also survived by his father Joe and his mother Pam. I cannot imagine the devastation they are all feeling over the loss of both Kobe and Gianna. We must also remember to pray for the families of the seven others who died as well. Their names are:
● John Altobelli, 56, Orange Coast College head baseball coach
● Kerri Altobelli, John’s wife
● Alyssa Altobelli, John and Kerri’s daughter, who was Gianna’s basketball teammate
● Sarah Chester
● Payton Chester, Sarah’s daughter and another basketball teammate
● Christina Mauser, girls basketball coach at Mamba Sports Academy
● Ara Zobayan, pilot
3. We Must Prepare
Death isn’t a respecter of people. It doesn’t care if you are rich or poor; religious or not; famous, infamous or unknown; or even the great Kobe Bryant, who had vast resources and money at his disposal. It knocks at every door, and sadly one day it will knock at your door and mine.
But death is not the end. The Bible talks about an afterlife — a concept even many people who are nonreligious believe in. Jesus spoke about it.
He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).
It’s because of this hope of eternity that followers of Jesus do not “grieve like people who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). If we believe in and follow Jesus, we can rest assured that death will not get the final word but we will be in Heaven with Him.
WARM A RAMA: SSH x 20, Cherry Picker x 20, Goof Ball x 20, La La Leggy x 10, Joe Lewis x 20
The Thang:
Sixteen workout stations were set out in two lines 40 feet apart. Each station had a separate exercise that continued for 60 seconds. Pax would do Bobby Hurleys or a Fiddler Crab walk as they rotated to a new station.
Exercises included: box cutters, iron mikes dips, dirkins, lbc, wheel of merkins, groiners burpees, coupon jump, elf on shelf, bolt 45, windshield wipers, big boy, war hammers, Alabama ass kickers
Third F:
While PAX were on 6s doing bicycles, QIC recited Kobe Brant sayings such as: “I can’t relate to lazy people. We don’t speak the same language. I don’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you.” He also talked about leaving the game better than you found it. “When it comes time to leave, leave a legend.”
“Leaving the game better than you found it” echos the concept of seeking a “more perfect union.” So we closed the message by recalling Rear Admiral Black’s opening prayer at the Trump Impeachment trial: “Sovereign God, author of liberty … remember that Patriots reside on both sides of the aisle….Give all senators a civility built upon integrity that brings consistency in their beliefs and actions, we pray in your powerful name, Amen.
