Fitness Training For All

Surrounded by Jen's! 

Now that summer is nearing the end, we usually have the best shaped bodies of our lives.

I said usually… In July, I had a meltdown of some sorts. Instead of continuing the regiment of waking up at 5:00 a.m. and going to Training For Warriors for a 6 a.m. workout, I went on vacation with the family to California with full intentions of going to the hotel gym to workout.

In two weeks of vacation, my temptations got the best of me. I gained 13 lbs. I will say the feast of seafood was quite delicious at Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco!

When I returned home, I realized what a mess of  two weeks of vacation it was for me, eating wise. Everything I learned from the gym, including my nutrition intake when right out the door.

Since July, I had to redevelop that discipline to train and eat right again. I only allow for one cheat day and the rest of the week I am working hard at maintaining what I have lost. It’s not always easy. I know the UMW will be having a bake sale real soon at the Craft Festival on October 6, but instead of eating bad all week, I eat healthy, leading up to October 6 so that I can have some of those goodies! Last year, I devoured the Chocolate Pecan Pie!

I’d like for you to reflect upon 1 Timothy 4 as you read this.

Paul was hoping to visit with Timothy while in Ephesus, but since he did not, Paul writes him a letter giving Timothy practical advice about ministry.

Let’s look at 1 Timothy 4: 6-16.
6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; 8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. 10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,[c] so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Paul is setting Timothy up with a prescription for success. I appreciate this disciplined approach to living as a follower of Jesus. Paul is essentially saying three things to Timothy in this part of the letter:

1. Put these things before the brothers.
2. Train yourself for Godliness
3. Command and teach these things so that you can track your progress, keep a close watch.

What does Paul mean by “put these things before.”

Paul's refuting the false teachers Timothy was facing. You see, if we go back just a few verses to verses 1 through 5, Paul was specifically calling out those who condemned marriage and eating certain foods.

In the church at Ephesus, there were two things being denied and forbidden. One was eating meat, and the other was marriage. Some people were teaching that if you became a vegetarian and single, then you would be closer to God. How about that? Married people, don't get any ideas! Gnostics at the time were teaching this. They believed that if you refrained from these behaviors, then you were close to God. The focus was more on the body and not the spirit. Paul was instructing young Timothy to discipline the spiritual side of oneself as well, that it couldn’t be just one area of your life that you focused on.


One year ago I weighed nearly 300 lbs. and my life was crashing in front of me.
I weighed 286 lbs. and I had no more energy. I was spent.
I was pre-diabetic. High blood pressure.
Headed towards a stroke.
My grandma had a stroke at the age of 44 and at the time, I was 43.

I knew I had to put this all behind me because I knew I was headed for disaster.

Then I was introduced to the gym. Not only has this gym helped me physically, I am more alert, I have a deeper relationship with my wife, I am a much healthier pastor to take on all that church planting has in store for me.

With my trainers, Colin and Adam, with Wes and Jenn (who is getting a sweat hug!!) 

Energy level is back! 

I am not a pre-diabetic anymore.
My blood pressure is normal.
I have the energy to go all day now without a break.
The discipline of the gym has helped me focus on life so much more and what God has equipped me to do.

Paul instructs the Romans and us to think holistically here. (Body, Mind and Spirit)

Romans 12:1-2 12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (Body, Mind and Spirit) as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Transformation takes place when we put the things of the world behind us and strive for something more.

Transformation just doesn’t happen though. It takes discipline and it takes training. 

Before training, there was no way I was able to do more than a few push ups. However, with training and discipline, I now can do push ups with 70 lbs on my back. It didn’t just happen all of a sudden. This took continued practice.

It’s the same with our spiritual lives. Are we satisfied with just going to church for one hour on Sunday? What would it look like if we all were engaged in a small group, growing spiritually?

#2 Train Yourself For Godliness:

A follower of Jesus is one who walks in, right living. In order to live righteous, it’s crucial that we exercise our faith.

As a spiritual being, we must exercise ourselves, spiritually too, towards godliness. Paul helps us see that as he uses a metaphor of an athletic.


We are to exercise ourselves in godliness as much as an Olympic athlete exercises their body. Think of the time and energy, effort and dedication an Olympic athlete puts into their training. Their sport is their life. So it is to be with us as followers of Christ: godliness is to be our life. All of our energy, effort, time, and dedication should be given over to godliness. God prods us to the exercise of godliness.

As Paul refuted to Timothy, bodily exercise is profitable, we are healthier and feel better about ourselves, but godliness is more profitable, far more profitable.
We should exercise our body regularly; we should keep ourself physically fit.
But the focus of our life as Christians is to live a godly life.

The reason for all that I am telling you this morning is clear: godliness bears fruit—great fruit—both in this life and in the life to come. If we walk in the Spirit, we bear fruit of God’s Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God promises to bless while we walk upon this earth, and also when we receive the life to come. That alone makes me want to live a godly life! Because we are going to receive the fruit of our labor.



To live this way calls us to be consistent in our discipline. Don’t let anything hold you back in receiving that fruit. In verse 12, Paul writes to Timothy, “Don’t let anything hold you down Timothy. Some people will knock you down a level because you are young, but don’t let that stop you from being faithful.”


Paul tells Timothy to focus! But, this means we need to focus too. There are many distractions in our lives. There are the distractions of work, social media, sports, social pressures, the list could go on and on, and we all could say, I’m just too busy. I did for years as my justification as to why I couldn’t get to the gym. I kept saying, “I’m too busy.” However, I look back and now realize, “What in the world was I doing at 5-6 a.m. anyway?”

Distractions could have got the best of Timothy but Timothy was told to focus on reading the Scriptures, encouraging one another and teaching one another.
I’d like for you to think for a moment. How do you train spiritually? Do you set time to pray? Do you read the Scriptures? Do you fast? Do you worship? Do you spend time in small groups? Do you tithe? Do you serve? Do you visit those in need? Do you feed the hungry? So you seek justice?

Joining in devotion and Scripture at the gym before a workout.

These are what John Wesley called the “Means of Grace.”

What part of your life could grow by training spiritually?

Lastly, Paul told Timothy to “Command and teach these things so that you can track your progress, keep a close watch.”

I love this wording from Paul. Command.

Parangelle – means to declare, to order. Paul is saying, Order your life in a way and teach these things so that you can keep close watch.

As we look into the Scripture, we see the Bible mentions many times how Jesus went away to pray—sometimes early in the morning, sometimes overnight.

I’d like to challenge you as you read this. To take an inventory of your daily life. Where are you rushed? Where are you bored? Where can you pray? Where can you read? Where can you jump into a small group?

The thing is, I can’t make this decision for you.
It’s up to you to make the time… to put things behind, to train and to command your life.

See you at the gym! And in small group.

Entitlement Wreaks Havoc

Recently I was looking on Facebook at pictures of a friends recent trip to Yosemite National Park. It was a beautifully sunny day, views for miles, and smiles all around. My first thought was, "It's not fair, that they got to see the beauty of Yosemite and when I was out there in July, all I witnessed was smoke from the Ferguson Fires. 

Smoke covers Yosemite National Park

Picture I took along the Tioga Pass

As I reflect upon my emotions, I find that my mind was consumed with entitlement. What makes me entitled to have the best view? Why not be grateful for the fact that I was in Yosemite in the first place? Although I didn't get to see the historic landmarks in Yosemite because of smoke, I did get to climb the Pass over to Nevada. It's on that drive that I got to see God's beautiful creation. 

Entitlement can wreak havoc. Lately, I have witnessed entitlement at a deeper level. A few weeks ago, my area was witness to a mass shooting that left people dead after a gamer lost a video game. Two nights before that, our area witnessed shootings at a high school football game that left people dead. 

It saddens me to live in a time where many believe they deserve more than others and when we don't win or when we don't get a trophy for participating, entitlement rears its ugly head once again. 

Entitlement believes that we deserve more or that we have the right to have something. 

For the last 10 months I have been exercising at TFW (Training for Warriors) in Julington Creek. Before I started, I had the mindset that I deserved to be in shape and that I deserved to have muscles, simply because I worked hard and didn't have "time" for the gym. I made excuse after excuse. 

What I came to find out, was, no one was handing me a "fit" body. 

Almost 300lbs and made excuse after excuse

I was nearing 300 lbs, I was on blood pressure meds and was pre-diabetic. It was an ugly cycle. I kept telling myself, "Poor me, I have such a hard time getting up to exercise, so why not, let's just eat another burger." 

This entitled attitude was leading me down a dark path, one that would eventually kill me prematurely if I did not check myself and my ego at the door and humble myself to take a step in faith and the right direction. 

Muscles and a fit body don't come by napping and eating Oreos. It comes through vigorous exercise, discipline, and a regimented food plan. Since this change in November 2017, I have lost nearly 70 lbs, am not pre-diabetic and no longer have high blood pressure. 

Feeling like I am in my 20's again! After a long hike in Sequoia National Park

I am off my meds and now feel like I did when I was in my 20's. 

I've met many new friends along the way and we work hard to encourage each other. 

Some of the Familia at TFW

I say this because I see the same with our faith. We say we want God in our life, but do we do anything about it? We can get caught spiritually napping and eating spiritual Oreos while the good is right in front of us. 

Faith requires investment. James 2:14-26 says, "14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

Yes, we are saved by faith through grace in Jesus Christ, but just because we are saved by God's grace does not give us the right to walk around with an entitled attitude. 

Jesus came to serve, not to be served. We too are called to serve, not to be served. 

I react very badly when mediocrity throws a tantrum of entitlement. - Lee Siegel

I no longer want to be mediocre. I want to be the best I can be for the Lord and for others. I hope you feel the same way about yourself and what God desires in you.