A WHOLE MAN

“But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 Above is a picture of the view I have from the hotel that I am staying at in Rio De Janeiro. The weather here is an amazing 80 degrees Fahrenheit and before you get jealous, know that I am here on business and rarely have free time during the week to spend time getting tanner and go swimming. Additionally, the Crossfit Open (if you haven’t registered yet, go ahead and do that now, you can read this after) is coming up on Feb 27th. With me being here in Brazil until February 20th, I know my physical fitness will take a hit, as I won’t have all the equipment I need, and my performance will not be where it could have been. I do plan on dropping in to a few boxes when I can to get a proper workout and maintain some of my strength. Howev...

“And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. ” Exodus 14:31 (NIV) There is a story about two best friends who graduated from high school and parted ways to their respective universities. Because of their close relationship, they always made an effort to get together once a year at their favorite restaurant and catch up with one another. One year, after they had finished their meal and were pulling out of the restaurant parking lot, their vehicles collided with one another. The damage was not too extensive to either vehicle, but damage did exist. Like good friends, they agreed to reconcile with one another and let it go. In fact, they decided to seal their commitment with a bottle of wine. After the first friend took a drink from the wine bottle, he passed it to his buddy to take a drink. To this, his friend responded, “I will take my drink after the co...

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the duty of all mankind.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV) If any of you are like me, you are very busy. Busy with Church, work, personal, familial, and social activities that all compete for your time and to which we find it difficult at times to say no. The danger with this is that we when we choose to do something, we are neglecting another. The problem is not that we are doing something, or even that we are busy. The problem, however, lies in the fact that we can get caught up in our busyness and not accomplish anything at all. The issue is that we are allowing our busyness to hinder us from guarding our hearts and our minds and our relationship with God. Tim Kreider may have explained it best when he wrote “Obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day.” Life can get hectic,...

                         “I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8 (NIV) There are many moments in our lives when we will become overwhelmed with the busyness of life. Whether it involves taking care of those you love or working 40 hours a week at your place of employment or something as simple as catching up on a favorite show or working on a side project, sometimes life can seem to be more of a routine and static than dynamic and interesting. Now I’m not saying that doing those things are not important, or even that they should be avoided or neglected. What I am saying is that there is a difference between getting things done and doing things with a purpose. One driving factor in my life is the urgency to do something meaningful. I have noticed that there are activities which are not helpful to me in making me a better person that I was before and I have been putting more of an...

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 (NIV) I am not sure about you, but I just love the New Year. To me it feels like hitting the reset button on everything that has happened and beginning afresh. When you really think about it we reset our clocks (although this occurs daily), our calendars (2013 calendars are useless now), and even ourselves (Developing new habits in terms of New Year’s Resolutions). Maybe last year you had made a commitment to a New Year’s resolution, hopefully you were able to stick with it and accomplish your goal. If you were able to keep with it, then Congratulations, don’t forget to keep making adjustments in order to make yourself better this year. If you were not able to stick with your resolution, Charles Duhigg , in his book The Power of Habits: Why We Do What We Do In Life , has some suggestions to help you make, keep, and sustain new habits. I will summarize them below: ...

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV) I heard a story about a rich man who was approached by a poor man who needed a large sum of money, around 140k. They had had a good relationship so the wealthy friend agreed to give the money to his friend on the condition that they meet every Friday morning at 5 am at a coffee shop and in return the wealthy friend would impart some wisdom with his friend and also give him $4,000 for every week he came. Of course, he agreed to the arrangement and when the first Friday came, he showed up at 4:30 am so not to be late and as promised was given insight and a check for $4,000. This continued for several weeks and around the sixth week, the rich friend told his buddy that they did not have to meet anymore and that he would give him the remaining amount of money. He had enjoyed his company and speaking with him on those mornings and would stil...

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) I’m sure most of us have played a trust building game sometimes referred to as leading the blind. If you have not or do not know what I am referring to, basically you blindfold one person and attempt to navigate them through an obstacle course with only your words (If you have not tried this, I recommend that you do. It is a great way to help communicate the importance of our words and for building trust). When blindfolded, it takes a certain degree of trust in the person guiding you that they will not steer you into danger and will be leading you on the correct path. Although trust is an aspect of this activity, I would argue that most of us can do it just fine. In terms of a trivial game with very little risk at all, it is very easy for us to trust. Unfortunately, when applied to our lives and the relatio...