You call this "fitness?"

I took a Physical Fitness Test (PFT) yesterday morning. Yes, it was Saturday, but that couldn't be helped. See, I'd been on the pistol range all week so I missed the PFT that the company ran on Monday. I was helping out with the embarkation of the ship when the company ran one back in late September, so I didn't take it then, either. It's all good. I'm done now. For those who may not know... Marines are required to take a PFT twice a year. The whole thing is supposed to measure a Marine's physical fitness. The first event is a maximum set of dead-hang pull-ups. You may use either an overhand or underhand grip and you can even switch back and forth if you so desire. The maximum points for any event is 100. You receive 5 points for each good pull-up. I did five yesterday, which was pretty lame, but it was better than what I did when I was at the career course back in April, so I was happy with it. The second event is a two minute crunches drill. With your arms folded across your torso and using only your ab muscles, you're supposed to raise your body so that your elbows touch your thighs, then lower yourself so that your shoulderblades touch the ground. That's one repetition. You get two minutes to do as many as you can, with 100 being the maximum. For the first time in a looooong time, I failed to score the 100 points possible. I only got 97 crunches for 97 points. The final event is a timed three mile run. Here on Okinawa, the run course is not quite three complete laps around the most level part of this base. It's not too bad, except I have a devil of a time trying to make up lost time on a course I have to run more than once to complete the distance. Still, I managed to cover the three miles in 24:40. That was not my fastest time ever, but I managed to score 60 points for my effort. The end result is that I scored 182 points yesterday of a possible 300. This score is better than my previous score by five points, but it still falls within the 2nd class category. In order to get a 1st class PFT, I must score 200 points or more. If I were still a young man (under 27 years old) then I would need 225 points to score a 1st class PFT. Eithr way, I'm done with my required running for the year and now I can start training for the longer races that will be taking place back in San Diego next year. Training for these races will have the added benefit of reducing my time in the three mile run the next time I have to take a PFT, which will probably be sometime in March or April.

puff...puff...

Okay, the next time I plan to take a couple of days off, be warned in advance that it may turn into two or three weeks. I finally hit the road again after managing to get caught up enough on my office work that I actually had a couple of hours to get some road time in. I also bought a new pair of shoes (picture coming) and now I think I'm almost ready for my semi-annual PFT. I'm actually going to run the three mile course later tonight, just to check my time. Well, check my time and get some more miles on my new shoes before I need to run for score, which will probably be Monday.

holiday time out

It may be a couple of days until I can get to the gym again. It's not a problem with the gym or anything. It's my shoes. I wore my "go-fasters" this morning as I went through what the Navy calls a "cleansing ceremony" to be transformed from a "wog" to a "shellback." Well, as you can probably imagine, any kind of "cleansing" to be done by the Navy is bound to involve water and lots of it. My shoes are soaked. They are drying out right now, but I have no idea how long it's going to take. I will probably try to run a bit on Friday to help with the holiday turkey hangover, but we'll see. In the interim, have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow and a wonderful "official" start to the holiday season.

almost

I've almost run a marathon race's distance. Granted, it's taken me a lot longer than what it takes true athletes to run a race of that distance, but I'm getting there. I have a special training day tomorrow, so I probably won't be running for a couple of days. I get to do some swimming on Thursday for Thanksgiving, so that should be fun. I think on Friday I am going to just run for my entire exercise period and see if I can still do a 10K. It won't be fast, but I think I can do it all in one shot. I need to start working on my distance if I expect to get into the Hard Corps Race Series on base next year.

Psalm 91

When I get back to California, I will be driving a car that indicates a belief in the 91st Psalm. As a result, I thought that today I would simply allow you to read this "Warrior's Psalm."

This "reading" comes from the New American Standard Bible, given to me by my mother before I deployed to Iraq... for the first time.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust!"

For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with His pinions and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day;

Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.

A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you.

You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked

For you have made the LORD, my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.

No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent.

For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.

They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

"Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.

"He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.

"With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation."

I believe every word of the Bible in its entirety, but this Psalm has held a special place for me since it was pointed out to me. I can attest that the words in this song are true. During Operation Iraqi Freedom's opening drive to Baghdad, I was within visual range of some pretty fierce fighting, but it never got to the point where I felt I was in any danger. When my convoy made a wrong turn in downtown Baghdad, I was sure we were going to get ambushed, but when we turned the next corner, there were the "angels of God." Of course, that day they looked an awful lot like M1A1 Abrams tanks, but I couldn't tell the difference. When a large portion of the battalion I was with got sick after the fighting was over, I too got ill, but it only lasted one restless night.

And I believe the last line of the Psalm has been upheld as well. I believe that my son, who bears my name, will become a man of God himself and I will live long enough to see my grandchildren come to Him. Arrogant? I don't think so. I just believe that God has put me here for a purpose and that I have not yet fulfilled that purpose. I'm working on it though. I want to be one of the servants who hears, "Well done," at the end of my labor. Am I perfect? No, but that's okay. I'm a new creature and I'm learning again how to grow in Him who made me and gives me breath each day. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Have a wonderful week, friends.

Ugh!

Today is Wednesday. It's also payday for the military (and probably a lot of other people, too) but that's not really the point. Well, maybe it is. For some reason I decided to do an extended workout today. I started out just fine. I stretched, warmed up on an elliptical machine, and then stretched some more. I hit the weights for my shoulders and arms with wide grip pulldowns and seated rows, adding in push-ups in between each set. Then I did some curls to try and work on these lame biceps of mine. Then I went crazy. I hit the treadmill and programmed a workout for 60 minutes. I must have been high or something, but I figured that if I was only going to run once a day, I may as well make the most of it. Plus, the CCTV was showing "Braveheart" so that was cool. I ran and ran and kept running. Finally, at 45 minutes, my legs began to chafe so I had to decide. Do I keep running to finish the program and be in some serious pain for a couple of days? No. I stopped there, but the damage had been done. I've managed to rub my thighs raw from the friction caused by running 5 miles. Normally, when I'm not on ship, I wear longer shorts to help prevent that, but I didn't think of that before I started. Still, I managed to get in those five miles, so I'm pretty stoked about that. I think I'm going to do a light workout tomorrow and then try to simulate a PFT on Friday. That would be dead hang pull-ups, crunches, and a timed 3 mile run, if there's anyone reading this who doesn't know what a Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test is. Anyway, I need to get some new shoes when I get back to Okinawa. I may be able to hold off on that until I get my clothing allowance in Feb, but I'm not sure. Have a great Hump Day, y'all!

so far, so good, so keep going

I managed to make it to the gym this morning. I know that ideally one should train outside and actually put miles on one's shoes (and legs and back and so on) but that's a little difficult given my current environment. Since I am limited on actual space, I tried to vary my aerobic exercise today. I ran on a treadmill for about 2 miles and then moved over to an elliptical trainer. The counter on it said I "ran" about 2 1/2 miles on it in a 30 minute session. I have divided my training into good old fashioned 2-a-days. I'm doing aerobic exercise in the morning between breakfast and lunch, then I plan to do strength and flexibility training in the afternoon. That will mostly be weight lifting and abs. I've done this before, but it's been a long time since I went through that kind of regimen.

I've also decided that I may or may not post something every day, but I will be updating my ticker after each run. Posts will probably be created if there is something worth saying. Did you see "Lord of the Rings?" Just like the Ents (the tree shepherds) say, "It takes a long time to say anything (because of computer connections) so we don't say anything unless it's worth taking a long time to say it."

That's it?

John 3:1-6 NASB

Our story, like all stories, needs a little background to help set the stage. In the book of John, in the New Testament, we find Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a division of the Judaism who taught the Jews about God. Among their teachings, they believed that oral tradition had just as much validity and authority as the written Scripture. They taught that there is an afterlife, where the soul is rewarded or punished based on the life lived on earth, and they reasoned that it was impossible for the sovereignty of God and the free will of man to cancel out the other. Nicodemus approached Jesus to ask him about some of the things he’d been teaching thus far in his early ministry. In John 2, Jesus had performed his first miracle: turning water into wine at a wedding feast. He is in Jerusalem for the Passover at the time of our story and that’s where we pick up the tale.

In verse 2, Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus must be from God, but Jesus immediately cuts to the heart of the true matter. He says in verse 3 that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Nicodemus’ confusion is understandable, but his question strikes me as either being naïve, or possibly misleading by design. Jesus has told us how to see the kingdom of God. It’s really very simple, but he proceeds to break it down for us in the following verses. Every man and woman is born once in the flesh. This fleshly body is doomed to die from the moment we draw our first breath due to the penalty imposed on us by Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. That means that you and I have earned death by committing sin. Sin, by its very definition, is anything that does not honor God. Do we die every time we curse, or cheat on our taxes, or run a red light with a fish on our bumper? Obviously not, but each of those actions qualified us to be separated from God for eternity. After all, God is righteous and the righteousness that God requires is the righteousness that God’s righteousness requires Him to require. Think about that for a minute. God is perfect. As a result, He can accept nothing short of perfection, or else He has compromised and is no longer perfect. If He is no longer perfect, He can no longer be God. This is the point that Jesus is trying to make. There’s an old saying that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and this is the very essence of the conversation here. Jesus is not saying that you must be physically reborn. He is saying that we need to be born into the life of the Spirit of God. Jesus continues that anyone born of the flesh (which is all of us) is flesh and anyone born of the Spirit is spirit.

The natural question then, is what can we do about it? After all, I didn’t ask to be born did I? Therefore, why is it my responsibility to pay this price for sin? Well, the rest of Romans 6:23 has the answer for that: “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus said it Himself in the Bible’s most famous verse, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” To make it personal, just take out general terms like “world” and “whoever” and substitute your own name. For me, John 3:16 says that God loved Bill so much that He gave His only Son (Jesus) that if I, Bill, believe in Him (Jesus) then my eternal soul will not perish, but I will live forever. It really is that simple. Believe that God loves you and sent His Son to pay the price for your sin and you will be saved from eternal death.

Does the message ever change? No. A few years later, when Paul and Silas were in jail for preaching about Jesus, they were delivered by an act of God and when the jailer asked what he must do to be saved, they told him to “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31) When Jesus was right in the middle of paying the price for this free gift and was dying on the cross, one of the thieves with him asked Him (Jesus) to remember him when He came into His kingdom. Luke 23:43 records that Jesus told him, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Notice that Jesus didn’t tell the thief he needed to be baptized. He didn’t say he needed to shave or take a bath before he was acceptable. He just believed. That’s all it takes. It’s faith. I heard once that you don’t truly understand that faith is all you need until faith is all you have. I could not agree more. As a two-time veteran of combat operations in Iraq, I can tell you that there are times when faith is literally all you have. However, in those moments, faith really is all you need.

I want to ask you one question. Maybe you’ve heard this before. Maybe you haven’t.

If your body were to die right now, where would your spirit go? There are two possible answers to this question. The first option is that you have already proclaimed Jesus as your savior and your hope rests on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness, as the song proclaims. The second answer is that you are not sure what would happen to your spirit if you died right now. Would you like to be sure? Would you like to be able to trust Jesus for the security of your soul? If you believe that Jesus was sent to pay the price for your sins and you would like to receive the gift of life from the One who created you in the first place, then say so. It’s as simple as A-B-C. Admit you’ve sinned and deserve to die. Believe that Jesus’ death was the perfect payment for your sins. Call out to Jesus as the thief on the cross did. A simple prayer is all it takes. You don’t even need to close your eyes if you don’t want to. Simply say something like,

“God, I’ve screwed up. I’ve committed crimes against your perfection and I admit it. I need you to save me from death. Jesus, come into my life and be my savior. Thank you for your promise that anyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved. Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, please let me know. I would like nothing more than to encourage you one on one in your new life as a follower of Christ. Please leave a comment and I will get in touch with you as soon as possible.

This is my first attempt at writing a bible study for this forum so I thought I should start with the basics. When I was in high school, the church where I grew up hosted a Youth Sunday. The teens in the church took over every aspect of the Sunday services for one week. This included taking the collection, teaching children’s church, leading the music and offering the message. For some reason, I was elected to deliver the sermon that morning. The end result was a short 15 minute study that I called “God and Yellow Paint.” I’m probably the only person who remembers that talk, but I may go back and revisit the issue later. Why do I bring that up here? Well, my father has been convinced for a long time that I’m going to be a preacher some day. I’m sorry, but unless God blesses me with a huge outpouring of patience, I just don’t see that happening. However, that doesn’t mean that I’ve never spoken or delivered a message before. This morning, while sitting in the protestant worship service on board ship, I was inspired to start writing messages again. Since I don’t have a church or any other forum for my words, I pondered what to do when I was reminded that I’ve just created a new web log to chronicle my growth in both physical and spiritual fitness. That led me here. I’m going to experiment with publishing bible studies on Sundays for a while. If you read this post and found it helpful, thought provoking, confusing, or even wrong, please leave a comment and let me know. Future posts will probably be shorter, but I had to address this most important of issues before going any further. Is there an issue that is on your heart and you wander what the Bible says about it? Leave me a comment and let’s learn together what God says. Have a great week and God bless.

gotta start somewhere

Veterans Day is traditionally a time to reflect on the sacrifices made by those who have put their lives on the line to defend our nation and uphold the principles that make her great. I have come to the conclusion that if I wait until January to start taking better care of myself, I am going to look like a bag of donuts before too long and I don't want that. I've gone into a longer soliloquy about this on my original blog, so I won't belabor the point. So, instead of waiting for the traditional new year to make a resolution or two, I've decided to start today, on Veterans Day. I am going to run every day except Sunday. I will track the results in the ticker you see at the top of the page. I will probably add tickers over the course of the year as I train for races held on base and in the community around where I live (when I'm not deployed). I will add links to these events... at least until I can figure out how to get AdSense to work properly. My wife seems to have figured it out, but I can't get it. Anyway, I hope to see you back soon. I'm going to keep tweaking the template for a little while. If anyone knows of a free running theme template, please let me know.

First Step

Someone once said that the longest journey begins with a single step. This site is going to be a journal of a journey. I am 33 years old and I am not satisfied with myself. I intend to use this as a forum to discuss things I learn and post graphs and counters of my progress. I have another blog where I will continue to spout off about a variety of topics, but this one will be dedicated to my fitness. I am not just talking about weight loss or miles run, although those will be here. I'm also talking about spiritual fitness. I have been a stagnant Christian for far too long. Hopefully, this blog will encourage you in your journey toward better health. To be honest, it was my sister's success in her efforts that have inspired me to renew my battle against my body. As Paul said, I must enslave my body to the good so that it will not be vulnerable to evil. (or something like that)

If you care to leave comments, please do so. I will try to update this blog after every workout, but I can not guarantee this. If you have suggestions or comments, please leave them, but be courteous enough to sign your entry. Other ground rules should not be necessary.

Today is the 231st anniversary of the birth of the United States Marine Corps. It is also the first day of the rest of your life. What are you going to do with it?